#left this short so that it'd make sense on its own

[antimnemonic]

story that plays on the theme of external appearance belying true nature (a beautiful bad person vs a kind monster) but they're in blackrom with each other. cosmological archetypes defined by each other's existence, in constant conflict but unable to destroy their opposite because then who would they be?

[pineconepie]

I DONT CARE WHAT YOUR CREATIVE BRAIN WHIPS JUST PLEASE GIVE ME A FEM YANNNN (love your work btw)

Hehe tysm!! I hope this is good!! <3 I made parental yandere ghost!!

TW: Kidnapping, parental yandere, infantilization

...

When you got a shady ad of a mansion for the same price of a tiny home, you figured it'd be covered with mold and falling apart. The ad didn't give much information, other than it had several acres, and three stories tall.

You wondered why someone would sell such a building for such a cheap price, but given your budget, might as well check it out.

And oh boy were you shocked at what you found.

A beautiful mansion, not a single sign of mold or decay in sight, other than a tiny bit of dust here and there. It's as if no one lived in it for quite some time, yet it was taken care of.

Three bedrooms, all fully furnished. Three bathrooms, also fully furnished. A kitchen that you couldn't even imagine in your wildest dreams. A living room. An attic, a basement, a garage. All of them with furniture inside. Several acres of land, as it had advertised.

"Is it to your liking?"

You whip around to see a woman with short black hair, brown eyes, wearing a dress shirt and tie with a long black skirt. She looks to be in her early to mid forties.

You're pretty sure she wasn't there before. Perhaps she came in silently and didn't mean to scare you like that.

"Yes. Yes! Of course! Is this seriously all for such a cheap price?" you ask, completely confused. Something isn't adding up here. There has to be some kind of catch, surely.

Her smile unnerves you just slightly, its a little too wide. She makes a cooing noise in the back of her throat, but snaps out of it quickly.

"The reason it's so cheap is because there's not that many people interested in living out here in the middle of nowhere. It's incredibly hard for us to get this off our hands."

You don't believe that's the only reason, but you decide not to question it. "And you're the realtor, right? Blair Watts?"

"That would be me!" she says cheerfully, although there's an edge to it that you can't place.

It doesn't matter anyway. This is the house for you. "So... where do I sign?"

Blair gestures to a paper and pen on the nearby table. You read over them.

Something about this house seems wrong. You should've listened to that feeling. But you sign the papers and hand them back to Blair, who takes it.

She smiles down at you, although her expression is a mix between condescension and what you think is relief.

"Welcome home," she croons. "If you need anything, feel free to contact me."

"Thank you!" you say, maybe a tad bit too quickly. But who cares! A mansion for such a cheap price! You're about to ask another question relating to the home, but in just one blink, she's gone. No trace she was ever there at all.

A chill goes down your spine. This woman is absolutely strange, although she didn't seem harmful in any way. Not in the physical sense, at least.

...

You move all your things with relative ease into your new home. It's not much to fill the space of a mansion, so you still have several empty rooms left. The furniture that's already there looks far too expensive and nice to get rid of or replace, so you decide to keep everything as is.

It could definitely use a makeover, if you have that kind of money anytime soon, but it isn't your top priority for now.

When you enter the room with your own things to decorate as your own bedroom, you notice it looks different than how you remember.

The walls are painted pastel, there's toys littering the floor, and even the bed has a cartoon-themed comforter spread over it. You glance behind you and see that nothing else looks out of place.

So weird. Maybe you just forgot which room you liked best, and didn't see this one earlier?

You back up, only to bump into someone. You drop all the boxes in your hands, and spin around with wide eyes. There stands Blair, a concerned smile on her face.

"Oh, what's wrong, honey?" Blair asks, her voice sounding like a parent trying to speak gently to their upset child.

Her arms wrap around your body. You freeze as she slowly rocks you both back and forth. Her touch feels cold yet not as solid as most normal touches are. As if it were... ghostly.

"Uh- yeah, I'm alright! Just... just lost my balance for a second there! But hey, when did you get here?" More importantly, why is she here?

She keeps rocking with you in her arms. "I never left." With a chuckle she finally lets you go. "That room is my favorite in the whole mansion. Isn't it lovely?"

You nod without thinking. You start gathering your dropped belongings as quickly as possible, and stand back up. When you look at Blair again, something really doesn't feel right. Her presence is uncanny, yet you can't really pinpoint why.

There's a slight haze that comes off her outline, almost like she's blurry around the edges. Like a bad photoshop edit on the image of reality.

"Yeah. Lovely," you mutter. "I swore it was different last time."

"Oh." Her smile softens. "I tried to decorate it to your personality."

"But it's not..." You shake your head. "Why? I don't understand what's going on..."

"My child deserves the best, after all." She makes that cooing noise again, which sends another chill down your spine. "How about we unpack?" You're in too much shock to argue when she kneels down to pull things out of your moving boxes.

"Hey, that's not--"

"Hush, dear. Mama needs a moment."

A long beat passes. "...What? Mama?"

Blair sets almost everything into a large pile--things like your electronics, books, paperwork, and other adult essentials. In fact, anything adult seems to have been set aside.

The only things left from the box is your stuffed animals and blankets.

Then she glances back up at you. "You can call me Mommy too, if you'd like. Anything but 'Mother'. Makes me feel old." Her voice gets distant. "I always wanted a little baby to raise as my own... that's why the price was so low! To encourage someone like you to buy this home. I could tell you would need me right away. I mean, look at you!" She gestures to your clothing and messy appearance.

You're too confused to even get offended. "Someone... like me? Aren't you the realtor? What's going on?"

She sighs. "No. Not technically. But this is all too complicated talk for you, silly. Grown-up talk will just overwhelm you."

"But..." You flinch when her smile fades just slightly. "Look... I don't know what's going on, but I think I wanna back out of this..."

"No. No, no, no. We can't do that."

"Well I just--"

"You just want attention," she scoffs. "Don't worry. You'll get plenty of it from Mama." She effortlessly picks you up, much to your shock. Is this a real person, or are you just losing it? "Now, how about some dinner, hm? I have many bottles and sippy cups already prepared for you, and more items for you on the way!" She peppers the side of your face in kisses.

They still feel cold, almost like ice. "Blair, please put me down! This has gone far enough!"

"If that's what you want..." She releases you, and you land with a hard thud onto the floor. You wince at the impact and lay there, taking a minute to process this interaction. She has the audacity to gasp in shock. "Oh goodness! Are you alright? Oh, my poor baby!"

You're too speechless to answer, and before you know it, she picks you up again. If you didn't know any better, you'd say this woman was legitimately worried over you.

For the rest of dinner, you tune out her words, in too much shock and confusion over your situation.

She gives you some sliced fruits and finger foods to eat, as well as a sippy cup filled with juice. You keep pushing the items away, but every time you do, she simply pushes them right back. Finally giving up, you eat, wondering when you can escape her and figure this place out yourself.

At the end of the meal, you push away the empty plates.

"Are you finished?" she asks in such a gentle tone, you nearly forget how scary she can be.

"Yes." Your voice sounds raspy and far-away. It makes sense, given what you've been through today.

"Very good!" she praises, pinching your cheeks as you sit frozen on the spot. She takes the dishes away and hums as she cleans up, her apron tied behind her back as she washes each plate by hand.

"...Blair."

"That's Mama," she corrects gently. "Try again. Here, I'll help you practice. Ma-ma. Can you say that?"

Your eye twitches. "Mama," you repeat emotionlessly. "I'm tired. Can I just go to bed?" Hopefully you can wake up from this nightmare.

"Yes, of course." She puts the wet dishes onto a drying rack to let them air dry. Her skirt swishes around her legs as she turns back to you. "Do you need my help changing into your jammies?"

"I'm not a child," you deadpan. "Let me just change clothes by myself and you go somewhere else. Anywhere else."

"How rude!" Blair says, putting her hands on her hips. "I try so hard for you, and then you disrespect me like this? You really do need discipline. Do you really think you can do whatever you want in this house?"

You go quiet.

She tuts. "You go get dressed into your jammies, and I'll come up in a few minutes to tuck you in. Got that?"

With that command, she nudges you towards the stairs.

You trudge up, each step taking much more energy than it normally should.

As soon as you step into your bedroom, you shut the door behind you. It's not like this door has a lock or anything, but at least she can't watch you while you get ready.

After you change into the childish pajamas she put out for you and climb into bed, you bury yourself under the covers and pray this all blows over by tomorrow.

She comes in, and you try your hardest not to glare at her. Blair sees that your eyes are open anyway and beams.

"There's my perfect angel~" Her cooing voice does nothing but terrify you now. You stay silent and try to ignore her gaze. "Now, would you like a bedtime story? Or perhaps a lullaby?" You feel her presence as she sits down next to your blanket-covered form.

"How about you tell me what you are? Why are you doing this?" You don't sound angry or even scared anymore. Just tired and done with everything that happened so far today.

You suppose there must be an explanation to this.

She takes a deep breath. "...I'm not... human. I used to be, but not anymore."

You blink. "Are you a vampire?"

Blair chuckles. "No, sweet pea." She hesitates a bit more. "I'm... I suppose what people would call a ghost." She speaks her last word so softly you nearly miss it.

"...A ghost?" You sit up. "You're lying! If you were a ghost, why can you touch me and other objects?"

She tilts her head. "Hm? Oh! That's because we're in my home. Where I died. As long as I'm here, I can be seen and touch anything like you can. I can leave, but I can't really do anything. That's why I made that fake listing. I'm lonely, and I've always wanted a baby of my own. But I died before I ever got to experience that."

"...A ghost..."

The pieces fall into place. Her blurry outline, her strange appearance, her odd behavior. It makes more sense than one would expect.

You can almost see pity in her brown eyes as she brushes a loose strand of hair from your face. "But now that you're here, I have my very own little baby to take care of!" Blair practically squeals in excitement. "My life--or rather afterlife--is complete now that I have you. And as long as you stay, I will always love and take care of you."

So if what she says is right, then if you escape, there's no possibility she could make you come back, or even be visible to you.

Blair frowns. "I know what you're thinking. But please reconsider! You're already settled in, and I want you to have everything you could ever need. This doesn't need to be negative."

You narrow your eyes. "...okay."

She doesn't like your dry, one-worded response, but chooses not to push it. Instead, she stands up.

"Sleep tight, angel. Mama loves you. I promise to show you that, okay?" She kisses your forehead and flicks off the light, closing the door behind her.

You hear her lock it from outside the room with a key.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

i feel like if ace's UM does end up just allowing him to copy other's UM, it would solve a potential problem which is malleus putting everyone into a state of sleep. like they told us that it would only be lifted if malleus either lifts it up on his own or if he dies and idt twst would kill off a major and VERY popular character. but if they give ace that ability as his UM it would solve that in a way?

but if they do give that to ace as his UM i hope that ace would struggle to copy people's abilities, or at least kinda go through the emotions the original spell caster felt when theyre using their UM or when they first awoken it. maybe like a price to pay to use other's abilities but thats just me HAHAHHA

Yeeeah, that's what I was thinking too. I can't imagine Ace's UM being anything but a UM borrowing/mimicry spell right now (due to his own propensity to easily learn new skills and do vocal impressions)... It would also just be really useful for the end of book 7, since the briar barrier can only be taken down with Malleus's death or with Malleus willingly removing his magic. Given Malleus's stubbornness and being in such an emotional state, I really doubt he'd be able to come to his senses even all these hundreds of parts later. I really doubt whether all of our powers combined can take him down either, given his track record of being so stupidly OP. And it for sure wouldn't be a good move on the Twst devs' part to kill off such a money maker and significant part of their marketing for their series. (I do want to point out, however, that Malleus's insane popularity is exclusive to the international/English-speaking part of the fandom; he is not a top contender in JP and I would say has more of a middling status.) Having someone else reproduce his UM could very easily resolve this issue, but I guess that's also highly dependent on if Ace can get a grip on his UM that fast, or if he can even feasibly iron out the kinks of controlling what is probably a very complex spell. Epel, who got his UM most recently in book 6, still seems to have only a 70-80% success rate with his, so it's possible that Ace doesn't fully master his UM even if he gets it as soon as his own dream. I definitely don't think Ace would be able to use his (theoretical) copying UM to its full extent ASAP, as then we could just cut the dreams short right then and there. I feel like it'd become more relevant during the actual OB Malleus showdown or something. In general, there'd have to be come kind of drawback or limitations to his UM even if he got used to casting it at some point (just for power balancing reasons). Maybe there's a cooldown period, or he can only use the UM as much as his imagination will allow, or maybe it requires that he be able to empathize with the feelings of the original mage.

... Oh, you know what??? That might actually tie book 7 up quite nicely! If Ace's UM allows him to copy the UMs of other mages but only with the stipulation that he must empathize or relate to how they were acting when the original mage used their UM... Wouldn't that mean that Ace has to understand Malleus's loneliness and the fear of being left behind by his loved ones??? ACE CAN ACTUALLY PERFECTLY RELATE TO THAT because he was in denial mode that Yuu would be going home earlier in book 7. On top of that, he's probably also harboring shame for making fun of Deuce so much, only to be the one who doesn't have his UM yet. Ace can totally relate to what Malleus is going through 👀 He'd be forced to confront his denial of his own emotional vulnerability because he sees Malleus displaying the very same behaviors.

