#not saying it's bad. just. different. especially with the knowledge of how i would've reacted in different circumstances

[anakinh]

i should be allowed to hunt moogles for sport

[bougierthanthou]

So About Ben 10: Alien Force

Story: Moving our heroes off the road and out of the rust bucket and into their hometown of Bellwood is a welcome change that could allow us to see different facets of our protagonists which informs the story as a whole. Having Ben and Gwen search for their now missing grandfather only for them to stumble upon a conspiracy by aliens known as the Highbreed to take over the earth was a premise rife with potential. Getting to see Ben and Gwen operate independently of Grandpa Max especially considering they're nowhere near as knowledgable about this world as him is brilliant. Incorporating Kevin to be a resource isn't bad but INCREDIBLY RUSHED. Him begrudgingly helping them on occasion would've been more sensible for the characters and the story instead of him coming to their aid consistently. How are we supposed to feel the loss of their grandpa Max while they navigate this alien world if Kevin immediately fills that void? What was the point of making Ben step into the role of leadership for his grandpa max to just come back anyway? Speaking of Grandpa Max they barely react to his alleged death throughout this series and Ben and Gwen's collective grief isn't even fully explored. The trio's personal lives are never given any real screen time and when it is it's far too late in the series. When Kevin isn't working on his car where does he sleep, is it in his garage? I'm not saying we need long drawn out answers to some of these questions but a throwaway line here and there or multiple episodes dedicated to these topics and questions would show that the writers are putting some actual forethought into this story. Another stray thought since the DNAliens are revealed to be humans that have been enslaved by the Highbreed we should've seen our heroes struggle with that either in combat or just from a moral standpoint. It should've realistically caused some conflict amongst the trio about how to proceed and how to properly restrain themselves going forward. Would've been a useful way to show other aspects of their personalities and upbringings. While the transition from the episodic nature of the original to serialized storytelling in the sequel is to be applauded the new ideas presented have promise but poor execution overall.

Characters & Combat: Ben is no longer cocky and impulsive, instead he sports a newfound maturity that can only be rivaled by someone in their 50s. This development completely guts him of any potential for character development. Another progression in his character that I just didn't care for was his over reliance on the omnitrix, since it doesn't time out as quickly as it used to it has become a crutch for him. We no longer see his creative mind at work when posed with an alien threat and 'going hero' is no longer an option. In the second episode of classic we see Ben takedown a mutant hamster with nothing but his wit athleticism and a motorized scooter. Gwen is no better she was my favorite in classic and is utterly unrecognizable to me now. Known for being a feisty sarcastic fiercely intelligent character whose interests in science history and tech made her useful not only as a foil to Ben to show her level of competence in comparison, but as an ally when providing him with advice on what transformation to take on for whatever problem they were facing at the time. Not to mention her background in martial arts helped her and Ben deal with less powerful enemies and her latent talent for magic after encountering Hex Charmcaster the charms of Bezel along with obtaining a spell book made her a more active combatant. In Alien Force her abilities as well as personality are flattened. Instead of casting spells to create mini tornadoes cause water spouts manifest mist levitate objects and project shields that deflect laser fire they make her into a great value green lantern. When it comes to combat she's weaker now than when she was a child, the power of her shields are inconsistent her energy discs don't do the same amount of damage as Ben and Kevin's attacks. On top of that they decided the origin of her power is alien via her grandmother. She's no longer a uniquely magical girl whose powers act as a vehicle to bring fantasy elements into this sci-fi story but another generic alien. In this show they just reduced her to the token girl which will never sit right with me. Kevin is back and no longer as murderous as he used to be when Ben and Gwen came across him when they were kids. Instead Kevin is now pushing alien tech as a dealer, weapons specifically. This isn't a horrible progression considering Kevin was a street rat and unhoused in classic plus his stint in the null void it actually makes some semblance of sense. What doesn't make sense is his willingness to help, he's a consistently selfish person so aiding Ben and Gwen happened too quick. They should've had Ben and Gwen coaxing him into helping with their mission either through providing him with whatever alien tech Grandpa Max had laying around or trading in information he'd find beneficial. His crush on Gwen was also completely out of left field the same goes for their romance which was as rushed as it was forced. If there was a buildup to it all.

