#so reading between the lines now it seems like he got recruited into a cult instead of just being an asshole working for wesker

[tru-daddy]

KRAUSER!!!! DON'T JOIN LOS ILLUMINADOS THEY'RE JUST TAKING ADVANTAGE OF YOUR PTSD TO RECRUIT YOU INTO THEIR CULT!!!! SADDLERS JUST USING YOU LIKE THE GOVERNMENT DID!!! KRAUSER!!!!!!

[edge-lorde]

the religion of the galactic horde

“You seem reluctant to help me. But I only wish to use your weapon to bring peace to the darkest corners of the universe. (Glimmer: Peace? If you activate the Heart of Etheria, there will be no one left.) Yes. No war, no pain. Old worlds swept aside, a new beginning for the universe.” --Horde Prime explaining his motivations to Glimmer

the horde in shera was definitely inspired by Christianity and uses a lot of its imagery, the most iconic being the baptism scene. it certainly gives off the vibes of a christian or christian adjacent cult, but what is its actual doctrine? i have some thoughts about that. 

first here are what i consider to be the 3 main differences between real christianity and the horde: 

Their jesus didn't ascend to heaven. He's still with them.

They don't have a larger creator god. They worship horde prime like he is a living god but they don't believe that he created the universe.

They have no focus on the afterlife

this is going to be long.

before i begin heres the sparknotes version of christianity for anyone not familiar. I am not evangelizing this, just think of it as LORE. 

Once upon a time there was a guy named Jesus. He was the son of the one true god, who both created everything in the universe, is everywhere and knows everything, and controls the afterlife. Jesus is god born as a mortal person, sent by god to teach all of humanity the errors of their evil ways so they can repent and go to the good afterlife when they die. There're two afterlives, a good one and a bad one, heaven is the good one and its run by god and his army of angels, which are divine beings that god can send to earth to do things. The bad one is called hell. 

Anyway, in his time on earth jesus was the only person ever to never do anything bad ever (called sin). He tried to teach people how to be good but was Too Good for this Cruel World and was killed. 3 days later he came back from the dead, proving his divinity. Some time after that however, he ascended into heaven without dying, telling his followers to spread the word because hes going to be coming back. Christians today are still awaiting his return. In the meantime, christians follow his teachings left behind in holy texts. 

The crux of christianity is to get to heaven when you die, and this can only be done by following the teachings of jesus christ, believing in god, and believing that jesus was the son of god. Its a given that everyone will do bad things at some point in their lives so you're supposed to pray to god and ask for forgiveness regularly and if you really mean it then god will forgive you. 

thats the basics. 

to my first main point from above, if we posit that horde prime is the jesus equivalent of the horde religion, because hes treated as a living god, his goal is to spread his philosophy throughout the universe, then in the horde religions jesus never ascended into heaven. this would be like if jesus in our world rose from the dead and just picked up where he left off, and never died after that and was alive today. that would be pretty good proof of divinity. 

to my 2nd point, theres nothing in the show that suggests that horde prime thinks that he created the universe. this means that he did not get his divinity from anywhere but inside himself, hes not claiming that hes the rightful ruler of the known universe for any other reason besides his ideas are the best. 

the 3rd point is that the show does show horde prime or the horde caring one bit about the afterlife, save for one line from wrong hordak.

"Brother, I hope you, too, are full of only love for Horde Prime and have no crippling doubt eating at your soul."

meaning that they have the concept of the soul. which is very interesting and ill get to it, but on the whole the hordes focus seems to be on the here and now. this is a huge departure from christianity because chrisitanity is all about getting to the afterlife. that is the reason that christians are supposed to follow christ and recruit as many people as possible to do the same, because if they dont, they or other people will supposedly go to hell when they die. i say supposedly because at funerals, even if the person who died wasnt a believer, in my experience no christian would ever ever ever insinuate that someone went to hell. 

but the difference still stands. following real christian ideology is supposed to have benefits for the individual in the afterlife, while in the horde religion salvation seems to only be found by submitting to prime in this life and being either a tool that he can use to further his goal of purifying the universe or by letting him remove you from it. 

on top of all that, horde prime has the hive mind, which he uses to control the thoughts of all his followers. this means that theres no room for a bible study, no need of a holy text at all in fact, and no room for interpretation. horde prime delivers orders to your brain directly and can tell if you think anything out of line. real Christianity does have the idea that a sin that you just think about doing is as bad as actually doing it, but in the horde these thoughts can be easily discovered and punished. 

the horde religion seems to me to be a strangely secular version of christianity with only the bad parts remaining; the control, the blind faith, the certainty that you are right and everyone else is wrong, the not questioning authority. with none of the good aspects like community, and good deeds. it is a cult in the truest sense of the word, a religion that begins and ends with one person only, that person being horde prime.

so, if you take horde prime out of the equation, what, if anything, would be left? 

i find the plight of the horde clones here to be the most interesting. we know that they do have thoughts about their religion, as it was hordaks belief that he could earn his way back into horde primes god graces that kept him going all those years in despondos, and wrong hordak is distraught when he discovers that horde prime lied about krytis. 

unlike both the chipped people we see in the show and real religious converts, the clones were born into this cult that values blind obedience only, and have no prior ideology or cultural identity to fall back on when they are taken out of it. 

so to answer this question, i must add some conjecture to horde primes backstory and how the clones see themselves in horde primes universe. I already wrote up a brief backstory idea for horde prime/the clones and have it posted on here somewhere. I'm not going to dig it up but you could probably find it in the #horde prime tag on my blog if you dig hard enough. 

To summarize it though, I have it as horde prime was once a regular (bad) dude who became a cult leader under the premise of preaching peace --> he becomes disillusioned with people and even his own followers because he doesn't actually like people, he likes manipulating them. --> this and the power of being a cult leader go to his head and he starts to think that he is the only person in existence capable of living a moral life and everyone else needs to be saved from themselves, the world would be a better place if he could just make everyone's decisions for them. --> he somehow gets a hold of the technology needed to set up the hive mind, be it by inventing it himself, stealing it, finding it, or being gifted it. 

I'll pause here to address the theory that horde prime was originally an eldritch being that simply possessed a dude who would become the template for the clones. I think there's enough stuff in the show that this is a valid read and might even be canon but i don't really care for it. For me, what makes horde prime a compelling villain is that he's a very human evil, so having him actually be an evil demon thing instead of a really bad but believable dude who got near ultimate power weakens his character. BUT, i’m not going to address it in my comic so i'll leave it open as to whether he's got that going on or not. If he is, the clones don’t know about it and neither they nor the other characters have any way of discovering it. IF he is though, it would happen here. I could see it being a cool idea for him to get the hive mind from the eldritch being that would then possess him and haunt his lineage for time immemorial as a deal with the devil sort of thing, but he has to be a bad person before that.

Anyway he gets the hive mind--> he gets all of his followers to chip themselves --> gets those people to chip everyone else on his home planet --> use his planet wide army to harvest all resources on the planet and build his first space fleet and take to the skies and start his conquest--> realize that if he is to succeed hes going to need to both become immortal and find a steady source of new followers because chipped people die eventually and he doesnt care about people enough to figure out a way to keep a self sufficient population of followers alive, he just wants people around to adore him and do his bidding--> invents his cloning system-->

and heres the big one,

his original body has to die so he can upload his consciousness into a new clone.  

and THAT, to the clones, would be the moment that horde prime becomes a god.

his reliance on the hive mind and vast network of followers are what give him his godly abilities, but just as the horde clones could not exist without being cloned from horde prime, so too could horde prime not exist as he does in the show without them. 

i see it as both a christlike sacrifice and a cyclical system of debt and sacrifice. horde prime dies for our sins, so that he might continue to purify the universe so that there will be no more death and more clones will be born, while the clone hes possessing has to essentially die by giving himself up entirely to become the new prime so all this can happen too, and to repay primes death. not all clones can become the next prime however, but all must be ready to die for him, hence horde prime having clone infantries despite also having robots he could send instead. 

i dont have clear thoughts about what the green goo is, but horde primes words about his brothers lending him their life force go along with this idea. the clones give him theyre life force, so he can give it back to them.

another interesting aspect of this is that prime always portrays himself as a brother to his followers, never a father as christ is portrayed as in christianity. i know this is from hordak and horde prime being actual brothers in the 80s show but ive seen this trope come up a few times in media before, where a man raises a kid but has them call him their brother instead of dad. it seems so deliberate. because a parents job is to take care of you, but a sibling, might take care of you sure, but thats not their job. its like hes deliberately trying to place himself on the same level as his ‘sibling’ so he can demand the same amount of respect you would give to a parent without taking on the responsibility to not... ya know... screw them over in the head? idk it seems very slimy to me. but that says more about prime as a character than how the clones see him.

and we still have the concept of the soul to fit in here somehow, and do they have an afterlife? im going to say no to the afterlife. theres just not enough in the show to go off of and everything that we do know about horde prime points to him only caring about himself in life. HOWEVER, there is nothing more quintessentially christian than the concept of hell and i think that will be of use here. 

since the creation of the clones is tied with the creation of their religion, this would put the clones themselves less as allegories of people who need to be saved and more as the horde version of angels. in my telling here, horde prime views all people who do not submit to his will as net negatives to the universe who have to be removed for peace to exist, so by this view the chipped people are the saved, the people that horde prime kills are the sinners, and his military campaign is one long apocalypse slowly working its way through the universe, with the clones carrying out his righteous judgement. but the afterlife isnt involved in this, so even if some chipped people are left alive, eventually they will all die out, and then it will be just horde prime and is clones in a perfect, peaceful starless sky, and thats what heaven is. 

getting to heaven is the main goal of real christianity and it is the same in horde religion, but heaven isnt a place in the horde cosmology, its a physical goal that has to be created. not all clones will make it to heaven of course, because most will die before they reach total destruction of the universe but the clones arent supposed to think of themselves as individuals anyway. they have to be willing to die for horde prime and die for the cause or be cast out and thats hell. 

i dont see prime as someone who would kill his own followers outright too often even though he could. plus they arent supposed to value their individual lives the same way normal people do anyway it doesnt seem like a real punishment, they need something worse than simple death to fear. so by my view hell for the clones is separation from prime. it can be in life or death. no matter how bad it is in the horde being on the outside of it has to seem worse, and thats where the concept of the soul comes in. when one is a part of the hive mine, their soul is with prime. they are not supposed to have a will or any thoughts beyond love for prime, its essentially the same as not having a soul but they think of it as being at peace. being cast out is to be never at peace and would be told to them as being the worst possible thing that could ever happen to someone because it corrupts the soul. 

“a lot of unpleasant things happen in the horde so just imagine how terrible it must be outside of it! you cant because i protect you from that. now get in the goo, this is for your own good” - horde prime probably 

this is why outsiders are so resistant to submitting to primes light and also why its ok to kill them, in the hordes view. 

so, to start wrapping thigs up, there is no horde without horde prime. the religion starts and ends with him. because he is supposed to be the only person ever to be able to make true moral and just decisions, without him is followers cant take any actions without worrying that they are going against primes will. since they have no holy text they cant extrapolate and try to figure it out either. its up in the air whether or not they are going to find a way to get the horde to make the jump from cult to regular religion.

its late i got to go to bed now

[3d-wifey]

The Academy ❧ Part 1

Pairing: Reader x Multiple

Synopsis: Given the chance to rewrite your life for the better, how could you say no? Of course, it helps that the ones presenting this gift are crazy hot.

Word Count: 7.6k

Warnings: Nothing yet.

A/N: If this feels hastily thrown together, that's because it is. It does help that Reader's relationship with the boys is meant to feel rushed tho. So, the lack of relationship building between the three seems intentional 😋. Reader's personality switch-up is also intentional. I promise the quality will get better after this. Happy reading!

You liked coffee shops. One would argue a little too much. You were like an addict and you typically got your fix at Komori's Delights.

You liked coffee shops, solely, because of the people. You would sit at the same corner booth you've been sitting at for the past five years and listen in on their conversations like a creep.

You led a pretty basic life. Once you turned sixteen, the adoption agency helped you get an apartment. And then, when you turned eighteen, a job in customer service. Yet, since it mainly involved doing online chat services from home, you rarely interacted with anyone. With no family that you knew of, you were pretty socially isolated. And you weren't doing too well on the friends front either.

People didn't exactly line up to hang out with quirkless orphans. Loneliness stuck to you like a shadow.

The only thing you honestly looked forward to when you opened your eyes was hearing about other people's lives. You could admit to yourself that it was pathetic.

It was just something about watching "normal" people interacting with each other. Their stories, their conversations, how they responded to and handled everyday situations. All of it, all of them, thrumming with life. A simple passion you dreamed of having, but sadly, didn't possess.

You were able to quench a burning thirst within yourself just by watching them. Living through them. At first, you wondered what that thirst was. What did you gain from being around other people that you couldn't achieve in solitude?

It took you a few years to figure it out. You spent many restless nights in your cold twin bed at the group homes, then in the equally cold queen bed at your apartment, trying to understand what you were missing.

You were around seventeen at the time and a fresh-faced graduate. Instead of going to any of the graduation parties that many of your former classmates were throwing, you were sitting at your booth. The same one that protected you from the cold fall winds and overlooked the entire shop.

Two women were arguing in the corner about something or other. The conversation didn't seem interesting enough to listen in on until the shorter of the two shouted something.

"Nobody had seen you in over ten hours. We were all scared something had happened. I was scared something had happened."

You vaguely remember them hugging and making up after that. It seemed strange to you at the time that someone could be so worried about another person. You never really found yourself worrying about anyone. Especially not to the extent of being scared for their well-being.

It occurred to you later that night. With just three sentences, you had your answer. You wanted some type of connection. To be seen. You wanted to be somewhere where people would know your name, know your face, notice if you weren't there. You wanted to be wanted. Something to tie you to humanity.

Now, here you were three years later. In the same weathered leather booth, working the same reclusive job, still hungering for that connection. Nothing had changed in your life.

You wrapped your hands around the mug and brought it closer to your chest, sighing at the heat it provided. The smell of cocoa and cinnamon wafted under your nose, making you relax further into the booth. You had mainly ordered the hot chocolate to warm your cold fingers, but it did pair well with the sugar cookies that came with it.

The temperature had dropped faster this year with the coming of winter and you were oftentimes reminded of how lucky you were to even have a home to escape the cold in.

With the winter winds, came the mass of people who sought out the café to hide from the chilliness outside. Now, Komori's wasn't what you would call exceedingly popular, so it rarely saw the same person more than once.

But, over the past five days, two people came to the shop roughly around the same time every day. They usually came with four or five others, but it was never the same people. The only constants with the groups were the two men.

And what men they were.

They carried themselves completely differently; the only thing they had in common was being absurdly attractive. The first one was tall and built like a football player, with big blue eyes, bright hair, and an even brighter smile.

It was obvious he had many admirers if the way his friends hung onto his every word was anything to go by. Based on how often he steered the conversation, you could tell he was a natural-born leader with charisma to match. His allure was sunny and encompassing, but carefree.

The shorter male was just as handsome, but his appeal was subtle compared to the blond one. You wouldn't notice if you just glanced at him, but you got the feeling that that was a conscious decision on his part. He didn't seem the type to like attention, going through great efforts not to be seen.

He typically didn't add much to their conversations unless he was reining his partner in. Messy, indigo bangs casted a shadow over his nervous eyes and long, pointed ears twitched whenever his group got too loud. He had a swimmer's body, but, again, you wouldn't notice unless you stared at him long enough. And you've done a lot of staring.

You sighed again, taking a sip from your mug. It was completely on-brand for you to over-analyze some random men. You looked over to one of the circle booths across the room. They were here again. The two men and five more strangers. Well, they were all strangers to you, but for some reason, you felt like you knew them, at least a little.

Maybe because you had been listening in on their conversations for practically a week, but, that was neither here nor there.

You had lost all interest in anybody else that came in; all of your attention was focused on them and them alone. You would wait hours at a time for them to come in with new people and watch as they talked. Their conversations always pulled you in. Especially when they talked about a place called Yuuei.

The blond one would talk animatedly about the place to the others to the point where they got excited too. It happened every time with every group.

You had gone home with your curiosity peeked the first time you heard them mention it. You spent the entire night hunched over your laptop, scrounging the internet—again, like a creep—for anything relating to Yuuei.

You looked everywhere, but it couldn't be found. It wasn't on any maps. There were no Google links about it. As far as you could tell, it wasn't some kind of slang or anything. The only mention of it was on a Reddit conspiracy theory thread about a cult that shared the same name. You tallied your loses and suspected that it was just some type of club and the two of them were probably recruiting new members. And, technically, you were right.

You were brought back to the present when the hairs on your arms and neck stood up. But the shop door hadn't been opened and there was no breeze inside the café. You weren't cold.

Your gaze swept over the expanse of the shop; eyes, not so subtly, hopping from table to table. Finding nothing but people locked in conversation, until you glanced at the circle booth. Narrowed (E/C) eyes met bright blue. Instead of becoming embarrassed at getting caught and looking away, like most people did, the blond held your gaze and grinned.

He smiled at you.

Not a condescending smile; not an angry borderline-sneer; not even a half awkward half fearful kind of smile that you often got from strangers after you stared at them a little too long. Just a warm upturn of lips that felt like open arms welcoming you back home.

You looked away in hopes that it would be the end of the interaction, but not before seeing the blond elbow his friend and gesture over to you. All while still wearing the same smile on his face.

You stared down at the light brown liquid in your mug, telling yourself the steam wafting up from the hot chocolate was the reason your face was so warm. Yeah, that's why. That's the only thing that made sense.

Every other sound blurred in the background until the only thing you could hear were twin footfalls. Confident footsteps leading the way with reluctant ones following close behind. Getting steadily closer and closer. Each step a metronome to your ears. Were they coming towards you?

The muscles in your arms flinched with every sound of shoes hitting the linoleum floor.

Step, step, step, until—

"Hi! I'm Mirio. And this here is my buddy, Tamaki." He introduced, reaching a scarred hand out towards you, probably expecting you to shake it. You stared up at them with wide eyes, dumbfounded at the turn of events. No one in this café had ever approached you before, not even the staff. His voice was accented, which was surprising considering you never heard it when he was talking before. Maybe it was just hard to pick up on from across the room.

You weren't sure what prompted them to come up to you and if you took a glance over their shoulder, you could see that the people they were with seemed just as confused as you. Not wanting to appear rude, you paused before reaching out and shaking his hand. His palm was rough from the buildup of calluses, and It dwarfed your own. It was warm.

"I'm...Y/n." You introduced yourself cautiously, watching them as they moved to sit down in front of you. Tamaki on the inside, Mirio on the outside. You wondered if it was normal for him to just walk up to a person he didn't know and strike up a conversation like an old friend.

"We saw you sitting by yourself—"

Jesus, how sad of a picture did you make that they felt the need to come over just to end your suffering?

"—and came over to see if you wanted to join us." You? Join them? Honestly, you would love to sit with them and finally be included in the conversation instead of just listening to it from the outside. But, something told you that the feeling wasn't mutual.

You glanced back to their booth to find their friends staring at you. Or, at least they were before they noticed you looking at them. Diverting their gaze before you could meet any of their eyes head-on.

You knew if you sat with them, all you would end up with were judgmental glares and badly concealed whispers about you. How fun.

"No pressure, of course!" Mirio was quick to assure, taking your silence as unwillingness. And his assumption would be right.

"I, uh, don't think I'd fit in with your friends." He looked at you with a confused tilt of his head, resembling a puppy who didn't know what you were saying to it.

"Oh, I mean them," You gestured to the group of five people talking amongst themselves and sneaking occasional glances your way, "plus the other people you guys usually come in with."

Although the statement sounded innocent to you, you couldn't help but feel like you fucked up somehow. Their faces didn't change, but there was something about the way Mirio's hands twitched and Tamaki's shoulders tensed that made you feel...uneasy. Paranoia creeping up on you like phantom hands.

"Other people, huh," Mirio paused before giving you a boyish grin, "So, you were watching us." He said not unlike a lawyer who just caught the defendant red-handed. You could feel your heartbeat pick up as he leaned over the table towards you, hands laced together, but your face remained blank. Despite his playful tone, the glint in his eyes made you feel like you were being trialed for murder.

It struck you then just how creepy that might sound to them. You probably seemed like some kind of stalker. A weirdo that's been watching their every move for the past five days, which, of course, you were. He had every right to be suspicious of you.

"Mirio, ease off of her." Tamaki interrupted, face practically buried in the wall. That was the first time you heard him speak, and, God, were you thankful for his timing. It sounded like he had the same accent as Mirio, but, for the life of you, you still couldn't place it.

"Heh, I'm just goofing." He laughed, big blue eyes colored with mirth as he leaned back from you in favor of picking up one of your cookies. But his relaxed posture felt too tense for that to truly be how he felt. It seemed forced.

"Anyway, I wouldn't really call them friends. Just people we've met in passing while we visited. Do you...know any of them?"

You leaned back, unconsciously mirroring him. Your nails tapped against the table to the beat of the music playing softly over the speakers as you took your time quietly examining the two men before you. Your brain ran over the people they brought into the shop. Dozens upon dozens of faces and none of them were familiar.

"No, I can't say I do."

There was a moment of silence before any of you talked.

"Um, I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but you're a pretty intimidating girl." He chuckled, scratching the back of his head. Blond strands falling out of his ponytail to frame his face. You held in a sigh. He wasn't the first person to tell you that and he probably wouldn't be the last.

You weren't sure what it was about your appearance that everyone found so daunting; it could be how hard you stared at people. Or how silent you were. Maybe you had a resting bitch face, but you couldn't be sure, since nobody was ever brave enough to tell you. Whatever it was, it definitely wasn't doing you any favors.

"Is that why he's so quiet?" You joked humorlessly, peeking at the man to your right—Tamaki, you reminded yourself—to find him already looking at you. Piercing purple-blue eyes made the hairs on your neck stand straight as he stared at you without turning away from the white walls. It threw you off to see he was staring at you so intently, considering you didn't think he was even paying attention to the conversation.

"Oh, you mean Tamaki? He's just a little shy around new people. Ain't that right, bud?" He elbowed his friend a little sharply.

"Uh, y-yeah."

"So, where are you guys from?" Your gaze shifted between them, yet again changing the conversation.

You focused on the twinge of pain coming from your finger as you picked at the skin around your nail, a nervous habit you took up when you were a child. It was how you developed such a good poker face. Keeping your emotions off your face and instead directing them to the poor skin of your nail beds.

"Is it that obvious we aren't from around here?" The blond—Mirio—joked, putting his on the back of the booth behind Tamaki's head.

"Your accents kind of gave you away." You joked back. It felt nice to do that. To have someone to joke with.

"Okay, well...It's a little...town called Yuuei," when you perked up, they shared a quick glance before Mirio continued, "It's really small, so you've probably never heard of it. We're actually heading back pretty soon."

"What's it like there? It's still in Japan, right? I assume it is, considering you both speak Japanese like it's your native language," you tried to reign in your excitement, but the prospect of getting some kind of information on this place was too much to pass up, "Do you have any pictures I could se—"

"She's really pretty. Don't you think, Tamaki?" he cut you off, asking the other boy like you weren't just talking, "Sorry if that was random." He laughed. You weren't an expert on social cues, but something about his smile made you think he wasn't really sorry.

You froze and you glanced over at Tamaki with wide eyes, finding he looked more embarrassed than you felt. You kept your face perfectly blank, hopefully not giving away how off-guard that caught you.

"Yeah," he agreed sheepishly, slouching in on himself, "She is." He sounded certain in his answer, which struck you as curious considering how unsure he seemed about literally everything. Almost like it wasn't his first time saying it. For some reason, you couldn't see Tamaki going around complimenting random people like a playboy.

Mirio? Sure.

But, Tamaki? Not so much.

"Oh...thank you." You mumbled, rubbing the tip of your nose and picking at the faded blue fabric of your scarf. You prayed the booth would open up like a Venus flytrap and swallow you whole. You were just rambling a mile a minute to two guys you just met. Was that his way of polity telling you to shut up?

Not only that, but you were at your wits' end here. The conversation kept changing so quickly, touching on topics you had no idea how to navigate. You felt way out of your element.

How sad was it that getting complimented was where your mind drew the line?

"You're welcome, Sunshine." He pointed down to your scarf, cookie still in hand, answering the unasked question in your furrowed brows, "Your scarf. Really cute, by the way." You looked down at the offending cloth wrapped around your neck.

A baby blue woolen scarf with little patterned suns grinning and wearing big green sunglasses. You hadn't really thought much of it when you grabbed it on your way out of the apartment this morning, but here you were wearing a children's scarf in front of two of the hottest guys you've ever seen in your life. They say hindsight was 20/20, but you'd say it was just a bitch.

The fact that they didn't answer your questions didn't go unnoticed, but maybe it was deemed inappropriate in their culture to ask someone about that kind of stuff if you weren't close. You decided to drop it, not wanting to give the impression that you were disrespectful, but kept it at the back of your mind.

___

You still had no clue why it happened, but this...arrangement continued longer than you thought it would. You didn't really know what to call it, but, whatever it was went on every day for the next couple of months. You would wait at your booth, they would come in with new people, talk with them for a little, and then split off to come talk to you.

You know you shouldn't have, but you felt kind of special knowing that they wanted to come spend time with you. You didn't comment on how fast you guys were moving. Choosing to, instead, push the uncertain feeling to the back of your mind.

It was becoming an unwelcome habit.

You didn't bring up the subject of their home again, weary of another awkward conversational lapse on your part. You often felt that creeping uneasiness come up whenever you turned the spotlight on them. You were just trying to make the small talk that you often saw in other people's conversations, but Mirio's eyes would always develop a certain...look and even poor Tamaki would tense up with every question. You decided it was better not to push for information about them at all.

That was your second mistake.

While you didn't ask them much, they seemed to want to know everything about you. They—mainly Mirio—asked you probing question after probing question about your life. About your job, where you lived, who you lived with, if you had any family, etc. The constant stream of questioning seemed odd to you, but you were more than happy to bask in the attention like a lovestruck teenager talking to her crushes.

That's how they made you feel.

Maybe you were just excited to finally partake in those conversations you watched everyone else have. To finally have people want to listen to what you had to say. Frantic to form a connection, no matter how weak the foundation was. The red flags were obvious, but desperation tended to make you colorblind.

You were very hesitant to inform them about your complete lack of quirk at first. You've seen how people react to that and you weren't too eager to lose the only people that could be considered your friends. However, it couldn't be hidden from them forever. Especially, since both of them were so quirk oriented.

They, surprisingly, reacted better than you expected when you told them. In fact, they almost seemed happy.

After you told them that, they wouldn't stop talking about Yuuei. Even Tamaki would jump in on the conversation to tell you things about their home. Alternating between demonstrating their quirks and explaining the wonder that was Yuuei.

It made you apprehensive to be around people with such powerful quirks. It always had, especially in high school. You hadn't known them for long, but you were sure they wouldn't hurt you.

They strived to be pretty accommodating to your anxiousness, which no one had ever done before. And, like a stupid puppy, you were getting attached to their kindness. They and their compassion were like a balm to that scorching thirst that you endured for the past twenty years.