Maybe Ace gets his UM early on but has no idea how to use it properly until it comes in clutch in the final battle because he realizes (at last) how Malleus is feeling. Then it’s Ace who becomes the trump card that lets us triumph…! And that brings us full-circle—the final boss being beaten by the first student that we met, our first friend… Ace Trappola 🫶

[townslore]

you dont wanna know how many times i teared up drawing this,

LOTS of explaining stuff under the cut,,

my bestie and i came up with a lot of new hcs for them today. mostly age stuff which i'll talk abt later but FIRSTLY oh my God the mouse plush. because they're kitty cats.

their mama made it for del originally when he was a baby. because they couldn't afford a lot del ended up giving it to bas when he was born. unfortunately, bas lost it during their time at the igniter facility, just like the paripus charm del gave him at some point.

also before anyone does point this out-- i do know metaphor has its own language letter writing system but Holy hell i'd rather die than figure that out. the way i wrote their names is supposed to be as if del wrote them, in reality it'd be like the actual letters they use. i tried simulating how kids write their names ( bc i see that a lot at my job ) and even wrote it with my left hand, aka my non dominant one, since i hc del is left-handed but he'd write these with his right hand, making it even more difficult for him.

ok now onto the stupid age timeline stuff that gives me a HEADACHE so i apologize if not everything makes complete sense

they live in a small hole-in-a-wall house which is basically just a big living room with a small kitchen space, and an attic. its in some different small corner in grand trad where mostly paripus stay

when del is 4 years old ; bas is born, their papa disappears not long after. presumably ended up like the first paripus you see in grand trad.

when del is 6 and bas is about to turn 3 ; their mama disappears ( well, dies, but they dont know how ) and they eventually end up homeless, still in grand trad

del 12 y/o bas 9 y/o ; as bas says in his third rank, he tries to enlist in the military but gets shut down for being too young, gets invited to the igniter experiment facility instead, not being told their true intentions. he tells del about it and he decides they'll join out of necessity for food and a better place to sleep.

del Maaaaybe around 16 y/o bas 12-13y/o ; this is the age where del stops growing, and bas doesnt proberly wake up one day. hes still short enough to carry and del breaks them out of there after around 4 years of hell. he makes it back to grand trad and rella hears him yell for help near the church ( dear lord please dont ask me how her canon age plays into this i cant think anymore )

; some point after this event they try enlisting in the military again and get in this time, where they.. presumably? meet louis and he takes interest in them.

all of this was put together with the help of my bestie and a lot of inspiration from my fav fanfic ever, "o welche lust" by antelopunny on ao3. go read it. now.

anyway dear god I hope this is good LOL feel free to add stuff or maybe even correct me if i happen to get anything wrong which was different in the game ( i dread the day their actual timeline gets revealed and all my headcanons die alongside it )

[varilien]

(character uses they/it) i keep wanting to start posting my ocs over here again and then Just Not Doing It so uhhhh !!! some stuff from february, had a dream about knives that made me think of a plant oc with a constant power output so extreme that it generates a deadly radiation field around them. because of that they've been living alone this whole time, avoiding contact with other living things, and over the years they've learned how to suppress that output for short spans of time or "safely" pour out the excess in order to be safe to be around, though they ultimately prefer their solitude due to a history of bad experiences with humans. they're very blunt, spiteful, and curious

@whatever-you-can-give-me suggested lr would make good friends for them since they are 🤝 about being extremely hard to hurt lol

also! wrote like 2k about they and razlo's first meeting below the cut if anyone's interested in some good ol violence + gore :3

that was a fr content warning btw read at ur own discretion:

Chance encounters with violent strangers out in the open desert are nothing new to LR, even when Livio purposefully had tried to find the quietest possible route to travel.  It’s not even necessarily surprising to run into someone a little to the left of human, someone a bit bigger or stronger or more durable than they really have any right to be.  The Eye aren’t the only ones designing freaks on this planet, that much is obvious, evidenced sufficiently by the odder fights LR have ever gotten in.  

And this one is shaping up to be one of their oddest fights yet.

Livio hadn’t seen the fucker coming, occupied as he was with the slow realization of why this stretch of road doesn’t see much use anymore: a creeping heat across his nerve endings unrelated to the overcast, evening suns, the taste of metal in his mouth, and a deep-rooted nausea twisting up his guts.  Radiation sickness.  He’s dealt with it before, and as unpleasant as it is, it’s hardly enough to slow him down too bad.  

It’s damn distracting, though.  A good enough excuse for not noticing them hiding up along the rockface above his head.  Not a good enough excuse to keep Razlo from tagging in, especially after something’s pierced straight through the back of his neck, nearly taking his head clean off.  

Razlo rolls for cover with a strangled sound, blood gushing from his forced-out throat and foaming at his lips.  Even with his senses jarred and his vision blurred, it'd take more than a near-decapitation for his instincts to be overridden.  He's slinging out a Punisher before he even knows what he's up against.  

There's a blur of motion to his right as soon as his sights are raised.  They're probably surprised Razlo's still standing, but so was everyone else who's gotten a lucky shot at him.

He can track their motion by sound alone.  They're sloppy.  Feet hitting the cracked earth in hard thumps, every one a warning that Razlo can aim a spray of bullets at.  And by now Razlo's healed enough to notice and wonder why the hell his head is still so fucked up.

At least now he can mostly see them when he turns, hanging back a ways, out of Razlo's reach.  Shorter than him by a head and a half, covered toe to tip in layers of sun-bleached rags, save for their face.  That's hidden behind a tall, curved mask, shaped in a way that looks an awful lot like a tomas' crest, with the false eye markings to match.  Even the glass for the lenses is opaque.  The only part of them that’s exposed is their left hand, extended delicately aside to keep Razlo’s blood dripping off it from getting on their clothes.

Razlo physically tries to shake out the buzzing in his skull that only gets worse by the second, only to notice the foul smell of burning meat and risk an instinctive glance down at his arm, where his flesh has started to bubble and steam seemingly on its own.  He looks between his arm and his opponent, the way their body tenses and head begins to tip, shaking hard, simultaneous with his skin boiling that much more fiercely.  

Something clicks in his brain.  There’s no way.

And no time to find out.  This time when they dart in he’s expecting it; he takes a swing at their head, and they dodge right into his follow-through, slamming his Punisher into their skull with a crunch and a wet sound from their throat.  They drop, like he’d expect them to, like anyone would.  And like no one does, they just roll out of the way and onto their back, braced to spring back up again.  Razlo puts his boot through their ribcage before they get the chance to.  That should be the end of it, too, but the fucker just keeps kicking, trying to get away, the only sound they make being the gurgle of their lungs filling with blood, and they keep kicking.

At this point Razlo doesn’t even have a plan anymore.  Needless to say, he doesn’t go up against an awful lot of guys who match him in the department of being a pain in the ass to take down.  Razlo's just starting to come up with a new idea when those long arms swing up, claws digging into and making ribbons of his right leg.

Razlo curses and tries to pull away, which only makes them hold on even tighter.  He's staring that four-eyed glare down when that burning feeling across his whole body raises in pitch again, and it's the sight of his flesh starting to disintegrate around their fingers that finally makes him back off.

Razlo rather gracelessly falls on his ass in trying to take a step back, not expecting his right leg to simply break off halfway down his thigh.  He scrambles back a ways, ready to keep going, missing limb or no, but— they aren't following him.  They're collapsed in the sand, limbs akimbo as they fight to draw a full breath.  Razlo watches with morbid curiosity as his severed leg dissolves into nothing more than an off-colored patch of sand beside them.

All that angry tension has gone out of their body, leaving them limp and motionless except for the stutter of their chest, and Razlo can hear the damp gasps muffled behind their mask.  By all rights, it should look like more of a struggle.  They should be dead, really, but from where Razlo is sitting, it looks a lot more like they’re just taking a rest.  He feels more sure of that when they roll their shoulders back a bit, arms braced in the dirt as they delicately arch their spine.  There’s some sharp popping sounds, and a little exhale from them; setting their ribs, Razlo figures.  He’s had to do the same thing before.  Once they can move their arms more effectively, they start to gather themself up into a seated position, bones and joints still crackling like popcorn here and there as they go, til they’re all the way up, with their hands resting in their lap, looking far too fucking comfortable for the fight they’d just had.

"You're not dead."

Their voice startles Razlo despite being as soft as it is, and his gaze flicks up to that mask, just slightly tilted to the side, orange lenses glinting in the harsh sunlight.  They don't move at all that Razlo can see.  Even their breathing has evened out enough to have become imperceptible under their heavy shroud; if they're in any pain still, Razlo sure can't tell.

"Nope," is all he says, or can manage to say.

He scrubs at his eyes with the back of his hand, blinking hard a couple times to scrunch up his face in the hopes his nerves might start feeling right again soon.

Another wave of nausea hits him, but his stomach was empty before the fight even started, so he leans forward to put his head between his knees and dry heave for a while.

The whole time, he's aware of his little opponent continuing to sit in silence, watching and eerily unmoving, even when Razlo manages to sit up again and wipe his mouth with his wrist.

"The fuck's yer deal, anyways?"  Razlo asks.

"'Deal'...?"  They echo.

"Couldn't exactly kill you, either."

He wasn't expecting them to spill their life story or something, but he was thinking he'd get something more of a response than their head tilting back the opposite way.  There's not a lot to work with here in trying to get a read on them, but Razlo feels it's safe to hazard they're probably just pretty damn confused, the same as him.

"You kinda smell like a Plant.  M'not an expert, but I've met two others."

Now that gets something out of them.  A tiny wiggle of their head that makes the pieces in their mask rattle.

"I wouldn't know.  I've only met me."

“Huh.”  

Whether it’s a confirmation or rebuttal hardly matters at this point.  He’s feeling sure enough that his assumption was correct, now, anyways.

"You, uh…"  Razlo has to pause for breath.  Unlike the thing across from him, he's having a hell of a time getting his back.  "You're the one making this radiation field?"

"Yes."

"Any way you could turn it down?"

They say nothing, though Razlo feels suddenly that he's being studied very intently.  And shortly after, slowly, slowly the fire in his cells begins to go out, and he can spit the worst of the sourness off his tongue.  Eventually he can't feel any radiation left at all, though his body's had a rough enough time from the dose he got, he'll be getting the sickness out of his system for a while yet.

Regardless, Razlo’s fingers twitch against the triggers when he hears that mask rattle again, and his eyes are on it in an instant.

"You didn't answer my first question," Razlo reminds, cautiously.

More silence, for a while.

"You wanted to hurt me."

There's no malice in the statement, at least that Razlo can tell.  Just the simple facts.  Still, he narrows his eyes.

"You started it.  Figured it was mutual."

"That's true."

Razlo grins.

"So, what now?  Regrow my leg, and get back to not killing each other?"

"If you'd like to."

That gets a laugh out of him.

"Nah, I think I’ll pass, if it’s all the same to you.”

“It is.”

That much is obvious.  They stay put, seeming transfixed on watching Razlo’s leg grow back, only a little more slowly than any of his other injuries, now that he doesn’t have the radiation to slow him down.  It leaves him feeling itchy and achy all over, and he’s got a bad hunch that right ankle doesn’t have the best chances of coming back right.  Once there’s enough of it to fuss about, he gets his foot in his hands and starts experimentally rolling it on its hinge, checking that the range of motion is right.

And still, those orange lenses glint at him curiously.  They don’t flinch or look away when Razlo considers them in return; he guesses they don’t know it’s not polite to stare.

“What's yer name?"  Razlo asks.

"My name?"

"Don't tell me you ain't got one."

The silence that follows is pretty self-explanatory.

“I’m Razlo.”

He can just make out the sound of them mumbling his name under their breath, like they’re not sure how it’s going to come out.  Almost warmly, almost shyly, they manage to say: “hello, Razlo.”

[yujeong]

what do u think is the relevance of the black cat on tonkla? what goes on inside his head when he sees the cat?

Anon, I could talk about that damn cat all day, but my head is a mess and I can't fully put my thoughts in order. This post was the best I could do, but since you asked, I'll try to explain how I view the whole thing as coherently as I can. In very few words, the cat represents many things in relation to Tonkla: loss, powerlessness, mourning, bad luck, love, revenge and so on. Whenever the cat appears, it encompasses all of those things, some of these prevailing over others depending on the scene in question. With that said, let's take each scene and analyze it a little bit, shall we? First instance - Episode 1: Right after Korn leaves, Tonkla hears his cat meowing. The cat looks at him for a short moment, then it immediately flees to the kitchen, where it disappears before it completely turns around. (In this moment I'd like to mention how, in my opinion based on Episode 7, Tonkla's cat was probably killed near or in the kitchen. The space isn't shown clearly but it'd make sense, since 2/3 cat appearances happen close to the kitchen.) In order for us to understand what Tonkla is thinking once he sees the cat, we need to remember what happened for it to appear in the first place: Korn left to go to his dad, his actions and words reminding Tonkla that he doesn't come first. Korn, the man Tonkla loves, left him. Just like his cat did. But it's not only that.

This specific moment has stayed with me. It looks like he's reminiscing a past memory. Like he's remembering how his cat was killed, how he lost something he loved, how it was brutally taken from him. And the memory must have hurt, because he exhales, rests his head on the couch and then:

He does this. Many people, myself included, thought this was about Korn, and it very well could be, and it kind of is, but I also think it's about the cat. It's about the loss and the loneliness and how it's a constant in Tonkla's life. Second Instance - Episode 7: This time, at first the cat meows softly like before to get Tonkla's attention, but then the sound the cat makes is angrier, its gaze sharper. Now it stays there and it doesn't flee and it stares at Tonkla without fear. So, what happens this time to make the cat appear? Tonkla gets upset by Win's approach of bringing Title to justice. He feels it's not enough, like it's not the correct solution to the problem. An important detail to this moment is that we don't only hear the cat meowing. We also hear its bell ringing. The one Tonkla was holding when he pushed his father down the stairs. When he killed him. What goes on inside Tonkla's head this time is simpler to understand: the cat serves as a reminder of what he's done in the past. The realization dawns on his face, his fingers itch with it, the sink becomes his old house's floor with his father's blood smeared all over it.

"Right," he thinks. "I can take matters into my own hands. I don't have to rely on anyone else." Third Instance - Episode 7: Finally, we hear the cat and see it briefly walking by Tonkla's gun, the one he uses to shoot Great. Here, what happens before this moment to make the cat appear is interesting to me: Tonkla finds out Great and Korn are related, something he had no idea about, judging by his reaction:

And it's interesting to me because I believe that for a moment, he was conflicted:

He understood what him doing harm to Korn's brother would mean for him and for their relationship. That's why, even when the cat meows and the gun appears in the frame, he still has that face:

But of course, this doesn't last, because Tonkla understands the poetic irony of the situation. And he finds it hilarious.

That's what his smile means to me. He's not losing it, it's not a deranged expression (although it is). He just finds it all amusing and I can't really blame him. This is the moment the cat represents revenge. This is when it crosses Tonkla's mind. All the other things are still there - the loss, the pain, the loneliness, all of it - but this is what prevails in the end. Oh, and because I saw a few mentions of mental disorders floating around in regards to Tonkla seeing the cat, I'd like to end this post on a very unserious note, by adding a moment from 13 reasons why of all shows: Clay: "I don't actually see ghosts." Justin: "I get it. You wrote my paper on magical realism."

[noa-de-cajou]

The Hawthorne Case, part four

Skill index, part one, part two, part three

Ian belongs to @corneille-but-not-the-author

And there's a small cameo from Kama Fatra, @soupedepates 's character ;)

______

It turns out, the Chief Head of the Bureau can't get a free evening that easily. So when he finally does, it’s been two weeks since Taiven met Tristan and that Janelle gave her the paper, still tucked away safely in her nightstand drawer.

25B Solomon Street. The Brickwall. Charles and Magali Delestre.

She repeats the names and the places in her mind as she looks at herself in the bathroom mirror.

SHADOWSELF – Honestly? That temporary hair dye doesn’t look half bad.

SCATTERBRAIN – PINK! SHINY! LIKE YOUR TANK TOP!

COMPOSURE – The top is even shinier.