Art & Character Design: The backgrounds and character design are now as flat and lifeless as Ben and Gwen's personalities. A majority of the episodes always take place at night leaving everything shrouded in a perpetual darkness that rivals the shadow realm of Yu-Gi-Oh. Character design is quite poor when you consider the leads can only make about two expressions leaving them unable to properly emote or show the full range of human emotion. Thankfully, this doesn't extend to Ben's aliens they're quite expressive too bad they're just poor knockoffs of the originals and when they aren't knockoffs they're just hybrids of the originals. Swampfire is just Heatblast merged with Wildvine, Big Chill is just Ghostfreak with cryokinesis. Chromastone is Diamondhead but he can absorb and redirect energy while Echo Echo is just Ditto with the addition of a sonic scream. Gone is the excitement and innovation that comes with a new transformation because they're just a half assed combo of what we've seen already. Actually, I take that back there are a few notable exceptions, Spidermonkey was a great addition with a great design and unique I'd even argue the same for Goop because he provides something different and is reminiscent of an alien species we saw in classic in the movie Ben 10: Secret of the Omnitrix. Most of these new transformations invalidate the originals and are too OP with no clear limits. They don't even look as alien monstrous grotesque or dynamic as you'd expect given the standard set by classic. Ben's design is fine but his fit is so generic, plain black tee paired with a green jacket that has the number ten on it and blue jeans. The simplicity of his clothes does suit his now rigid persona tho. Gwen is the worst offender sporting a white button up with a blue sweater with a black skirt stockings and short heels. It's been made apparent in classic that she loves fashion so relegating her to a school uniform seems not only out of character but completely fucking ridiculous. How did these two have more style and flair at 10 than they do at 15?

[ethereals-angel]

Ethereal III

/ — extremely delicate and light in a way that seems too perfect for this world. /

《 Ethereal (I) 》 《 Ethereal (II) 》 《 Ethereal (III) 》

"Where were you last night?" Junmyeon asked, taking a seat beside you, two bottles of beer in his hands, "you disappeared."

You huffed, taking the beer he's handing you, "somewhere."

He was going for a sip of his beer when he laughed, almost spilling the liquid all over him. You eyed him in annoyance as he shook his head, a smile playing on his face, "you really like him, don't you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, you know what I mean."

You rolled your eyes, going for a drink. You leaned against the couch as you swallowed, a sigh leaving your lips. "Shut up."

"If you like him so much then why don't you do something about it?" He chuckled, "you're you. Everybody wants you."

"He knows I killed Kyo."

Apparently, that silenced him. You drank more, enjoying the burn you're experiencing, not bothering to acknowledge the irritating feeling in your heart. You didn't know what ached more after finishing the bottle in one go, your throat or your little organ.

"Then if he likes you, he'll accept you for you."

You don't even know if you want to be you.

Even though you didn't want to, you went to class few moments later, fed up by Junmyeon's complains about how you should attend your classes to come out as a normal student, at least. You snorted, as if they would think you are a normal student. Your mind flew, you didn't want to admit it but you knew you miss him. You didn't see him since last night until now, and it's bothering you. You wanted to wait for him outside his classroom like you always do but you were pretty sure he wouldn't like to see you right now.

You were always that kind of person who didn't care about what others may think of you. It's all true, anyway, why would you sweat about it? You know exactly what you are and it didn't bother you since then, after that incident, not at all. But after meeting Baekhyun, that changed. You were constantly afraid of doing things you always do because you didn't want to scare him off. You wanted to be a different person, away from who you really are. You wanted to get rid of the lingering smell of blood of people you've killed with your bare hands, you wanted to erase the sound of their screams and cries as they begged you to spare their lives ringing in your ears whenever you're alone. You just want the angel you knew you didn't deserve with you, as much as possible.

You craved how he makes you crazy. You fed off his innocence. He makes you feel human, even if you knew how big of a monster you are. He's your escape, your own paradise. After last night, you didn't know what to do. You just want him. Your fingertips are aching to touch him so bad right now, it's almost painful.