In the short two months you knew them, they had somehow become a solid fixture. They had dug out a divot in your life and laid in it like they've always belonged there. It got to the point where you would call in sick to work just to stay with them a little longer.

Your fall from grace wasn't instantaneous. It happened gradually; inch by beautiful inch. You started falling the moment they came to sit with you. No, the moment they walked into the café was your first step towards oblivion. You were plunging to your demise and you only had yourself to blame. You allowed them a permanent room in your life, despite knowing their stay was temporary.

You're confident they had no idea how important they were to you. Nevertheless, no matter how sorry it sounded, you grew dependent on them. They plagued your thoughts like a disease: that brief period you experience between sleep and consciousness filled with thoughts of them, the moments of long silence at home were spent thinking about your boys, and even when you were with them, ironically, you couldn't stop thinking about them.

How did Mirio get all those scars? I wonder if Tamaki is eating enough? Where were they staying in the city?

You actively worried about them for some reason that was completely lost on you. You were so used to them being there, you weren't even sure how you used to live without them.

"We leave this Sunday."

Turns out you were gonna find out sooner than expected.

"S-so soon?" You choked out, setting your mug down. He had caught you so off guard that you started choking on your hot chocolate. After calming down and assuring them that you weren't dying, you were able to think.

You knew they were just visiting and they'd have to leave eventually. But, for some inane reason, you thought you'd have more time. More time to prepare. More time to...more time with them.

They had walked into the shop by themselves and headed straight for your booth like they had just been drafted for war, which set off emergency lights in your brain. You should have known they were delivering bad news.

"We've actually been here way longer than we were supposed to." Mirio laughed, scratching the back of his head.

"They had to call us back this time," Tamaki's soft-spoken voice imputed, but it seemed like he was talking to himself, "They've never had to call us back before."

"Called back? By who?" You looked between them expectantly.

"Uh, by our leaders. It's a small place, you know? So everyone is basically family. It only makes sense that they'd be worried about us taking too long." The blond explained, rubbing his hands together to get rid of the cold.

So, they were leaving because they were told to? Their leaders had that much sway over their lives?

"Couldn't you guys just...stay a little longer?" Now you were begging them to stay. But what else could you do? By the way they were talking, you could safely assume that they wouldn't be visiting you any time soon.

Mirio frowned, placing his big hand on top of yours. Big blue eyes a lot duller than usual. No matter how hard you looked you couldn't find that spark they typically had.

"I-Sunshine," he sighed, like a man passive to his fate, "it doesn't work like that. We have to go home."

You looked over at Tamaki who was already facing you, a huge improvement from when you first met. His head was down and if his pointed ears could droop like a sad puppy, you're sure they would. They didn't want to leave you just as much as you wanted them to stay.

There was no music playing in the shop to fill the silence between the three of you and the shop lacked the usual chatter. Seems like your earlier comparison had some truth to it. They may not be heading off to war, but they were still saying goodbye like they were. Like you'd never see them again. You felt lucky you even had the luxury of saying goodbye.

The sound of your heart beating against your ribs flooded your ears. Realistically, you knew they couldn't have drastically changed your life in a little over two months.

You could feel saliva collect in your mouth as your stomach gurgled ominously. Before them, every day you would wake up, work, go to the coffee shop, and go home without truly being awake. It felt like you were sleepwalking through your entire life. Living, but never alive. Never really there.

No one to see you. No one to hear you. You were nothing more than a ghost.

Your chest burned and your throat tightened. You couldn't go back to that. You'd be alone again. You couldn't be alone again.

You took a deep breath and schooled your expression, but you were sure that Mirio felt you shaking under his hand.

"What am I—" you swallowed the lump in your throat, "—What am I supposed to do now?" You whispered. But, who were you even asking: them or yourself? They were leaving your life just as fast as they came into it.

Mirio was quick to stand up and the leather booth squeaked under him as he slid into the seat beside you. The weight of his arm was comforting and heavy on your shoulders. His pointer finger and thumb closed in around your chin, turning you to face him.

"I don't..." His voice drifted off when he met your eyes, his lips twitching downwards into a frown. You could see the gears turning in his head before he nodded to himself. An internal conflict coming to an end. Something filled his eyes as he searched your face. It wasn't the spark that you were used to seeing, but a fire.

"Come with us."

Tamaki's head shot up, anxious indigo eyes looking between you before saying, "M-Mirio, are you sure she should come? She, um," his right hand moved to grip his left arm, "our culture is pretty different. S-she might not be able to...adjust."

"That won't be a problem. I'll look after her."

"That's what I'm worried about." He whispered loud enough for you to still hear, but the blond didn't seem deterred. He never looked away from you.

Mirio called you, pulling your attention back to him. You were pretty sure this was the first time you've heard him say your name.

"Look, Yuuie is...it's filled with people like you—like us," he gestured between the three of you, "A lot of people were looking for the same things you are and they found them in Yuuie." Every thing he said was filled with unwavering certainty, an unavoidable conviction that seeped into your bones. It was clear he honestly believed every word.

The conversation was moving too fast for you to fully understand what he was saying. One second, you're on the verge of a panic attack, and the next, you're being persuaded to run away with them? Crazy enough, you were actually considering it. It seemed like such a simple solution.

"You wanna be seen, right? Admired? Understood?—"

Were you that obvious?

"—Well, there's no better place to be seen than at Yuuie! Our leaders strive to provide a place where every single person is appreciated for their contributions. There's always new people coming along. People who desperately needed a home—a guiding hand. Right, Tamaki?"

"Yeah, I guess." Tamaki agreed with a resigned shrug of his shoulders, eyes downcast.

"See? I'm sure everyone there will love you! What do you have to lose?"

What did you have to lose? Your minimum wage job? Your one-room apartment? Your complete and utter lack of companionship?

If you did go with them, what would happen? You never really believed in all of that mumbo-jumbo about fate, but this seemed destined. Every solution to your problems is wrapped up in one big bow laid out in front of you. How could you say no?

So you didn't.

"Okay," you picked at your fingertips under the table, "I'll go with you." The corners of his lips twitched upwards before spreading into a grin. Thin lips moving to show off pearly whites. Even Tamaki looked happy, if not a little reluctant.

And at that moment, as they gazed at you like you were the only thing lighting their way, you never felt more sure of anything in your life.

"I swear you won't regret it, Sunshine.

___

You regretted agreeing to this. No matter how much you liked them, you never should have said yes. This whole thing had felt off-putting since you left.

If you were being truly honest with yourself, something didn't feel quite right since you met those two. Ever since the first time they walked into Komori's Delights, you knew there was something about them that caught your attention.

You originally thought it was because they were new and exciting...and hot. But, it was clear that from the start, your subconscious could tell something was off. Too bad you didn't listen to it.

The fact that Mirio and Tamaki came to pick you up was more than a little surprising, considering they didn't tell you they were coming beforehand.

Instead of taking an Uber, like you anticipated, they both were very insistent on taking the bus. Not one for needless confrontation, you agreed. You figured they knew more about this kind of thing than you did anyway. And they paid for the bus fare, so you couldn't complain.

The bus drove you about an hour out of the city before Mirio requested to get off; another thing that struck you as weird, but you didn't say anything. The three of you walked to a secluded point in the rode that led to an opening in the tree line. Well, you couldn't really call it secluded considering all the people gathered there.

The sheer amount of people waiting for you had stopped you in your tracks. Logically, you knew it was stupid to think there wouldn't be others coming with you, but a small part of you had hoped that you were the only one they were taking home with them.

Your hands gripped the straps of your backpack, sharp nails digging into taut leather. The weight loosening as you adjusted them on your shoulders. The trek so far had been strenuous. Your right ankle hurt from getting it twisted in a hole and mosquitoes were everywhere. Putting the physical strain traveling like this had on your body aside; the girl next to you had been talking your ear off nonstop.

You were all for making friends, but there should be a time and place to start talking about your fucking life story. And, considering your shoes were wet with mud and the humidity of the forest made your shirt cling to you like a second skin, now definitely wasn't the time. You didn't understand how someone could be so chatty in your current situation.

"—you quirkless too?"

"What?" Your neck snapped towards her so fast that if you were any quicker, you could have given yourself whiplash. What did she say?

"What? Are you deaf or something? I asked if you were quirkless too. As in, do you have a quirk or not?" You let the childish jab slide and focused on digesting the sentence. The grass tickled your throbbing ankle as you worked to keep pace with her long strides.

"You're quirkless?"

"Not just me. Every person I talked to is quirkless and I'm pretty sure I talked to, like, everyone here." Your eyes sharply swept over the group, keeping a headcount as you went.

If one out of one hundred people in Japan are quirkless, what were the odds that over twenty of them were gathered in the same place?

"Hey, it's supposed to be winter, right?"

"Yeah." You agreed absently, more focused on trying to get a glimpse of Mirio's blond hair at the front of the group or Tamaki's indigo hair somewhere at the back. You needed to talk to one of them. You needed to know what the hell was going on.

"So why the hell is it so hot?" She asked, pulling her brown hair into a low hanging ponytail. Her roots soaked with sweat, a true testament to the sweltering heat.

"I don't know." You stopped in your tracks, acutely aware of the people passing you, but remaining still. A rock thrown in the middle of a lake, but the stream still flowing nonetheless.

Too many things were happening for them to be a coincidence. You weren't a mathematician, but even you could see that the parts of this equation did not add up. Mirio and Tamaki showing up at your apartment, the number of people without quirks gathered in one spot, and the muggy heat in the forest combined to form a sizeable pit in your stomach.

It was a mistake to come here.

"Y/n? What are you talking about?"

Tamaki's quiet voice startled you out of your thoughts. You hadn't realized you were talking out loud; you hoped he hadn't heard much. You didn't even hear him approaching. His lithe frame stopped beside you as you readjusted your grip on your backpack.

Perhaps you were overreacting; Just being paranoid. And, if something actually was wrong, it wouldn't be wise to tell him about your concerns. Either of them, a small part of your brain whispered. Probably the logical part. For now, you'll keep your suspicions close to your chest. You started forward with a limp towards everyone else, Tamaki close behind you.

"Y-you shouldn't stray too far from the rest of the group. Are you hurt?"

"Um, my ankle is sore and it's only going to get worse the more I walk on it," you looked over the treetops as you walked by them. No birds. No squirrels. Nothing, "Which brings up a question: How long until we get to Yuuei?"

You watched him stumble over his words before answering.

"I-uh, I'm not really sure. But it...shouldn't take too long now," you watched from the corner of your eye as he pulled a plastic baggy full of small baked balls out of his backpack, "Here, it's takoyaki."

You paused.

"What do you want me to do with it?"

"We've been out here for a while, I-I thought you might have been hungry," a flush settled on the apples of his cheeks as he stared at the ground, "You don't have to eat it, o-of course. I was just worried about you."

Worried about you? You stared down at the small ball of dough and meat he placed in your hand and waited. You half expected him to tell you what he wanted in return for the food, but he didn't. You were quick to accept, alonst forgetting to say thanks in your haste, especially considering he was right about one thing.

You were starving. It felt like you hadn't eaten all day, which couldn't be right since the sun was still where it was when you began to walk. You could just chalk it up to the incredible heat and humidity in the forest. And your job definitely didn't make you the most athletic person, so you got tired easily.

"Why aren't you up front with Mirio?"

"I have to stay back here to make sure nobody gets...lost," his shoulders hunched as he pulled out more takoyaki, "Besides, I-I don't really like being front and center like Mirio. I'm not brave enough to lead people." It was just a hunch, but you got the feeling that this was about more than just your current situation. His words were weighted like they had some type of double meaning behind them.

Sure, Tamaki wasn't the most confident guy you met. And, yeah, he could barely get through a conversation with a little old lady without chickening out. But, you were able to read people; you were so good at it that it was basically your quirk.

"Brave? I think bravery is relative. Each person is brave on their own terms," the group's chatter became louder as you got closer, "You left your hometown for the first time and came to the city, right? Don't you think that's brave?"

"No," his voice was so soft you could barely hear him, "not really."

"Hmm," you finally bit into the ball of bread and octopus, "You shouldn't try to measure yourself based off of other people's limits. I think you're brave enough as you are." You could feel his gaze trail over the side of your face like he was trying to use his eyes to crack you open. You decisively decided to ignore it.

"Thank you, y/n."

___

With the help of Tamaki, you were finally able to find Mirio. Actually, once you pushed through the throng of people it wasn't exactly hard to find his broad figure. That's another thing you noticed about him; just how much he stood out. Even Tamaki, who tried his hardest to blend into the shadows, easily grabbed attention. Demanding the focus of any room they walked into, if not with mere presence alone.

Despite that, they weren't what you were thinking about. The temperature was high and the morale was low. The group's overall excitement had dimmed considerably since you started traveling and there were more than a few people grumbling and whining. But, really, who could blame them?

The sun bore down on all of you with an oppressing heat and it was only getting hotter. The air was heavy with the evaporated rain, making it feel more like you were wading through an impossibly deep pool instead of hiking through a forest. Every step you took felt weighed down as if the air had wrapped itself around every limb like a heavy blanket.

You weren't the only one feeling the effects of the journey. You picked up bits and pieces of conversation as you walked, more like limped, next to Mirio. Protests from the group grew louder the longer you went. Surrounded by heat and with no break in sight, the crowd got antsy.

"It's so hot—"

"...long are we gonna keep walki—"

"All the trees look...same."

"—we're in a forest, dumbass."

"You know what I mean, man! I swear...passed this one before."

You were running on fumes yourself, but they didn't see you complaining. You dragged your eyes over to Mirio. Fluffy, golden hair bounced in its ponytail with every step as he marched forward. The sun set a glow on his peachy skin, but there wasn't a single drop of sweat on him. Considering he lived here his whole life, you assumed he probably was just used to the crazy heat. He kept his eyes forward with a placid smile on his face. If he was bothered by the groups growing grievances, he definitely didn't show it.

You stumbled until your shoulder hit the nearest tree, bark scratching harshly against your sweaty skin, but your ankle throbbed so sharply that you didn't even care. It was so hot. You brought a shaking hand up to wipe at your forehead. You all were walking for so long, but it felt like the sun's rays only got more intense.

"Okay, I think that's enough. You're pushing yourself way too hard. You're practically dead on your feet," he put his backpack on his chest and squatted down in front of you, "Hop on, Sunshine."

Your eyes widened. Was he serious?

"Wouldn't it make more sense to take a break? I'm sure I'm not the only person tired here." You panted, growing conscious of the eyes on you.

"If we stop now, we won't make it before nightfall. Come on. I'm not getting up until you get on. Just think of me as your noble steed." He smiled at you like he had no clue how embarrassing he was.

It was a thoughtful gesture. He had offered to let you get on his back earlier when he saw you stumbling around, but you declined, which proved to be a dumb decision on your part. And the thought of walking on your bum ankle anymore made you queasy, even now it throbbed despite you resting.

You gave a quick glance sideways at the group and, of course, they were all staring, staring, staring with their judgy little eyes. You guys hadn't even been out here that long and they somehow formed a group that you clearly weren't welcomed in.

You sighed.

There was no use being unnecessarily difficult. You were holding up the group as it was, and you had a feeling that he actually wouldn't get up unless you got on his back.

So you buried your pride and hobbled over to him. His big hands grabbed the bottom of your thighs and hoisted you up, wrapping your legs around his waist. You weren't sure where to put your arms and just draped them over his shoulders.

His cool skin worked wonders for the extreme heat you were feeling that you couldn't help but cling to his back further. Was it inappropriate? Probably. And your clammy skin was likely getting sweat all over him. Did you care? Not at all.

However, you couldn't help but think of yourself as an annoyance. Sure, everyone else was complaining, but they were still on their own two feet. And here you were, forcing Mirio to carry you in his back because you couldn't handle the journey when he was probably just as tired as you.

"Hey, you wanna hear a joke?," he suddenly asked, pulling you out of your thoughts, "What did the man with two left eyes and two right eyes tell his doctor? He had double vision! Ha!" He laughed, a little too proud of his joke. Maybe it was because of how he said it completely out of nowhere or because of how utterly stupid it was, but it made you smile.

Then Mirio beamed at you from over his shoulder and his vivid blue eyes seemed like they shined even brighter when you chuckled at his corny joke.

Did he tell you a joke in hopes that you'd relax?

"If you thought that was funny, there's tons more where that came from. Heh, I really have my mentor to thank for this A+ material. Now, what do you call somebody with nobody and no nose?"

But you didn't hear the punchline as the heat and the vibration of Mirio's voice swayed you into a restless sleep.

Voices shouting, shouting all around you. Intense heat. Being carried through a dark purple cloud and then...nothing.

___

When you awoke, you were still on Mirio's back, but you weren't in the forest anymore. Instead, all you saw was a wall. Your eyes lazily swept over the great expanse of cement, muscles straining as your neck craned towards the sky. The sunlight hit your eyes, blurring your vision as you tried to see the top. The wall was taller than any of the buildings you saw in the city.

Was this another dream? Had to be. But it felt so real. Too real.

You tried to climb off of Mirio's back, but your body felt like it was being weighed down by the air alone. And Mirio's tightening grip definitely didn't help. You could barely keep your eyes open as you blearily looked around, but you couldn't make out anything but shapes.

"Don't worry, Sunshine. Just go ahead and rest those pretty, little eyes. I'll take care of you."

"M...irio...wh—" You could hardly keep your eyes open enough to finish your sentence. Darkness seizing your vision as Mirio's movements lulled you back to sleep. Your hearing was the last thing to go.

"How long did this group last, Sir?"

"Two days."

"A whole two days?! Pretty impressive, all things considered. Right, Sir?"

"Yes, Mirio..."

[7deadlycinderellas]

No more math and history, ch6

Ao3 link

BIG TW in this chapter for discussion of an incident of religiously motivated child abuse. Please read responsibly.

  Halfway through second session, Sansa’s halfway through reading a letter when she suddenly starts slapping the side of Arya’s arm, making her drop her sandwich.

“You’re never going to believe this!” she gushes, pushing the folded letter at Arya. She takes it and scans the words quickly.

Gendry has paused eating his soup.

“What is it?”

Arya can barely believe her eyes. There’s a polaroid photo included and Arya runs her finger over it.

“Robb wrote that Nymeria came home. Gods, it’s been six years, I figured…”

She doesn’t say. There are still wolves in the north. She stares at the photo, at Nym’s blue eyes, at her gray markings. She wonders if she will even remember her.

It’s nice for a letter to bring good news this time.

She’s sick of Ygritte being so distant, so between her and Sansa, they decide to ambush her during the next rest period.

They both approach her on her cot with arms crossed.

“OK, Ygritte, we’re not leaving until you tell us what’s wrong.”

She tries to stare them down, but Arya and Sansa are better at it than her. With a deep sigh, she reaches into her trunk at the end of her bunk and pulls out a folded, battered letter.

Arya scans the back before turning it over. Sansa hunches over her shoulder so they both can read at the same time.

“You didn’t tell us you heard from Jon,” she says, miffed, “He hasn’t written any of us yet.”

Sansa’s still reading while Arya talks and gets to the middle of the letter first. She clamps her hands over her mouth to stifle a squeal.

Ygritte looks at them both, and mutters, helpfully, as though they hadn’t just read the letter.

“He asked me to marry him.”

Sansa squeals and her hands fly to her mouth. After she’s calmed down, she asks.

“Don’t you want to be part of our family?”

Arya rolls her eyes.

“Don’t mind her, she’s as big a romantic moron as Jon has always been. Also-”

Arya runs her finger along one line in the letter.

“He asked you, ‘how you would feel about getting married’, pretty sure that’s as indirect as Jon can get. He’s probably terrified of what you’ll say.”

Ygritte looks at Arya dubiously.

“So what should I tell him?”

Arya shrugs.

“Tell him how you do feel about getting married. Which, I might ask, is what?”

Ygritte sighs and pulls her knees up to her chest.

“It’s not that I never want to get married, but seven hells, I’m only twenty. I see half the girls who leave school up north at sixteen and get married immediately. They’re my age and half of them already have kids and the other half work shit waitressing jobs while their husband’s run sheep and drink, and it’s just- Forever is such a long, long time to think about...”

Arya rolls her eyes.

“Then tell him that.”

“Isn’t that a little-”

Arya rolls them again, and sits at the end of Ygritte’s bunk.

“Ygritte, you’re the only serious girlfriend Jon’s ever had. You’ve been together for like, five years, and he never even looks at other girls. I’m pretty sure telling him you’re scared to get married so young won’t be a deal breaker.”

“It’s also sort of a cliche for young soldiers to marry immediately upon enlistment, then come home and discover their wives were unfaithful, might want to remind Jon of that,” Sansa comments. Arya snorts. Sansa watches far too many sappy made for TV movies. She’s heard Robb’s friend Theon make a couple of cracks at Jon to make sure he doesn’t get himself tied to a “dependapotamus” too. Arya had lashed out at Theon for being insensitive as usual, but on his rare phone calls, Jon hadn’t seemed to think the other recruits were bastions of rational decision making.

“Just,” Arya adds before she leaves with Sansa, “Don’t panic and make a decision you’ll regret later.” She should write Jon and remind him to keep that in mind too. She’ll go get some stationary at the tuck shop later. “Take your time. That’s one of the benefits of only being able to get snail mail out here.”

Marriage, Arya can barely believe it. It’s such a grown up concern, out here in the woods. She thinks of Jon, off with the Air Force, standing and marching, and wonders if he wishes he were here, even when he is also thinking of marriage.

Later that week, Gendry comes to breakfast whistling. When Arya eyes him, he rolls up his shirt sleeve.

“Made it twenty-four hours without a patch. I now declare myself free of nicotine’s power over my mind and my wallet.”

Arya gives him a high-five and Shireen follows up.

“Shireen was the one who really pushed me to quit,” Gendry confides in Arya. “She really doesn’t like fire, and is apparently invested in me living to old age.”

Gendry’s so pleased with himself that Arya hates reminding him that the canoe races start today. He slumps over when she does. Gendry’s really not suited to a counselor role, he’s far too anti-social, but he’s quite good at enforcing rules and enforcing them fairly. But the races bring out the most rambunctious and the most competitive among the campers and there are frequently tears and occasionally blood. He spends the days of the races even more sullen than normal.

The day of the semi-final races, Tommen Baratheon flips out of his canoe and doesn’t come back up. A blow of the whistle, and it’s the first actual rescue Arya’s seen happen at camp in years. The air is thick with anticipation, as everyone stays still, buddy arms up, watching the water.

The canoes are still sitting idle when Gendry jumps in and pulls Tommen from the water. He’s limp and pale, and Gendry lays him on the shore, and checks his airway. He hasn’t even had a chance to check his pulse when Tommen coughs and the air thins and everyone can breathe again.

“That was fucking terrifying,” he admits to Arya, “but...sort of exhilarating too.”

“It was exhilarating to watch,” Arya tells him. It’s true, she rarely gets to see him so confident and self-assured. It’s like watching a great athlete play, but Gendry’s never really been able to give half a hoot about competition when they played anything. It’s such a huge change, to see him so... sure of himself. It’s nice, really.

But even afterwards, he’s tense through the end of the races, a tiny bit shaken up by the save.

The night the races end, he looks incredibly relieved. That’s the same night that Shireen whispers to Arya.

“My cabin’s doing a snack raid tonight. You should bring Gendry and help him cheer up.”

That Arya can definitely handle, she’d been so disappointed at the end of first session when Hot Pie hadn’t managed to tell them when any of these were planned.

After campfire, Arya grabs his hand.

“Snack orgy tonight with Shireen’s cabin, give me five minutes to change into my stretchy trousers.”

Snack raids were always an exciting event as a camper. Despite this, Arya is still a bit disappointed in herself that she never realized how carefully they were planned. They not only never got caught, but they always seemed to happen right when there were two or three of the big ten gallon ice cream drums close to their expiration dates. And somehow, the kitchen staff never locked up or put the toppings away.

Not that any of this knowledge stops Arya from loading up her sundae with crushed pineapple and whipped cream.

Shireen’s cabin is young enough that snack raids are an entirely new concept, so thankfully they are too excited by the ice cream to truly cause any real mischief, and keeping an eye on them in the kitchen is easy.

“Y’know, the first time we did this, Sansa was completely convinced we were going to get kicked out if we were caught,” Arya whispers to Shireen while Gendry squirts the can of whipped cream into a camper’s open mouth.

“She always was the rule abiding type,” Gendry adds.

Shireen slumps a bit, her cheeks red.

“I’ve always been like that too.”

The whole group is quiet for a bit, when one of the younger girls approaches with her spoon.

“Will the cold make your face stop hurting?”

Shireen smiles.

“Thank you for thinking of me, Lily, but it’s just scar tissue, it doesn’t hurt.”

Shireen’s eyes drift downward as the girl pads away, and Arya forces her mouth to stay closed but the words start tumbling from Shireen’s mouth regardless.

“Arya, you said you thought the Lord of Light was from Essos, did you ever hear about his followers affinity for fire?”

Arya is frozen, her eyes trailing towards Gendry, who is nearly as still as she is.

“No, no I can’t say I have.”

Shireen’s tilting forward, her bowl of strawberry ice cream sitting at her chin, untouched.

“That’s his follower’s favorite topic, cleansing and blessing by fire. When I was young and my father first started making me go to services with mum, it was all they talked about. Then a new priestess came to Dragonstone, all the way from Asshai. She was different. She didn’t just like talking about it. No matter how short a sermon was, there was always a fire on the altar.”

Next to her, Arya watches Gendry stiffen.

“After that, we had to go to chapel every night, not just on Sundays. We weren’t supposed to do anything else at all it seemed. And her sermons were longer, and bigger. She made people stand up and profess things...and they burned things. At first it was just books and things she insisted were wrong, but then…”

Arya’s mind is racing. She knows the sort of thing Shireen was describing. In history class a few years they’d learned the word. A cult. Arya darts her eyes around trying to see if anyone else is listening, but thankfully the younger girls are chattering away.

Shireen reaches up and touches the side of her face.

“I had chicken pox bad as a kid, it left some nasty scars. My mum used to try and cover it up, but it always stuck out.”

Arya nods.

“I was so upset they got the vaccination like, a year, after I had it.”

She’s desperately trying to lighten the mood. She knows sometimes when people ask about her parents and her past, her words could get sort of heavy. It went with the territory, but Arya’s actually almost frightened of where this goes.

“This priestess, her name was Melisandre. I don’t know if that was her first or last name. She sort of fixated on my scars. Kept saying she would purify me of them.”

Arya’s beginning to shake as she thinks of what could be coming.

“I’d seen her...the chapel had a fire of hot coals. Standing over them was said to purify your breath. She would sometimes call people to the front of the congregation and have them lay their hands on the coals, for what she said was ‘spiritual healing’”.

Shireen’s hugging her middle with both arms now.

“She used to take my father aside and talk to him, and he always came away angry, until one day he didn’t. One day, Melisandre spoke to him, and he led me to the front. I don’t remember thinking anything was strange, until she held the coal to my face.”