The top in question is sleeveless fluorescent pink, impossible to miss. It shows all of Taiven’s upper back and stops a little below the chest, thus showing a good proportion of her lower back as well. There’s a zipper at the front that she could use to reduce the impressive cleavage it gives her, but she chose to leave it as it is, wide open. The rest of her clothes consists of ripped black shorts, a leather jacket and matching boots which are currently strewn around the bathroom. She took off her wedding ring, exceptionally.

THE HUNT – Showing too much skin. It isn't safe.

SHADOWSELF – What, because you look like a hooker? It might be true, but hey, you have arguments, sunshine. It'd be a shame to trap them into some synthetic pink fabric.

THE HUNT – But you're exposed.

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – Nah, you’re gonna leave that bar with at least three hoes in tow, I'm telling you.

SCATTERBRAIN – I knew it, I knew that thing was going to come in handy!

COMPOSURE – It's still very… tacky. At least you didn't wear it when you picked Ujin up from school.

SHADOWSELF – Heavens, no. You have enough of a reputation among other parents as it is.

COMPOSURE – The top also shows the tattoo on your left hip. Extra point for coolness.

HYPERMNESIA – You got it done last year. On February 13th.

CITY GIRL – In her tattoo shop The Hole in the Heart down Liberty Boulevard, Ifeyinwa Madueke stretches and looks upon her stencils. She's getting more and more requests lately. Not that she's complaining, mind you. What better way to make a living that help people reclaim their war-marked bodies? She loves her job. She still keeps the design she made for you in her drawer.

BLOODSTAINED DOOR – A sun expanding around a bullet impact.

SCATTERBRAIN – Something morbid turning into something beautiful. Rays of light reaching out from a black hole. The sky reconstructing itself around its own wounds.

SUN-POWERED-POWERPLANT – Healing.

COMPOSURE – Your reflection smiles at you.

Taiven puts down the temporary pink hair dye spray she used to color the formerly blonde parts of her hair, ties it into a small ponytail at the back of her head and lets a few strands loose in her neck. Then she starts on her make-up, with glossy, bright pink eyeshadow and purple glitter spread around the corner of her eyes and down to her cheekbones.

SCATTERBRAIN – Glitter ! Glitter EVERYWHERE !

COMPOSURE – Not everywhere. You’re not a disco ball.

SENSES (HEARING) – There's a small sound in the hallway, fast and soft little footsteps.

Someone turns the doorknob, and big, curious blue eyes sneak a peek through the opening. Smooth dark hair surrounds a round and freckled face that always seems full of questions and wonder. Taiven turns her head to look at Ujin, her soon-to-be four-years old daughter, with a smile.

“Hi there, baby. Do you need something?”

The little girl stops in her tracks, eyes wide, then points her finger at her mother.

COMPOSURE – It took her a second to recognize you.

ASSERTION – It's not very polite to point fingers-

“Mommy, you're pink.”

FOCUS – An astute observation, child.

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – She's so cute. I wanna eat her. And give her butterfly kisses. And make her laugh.

SMARTASS – Hamsters will sometimes eat their offspring. Reasons may include stress, fear, a change in the babies’ scent, lack of food, inability to provide for all the-

SUN-POWERED-POWERPLANT – You won’t eat her, no matter how cute she is ! Bad Taiven, bad! She’s no baby hamster!

SCATTERBRAIN – She looks like one when she eats too much food at once!

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – And she’s adorable while doing it.

Taiven laughs heartily and crouches down in front of her daughter to be at eye level.

“I am! Do you like it?”

Ujin nods vigorously.

“Yes! You’re pwetty.”

RHETORIC – “Pwetty”... Awwwww…

SUN-POWERED-POWERPLANT – Your daughter told you you're pretty. All of your needs have been fulfilled. Life is good.

HYPERMNESIA – When you adopted her a year ago, she was all shy and timid and barely spoke a word. Now she's all serious and talks like a book.

“You're shiny too!” Ujin exclaims.

SOLLERTIA – Two small, tiny hands press against your cheeks.

RHETORIC – Oh, she means your make-up!

“Yes, it's glitter!”

“Guh-litah,” Ujin repeats, an expression of intense focus on her face.

“Yes, glitter.”

“Can I be shiny too?”

SCATTERBRAIN – “Guhlitah.” Everywhere.

THICKSKIN – A little bit wouldn't hurt. She isn't allergic to anything.

“Sure! Hold on.”

SCATTERBRAIN – You get the blue glitter to match her eyes and sprinkle a few specks on her cheeks.

“Tickle!” Ujin yelps, laughing.

FEISTY FLESH – You carry her in your arms so she can see herself in the mirror.

BLEEDING HEART – A huge smile covers her face and she waves excitedly at her reflection.

“That’s me!!”

Taiven happily bounces her daughter on her hip, hopping up and down in front of the mirror.

FEISTY FLESH – She’s so small. Featherlight.

THE HUNT – Must protect at all costs.

“Yess! That's you! You're so pretty!”

“Pwetty like mommy,” Ujin giggles.

BLEEDING HEART – Pure, unbridled happiness. From her, and from you.

SUN-POWERED-POWERPLANT – If you die now, you'll die happy.

PARTI DU PEUPLE – But you still have a job to do.

Taiven lays out a row of lipsticks on the edge of the sink.

COMPOSURE – Most of them have never been opened.

“Okay, Ujin, I have a veeery important mission for you.”

REFLEXES – Your daughter’s head swivels towards you at such speed you’re afraid she’ll snap her tiny neck.

RHETORIC – You have her full attention.

“Mommy needs to get some color on her mouth for tonight. So, which do you like most?”

COMPOSURE – I hope you're ready for the consequences of this question.

SCATTERBRAIN – Oh, come on. It’ll be fine! And she loves being involved!

THEATRICS – Worse-case scenario, you'll wipe it off before leaving.

“Hmm…”

Ujin focuses extra hard, squinting at all the colors laid out in front of her. Then she points decisively at one of them, in the middle.

“This!”

COMPOSURE – A bright, red, glossy one. That's… actually a good choice.

SCATTERBRAIN – Told you!

“Why thanks, sunrise, that's perfect.”

SCATTERBRAIN – She looks at you like you're the sun itself or a goddess come alive.

SHADOWSELF – No other eyes have made you feel so beautiful before.

THEATRICS – But alas! You have to set her down on the floor so you can apply that lipstick. Pain is beauty, as they say.

Ujin watches quietly as Taiven applies the last touch to her make-up. She closes the tube of lipstick, gives herself a pensive look.

COMPOSURE – You look perfect. Unless one knows you really well, you’re nearly unrecognizable.

BLOODSTAINED DOOR – And they aren’t many people who know you well. Not many left, anyways.

“Mommy?” Ujin calls out again.

BLEEDING HEART – There’s a little disturbance in her voice. Oh, barely noticeable, but you're her mother.

“Yes?”

“Why are you pink?”

Taiven blinks.

RHETORIC – She’s a smart kid. She knows something unusual is going on, that you're not getting all dolled up for the sake of it.

“Well, uh… Mommy’s going out tonight, you see. It's a special occasion.”

COMPOSURE – Her face falls as quick as it lit up earlier.

RHETORIC – Oh. Shit. That wasn't a good answer, was it?

“... You're leaving?”

BLOODSTAINED DOOR – Oh no. It really wasn’t.

NERVES – DAMAGE CONTROL, DAMAGE CONTROL!

“Yes, I'm leaving, but it's only for one night. I’ll be back tomorrow. And you’ll get to have some time alone with daddy tonight!”

NERVES – Her chin trembles. This isn’t working.

FEISTY FLESH – You kneel on the floor and take her hands in yours.

“Ujin… It’s just for tonight. I promise. And daddy will be right there! It's gonna be really special.”

“B-But I don't wanna,” she sobs. “I don't wanna…”

HYPERMNESIA – It took you an entire month to get her to sleep alone in bed after adopting her. The first day of preschool, the teacher called you because she couldn’t stop crying. She calls for you as soon as you leave her side. You still have to pee with the door open, just in case. Given her background, it makes sense that she's an anxious child.

SCATTERBRAIN – Do you really have to leave? Can't you stay a little longer after Ian arrives?

PARTI DU PEUPLE – You don’t have time for this.

BLEEDING HEART – What is she gonna think? Leaving her at home to investigate at some stupid bar? This is awful. You're awful. You're an awful, terrible mom who’s abandoning her child.

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – Oh, come on, you've been mommying so hard all this year! When's the last time you've gone out to have some fun?!

PARTI DU PEUPLE – This isn't fun. This is your duty.

ASSERTION – And you need to get her used to not having you around all the time. You're spoiling her too much.

BLEEDING HEART – But she needs you! She needs you and you're leaving!

THICKSKIN – Grow the fuck up.

COMPOSURE – As tears roll down her cheeks, despite your best efforts, you feel some sting your eyes.

SUN-POWERED-POWERPLANT – Hey. You made up something for this exact situation, remember?

HYPERMNESIA – You did.

SHADOWSELF – Calm her down first.

“Ujin. Ujin, look at me.”

COMPOSURE – You keep your voice low and calm, as soothing as you can manage.

“Remember what we said the other day? If we miss mommy and mommy’s not around, we…?”

Ujin sniffles.

“W-We look at the sun and we call f-for mommy in our mind…”

“And you do that because?”

“B-Because mommy and me, we're children of the s-s-sun, so m-mommy will hear me even if she’s not here…”

“Exactly. Very good. And if the sun’s not in the sky anymore?”

“W-We do the same thing with the moon. T-Then we go to bed because it will make the sun come back f-faster.”

COMPOSURE – She's calmed down a bit. Remembering this and holding your hands grounded her.

SMARTASS – The sun won’t actually come back any faster, it's scientifically impossible, but… hey, that's a lie I can get behind.

“Good. I’m very proud of you, Ujin. If you're scared, remember what daddy says all the time too, okay? The sun…”

“... Always comes back.”

BLOODSTAINED DOOR – As long as you have eyelids to open.

Ujin nods slowly, wiping her eyes and nose on her sleeve.

SHADOWSELF – Aaaand that’s one dirtied sleeve.

SMARTASS – Oh, shut up, she's not even four yet! Of course she's gonna get dirty!

SENSES (HEARING) – A door opens and closes downstairs. Then a familiar voice rings out.

THEATRICS – Your savior! And, incidentally, your husband.

“Good evening! Anybody home?”

“Coming!” Taiven shouts back before turning back to her daughter. “We’re gonna go say hello to daddy. Are you okay with that?”

Ujin nods again. She still seems a little bummed out, but at least she’s calmed down.

BLEEDING HEART– Great job. Now she's mad at you.

SUN-POWERED-POWERPLANT – Would she take your hand to walk down the stairs if she was?

Ian has taken off both his shoes and coat when they arrive downstairs.

“Hi daddy,” Ujin mutters.

SENSES (SIGHT) – He noticed Ujin’s puffy eyes and wet cheeks before she even spoke.

COMPOSURE – A hint of worry flicks over his eyes. Then it’s gone.

“Hi, Ujin. How was school today? Did you have fun?”

“Yeah,” she replies laconically.

SMARTASS – He doesn’t even need to ask you anything to understand the situation.

COMPOSURE – A reassuring smile.

RHETORIC – “I’ll take it from here.”

ASSERTION – As if you couldn't handle things on your own! You don’t need his help.

SUN-POWERED-POWERPLANT – You do! There's no shame in that!

Only then does Ian seem to notice Taiven's appearance. He blinks, slowly, trying to assimilate the picture.

COMPOSURE – He’s not laughing, but it takes a lot of effort.

SHADOWSELF – Ugh. He thinks you look like a clown.

SUN-POWERED-POWERPLANT – Who gives a shit! Ujin thinks you’re pretty.

“Well, someone went all out tonight.”

RHETORIC – He knows where you’re going and why. You told him.

THEATRICS – He’s barely pretending he doesn't. Because of the kid.

“Why, thank you, I am glad you noticed,” Taiven replies before doing a little hair flip.

Ian has a little chuckle.

“Hard not to, if I'm honest.”

COMPOSURE – You are very pink and quite tall.

ASSERTION – He admires your dedication to this.

“Well, Ujin, you and I are going to have a little tête-à-tête tonight, don’t we?”

Ujin shrugs, shoulders limp.

BLEEDING HEART – She's still sulking.

SMARTASS – Pretty sure she doesn’t know what a “tête-à-tête” even is, but she probably gets the idea.

SOLLERTIA – You let go of her little hand…

BLEEDING HEART – You monster.

SOLLERTIA – … And put your boots on. The zipper struggles a little but you manage to get it all the way up eventually.

Ian went up to Ujin, who’s attached herself to his leg. He smiles, waves gently at his wife.

“Have fun.”

RHETORIC – “Be safe.”

ASSERTION – You're a grown woman, not some rowdy teenager…

SUN-POWERED-POWERPLANT – Ah, come on, he just cares about you.

“I will!”

She gets up to go, opens the door-

“Mommy!”

THE HUNT – She needs you.

REFLEXES – You turn back around so fast you almost trip over your own feet.

THICKSKIN – A little body collides against your leg, but you stand firm.

Watery blue eyes look up at Taiven.

“Goodbye hug?”

BLEEDING HEART – Yes please. Goodbye hug.

ASSERTION – Alright, fuck it, goodbye hug.

Taiven crouches on and wraps her arms around her daughter.

FEISTY FLESH – Don't forget to squeeze. She loves being squeezed.

SCATTERBRAIN – Biiiiiig squeeze.

BLEEDING HEART – She squeezes back and suddenly everything falls back to its rightful place.

SENSES (SMELL) – You take a big whiff of her scent. Grass and sun and laundry and baby soap.

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – I admit, it puts any drug to shame.

BLOODSTAINED DOOR – You need her more than she needs you.

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – There is such a thing as loving too much. But right now, you don't care.

COMPOSURE – Alright, time to let go now. C’mon.

Taiven slowly exhales, before letting go of her daughter and giving her a light kiss on the forehead.

“See you tomorrow, baby. I love you.”

She starts to walk away from the door again, and this time, she only glances back when Ujin calls for her again.

“Mommy!”

SENSES (SIGHT) – She's standing on the porch with her arms spread out.

COMPOSURE – Fighting off tears like the brave little girl she is.

“I love you this big!”

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – She’s so fucking cute.

ASSERTION – Ah, but you won't be defeated in the love battle.

Taiven spreads out her arms as well, walking backwards, and yells accross the yard,

“I love you even bigger!”

SHADOWSELF – Yep, the neighbors definitely think you're crazy now.

SCATTERBRAIN – Bah! Let them talk.

SENSES (HEARING) – An adorable giggle.

“No, I love you bigger! Big like the sky!”

SCATTERBRAIN – WELL YOU LOVE HER BIG LIKE A THOUSAND SKIES!

FOCUS – Alright, maybe that's enough.

AIM/READY/FIRE – Yeah, you almost tripped on yourself walking like that.

Ian ends up speaking a few words Taiven can't hear to Ujin, who looks in much better spirits now, and they both wave goodbye while she walks away.