You took in a deep breath, immediately leaving the classroom once you heard the bell ring.

Staying at your bright lonely flat made you even livid that night, sitting by the couch and staring at the situation outside as the raindrops continued to fall harshly. You can't stop thinking about him, you thought your head's gonna break. So, you drove. You drove as fast as you can, not bothered by the fact that it's so much slippier this time.

You found yourself in a middle of a nightclub you're very familiared with. You realized you've never came back here after you met him. Taking a deep breath, you sat by the bar counter. The bartender immediately recognized you, he started preparing the drink you've always order, not bothering to have a small talk with you, probably sensing you were not in a mood to speak.

You stared at a spot, not really paying attention to anything, just downing your drink all by yourself. Almost all the people around you probably know who you are, well, everyone knows who you are. Different perspectives and knowledge, though. The only common thing is to never mess with you, they know better. However, that didn't stop him from approaching you.

"I missed you."

You smirked, downing the alcohol you were lightly swirling before he sat beside you. You turned to observe him. Nothing changed, same old pretty face. "Oh, I'm sure you did."

He didn't hesitate grabbing you, crashing his lips on yours. You whimpered, wrapping your arms around his neck and moving to sit on his lap. You tugged on his hair a little harshly, just like what you always do. You continued on kissing him expertly, tasting him after a long time.

You faltered, images of Baekhyun started flodding your head. You kissed him harder, hand running through hair, wishing he was him, wishing he was your Baekhyun. You gripped onto his body, squeezing your eyes shut. He was the first one to pull away, his eyes hazy as he stared back at you. You blinked quite a few times when you started seeing Baekhyun's face instead of his.

I'm going crazy.

"Soo." You breathed, letting him shower your neck with kisses. You held his head as he nibbled on your skin. Your closed your eyes as you bit on your lip, not wanting to put your mind into the uneasiness you're feeling.

You stared ahead, at the crowd, either dancing or talking. You let out a gasp when a pair of eyes burnt holes as he stared at you, standing at the middle of so much people, you saw him. "Baekhyun."

You flinched, away from Kyungsoo. You pushed yourself off him, your eyes never leaving the boy. Your head pounded, you felt dizzy, you didn't know if it was because of the kissing, the alcohol, or Baekhyun.

You saw him turn around, going for the door to leave. You hissed, "what is he even doing here?" You ran, squeezing through the crowd. You were panting when you reached the door, pushing it open. The cold breeze welcomed you, still raining.

You immediately spotted him, his back facing you, you breathed, "Baek..."

He turned, looking at you, his cheeks flush from the coldness of the air, "hi..."

"What are you doing here?" You stepped forward, still giving him a fair amount of space no matter how much you were itching to get your hands all over him. You weren't sure if he would appreciate you touching him, the thought making you frown.

"I went to look for you," he avoided your eyes, biting his lip, "you didn't wait for me at school."

"What?"

"I waited for you!" He lifted his head, annoyance clear in his tone, "you left so early last night, then you didn't even bother seeing me at school, and now, I saw you kissing someone else."

You looked at him in bewilderment, not knowing what to say. He pouted at you, continuing his words, "I thought you liked me."

"Baek-"

"Why were you kissing him anyway? Is it because he's manlier than I am? You should've told me!" His stance falling, shoulders slumped, "I would've been better for you."

You panicked, for the first time in so many years, you fucking panicked, "no! Of course not!" You breathed heavily, still confused and speechless as hell, "I thought... I thought you hated me."

He let out a cute 'huh', tilting his head like a puppy, "why would I hate you?"

"You knew about what really happened with Kyo, I assumed-"

"You think that would make me hate you?" You blinked a few times when he leaned in, placing a kiss on your lips. He wrapped his arms around your waist, hugging you to him, "I could never hate you." He lowered himself, resting his cheek on your breast, "I like you so much, Raven. I really really do."

You stayed frozen for god knows how long, you killed the person he's almost seen as a father and he's not even a percent mad at you for it. You were breathing heavily when you wrapped your arms around him, returning his hold which he immediately tightened. "Do you still like me?"