Arya’s stomach churns. It’s taking near all her power to keep her sundae down.

“I don’t really remember it that well. I think I must have screamed, but all the rest I remember is the smell. Like cooked meat.”

“That must have been when Mr Davos called emergency services,” Gendry interrupts. Arya frowns slightly, somehow still being able to express further confusion at his response.

Shireen nods.

“I was in hospital for a while, then I went straight into care. The nurses kept going on about how lucky I was not to lose my eye…”

“They like to do that,” Arya interrupts. She has to interrupt. Shireen’s eyes are shining like she’s going to cry and if she cries, Arya won’t be able to stop herself and they’ll have a mess hall full of curious pre-pubescent girls who have magically managed to not hear this terrible story. “When Bran was in hospital after his accident, he said they wouldn’t stop talking about how much worse it could have been.”

Shireen chuckles grimly, but otherwise stays quiet, her eyes squeezed shut. Arya and Gendry both lean forward at about the same time and each hug about half of her. It feels so strange that Arya already knows how to do this with so much grace.

When they walk back, Arya asks Gendry quietly,

“You knew all of this?”

He nods.

“Mr Davos took us in at the same time, he used to be close to her father. He hardly spoke at all when he brought her home from hospital. We had to take her in for appointments regularly after that, for nearly a year. She had to have skin grafts and all that jazz.”

Arya stays silent for a bit.

“How is she dealing with it?”

Gendry pinches his nose and squeezes his eyes shut.

“I don’t think she is. She doesn’t say a word, and last time her parents had supervised visitation, she went completely stony faced for a week, and for another week after the visit. I used to think it was just to deal with the media- there was a fair amount for about a week on TV down in the Crownlands about the ‘mad rich people cult’ down in Dragonstone before something else took over. That’s why I let her keep going, because she never talks at all about it.”

Arya sighs. She knows that too well, sucking all your feelings in and keeping them inside until they threaten to explode.

“I should tell her to talk to Bran,” Arya says, thinking, “He was always the only one of us who was good at feelings, I think his cabin’s up for archery rankings in a few days, I’ll have to ask him while we’re at that.”

Arya chuckles. And if talking doesn’t help, shooting things might, even if it involves sacrificing one of her precious days off.

Arya has hardly seen Meera this past week because she’s been setting things up. The Mormont girl who’s her junior this year looks the same as every other Mormont. Arya has missed archery a lot, it’s not something she can exactly practice at home.

For added fun, it turns out Bran can still draw and shoot even without dropping the arm of his chair.

Bran tells her he’s spoken with Shireen a bit at meals and when their cabins share activities. Arya asks him if Shireen has talked to him at all about her past.

“Just little bits here and there, I never wanted to pry.”

“I’m not telling you to pry but...Gendry says he thinks she really needs to talk to someone.”

“Y’know of all the things I thought would be different after the accident, I never thought that it would make people talk to me about everything. At this point they should just give me a therapist’s license.”

Arya feels a smile quirk at the corners of her mouth.

“It’s because they know you can’t run away.”

There’s a brief lull when Meera pauses to announce the current rankings. Arya watches Bran’s eyes linger a bit on her and can’t resist the urge to tease.

“Still?” she asks.

Bran sighs.

“Still.”

The summer before the Starks had first come to Camp Durrandon, Meera and her brother Jojen had both spent the summer up north with them, their father having been an old friend of Ned’s.

“At least we don’t have to fight over her attention anymore.” Arya comments. Not that they’d ever really wanted the same sort of attention from Meera. Being twelve to Arya’s ten and Bran’s nine, she hadn’t paid either of them any mind that year, choosing instead to spend the summer trying to climb every tree on the grounds of Winterfell, and very nearly succeeding.

Something pricks at the back of Arya’s mind and she asks.

“Has she been being kind of distant lately or is it just me?”

Bran turns and cocks his head in Arya’s direction, his face disbelieving.

“Well it is her last summer here, I think it would be pretty normal to be a little sad.”

Arya’s eyebrows fly up into her hairline. Her mind had somehow skipped over that fact.

“I don’t think I even processed that. Her not being here with us will be so strange.”

Bran shrugs.

“Well it’s not like the conservation corps have summer holidays. It’ll be three years until she returns to civilization full time.”

Bran’s ears are a little pink, and it suddenly hits Arya that he and Meera are only one year further apart than her and Gendry.

“You ever think of telling her?”

“I don’t know what good it would do, especially now. Maybe I’ll tell when she gets back.”

“Do you think you’ll still feel that way after three whole years?”

Bran’s eyes get the strange, old look they get sometimes when he’s thinking hard. Mum had once laughed and said Bran seemingly had a soul a thousand years older than him.

“I mean, I didn’t think I would still feel this way now. I thought I would grow up and my feelings would fade. That’s the way it always goes in films. But I haven’t.”

Arya smiles, and pats Bran on the shoulder.

“You see? Things like this are why I say you’re better at feelings than me.”

It doesn’t take much prodding for Bran to agree to talk to Shireen more when their cabins do activities together, and by the end of the rankings, Arya places rather well considering she hasn’t shot in years.

That night, in their cabin, Arya ambushes Meera with a hug. Ygritte’s gone to the tuck shop to buy some more paper, but she hasn’t mentioned if she’d written Jon back yet. Regardless, it leaves Arya and Meera alone.

“M’sorry, I didn’t even realize you might not be coming back next summer.”

Meera still, but laughs.

“It’s okay. I’ve not tried to think about it too much either. It’s all so big...no more summer holidays, no more exams, no more uniforms with skirts and ties.”

Arya chuckles and tries not to be glad that the system in Winterfell didn’t require uniforms after junior school.

“I think that’s part of the reason I always liked coming here so much. It’s like all the rest of the world disappears for three months.”

And Arya realizes that’s so much of the reason why she loves it here too.

And she realizes the next day at the kickball tournament that second session is one day away from ending.

She’s in the stands with most of the camp, watching Shireen’s cabin going against Myrcella Baratheon’s, and only half paying attention when she realizes Ygritte and Sansa to her side are spiritedly debating as to the baseball euphemisms.

“I’m just saying,” Sansa starts, “Doesn’t it basically imply that lesbians can never hit a home run?”

Arya snorts.

“Well I didn’t come up with the thing,” Ygritte responds, “You like girls, make your own metaphor.”

“Maybe that means that you can still go to Mum’s church on Maiden’s Day with a clear conscience,” Arya teases Sansa, “Since according to this bit of common knowledge you have no way of not being a virgin.”

Sansa huffs.

“The bases are sort of vague,” Arya continues, “especially since I’ve only ever heard them described as second being above the waist and third being below.”

“True,” Ygritte agrees, “I mean, a fella touching your chest through your sweater isn’t quite the same as being stripped to the waist and him sucking your chest full of love bites.”

The back of Arya’s neck goes pink, and later that night when her and Gendry are on the ground behind the equipment shed again.

A few nights ago, he’d snaked one hand up her shirt and gently begun to tug on her nipples. Tonight it only takes a little convincing to make him duck his head and experimentally take one between his lips.

Second base, head first, Arya thinks with a giggle. Looking up at her, Gendry’s eyes have a mischievous twinkle, one she hasn’t seen on him a lot.

“Something gotten into you tonight?”

Arya reaches out and runs her hand along the side of his face, fingers catching on the slight hint of a beard he doesn’t bother shaving out here.

“Just thinking about some things.”

“Good things?”

Arya tugs on his ear to pull him up into a kiss before responding.

“Mostly.”

She’s thinking about how good this feels, how nice Gendry looks in the moonlight. She’s thinking of sports euphemisms and the hide and seek game tomorrow. She is pointedly not thinking of Ygritte’s letter and Meera’s job. And she is definitely not thinking about summer being almost over.

[b-listbadboy]

Castlevania Season 3 was disappointing

(Spoilers for Castlevania Season 3, if you haven’t seen it yet it’s out now on Netflix. I suggest watching that first before reading this review)

I won’t say it was an awful season by any stretch of the imagination but man was it a drag to get through.

Almost nothing of significance happens for the majority of the season and the things that did happen felt extremely off and weird. 10 episodes, 25 to 30 minutes each, and every single one except for the fucking TWO LAST EPISODES were spent dicking around with a mystery that had little to do with anything from season 2 beyond a really out there twist that I’m sort of iffy on. Top that off with a lackluster arguably stupid ending to leave us off on a needless cliffhanger, and that’s the magic remedy that will leave me feeling pretty damn frustrated.

The best parts, in my opinion, were with Isaac’s massive undead crusade he was waging throughout his journey for revenge, and Trevor and Syph’s interactions with each other as well as with the little villagers. Isaac’s arc going from a servant of Dracula to slowing evolving into the master of the damned felt genuine, intriguing, and badass! I really wish he was the next main villain instead as it makes sense thematically. He carries out Dracula’s nihilistic views of humanity in a similar but now more direct way and that can lead into something really intriguing. However, for some reason, this season left him and his whole journey on a back burner, and virtually everything else that is implemented into main villain role fell flat on its face execution wise.

For example; The new vampires of this season are Camilla’s three other empress sisters, and while they do have a plethora of personality at the very least, that kind of comes at a cost of the main threat being extremely diluted. We go from this hurting sympathetic undead overlord with the power of an anchent GOD, to a couple of wicked sassy sisters who just wanna eat people forever? It’s a bit lame of a progression from what we once had, we know Vampires like to eat people that’s nothing new or exciting. There’s no real twist to it besides it being “led by women in the dark ages” and granted that makes sense here since it IS the dark ages, but come on we literally just had arguably the BEST adaptation of friggin’ Dracula! This shouldn’t be all they got moving forward from that.

Now, I have ZERO issue with the main antagonists being female or even two of the four sisters (not by blood don’t worry) being a lesbian couple. I hate that I have to emphasize this, hell I often defend Cinder Fall in RWBY more than anyone in the fandom at all despite her issues as a complex and sometimes flat out badly written character. However, The four of them in this season have the most basic of plans that it seems arbitrary status quote fluff at best. It felt like just because it’s Castlevania, we HAVE to have the vampires as the villains. Even though in the games the Belmont’s were literally fighting werewolves, dragons, skeletons, and the GRIMM REAPER??

Therefore, the sense of urgency and tense calculating plans of ‘survival vs extinction’ is completely gone. And yknow in a way, I can kinda initially SEE that working in a sort of “Empire Strikes Back” esque plot. Yknow, with Alucard and the gang go around cleaning up Dracula’s leftover horde only for Isaac or even Camilla to have this huge vengeful comeback of dominance? But there’s no one exactly “striking back” or even taking any kind of immediate initiative after Dracula’s death. It’s been MONTHS after the whole event and no one seems like they really care about that world changing event from the last two season’s. Everything is fine and dandy, no one has a single worry in the world! How enthralling...I miss Godbrand 😑

Besides the plan the four empresses have as well as Issac’s revenge, which I hope will both be more explored in season 4, no one really has any goal to warrant THAT kind of length of a season. This is more of a Netflix problem that I have with most of their shows and it’s one of the reasons why I don’t like watching them. Almost every singe show Netflix produces now, feels the need to overstuff itself with needless filler that gets us really nowhere until the very end where it SUDDENLY all comes together. But because of the nature of binge watching and considering how Netflix wants to desperately keep their subscriptions in fear of intimidating competition, they make these shows 12 episodes long with HALF HOUR OR MORE amount of filler content that’s supposed to satisfy us cause it’s “cute”?! No, stop this shit! Granted, Castlevania wasn’t nearly AS bad as the live action shows, but honestly, what exactly was shown to us that couldn’t have been reduced to like 5 solidly paced episodes focused on one or two plot lines ONLY like before? It worked perfectly back then, why change what ain’t broke?

As much as I don’t like the immediate rush of Trevor and Syph’s out of nowhere sexual relationship, I didn’t overall mind it too much since they still somewhat felt consistent. Their characteristics play off very nicely with one another and it’s pretty easy to see the chemistry between the two....HOWEVER I’M STILL GONNA COMPLAIN ABOUT IT SO HERE WE GO!

I get that they were setting them up as an endgame ship of the series, there’s no denying that, but they start fucking for what feels like (to the audience) two days after and I think that’s a bit ridiculous! Even if Alucard states that it’s been at the very least a month worth of time since the events of Season 2, there’s no real physical signs showing that statement to be true. Hell, Trevor’s beard and hair remains the same despite a HUGE passage of time where it would naturally grow out to indicate said time passing by. But both him, Syph, Alucard, and damn near everyone else looks the exact same as last season. So for all I know it could have been like a week since Season 2 and that to me doesn’t feel exactly earned. The Season 2 finale didn’t explicitly leave off Trevor and Syph officially a couple, they felt more like partners in crime more than anything else. Not to say that there wasn’t any chemistry there to develope INTO a relationship GRADUALLY, but going from a little spark of interest to the immediate jump of them sleeping together naked all comfortably as if they’re a goddamn married couple is a STRETCH! Even Trevor himself thinks so too so don’t jump down my throat about not being immediately swooned by the shipping fanservice given to us. I don’t dislike them as a couple at all, in fact I think their dynamic is cute! However, I would have also liked to have this couple feel natural and earned. They most certainly do not feel earned this way, at least to me.

Oh god, then there’s this out of nowhere sexual tension between Alucard and his new two recruits from another region hinted at in the previous season? Mind you, Alucard was doing literally NOTHING throughout the entirety of Season 3. Yep, literally the ONE DUDE WHO BASICALLY KILLED DRACULA gets about fuck all story progression afterwards out of the three. But what they DO give him are these two new vampire hunting student’s who look identical to one another (no racial they just literally look like fraternal twins) so I assumed they were either siblings or a couple, which makes it REALLY WEIRD WHEN THEY BOTH FUCK ALUCARD OUT OF NOWHERE?! I’m NOT making this shit up I promise! What makes even less sense is that it was really just a ploy for them to steal the Belmont knowledge of killing vampires to show to their people who have been enslaved. Which of course ends with them being killed so it really makes this entire conflict in his character damn near pointless besides “sad vibes check”, but here’s the thing...why didn’t they just keep doing training with Alucard?? There were virtually no downsides to having him teach you how to kill Vampires to save your village from being enslaved, he was teaching you both very well and gave you like the eternal knowledge of how to kill literally EVERY MONSTER and even let you live in the castle FOR FREE, food and wine included! What was the turning point for them to want to kill him all of the sudden? Cause he’s a vampire?? THEY FUCKING KNEW THAT ALREADY!!! Why was is suddenly not a problem at first but then coincidentally a problem now? If they wanted to use this to somehow depict this notion of “Oh my dad/Dracula was right humans are the worst” mindset, trust me, it was better conveyed with Isaac. These twins side plot not only made no sense, but also felt unjustified for Alucard to be an emo boi. I get that it’s supposed to be symbolic of him going through the same issues that both of his parents went through, but none of that really showed how bad human’s are. Just that those two twins didn’t think things through apparently. So the point of Alucard having this odd character convenience shift feels by the numbers cliché, and most importantly CHEAP.

It really makes no sense to me why they’re adding so much of this filler for such a long time, especially with some of this filler being oddly sexual. I don’t mind honest depiction of sex between consenting adults of course, but it just felt so misplaced and awkward at parts where it showed itself. I felt like I was reading a mediocre fanfic of Castlevania instead of the actual show itself! Granted, Season 2 had somewhat of a similar dilemma but the lull in between was still showing the character specifically doing things to further the story along. Towards the end, it gave us a way more satisfactory closure of that saga with Dracula that felt natural and well earned. This season however, felt like they were scrambling with different ideas here and there and didn’t know which to go with. Alucard training new recruits in his castle, Trevor and Syph figuring out an estranged (and BORING/GENERIC) cult of Dracula’s plan, Camilla setting up an army with her fellow sisterhood of evil vampires to gain ultimate power, Hector surviving captivity by using his wit and charm, Isaac raising up the dead for revenge on his deceased master, a new character introducing an all new world to the lore of Castlevania as we know it, all of these interesting concepts and ideas that could easily make up for a good season alone! And instead of focusing on one or two ideas to develope into something natural, they ended up saying “FUCK IT! Fucking I dunno what to- WE’RE DOING ALL OF IT I DUNNO!” and mixed the whole thing in a blender of different flavors that don’t necessarily blend together well enough for a tasty satisfactory meal. It just ends up being a mesh of okay at best, and gross at worst.

IN CONCLUSION, Castlevania Season 3 had a rocky start, an okay middle, and a kind of cool end. There was definitely some cool and exciting ideas implemented in here, but not enough to warrant that lengthy amount of time that Netflix seems to love to give to most of their TV shows. Sometimes less is more, and all that shiny cool glitter isn’t necessarily going to turn out to be gold. I’ll give this season a 5/10. It’s not the worst I’ve ever seen but it certainly could’ve been a lot better.

P.S. “Who Do Ya Voodoo” from Dead Island is Isaac’s new theme song, you can’t convince me otherwise.

[quanf99]

Sovereign Citizens, and the Definitely Not Real Global Domination Pandemic

It was 12:40am when I got out of bed to check my mail box, behind yet another fridge magnet from Josh Frydenberg was a postcard from the Protector Party, a political awareness group warning of a ploy by governments to control the masses through the current coronavirus pandemic, or something along those lines. The Protector Party are tied to the resurgence of sovereign citizens, members of society who believe they may choose exemption from the laws of society, a right supposedly outlined in the Magna Carta. While fringe political beliefs have always floated around, they're gaining traction in Australia after strict lock down laws imposed by the Andrews government. I was familiar with such ideas, but this was the first time I'd encountered said ideas in my mail box. I decided to look into sovereign citizenry some more, who were they? And what gave them the right to leave insane post cards in my mail box?

For many residents of Melbourne, Dan Andrews tough lockdown laws herald the rise of an all-powerful authoritarian state. These laws have made it illegal for people to visit other households, or leave home past 8pm, they force Melbournians to wear face masks when leaving home. Democracy is truly at threat when I can't order from the McDonalds drive-thru at 12am. Fighting on the frontlines against totalitarianism is a group calling themselves sovereign citizens or, Freeman of the Land. Freemen argue that laws only apply to corporations, which on their terms include the government. Birth certificates are a contract with the government as corporation and only apply to a person if he or she consents to it. This sort of imaginary legal argument has existed long before the coronavirus  pandemic and Dan "Stalin" Andrews' lockdown, cropping up whenever somebody gets summoned to court for unpaid driving tickets. Recently these pseudo-legal ideas have gained traction via Facebook groups. Through social media, thousands of middle-aged Australians are rallying behind the cause, who else will defend our rights to get pissed in the backyard on a Friday night. I thought I'd join one of these groups to get a read on the sovereign citizens. I found one group, Truth and the Unknown - Australia, it tends to focus on conspiracy theories in general but has recently shifted to uncovering the facts regarding coronavirus. The discussion surrounding the pandemic comes from livestreams of really intelligent looking people explaining to audiences that, coronavirus is not a virus, that even if it was viruses can't be caught by body, that coronavirus mortality rate is so low, no one should be worried even if they do catch it, despite 894 people dying in Australia. Unsurprisingly almost all of the information posted in Truth and the Unknown - Australia, contains no sources backing up any of the information provided. Discussion then shifts to memes explaining how 5G internet connections weaken the body making it more susceptible to coronavirus, a virus that isn't actually a virus, and even if it was you can't catch it. Further down the rabbit hole, GMO foods, vaccines causing autism, Rockefellers and Freemasons, government ties to Satanic cults and Bohemian Grove. All of this was mildly funny and maybe a little disturbing, but I was having trouble finding any concrete political ideas from any of these sovereign citizens. I decided to get in contact with the man who first sent me down this rabbit hole, that's when I got in touch with John Tiger Casley, leader of the Protector Party. Mr Casley is an older man, he speaks in old Australian figures of speech which find a balance somewhere between endearing and condescending, responding to you with phrases like "Alright young fella". Mr Casley used to be a history teacher, he now resides in Brighton presumably retired, spending his time making YouTube videos and sending people weird post cards. I asked "What do you think the end goal supposedly is for this deep state?" to which he replied "I believe their goal is psychopathic humanoid control over human bodies via violent injections and 5G, as well as human perception through media propaganda and AI." Q: Do you think this current climate of politics, sovereign citizens, and a general openness to these ideas will result in positive changes to politics in Australia? J: I believe it depends on the amount of human power given away to the Psychopathic Humanoids in JFK's Monolithic Conspiracy, although I've never known opportunity for political engagement to be higher. Q: How did you first become aware of things like, JFK's Monolithic Conspiracy? J: I began reading, gratefully, the logic, evidence, experiences and suffering of the most amazing mind of this century - David Icke's. While my interview with Mr Casely was interesting it revealed little in the way of concrete political beliefs, again it felt more like I was hearing a conspiracy theory check list be ticked off, rather than any solid politics. I decided to look into David Icke afterwards. Icke is a former football player from the UK, who writes about an inter-dimensional race of reptilians who run the Illuminati and have hijacked the Earth. These reptilians are known as the Anunnaki, ancient Sumerian deities of the Underworld. Again the formula for these ideas feels tried and true, pick an ancient pre-Judeo Christian deity (preferably from Mesopotamia) and center them around a secret shadow government conspiracy to rule the world. Whether its democrats sacrificing babies to Moloch, or underground Illuminati lizard men, the pattern feels obvious. Next I spoke to Zac Galloway, a practicing lawyer with a law degree from University of Tasmania. After moving to Melbourne a few years back, Mr Galloway has become active in promoting the truth about the pandemic through platforms like Facebook. I figured Mr Galloway would have to be well educated if he was a practicing lawyer, and should be able to back up his views better than the average Facebook conspiracy theorist. Q: I'm interested to know, are you connected to any particular groups or organisations? Mr Galloway: I'm not connected with any organisations, although I do follow a few Facebook pages where people share and spread information. I don't believe everything that gets spread in these groups and take most of it with a grain of salt however. Q: Do you believe the virus is real? Or a ploy by the government towards some other agenda? Z: I believe the virus is real but our perception of it is far from the truth. There seems to be overwhelming evidence the virus was man made and originated in a laboratory. Whether this was done intentionally doesn't matter as much to me, I think there's a clear agenda from government worldwide involving mass control and surveillance of the population. Q: Have friends and family been receptive to your message, or do you find a lot of push back regarding your ideas? Z: I find a mix of responses, I've got many people who message me frequently to show support, wishing they were brave enough to speak up. Q: What do you think the rising trend of belief in the sovereign citizen movement says about Australia's current political climate? Z: I think it shows that people are willing to stand up for their rights which to me is a no brainer. There's a very slippery slope between freedom and tyranny and when people voluntarily give up their rights so easily I become gravely concerned. To me it is good that people are willing to stand up for their rights. Although I think much of what he said was shaky at best I was glad someone could give me answers beyond vague gestures to Moloch and vaccines. I don't want to give Mr Galloway too much credit though, perhaps there's something even more troubling in the way he dresses up blatant disregard for the social contract as 'logical reasoning'. It can be harder to discredit arguments about Daniel 'Karl Marx' Andrews using coronavirus hysteria to destroy the economy, when they have more formal validity. And one can't avoid the irony of someone who supports sovereign citizenry, utilising his institutionally given power to practice the law. Regardless of the validity behind  any of the ideas I've gone over here, these ideas and their rising popularity represent something more troubling, perhaps more disappointing. It's undeniable that society is structured to segregate the common person from the powerful, while every day people are led along by the false promise of enough hard and honest work, those born into wealth use loop holes to consolidate their position on the throne. There are plenty of legitimate reasons to be mistrusting of governments and those in power, reasons that don't have anything to do with mass mind control, vaccines, 5G towers or ancient sub-terranean lizard people. I spoke to Dr Lauren Rosewarne, cultural commentator and lecturer at Melbourne University. Q: Do you think the popularity of the sovereign citizen movement ties in with the rise of conspiracy theories coming closer to public consciousness? Things like the death of Jeffrey Epstein, or Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. Elections? Dr Rosewarne: Sovereign citizens are nothing new in Australia. The internet however, has enabled them to connect, recruit and have a public platform for their views thus giving them greater visibility. Q: Do you think the rising visibility of such a platform, and these sorts of fringe political ideas in general, might suggest deeper political unrest in society? L: I'd be more inclined to say that Covid serves as a rallying cry for these people in a way that few previous events have. Whether that persists as unrest in a post-Covid world, only time will tell. When people take up these conspiracy theories, its disappointing to see how close to the nerve they hit, clearly something larger than everyday people puts us on an uneven playing field. Why then, do we look for answers beyond the real quantifiable structural devices that shape society? There are many complex reasons, the simplest one being that its much easier, much less ambiguous to imagine some sinister, wholly evil force is pulling things behind the scenes. It's easy to laugh at conspiracy theorists, a lot of the things I've seen people post are honestly insane. However, I think it's worth remembering too, that when people start believing these theories, a part of them must recognise the way things are really stacked against us, and from that place maybe we can hope that more people are on the path to greater political consciousness. Or who knows, maybe the democrats really do drink the blood of newborns in exchange for eternal youth.

[cakelanguage]

Writing long fics is so intimidating, especially when you don’t receive much feedback for a while, but I pushed past my hesitation and wariness to keep on trucking! Enjoy chapter 6 of my “Dorian as a young boy” fic - he’s finally meeting the rest of the companions.

First//Previous//Next

You can also read it on AO3

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Perhaps sneaking into the meeting had been poor judgment on his part, but he couldn't bring himself to regret it. Not when he was able to speak up for the mages and add some convincing reasons to go after Alexius and his cult.

But knowing that he wouldn't have changed his actions didn't stop the nerves that buzzed underneath his skin as they got closer to the tavern if the ruckus and clanking from inside was anything to go by. It wouldn't be terrible, he'd been scolded many times before and it'd just be another notch on his belt of… recklessness.

Except it wasn't really the same. Varric had been nothing but friendly to him and it left a sour taste in his mouth that he'd tricked the dwarf. He'd definitely apologize to him as soon as Varric started his scolding.

It was also the unknown factor of the Iron Bull. The qunari was friendly enough but he was still a qunari and that alone had warning bells echoing through his skull. He knew the Iron Bull didn't trust him and this wasn't going to build that trust. Especially since the Iron Bull was going to be watching him.

"Hey, I can hear you stewing," Aeren chuckled, "knock it off. No reason to start freaking out."

He huffed, crossing his arms across his chest. "I'm not 'freaking out,'" Dorian mumbled. "Just… hoping it isn't too bad."

Aeren hummed and gave a half-hearted shrug. "Never really seen the Iron Bull scold someone, to be honest with you, but he is a leader of mercenaries and I doubt this will be the first time he scolds someone."

"It isn't the scolding part that has me worried," he admitted softly.

Aeren came to a halt, his lips pressed into a thin line. He deftly pulled Dorian to the side of the path, bending down a little to look at Dorian. "Is it because he's a qunari?"

Dorian wanted to say 'no,' wanted to be able to brush his unease to the side but he couldn't. "N-not entirely." He fidgeted under Aeren's gaze, brushing imaginary dirt off his robes. "It's complicated."