BLOODSTAINED DOOR – With the comforting ghost handprints of Ujin’s hands still on your back.

SUN-POWERED-POWERPLANT – Time to go.

The sun hasn’t set on Encre yet. It’s only 6:15 pm after all, and by the time Taiven’s bike reaches Solomon Street, it's 6:30.

SUN-POWERED-POWERPLANT – Bah! That was a breeze!

THE HUNT – Sure, omit the parts where you almost crashed into cars at rush hour and nearly died. Very convenient.

THICKSKIN – You’ve crashed a car before and you were fine.

BLEEDING HEART – But Toshiki wasn't.

THE HUNT – There's a difference between crashing a car and crashing into one-

SCATTERBRAIN – SHUT UP AND LOOK AT HOW COOL THE BAR LOOKS.

The Brickwall is, at it name states, at the ground floor of a red-brick building. Garlands of multi-colored lights decorate the façade. The huge window is half covered by heavy curtains and marked with graffito, but you can still see throbbing lights from the inside.

SENSES (SIGHT) – The graffito reads, “FUCK THE M”, the rest has been wiped off.

SCATTERBRAIN – M… M… Manager? Music? Menu? Milkshakes?

RHETORIC – Markhovs?

SMARTASS – Mages.

ASSERTION – Nice.

COMPOSURE – Okay. Smooth your jacket, rearrange your hair, check your make-up in the window. All good? Then time to go in.

FOCUS – Remember: you’re here to find and question Charles and Magali Delestre.

SUN-POWERED-POWERPLANT – Not to get drunk. Are we clear?

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – Yeah, yeah, whatever.

Taiven pushes the door open and walks into the unknown lair, trying to mask the nervous lump in her throat with a confident smile.

FOCUS – The place is bigger than it looks on the outside, but it remains cramped. It’s filled with tables and chairs with barely enough space to circulate in between, and some corner booths with faded seats that were probably red once but now look a strange purple-ish. The walls are covered in very leftist posters and old newspapers clippings.

SMARTASS – Some date from during the war. A rarity.

FOCUS – Behind the greasy counter, a young man, dark-skinned, buzzed head, golden earrings, about your age, is taking orders from the first few clients. A very small man with long, pointy ears and sparkly hair stands on a stool behind him, cleaning glasses.

SMARTASS – A wingless fairy.

BLOODSTAINED DOOR – A survivor.

ASSERTION – By his aura, you can tell he’s the boss around here.

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – So. Many. Different types. Of booze.

SUN-POWERED-POWERPLANT – Ahh! Pssssht! No! No touchy!

SENSES (SIGHT) – There's also what seems to be a stage on the far left, with a lot of stuff on it, but you can't see it very well because of all the bright neon lights.

SMARTASS – You're early.

SHADOWSELF – Don’t ask them about the Delestre right away. Order something first. No one likes people snooping around their bar, even if you're not police.

THE HUNT – If you were police, you'd be dead meat.

As Taiven approaches the bar, the owner turns around to look at her.

BLEEDING HEART – Blue eyes. Surprisingly soft. It’d make anyone feel at home.

“Evening. What can I get y-”

SENSES (HEARING) – He’s immediately interrupted by the loudest blaring of music you've ever heard coming from the stage.

NERVES – FUCK!

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – Aw, come on, you were right about to get that drink!

SCATTERBRAIN – That music sounds like a song was wrangled out a bunch of wildflowers who overgrew on the wires of an old dereclit factory and I can't tell if it's good or bad.

SMARTASS – That's electro-bagpipe, actually. Combined with viola and drums. Interesting choice.

The owner has a grimace, then tries to say something to Taiven, but all she sees is his mouth moving.

SENSES (HEARING) – WHAT?

STREET SMARTS – You preemptively cover your ears.

NERVES– UGH, SOMEONE MAKE IT STOP!

THICKSKIN – You’ve been here for five minutes, how are you already overwhelmed?!

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – You're too sober, that's why.

COMPOSURE – The fairy grits his teeth, then straight-up climbs on the countertop, before shouting at the top of his lungs with a surprisingly high-pitched voice,

SENSES (HEARING) – “MAYUMI! TURN DOWN THE DAMN VOLUME, YOU'RE GONNA CALL THE PIGS UPON US, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!”

No response. He sighs, then shouts again,

SENSES (HEARING) – “VOLUME. DOWN. NOW.”

AIM/READY/FIRE – Each word is accompanied by a gesture that's probably more useful than the shouting.

NERVES – Between his yelling and the music, you probably lost twenty percent of your audition…

STREET SMARTS – Nah, you've been through worse, you're just getting old.

SUN-POWERED-POWERPLANT – Old?! You're going on twenty-four, that’s still young!

SENSES (HEARING) – The music stops so suddenly it makes the silence sound almost deafening.

THICKSKIN – Your ears are ringing. You’ll go to bed with tinnitus tonight.

“About time,” the owner groans. “What was that for?”

Someone jumps from the stage and walks over to the bar. A young girl, apparently a human, with thick black hair puffing around her huge headphones and eyes just as black.

“It's not my fault! The speakers break down every night, and every night I must fix them, so forgive me if the sound check disturbs your peace!”

SUN-POWERED-POWERPLANT – There’s something to her. She’s your very mirror and your very opposite all at once.

SMARTASS – A vampire? But she… looks human.

COMPOSURE – Looks human.

“It’s not my peace, it's about the clients’! Just ‘cause you’re deaf as a post doesn’t mean you have to make everybody else the same!”

SMARTASS – So that kid is deaf. Or at the very least, hard-of-hearing.

RHETORIC – Make sure you articulate when you speak to her.

The girl raises an eyebrow and takes her earphones off to look at Taiven, like she's only just noticed her.

“Oh! You’re new here. Welcome, welcome, and sorry about that!”

SENSES (HEARING) – She speaks at an extremely loud volume.

SMARTASS – Not one other client has uttered a complaint. They must be used to this.

SUN-POWERED-POWERPLANT – She flashes you a huge smile.

THE HUNT – Baring two small fangs.

SMARTASS – A half-vampire.

“I’m Mayumi, lead technician here! Sorry ‘bout the blaring. It’s just those damn things, they're super old… We can't, like, afford much better. So if you wanna leave a tip…”

“Mayumi.”

“Yes, yes, Gord. Ugh, Bilal, can I at least get a drink for my efforts ?”

HYPERMNESIA – “Gord”. It’s short for Gordianus. That man’s name is Gordianus Gens Laurentia.

SMARTASS – Wow. Where do you even remember that from?

HYPERMNESIA – You don’t know. You just do.

The aforementioned Bilal, the barista, smiles warmly.

BLEEDING HEART – They're close, Mayumi and him.

“Sure thing. The usual?”

“I’d ask for a beer, but-”

“You are still not of drinking age,” Gordianus cuts in. “Nice try.”

“Boo.”

SMARTASS – Yeah, she can’t be older than sixteen.

COMPOSURE – Yet dark circles underline her eyes.

SCATTERBRAIN – Wells of petrol in the middle of a tan yet sallow face.

CITY GIRL – Mayumi Edo barely leaves the Brickwall. She sleeps a little between 11am and 4am everyday. Gordianus lets her stay here so she doesn't return to her former bed, a bunch of soggy cardboards in some junkie-riddled back alley. The streets are home to all, but house to none.

BLEEDING HEART – So young. Poor thing.

“What about you, darling? What do you drink?”

RHETORIC – It's you. You're “darling”.

COMPOSURE – Shit. Bilal’s looking at you and you didn't think about your order.

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – You should get some strong shit! Like whiskey, that’ll get you through the night-

SUN-POWERED-POWERPLANT – No. Getting drunk at night is the worst move.

THE HUNT – It'd make you worse than vulnerable. An easy target.

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – Well what do you suggest we get, then, lemonade?!

SHADOWSELF – You’re going to straight up lose all credibility if you do that.

COMPOSURE – Since there's some disturbances hindering your decision-making, you stand there with a blank stare and your mouth slightly agape.

“Uh…”

RHETORIC – Wow. Very eloquent.

SHADOWSELF – Lucky for you, Bilal seems amused by your jellyfish brain.

“Ah, too much choices, are there?”

“Oooo, can I recommend a drink, can I?!” Mayumi exclaims excitedly.

“Sure, go ahead,” Bilal chuckles while sliding a drink across the counter to her. A red, fizzy drink with ice and a colorful plastic straw.

SCATTERBRAIN – Looks like… Uh... Grenadine? Please tell me it's grenadine.

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – Yeah, no, that's definitely blood.

“So! Do you drink alcohol, ma’am?”

RHETORIC – Do you?

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – Come on… Please?

SUN-POWERED-POWERPLANT – … Fiiiine, if it’s not too strong, you can have one drink.

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – FUCK YEAH!

“Yep, sure do. What’s your pick, Mayumi?”

The teenager grabs an old paper menu, as greasy as the rest of the bar, and slaps it upon the counter.

“Well, for you, I’d recommend this!”

She taps on a little drawing of a yellow, sparkly beverage with a hint of pinkish starlight.

THE HUNT – Looks radioactive.

SCATTERBRAIN – Looks soooo good.

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – If there's alcohol, I'll take anything, but let’s listen to the description.

“It’s called the… Uh… New Dawn Sunrise.”

THEATRICS – She came up with that name on the spot.

SMARTASS – It’s literally a pleonasm.

SCATTERBRAIN – It’s a good one, though! Let's hear some more.

“What’s it made of?”

“Mango, orange, lemon zest, some hibiscus aroma and raspberry syrup mixed with yellow chartreuse!”

SUN-POWERED-POWERPLANT – But wait, isn’t yellow chartreuse…

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – Kinda strong? Naaah.

SMARTASS – It is. 43% ABV.

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – Fucking tattletale.

SUN-POWERED-POWERPLANT – You’re not drinking that.

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – Come on! It’s mixed with other stuff, it won’t hit as hard!

THICKSKIN – And you can hold your liquor quite well, especially if it’s just one drink.

SUN-POWERED-POWERPLANT – But-

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – Screw it. You only live once!

“Well, I'm sold. And so is that drink!”

SUN-POWERED-POWERPLANT – Oh come on!

“Great! I knew you’d like it,” Mayumi grins widely. “It's sunny, like you.”

RHETORIC – Her way of telling you she knows you're a Gaikamshigthai.

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – I like that kid.

SUN-POWERED-POWERPLANT – You know what? Me too.

“One New Dawn Sunrise, coming right up,” Bilal sings to himself before turning to his station.

SOLLERTIA – That shaker looks brand new. A bit out of place among the rest of worn-out equipment.

“Thanks, Mayumi. I hope I'm not making a mistake here,” Taiven jokes.

“No way! I’m great at this.”

COMPOSURE – Unseen to Mayumi, a small smile agitates Gordianus' lips behind his counter.

STREET SMARTS – That girl will make a fine barista in a few years.

“How’re you paying, miss?” Gordianus asks, looking a little more relaxed.

“Cash.”

SOLLERTIA – You rummage through your pouch to find your wallet. You tried to travel light. There’s some make-up in case yours gets smudged, glitter spray, a pocket knife, a pack of tissues, your spare glasses. Your house keys are in your pocket.

AIM/READY/FIRE – No gun. If they somehow found it on you, you’d be in trouble. Plus, you’d rather not use them indoors.

BLOODSTAINED DOOR – Or at all, really.

THE HUNT – But better safe than sorry.

FEISTY FLESH – Who needs a weapon when you have fists?

SMARTASS – Are your fists bulletproof? There’s that saying, you know, “never bring a knife to a gun fight”-

SOLLERTIA – You find some coins and slide them accross the counter. Gordianus pockets them with obvious satisfaction.

STREET SMARTS – Business is business and you're contributing to his tonight.

“Drink’s ready!”

Bilal puts the cocktail down in front of Taiven. It looks just like the drawing on the menu.

SCATTERBRAIN – Yellow, pink, and weirdly sparkly.

BLEEDING HEART – Mayumi watches you expectantly as you raise the drink to your mouth.

SENSES (TASTE) – Well-mixed. You can feel the raspberry, the mango, the little sourness brought by the citrus fruits… You can’t really taste the hibiscus but you've never had any before, so you can’t really tell. As for the alcohol…

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – Man, it's good. Like, really good. Good quality and everything. That shit’s a blast. Best thing you’ve had in a while. Alcohol is nice and all but when you know how to make it taste actually good? That’s true mastery right there. Savor it.

SUN-POWERED-POWERPLANT – Let's just hope it doesn't come back to bite you in the ass later.

“It’s amazing,” Taiven says. “Like, really. But be honest, Mayumi, did you make it up on the spot?”

The young girl cackles loudly.

“The name, yeah, but the cocktail was actually an experimental thing Bilal just put on his menu! He’s just too shy to ask anyone to order it.”

COMPOSURE – Bilal blushes to the tip of his ears and tries to swat Mayumi with his hand, but she dodges.

“Well, my compliments to the barista then,” Taiven says as she raises her glass. “That mix is gonna make a killing.”

The young man smiles again, massaging his neck.

“Oh honey, you're too kind. But thank you.”

“So!” Mayumi immediately bounces off. “I know you people don’t really do nights, but are you staying to watch the show?”

“Um, what show?”

Bilal chuckles as he shakes another drink, making a rattling sound.

“Right. It's your first time here, isn’t it? We set up a drag show every week, for beginners and experts alike.”

“And I'm taking care of the lights and everything!” Mayumi chimes. “Well, I said I was the lead technician, but I'm more like the only technician, really.”

SMARTASS – A drag show is-

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – You know what a drag show is.

HYPERMNESIA – How? You've never been to one. Or really frequented these kinds of circles. Have you?

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – Teehee. Maybe. Maybe not. You should answer him, don't you think?

“Wow, I wasn't aware. I mean, I might not stay until the end, but I'd love to watch! If I could just get some coffee to stay awake?”

SENSES (HEARING) – Bilal’s earrings clink as he does a little curtsy.

“Of course, darling. And since you were so nice about the cocktail, it’s on the house. But only today! Get yourself a table or a booth, I'll bring it later. Black?”

“Yes, black.”

“Thought so.”

SCATTERBRAIN – You get a booth, obviously. Because booths are comfy.

THE HUNT – And they feel safe.

FOCUS – It also gives you a good vantage point on the stage.

SOLLERTIA – Man, Mayumi wasn't kidding. Those speakers don’t just look old, they look ancient. And speakers as a whole haven't even been in the market for that long…

THEATRICS – Other than that, it's a pretty neat stage! Maybe a little narrow, and the curtains are a bit washed-up, but it goes with the general vibe.

FOCUS – Alright. You need to get more proactive. You've certainly met people, but none of them are Charles or Magali Delestre, and the later it gets, the more people are coming in. You've blended in, now time to ask around. Discreetly.