Though, puzzled, mind running on and on about how he very surprisingly reacted in the situation, you nodded your head. "Of course." You lifted your hand to caress his hair, playing with it as you couldn't help but furrow your eyebrows, staring ahead at an empty space.

It may be strange, he may be strange but you were happy. So happy, you thought you could float. You were feeling so high in the moment, you let out a smile, twisted, so twisted.

You held his hand in yours, not minding any of the stares and whispers you're getting, silently dragging Baekhyun towards Room 88 after asking him if he's comfortable with all the attention. He nodded, saying that he'll always be comfortable if he's with you.

You opened the door, revealing the gang, complete. "Hey, man. Come on, I missed my class for this." Luck said, rolling his eyes, throwing darts in his hands.

Chanyeol walked towards you, peaking at the person hiding behind your back, "well, well, well," he grinned, "you finally brought him here."

You felt Baekhyun clutch your shirt in his hand from behind, making you look back at him, "you'll be okay." You whispered, kissing his forehead.

You introduced him to your friends. They have been very friendly, especially the men. You decided to bring him to the flat the gang have been staying in whenever anyone wants to. You are sitting in the couch, a beer in your hand with Junmyeon sitting beside you, playing poker with the others. You didn't play to keep an eye on Baekhyun. You watched as he laughed and played with your friends, his shy demeanor quickly disappearing by their loudness and teasing. You smiled lightly, happy to see him enjoy himself with the gang.

It's very rare to bring just anyone in here. It takes time before everyone agree to let someone see what you do. For Baekhyun's case, he's here because they already know him, he's constantly being used as a way to tease and annoy you, and of course, even if they say no to you, it's not like you'll listen.

You took a sip from the bottle you're holding, shaking your head at their antics.

You turned your head when you heard Yixing calling your name, you raised your brow at him, waiting for him to say something because he seemed to be in shock,

"Kyungsoo was murdered."

[conner-grace]

The Detective and his Little Assistant (part 4)

(Part Index)

Chapter 3: The Plot Thickens

*Warning spoilers if you haven't gotten through 6/13 in the game*

A/N-Before the chapter starts, I want to explain a couple things. First, I chose to make Kaito a witch because I identify myself as a witch, and yes, I do mean witch, not warlock, because witch is, in fact, a gender-neutral term, also due to me being a witch, everything Kito does involved with witchcraft will be based off my own experiences, knowledge, religion and opinions, so please don't tell me I'm wrong unless you can cite a reliable source for your info. Second, for those reading this, who don't know Japanese culture very well, calling someone by their first name without an honorific (-san, -kun, -chan, ect.) unless you know them very well, or they've given you permission, is highly offensive. Please remember these for future chapters :) .