He'd tried his best to remain neutral about qunari and the Qun, but that prejudice had wormed its way into his heart bit by bit as the war between the qunari and Tevinter dragged on. It was irrational and he felt every bit of the child he still was at the fear that seemed to seep through the folds of his mind.

It wasn't even Bull he was afraid of, just his people. Not that it made it any better.

Aeren tilted his chin up with a calloused hand. "I'm not throwing you to the wolves, Dorian."

"I know that."

"But you're still scared." Dorian's silence was telling enough and Aeren let out a sigh. "If it is any comfort I'll be right with you the entire time, and I'm sure Varric will diffuse the situation if the scolding gets heavy handed, okay?"

Dorian nodded his head and took a steadying breath. "Alright, let's get this over with."

Aeren grinned and clapped his hands together. "That's the attitude I was looking for!"

Aeren was much too happy at Dorian's begrudging courage than Dorian thought he had any right to be, but he followed Aeren into the tavern nonetheless.

The place was full of people, but not as loud as he expected it'd be. The only place that was really making noise was those that were part of the Herald's party, if Bull's looming figure was anything to go by.

The two of them received a few stares but they were mainly directed at Aeren who seemed almost oblivious to them as he weaved through the room towards the back table. Dorian was glad that the attention was on the Herald and not him.

The group spotted Aeren before they reached the table with Bull's voice booming through the tavern. "Was wondering when they'd let you go from that briefing."

Aeren gave a dramatic sigh, plopping into the spare seat beside the Iron Bull. "Thank the gods for that," he groaned, grabbing a hunk of bread from the center of the table, "always feels like they're gonna keep me there for days."

"Come on now, your Heraldness - those advisors of yours can't have been that bad," Varric ribs, and Dorian shuffles nervously from a few feet away.

Aeren raises his brows, unimpressed. "You've got Cullen who is pushing for the Templars and Leliana who's pushing for the mages and then Josephine and Cassandra keep playing devil's advocate while I'm stuck trying to get one word in." He takes a bite of his roll and points at Dorian. "Maybe it was a good thing that I had an eavesdropper willing to give his two cents."

Dorian felt his stomach drop and cursed Aeren under his breath. So much for not tossing him to the wolves.

Varric turned around in his chair and gave a huff. "Really should've expected that to be honest." He patted the seat beside him. "Might as well join the table, kiddo."

Dorian hesitated for a moment before joining everyone at the table. "In my defense, I at least waited until it seemed like they were leaning towards siding with the Templars," he said, avoiding everyone's searching gaze.

A woman across the table snorted unattractively. "The big-wigs always think they got the big ideas," she said, leaning forward in her seat. "Not a fan of the sparkly mages but I can get behind a bit of rule breaking to say your piece."

Dorian didn't fully understand what the woman was saying but it was nice to have someone on his side.

Aeren groaned. "Don't encourage him, Sera," he whined, "The advisors were already upset that I let him join the meeting."

"O' course not, those advisors of yours got poles up their arses. They think the know best and the fact that they had to listen to a kid must've ruffled their feathers."

Dorian felt like the more the woman talked, the less he understood.

"What I want to know," A man with a full beard said, raising his tankard towards Dorian, "is how he gave Varric the slip."

Varric shrugged. "The kid said he needed to relieve himself," Varric said.

The elf woman cackled. "Whelp good to know that pissing is enough to let you scurry off to crash a meeting."

Honestly, the group seemed more amused than anything else about Dorian's little escapade. This wasn't at all like the scolding he was expecting.

"Oi, don't encourage him," Aeren whined, "I told him he was going to get scolded by at least Varric and Bull - where's the scolding?" Dorian shot Aeren a look. "What? I'm just saying I figured they'd be a little upset."

The Iron Bull took a swig from his tankard. "Doubt he didn't look suspicious listening in on that meeting," Bull commented. "That room has no windows and the walls are thick, he had to have been listening through the door. If anything, Dorian proved those soldiers need to pay more attention to their surroundings." The Iron Bull turned his gaze to Dorian and gave him a long blink.

Dorian couldn't hold back a snort. "Did you just wink at me?" He asked.

The Iron Bull tipped his head back and laughed. "Ha, I told Krem people would get it."

Dorian felt his muscles relax. This was going surprisingly well. He grabbed a roll from the pile and took a bite. A little dry, but it tasted fine. "I just needed to make sure you all weren't going to pass over the mages just because the Templars might be the easier option," Dorian explained.

"So we're recruiting the mages?" The burly man asked.

Aeren nodded. "It makes sense in the long run," he said, "the last thing we want is a Tevinter cult laying their dirty paws all over the mages."

The elf woman groaned. "That means we're gonna have to deal with magic shit."

The Iron Bull hummed. "Means demon shit isn't far behind," he muttered.

“Hey, I’m not a huge fan of all that Fade nonsense either,” Aeren said, “But the Templars would have their own brand of issues too.”

“Lyrium,” Varric said, nodding his head, “We’d need plenty of that.”

Aeren clapped his hands and pointed at Varric. “Exactly, thank you Varric. Now, that we’ve apparently decided to skip over reprimanding Dorian, I feel like introductions are in order.”

Dorian straightened up in his seat. “I’m Dorian of House Pavus, fully certified mage and on my way to becoming an Enchanter,” he said, “how do you do?”

“You’s one of them fancy-britches then?” The elf woman asked, wrinkling her nose.

He shrugged. “I suppose you could say that, but I think most of those people are-”

“Fogeies?”

“I was going to say out-dated but fogey probably works better.”

“Maybe you aren’t so bad little fancy.” She stretched her arm across the table. “The name’s Sera, a Friend of Red Jenny. Always ready to put those big’uns in their place.”

Friend of Red Jenny? Dorian feels like he’s heard of them before, but he can’t quite place it.

The bearded man cleared his throat. “Blackwall,” he said, “A Grey Warden.”

Dorian fought down the desire to question Blackwall on what made a person eligible to join the Grey Wardens since Alexius said the Grey Wardens had refused his plea to allow Felix to join them.

He didn’t know if being happy that Felix wasn’t allowed to join made him a bad person.

“You might’ve met her in the church, but there’s a tall woman who looks like she could squash you like a bug with this prim smile on her face,” Aeren said, “That’s Viviene, she’s an Enchanter.”

“And don’t get her started on the Circle of Magi,” Varric warned, “Or advertise you’re from Tevinter.”

Aeren let out a little hiss. “Oh, yeah best to avoid that whole debacle.”

“Why is she an zealous mage rights activist?” Dorian asked.

“Oh no, quite the opposite,” Aeren said with a wry grin, “She thinks the rebel mages are blinded by their own oppression and don’t consider anyone outside the circle. And then something about people’s fear of magic growing and it being justified.”

“Oh.”

Aeren laughed. “Yeah, she’s intense, but a good mage and she knows the Game or whatever really well.”

Well, Dorian supposed it was good to know what to avoid saying just in case.

“Don’t forget about Chuckles,” Varric chimed in.

“Chuckles?” Dorian asked.

“You’ll know him from the glare,” Sera said with a snigger.

“He’s another elf,” Aeren supplied, “Really smart man, a mage like you. Will tell you all kinds of tales from his journeys in the Fade.”

“And he’s bald,” Sera said.

“And he’s bald,” Aeren agreed. “Solas tends to keep to himself, but he is always willing to share his knowledge.”

“Is that everyone?” Dorian asked.

“Well, that’s the active party, but you briefly met the advisors.” Aeren held up three fingers and started naming them off. “There’s Cullen, a former Templar - he’s the blond one, and while he seems serious it’s pretty easy to break through that tough exterior. Lady Josephine Montilyet, the ambassador and chief diplomat of the Inquisition -  she’s an absolute sweetheart and tends to be the middle-ground in our discussions.” He waggled his last finger. “And then there’s Leliana, our spymaster. She finds out everything so it’s best not to try and hide something from her.”

“Right, any more I should know about?”

Aeren looked up at the ceiling as if it might hold the answer to his question. “There’s plenty of people around, but that should be everyone you’ll be dealing with for the most part. If there is anyone else they’ll introduce themselves.” He gestured to the table. “For now, let’s eat before we’re being dragged away again to do something else. I’ve no doubt we’ll be heading back to Redcliffe by tomorrow.”

Dorian nodded his head and let the group’s conversations wash over him. Tomorrow they’d be on their way to confront Alexius. Tomorrow they’d confront Alexius and this Venatori and come out as the victor.

They had to.

[pennypeabody]

Let me preface this rant by pointing out that I love Betty Cooper and my opinions are not a reflection of anyone else’s who may share my favourite character or ship. So the biased opinions you may have from viewing my username need to be rethought before you continue reading.

 What attracted Mädchen to the role of Alice in the first place was her complexity, which was promised from the start. The back and forth, the twists and turn. That has been a character trait that has been done on purpose to keep the character interesting. I see so many keyboard warriors tapping away making posts about how awful Alice is, and guess what? She can be, but so is every other character. The difference between Alice and a categorical villain is that Alice genuinely loves the people she holds dear to her. She genuinely loves Betty, genuinely loves Polly, genuinely loves Charles, genuinely loves FP, and because of her love for her children, and the man who owns her heart, that love extends to Jughead and Jellybean too.

 You can dispute this claim til the cows come home but let’s take a look at all of Alice’s faults and see what we can conclude here.

 Helicopter parenting:  From our very first introduction to Alice, she uttered the words that she hoped Jason suffered in his last moments. It was clear to us from the get-go that this woman hated Jason Blossom. It wasn’t until about 6 episodes later did we learn why she had such a strong reaction to this seemingly normal boy. Jason was a jock, he was a blossom, and he was the one who got her 16 year old daughter pregnant. Everything about Alice in season 1 screamed overbearing mother as though this was how she had been for a long time. Yes? She was strict and in the beginning the show was told in the point of view of teenagers, and us as an audience sympathise with teens with strict parents because we relate to that. We either are teens or have memories of those same experiences. We want to paint the parent as the bad guy because how dare this adult be such a downer on the fun these teens want to have, but as Roberto has so skilfully engrained into the character, we start to see Alice’s layers unfolding. In episode 1x08 we witness Alice experience heartbreak upon learning that her husband, who is supposed to be upfront and her teammate had gone behind her back and tried to force their daughter to have an abortion. She screeches at him because “you did to Polly, exactly what you did to me.” This is an underlaying problem we come to learn later with Alice. She has spent her entire parenthood experience trying to make sure that her daughters don’t take the same path she did. This was the first hint we got into why Alice is so protective of her daughters. She has tried for the longest time to keep them focused on school, to keep them away from the children of her peers who she believes will lead them astray. She spent her life turning the southside into villains, to protect her daughters and keep them from wanting to be involved with serpents, who bring her so much pain in her memories. 

 Her secrets: One of the first major secrets we learn from Alice is that in high school she ended up pregnant and sent away to the sisters of quiet mercy, just like Polly had been. We know this because someone from her past made it impossible for her to escape that secret, which is also a clear indication as to why Alice never wanted her family associated with the southside, or the Jones family. As suggested three episodes earlier, the dinner scene in 1x11 is another clue leading up to the reveal in the season finale. Alice becomes increasingly distressed as FP recalls an argument he witnessed in passing, one that he assumes would rattle Alice who has spent years concocting the perfect image. The old bitter feelings between the former lovers is apparent from this moment. He knows what will make her blood boil and he goes for it. He knows that Alice isn’t this perfect northside woman, and he realises her marriage isn’t built on love and perfection because he saw the two arguing viciously, about what we are to assume is related to the near forced abortion conversation that was hinted about in 1x08. Alice has more secrets than even FP is aware of, and since season 1 was a journey for Betty, one that included her discovering not only her town is filled with dark secrets, but so is her picture-perfect family. Her parents didn’t fall apart because of Polly being pregnant, they’ve never been perfect and FP throwing that in Alice’s face is yet another one of Alice’s fears. Much like her obsession with keeping her daughters safe from her own unsafe path, Alice has spent this whole time trying to make sure her daughters had the perfect upbringing, shielding even the most minute of problems from them. Even Jughead has commented in his narration on how ‘perfect’ this family seemed to be from the outside. This was a combination of Hal’s need to live a sin free life, and Alice’s need for control to avoid her own past interfering with her daughter’s road to a happy and successful life. The secret that hurt her the most to keep close to her chest is of course the existence of her son Charles, whom she lied about to many people. Her daughters never knew, which is the most understandable part of the entire secret. Her discussion with Betty about this revealed how much pain she had been keeping to herself and revealed the biggest and most revealing layer of them all. The bottom line here was that Alice had been living her entire adult life feeling guilt for giving her son away, and had been spending this whole time keeping her other children as close to her as possible to mask that pain. 

  Her relationship with Polly: As mentioned earlier we know that Alice and Polly have an extremely strained relationship. It is uncertain what we can and can’t believe about Polly before the pilot. Hal’s words to Betty when questioned about his eldest daughter may have very well been an exaggeration to sell the fact that she was sent away for her own good. What we do know however, is that Polly resents Alice. Any sane person can see this and agree she has reasons to feel this way. Not only was Polly sent away with the intention of giving her babies away, Alice stood by and let it happen. That cannot be disputed. (unless of course you have the personal opinion that Polly is an unreliable narrator) Polly being sent away meant she spent months believing Jason was still alive, when he had been dead. She didn’t get to spend her life with the father of her children, which is the issue with the biggest weight here. Alice did not kill Jason, but her actions alongside Hal’s, were a factor that came into play here and Polly will never forgive them entirely for that. Polly’s reaction was to stay away from her parents, and once again this is understandable. However we do see how this affects Alice who we know loves her children more than anything. She maybe deserve it to a degree, but Alice is a human being and that pain does reflect on her character. Polly’s later actions to willingly let her mother join a cult, which is now apparent that Polly isn’t a blind victim to brainwashing, but has made herself into a recruiter who wanted to torture her own sister, we can see that Polly is very much her father’s daughter. 

  Her disdain toward Bughead: I feel that this is a big reason why some people criticise Alice. This point is no longer relevant to the current storyline but it is still an important part of the story. At first Alice’s disdain toward her daughter being involved with Jughead came down to him being a boy of any description. If you factor in WHO Jughead is, the son of Alice’s own high school boyfriend, and father of her only son, you realise why she is so uneasy about this budding romance. Alice is so fearful of Betty following in her footsteps. Polly did. Polly got pregnant as a junior with the BMOC football player, and now Betty is dating FP’s son? Alarm bells went off. This is the woman who plans everything and wanted to fabricate the perfect life for her daughters. She already had one teenage girl end up like herself, and now Betty was literally involved with the flesh and blood of the boy she made a baby with. You can see Alice’s relationship with Jughead change over the 3 seasons. Season 2 had the most growth. She apologised to Jughead for her judgement of him and his serpent friends in 2x17. And in 2x16, she finally came clean to Betty as to why she was so on edge about her having sex with Jughead. This conversation was another stand out moment between mother and daughter and Alice letting Betty into her trust circle. In 3x02, we see Alice being upset with Jughead and many people have used that as an excuse to hate on the woman, but if you look at it from her perspective. Alice’s daughter had a seizure just hours earlier and was already running around trying to solve mysteries. Alice knows Betty better than anyone. She knows Betty inherited her need to get to the bottom of everything, and she knows in her heart that she can’t stop Betty’s curiosity. But Jughead? The boy who loves her daughter, and would do anything to protect her, which is something Alice can relate to. She can hold him responsible with the hope that he might actually listen and agree with wanting to keep Betty out of danger. 

 Her relationship with FP: The flashback gave us insight into this relationship to help reinforce what the show had already been showing for two seasons. In high school Alice was a serpent girl without any friends. FP was this popular guy who was living under a falsified image. He did not want anyone to know he was a southsider just like she was. We know he came from a rough home life, one with abuse and alcoholism, but he wanted to go places and become something more than that. Maybe Alice resented that about him, we can only guess as to how she felt about that side of things, but what we do know is that Alice is the one who ends up with the life FP always wanted, and his life stays the same. In high school FP and Alice started off as a hook up, that bred into feelings. We know from 3 years of experience watching Riverdale, that the Jones men, and serpents in general tend to struggle with talking about their feelings. FP never talked about how he felt in high school, and we still see him struggle with that in present day. He loves his son, but he doesn’t know how to express that. Alice on the other hand was head over heels for the boy who presumably took her ‘virginity’ but knows that he’s Mr Popular, and she’s just the southside girl he liked to screw under the bleachers. She ended up pregnant and the midnight club months were montaged to show us that fp and alice eventually got their shit together and became a couple. Now, what would a scared 17 year old girl who has never had a boyfriend, or possibly ever had a friend, do? Would she tell this boy who has only recently decided he had feelings for her to, that surprise we are having a baby! Or would she want to keep it to herself out of fear, just to try and hold onto the good she finally has now after so long of wanting him to finally express he has feelings too? We’ve all been there. We all know the feeling of being scared that this person who likes us back, will get spooked off at any moment. When the midnight club fell apart and they all went their separate ways, Alice made a choice, one that is arguably the wrong choice, but she found someone else who had the means to take care of her baby, only he never did. We don’t see much of what happened between high school and present day, but through Jughead’s narrations we know that Alice had spent many years publicly detesting the serpents and the southside. And what have we learnt about Alice? She is a woman who has been holding onto a lot of pain her whole life. Acting out against the people who she has an excuse to dislike, (they’re criminals, it’s easy) is her only outlet for her pain. At home everything is to be perfect. At work she can write whatever she wants about the serpents and the southside, because her readers will read and agree with her. That’s how Riverdale has always been. Northsiders have preconceived ideas of what the southsiders are like, and they don’t care enough to check whether Alice is accurate enough. She gets away with it.

 their children get closer, FP and Alice are then thrust back into each other’s lives. She has pushed and pushed for so many years and FP finally has his chance to push her buttons in return. In 1x10, he reminds her of serpent law and has a jab at her, almost taunting the woman for pretending to be something she’s not. She did the same to him in high school, and he finally had his shot to do the same. He’s hurt by everything too. They were fine together until suddenly it was over, and he was the one who drew the short straw. That’s how he sees it. His friend did him dirty and left him to rot in that trailer with a shaky marriage and beer bottles for company. Fred didn’t want anything to do with him professionally, and Alice kept attacking him and his serpents personally. The man had reason to want to bite back and he did so. The dinner Alice invited him to in 1x11, he had his second shot at speaking up to her. He was on his best behaviour and would have kept that way if it wasn’t for Alice taking a jab at his kid. One thing FP and Jughead have in common is their endless love for their children. They are both heavily flawed, but unlike a lot of Riverdale parents, they’d do anything for their kids. FP could take Alice berating him, but Jughead was off limits. He took a swing and it obviously hit her where it hurt. He knew her perfect life wasn’t so perfect and clearly Alice knew it too.

 we have Alice feeling comfortable to throw out some playful banter with FP as he finally got released from prison. The man is amused, and really you can’t blame his wrongful assumption that maybe Alice has softened just a little. Right? Then back at Pop’s she is back to her old shit, assuming he was going to be a serpent again. She is still the same judgemental Alice underneath, but he dared to be playful with her just to test the waters. He knows the old Alice is still in there and for the first time in a long time he is playful with her in return. Time passes and Alice is growing increasingly worried about her daughter spending time with serpents. Her fears are returning and FP is the one retiring, so of course the party being for him, makes Alice redirect her fear and upset onto the man. Her confrontation isn’t one of anger, it is one of her fear. She is scared and her public scene reflected that. She came in guns blazing ready to yell at him, but instead he does his best to calm her down. FP and Alice are always quite explosive and neither one gets exactly what they intended. FP accidently blurts out the suggestion of Alice leaving Hal, and Alice is left speechless. It isn’t the words spoken, but the unspoken change in atmosphere between them that speaks volumes here. Alice spent the conversation making up excuses not to attend FP’s party, but ends up taking his invitation seriously. We FINALLY see this woman let her hair down and be herself back in her old stomping ground. Alice misses the life she had where she could have fun and be herself, a person she doesn’t know anymore. We finally see her acting like someone we could all ENJOY. Until her fear comes true. Alice witnesses her daughter’s initiation into the gang she had spent so many years trying to scare her away from. FP clearly recalls the conversation earlier, and in an attempt to avoid Alice embarrassing the teen, he covers the girl up and distracts the audience with a speech.

 could have left straight away, taken her daughter far away from that serpent nest, but instead she wanted to hear what FP had to say first. His speech was the opposite of what she was expecting. He mentions her briefly, even looked right at her as he claimed his family turned his back on him. That’s when Alice couldn’t take it anymore. She can’t stay in the bar where everyone knows she left them behind. She turned her back on the serpents and FP once again.

came to Alice wanted a divorce. It wasn’t until then did she approach FP and want to pursue something. She could have done so earlier, but she did not. After sleeping together in 2x17, Alice finally felt happy again until FP got cold feet and iced her out. We literally saw her put her guard down. She was flirting with him, inviting him to come and see her perform. That was Alice holding onto one last bit of happiness and he hurt her again. And you know what happened after that? She spiralled. Gladys came back and Alice wasn’t stomping all over that failed marriage either. FP didn’t want anything to do with the woman known as his wife. Every scene they had was either him ignoring her or being irritated by her actions. Alice was not a home wrecker by any means in canon. She defended FP and Jughead when FP talked down on himself saying everything that went wrong in his family was his fault. We all know how much pain Gladys put Jughead and through, and Alice was the one who defended that boy which once again proves the point that Alice has grown to love and care for Jughead. Which is what I like to call, character development. 

Chic/Charles: Alice had spent so long feeling so guilty about giving her son up, and when Hal was firm in saying they shouldn’t meet this son that Betty tracked down for them, Alice agreed. This gave another glimpse into how Alice wasn’t the only one who was controlling. Alice may have been trying to monitor how her girls lived their lives, but on the flipside, Hal was the one who had final say here. She secretly tells Betty she does want to meet her son, and Betty takes her to meet Chic. This boy who is living in Charles’ apartment. Alice didn’t force Betty to find this boy, or to invite him into their home. Betty did this because she wanted her mother to stop being depressed. She loves Alice. This is one of the examples of how Betty has done the wrong thing for the right reasons, which is exactly how Alice and Betty’s relationship works. They do what they can to help the other, but it’s not the right thing to do, and suddenly Alice fans hate Betty, and Betty fans hate Alice. The bottom line is that Betty and Alice love each other so very much, and both Lili and Mädchen would tell you that too. Alice had spent over 20 years longing for this boy, so of course when a boy the right age, and similar features to her own, and her daughters shows up and acts the part of her son, of course she is going to believe he is her son. Chic clearly had his own mommy issues and attached himself to Alice too. People often overlook the Chic situation, when the bottom line is that Alice finally had her baby boy back, and she had been through so much traumatic pain from their separation that she was clinging to that relationship. You cannot blame the woman for holding onto it for dear life after so many years of pain. She believed her own child had killed a man to save her. So of course, she would cover it up. If it had been Betty killing someone, she would have done the exact same thing and we all know it. She wanted Betty to stay out of it. She told her to go to bed, but Betty wanted to help. All of the claims that Alice was a drill sergeant who forced others to be involved is just not true. Alice was handling it on her own but those who love her got involved to help. She didn’t want outside help, but Betty and Jughead involved FP. She did not think “Oh let me call up FP who is on parole and guilt him into helping me.” Either. And she was so heartfeltly sorry to him for his son being involved too. She wanted to believe that Chic was her son, but when he wasn’t and she found out the truth, she owned that and once again she protected Betty. She told Hal she acted alone. She didn’t bring FP or Jughead into it either.

 learning that Charles had ‘died’ her first instinct was to go and tell FP the truth. She knew then how wrong it had been to keep it to herself and wanted FP to know. She didn’t do this for sympathy, she even expected him to be mad at her for it, but he wasn’t. The man was clearly hurt but he was not angry with her. Season 3: We can all agree that season 3 was the worst Alice we have ever seen. The writers were so inconsistent and didn’t know what to do with her. Betty is arguably the main character of this show. I know it’s based on Archie, and Jughead is the narrator, but Betty is the main character. This comes down to Lili’s amazing talents and being able to run with whatever the writing throws her way. This pays heavily into why Alice and Betty’s relationship is the way it is. Mädchen and Lili have both said that they want the mother and daughter to just get along instead of this back and forth nonsense, but the show wants Betty to have the most difficult life ever, and with her father being a serial killer, having her mother be an obstacle is something that comes with the territory of them both being played by the most talented cast members. Season 3 Alice was so inconsistent to a point where I stopped watching. Alice giving away Betty’s money made me sick, even Mädchen hated that storyline. The writing was so bad that we got whiplash trying to figure out if Alice was brainwashed every episode or not. And since they decided she was an informant, we are now being forced to believe that she was undercover this whole time. Which makes it more difficult to excuse and make sense of her actions. 

  The bottom line is that Alice wanted Betty to stay away from the cult in the end, which once again shows that she wants to protect her children. She wants Polly out of the cult. She wanted Betty to give up on saving her. It’s very hard to analyse a season that wasn’t written consistently. And I do not fault anyone for being angry at Alice’s actions in season 3. However that season is over and they started a new direction, one that is now canon. So choosing instances from season 3 to hate Alice for things she hasn’t yet done in season 3 is premature and a waste of your precious time. Hate Alice all you want, but she’s not the villain you want her to be. Alice is the way she is because it makes Betty’s stories family motivated, which is exactly what Alice’s been this entire time. Alice would do anything for her children, just like Betty would do anything for her family, and her boyfriend. 

[dolphinitley]

Jacob/Deputy Chapter 1

So I wrote something...

Diving into Jacob and Rook’s conflicting feelings about each other. Diverges from canon when it’s time to take down Jacob.

Word count: 1394

AO3

The first couple of lines are taken from a drabble I wrote not long ago. I’d like to continue adding chapters. This is the first thing for Far Cry 5 that I’ve written that’s longer than drabble. Still trying to figure out my writing “style” and how to come up with better dialogue. I feel like the fics I most enjoy have a lot more dialogue than I write in my own fics. I guess it means I just need to spend more time thinking about the characters and working them out? Please lemme know what u think & thanks for reading 🙂 Tagging @flyawayturtle @theromanianbookworm @colorguardian18 @jacobmybeloved (if you feel like reading it) because I like reading your opinions on writing and fandom stuff ☺️

“One, two three. One, two, three. One, two, three, and then he’s got you!”

Staci tried to warn Rook but it was too late. Jacob already had her. He had her the moment they locked eyes in the church. The trials just strengthened the pull.

Even though Jacob was not as religious as Joseph, Jacob agreed that mankind was in crisis, and that they should build an “ark” for the strongest who survived God’s cleansing fire. In Jacob’s book, the ark was equivalent to bunkers, the strongest of the herd would be deemed so by the Seeds, and the cleansing fire would come from international nuclear war.

Jacob had surveillance in the Whitetail Mountains just as Eli had. Jacob watched for days as Rook killed his men and destroyed what he’d built, but he wasn’t as upset as he was impressed. From what he witnessed, he decided that Rook was worth capturing, conditioning, and using to kill Eli.