Right as the neon lights start to dim, a waiter arrives with a cup of piping hot coffee, that he gently settles down in front of Taiven.

“Aaaand here’s for you, missy!”

SMARTASS – He's older than Mayumi, but younger than Bilal. Around your age.

COMPOSURE – That's an unnaturally large smile if you've ever seen one.

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – He’s high as fuck.

SUN-POWERED-POWERPLANT – Wait, what?

COMPOSURE – Blown pupils. Unfocused gaze. Wobbly legs. Blissful expression. Yes, he’s most definitely on something.

SHADOWSELF – Hey, that's your chance. He might be a little less inhibited than the other employees. Try and shoot some questions before he wanders off.

“Thank you… Hum, could I ask another favor?”

COMPOSURE – How the hell did that smile get even wider?

“Sure, girlie, anything ya want! I’m your humble servant.”

ASSERTION – “Girlie”? Who does that boy think he is?

SHADOWSELF – A little awkward, but hey, it’s now or never.

“Well… I’m an acquaintance of Charles and Magali Delestre. We met recently, and they told me to come here if I wanted to see them again, so that's what I did, but… They're nowhere to be seen and the sun’s setting fast. Could you tell them I'm here?”

THEATRICS – Niiiice.

COMPOSURE – He seems a little thrown off. Looks you up and down. Tilts his head, in an uncanny owl-like fashion. His blonde hair is nearly getting in his mouth.

“Huh. Huuuuuuh. Reaaaally now? Well. I’ll see what I can do for you, ma’am.”

RHETORIC – His elocution has gone from frenzied to almost slurred all of a sudden. And he went from “girlie” and “missy” to “ma’am”.

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – Well, being high does make some people a liiiittle unpredictable.

BLOODSTAINED DOOR – No. That's not it. Something isn't quite right here. You just can’t put your finger on what.

“Lemme ask my colleague. One moment please… HEY! JULIETA! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!”

Taiven startles and so do a bunch of other clients. A waitress in her early thirties and very high heels, an empty tray in hand, quickly turns around.

COMPOSURE – Her face sours as she sees who called upon her.

BLEEDING HEART – “Ugh. Again?”

THE HUNT – All eyes are on you. They’re all staring. This is the worst.

THEATRICS – Nah, this is fine. You're used to attracting attention. They'll forget about you as soon as the show starts!

The waitress huffs, and walks over to the booth. Looks over Taiven, then to her colleague.

“Heinrich, I already told you I don't want to talk to you when you're high on the job,” she huffs.

“Yeaaaah, sorry, but this issss… kind of important. Her ladyship right here…”

THEATRICS – Wow, you’re royalty now.

ASSERTION – Better than “girlie’.

AIM/READY/FIRE – Heinrich gestures in your direction, but his eyes don't really see you.

“Says she’s supposed to meet with… some Charles or Magali… Des Lettres? Rings any bell, Julie?”

THEATRICS – You're sure he heard you right. Why is he mispronouncing their last name?

COMPOSURE – Julieta frowns. From a moment, you feel something shift in the air as they look at each other.

RHETORIC – She stays silent a split second too long. Then, she addresses you directly, in a polite yet dry tone.

“I’m afraid you’re mistaken, señora, because I've never heard those names before. There's no one here named that. You're welcome to stay and enjoy the show, but I believe you're mistaken. Have a good time.”

Heinrich owl-like eyes gloss over Taiven as he lets out a weird syncopated laugh.

“Sorry, miss!”

Then they both leave her here with her coffee. She drinks, pensively.

SOLLERTIA – Heinrich slaps Julieta’s ass, she slaps his in return without missing a beat, not even blushing.

SUN-POWERED-POWERPLANT – You stifle a laugh. Love is in the air.

THICKSKIN – You take a sip of the coffee. Not too warm.

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – It's good too. Man, is there a single flaw in this bar?

FOCUS – Yes. The fact that your prime leads are supposedly not here.

THEATRICS – No, they are.

PARTI DU PEUPLE – Janelle may not be on the best terms with you, but she'd never send you on a wrong trail.

THEATRICS – And they were obviously lying. You should stick around here and find out why.

SUN-POWERED-POWERPLANT – You weren't planning to do otherwise. Giving up isn't in your vocabulary.

BLOODSTAINED DOOR – Even if it sometimes should be.

After a few minutes, the lights dim slightly and the show starts. Someone walks up on stage, wearing a feathered mask covering half their face but sporting a mane of purple hair going down to the floor.

COMPOSURE – Most likely a wig. But it's cool, albeit very cheap-looking.

They introduce themselves as El Penne Izzy and announces the name of the performers, one by one. Seven in total.

SCATTERBRAIN – Haha, El Penne Izzy, Penis-

SMARTASS – Write that down, write that down!

SCATTERBRAIN – What, penis?

SMARTASS – No, the names!

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – Aw, man, I really wanted that penis.

HYPERMNESIA – Alright. We have, in order of performance:

– Jocast Traitor

– Sir la Vampyr

– Madri Gal

– Mother Balls

– Kama Fatra

– Charlotte et Coquincinelle (Duo)

– Nick Lémage

RHETORIC – I smell a political statement in that last one.

SCATTERBRAIN – Shhhh! It’s starting!

Jocast Traitor is a drag queen dressed in a long, white and glittery toga with equally long, white and glittery hair and make-up. Her dance is syncopated, the music behind it a little ridiculous, but it seems to be part of the act.

SMARTASS – Paxaikonese inspo! Nice.

Sir la Vampyr is exactly what you'd expect from a drag king named Sir la Vampyr. Dressed all in black, a comically large hat, a weird mustache and extremely long fake fangs.

STREET SMARTS – I think those are actually some kind of paper mache straws?

In any case, all the whirling around of his cape is captivating enough to make the crowd forget his over-the-top horror movie music.

SHADOWSELF – I mean, pipe organs? Really? That's so cliché.

Meanwhile, Madri Gal is a huge, huge queen in a very tiny pink sequined dress.

SENSES (HEARING) – Whistles all around the room.

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – You don’t know where your eyes are supposed to land because there is simply too much to look at.

And as it turns out, Mother Balls is not a fitting name for this debuting queen who yet sings like an angel. Her costume has, fittingly, a huge pair of makeshift wings attached to her back. It's all blue instead of white, though.

SCATTERBRAIN – It’s like an opera, but cheaper- Wait is that a pun on blue balls.

Kama Fatra is a young drag king, not older than eighteen, with percussion music and such an energy that the whole room ends up clapping in rythm to his performance.

FEISTY FLESH – You wish you could move your body like that, to be honest. You're pretty flexible, but this kid’s on another level.

Charlotte et Coquincinelle are, as the presentator announced, a duo. One queen and one king, both dressed very a la mode, dancing with some sultry, jazzy music in the back. The crowd cheers when one pulls out a long cigarette and starts smoking it onstage.

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – You cheer along with them.

As for the last one, Nick Lémage, they are…

SCATTERBRAIN – Very, huh, avant-gardiste?

SMARTASS – It’s not avant-gardiste. It’s just a half-naked guy declaiming some nonsense poetry on stage. All you can extract from his performance was that he, oh surprise, hates the mages. Bullshit, really.

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – A bit underwhelming, but at least he was half-naked.

On that bizarre note, the show ends and the host thanks the audience and blows a kiss before leaving in a fluttering of fake feathers and long purple hair. The crowd erupts into applause as the performers go back to the stage to receive compliments and flowers. Taiven also claps vigorously from her booth.

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – God, that was so much fun. Also I think someone just threw a lace thong at them.

THICKSKIN – Fatigue lurks in the corner, but the caffeine is keeping it away. For now.

SUN-POWERED-POWERPLANT – Ugh… The sun has set, hasn't it? You’ll have to be careful… As soon as the caffeine wears off, I won’t be of much help.

THICKSKIN – You’ll manage.

Each performer is individually called by the others to step forward on the stage so they can all receive their own round of applause. Taiven claps particularly loud for the young Kama Fatra.

SCATTERBRAIN – You know, it's kinda funny.

RHETORIC – What is?

SCATTERBRAIN – Well, that’s two duos with a “Charl” in it tonight.

SMARTASS – Wait. What?

SCATTERBRAIN – Charles and Magali. Charlotte and Coquincinelle. Charles, Charlotte. And both are duos.

SMARTASS – Oh Day above. Okay. This is gonna sound crazy, but I might have a theory.

RHETORIC – … Hold up, you don’t think-

SMARTASS – That Charles and Charlotte are actually the same person? Yes.

COMPOSURE – What? Come on, that's crazy. You can’t be serious. Just because they have similar names doesn’t mean they're the same person.

THEATRICS – It’s a drag show, and you know Julieta and Heinrich have been lying to you earlier about not knowing Charles and Magali. What would be so crazy about them actually being a drag duo?

COMPOSURE – But that's just conjecture! And a far-fetched one, too.

SMARTASS – Is it really?

FOCUS – Only one way to find out.

STREET SMARTS – Time to sneak backstage, girl.

BLEEDING HEART– What? Absolutely not! You’re not allowed there!

THE HUNT – It’s dangerous.

STREET SMARTS – Come on, think about it. You have everything needed to defend yourself in your pouch and your fists.

THICKSKIN – And you’re not that tired yet.

SHADOWSELF – If you're so afraid of getting caught, you can always just ask if you can go there first.

BLEEDING HEART – But you told Ian you were gonna play it safe!

SHADOWSELF – And you are. Just watch.

Taiven picks up her cup and walks up to the counter. Gordianus is chatting with some clients near the stage, Mayumi seems to be fixing some lights, Julieta is taking order and Bilal is nowhere to be seen. The only one behind the bar is Heinrich.

SCATTERBRAIN – The owl.

THE HUNT – Owl are predators of the night.

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – He's still high, although he seems a little less assured than when you last saw him. Is someone teetering on the edge of a crash?

COMPOSURE – He grins at you with that weird tilt of the head regardless.

“Welcome back, your highness. Enjoy your coffee?”

ASSERTION – Still at it with the nicknames, huh?

SHADOWSELF – Let’s see if you can use his own quirk against him.

“Very much. Thanks, sweetheart.”

COMPOSURE – He does something akin to a half-blink. Then smiles from ear to ear.

BLEEDING HEART – It’s not often clients match his vibe. Most of them are creeped out by his behavior.

ASSERTION – Gee, I wonder why.

“My my, you sure know how to speak to waiters, milady. What more can your humble servant do for you tonight?”

RHETORIC – He’s talking more clearly now that he has a focus point.

SHADOWSELF – You lean forward against the counter, chin in hand, propped up against your elbow, and smile back.

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – Congratulations! His focus point is now your cleavage!

SHADOWSELF – You’ll make him eat in the palm of your hand.

“Heinrich! What are you slacking off for?!’

The young waiter startles as the click of heels resounds and stops behind the counter with a whiff of smoke and a flutter of dark hair.

“Hi again, señora. Is my colleague bothering you?”

STREET SMARTS – Shoot, Julieta’s back.

SHADOWSELF – Doesn't matter. You got this.

SCATTERBRAIN – Uh, how so?

SHADOWSELF – Can't you see? She's avoiding your gaze. More specifically, she avoids looking directly at you. At the very exposed skin on your chest.

COMPOSURE – She may look aloof, but it seems you’re not leaving her indifferent.

SHADOWSELF – At some point during the show, Heinrich Ferstl and Julieta Aguilar stared at you from behind the counter. The boy teased, “So, are you gonna talk to her or what, Julie? I know you think she's hot”, the woman replied dryly, “I'm on the job”. “So you do want to talk to her?” “Get off my case, pendejo. I don't like nosy clients or nosy colleagues.” “Well, in that case, this one’s mine!”

SMARTASS – Huh. Is that really what you think happened?

SHADOWSELF – Oh yes, I'm sure.

“No, he wasn't bothering me at all! We were having a pretty pleasant conversation, in fact. What about you, Julieta? You seem flushed. Do I perhaps have a part to play in this?”

Julieta’s head swivels to Taiven, mouth open as if to defend herself, then stops dead in her tracks, her empty tray still in hand.

RHETORIC – Caught off-guard by you adressing her by name.

SHADOWSELF – What a cutie. Trying so, so hard to look you in the eyes and not anywhere else.

COMPOSURE – She’s clearly flustered. Doesn’t know where to put herself.

ASSERTION – You’re the one in control here.

“Well, I… It’s… No, uh, I'm…”

“It's okay,” Taiven says sweetly, “I’m not mad. You can stare all you like. And, who knows…”

SHADOWSELF – Your hand slowly crawls across the counter, your rings clinking against each other. You brush your fingers against a long, loose strand of brown hair. Julieta sees you do it more than she feels it.

COMPOSURE – Her breath hitches.

“I might even let you see more, if you ask nicely.”

COMPOSURE – She gasps, reddens and stutters all at once. No trace of the gruffiness she displayed earlier.

“I- Hum- I… I n-need to get back to work.”

She grabs a few drinks, almost blindly, and skitters off to go serve her clients, tucking her hair behind her ear.

THE HUNT – Like a cat running away from the rings of a snake.

BLEEDING HEART – Did you scare her off?

SHADOWSELF – Are you kidding? She liked the attention. She could scarcely believe her luck, have you seen her face?

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – You sent delightful shivers down your own spine with this, babe.

SHADOWSELF – The night may diminish you, but you're still going strong.

SENSES (HEARING) – A whistle.

Heinrich has leaned down on his elbow as well, his face now very close to Taiven’s.

“Daaaamn. You sent my Julie flying over the moon with that.”

SENSES (SMELL) – His breath is a mix of bubblegum and something sour, pungeant. Not really pleasant, but you’ve seen worse.

Taiven chuckles.

“Well, I could send you over the moon too, if you wanna. But… I’m all for equivalent exchanges, you see.”

Heinrich raises an eyebrow, his cheeks a little redder.

COMPOSURE – He wasn’t expecting you to be so straightforward.

“Huh-uh. I’m all ears, milady.”

RHETORIC – Color him intrigued.

“Well, if you could… I don’t know…”

SHADOWSELF – You slide your hand on his hand. Up on his forearm. His shoulder.

“Grant me access backstage…”

SHADOWSELF – On his cheek. Softly.

SOLLERTIA – It's hot under your fingers.

SHADOWSELF – He leans into your palm. Smiling. Your thumb strokes his skin, gently.

“Then maybe we could make some kind of deal. What do you say, Heinrich?"

“Hmm… Well…”

He turns his head to the side. Just a little.

NERVES – Enough for his mouth and hair to graze your palm and-

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – HOLY SHIT. THIS? THIS IS THE GOOD STUFF.

SUN-POWERED-POWERPLANT – You’re still married, by the way. Still married. Yup. Very happily married, might I add. Married as in wed. Religiously. Under the eyes of Day.