Now to the story.

~~~

Monday, June 13th, After School

*Akechi's P.O.V*

I was listening to the audio data from the pen I downloaded to my phone on the way from the station to work. I was quite happy to see that it hadn't been accidentally turned off throughout the day, despite the likelihood for it to have. I was actually skipping past a bit that seemed to be a personal conversation between her and her friends, though I seemed to be the topic of their talk. If it weren't for my current opinion of Yuno, I might've even blushed at the direction the discussion was going, however, I was disgusted and just trying to get past it.

"Finally." I sigh, getting past it, not surprised that it took up all of lunch. Listening as she head's to pe. "Hmm, who should I ask for help on my homework today?" She either wonders aloud or asks her friends, judging by the steps I heard around her. Her friends offered up names. I quickly realized all the names were all from the top 10 students in the first and second years, 'but most of those kids would never-oh, yeah, blackmail'  I think, my gritting my teeth. 'Wait, thinking about it, not even Kaito-kun would've taken this lying down, so what's she got on him that he doesn't want me to know?'  I knew it as a little self-centered to think I'm the only one who mattered, but it Kaito had in fact told me that my opinion was the only one that mattered to him, and the teachers would never believe any bad rumors about him since he was the star student of nearly every class he was in. He also never cared what any of the students around him thought of him, except, after we became friends, for me. In fact, a couple months after we became friends and before I knew he considered himself a witch by his religion, a kid that that seemed to a rather bad opinion of Kaito-kun and said something about my friend cursing him or something like that. Kaito-kun seemed to not have even heard him, but then froze quickly looked to me, fear flashing through his eye like lightning before he hid it. I realized later he’d been worried about my reaction and trying to hide it. I'd ended up asking if he'd cursed our fellow student, and he'd replied he never cursed anyone, I'd then asked why out of curiosity, and he'd told me it was because cause he was selfish, and since he believed in karma, he didn't want the negative energy of a curse coming back to bite him later.

I felt an earbud pulling me out of my ear, snapping me out of my small trip down memory lane. "Oh don't worry, I've got something special planned for-" I heard through the other earbud as I paused the recording, knowing I'd have to relisten to it later after, hearing an annoyed sigh next to me that I knew belonged to Sae-san.

"Oh, sorry Sae-san. I got lost in thought it seems." I say with a practiced sheepish smile, pulling out the other earbud.

"I hope you know you were so lost in thought you nearly walked into the door." She smirks teasingly. "Maybe you should keep the music for your work-outs only."

"Guess so." I chuckle, remembering the few hours of music Kaito-kun had given for my birthday as well, that I'd put on my phone and started listening to during my early morning runs, and noticing I’d been only a couple steps from walking into the door.

"Well, let's go in then, we've got cases to get to." She smiles.

"Indeed." I smile, opening the door for her.

"Always the gentleman, thank you." She sighs with a smile, walking in.

"Of course, you're welcome." I smile, following in after.

***

Deciding not to listen to the recording until I got to my apartment, considering how I nearly walked into a door the last time I listened to it on my way somewhere. I was heading back to my apartment in the evening light, hoping Kaito-kun had actually taken the advice of my pre-scheduled messages telling him to go to bed…. even if I wasn't following my own advice. I smile, remembering where my mind had wandered before Niijima-san, and how it had ended. My mind started to drift back down memory lane, remembering how after he'd explained why he didn't curse people, he told me he'd actually reported the student for harassing a female classmate. He ran off to the bathroom after telling me that and it took a little while, however, over the next three days the problem student kept having the worst luck. One of the biggest scenes that spread around the school like wildfire, was the when girl he'd been harassing, who was actually quite sweet and quiet for the most part, slapping him across the face before admitting he'd been harassing her, causing him to get suspended. When he came back, he ran towards Kaito-kun and I at lunch, nearly falling on his face in the process, and yelled about Kaito-kun cursing him again, my friend seemed completely surprised and a little lost. Though after he left a sly smirk pulled at Kaito-kun's lips.

"I don't curse people, but I can enhance one's karma." He smirked under his breath, causing me to look at him questioningly.

"So, you had something to do with this?" I asked, though not quite believing he could.

"I'd like to think so. I mean, I did use a spell to make all he's done come back to him three times three." He smirked, snapping his fingers while saying the last word, the problem student tripping over his own feet and falling at the same time, causing his smirk to grow. "I was gonna leave it at the report and try helping the girl, but...he just kept pushing." He sighs.