It had been years since Jacob had these sort of feelings for anyone, but when he watched Rook blow through his trials like no recruit had before her, he knew that what he felt was desire.

He had to check himself, because having feelings like these could result in moments of weakness, and it wasn’t his time to go yet.

His ultimate loyalty was to Joseph and the Project, and he would carry out the fourth and final trial, ending with the actual assassination of Eli Palmer.

Jacob figured that once Dep killed Eli, the Whitetails might just kill her themselves, or Jacob’s men would. This meant it would be the last time he’d see her, and deep inside he felt negatively about that. He decided to have some fun with her in her last moments.

His way of toying with her was to set the music box just out of reach near her cage, and watch her desperately grab for it as if it were the only existing trigger of her murderous state.

Jacob felt pleasure at the contact when he quickly covered her wrist with his boot, then felt the need to reassure her just a bit. “Don’t worry you’ll be out of here soon enough.”

When Jacob told the deputy that she was a tool, he wanted to emphasize it not only to her but to himself as well. He knew both of their purposes.

He really was half tempted to let her out of that cage, haul her over his shoulder, and keep her as his personal pet. But he didn’t.

Since he felt discarded by the military, it was easier for him to view himself and everyone else as having a clear specific purpose in life. Jacob had always been the protector of his brothers. Joseph especially had given him a place and a purpose to exercise his military training after the war. Jacob felt wanted by Joseph when nobody else wanted him anymore. For this, he would die for his dear brother Joseph, and he’d do it gladly.

Jacob trained an army for Joseph. Jacob was the strongest among the herd. Nobody came close to matching his strength, until Rook. Even if the deputy was damn skinny, she knew how to use her body to spar efficiently and she was smart. She took down Peggies twice her size hand to hand and was an expert in weaponry.

It would be selfish and unnecessary, Jacob thought, to indulge in the daydreams he harbored about the deputy. Feelings of desire were not part of his purpose, but when he watched Dep on surveillance, he couldn’t help but be infatuated and impressed that she was the one person who showed a fire in her heart. She seemed to know her purpose and showed it through every action she made.

At first Jacob thought that she thought her purpose was to be an underdog hero, but that couldn’t be right. The resistance treated her as a hero but she shied away from those compliments.

She seemed to have some unknown purpose, more certain than any other, but he just could not figure out what it was.

Most people were too afraid to look into his eyes but she seemed to stare right into them when they were together. It was like she saw his truth and kept it a secret between just the two of them. This is what made him lean in and tug her chair closer to him during the first conditioning session. He wanted more of this genuine contact communicated only through a look.

He couldn’t understand why Rook never seemed truly terrified even when she was tied up in a chair or starving in a cage. She had an energy around her that said that all was going to be alright, because she had an established yet mysterious purpose.

Despite his violent actions and connections with the cult, the connection she felt with him did not falter. In fact it only got stronger. She couldn’t stop the stupid voice in her head that said, “In another life, he and I would be together.”

She stayed in Hope County and acted as a tool for the Resistance as well as the Cult. Her continued exposure to the Bliss made her slightly docile and likely to go wherever this ride would take her.

Eventually it led her to kill Eli, countless Peggies, and almost Jacob.

-

As Rook climbs the rock to Jacob’s perch, she listens to his little speech, knowing she has beaten him. She’s expecting to find him beaten and bloody, but when she reaches the top she doesn’t see him.

A momentary panic sets in, and then she feels the telltale pang of a Bliss injection.

Damn, he’s got to be the most silent son of a bitch alive. Jacob catches Rook as she falls backward against him, weakened from the Bliss.

It doesn’t matter how Rook got to this point. The progressive mistakes and choices she made to be right here, are in the past.

“Fight,” she says to herself through gritted teeth. “Fight it.” This dose of Bliss is somewhat weak and there’s a glimmer of hope in her drugged mind that she can escape. But then she considers the question, “Do I want to?”

This is her last chance to get what she wants in this life instead of her next life. She knows it isn’t what her friends want her to do. It isn’t what she’d want a month ago. But right know she’s damned all of those restrictions and she’s half convinced she’s going to surrender to Jacob Seed.

Rook’s limbs go slack, but her eyes stay alert.

“Oh Honey, what’s wrong?” Jacob mocks.

“I want you. This is the only way I’m going to get you.” Rook spoke simply and matter-of-factly. She would have been embarrassed if she weren’t so damn tired.

Jacob scoffs. “Now I’d love to believe you Kitten, but I know you got a hell of a lot more fight in you than that.”

He’s holding her back against his broad chest, and whispers in her ear, “My best soldier.”

His words spark her interest and she tips her head toward his face and gives him her classic look that gets his blood pumping.

It’s the look she gives when she’s eye level with his thigh holster, when she watches Staci shave him, and when he gets close enough for her to practically feel the vibration of his growling voice.

His praise is enough and her muscles come to life. She wrenches herself from his grip for two seconds before she’s caught again and punished with another dose of Bliss.

Finally Jacob gets to sling her over his shoulder and haul her back to his rooms at the Veteran Center.

[madamedeher]

Inquisitor as a Companion

Because I have no self control.

This is technically a mash up of 2 tags, the details of the Inqy companion and the banter can be found here and here.

Happy reading this is my son and I love him.

p.s Obviously Rivaini people wouldn’t use maker or Andraste as an exclamation SO since their society is ran by women I thought... why not make mother that kind of word.

Inquisitor’s Name: Cassian Bijor

Race / Class / Specialisation: Elf, Mage, Shape-shifter

Gender Identity: Male

Varric’s Nickname for them: Shocker

Short bio: Cassian Bijor, and elf who is half Dalish with an Orliesian last name is no stranger to questioning looks. As the son of a Rivaini seeker, he is gifted in the magic arts and knowledge of the fade.

Childhood was average for the man (or, as average as it could be). A lingering jealousy caused by his twin sister being next in line to be seer caused a large rift between the two. His sister, Misha, was a rather naive and tender-hearted woman, and Cassian thought he should be the seer instead of her.

Nonetheless, Cassian followed Rivaini tradition and trained to become head guard of his seaside village. When news of the rift spread to Rivain, so did news of the Inquisition looking for those who might have more than average knowledge of the fade. Bored of his born-into living style, Cassian jumped at the opportunity to help the Inquisition stop this evil spread.

What would their companion card look like? Cassian would be deep water with only his nose and above visible. His black hair would be spread across the water like tendrils. While you see little of his face, his expression seems calm/serene. In the background it looks like the beginning of a lightning storm behind him.

Recruitment mission: After getting a certain amount of power, Leliana would approach the inquisitor about a friend of hers who has ample knowledge on the fade and spirits. The Inquisitor can accompany her to a tavern where Cassian would approach the two, hugging Leliana and introducing himself.

The recruitment dialogue would breakdown as follows:

Inquisitor I’ve been looking forward to meeting you. Allow me to introduce myself: my name is Cassian Bijor, son of Seer Aniha of Apricce. It’s a pleasure to meet you.

---> Inquisitor Option 1: You’re the one Leliana was talking about.

The one and only. Has she talked of me much? Miss me that dearly, honey? [Leliana: Only for you, Cassie.] Come Inquisitor, sit, I imagine you want to hear why I asked for you.

---> IO2: Pleasure to meet you too, Cassian.

I appreciate the politeness. Come, sit, I imagine you want to hear why I asked for you.

---> IO3: Ah, when Leliana said she had a friend I shouldn’t have expected someone normal.

...Ha. Sit. Let me tell you why I asked for you.

---> (If Mage): Son of a seer? Isn’t a Seer a guardian mage in Rivain?

Mm, yes, sort of. I’d consider a Seer more of a leader such as a mayor than a strict guardian. Nonetheless, sit, I imagine you want to hear why I asked for you.

---+++---

When I heard of the Inquisition, I was instantly taken by the cause, as I’m sure many are. I have extensive knowledge on the fade and would like to formally extend that knowledge to you. I understand you already have am, “expert” on the matter, but tell me, do you know what makes a Seer?

---> IO1: Does it work like nobility in Ferelden where power is passed down?

Ah, well, yes that too, but that is not the main reason. A seer will allow herself to become possessed by a benevolent spirit when of age. Only then can she have the power and wisdom to protect her village.

---> IO2: Do I look like I know that, elf.

I suppose not. I’ll talk slowly for you. A seer will allow herself to become possessed by a benevolent spirit. With the power of the spirit, she can be a Seer.

---> IO3: Because they won a lottery picked out from a funny hat?

I suppose that would be more entertaining, but no. To be transparent, it’s actually quite a serious act. A seer will allow herself to become possessed by a benevolent spirit when of age. Only then can she have the power and wisdom to protect her village.

(If Solas is in the party, he’ll interject. “They let their seers become possessed by spirits, Inquisitor.”)

Neatly put, stranger. That is, in short, what happens.

---+++---

[Cassian Joins The Inquisition.] Sounds fun if anything. I’d like to have you on.

[Cassian Does Not Join The Inquisition.] You really think I’d let someone who allows possession in my Inquisition? No.

Where they would be in Skyhold / Haven:

Haven: Sitting in the tavern reading through a stack of books.

Skyhold: A table on the second floor of the tavern, reading a larger stack of books.

Personal quests:

Quest 1: Twin, Interrupted - Cassian gets a panicked note from his twin sister, Misha, who says she’s being held hostage by a group of cult-like templars who want to put her into a homemade circle. Cassian begs the Inquisitor to help him rescue his sister from the deranged group who holds her. After rescuing her she tells that she came to Fereldan looking for her brother. Their mother has started acting very strangely and she didn’t know what to do. Cassian leaves the inquisition until Skyhold. [Can’t initiate full romance unless this quest is complete and has to be done before leaving Skyhold]

Quest 2: Sheep’s Clothing, Wolf’s Call - Cassian returns to the Inquisition with his face scars and falls into a soldier’s arms. He’s taken to an infirmary where the Inquisitor tries to confront him about his absence, but he’s found to be in a coma. The Inquisitor can find a special plant through finding it on missions or a Leliana war table mission to give to Cassian and revive him. When given a poultice version of the plant, Cassian, after a bit of rest, reveals that his mother has been possessed by a demon. He tried taking care of it himself but he didn’t have it in him to kill his mother. Cassian instead held his now demon mother in a self made prison in a cave as to keep her from the village. Eventually he got too weak and had his sister keep her back while he went back the inquisition for help. Cassian tells the Inquisitor how he feels ashamed of his mother and is always criticized for his religion so he didn’t want to reveal his mother is one of the few Seer’s to succumb to temptation.

The Inquisitor can validate Cassian and help him deal with the situation.

There's a romance option here, where Inq can say he should never be ashamed of who he is and they personally quite like it. He kisses Inq and they’re now locked in his romance.

The Inquisitor can reject helping Cassian. Cassian will disappear until a certain amount of power reached and reports of a large bear is reported in the Hinterlands. If the Inquisitor goes to the Hinterlands to defeat the bear, on the bear’s body is a note written by Cassian saying he has nothing to live for. It’s heavily implied the bear the Inquisitor just killed is Cassian.

Quest 3: Death Comes In... - If helping Cassian he takes the Inquisitor and companions to the cave. His sister Misha and father Lemren are outside the cave, his sister casting a large shield at the mouth of the cave. Cassian dismisses his sister who is very physically tired and is helped by their father to rest. Lemren then explains to the group that the twins’ mother had started acting out of sorts a little after Cassian joined the inquisition. The group all advance into the cave (Lemren comes along, he’s a rogue with a bow and arrow). Aniha, possessed by a hunger demon, initiates a fight in her human form. When under a certain health point, Aniha will stop fighting and try to spark a deal with the group. The hunger demon from within says it will leave Aniha willingly if it can ravage the unsuspecting village she was the seer for in Rivain.

Option 1: If the deal is taken, the village is doomed for everyone in it to die. This also makes the Bijor family pariahs in Rivain and are ran out of the country. They stay in an alienage outside of Orlais instead of Rivain.

Option 2: If the deal isn’t taken, the hunger demon takes it’s true form and essentially becomes a boss battle. When defeated, it’s seen that the hunger demon targeted Lemren and Misha whom are mortally wounded. Lemren can be offered to become a warden but refuses. Aniha, Lemren, and Misha all die within this option, but the village in Rivain is saved and Cassian isn’t run out of his home country.

How to get their approval:

Recruit Cole [Greatly Approves]

Turning Cole human gets a Slightly Approves

Choosing the mages [Greatly Approves]

Allying with the mages earns Approves

Disband the Templars [Approves]

Help Vivienne with her main personal quest. [Slightly approves]

Side with mages in pretty much any instance

Have an open mind about the fade or magic in general

Inquire about Rivain or express an interest in going one day

How to get their disapproval:

Turn away Cole [Greatly Disapproves]

Choosing the Templars [Disapproves]

Allying earns Slightly Disapproves

Make the mages your soldiers instead of allies [Greatly Disapproves]

Leave Hawke behind in the fade [Disapproves]

Be mean to Sera or Cole

Are they romanceable? Yes, but getting to the romance is a kinda slowburn lmao. Can also be romanced by anyone. But there will be a cutscene that changes depending on race where he gives them a token of affection that relates to their culture.

Can you have sex with them? Yes, a bit before the final battle if you talk to him a scene will trigger

Are they open to polyamoury? Sort of. He’s technically open but extremely picky. The only person in Inquisition I can even kind of see that happening with is with Bull.

If they can be romanced and are not, will they begin a relationship / relationships with other character(s)? If so, who? Canonically he romances Bull, so sorry adoribull shippers Cassian will snatch him up.

Who are they friendly with? Leliana, Vivienne, Cole, Morrigan, Bull

Who do they dislike? Dorian, Solas, Cullen

Companion card changes:

Loyalty: After the 2nd personal quest, his card goes to him completely submerged with his hands up out the water. His black hair almost completely fills the water around him. When all of his personal quests are completed the card changes for a last time to him about ankle deep in the water, emptying a jug that seems to be filled with that water. His hair is shorter now and less wily, but completely covers his face.

Romance: Instead of being face deep in water, he’s now completely out of it. He also appears to be leaning over a figure and cradling them. The black tendril hair is still there and it seems to be wrapping itself around them. He’s wearing a slightly open golden robe. The storm from earlier is completely over them, but it seems like a ray of sun shines down on just them.

Side Missions: (eg: fetch / gather / kill quests) Probably random quests to find memorabilia of his home country. If you haven’t noticed he loves the place.

Opinions on mages / templars / how the world is going to shit? Like everyone he pretty much in panic mode. He doesn’t really understand what the mages go through but has clear sympathy for them. As someone who wasn’t raised by the chantry one iota he doesn’t understand the templars and the Andrastien religion, like, at all.

Something guaranteed to make them leave the party: Being mean to Cole is like the quickest way to stack disapproval, so.

Special Events:

Imprisoned at Redcliffe: How is your Inquisitor holding up in Redcliffe, being slowly infected with red lyrium over the course of a year? He’s barely lucid, probably. He can get enough thought collected to follow the inquisitor and throw some spells but he just wants to die.

At the Winter Palace: Does your Inquisitor enjoy the party, any special events with them at the Palace? He would have never experienced anything as grand and would fumble his way through the complicated manners.

In the Fade: Your Inquisitor’s reaction upon entering the Fade? Archdemon’s taunt, and Inquisitor’s response? Epitaph on their grave? The taunt would be his hidden regret yet jealousy towards his sister. He hates that he couldn’t be seer, but also feels guilty because he knows his sister didn’t want it either. He held resentment towards her for several years. Also his fear would take the shape of himself possessed. The tombstone was a little bit of a tough one. I think, in the end, it would say corruption. 

Trespasser: What is your Inquisitor up to two years after Corypheus’ defeat? Any special events with them over the events of Trespasser? This all depends on the personal quests endings. Obviously if you deny helping him in quest 2, he dies. If his family survives, he moves to the alienage they’re in in Trespasser and ends up dying on a missionary mission, squalid and poor (he also breaks up with the Inquisitor like right at the end of Trespasser). If the village is saved, and not romanced, he joins the chargers and ends up with bull. If romanced, he and the Inquisitor do odd work in Rivain and live in a lil cottage.

Banter

Cole’s reflection on their thoughts: Confusion, guilt, longing, rage... Rage. Rage. Past lives, past actions, so much anger compartmentalized into a tender heart. He wonders what life would be life if he could be as soft as he once was. He wants to be that innocent, that pure, that untouched. A mother’s touch fades away. It’d been years since someone hugged him. 

Damn the fade.

Comment(s) on Mages: “These ignorant souls. They have no idea what good they could do in the world, trapped in those towers.”

Comment(s) on Templars: “What is the point of this sect of guard? Rivain has existed for centuries without them, yet they act so scandalized when I tell them that fact.”

When looking for something: “Shall I cast a locating spell?”

When finding a campsite: “Ah, a place to rest our heads.”

When the Inquisitor Falls: “Attention to the inquisitor!”

When they are low on Health: “I’m falling back!”

When they see a Dragon:

[First time seeing a dragon with him in the party] “Sweet Mother… I’ve never seen a dragon before. They really are magnificent.”

“Poor creatures, trapped in their own powerful body. I wish we could domesticate them.”

When during their small side quest: “I truly appreciate this, Inquisitor”

Default Saying:

Hostile/Cold/Neutral

“Yes, Inquisitor?”

“Inquisitor, may I help?”

“I have a moment.”

Warm/Friendly

“Hello you!”

“My friend, something you need?”

“Of course I have a moment.”

Romanced

“Hello, beautiful boy/girl.”

“Always glad to see you, mi vida.”

Travel Banter with Canon Companions of your choice:

[Varric] You mad at me, Shocker?

[Cassian] Beg pardon?

[Varric] You always look at me with this face that says, “I’ll bury you alive if you step too close.”

[Cassian] That’s just my face, Varric.

----

[Cassian] So, Blackwall, I saw you woodworking the other day. You seem quite talented.

[Blackwall] (Sputters on breath) You- you were watching me? When? Where?

[Cassian] (Sigh) Still scared of me, are you.

[Blackwall] ...I apologize.

[Cassian] Don’t bother. I still don’t know why Sera told you that scary story about my supposed ghost friends.

----

If Not Romanced

[The Iron Bull] Hng!

[Inquisitor] Something wrong, Bull?

[The Iron Bull] Cass just shocked me!

[Cassian] He pinched my bottom. But that didn’t sound like a noise of pain, did it.

[The Iron Bull] Ha, nah, it really wasn’t.

[Literally Everyone] (GROANS)

---

If Romanced

[Cassian] Ahem, please do take time and remember to be careful.

[Inquisitor] Hm? Have I hurt myself recently?

[Cassian] The fact that you can’t keep track of your injuries is enough evidence you need to be more cautious, Mi Vida.

Friendship?: “Ah, the faithful Inquisitor. It’s good to see you again, friend.”

Leaving the Inquisition: “I thought... I thought the inquisition was different. You were different. Mother... why did I leave Rivain. I apologize, inquisitor, but I can no longer accompany you in good faith. Goodbye.”

[tmorriscode]

Tickling Dragons (and Other Occupational Hazards) Part III

Part I, Part II,

Summary: When a clutch of rare and endangered dragon eggs is stolen from the preserve where he works, Charlie knows just who to call.

I’ve collected all my Hogwarts Mystery Imagines in this continuity here.

—

When Charlie was recruiting for The Order (and sabotaging the Death Eaters’s attempts to do the same) he learned how to blend in around most every corner of Europe.

If he was a betting man, there is one place in this part of the continent that a dark wizard might go to sell a large number of Dragon eggs.

So when you tell him a few days later “Get your stuff, we’re going to Albania,” he’s ready.

Albania.

After spending plenty of time there, he understands why Voldemort chose it as a place to lay low.

Between the blocky, concrete, communist-party regulation housing, muggle organized crime and complete lack of anything resembling infrastructure, it’s also obvious why Albania has it’s own thriving community of gray-shading-to-dark wizards.

When the two of you pop over to Tirana, Albania, you take his hand and lead him to a large, blocky concrete hotel.

“Thanks to Jacob’s recreational vigilanteism, it would be dangerous to use my last name here.” You say to Charlie. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to borrow yours.”

He knows for a fact that you’ve already been occasionally using his last name for just this reason. Asking is just a courtesy.

“You’re already an official Weasley,” Charlie says. “Mum sent you the sweater and everything.”

The two of you rent a shoebox-sized, windowless room in a muggle hotel. Charlie looks it over dubiously. There’s a narrow bed wedged against the wall, a chest of drawers and a tiny square of floor between the two.

The communal bathroom and loo are down the hall.

It’s a good job that the two of don’t have any personal space issues, because otherwise claustrophobic quarters like this would be embarrassing. How do Muggles live like this?

“This is just so we have a place to meet up in case we’re separated.” You pat his shoulder reassuringly. “If we have to kip, we’ve got the haversack.” You point to you your bag with it’s extension charms.

He lifts a corner of the motel blanket, shudders and puts it back. “Good.”

Considering he works with dragons, you don’t want to know what he saw that made him shudder.

“Jacob passed me some information — He won’t say who from. Ask me no secrets. That kind of thing. But his information has been reliable in the past.” You explain to Charlie. “Word on the street is that someone is looking to unload a hot stash of potions ingredients.”

“Hot?”

“As in get rid of them before they get burned. It’s a bit of a fire sale, if you take my meaning.”

Charlie groans. “That one was worthy of George.”

“Thank you. Be sure and tell him that for me.” You buff your nails on your jacket. “At any rate, I have a location where this supposed seller is going to be looking for a buyer.”

“I hope this goes better than the last time we tried to buy a dragon egg,” Charlie mutters. “Merlin, but we were really just a couple of dumb kids, weren’t we?”

“At least we know the difference between a dragon egg and an acromantula egg now.” You say.

The two of you head out again, bound for a small cafè one of your brother’s contacts supplied.

You take a table within line of sight to all the exits. Charlie lets you have the seat with your back to the wall. You were always the better duelist, and your skills are sharp as ever.

You scan each shifty-looking wizard from behind a cup of of Americano. Your drink is nearly gone, and you’re trying not to think about needing the loo, when Charlie nudges you. He nods at a slight wizard with his cloak hood up, and a bulging rucksack on his back.

At least you think that’s a wizard. In the dim cafè lighting, it could just as easily be three otters in a robe.

The hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Something about this situation feels off.

Under the table, you slip your wand from your sleeve. Charlie senses your unease, and tenses up.

Chaos erupts around the room. It starts with a spell fired from somewhere near the back at the guy with the backpack. He crumples forward. Apparently he’s an actual human and not three otters in a robe.

And of course, there are more than a few dark wizards here. Like, all the dark wizards seem to be here. Did someone hold a convention?

Most of them are bystanders, but it’s been your experience that an armed bystander minding his own business gets a touch stabby when that business is illegal too.

So instantly jinxes and hexes start to fly around the room.

In the confusion, Charlie dives under the table for the rucksack.

One track mind, that man of yours.

You throw a shield spell over him as you hide under the table. You wonder how a street cafè became a den of dark wizardry. It’s not like it’s the Hog’s Head or sodding Knockturn Alley.

Bloody Albania.

Charlie gets his hand on the rucksack. But another wizard reaches it at the same time. The two of them wrestle over the bag.

But Charlie has the kind of advantage that comes from being shaped rather like a carrot, and having five brothers and a sister who all know how to fight dirty and aren’t afraid to do so with one another (even Percy isn’t above dishing out a mule kick to the bludgers when he’s pinned).

Charlie knocks the dark wizard out with a bat bogey hex that would make Bill proud.

You dart out from the table and pull Charlie by the sleeve to the exit. “Time to go!”

The two of you don’t stop running until you reach the alley across the street. Then you apparate back to your rented cloister.

Charlie opens the rucksack, then sighs in relief. He spreads the longhorn eggs across the bed. While he uses diagnostic spells to make sure the tiny dragon embryos inside are still viable, you put wards around the room.

The two of you almost have to dance a Lambada to each manage your spellwork in that postage stamp-sized space.

But once the wards are up, someone trying to track you or scry you out will never find you.

When you’ve tested your wards to your satisfaction, you look up to find Charlie wearing an expression that reminds you of your kneazle, Indiana, with a bowl of cream. “They’re all here.” He reports. “And we didn't lose any.”

“Great,” you levitate the reserve’s egg packing crates up from your haversack and onto the chest of drawers. “You can name one after me when it hatches.”

A look of pure mischief crosses his face. “Would I be naming it (Y/N) (Y/L/N), or (Y/N) Weasley?”

You roll your eyes. “Cute.” Now that the adrenaline is receding, you feel antsy. “We should go, before anyone from that cafè comes looking for us.”

“How would they find us?” Charlie starts packing up the eggs anyway.

“I’ll just feel better when we’re back at the reserve.” You don’t know who started the fight back there, and the question bothers you. Jacob didn’t mention that anyone else was especially interested in the eggs.

“This looks important.” Charlie holds up a piece of parchment. “It was at the bottom of the rucksack.”

“Surely the egg dealer wouldn’t be sloppy enough to leave his identifying papers in the bag with the valuable stolen goods,” you say as you take the page and read it.

“The Order of the Golden Horn want the merchandise. You know what they’ll do to us if they find us. Get rid of the product.” You read. “Order of the Golden Horn? Sounds like a cult. Or a counter service dish at EuroDisney.”

Charlie frowns. “Longhorns have golden horns. Maybe the reserve wasn’t a target of opportunity.” He seals the crates and begins levitating them back into your haversack. “When we get back, I’ll owl Harry and see if he’s heard anything about this Order of the Golden Horn.”

You have your doubts. Harry is a first-rate Auror. But that just means that people don’t exactly fall all over themselves to spill their secrets to him.

Jacob didn’t even mention this order. But you bet he’ll find the information very interesting.

You kind of feel sorry for whomever these dark wizards are - or anyone else that Jacob finds very interesting. They usually end up spilling secrets -or at least bodily fluids. Sometimes both.

Then you remember that they fired off spells at you and Charlie. Yep. Time to pay your dear brother a visit.

—

One more chapter to go!

[lore-a-lie]

Chapter 2, Act 5: The Curious Case of the Siblings Shinguji

Daily Life- Free Time

Korekiyo wasn’t expecting any company as he left the dining hall the next day. He certainly wasn’t expecting it to be Kibo either. But lo and behold here they were, with the robotic approximation of a boy offering him the Story of Tokono. And who was he to turn down such a fine gift? It hardly mattered if the volume could be found in his lab or not, it wasn’t often he was the target of friendly gestures like this.

“So what brings you here Kibo? People rarely offer gifts without the expectation of gaining something in return. May I help you with something?”

“I hope you can? I was just wondering what your stance is in regards to Atua. You must know a lot about many faiths, even if you don’t strike me as religious yourself, given your various studies I assume.”

Ah, I see. Perhaps it would be for the best to tread cautiously then. I have no reason to cause him any undue crisis just yet at any rate.