“I meaaan, if it’s just that… Then sure, I can show you the backdoor. Can I ask why, though? I thought you’d ask something more… scandalous.”

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – You know, like to make him see a thousand heavens on that counter.

ASSERTION – Pfff. In his dreams, maybe.

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – And yours.

“Oh, I just want to give my compliments to the performers… But I knew I’m not allowed backstage, so I thought… Why not ask the cute boy and have fun while I'm at it?”

Heinrich has a pleased little giggle, clearly playing along with it.

“Y’know what? I like your style. There’s a door here that leads backstage.”

He points at a door behind a thick curtain, in a little enclave space next to a staircaise.

“You can go through here, I'll cover for you.”

SOLLERTIA – He swiftly takes your other hand, the one that isn't cradling his face, and kisses it.

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – Tonight is FIRE.

SUN-POWERED-POWERPLANT – STILL. MARRIED.

“Be careful, milady. It's a wild world out there.”

Then, he lets go, and happily waves Taiven goodbye with a little wink.

“Don’t be a stranger, aye?”

She winks back, and then walks as casually as she can to the door.

THE HUNT – You’ll be a stranger as soon as you can, actually.

SHADOWSELF – These things are never meant to last.

STREET SMARTS – But you got what you needed! Great job!

As soon as she closes the door, the sound of the club is immediately muffled. A long, narrow hallway with white walls lit by pale light bulbs stretches ahead of her.

SCATTERBRAIN – Creepy.

SENSES (HEARING) – It's weird being in silence all of a sudden.

THE HUNT – It’s weird that it’s this silent. There should be more noise, with the performers backstage. They can't have already left.

SOLLERTIA – You reach into your pouch and keep your hand on the pocket knife.

STREET SMARTS – Move with caution. If anyone’s here, they’re not expecting you, and surprised people can react violently.

FEISTY FLESH – So can you.

She proceeds down the hallway. There’s a few cardboard boxes filled with various shiny accessories, old posters and clothing racks piled up around, sometimes up to the ceilings. Then some brightly-painted doors come into view.

SMARTASS – Lodges.

SCATTERBRAIN – Lodges full of secrets.

BLOODSTAINED DOOR – A weird feeling washes over you. A sense of deja-vu.

HYPERMNESIA – Maybe you… No, you have been here before. You're sure of that now. But when? Why can't you remember?

NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS – Hey, don’t look at me!

SENSES (HEARING) – Wait- What's that? Voices?

STREET SMARTS – One of the door's slightly ajar. There's light inside.

Taiven approaches carefully, with slow steps, trying to eavesdrop on what is clearly a conversation.

SENSES (HEARING) – They speak in a hushed tone. You can't make out anything. Maybe if you get closer-

THE HUNT – Found you, hisses the cat as its claws sink into the rat's fur.

REFLEXES – WATCH OUT!

AIM/READY/FIRE – Damn it-

Before the Gaikamshigthai has had the time to fully turn around, the palm of a hand pushes her on the back, and she stumbles forwards. Into the room.

FEISTY FLESH – You manage to catch yourself on your feet before falling-

SENSES (SIGHT) – But you can't make out anything before the lights go out.

A door slams behind her, followed by an ominous click. She rushes back towards it, grips the knob in her hand and tries to turn it.

SOLLERTIA – Nothing.

FEISTY FLESH – You keep pushing with all your strength. You can’t be defeated by a stupid doorknob…

SOLLERTIA – … No dice. It won’t budge. You're locked in here.

BLOODSTAINED DOOR – Trapped in the dark. Alone. Or not alone. Which is worse.

SUN-POWERED-POWERPLANT – …

THE HUNT – … Fuck.

[tianna-blanche]

Stories of a weeping willow

"You only fear death because you haven't lived enough."-Nefariti Ra

"It is mine to avenge; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them.”-Deuteronomy 32:35

warning: Smut, blood, violence, gore, use of profanity, pornographic sexual content, death mentioned, killing

The air is moggy and unbreathable. Ever since my father's death, it seems to feel that way. Suffocating and toxic. No release or a way to breathe. As friendly as I am with the dark, I still can't escape the guilt and pain of knowing what I've done. Thoughts consumed and memories infiltrated by the agony and reminisce of his screams. I thought I wanted to hear it, his screams. I was satisfied with the crushing of bones, the blood dripping, the cries, and all of the fear. That was until I realized from where the suffrage came and who would have the carry the burden of it occurring. It's not like I missed him. My father was a horrid man and to rid the world of him was a pleasure. What wasn't a pleasure was the fucking bond he banded us to and carrying a guilt and anger I really had no ownership of. Fucking pussy got what he deserved and yet somehow, here I was. The one stuck with all of his pain and burdens. Had I known that would've been the case, I would have taken the both of us out. Then again, HE wouldn't have allowed me freedom. A seldom evening of Don Julio, Beyonce, and lust led me here. I can't believe this shit.

The cool air brushed past my face. As smooth as my skin felt, it was as tight as leather. Being the walking line between life and death had its advantages and well, the moments it just plain sucked ass. And walking in the cold, it fucking sucked ass. It was chilly, and knowing my body temperature could only go so far up, I was stuck. I wasn't freezing but it was uncomfortable. It's like living a tire in a snow blizzard. Uncomfortable. A walking contradiction, I know but when you're half alive and half dead, well..... You don't really care to make sense. You just tell it like it is and let others make their own assumptions.

Arriving at the cabin, I walked up the short creaky stairs and knocked on the door. Akun should be home. Imma kill his ass if he left after I told him to wait.

"Who is it?" he shouted. I swear he irked my nerves. Nigga got fucked up memory and he obviously blind 'cause the doors got glass to 'em. "Ya dead ass granny. Open the door." I huffed as I heard footsteps near the door and saw a chocolate little figure. "Hey Auntie Kash. Where you been at?" My little Ameena looked up at me and smiled. She was five and already four foot eight. She had my heart as well as my looks and that made our relationship even more special. I walked in the door as she backed up, closing it behind me.

"Hey honey bee. How come you the one answering the door? Where ya big headed daddy?" She giggled. She loved when I was trash talking her pops. Something else we had in common. "He told me to check the door incase it was a brown monster with buck teeth. I'an see no monster but I saw my auntie." She delivered one of her cutest toothless smiles. She was growing up on me and I couldn't stop it. Even if I wanted to. I already had to deal with the fact I would outlive her, but it'd be selfish to stop her from growing just because I wanted to hold her forever.

"And who was supposed to be the brown monster?" I placed my hands on my hips and looked down to her. She gave a cheeky look and turned a cute deep red. My bronzed baby. Kissed by the sun with curls as tight as a black grandmothers the morning of church. A cute little red kinky head baby with life, vigor, and enough love to heal a condemned army. Could she heal a damned soul? Probably not but it would be better to save hers anyway. Thank God my brother kept her innocent. a far cry from the life we had to live. Her mother was in Aspen on business. She wanted to take her with her but she knew she couldn't keep eyes on her at all times due to the conference. So here she was with every allergy, like, dislike, doctor, ambulance, family member and even the damn national guard listed with everything in between in case of emergencies.

It wasn't that my brother was incompetent, it's just with a little adventurous girl who also just so happened to be born with magical gifts, sometimes as a half vampiric, half witch father, it was a bit much. That and he had to watch his fucking Eagles. "They going to the Superbowl this year. watch." Yeah and would still choke just like the previous times. But whatever, as long as I get an excuse to spend more times with my princess before I had to make this transformation. A little more time with my baby before I had to really become a monster she would grow to fear and eventually hate.

"Don't cry Auntie, daddy was just joking. I'm sure he knows you're not a monster. You wouldn't hurt a fly." I touched my face as her little hazel eyes glanced up at me. It was wet with tears, and a tinge of blood. I hated this. Wiping my eyes, I crotched down. "I know baby but daddy hurt my feelings calling me a monster. It wasn't nice." Her eyes grew and she ran in the direction of the kitchen, shouting and apparently giving her dad a piece of her mind. I chuckled and followed her into the kitchen as my brother prepared a roasted chicken. "Lil' girl you knew what I was doing. Don't come in here tryna fake. Gon' fuss at me cause ya punk ass aunt get all sensitive."

I sent a slap to his head telepathically. "oh so imma punk. IM the punk when last time I recall, I didn't piss the bed til' I was 12. Nah that can't be me you talking about right." I smirked as he mugged me. "You got me fucked up. And why you gon' say allat in front of her Kashee. You know this bug eyed little girl don't forget nothing." She gasped and looked up at her dad, "I'm not a bug eyed little girl. I got your eyes. If I look like a bug, then you're a centipede." I had to hold back my laughter. My niece just knew she ate and I could see my brother about to reply with a smart remark. "Baby that's a bug too. What you should say is ya daddy looks like an ass." She nodded in agreement looking back at him who was glaring me down. "Yeah daddy, you look like an ass. a big ass." I choked and started hollering. I went to grab and pull her back from him as he looked at her like she had thousand heads and I knew I was about to get her fucked up. "Good job boo, next time let me cuss. ok." She gave me a smile and a thumbs up before glaring at her dad and running off.

I looked back after her as she left and watched her figure disappear to the foyer to watch a rerun of Sagwa the Siamese cat. Since when they start showing Sagwa on TV? And why I never catch it. "Watchu want nigga? Done came up in here stirring the pot and shit." I looked back at him, getting a serious expression. "I got four weeks Ku. I just need to enjoy the last of my humanity and hopefully ask if you've found a way to prevent this..." I paused with grief. Akun eyes softened, sympathetic to my plight. He had begged our family council for him to carry the burden. He cried and plead and even got into it with one of uncles. In our family there's a curse. For all the power we've accumulated, one must sacrifice their humanity. It's usually the one with the purest heart, and strongest morals. If you carried an extremely positive energy, it's only nature to expect the opposite. The deal was made with the exact man who tricked me into activating the curse. "Kashee, I'm still looking. I may have found a way to make it less painful. But to keep it from happening, it's still looking slim to none sis." His eyes lowered and his aura fell somber. A powerful man my brother was, as he was the only one to have the knowledge of alchemy. He was a necromancer and more. But in this ordeal he couldn't save me. He just couldn't.

"Well, with no solution, we better start preparing me. If I'm gon' be a dead evil cold blooded bitch, I'd rather come in style and prepared." I offered him a small smile and he returned it. "MEENA, WE IN THE SHED, DO NOT OPEN THAT DOOR FOR NOBODY. MATTER FACT, CMON." Her little footsteps came pattering and she followed us out the back door. We walked in shed, "Sit over there and watch the iPad. No matter how loud ya auntie yells, you don't come through that door. Don't answer for nobody. I don't care WHO or WHAT it is. Y'hear me?"

"Yeah daddy I got it. No opening doors and stay in child's business as you perform ya work." Her kissed her forehead and escorted me to the back. Sliding the door closed, I laid on the table with the black leather straps with the metallic reddish gold chains. It was anointed in oil and had stripes of powerful wizards and witches blood of our bloodline to help give it is power. A bible laid to my right and an book of the dead on the left. Jars and accessories laid around and decorated the room. This family always carried power, some more than others and we paid in our souls generations after generations.

"A'ight Kashee. Imma chain ya down and I need you to cut to one from one hundred. Put this chain in ya mouth." I did as I was instructed. Worry swept over my face and my stomach began to turn and ache. Awaiting the pain caused more trouble so I tried to be absent minded, sadly my mind drifted off to the night our father sacrificed our momma. He strapped to a table just like this one and sliced her like a pig for bacon. Draining all her blood and gaining all her strength. The tears down her eyes, the strong metallic smell, the loud screams and hollers. He tortured her and then consumed her blood, forcing us to drink as well. She fought so hard to prevent this from happening and yet she still succumbed. But she never went down without a fight. A warrior, a sorceress, her own alpha and omega. She believed in the God in her as an offspring of God and I will forever love her for that. If only she got away from him, we wouldn't be here now. "I'm so sorry baby sis. If i could take this away, If I could take ya place I would." He grabbed my hand and squeezed a reassuring squeeze. I gave a look of love before he began and endured a long night of hurting.

Why the fuck did I have to be here?

[aspoonofsugar]

RWBY Volume 9 "Epilogue" Thoughts

So, here it comes an extra volume 9 animatic "epilogue" and I wanted to share some thoughts and a brief analysis.

General Thoughts

I really really liked it!

I am happy the Atlas refugees are having problems to adapt and that the Schnee Family has to face their privilege head on

It not being included in volume 9 works better for me because its contents can easily be re-arranged at the beginning of volume 10. In my opinion the story flows better this way (only my 2 cents though)

I am neutral to Raven's appearance.

On the one hand I hope the conflict between her and Yang is not solved too easily (I also think Yang hiding the Spring Maiden identity should be addressed). On the other hand her appearing at the beginning of the new story arc solves several things. She can make progress early on, so that the focus can then be given to other characters. Moreover, she can reveal what happened between her and Summer. If this mystery is solved, then there is more time to focus on Summer's return (either as a Grimm, a human or in some kind of symbolic way). In short, it can all lead to very thight writing, so I approve.

As for people wondering if the story was changed since RWBYJ leave the Ever After on their own... we can't say, but personally I never felt Raven saving them from the Ever After really worked thematically and I don't think it is what the epilogue implies. After all, before the video they say they deleted some scenes which tie with volume 10 plot. I think RWBYJ's meeting with Raven is one of these. Nonetheless, I am happy if we get our "Spring leading to Summer" symbolism. (Which really works on multiple levels doesn't it?)

In any case, I think Raven simply senses Yang is back and goes to meet her. Then she leads them all to Qrow. This in itself is a significant improvement for her. Still, it makes sense if Raven thought Yang was really dead. It can work as a final callout and a consequence of her actions. Yang outright asks Raven to choose between herself and her daughter and Raven makes the selfish choice. As a result, Yang dies. It is no surprise then that Yang coming back is seen by Raven as a final chance to do the right thing.

Speaking of people dealing with grief and loss, here we come to the heart of the new content and the focus of this short analysis.

Winter and Qrow - Grief

So, the heart of the video is really the foiling between Winter and Qrow. This is interesting in itself because these 2 characters are tied together since their first appearance in volume 3:

Qrow is Ruby's mentor

Winter is Weiss's mentor

Both girls look up to them and try to imitate them. Still, this changes with time as both Ruby and Weiss grow until they are able to inspire Qrow and Winter back.

Here, we see exactly this, as both Winter and Qrow talk to the two girls in their minds (Qrow is talking to all of them, but the foiling is between Weiss and Ruby and thematically the focus is on Ruby anyway). Still, their thoughts are complete opposites.

On the one hand Winter focuses only on the problems and sees no beauty at all.

Winter: "But no amount of determination or hard work will change where we find ourselves now. What do you do when there is no hope left?"

On the other hand Qrow is conscious things are bad, but is full of hope.