I learned two things that day; 1: don't piss off the witch; 2: Kaito-kun wasn't all rainbows and shy smiles like I'd seen till that point and I'd even started putting a little more stock in mysticism and such. "I could report you." I smirked, mostly curious to see how he'd react, though not quite sure how that'd go. His reaction surprised me, his face fell slightly, though he tried to hide it as he looked down to his food and started playing with it rather than actually eating it. I'd expected him to just laugh it off, as he did with most things.

"I'd like to see how that goes down, with your rep, it might actually go a bit differently than the 20 or so other accusations." He smirked, though his voice was a little harsh.

"I-I said could, not would." I quickly stated, trying to back peddle out of this point in the conversation.

He’d pinched the bridge of his nose with an annoyed sigh. "Sorry, I'm overreacting, but you wouldn't be the first to report if chose to." He murmured.

"That's a bit obvi-"

"I meant the first I considered a friend to do so." He specifies with a sigh, making me freeze, realizing what the statement meant, 'he's...used to being betrayed, so when the possibility of it happening comes up, he immediately goes on the defensive'

***

I went straight to my computer after locking my door, hooking my phone up to it so I could better analyze and actually edit the recording so I could only keep what was actually important and discard what wasn't, 'like the first disgusting 30 minutes' I think, deleting that time from the file. Starting back at the beginning of Yuno's talk with her friends. "Hmm, who should I ask for help on my homework today?" I knew whoever she asked for help, probably didn't have an actual choice They talked for a few minutes, before settling on a female student who was 2nd place to Kaito-kun in his class, however one of the other friends piped up. "What about Kaito?" I froze, my worries confirmed that he was a target. I could feel my jaw tighten at the insult of them using his first name, especially without an honorific. "Oh don't worry, I've got something special planned for Kaito today." Yuno giggles, the rest joining her. My hand starts curling into a fist 'what the hell did you do?!' I mentally growl before skipping past, and deleting most the silence of the pe class until I heard Yuno talking to the girl she chose for helping with her homework. Judging by the girl's voice, I was right in assuming her victims at least don't feel like they had a choice in helping her. While she was heading to her next her next class, she told her friends about taping notes to Kaito-kun's locker 'so that's why he seemed a little off after school' I think, feeling the leather strain around my fist. Skipping past and deleting her silent work, stopping when I heard them starting on the notes for his locker, saying what they wrote mostly stupid shit, that had me grinding my teeth and wanting to punch them like 'fag', 'looser', 'freak', then I barely stopped my fist from hitting the desk with the last one, "you're lucky we're not dealing with Salem trails stupid witch". Forcing my hand to relax as I buried my head in my hands, knowing if I hadn't been wearing my gloves, my fingernails would be digging into my scalp right now as they continued.

"If that bitch used my pen to write that." I hissed, ending with a growl that many might've described as murderous as I continued listening, not even wanting to think about what else they might’ve done to him.

"Why not just go ahead and tape a picture of a vase of flowers to his locker Yuno-chan?" One of the friends snickered. "I can't do that, Kaito might freeze long enough for Goro-kun to see, or he might actually tell." Yuno giggled.

*SLAM* my hand hits the desk hard enough I might have actually bruised it hearing that. "Do. Not. Use. My. First. Name." I growled, wishing she could hear venom dripping from every word, wishing I could throttle both of them for that considering doing something like that was a way of telling someone to kill themselves.

"Why didn't you use his pen?" One of the friends smirk, causing me to sigh in relief. "Cause if he manages to find out, he'll never forgive me." Yuno sighs.

'Oh-ho-ho, we're way past no forgiveness bitch' I think with a dark chuckle, getting the last bit of evidence and wishing I had a punching bag in my apartment, as I get up and head to the bath to try and calm myself down enough to go to sleep.

 *Akira's P.O.V*

I had just got back to Lablanc after talking with everyone at the dinner, Makoto-san, third-year, and the student council president had figured out who the phantom thieves were.

"You're back-whoa, you look tired. Long day?" Sojiro-san asks from behind the counter.

'You have no idea' I think with a sigh, nodding my head to my caretaker while I was on probation. "Your day any better?" I ask, deciding to strike up some conversation.

"If slow is better, then yes." He says with a slight smirk.

"Heh, well then, guess I'll head up." I say, not having much else I could say to him.

"Actually..." Sijiro perks up slightly. "Do any students from Aoyama use the station as you?"

"Uh, yeah, Akechi Goro, we actually talked a little this morning too." I say, though figuring that wasn't who he was wondering about.

"No one else?" He asks, trying to seem disinterested...and failing.

I thought for a moment, before remembering the smaller boy that ran over to Akechi-senpai. "Yeah, actually, a boy, around my age, but a bit shorter." I answer, I definitely had Sojiro-san's attention, even if he was trying to hide it. "Akechi-senpai introduced him...Sasaki, Sasaki..." I trailed off, trying to remember his first name.

"Sasaki Kaito, he's short and rather shy?" Sojiro-san offers.