“I have no knowledge on the sort of Atua she worships so if you’re looking for any particular works of his I’m afraid I can’t be of much service. If you’re asking whether or not I believe there is any truth to her claims of possession or divine inspiration… There are many cases across the globe that boast such claims and it’s nigh impossible to separate true instances from mere bouts of madness. But as in my personal experience, I know other forms of possession to be true among human subjects I see no reason to doubt it being possible in her case either. Does this answer suffice?”

Attempting to convince one who’s been brainwashed that the subject of their belief doesn’t exist would only serve to make things more difficult for everyone at present. Besides, I’m not really lying to him yet.

“So there’s no way to know for sure?” Kibo still looked most conflicted with his answer. ( Was he looking for genuine “proof” of Atua’s existence even if he was at “His prophet’s” beck and call? Most intriguing. )

“In this case no, but that is why this is called “faith” yes? If you choose to believe in Angie that’s up to you, just as none could force me to agree with her either. Not out of any disrespect for her mind you, but in my line of work I find it most useful to keep myself unconcerned with any “gods” I’m presented with. If invoking one is a matter of politeness then I will do what I must, but I’ve encountered too many that contradict each other to believe in more than their follower’s stories they are presented with.”

“I see… So this is what the emotion “faith” feels like. I understand! But to you this is more about putting my trust, my “faith”, in Angie rather than believing in Him?”

... You “understand” nothing Kibo. Faith isn’t an emotion, but rather a feeling based on one's belief- No. That might take a while to distinguish for him. And he is certainly trying to better understand himself. I’ll let him keep this, it should do his self-esteem some good at the very least. Correcting him can come later.

It was likely to Korekiyo’s benefit Kibo wasn’t one to take much notice of subtle social cues like “awkward pauses”, as from what he gathered from the way Kibo looked at him he was assuming his friend was merely talking a while to think through his response. The fact it was a positive one was likely also a sign Kibo was rather poor at reading any of Korekiyo’s expressions too, perhaps due to what his mask covers.

“For myself, most certainly. Humans are the only thing I’m truly concerned about, even if the topic can branch into other subjects such as what’s created through their beliefs. They can provide interesting similarities among different groups of people even if the groups involved had never once interacted.”

“How exactly are you defining “human” Kiyo?” ( ... Right. Persecution complex. How quaint. No matter. )

“Kehehe, am I being added to your list of “robophobic” individuals now? I meant no such offense. I’m certainly open to studying other sapient species should the opportunity arise, such as Gonta’s Reptites, for they provide new means of comparing human cultures. To better see what may be “universal” thoughts among sentient beings and thus sort out what may be more human-centric points of issue. I am an anthropologist after all; the human element would remain my greatest point of interest. As such I am more inclined to think of you in human terms, to better match your mind, rather than robotic ones.”

The issue of personhood would remain an open point of debate I’m sure, but humans have often tried to deny each other this right. Even if his robotic nature does make his case less interesting to me personally.

“I would appreciate not being limited to be thought of one way or the other. I may be based on humans but I’m not sure how accurate your assessment is as there are many aspects of the human condition I am obviously not attuned to. Like… Gender. I have no idea how this would apply to someone like me.”

Why must you be so difficult? I hardly need the reminder about your numerous inadequacies- No. Best not to think about him in such a way. Lackluster as he may be in concept, he’s still more than human enough in practice. Particularly with these horrid animatronic bears serving as a point of comparison.

“There are many things people can’t be sure they truly understand about themselves or others. Even gender as it’s conventionally considered isn’t nearly as rigid or binary as some cultures, such as our own, like to portray and socialize them as. Not that some of us here would likely understand I’m sure.”

Immature as it may be Korekiyo hoped the soft jab at a few of their friend’s expenses would help lighten some of Kibo’s tone, but it was hard for him to tell if it worked as intended. Not an unusual experience for him by any means, so instead he changed direction.

“Do you have any issues with how we are addressing you because of this? Many aspects of your appearance do incline one to treat you as though you are male but I understand if this can prove to be rather vexing for you.”

“Well… No. I don’t think I do at least? It’s not like I know what else I would like to be called, and this is certainly easier for everyone. “It” or “They” are too othering, trying to use female terms for myself doesn’t feel right at all, and anything else sounds... kinda weird to me. But I will certainly keep this information in mind for future reference!” ( There we go, he’s in higher spirits now. Much better. )

“I’m glad I could be of some service to you then. I do apologize if it’s not quite what you were expecting of me. Though given current tensions in the school I find your own visit here most peculiar. Is your council having any troubles the rest of us should be aware of?”

“N-no, not at all! Everything is under control. We even got another member last night. Nothing to be worried about.” Kibo said though he was as bad a liar as ever, since he strove to look anywhere else rather than risk meeting Korekiyo’s gaze. It was always fascinating to see how lying changed people.

This did limit the possibilities on who the new recruit could be if nothing else. But between Kokichi and Kaede this reaction was still a toss-up given Kibo’s personal grievances with both of them as of late.

“I’m sorry but I’ll have to be going now. Student council business. But thank you for your help Kiyo.”

With that not unpleasant anomaly out of the way, Kiyo returned to going over his lab’s works. There was still so much to discover, even with the delightful boons already uncovered such as the original Caged Dog Village’s tragic tome and its related artifacts. Not to mention how they already served to inspire him.

It almost seemed unfair for his lab to be so much larger and densely stocked than the others discovered thus far, but he wasn’t about to complain. A certain artist waltzing in unannounced and messing with the artifacts whilst he was preoccupied on the higher levels was a different story.

“Do be careful with how you are handling those Angie, pieces as old as these can be most delicate. Are you looking for references or inspiration perhaps?” (She’s not one to respond well to hostility, I’m not sure how often she’s ever even encountered it before. So let’s just try to stay calm. She’s no Kokichi. )

“Nope! Just looking. Atua provides me with all the inspiration I’ll ever need. And to ask you a question, has Kaede tried talking to you yet today?” (So it was Kaede after all. Odd choice to join her rival’s cult. )

“No, which isn’t surprising as she’s been giving my lab and to a lesser extent myself a fair berth as of late. Should I be expecting her?” Korekiyo was grateful for the lack of walls to dampen his voice as he made his way to the ground floor. Partly as it’d be less rude to carry a conversation that way and partly to make it easier keep her out of trouble. “Though if you have the time I would love to hear more about what your people and customs are like. If we manage to leave this place I’d enjoy paying your home visit.”

“You shouldn’t keep thinking like that you know. It’ll only cause more problems for us in here. You wouldn’t want Atua to punish you for defying his will now would you?”

How about I “punish” you instead, you conniving close-minded childish-  Calm down. Just avoid the topic. Neither of your opinions will be swayed here. She hasn’t been averse to talking about her culture in the past so simply reframe your request in a way that better plays to her own desires.

“I’d like to see him try, it would be a most unique experience I’m sure. Kehehe, it may even be able to make a believer out of me yet. But I would genuinely like to know more of your background even if the outside is no longer an option. If you think “culture clash” may be an issue you face when relating to the rest of us this could prove to be most beneficial for everyone in the long term could it not?”

There might have been a bit too much venom in his response to count as “calm” but the effort was being made. Angie wasn’t particularly convinced to become any more forthcoming unfortunately, but she hid her frustration with him most admirably with a large smile and hands clasped together in forced glee.

“Hopefully things won’t need to be that drastic for you to see the light! But until you do Angie doesn’t think she’ll be sharing anything just yet. If Kiyo doesn’t trust Angie why should Angie trust Kiyo?”

None of you should but you’re all essentially doing so anyway. Such a beautiful mistake in the making. It’ll almost be a shame when everyone else realizes this. But I’m sure your reactions will be well worth it.

“Why should I trust you in the first place? Given you won’t let anyone but yourself even look at our latest motive, much less weigh in on decisions regarding it. You do realize that the book it claims to be was the fictional creation of a certain Mr. Lovecraft yes? Hardly any reason for us to put stock into its claims about revival, even if you view it as a retrieval. Though with how you invoke your “Atua” for your own benefit I can see why honesty may not matter to you. What people think is more important to you yes?”

“... Angie doesn’t think she wants to talk to you anymore now. She doesn’t need to bother with baseless ramblings. Atua knows something’s wrong with you, and now He thinks maybe she can’t even help you anymore. But hopefully Kaede could talk some sense into you. Or at least make you see you’re wrong.”

I already know I am suspicious and “odd” Angie, your bluffs at knowing anything more are but a waste. Had you any sort of divine “protection” at least one of us wouldn’t be in here right now, would we?

Korekiyo did feel a twinge of what may have been guilt at the sight of her still masking her anger with a small smile as she left his lab in a hurry. He often had troubles dealing with personalities like hers, much in the same way talking to children can prove a most tiresome and fruitless endeavor.

It was a shame he might not get the chance to learn at least who Angie’s people were before her time came, but such is life. She did at least give him something to look into at the present though, even if Kaede may not appreciate him visiting just yet.

He didn’t need to look for her for long, as she was in her lab much like his map indicated. Hopefully his intrusion wouldn’t be too upsetting for her, as he had been trying to make up for his earlier mistake. One never could tell how long a person could be negatively affected by an act of carelessness like this.

It was a pleasant surprise that she didn’t look too bothered by his presence. She even took the time to pause her playing to properly address him. “Oh, hey Kiyo. Are you looking for something? I’m not sure I have many songs here that fit what you said interested you before, but I’d be happy to help if I could.”

“I’m actually here because Angie indicated you may be wishing to talk to me about something. Perhaps relating to why our previous leader has apparently joined our would be dictator’s tyrannical cult?”

“O-oh. Well first off it’s probably not what you’re thinking. Just… Make sure the door is closed okay?” ( And what would she think I’d be assuming? She’s not the weak-willed sort of person who’d genuinely buy into something like this, nor does a new loss of faith feel fitting. But neither was Tenko I suppose. )

Once she was confident the soundproofed door was firmly shut she resumed playing as if hoping the extra noise would further help mask what was being discussed. A pity to see how this game was making her become more paranoid to try and respond to their previous tragedies, but an understandable one.

And there is always something beautiful in the way humans learn to adapt to their situations, for better or for ill. It would be wonderful to see how else our situation might try to change her for the sake of protecting herself and those she has come to care about. Assuming she can last long enough to show it.

“I’ve already talked to Kaito and Kokichi about this but I’m just trying to convince Angie to postpone the ritual for another day. As far as she should be concerned I joined the student council to unite the class again and that means this day is to “convert” you all so the motive will be used as a group event of sorts tomorrow. I didn’t know what else I could do, since trying to stop her probably wouldn’t have worked.”

“So you’d like for us to all play along with this for the time being?”

“If you could that’d be great. Hopefully tomorrow we’ll be able to take the book away from her or something as a more permanent solution for this. I don’t want to risk it being used for real.”

“You do realize Kirumi was likely already attempting something similar yes? Her dedication to Angie’s ideals is obviously untrue, given how worried she is about her supposed wards beyond our current cage. I do believe you even saw firsthand how surprisingly lax she is being with her duties last night, despite how she normally fulfills her given tasks down to their very letter. Unless my ears had deceived me.”

“Well I… I mean I didn’t know for sure before, and I have no idea what she’s actually planning to do when Angie’s really ready to try and bring back Himiko.”

Because you are still all too trusting even with how this place has tried to change you. It’s not like Angie was ever one of her actual “citizens” and Kirumi will do anything to leave this place. Why else allow me to do as I will but try to set me up as her perfect patsy, given the ample opportunities I’d have with how our labs are on the same floor? It wouldn’t even be wrong of you to suspect me of doing such a thing.

“Do you really think she’ll believe you if you claim we’ve all had a change of heart? She’d have more than enough reason to think Kokichi, Kaito, or I are being less than sincere and her disdain for Ryoma and Maki has been equally apparent.”

“I think this does still have a chance of working. And speaking of… Try to go easy on Kaito for awhile okay? He hasn’t been well lately and I don’t want him getting any worse so I’m trying to help with stress.” 

Oh my, now this is interesting. She’s referring to that boorish brute of a boy from the other night, isn’t she? It would serve him right to be paid another visit for how he treated me. Honestly Korekiyo you really do need to raise your standards if you’re honestly considering someone that rude as a “friend” of yours.

Come now Sister, he isn’t so bad. Merely a bit old fashioned and a touch too earnest for his own good. Besides, it isn’t like you to be so active this early, no need to be hasty. Best we not rock the boat just yet.

Unexpected as his sister’s input was it wasn’t hard to keep any signs of his newly divided attention from showing. He’s had years of practice after all, and Kaede had no reason to look for any changes. She’d probably just take any pause she’d notice as being a moment while he considered her request.

“Of course, besides I doubt I’ll be seeing him much today at any rate. I do hope he improves soon.”

Are you seriously refusing me , brother? This isn’t like you either. Certainly not for a miserable lot like this. What could even be the harm of it? I merely want to mess with him a little. You can’t deny you’d like to see how he squirms when pushed too, with how pitiful his nerves are. Unless she’s who you’d rather see?

It’s not like that Sister. If everything is to go to plan it’d be best not to draw needless attention to myself.

Fine. But I think I want to be properly introduced to her next. You’d at least still do that for me, right little brother?

If Kaede saw anything off in his demeanor as he excused himself to head back to his lab she didn’t show it. This was a conversation best held in private, and certainly nowhere near the subject of discussion.

Not that he was terribly taken aback by his sister’s request, odd as the timing may be. He had already even gotten Kaede’s permission to prepare for this occasion quite some time ago, before even Rantaro died, and seeing his motive video didn’t seem to change her mind so this shouldn’t have been a surprise.

It’s not like he’s tried asking this of any of his other friends he thought would live up to his dear sister’s expectations yet either. Admittedly due in part to most already giving their consent earlier, as he didn’t wish to risk making any suspicious by reaffirming statements likely only said to help ease his worries.

Are you sure? She’s proven more useful than most of the others in the trials we’ve been facing in here. It’d be a shame to fail so close to your goal over losing a mere game such as this.

You’re not questioning me now, are you? Kukuku~ it’s a bit late for your rebellious stage, isn’t it?

Never Sister. I’d be nothing without you. I’m sure between Kaito’s experience and Kokichi’s intuition we’d be able to survive well without her. But should I hold back if someone else makes for a better target first?

As long as she’s the one you’re planning on I suppose it would be fine to also take advantage of a good moment. No point in ignoring someone so eager to meet with me if they unintentionally interrupt us. We wouldn’t want to waste an opportunity like what happened to Miss Yumeno again now would we? I was so looking forward to being able to learn more about her, but since you weren’t involved I can’t find her.

… Right. At least Miu’s death was no such loss for you, even if she could be amusing to me on occasion. But I best make sure current plans are going to schedule. I shan’t keep you waiting for much longer now.

At least that was enough to ease Her spirit’s concerns for now. She was still there of course, still watching over him as she normally does to help ease and guide him, but as a silent observer for the time being. This would just mean she’d be more likely to chime in on any of his other conversations from now on.

Particularly since to make sure everything was going as he’d thought they would he’d be visiting with Kirumi next. He already had a bottle of Cleopatra's Pearl Cocktail he assumed she’d enjoy so she shouldn’t refuse his company if he offered to share some with her in her lab. ( Though with its claim to help make one beautiful I’m inclined to think almost every girl here would be at least a little intrigued. )

She took the bait as expected. She hardly even considered his request to be unusual, so perhaps she thought this was a means of repaying her for her earlier leniency. From a certain point of view that could even be considered true. Her bloodlust gave him a safe window to act on his, so he is genuinely grateful.

Even though she could just as easily turn on you instead? I don’t like this little brother. You could have at least indicated to someone you two would be meeting in case something goes wrong.

I’m far more useful to her alive than dead Sister. If she wants to get away with murder in this place she needs someone to take the fall for her instead. Trying to set Ryoma up as a case of suicide was a boat that has long since sailed and with how I am it’d be easy to believably accuse me of killing anyone.

In an attempt to avoid getting lost in his own thoughts in front of her Korekiyo saw fit to break their comfortable silence. “So how does one such as yourself find any comfort among the student council? Has your sense of obligation towards us outweighed that of your supposed role as Prime Minister now?”

“Not “outweighed” so to speak, but I have made my peace with our situation for now. I do hope we can find a means to leave, despite Angie’s beliefs, but I saw firsthand my previous thoughts on how to do so were...deeply flawed. I merely want to make sure everyone’s lives here are as comfortable and bearable as possible until that time can come. And what about your sister? Aren’t you still worried about her?”

She is an amusing one, isn’t she? She’s even trying to avoid directly lying to you as if you were Oma. What a foolish girl. The inexperience of her youth betrays her no matter how mature she pretends to be.

But her heart’s in the right place. It’s only natural for someone like her to think of people as numbers that she can weigh against each other, as if there can ever be truly acceptable losses in any form of tragedy.

“I too have made my own peace of sorts, but at least I’m still being open about my desire to leave. While I’m here I do still have my lab and a unique set of human experiences to observe to pass the time. But your denial of weight begs the question, how do you value others? There are many ways to view it.”

“I could ask you the same thing then. But for me, if I can’t put the needs of my master first then I seek to aid those who can do the most good for others in general. That is why my initial reaction to certain circumstances was to act as though my own life was worth more than that of the rest of you. My master, our nation, still needed my service and on top of that I saw myself as best equipped to help everyone at risk.”

“So you use the perspective of your society as a whole? That’s rather arrogant of you wouldn’t you say? As “Prime Minister” you could easily argue your life was worth more than many larger groups of people. I value all of humanity, for all of their flaws, too much to accept such a thing. A life is worth one life, no more and most certainly no less, regardless of the actions a person may take or their physical condition. My fieldwork exposes me to too many differing sets of morals and values to try and use anything else, and all remain equal in death I find. All I can do to gauge beyond that is how I personally see a person.”

“I’m not putting myself first for the sake of my own needs so I don’t think “arrogant” is the proper word for it." Kirumi objected with a stern glare before she took another sip to settle herself. "It’s hard to really know how you’ll feel about judging others until you are truly tested I think. All I know is that as a maid it’s my duty to serve my wards as well as I am able. They are my only concern.”

Adorable sentiments if they are true, but I very much doubt that. Just look at how she bristles at the revelation of her hubris rather than taking the moment to self-reflect on it. However I do quite admire her spirit and determination, you’re right about that. Too bad you're having another one of those days where you keep getting under everyone’s skin though Korekiyo. Kukuku~

I'm glad you're enjoying yourself but I don't suppose you'd actually help narrow down if I'm the one too on edge or if it's everyone's nerves that's to blame for this, would you dear sister?

Now, why would I ever do something like that? It's so much more fun to see how your "friends" are when angered, given how much of them we've yet to see.

True, but it might be easier to observe all facets of their beauty if I'm not the target of their ire, yes?

Details, details~

“Responsibility is a virtue I more than understand I assure you, nor am I judging you for how you’ve chosen to best balance what you value the most. There is no shame to be had in expressing some selfishness afterall. And I’d certainly put my sister’s needs or wishes before my own as well, should she need me to. I simply don’t feel she needs me to endanger myself or others to leave this place just yet.”

Indeed, for if we play our cards right you won’t even need to leave to finally finish your promise. Though it will be a shame to lose a girl like Miss Yonaga to Miss Tojo, she would’ve made for a fine friend too.

“You accuse me of arrogance and then claim you aren’t judging me? Isn’t that rather contrary?”

“True. Perhaps it is best to say I am not negatively judging you. All aspects of humanity are beautiful to me, even those conventionally seen as ugly or “wrong”. I see nothing wrong with someone as generally selfless as yourself having flaws such as this. I certainly don't look up to you any less for them, if anything I think they make me admire your work ethic all the more." He assured her, which seemed to catch Kirumi by surprise which was a rare feat. She might have even been blushing a tad, since she turned her head away so her bangs hid most of her face. With a smile and a shug he continued. "Focusing only on one's “good” qualities can never give you a real idea of who they were. Humans are interesting because of their imperfections, not in spite of them. If people were perfect they wouldn’t be as wonderfully unpredictable as they truly are.”

As she faced him again she eyed him with some suspicion. He wasn't sure if it was because she was doubting his intentions with this talk or began thinking his words were hallow, but she didn't let him wonder for long. “I see. And do you see any contradiction in how you speak of “humanity” as if you aren’t a part of it?”

Touche. It is easy to sound like one has something of a God complex like this. Not to mention the irony of preaching the benefits of “unpredictability” to someone we’re relying on accurately predicting for now.

“I’m more often an observer than a participant so I’m inclined think it oft comes with the territory. It’s easy to divorce yourself from others. You have those not under your care, I have my subjects of study.”

She hummed a little at that, as if more in thought than agreement, but his answer satisfied her enough. They returned to drinking in silence for some time before Korekiyo made his leave, giving her what was left of the bottle in gratitude for her conversation and company.

It was nearly nighttime when he got back to his lab, but it wasn’t empty when he arrived. Maki had apparently made herself comfortable near one of many bookshelves, though when she heard him come in she put whichever book she was reading aside. If she wasn’t there to read there isn’t much else she could be looking for but him, given the sort of person she was. This was sure to be interesting.

What is she doing here? Send her away brother, we have no need for her company. We don’t need her lingering this late and interrupting Miss Tojo’s plans like she did last night. Even that delay was vexing.

Sister please, if she has been waiting to speak with me the least I can do for her is hear her out. It must be something unusual for her to come here. She’s far from the social type and we haven’t spoken much.

“Good evening, my apologies if I interrupted you. This is quite the surprise, seeing you here.” Korekiyo began as he offered her a brief bow.

Maki wasn't the sort to be offended by tardiness or mince words though. “You didn’t. I was hoping to talk to you actually.”

Why? Korekiyo I do not like this at all. Why must you keep interacting with such dangerous women?!

I hear you Sister but she’s hardly dangerous. Her talent being exposed puts too much suspicion on her to risk doing anything drastic. If she says she’s here to talk then there’s no reason to doubt her about that.

“Really? I’m sorry to have kept you waiting then. How may I help you? But isn’t it a bit late for this?”

“No, it’s fine. And there’s no point in acting like you actually care about any council’s curfews either. But…” Maki paused as if debating with herself for a moment, fiddling with her collar while in thought. Korekiyo took a seat near her as he waited to see what was on her mind. “... The only reason I’m asking you of all people is because no one would believe you if you breathed a word about any of this. And Ryoma indicted you aren’t as clueless about this sorta stuff as the rest of us mostly are. Got it?”

“Understood, but you do realize Angie’s just down the hall and doesn’t always stay in her lab yes?” Korekiyo reminded her but given her glare was less than appreciated. At least until it softened into a frustrated puffy faced pout as she nearly undid her bow with her fidgeting.

Realizing her mistake with a blush she instead shoved an item in front of his face to try and force things along. A mummified monkey’s paw no less. Awfully fitting considering what Monosuke indicated the results of a resurrection could turn out like. And as Korekiyo gladly took her bribe she found her voice.

“How… do you know when you like someone?” He heard her ask in a hushed tone and time seemed to screech to a halt.

… What ?

This… was not good. There is a reason why “May you live in interesting times” is considered to be meant as a curse, not a blessing.

He could only hope any pause on his part was taken as him thinking of a response to her question rather than dealing with the migraine to come. It was hard to tell where his own feelings ended and his sister’s began when situations got like this. But pain was far from a stranger and hiding it came naturally enough.

See what happens when you don’t listen to me?! Honestly, the nerve of this girl! How dare she ask us something like this. She could ask just about anyone else and no one would ever judge HER for whatever silly crush she’s dealing with! No matter how much blood is on her hands I doubt even the target of her affections would ever look at her with such… DISGUST . Korekiyo if you don’t get rid of her now I WILL.

Calm down Sister, she doesn’t know. And kicking her out for such a trivial mistake would be rather uncalled for, would it not? We don’t need her looking into us. Let’s just try to be more reasonable here-

And what, risk you saying too much again? You were pushing it as it was when you let that boy sidetrack you after you tried giving away that damned key! We both know what would happen to you if they find out, even if we do keep my current condition or my friends under wraps! They’d still look at you that way.

Regardless of how little it concerns them they’d still judge you, mock you, reject you, for this. For us .

Just like everyone else did. It always plays out the same, and these people will be no different Korekiyo.

And if I or the friends you’ve made for me do come to light they may very well try to kill you for it! Even if the blood you’ve shead for my sake couldn’t possibly compare to any of her measly blood money hits, or maybe not even match that of Killer Tennis’ bodycount, they’d see you as the threat. And what then?

I know Sister! I… I’m sorry. For everything you… that WE were put through before. But I can handle this.

“... If Ryoma gave you this impression then you know surely he’d be a better person for you to ask about this yes? As far as I’m concerned matters of the heart are a strictly private issue, not one for discussing.”

“Well I- I don’t know how I feel." She stammered, torn between looking embarassed and angered. "It could be something else. The closest I’ve come to feeling something like this was for a girl I knew back at the orphanage. Ryoma and Kaito tell each other everything so I can’t just ask him about anything…”

Okay. So she doesn’t need any personal information about this from me, just an outsider’s perspective. That… isn’t so bad. I just need to keep her the focus of this and act as an interactive sounding board.

BROTHER?!

Oh come now, can you really tell me you aren’t a little curious about our little assassin developing a crush on the world’s densest space cadet? Don’t forget who was the one bringing you those romance novels you’d ask for when you were ill. I remember what you like. And who knows where this could lead?

That was not the same thing! … But fine. If only to further mess with that awful boy. She suits him.

“So you are conflicted on if this is a crush or more… friendly or familial affections? For our own Kaito?”

The shade of the blush on her face alone was almost worth the literal headache, and heartache, that came with his sister’s frustration. For such a cold killer her range of expressions never ceased to amaze.

“... Something like that.” Maki mumbled, though it looked more like she was talking to her poorly re-tied and battered bow than to Korekiyo with her face still aflame. Red was certainly a color that suited her.

“So not quite? Are you also trying to sort out what you felt for your “friend” back then was too?”

“Maybe. So… How would I know?” It was likely a good thing she was too focused on her own thoughts to notice any of Korekiyo’s discomfort as she redirected things back to him. But there was an easy fix here.

“I couldn’t say. For some friends can be just as important as a lover, and to some others even more so. This is what part of what makes it so personal. How much do you think they mean to you?”

“... I’d be more upset if something happened to Kaito than the rest of you. No offense, but that’s really not saying much in this situation. But I was willing to kill for her. So she wouldn’t be forced to.”

“To be fair willing to kill for his sake here would be suicide at best and detrimental to you both at worst. Is that why you’re suspecting you may have felt more for her than just friendship or surrogate sibling?”

Bad move brother. What exactly are you going to say if she can’t figure out if her feelings for this girl were “sisterly” or “romantic”? And you could stand to be just a littleoffended by her lack of concern.

“A bit. I mean… It wouldn’t be normal to develop feelings in a place like this in such a short amount of time, would it?”

“It’s actually more common for strong bonds to develop quickly in times of great stress so it’s far from unusual. Which is why asking someone like Kibo, Kaede, or even Tenko may be more useful to you here.”

“I think you just mean Kaede, the other two aren’t exactly open-minded about me. And if I did Kaito might find out what I asked her about. Or worse Kokichi. He’s been hanging around her a lot lately.”