Qrow: Call me crazy, but I am actually feeling a little optimistic about things. I figure... Don't get me wrong...It's bad. In fact it'd never been worse. And yet, you can still see the goodness in all things. Acts of kindness, people trying to atone for past wrongs.

This ties to their 2 different ways of mourning.

Winter: "You and your friends did all you could to save the world. You would be so disappointed in us. Maybe it's for the best you don't have to see this Weiss" > She is looking at the memorial monument, where it's written "Don't come back"

Qrow: "Things may be bad, but my biggest regret is that none of you are here to see the good that you started because you did start something." > He cries while looking at a picture of Ruby that says "Remember her message"

Winter thinks it is best that Weiss isn't there to see that everything was useless. Qrow instead wishes the kids were there to see that the world is changing. These behaviours aren't limited to Winter and Qrow's feelings over the protagonists, but they fit their reaction to another important loss they both faced:

Penny and Clover's deaths have similar roles in Winter and Qrow's stories, as they are supposed to integrate with their lost loved ones. This is conveyed also through their respective powers:

Winter inherits the Winter Maiden's power by Penny and Qrow's semblance evolves to become similar to Clover's. This shows Qrow has successfully integrated Clover's mentality into his own:

Qrow: Like an oasis in a desert, it's all a matter of perspective. You see, an old friend taught me that.

The same can't be said about Winter:

Penny: "I won't be gone, I'll be part of you."

Winter: "Because of me, Penny is gone. Forever."

As Penny herself states in her final goodbye, she isn't really "gone", as her legacy lives up in Winter. This means Winter should honor her will and adopt Penny's optimistic mindset. Still, Winter is doing the opposite. This is why she feels Penny is really gone forever.

In other words, Winter has understood rationally what a real Maiden should be like:

Winter: No, Penny. You were always the real Maiden at heart.

However, she still doesn't feel it in her heart. This is why probably she needs Weiss to finish her arc:

After all, Weiss is supposed to be Winter's second Gerda, which takes out the final cursed glass fragment from Winter's heart.

Qrow is instead close to the end of his arc, in my opinion. As a matter of fact he has already been inspired by Ruby:

I think he only needs a top off, which will probably come with a final showdown with Tyrian, which will not be about revenge, but rather to save someone (probably Mercury).

What's important is that these 2 characters explore the theme of grief in opposite ways.

Ruby: I… I thought this was lost forever. How’d you have it? Blacksmith: Nothing. No one is ever truly lost.

Qrow understands the meaning of the Blacksmith's words, whereas Winter doesn't. The Blacksmith conveys to Ruby that all the people she lost are still parts of her. This is why she keeps finding Penny's sword over and over. It is because the hope Ruby saw in Penny is really just a part of Ruby herself:

Jinxy: Enough hope to fill this jar.

Ruby fights a Nevermore (grief) by using Penny's sword (hope).

Similarly, Qrow's sense of belonging and his wish to do good don't go away with Clover's death. If anything they are parts of Qrow that Clover made emerge. Thanks to the Lucky Fisherman, Qrow has now the right framework to show them to the world.

Winter too has in herself the heart to be a Maiden like Penny. She too has one of Penny's swords inside. She is just not looking at it out of self-hate and guilt. Luckily she is now surrounded by people who love her and they will hopefully help her take a closer look at the mirror.

[yuseirra]

My brain keeps running on its own trying to formulate a way to make sense out of it all but at this point, I wonder if it'd be worth theorizing(If I can think of something good I'll still love to share :) )

Believe it or not, I'm very, very, very stern about trying to stay true to canon.. Because working with existing characters, they have their cores don't they? I really do want to care about portraying them in ways that are true to how they are in their respective stories, that's what makes them, them

With onk.. I'm starting to wonder...(yeah I just started;) this may be the first time where I may go oh let's just ditch canon I'll do whatever I want depending how it goes. Maybe I still believe some sort of miracle may happen in the remaining chapters that'd wrap everything together at may it be cluttersome(sorry but there is literally no room left for it to be able to meet its closure in a beautiful and graceful way with a deep sense of nuance and depth the way this work deserves. It's INCREDIBLY SHORT. It cannot happen within that amount of space it needs at least ten decently lengthy chapters.) but..I don't know~~.....

Oh I'm more concerned than hyped and it's been that way ever since I started vigorously drawing for this series again this July tbh 154 was GOOD, how come everything went downhill from there haha😂.. That chapter had me so hooked and I felt I knew all the answers that were to come from that point forth. I really had a huge intuition of how things would play out(and surprisingly, the possibility is actually still there)

I don't think I'm the type of fan who can ignore canon and do what I want, I've never been that way and I can't bring to convince myself of what's not there (this means, I sincerely believe in all the things I've been drawing o<-<) but... Let's see how it goes. I was so stressed and tense ever since I started drawing hikaai...I don't like being unsure of things...what if they're totally different from what I make of them...but seeing how CANON's going, maybe I don't have to care so much either if it's doing whatever it wants, canon feels so unhinged, was there ANYONE who was able to predict what were to happen 100%? What are they doing?; So yeah.

Oh;; I hope Aqua's okay. It's just...so cruel. I've been annoyed with him but that's because I wanted him to live!!! Why doesn't he- why did he HAVE to do THAT?? Hurt his dad and everyone he loves and even himself, I'm trying to find a reasoning that's convincing enough for me to comprehend just how this could make sense and hold some kind of message although it's downright horrifying; I kept asking in my posts all yesterday right? What message are thet trying to send with this and what could be the point? I can understand if they do a good job with it, I've been putting my effort in order to make out what good may come out of it but I guess only the author would know for now

I don't know where this post is going myself, I'm just writing out my thoughts, this series may have taught me a lot about myself that I wasn't so aware of...

I guess when conflicts appear I end up going, "they couldn't have had malicious intent, could they?" on many occasions, you really don't know what the other party can be thinking so for most cases, it just feels better to believe they didn't mean harm or evil. Maybe I'm being that way about Hikaru but AI LOVED THAT GUY. I didn't have a lot of thoughts about him before that dropped! I couldn't make a clear judgment so I just left my interpretation of him on hold. Oh ;v;).. It's been REALLY ROUGH holding out for him after that happened pft will that pay off.. That guy's still so ambiguous. I rather him be a good person. The story is better if he were. I guess believing in someone is hard but I'll.. Do that till I can. I think Ai would have?

You know, if I were Ai, I'd end him with my own hands if he became that messed up. That's how I drew that one comic after 162. I'd give him a hug and then end him lol because I'd feel responsible in a way. It's ridiculous and tragic how things turned to be the way it is but it doesn't feel so resolved either

I'm afraid about the fate of this series but at least not long left now. Hopefully I can still draw Ai and her bf in a wholesome manner, I really cared for those guys and I'd love to stick around and do more for it at least for awhile

[metrosexualcyclops]

a post about my bbc ghosts oc because @natequarter made a post that reminded me of him!

TW for mentions of alcohol, vomit and some violence

His name is Axel "Ace" Spades (he/him). Ace is basically an oc insert because I thought it'd be fun (sorry for being cringe </3 /hj). He's a 26 year old indie (wanna-be) filmmaker who died around the late-2010s (i'm thinking like March 2017?). Ace has a pretty long mullet (think like bon jovi) and it's dyed bright pink. He usually wears the same pair of crust pants that are layered with a bunch of home-made patches. Aside from that he'll wear the first thing he can find in his closet, so his shirt is always clashing badly with his pants. He's not very tall, about 158cm, and he makes no effort to look taller either. Ace died wearing a shirt that says "heavy metal" in a bubbly font that he cut the sleeves off of, his crust pants, kirby-themed socks and a pair of vans that are caked with dirt.

Most people know him as Ace because he thought it'd be cool to go by that on top of his chosen name "Axel", so there's no real cool story behind it. Spades isn't his real last name either, he just thought it'd be even cooler to be known as "Ace Spades", and he didn't want to keep using his father's name. Basically his whole deal is that he grew up in a very protected and controlling family, so he took uni as an excuse to get out of his parents' house and get as distant from them as possible. His upbringing also caused him to be a really big adrenaline junkie, since his big belief is to take whatever chance, pick whatever fight and do whatever pops into his mind "to make up for lost time". His impulses has gotten him into a lot of trouble physically and mentally, and so has actually had quite a few instances where he died for a moment and was resuscitated or just got waay too close to death, which brings me to his death and his ghostly powers.

The idea at the moment is that he died on St Paddy's Day, after a long night of bar hopping and heavy drinking. He built up the bad habit of being a pretty heavy drinker and a chain smoker. Anyway, at one specific bar, Ace almost started a stupid bar fight and got kicked out. In anger, he hopped on his motorcycle and drove up to the more secluded side of the village he happened to be in. His motorcycle broke down suddenly as he was riding, and it happened to break down right in front of the Button House borders (territory?? i'm not sure of the right english word, i apologise). He tried to walk up to the house to ask for help, but keep in mind it's about 2am at this point and Alison and Mike (and most of the ghosts) are asleep. Ace passes out on the driveway before he can even make it up to the front porch. Robin is the one to find his body really early in the morning while he's on a walk. In his excitement, he runs into the house screaming and wakes everyone up, including Ace himself, who gets up off the floor to look down and find his own body lying face down with a small pool of vomit near him. Long story short, he died in Button House territory, became a ghost, Alison and Mike have to deal with the shit he left behind, and he becomes a menace to them just like all the other ghosts <3 Now for his ghostly powers!! Basically, because of the amount of near-death experiences that Ace went through while he was alive, Ace also had Alison's power of seeing ghosts. He was just convinced that he was crazy, though. However, Alison only had one near-death experiences. Ace has had so many, he was able to wave away the ghosts he saw as "a result of some kind of brain damage". So on top of being able to see ghosts, he could also touch them if he tried hard enough. So because of his condition and the stuff he did while living, his "spirit" in a sense is confused about its state and as a result, Ace can interact with the human world normally if he focuses hard enough (e.g. he can move and touch things, he can be heard by the living) BUT he can't touch humans normally most times since it takes so much effort to do it and it generally is just uncomfortable (because y'know he's still a ghost at the end of the day). He also unfortunately can't touch or interact with his ghost friends, and sometimes he can't even speak or hear them, unless he puts in the same amount of focus and effort he needs to interact with the living. He can always see the ghosts, though, so they all found a way to mime what they want when his ghost powers go funky. Sometimes, his spirit is just too confused that he can't control what it does, so there are moments where he tries to walk through a wall but face-plants right into it, or he tries to speak to Mike/Alison and they don't hear anything. Same for when he tries to speak or hear the ghosts. TL;DR, i have a silly bbc ghosts oc insert that i went a bit too creative and silly with when i was thinking of his ghost powers and now his ghost powers (which would sometimes seem like a blessing to the other ghosts) also is a curse.

[oletus-carousel]

[[ EVENT START ]] :: "Patrilineal Puppetry"

💡 HOMURA ASTOR HAS ARRIVED AT THE MANOR! 💡

[[ Tag asks with💡to talk to Homura! ]]

~

"after a fall from grace, he'll rebuild his troupe by any means necessary."

"fear is the hand that pulls your strings / useless toy, pitiful plaything."

~

ALIAS :: "The Ringmaster" [formerly The Hypnotist] AGE :: ??? [Believed to be in mid-to-late forties. Refuses to disclose.] IMPORTANT RELATIONS :: "Carrie Astor" - Daughter // Haruhi Astor - Ex-Wife // Bernard [of Hullabaloo Circus] - Childhood Friend, Rival // Ada Mesmer - Former Colleague SKILLS :: Hypnotism, Puppeteering, Deal-Making

FACTION :: Hunter

APPEARANCE :: The Ringmaster stands tall and proud in direct contrast to his daughter, and is around 6''6. His black hair is usually short and well-kept, but he's neglected it for long enough that it reaches the nape of his neck and the fringe almost covers his eyes.

His right eye is covered from view by a simple medical patch, secured with bands. It seems too big to just be covering said eye, as if the concealed damage spread, and is otherwise affixed firmly to his face to prevent any light getting beneath it. His left is normal, hazel coloured, but it tends to stare directly forwards instead of having any sense of direction.

Around his neck, he wears a watch on a chain. This is engraved with the Muse Mark, boasting both a small clock and a photograph in opposing sides. The latter depicts a young man and woman who appear to be at a showground, dressed in appropriate performance attire with a tent in the background. Nobody except the three in the Astor family have witnessed this photo, as it was taken when Homura and Haruhi were young lovers.

He wears a black button-down shirt and pants, the only embellishments being red curlicues sewn on the collar. Above this, he's regularly seen with a black waistcoat adorned with shining red buttons. His shoes are always polished black dress shoes, no matter how casual the occasion.

The oddity in his design, however, lies in the control bar strapped to his back: the black cross of wood, often seen manipulating a marionette, but crafted as an oversized mimic. Its strings wrap around his arms and legs in an unruly spiral, slicing through fabric and skin indiscriminately. Though the man’s own blood dries upon these strings, it is the very control bar that he brandishes as a blunt-force weapon in-game.

PAST :: Homura was a childhood friend to Bernard, the ringmaster of Hullabaloo, and was compliant in helping the troupe form - doing tricks diligently, even as the group rose into popularity and he was cast aside for newer, more interesting acts. So he broke away, attempting to form his own - Sparkslide. This he ran alongside his wife with his daughter as his pawn, for a time that she no longer remembers. After all, he'd spent many years honing his acts, particularly hypnotism. He has unspecified ties to Ada, as she's a hypnotherapist, but declines having worked at the White Sands Street asylum.

He was summoned to Oletus Manor with the promise of everyone there [the survivors] brimming with potential for the troupe, and a possibility of revenge by taking in some of the past Hullabaloo members to that number: even Carrie when she'd run away to join that rival troupe.

All he had to do was use his hypnotism to the Baron's benefit, helping muddle the memories and recall of the participants' lives beyond the games, hollowing them out and making everything easier for the Baron to manipulate. He had no clue that he'd be included in a game himself, eventually, but it'd likely be Carrie's. She's his closest connection in the manor, and he fears that she'll crush his chance of dominion.

[refriedrambles]

So like if the relatability and sympathy for Dib goes up when he's not actively being a dick to and being kept in check by his classmates, and that making things seem too mean spirited towards him with the tone of IZ overall isn't the solution to like try to balance his wonder of being in space with like this rag tag crew he clearly thinks he's better then and are around long enough that he can't hide his freak from them. Also just like age him up cause a kid in space with noone they know is just kinda sad in a poor boy way. And like why the fuck not

Like Dib going off about proving aliens are real to humanity and bring up how it's madness the Roswell tapes aren't enough for people. And they're just like what are the Roswell tapes and he absolutely goes off. They've never seen him more appalled about their "ignorance" or more thrilled to talk about something. He's spitting, he's drooling, he's shaking, he's shaking others and lost all sense of personal boundaries all while talking about these poor stranded dudes getting cut open

Him having a convos with members of the crew where he gets increasingly prying about their physiology, just super invasive with the questions and as this interrogation goes on he offhandly brings up vivisection and yearning to see how all that works. Him pressure them into flexing unusual muscles and demonstrating things humans simply can't do even if they express discomfort. And this just keeps happening. Usually to different people, but occasionally he seems to get stuck on a person or species.