That would be a lot of fun. Maybe you should tell Oma anyway? It might make him less wary of you.

Sister no. Living is very much to our benefit at present.

“Fair point. Would it be so bad to just try talking to Kaito about this? He’s brash, but not inconsiderate.”

Korekiyo figured the glower he received was answer enough. So much for simply cutting this Gordian Knot. “No need to give me that look, I am being serious. If he had any existing relationships I’m sure he’d say so by now and he’s not the sort of person to play with a girl’s honest emotions. Would it hurt to try?”

You would know all about that, wouldn’t you little brother? Not always a girl’s honest emotions either. But they are ever so fun to toy with, aren’t they? Especially when something in them finally breaks.

“Fine. I guess I’ll think about it. And if any rumors start floating around before then you’re a dead man.”

“That’s a bit drastic wouldn’t you say? It’s not like you or he have been particularly subtle, as I’m sure you’ve noticed from the way Kokichi has tried teasing you both before. But rest assured, I won’t talk.”

“That would be a change.” Maki deadpanned, smirk naturally falling into place with it’s signature quirk.

Almost sad to consider an adorable if unusual physical feature like that might be part of why she hadn’t been adopted by a normal family when she still had a chance. Vanity could make people be ever so cruel.

“Alright, poor phrasing on my part. But it’s not like I’m one to participate in gossip anyway. Honestly I’d have much preferred going into the story connected to the paw you have so graciously given me than something of this nature. Or even how your work has affected your own views on the concept of death.”

“The one with the three wishes that keep going wrong? I think I’ve heard that one before. I think I’ll stop taking up your time though, just in case Kirumi comes by to check on you again. And… Thank you. It was nice to see Ryoma was right. You aren’t as much of a creepy weirdo as you could be. My words, not his.”

… How is an assassin able to be so blind to our intentions brother? Are you sure she isn’t toying with us?

It’s hardly like I’ve had any actual intent to kill around her. Not like Kirumi has. It makes sense she’d be more on Maki’s radar than I am. If you look suspicious enough sometimes you stop being suspicious.

And other times it just puts you on a fast track to be on a first name basis with the local sheriff. Again.

And yet that familiarity served its purpose, as they were still none the wiser and saw nothing wrong with me leaving town as a result even after her delightful daughter “ran away from home”, did it not?

He couldn’t help but laugh a little at the irony of it all while he gave her a partial bow as she departed. “Kehehe. I’m not sure your assessment, blunt as it was, is truly accurate. But I appreciate your praise, such as it is, all the same and do sincerely wish you the best. I’ll be rooting for you, so take care, Maki.”

He couldn’t really afford to spend too much time here himself though either. Kirumi would be less likely to do anything tonight if there was a chance he was still in earshot, and she already made an excuse if anyone rightly thought he was in bed when her crime was being committed with her Monopad trick.

It was tempting to at least try paying Angie one last visit before he left, but all things considered he thought better of it. Too much evidence against him could make proving Kirumi’s guilt harder if Kaede won’t be there to help anymore. But he could live with his last memory of Angie before her death being one that ended on poorer terms. He’s certainly had worse with all the friends he’s helped his sister make.

Getting back to the dorms was rather uneventful at any rate, but it was a small comfort for him to know that Gonta and Ryoma both made it clear they saw him. Witnesses will be a great boon in proving his innocence if the class turns out to be more inclined to trust Kirumi’s word over his own tomorrow. Gonta even insisted on walking back with him, to help ensure Korekiyo was indeed following the curfew now.

What will he and the others do with their leader gone? Would the cult remain without her guidance, or simply fall apart due to a loss of faith? Who would fill the voids Angie and Kaede would leave behind? Kaito? Kibo? Certainly not Kokichi, the imp’s too fond of implicitly pushing people to do what he wants.

He had ample time to think as he got ready for bed. It might not take as much time to undress and take off his sister’s preferred makeup than it does to put everything on but that wasn’t saying much.

Not to mention donning his sleeping mask and whatnot afterward. Sister was a tad too impatient to be in control when their body needed to rest so that was hardly an optional step for him anymore.

But before he entered his slumber he still had one question he needed to ask her first. And as there was no risk of interruptions they wouldn’t need to be as quiet this time. She did prefer to speak for herself.

“Sister, do you suppose voting for Kirumi tomorrow would be enough involvement for her spirit to reach you? I know indirect killings are far less reliable, but it could still work could it not?”

It wasn’t really his hand that reached to pull his mask down anymore, as odd a sensation as it was to lose control of his own body. Though it wasn’t “lost” as much as it was freely given. She didn’t even need to remove his mask to take full control, but it helped make it easier to avoid acting unusually around others.

It was more a ritual with a symbolic restraint they shared than an actual necessity for their symbiosis. Fitting considering its unconventional design, serving as a “fetish” for them in more ways than one.

She used the closest she could manage to her own voice as she answered him. “ How should I know little brother? The only chance we had to really test this was during that first execution, and you had voted for Miss Akamatsu rather than risk introducing me to a boy like Saihara by mistake back then did you not? ”

“Right, of course. But it would be nice to be able to make you two friends tomorrow instead of just one. Then we’d only need one more. Would you rather it be Tenko or Tsumugi? It won’t matter if I’m caught.”

“ Curb your impatience Korekiyo. It makes me happy to see you’re still thinking ahead, but do be careful. Over-eagerness can easily lead to one’s undoing so we mustn’t get too greedy just yet. We can’t let our emotions hasten your judgements and risk making a fatal error this close to our goal. First, we see how things will go. Then I’ll consider our options. Just focus on getting some rest for now, my sweet Korekiyo. ”

“Right, of course. My apologies. Goodnight Sister.”

He felt her response more than heard it as a hand reached to grip his shoulder while the other went around his waist. The closest either of them could get to anything resembling an embrace anymore.

Korekiyo ignored any sense of loneliness the gesture gave him in favor of basking in its intent. He should be used to this by now. And there’s nothing unusual about his pleasures having some pain intertwined.

It’s just a shame not all pains are of a sort I can find pleasure in. But it won’t be for much longer now.

The next day he had nearly finished getting ready for the day when something began pounding on his door. Odd as he hadn’t even heard the morning announcement begin yet, much less the one that signified a body discovery. Things were made odder still as it was Kaito he found on the other side looking ragged, like a man at the end of his rope, rather than a furious Tenko out for his blood.

“Did you have anything to do with this?!”

“... That depends what “this” would be. I’d offer you a good morning but it’s a bit late for that now yes? Did something happen that I should be aware of?” His answer gave Kaito some comfort as he calmed down a bit. Not the announcement choosing that particular moment to come to life helped that any.

Korekiyo really should have tried standing further away from his room’s monitor since he knew this should be coming. Or done something to help brace for how loud its parody of a school chime would be. He did so loathe loud noises like this, almost as much as he hated being bound to one place for too long.

“Okay, so you really didn’t know? That… That’s good at least. It’s in your lab, come on.”

Kaito obviously wasn’t in the mood for much talking so Korekiyo was content to merely follow his lead rather than ask questions. There wasn’t too much he felt he needed to really ask yet anyway.

Not until he saw a familiar head of silver hair in the hallway outside of his lab. Still happily bobbing along as per the usual for her, talking to Tenko standing beside her. At least Tenko hadn’t lost another friend.

Kukuku, I guess Miss Tojo wasn’t as predictable as you thought? This is good though, we haven’t lost my chance to be friends with her just yet. But whose body will we find now I wonder? Did she go for Hoshi after all?

This would explain Kaito’s current state. Or at least his response further narrowed down their options. But it wasn’t Ryoma’s body he found on the floor of his lab, lying there broken and bloody.

It was Maki’s.

It made sense Korekiyo supposed, even if the possibility slipped his mind before.

If Ryoma’s crimes helped ease any issues Kirumi could have with killing one of her citizens then so would Maki’s current profession. And if Kirumi was caught she could argue she acted for the good of the group.

But that doesn’t make this hurt any less does it? I told you, you should raise your standards little brother. Having friends like her would obviously only lead to pain or disappointment for you. They always do.

Never. This is... Bearable. And it's well worth the time spent with her. The same applies for everyone else here. Observing them all has been both informative and for the most part enjoyable, even with these... risks.

He could hardly even tell where the red of the blood ended and that of her clothing began anymore. He’d swear parts of the blood nearly looked pink against her crimson if he wasn’t looking directly at it. Seeing the mask sloppily laid over her face didn’t help either. Particularly given whose it really was.

But he knew better than to let any discomfort show. There was no need for it and it wouldn’t help.  

All he needed to do was make sure her death wasn’t a waste.

Korekiyo looked over to where Kaede and Kirumi were talking as he weighed his options one last time.

Maki may have never been admirable enough to be one of Sister’s friends but at least he could make sure her killer would soon be joining her. And his dearest sister was still in dire need of some company.

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[my-mystic-messenger]

RFA kicking MC out?!

Oh yay, a fic request! Not too long at all and rather interesting too! I was planning on switching over to writing more fics anyway so this is a great start, thanks :D Also, you can read about Min and the other MC’s based on the game here. Hope you enjoy :3

Fandom: Mystic Messenger Rating: None Warnings: Angst/Fluff Categories: F/M Relationships: MC x Saeran Word count: 1352

A couple of months had passed since Saeran had moved in with his brother. He was still in shock to some extend and much quieter than he used to be, but thanks to the RFA’s support he was slowly beginning to open up. For one he’d mustered up the courage to ask for some of his own clothes back instead of wearing his brothers old ones. Saeran had also gotten rather close with Min-Jee, freely discussing his past experiences with her. He’d become somewhat friendly with all of the RFA members, in fact, but it still surprised him when they invited him to some sort of meeting. Just because he was friends with them – although even that was debatable – didn’t mean he was a member. Frankly, Saeran didn’t want anything to do with the RFA parties. It reminded him too much of Mint Eye and what he’d done, a part of his past he wanted to forget about entirely. Just hearing the name made his skin crawl, effectively making that meeting extremely stressful for Saeran. The situation got even more uncomfortable when he noticed that Min wasn’t there. Not only was she his anchor in such situation, somewhat mediating between the RFA and him, but it made him feel like being part of some dirty secret she wasn’t supposed to know of. Saeran didn’t realize just how right he was in making such an assumption until everyone was seated around the table and Jumin opened the meeting. “We’re here today to discuss Chu, Min-Jee’s membership in the RFA in light of the recent party.” Saeran froze in his chair, nails digging into the arm rest as he looked around, trying to find anyone who looked as shocked about the matter at hand as he felt. He was hurt to note that no one seemed to object. Everyone was in on this. How cruel. “As we all know, the RFA took a couple of strong blows in recent months, including the loss of V among other things. However none of it damaged our reputation quite as much as the party Min-Jee organized, or failed to do so”, Jumin continued. “We therefor gathered here to discuss the future of the RFA and whether Chu, Min-Jee should continue to be part of our organization, as she doesn’t seem to be fit for the job assigned to her, nor does she have any connections to any of us and was never chosen to be an member to -”

“Enough”, Saeran bit out loudly, getting up from his chair that scattered to the floor. The loud sound started everyone, five pairs of curious eyes suddenly all focused on Saeran. He wanted to break down under the pressure, but had to remain strong for Min-Jee. 

He balled his hands to fist turning them so white it looked like his knuckles were about to rip through his fragile skin. “How can you talk about her like that? Behind her back?! She isn’t just some expandable toy you can - “ Saeran broke off in the middle of the sentence when the door was opened behind him, revealing Min-Jee. Her stance and demeanour radiated defiance, but Saeran could see the hurt hidden in her dark eyes as she stepped into the room to face everyone. “All of you should be ashamed of yourself”, she sneered. “How self centered you are despite calling yourself a charity organization. Yes, I admit, I did poorly, but have you considered why?” Suddenly the room turned quiet, causing Min to snort.

“I was kidnapped, locked in an apartment with a bomb, tangled up in all of your drama, roped into organizing a party I’ve never even heard of for people I never even met, almost kidnapped again and then recruited to be some secret agent, apparently, to infiltrate a goddamn cult and safe his brother.” She pointed at Saeyoung who at least had the decency to flinch, looking down in shame as her words sunk in. Min was right. Without her help he would have never gotten his brother back. The same brothe who’d put her in all those dangers to begin with.

Yoosung was the next to break after realizing what he’d put her through, just because he hadn’t be able to let go of his cousin. His shoulders sagged before he made himself as small as possible sitting in his chair, hands folded in his lap as he nervously fiddled his fingers.

Next was Zen, who was suddenly overwhelmed with guilt. Not only were they one of the reasons Min had suffered through some of the most traumatic experiences of her life, but he’d actually allowed Rika to run free after everything she’d caused. He swallowed the lump in his throat and looked away.

Jaehee looked around, seeing everyone sag in defeat before finally looking at Min. It hit her then. Min was merely a young girl and all of them had mistreated her. She herself mostly out of jealousy over nothing, Jaehee realized. She mouthed a silent apology and lowered her gaze.

Jumin was last, his unreadable eyes looking straight at the girl. He wanted to blame her for V’s death, but the reality of the matter was, that she’d been the closest to saving him while still managing to organize a party at all. “I sincerely apologize. We were out of line.” “Yes, you were and as much as I’d like to remain angry at all of you, I would be no better than you, so I’ll forgive you”, she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “I will, however, make the decision you came here to make very easy for you; I hereby resign from the RFA.”

Saeran’s eyes went wide at Min’s words, heart sinking in his chest. She reached into her pocket and fished out the phone that must have belonged to Rika, put it on the table and without another word left the room. Saeran couldn’t stay after that.

“Mint Eye did a lot of horrible things”, Saeren said quietly, once more getting everyones attention. “I realize that now, but at least they didn’t kick out members like trash because they weren’t completely up to par with their endless standards.”

“After everything you’ve put her through, after everything she’s done for you despite all of it, all you can muster up is some shameful looks and a half-assed apology? If that is the kind of organization that you are, count me out as well.” With that Saeran got out his phone and put it on the table beside Min’s before walking out to find Min. Lucky for him, he didn’t have to look far, since the young woman was leaning against the wall next to the door. She looked up at him, giving him a watery but sincere smile. “Thank you for standing up to me”, she said. Saeran shook his hand, coming to stand before her. He swallowed, gathering his courage before taking both her hands in his. “You’ve been the only person in this organization who was there for me from start to finish, despite all the horrible things I put you through. You truly forgave me for me, not by default because I am Saeyoung’s brother”, he said, brushing his thumb over Min’s soft skin.

“Once Rika and Mint Eye were gone, I was completely lost. I didn’t know what to do with myself, because my whole life had been filled with orders and commands I simply had to follow without thinking on my own.” Min nodded at the young man before her, tightening her grip on his hands ever so slightly to show her support without having to speak. “You gave me purpose”, Saeran finally continued. “And I don’t want to lose you again.” Their eyes locked, filled with hope and promises of a sweeter future. A smile broke out on Min’s face. She let go of one of Saeran’s hands to link their fingers together with the other. “Let’s go then. We need new phones.” Saeran chuckled as they left hand in hand. New phones for a new beginning.

[guacameowle]

Jihyun Route: Another Story - Notes

Below the cut are the notes of opinions & thoughts I wrote down as I was playing Another Story. It’s below a cut because it’s very lengthy; I think it came out to over 8400 words. I certainly don’t expect anyone to read all of it, but I had a few people ask for me to do this, so here it is. Some of it is more in-depth analysis, most of it is probably nonsense, a lot of it is me thirsting. 

Everything written is what I was thinking at the time something happened in the moment of playing the game so you can see how my theories/emotions of the game progress day by day. I did not go back & change anything I wrote after finishing the route. I haven’t even gone back to proofread it yet, so my apologies for ridiculous errors or confusion. 

The notes are broken up by days & then by endings (I’ve only completed good & normal endings so far). Obviously, this text will be loaded with spoilers. I apologize if you’re on mobile & the cut doesn’t work & you have to scroll past this horrendously long post.

I’m sure some of what I’ve said here will be controversial, but I’m not here to argue with anyone or create discourse; this is just a means to express my opinions & lingering curiosities about some aspects of the route.

I by no means disliked this route. I very much enjoyed it for all it’s drama, twists, emotional upheaval, discoveries, & Jihyun’s sexy sexy voice. 

Prologue

Like hell am I answering any of these calls.

Whyyy are you so obsessed with me?!

Omg they give you a 'call the police option'?! Iconic. I’m doing it.

I AM CRYING LAUGHING. I BAD ENDED & MC GAVE NO FUCKS. Just went home to order some chicken wings. A legend. SHE COULD NOT BE BOTHERED TO GIVE A FUCK. Honestly, that is my true ending. Ultimate true end. This is how my story would have ended if this happened to me in real life. Except I would have gone home to a tub of ice cream. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Excellent start to this update. She honestly just disbanded a cult & got dinner afterwards like it was no big thing. Boss MC.

Ok I'll do the prologue & play naive now.

Oh. A blindfold. KINKY~.

MC better be prepared to die because she just willingly let herself be kidnapped. 🙄

DAY ONE

The new music is so so nice. That violin concerto - so beautiful. I need sheet music.

That bedroom at Mint Eye is essentially my DREAM room. Wowza. So much pink! Yeah yeah, Ray, I’ll play your game as long as I don’t have to leave that bed. Ever.

Fuck. Ray is wearing gloves. FUUUUUCK me right up. GLOVES!!!

CATCH MY ASS FLIRTING WITH JUMIN ALL DAY ER’DAY. I told Juju I wanted to hear his voice. I’m so thirsty.

Jumin released a quote book. It probably has great lines like, “Yaaaaaa” or “What is fried chicken?” … I’d buy it. Will probably turn out to be the best trilogy I ever spent money on.

“Mankind is born lonely.” (Call Ray after 00:00 chat). This game just got deep as fuck. I’m not ready for that kind of existential commentary at midnight on day one, ok? Let’s chill. I came here to talk to cute boys/girl, not mull over how mankind was doomed from the start.

Zen is already basically horny & ready to rumble if you tell him you called him in the middle of the night because you were thinking about him & honestly that already makes this a fantastic update.

I’m glad we got a little more context on how Yoosung had a random friend who joined a cult & tried to recruit him. Solid tie-in, Chertiz. Bravo.

JUMIN PREFERS FULL-BODIED WINE. FUCK ME RIGHT UP. THIS MADE ME SO HAPPY.

Yoosung, you’re breaking my heart. I want to comfort him so bad. Everything is still so fresh & he’s so frustrated. He’s going to be an emotional rollercoaster this entire route. I can feel it. Deep in my bones.

“You should be asleep." BINCH. Then why did you call me?!

Ok, day one is almost fucking over, where in the mint wig hell is V?! This is supposed to be his route, right? I’m fixing to start answering for Ray in a hot minute if Pastel Princey doesn’t show up pronto.

ZEN IS SUCH A NARCISSIST & I LOVE HIM FOR IT. “I wonder what I’d look like wet.” Me too, send a selfie quick. Please. I’ll beg.

I can’t stop flirting with everyone holy crap I’m probably going to bad end. I don’t even know who I have the most hearts for currently…

DAY TWO

Why are the longest chats in this game at 2 in the damn morning?! Cheritz, please…

Have I mentioned I really like V’s new sprite outfit? CAUSE I DO. It’s an excellent style. That coat with the pin on the lapel is perfect! Mmmhmm.

Also, V’s sprite’s body language seems pretty important to me. That arm wrapped over himself & holding his other arm feels very closed off. He’s the leader but he’s curling in on himself. Yes, by now we know he has secrets, but this almost feels like he’s unsure of himself for other reasons. Maybe I’m reading too much into it.

In a call V says the dark sky was taking over the moon but then in the next chat he says he couldn’t sleep because the moon was too bright. WELL, WHICH IS IT? I am betting that "bright moon" was probably just a lamp. Flip the switch, V. Turn it off & go to bed.

Aye, Jumin went to a foreign university. I want to know where. Have it ever been said how many other languages Jumin knows? I know he goes to New York & China for business a lot, so do we assume he takes translators with him or that he knows enough of the languages to get by? I’m so curious.

HOW V & JUMIN MET IS THE CUTEST SHIT I HAVE EVER READ IN MY LIFE OMGGGG. Jumin calling the insurance company about a toy car. Stop I can’t. I love him so much.

LITTLE JUMIN IN SUSPENDERS OMG I AM SCREAMING. That mini suit is probably bespoke Armani. Damnit.

V & Drunk!Jumin talking about their friendship is going to make me cry.

Jumin talks about almost being kidnapped on multiple occasions as if it were just a minor inconvenience of his day. “Ran out of pancakes, almost got kidnapped, crashed my toy car…”

Yeah yeah Ray. They're AIs. Sure. Uh huh. Totally believe you.

HOLY SHIT. Seven got a major equipment & set up upgrade. Someone tell me he posted to r/battlestations ?!?!?

Ray said he's going to try to tame me with food & honestly I am not opposed to this. He found my weakness so quickly. BRING ME ICE CREAM! STRAWBERRIES! CHAMPAGNE! Ask Jumin to make me some pancakes, I liked those.

Whoa dang. Zen's "sleepy but maybe gonna lose my voice" voice is 💦💦💦💦

V in that robe. 👀👀👀 ((Lynn, why are you like this?))

The first recommended party guest is a vampire (who could pass for Eros Katsuki Yuuri in a cape). I love this silly game. You think if I told Jumin that the 'Twilight' series was really a documentary he would believe me?

So Jumin confirmed he doesn't have siblings. That's actually one of the lingering questions I had about him. I’m glad he & V found one another at such young ages then. One could argue that they’re like brothers.

I am going to say it - I think Yoosung needs to meet with a licensed professional on a set schedule. He has no outlet for these emotions he's feeling & fears being badgered by RFA members when he does express himself. I feel so bad for him, especially knowing, as the player, that he was right all along to question V & the lack of evidence on Rika's supposed suicide. The RFA chatroom is not a safe space for him. Yet on the other hand, he’s being very selfish in wanting the others to grieve the same way he is. This is a very complex character bit about him.

Jaehee continues to be wary of me nonstop… but is 100% convinced that Seven is inviting the actual planet of Pluto to this party. ::looks directly into the camera::

Now Jumin wants to invite an actual bowl of udon. ::looks harder into the camera:: (If these were the guest recommendations Rika got, no wonder she left.)

JAEHEE CG. CRITICAL HIT. WOMAN DOWN. “You look tired.” JuMIN! No! “You look tired…” LyNN! NO!

I think I’m going to bad end if I don’t stop getting Jumin’s hearts… but I can’t help myself. I am a weak weak woman.

Why in the hell is this chat called “Party at Saturn” but then in the chat we talk about Jupiter instead. False advertising!

I could listen to V’s voice all day. That is S I L K Y ~

Ray is reaching obsessive level status. This boy just attaches to anyone that’s remotely nice to him, doesn’t he? I’ll admit, I went into this route but really liking Unknown. He irritated me. I knew he was tormented & abused, but he was not a good man. Ray though, seems really sweet. So are we to believe sometime between now & the two years into the future something happens to him that just causes him to snap & no longer want to be nice?

DAY THREE

Zen is saying “lmao” a lot.

“There’s a perfect medication for that. It’s called… BEER. LMAOOOO.” Zen is just me in college. Confirmed.

Ok so this route has some of the prettiest CGs I have seen in this game. I am loving them.

IT IS 4AM CHERITZ. I DON’T NEED THESE EMOTIONS FROM SAERAN TALKING ABOUT A POTTED PLANT WITH TWO STALKS & ONE OF THEM GROWING WEAKER. GODDAMNIT. I’M GOING TO CRY. OH SHIT HE BUSTED OUT THE CRYING EMOJI. BE STRONG, LYNN.

If this boy doesn’t get some sort of emotional help & redemption in this story I am going to be so so upset.

(Call 707 after “Paradox of the Survival of the ____ Chat) Did Seven just pull a “BITCH WHERE?” joke on me when I called him sexy?!

V's dad is a vampire. Look at that guy. Jumin, don’t look him in the eyes.

TEENAGE ANDROID ZEN!

Jaehee’s "jet pilot" convo had me dying. What kinda Space balls + Monty Python convo was that?!?!

This slow mellow piano melody (I guess V's theme) is very lovely. It makes me sleepy in a good way. That gentle crescendo in the middle with the chimes gives me chills.

CHOIR BOYS JUMIN & V!!!! HOW PRECIOUS!!!

I actually like that we get to see more of V's hesitation & examples of him still struggling with the grieving process.

Yoosung is really lashing out here. I understand his frustrations but he is very blind to his own selfishness.  

OMG THE START OF YOOSUNG'S LOLOL ADDICTION! 😨

New order of favorite voices: V, Jumin, Yoosung, Ray, Zen, Jaehee, Luciel. ((This is shocking to me because I tend to prefer high-pitched male voices. Why? I don’t even know. The first time I heard Yoosung’s voice I was like “THIS IS THE ONE. THIS IS IT! QUALITY! GOOD SHIT!” Then I heard Jumin talk & my panties were WRECKED. I couldn’t fight it. I didn’t want to fight it.))

Aye, not to RUSH anything but uhh… when do I get to start giving answers like “V come save me” cause homeboy is at Mint Eye. I’m at Mint Eye. We can fucking leave Mint Eye together. Just saying.

Me In-Game: “Yoosung, I think you need to seek professional help.” Yoosung: “I don’t think I need counseling. I’ll just vent my feelings into my new game!” Me Out-Of-Game: “BOY I HAVE SEEN YOUR FUTURE & WE NEED TO HAVE A TALK!”

DAY FOUR

“Say Yoosung for example … [he’s] set to mourn the death of his precious but is he really sad because of somebody’s death or is he sad because death still remains a mystery to him?” I swear I just looked off into the distance & said, “Holy fuck…” Ray is getting DEEP. He just made a damn good point honestly. My mind is blown. I need a minute. This explains so much about Yoosung, honestly.

Ray just broke all the characters down in like 5 words or less. I am seriously impressed. Chertiz. CHERTIZ, MY DUDES. Your game is fantastic. Your characters are so in depth. None of them are perfect & I love it.

“… plant a seed of happiness inside you.” You’re not planting any seeds inside of me. Nope. Thanks for playing. I don’t want your seed. I can buy seeds at Home Depot if I need them. Thanks.

I’m guessing day 4 bad ending is you basically just joining Mint Eye with Ray at this point… & getting all of his seed.

JUMIN CALLED ME WHILE HE’S LYING IN BED. I AM BLESSED & I AM ALSO LYING IN MY BED.

Ok… I was hoping this call would get sexy but now he’s just talking about mattresses. Look Juju, you’re welcome to come & help me test the firmness of my mattress & I’ll test the firmness of your-

Real talk, Jumin’s exaggerated sigh directly into my ear via headphones gave me chills. Bye. I’m ascending to another plane of existence.

…. I’m waiting for that moment V changes his profile picture. WHEN. WILL. IT. HAPPEN?

The Game of Kings CG. I’m fucking crying.

VANDERWOOOOD.

Zen looking like he did an autumn “back to school” photoshoot for Sears & I am LOVING IT. He’s so cute. Looks like a Sketchers advert.