Initially they believe he's some sorta bounty hunter or something. Like he's hunting a wanted irken it's not a big jump, but then as time goes on that's convinced he's this absolutely unhinged obsessive poucher. (I think I need to read Moby Dick)

They've gotta work with an irken for whatever reason and he actively sabotages their own ship and work because he could never trust an irken and is barely willing to humor the idea. He's already left his guard down around Zim thinking he's harmless and he's got no idea where Zim is and its actually fucking eating him alive

Basically Dib in space should lose any social skills he gained over the course of the show because of the lack of humans and potential "betrayal" of Zim. He is the one that brought up being a superior species first after all

Zim's betrayal is simply leaving him alone on earth for any amount of time btw. Whether they were on good terms or in their continuous game of cat and mouse. Zim was supposed to be his constant or his big break then he's just gone. And Dib is alone. He lost his shot

He shouldn't be able to let go if Zim disappears. If anything it's a betrayal. Even if he tries to and he grows up and gets a real job it should eat at him. He knows the truth. He's right. His only proof is gone. But he's right. And he goes full Denzel Crocker until he manages to go to space.

Also it'd be so fucked if he actively decided to be a teacher just to determine if any of the kids are secretly aliens

Typically, crew excluded, Dib's meetings/interactions with aliens are so short he comes of as typical or even a bit charming as he's very attentive and is obviously curious about their cultures and like he's polite enough

[obs3rveparks]

Monument Park - #4

Watching over Monument Park, I don't expect much to happen today. Cars line the curb, as they always seem to do, but their owners are all inside Cary Library or are somewhere else. The only signs of movement are the multicolor leaves in every shade of fall scuttling around from the breeze of the wind. The park itself is barren, the same way it's been for the first few minutes every time I've come.

Of course, life seems to have its own sense of humor some days, so it doesn't stay this way often. Almost all at once, a series of activity starts. It happens back to back in a way that means I have to hurriedly jot down the key details of each thing so as to catch the others in time.

The first is a man in a dull green long-sleeve shirt and dark blue jeans, though his cloths are not what catch my eye initially. It's actually his hair--long, light brown and absolutely wild with a beard to match. The next thing is that he's nearly skipping down the pathway, snapping his fingers to an imaginary tempo and singing loud enough for it to echo across the park to my car. He looks so carefree and lighthearted and it's nice to see someone so unbothered with trying to appeal to society's and other people's opinions.

Not long after the singing man disappears, two men on bikes come pedaling up the pathway. The first one wears a tan jacket over a hoodie and a red backpack. He's going pretty slowly for no apparent reason. From my car, the second guy looks to be dressed in the same tan jacket and on the same bike, but he's going a bit faster and is pedaling a lot harder than the other guy. He seems to have some sort of bike trailer attached to the back of his bike, the kind meant for children, and from where I'm sitting, there looks to be a kid in it. The second guy catches up to the first and they make it up the path and past the amphitheater before they stop. The second guy gets off his bike and goes back to help whoever's in the trailer stand up, but instead of a toddler, it's a grown woman wearing a puffy coat. I stop typing to stare in shock for a moment before I'm overcome with laughter at the sheer ridiculousness of it all. Just from the laughter at this occurrence, I immediately feel lighter. My day, while not the best but also not the worst, brightened. Sometimes, a good laugh just feels nice.

Not a lot happens after that, however. An older man walks past my car on the sidewalk, dressed interestingly for fifty degree weather. He's wearing a light brown jacket over a red hoodie and purple-grey shorts. When he notices me in the car, he lifts a hand in a wave and I wave back awkwardly. A few moments later I notice two young boys exit a car to my left, carrying guitar cases that are almost as big as they are. As soon as they're out of the car, they race off down the sidewalk, presumably to guitar lessons.

It's interesting how things work out sometimes. I'd originally thought that today would be the most boring of my visits, but instead, it'd turned out to be the most eventful. I leave the park, ready to head home, and excited for what my next visit will bring.

[sunlessea]

❛  do  you  deserve  it ?   ❜ + mirror + beg - firespages :)

the enormity of my desire / @londonfallen

it would claw out fires' eyes if only it could reach the bastard! instead, its left equal parts growling and whimpering where it's held down by the throat 'gainst the cold floor of its office, claws twisted 'round its back in the other bat's grasp. its wrists had been near rubbed raw with how viciously it's tried to twist itself free, but there is only so much even it can do when its teeth, still stained with blood from having torn at its vicious paramour's neck leading up to this, cannot catch the hand that has itself wrapped around its own injured neck. it feels like it should be gasping for air, or trying to kick its legs to free itself from the position it's been forced into, rather than letting its knees bruise against the ground's harsh surface. but even if it needed to breathe, it'd barely be able to, only managing to gasp out the most strangled cries each time the full length of fires' cock slams into it from behind.

the sheer silk of its blouse still clings to it, never fully ripped off : likewise, the only real protection it has from outright scraping its knees are the remaining tatters of its slacks never entirely pulled away before it'd had its hips slammed flush back against fires' own. it's a brutal affair, one that's left it near breathlessly goading its colleague onward with what short quips it can manage. where its voice doesn't encourage with insult and barbed tongue, its body makes up for, wet and cum alike trailing not only from its pussy where each thrust deeper inside it causes fires' own to spill out of it, but along its ass where it had previously finished inside before—

"a—aah...!" its legs are shaking, for all pages spoke so highly of its prudish decorum. it doesn't care about volume past the mask of innocence it pretends to wear, not when there isn't a soul dead or alive who could hope to contest its reputation or person the moment it left this office. it knows its employees can hear them if they linger near too long, but who would risk it? no londoner seeks out the business of a master with their right mind, and so it moans where it's able, when fires palm squeezing its throat loosens just enough for it to get a sound out. it hates it! a reprehensible beast, a savage, a barbarian, through and through—!

"d—die," it wheezes out, with a healthy snap still in its tone of voice where it tries what little it is able to shove its leg back and kick it. it can't manage, of course, but it feels good to try, both for a sense of its pride and because the offense leaves fires brazen enough to stop choking it in order to spank it instead— "f—fuc—" it catches itself by shoving its fangs down on its tongue, even though blood floods its mouth again as a result. it stops from cursing, its voice trailing off into a suppressed cry.

"i hate you!" it growls, free to speak despite the weakness in its tone of voice. "brathetic, incorrigible—" it doesn't get the opportunity to finish before fires' fist is in its hair, and it's dragged up with it pulling it. its own voice is far more erotic than its fury would have anyone else believe, but the switch in their position that it leads to is so quick it barely notices the shift in it. it's small enough for its larger peers to throw around, for better or worse : this is no exception. it hears fires' back hit its desk where it falls to sit against the side, and along with it, without its cock even slipping out of it, pages feels its claws free it to wrap underneath their legs where they fall into its lap, back against its chest. it's gasping for breath now, but it hardly gets a break before it's pounding its pussy again, fires' nails digging deep into its brutalized, marked up thighs to keep it steady each time it thrusts up, inside of it.

one would think its newfound freedom would be used to put distance 'tween them now, but instead, it reaches its hand back to wrap behind fires' head, nails digging into the back of its neck to hold it close as its moans pick up in volume. it must catch itself, too, and the falling apart of its act ... it knows why it'd changed their position, letting it watch itself get fucked by it in the reflection of the floor-length mirror it kept leaned 'gainst the bookshelves in its office. pointed right at the desk, right in front of them. it isn't subtle. "b—brute," it hisses, hateful and yet shivering against the feeling of fires' tongue lulling from its mouth, wrapping itself 'round its throat now where its hand cannot. it can feel fires' drool falling down its back in strings now, too, where it purrs the most impolite things in its ear...

pages can't look away, and even if it could, it knows fires would never let it. their eyes meet where they catch each other's gaze in the mirror, blushed red 'cross their entire bodies, pages covered in fires cum from each time it had made a show of how turned on it was along the way, even whilst pages itself refused to hit the same peak. and it'd made it so far, too, no matter how hard its own cock is now, or how desperate it looks with its own spit falling in lines from its lips. there are tears building in its eyes, so overstimulated where it'd held itself back this entire time, and yet—fires deprives it anyways. it wants the satisfaction of hearing it not just ask, but beg... it knows that.

"neculai—" and so it falters in its own pride, whore to the feeling of heat that'd been building and fading and deprived burning along its spine and pooling in its abdomen. it's at the line, about to fall over from all it can take : the pleasure that's taken hold of it is so intense that its entire body shakes pressed against fires' own, and each thrust deeper inside of it is making it gasp, and whine. it digs its nails into fires' neck until it either takes mercy on it or decides it wants more of that brutality ... it can't be sure. either way, it feels it underneath it, shifting itself so it can hasten the pace of its hips, each thrust getting more pointed, harder, until it can both see how deep it's hitting inside of it via the bulge pushing against its stomach. pages has to use its free hand to hold itself steady against the other's thigh, its head falling to the side against its, but it doesn't break eye contact with it in the mirror, even when its vision at last blurs with tears.

"please—! let me cum, please—" its voice is pathetic, broken 'tween sobs and moans. its dick, criminally untouched, throbs where precum trails along the entire length of it in strings, pooling below them in the mess of fires cum, both their juices, and blood. its frame is far smaller than fires' own, not made for this form of savagery... and yet it relishes the feeling of being ravaged, every bit the slut its colleague growls in its ear to remind it that it is. it tries to move its hips in a way that makes its pussy squeeze around fires' cock, and it's almost certain it isn't the only one who is so brutally close to shooting its cum.

if anyone deserves release, it's itself.

"fuck you!" pages snaps, and uses its hand at its neck to slap it against the head, hard enough for it to hurt. it's annoyed! "i deserve everything! you don't deserve m—aaah!" its voice cuts off in blatant, lewd scream, body tensing with a magnitude it hadn't anticipated when fires slams its cock inside of it and holds it there, filling it far deeper inside its pussy than it should, until its cum spills out in a rush. it's own body is so tense, trembling, its expression frozen in shocked eroticism. all it can do is swallow, and then whine, "i'll do anything," it whimpers, falling back against its chest, submissive, and so, so desperate. all it can do is watch it pull out of it and rub its cum-covered dick against its swollen clit in the mirror, depriving it again. "please... please, please... please... i need it, i deserve it, please..."

[kiigan]

ㅤIn his defense- ...maybe he didn't have much of a plausible one, but, still, how was he supposed to have guessed it was that? Here he was, about to develop a stress ulcer over imagining every possible terrible scenario, only to be told that Shisui wanted him. Which, granted, Itachi also wasn't sure if he fully comprehended the depths of it, but then his friend kissed him and if he'd been punched square on the face he wouldn't have been more caught off-guard. Didn't even have the chance to react other than a little gasp and sharingan once more flashing on and off like a malfunctioning light bulb. And then it was over almost as soon as it'd started, leaving him to flop back on his butt unceremoniously, trying for the life of him to make a sliver of sense out of everything that was happening at the same time.

ㅤThat and... feeling oddly empty, now that those other lips had left his own; like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that had finally lined up, only to be pulled apart again. Shisui had just practically tried to suck the soul out of him through the mouth, and it'd somehow felt more enjoyable than almost everything Itachi had experienced in life before. So bewildering that the words he spoke next, in a shaky exhale of breath, went in a completely random direction; like all his brain cells at once had gone drunk on that kiss.

«...You should be. You just called me dense!»

ㅤWhich was a very rude thing to say along with a kiss, Itachi figured, but then again what did he know of kissing to start with. Never something that he'd done before or even considered doing, far more important priorities and duties ever being pushed upon him. As far as he was concerned, he'd one day marry some complete stranger that his parents found to be beneficial to the clan and that was about it. Yet here he was now, actually getting to do it, with one of his most favorite persons of all time. Actually wanting to do it again. Problem being, he didn't know how to and his brain had yet to recover from the short-circuit. So he acted on instinct, instead, and let his body move of its own accord; shifting so that he was sitting on the floor in between Shisui's legs, his own loosely wrapped around the other's hips.

ㅤ«You had me so worried, you absolute oaf! I thought you were going to tell me you have a terminal disease, or that you're moving out of the village forever, or-» Hands also moving to clutch at the front of Shisui's shirt, maybe a little too eagerly, as if trying to ground himself and calm down the whirlwind of strong emotions that was overriding his usual composure. «...I want to kiss back, but I am unprepared to give you something enjoyable. I need to educate myself first.» And, clearly, it wasn't helping at all. Unfiltered, earnest words falling off his lips helplessly and cheeks burning and flushed in a way that couldn't be blamed on fever anymore.

Shisui held his breath. His eyes frantically searched Itachi's face for any hint of disgust or discomfort. The silence stretched for an unbearable amount of time, within which Shisui contemplated wether he should set himself on fire with Amaterasu or not, before the Weasel at last mustered up a reply to his nerve-wrecking confession.

'Okay'. Shisui stared at him. Okay?? What did he mean oKaY??

'You want me to do what?', was the next thing he said, just as Shisui thought he was about to lose his mind. He blinked, staring at him in utter disbelief. Was he being for real?

For a moment he doubted it, his brain went completely blank for any form of acceptable reply. Just what was he about to answer to that? He could think of a million things he wanted him to do and all of them ended with the raven-haired Uchiha pinned against the futons he for some reason chose to connect last night. Which didn't exactly ease the tension between them.

As Itachi repeated his question it dawned on him. He didn't get it. That doe-eyed, long lashed Weasel seriously didn't get it. Shisui was about ready to pass away with embarrassment, when something shifted on Itachi's face. His pretty mind had finally produced a thought.

He watched his friend's eyes widen, feeling his face redden and his heartbeat pick up pace, as he waited for the impending rejection. He could almost see the gears grind in his head. He heard the blood rush in his own ears, feeling his his breath hitch, as their gazes connected once more, with Itachi still sporting that confused expression on his face. It was then that he succumbed.

"Gods you're as dense as it gets", he whispered, before pulling Itachi into him and capturing his lips in a fervent kiss. Everything within him tumbled over, his feelings exploding into violent flutters as he went. In the lightheaded five seconds his brain didn't catch up to his actions, he almost devoured him, pouring all of his desperate longing, suppressed emotions and affection into his soft lips, cradling his cheek with his thumb.

And then his conciousness set back in.

He pulled back, panting, eyes widened in shock at what he had just done. He could still feel Itachi's lips burning on his own as he stared at him in horror.

"Oh my god- I'm so sorry-"