Yoosung is too innocent for his own good. Just met someone one day prior & already accepting packages from them. STRANGER DANGER, MY DUDE.

WET ZEN SELFIE! MY PRAYERS WERE ANSWERED! BLESSED.

Yoosung, I want to be your ‘master’. Please & thank you.

Elixir of salvation. Ah, that wonderful combination of harsh chemicals & neurotoxins/hallucinogens. I wouldn’t put it past them to have added piss. Ray says he’s going to make it special for me though by adding flavor to it. This boy is probably going to add a dollop of ice cream in it & say “IT’S AN ELIXIR OF SALVATION FLOAT!” Hard pass.

V COME & SAVE ME ALREADY! But let’s keep the robe…. for reasons… (Hello, you have all been introduced to Meowle’s extensive clothing kink.)

“The secret has got out of my hands…” ::looks directly into the camera with both eyes unblinking:: Boy, I’ve been saying this since uh… 2 years… into your future….

If I’m forced to drink this shit despite choosing the answers of resisting I’m going scream. I DO NOT CONSENT.

SAVE YOURSELF V! RUN!

Ok really, I just want to pick Ray up, toss him over my shoulder, tell him to hush & trust me, & walk out of there while karate kicking everyone in the face. Come at me. (Congratulations Cheritz, you made me like a character I didn’t originally like. You sneaky skillful writers.)

Holy shit, excellent EXCELLENT voice acting by Saeran’s VA. That was absolutely phenomenal. Sujin Kang. Bravo!

DAY FIVE

THIS ROUTE HAS GOT ME EMOTIONALLY FUCKED UP & I AM ONLY ON THE START OF DAY 5?! How am I supposed to do this for 6 more days?

V panting in a phone call = my mind directly into the gutter. Whew.

Yes, because keeping MORE secrets has helped us in the past 4 days. Does nobody learn from their mistakes in this game?

((Explained the current plot of this route to my sister)) Sister: “Ok, if this took place here in Texas, you’d just bust in there with guns blazing to save those pink & mint boys.” Me: “I wouldn’t kill anyone!” Sister: “You could just like… aim for their legs so they can’t chase you out of there.”

“It doesn’t matter what happens to me” This almost feels like V’s emotions go beyond just self-sacrifice for those he cares about. This blatant disregard for his own safety feels very self-damaging. I’m wondering if they’ll tap into this idea further in the story. Does he not feel worthy of existing? Of love?

Whoa… whose voice is THIS? Whomever this lady voice is, she’s got protractors in her eyeballs too, like Juju.

“I’ve lost my violin, something I’ve played for my whole life.” GIRL, I FEEL YOU. My heart is shattering for her & I don’t even know who she is.

Ohhhh it’s V’s mom isn’t it?! Calling it now.

I'm laughing so hard. "IT IS TIME TO ACTIVATE THE INTELLIGENCE UNIT!" & it's not even established yet! Jumin please. Omg.

How adorable!! Teenage Jumin & V!!

Wow, V's philosophy on life sure did a massive 180 in 10 years. Hmm, methinks his mom is going to come in to play for that.

I swear, if anyone else pops in & tries to “cleanse me” I’d start throwing fists. Touch me, I dare you.

V is resisting every romantic approach. I feel bad for trying to flirt with him. I guess I’ll just flirt with Jumin then.

Zen giving Yoosung some major tough love. He didn't have to step up to care for Yoosung, but he did. Zen is a good man.

Yoosung's crying phone call is ripping me apart. Also this voice acting is phenomenal. So so good but so painful.

This is disgusting. Rika has some serious psychosis & V decided to suffer in it as some way to "prove his love". That's not love. This is blatant abuse. I'm appalled. V was blinded by 'love', literally & figuratively.

In the end, V was abused. He had his love for Rika twisted/manipulated & used against him. He was physically hurt by his lover. This makes me angry not just because it happened but because he gave consent. I’m just… so fucking baffled. You do not encourage someone who is mentally unstable (or even stable) to inflict pain on yourself or others as a means for them to try to maintain a grasp on their sanity or ‘happiness’ or because they want proof you ‘love them.’ V encouraged this, he allowed it, he consented & it fucking spiraled out of control. He took on so much pain. He thought by doing this he was somehow helping Rika, but it didn’t! It just made everything worse & Rika went on to hurt more people after this. Yes, I see that V is trying to redeem himself somehow, trying to keep everyone else out of the situation so they don’t suffer like he did & so they don’t get hurt but I can’t ignore the fact that V made mistakes in their relationship as well. Rika’s growing mental instability should have been handled with a lot more care (therapy ((if one doesn’t work try another)), hospitalization, medication). He knew from the beginning she was like this, no? He enabled these tendencies she had & it wasn’t good for either of them. I want to know his end goal. Was he just being selfish? Did he think only he could be a cure for her? What was he getting out of this since it didn’t read as if he was really being loved back. Did he do any of this out of malicious intent? No, I don’t think so - it reads as if he was doing what he thought was right but V made mistakes & I feel sorry for them both. V is a very tragic character indeed. He thought his love was some sort of cure-all for his lover but it wasn’t. This is actually very sad. In a way, I guess he did stop her from hurting others (for a time) or hurting herself, but that still doesn’t make this right.

I was heavily suspicious of V in the original routes (even though his voice was so goddamn sexy), particularly in Yoosung & Seven’s routes. I still think V is not entirely free from blame. I don’t think he’s by any means evil or manipulative, just misguided in what he thought was love but really was just self-sacrifice & pretty damn obsessive if you ask me. It also rings heavily of codependency. You don’t give up every part of yourself so your partner can find ‘happiness’, that’s not a healthy love. Love yourself a little more than that, Jihyun, please.

I don't like Rika. Yes, she did good things while ‘alive’ & at one point she might have been healthy & mentally stable but it spiraled out of her & anyone else's control into a very very dark place where she became toxic, manipulative, & delusional. She's done horrible acts that I refuse to look past regardless of her previous ‘good deeds’. Bad people can do good things for all the wrong reasons. She needs medical help, I can see that, but that doesn't mean I have to like her. Her words & actions against V are very selfish as well, demanding he prove his love by letting her physically hurt him? She targeted his need to please & exploited the hell out of that - backed him into a corner & kept badgering him about him proving his love (even though he seemed all too willing to do just that). This is wrong in every way. Mental illness isn’t a ‘free pass.’

This conversation between MC, Yoosung, & Jaehee felt very productive! Yoosung seemed to actually listen & take in another POV.

DAY SIX

Ok, I officially feel like I have no fucking idea what the actual shit Rika or V are talking about in any of their damn video novel conversations. Too many damn metaphors & nonsense. Yes yes, sunshine, flowers & dark skies. Let’s move along. I’d rather hear Yoosung crying.

Update: V officially changed his profile background picture again but still not his avatar picture.

I hope Elizabeth 3rd isn’t suffering at all through this dramatic period. Is she ok? Is she eating well? How are her jumps coming along? Has she been grooming properly? When was her last bowel movement? I hope my precious baby angel is doing well.

V’s mom is kicking me right in the emotions. Every word she’s saying is just devastating. To lose everything & be outcast, having your child ripped away, not being able to find solace in something you’d taken comfort in for decades… I can’t even begin to imagine.

What a sad sad parallel. V’s mom lost her hearing & therefore her art of music. V is losing his sight & therefore his art of photography. Wow.

Secrets secrets are no fun… BECAUSE IT’S FUCKING RUINING EVERYONE’S LIVES.

I don't want Ray to be abandoned again!

You make one comment about recognizing a 90s computer & Seven suddenly calls you "ma'am." Boy, I oughta...

Jaehee says that V drives a British make car that is silver in appearance. I am hoping it's a silver Aston Martin Vanquish (aka Meowle's absolute dream car - only I want it in black in black on black).

I am laughing so hard at the idea of Jaehee just turning toward Seven & asking, "Do you work out?” ((Another Story - Brought to you by Seven’s Hot Hot Body. He Works Out!))

Yeah girl, I hate to break it to you, but that mask is doing nothing to conceal your identity so…

Hahaaaaa Seven imitating Jaehee in this phone call is pretty damn hilarious.

Someone please tell me there some options to throw a punch or two cause I fucking will. I need a Mortal Kombat option.

Jumin's analogy about V, Yoosung, & the apple tree was really really good! That pep talk was amazing. Jumin hit a home run with that motivation speech.

What kinda photos did Seven find? Naughty photos? Photos of Rika hurting V? Are we going to get to see these later?

Ok ok this might be a stretch but it's almost like V's mom's love & desperation for her child, that concern to only want to shield from pain & no longer finding purpose in anything else in life, is heavily paralleled in V's need to protect his "art" (Rika). Is this why he was so determined to try to be the outlet for her pain? He really thought this was his way of protecting her? A set of photos in his series was called Obsession, right? Was this all about an obsession with Rika? Makes sense to me at least. V is in deep, I'm questioning his mental stabilities as well in these flashbacks, honestly.

This CG with Rika & MC makes me uncomfortable. Hands off, please & thank you.

God bless Jumin keeping me updated on Elizabeth 3rd because right now she's the only bright spot in this horrifically emotional route.

"Once they get used to love... I show them fear again. Just enough to get them scared. And when I save them again, they become happy." What kinda toxic manipulative evil callus twisted deceitful bullshit. Girl, if I get my hands on you I’ll show you something to be afraid of.

Shit is going down & Ray is texting me about sunflowers. "If you leave then I'll be the sunflower. I'm going to stand watching the direction you've gone to." 😢😢😢 Please, don’t hurt him anymore.

I am at the end of day 6 & honestly I don't know if I am about to bad end. Did I fuck up somewhere? Oh geez...

JUMIIIIN stepping in & delegating like a champ. I love you.

Rika just sort of confirmed my little theory about V & ‘noble self sacrifice’, thinking he was some sort of cure-all for her demons but didn't see that he was doing more harm than good. I don't want to agree with her here but I almost kinda have to. I mean, she did ask him to basically keep giving her unconditional love, so she’s also a hypocrite in saying it was entirely V’s fault. He wasn’t the cause of her “devil” but I think he certainly had an inadvertent hand in helping it flourish.

Cheritz, please let me fight someone in this game. PLEASE! I want a full on Mortal Kombat side mode. I will go full on Liu Kang up in here, complete with all the noises he made in Sega Genesis - HUUWAH!

Hell. No. I will not do anything for you ((at least not until I loop back around to intentionally bad end)). You can fuck right the fuck off. I ain't telling the RFA shit for you.

DAY SEVEN

Oh ho ho, defensive & in-denial Yoosung is out to play.

“We’re teenagers. This is the period where we express rebellion.” Cue Jumin tilting his tie clip 30* upward so it’s not perfectly perpendicular to his tie. REBELLION! Drink tap water instead of chilled glass-bottle mineral water. REBELLION! Pay with cash instead of card. REBELLLLLIIIOOOONNNN!

Real talk - Jumin, that was some outstanding advice. He’s telling this to his friend & they’re just children at this stage? That is some serious insight. I will never get over how Jumin, who is so emotionally closed off, is such a damn good friend to V. His delivery was impeccable as well, it wasn’t condescending or judgmental; it was sincere. It was very matter of fact but did have a hint of genuine concern for his friend. Their friendship makes me very happy & I am glad they have one another. This isn’t just a “little” chat. This conversation goes on to very likely change V’s entire life… & Jumin had a massive hand in that. I’m so amazed, y’all.

Ohhhh, I offered Jumin a hug & got shot down. I’m hurt. I’ll never recover. I need to redo his route so I can feel his love again.

“Super-ego” Oooook…. BOTH of y’all need to reevaluate some shit.  

Rika had a bullied fucked up childhood & she needs some serious professional help. I feel like a broken record. She’s gone by the wayside, hell she’s lost the map entirely.

All these metaphors & analogies they keep using for their pain & torment, is exhausting. Hide it in prose all you want, what we have here is toxic.

This sort of solidifies my theory that Saeran has a split personality, this isn’t just anger. There’s just no way this is “the same” person. He’s been hurt by so many people. Now it’s sad to watch him hurt others. If they ever make a route of him, I will be very interested in seeing what the event was that causes him to finally shift personalities between Ray & Unknown (at least I’m assuming it’s Ray vs. Unknown & not Ray vs. Saeran).

“I will hack everything” Lmfaoooo. This made me snort laugh so hard my chest hurt. EVERYTHING! HIDE THE TOASTER. HIDE YOUR WATCH.

I can’t fault Yoosung so not believing what any of the RFA members tell him. He has no proof. He’s been lied to, just found out he’d been lied to, & now told to believe something else? Yeah, I wouldn’t believe anyone either. If you try to tell me that the person I loved & looked up to the most went evil, was hurting people, & started a cult I would tell you to fuck right off & laugh in your face. We also forget Yoosung is a scientist (though he’s not acting like one at the moment), he needs to see actual proof otherwise he’s not going to believe it. HOWEVER, he’s so loyal to Rika that if he were to show up at Mint Eye he’d very likely join them just to be with Rika again. I hope the RFA fights tooth & nail to keep him from going to Mint Eye.

Ok ok, in this VN, V expresses that he feels grateful to have been told by Jumin to not live his father’s life & to live for himself & make his own opinion about his mom. So… when is someone going to step in & tell V to not live his life for Rika, because ever since he claimed to be “her sun” that’s what he’s been doing… living for someone else again. V needs to live for himself, find what really makes him happy. A lot of this route so far hints that V is struggling with self-love & being ‘selfish’ enough to find what makes him genuinely happy. Also, Jihyun seems very sensitive to the opinion of others. That’s an interesting character trait - nothing wrong with it. I quite like that he’s played up as sensitive but tries to take on burdens himself to spare others - makes him a very tragic & compelling character.

ZEN MOANING IN A PHONE CALL LORD JESUS I NEED TO DRINK SOME HOLY WATER. THANK YOU, CHERITZ.

Is it just me or does anyone else think that Seven coming to Mint Eye on his own is actually a bad idea? You don’t mean to tell me this boy is not going be distracted by seeing his brother like this? Hmm saving brother vs. saving random new girl. … no contest.

“If you can’t relax yourself, I’ll make you relax.” Please please make me relax Zen. Please, omg.

THERE’S A “ZEN, MIND IF I REPLACE YOOSUNG?” OPTION. BLESS YOU CHERITZ YOU ARE TOO GOOD TO ME.

Angry mother-hen Zen is ridiculously amazing.

Oh please oh pleeeeease let there be a phone call to Yoosung where he’s moaning because of his massage.

WHAT IS WITH JIHYUN’S FAMILY "SACRIFICING THEIR EVERYTHING" STOP. NO. STOP THIS TRAIN OF MADNESS.

BLESS THE PHONE CALL WITH YOOSUNG GASPING & LAUGHING AS ZEN TICKLES HIM. Yoosung is ticklish along his sides. It's canon.

“I didn’t love Rika.” WHOMP THERE IT IS!

JIHYUN JUST ADMITTED HE WAS OBSESSED WITH RIKA. THAT IS A BIG STEP, PASTEL BOY! I actually put my phone down, yelled “I WAS RIGHT!” to absolutely nobody because I was alone, walked out of the room then marched right back in to keep playing the chat…

::shuffles notecards:: ::clears threat:: ::lips on the mic:: The sun is a burning ball of gas in space. It is not capable of emotions such as 'unconditional love'. It will instantly kill you on contact. Quit placing so many expectations on the sun in your fucking metaphors. Good day.

That Rika screaming CG makes me uncomfortable. I would now like to be excluded from this narrative.

I just laughed so fucking hard. Rika is having a fucking breakdown & Seven's voice just pops in ‘PSSST, ARE YOU LYNN?!’ I can't.

DAY EIGHT

Ohhh. Ohhhhhhhh. These answer choices are getting trickier. Just completely bash Rika or kinda calmly defend V? Hmm, decisions decisions.

So Seven didn’t see Saeran at all… & still somehow doesn’t know it’s actually Saeran that’s the hacker. Interestiiiiing.

Called Zen after 00:44 chat Day 8. Told him he was doing a good job by watching Yoosung because it was a hard task. “Did you just… diss Yoosung… in a subtle way?” I died when he laughed!

These answer choices all feel too similar to one another. I’m gonna fuck this up. I’m going to bad end on day 10… just watch. ((I have like 5 save files going though so…))

Yep, I expected this from Yoosung. He’s honestly not as bad as I thought he’d be. He even voices that he understands he’s being unreasonable & whiney - he just can’t help the way he’s feeling. This is a very visceral & real reaction. I think I don’t find it annoying because I was fully expecting this. I braced myself for it & I am enjoying seeing it play out. He was the most loyal to Zika, he’s going to take a lot to make him believe. Oh, what if there’s a bad end where he & MC both end up as part of Mint Eye?!

::battered & bruised:: ::speaks into walkie-talkie:: Day 8 on mission of V route. So far no casualties. On the path to Good End still. But V still hasn’t changed his fucking profile picture. Over.

[[Here is where I caved & actually started to spend the thousands of hourglasses I have on buying days in bulk instead of just calls for V & Ray.]]

180 HG for a days worth of chats?! Gooooood Lord. ::clicks accept::

Ray’s clapping happy emoji is the cutest shit I’ve ever seen.

I CAN’T LIE TO HIM & SAY I DON’T LIKE ICE CREAM. I FUCKING LOVE ICE CREAM. I HAVE MORE ICE CREAM IN MY FREEZER THAN ANY OTHER FOODS…

Whoa cool! Ray & Rika (my phone keeps correcting her name to be ‘Zika virus’) have profiles in the hacked messenger!

I told V “art” is part of my job because medicine is an art, right? Isn’t that a saying? “The art of medicine.”

Call V after 7:13 chat. This is a good call from him - not romantic I mean - but definitely good for more insight on how he now views his role in Rika’s progression.

Whoa whoa new chat room theme song when Rika joined in.

VANDERWOOOOOOOOOD!!! Bless. Their haggling is pretty adorable.

Update: V finally changed his profile picture & is emo as fuck.

About time these idiots realize the sun is fucking dangerous. Stop using it for your nonsense. This is driving me more insane than any other aspect of the game. Mention the sun again & I’m going to go stare directly into it until my corneas melt.

Was that finally a confession of feelings for you but kinda backhanded about it? With how torn up Jihyun is about this entire Rika situation, I’m very surprised that this route would even be considered a love endeavor between he & MC. I don’t think he’s anywhere near emotionally ready to pursue a new relationship with someone so soon after this chaos. I don’t know how I’ll feel if either of the ‘good’ endings is them together right away - it’ll just feel so wrong for the progression of his character. I think Jihyun needs to learn to love & accept himself before he can open up again to trying to love someone - at least loving something the right way.

Hahaaaa like hell am I going to say THE SUN is my muse. I’m going to stop going out in daylight at this point. My bones are going to get brittle. Thanks, Cheritz.

Omg V’s mom is such a boss lady. Be strong, Lynn. Don’t cry.

Aw shit, that fucked me up emotionally.

Is this why V doesn’t like people looking at his body? Does he have scars from this fire? I hope we get more on this. Or was that body comment just another glimpse into how unsure V is about himself? Another tidbit of not loving himself? Hmm.

I am honestly at a loss, I don’t know if I’m answering correctly to get to the party.

Noooo! V, why did you lie again?! He asked you point blank. You were progressing so well. THIS CAN ONLY END IN TEARS. TELL SEVEN THE TRUTH! Seven is going to be beyond hurt when he finds out that you just kept lying! He needs to know about Saeran! He needs to save him!

The music in this 22:00 chat is absolutely fantastic. Who is the music developer for this game. Give them a raise & a three week vacation to Hawaii. This soundtrack is so great.

OMGGGG did I fuck up? If V goes back to Rika, I swear. I’m so done. Ohh, that’s going to be a bad end, isn’t it? He’s going to give in again & go back to her!

This relationship is so twisted. We’re talking in fucking circles. This is the most unproductive conversation I’ve ever been a part of & I’ve spoken with anti-vaxxers in person.

I’m absolutely crushed. This was it. This was the moment? That full break between Ray & Unknown… I have no words. This is so so sad. The VA even does a different voice each of them.

I’m crying. Full on tears. Ray…

If this was the moment of the full separation between Ray & Unknown in this timeline, I am still curious what was the trigger to cause the full break between personalities in the original timelines. I really hope we get a Saeran route now. I wasn’t hoping for one before, but Cheritz has me hooked now. I need redemption for Saeran.

DAY NINE

So, I’m guessing I’m on the right track? Because I just realized a lot of the answers in this portion have a lot of self-centered MC options? So I’m trying to avoid the “me me me, V is better off with me” choices & focusing more on the “V is changing & growing for himself” options. I’m sticking with that since I’m fully on board with my theory that V needs to learn to love & live for himself.

DON’T BRING THE MOON INTO THIS. LEAVE HER ALONE. SHE DOESN’T DESERVE THIS.

Juuuumiiiin. I’ve missed you!

How many times do you think Rika had to set up her phone to auto take that photo of her standing in front of the Moon before she got it right?

VANDERWOOD!

VANDERWOOD SELFIE!

GIVE VANDERWOOD AN RFA PROFILE

VAN.DER.WOOOOOOD.

Vanderwood is laying down some fucking truth in this VN with V. Vanderwood - the voice of the people.

At this point, I'm just over arguing & talking in circles.

My heart was in my throat thinking Ray was going to drop the news that Seven was his brother in that chat room they were in together. I was waiting for it; I don’t even think I was breathing.

Oh RFA members + Mint Eye in the same chat rooms?! LET’S DO THIS.

Petition to rename the RFA to something else, anything else.

WHO DID THIS WOMAN JUST STAB. OMG. OMGGGGG. WTF WAS THAT PHONE CALL?!

Nobody has ever given V a hug before? How cold. I’ll hug you. I’ll hug the crap out of you.

I’m going to go hug my mom…

Update: Hugged my dad along the way to finding my mom to hug her. Hugged my cat too. My sister opened her arms for a hug when she saw I was making rounds, but I just high-fived both hands & walked past. I’m such an asshole.

Rika is flip flopping all over the damn place. Did you want his love or not? Is he your sun or not? Are you angry or not? Do you want him dead or not? I’m over it. Go away.

Ok why the fuck was the phone call from Rika about her stabbing someone BEFORE the actual VN where she stabbed someone?! I was so confused. That has to be some glitch.

$10 says now Rika is going to be torn between wanting V to die or not. She’s just going to keep flip-flopping. In the end, she’s just as obsessed.

Wow. Wow. The phone call where Seven is freaking out. Like genuine emotion scared shitless. Excellent acting.

DAY TEN

Rika was off looking for love her entire life when Yoosung was literally there right beside her loving her unconditionally when he finally met her.

Lmao "Don't go to the apartment, Yoosung. There's a bomb there." Yeah that's right, bitches. I can see in the future.

Damn Jaehee. Savage. I liiiiike it.  

"I didn't stab him that deep." Confession! WHOOP, THERE IT IIIIIS.

Son of a bitch. Ray is going to sacrifice himself isn't he?! While Rika's off playing house in her apartment again. I'm so pissed. Please please please let Seven save him.

I've been waiting for this Rika/Yoosung messenger chat! Now I fully expect Yoosung to resist harder & plead/beg. If I'm wrong, I'll eat my hat.

Damn they just give MC a straight up "hang up" option on Rika. Take no shit,  MC.

Everyone is hella vaguing in their profiles lolololol. You know you’re desperate when you’re vaguing in a closed off messenger accessible to only 7 people. We all know who you’re talking about. You’re not slick. 

Oh shit. V's mom making a comeback to slap me right in my feelings.

Ray's call after the 18:00 chat...

I have never been more attracted to Jumin in my fucking LIFE.

Ray’s best call is the one you make to him after 19:49. He cares so so much. He has so much to give despite being hurt & used & broken over & over again.  This was a great phone call. Devastatingly sad, but excellent for his character.

Where in the fresh hell did Vanderwood just pop off to? Last I saw him Seven asked him to look after MC. Then never again…

You bet your ass I chose the answer to tie Yoosung up. Like my thirsty domme ass was going to let that opportunity sliiiiiide on by. I’m not even surprised that Yoosung giggled at the idea. Bless his subby heart. Boy wants it bad. I am willing to give & give & give...

Whooooa 21:53 chat: “Ray has entered the chatroom” but ended with “Unknown has left the chatroom” I know this happened before but this is right before the final fight, right? Is Seven going to show up & find Unknown instead of Ray? Are they even going to do the brother reveal? Ray’s going to die, isn’t he? I can’t help but think that if V had told him, Seven would have tried harder, would have gone there personally. But then maybe Seven would get hurt too? Is Seven going to die?!

Yes, Jihyun! Find & love yourself! Live for yourself! This is an excellent idea! I approve of this. You need this. Forget about Rika! I wish you luck! 

Sonofabitchfuckfuckfuck. Ray deserved better. RAY DESERVED BETTER. That poor boy. He was so used, so confused, & so so tormented. I’m so angry. This wasn’t fair. I’m going to pout & be pissy about this for a long time. I’m hoping he really isn’t dead. Please please. I’m going to be in denial about this, I know it. I mean, they did show him in the control room in Mint Eye. He gave his final words & then there was the explosion. Is it too silly to hope that he somehow got out? Maybe...

Wowowow. That final chat with Rika, begging like that. That was brutal. Even in the middle there she switched between pleading & saying she’d get revenge. I really do pity her & I hope she gets help in this route but at this point I don’t even know. I’m on this emotional see-saw where I really dislike her but on the other side pity her. I’ll admit, I’m spending a lot more time on the side of not liking her. 

DAY ELEVEN

She’s not dead. There’s no way. I won’t believe it until I see a body (same with Saeran). YOU CAN’T TRICK ME. I’M A VETERAN OF THESE PLOYS!

Jumin. Fucking. Han. This man is so good. He’s so strong even though he’s struggling himself. That “lean on me” line nearly had me tearing up. Jumin Han is a GOOD MAN.

Also, Jumin said it isn’t confirmed if the hacker was in the building or not. I mean, being in a direct explosion could very well decimate a body, but what if he got out? Ray did sound pretty desolate about not having anywhere else to go & did seem pretty resigned to this suicide mission though. This isn’t fair.

PARTY ATTEMPT #1 (Invited 24 guests) - Good Ending?

WHAT?! WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON? Is this like a “bad end” party? Why is she here? I fucked up, didn’t I? (I feel like the Minister of Magic in Harry Potter shouting “He’s back!”) ((If she gets to live & Ray actually died... I can’t. I’m still so angry.))

Yoosung, noooo!

OMG YOOSUNG, YES!

V’s mom has managed to make me tear up nearly every time she pops up on the screen. She had such impact on this route despite not be present in the here & now of it. She’s an angel. A fucking angel. Every CG of her’s has blessed me. This background story on her was so amazing. Her struggle & sacrifice for her son & finding purpose in herself after losing so much was... so beautiful. I’m going to cry again. 

BABY JIHYUN WITH HIS MOM CG. I’m crying for real. This is beautiful. The emotions for this were so so good.

What is with this game & Alaska?! Everyone is going there. Maybe Ray went to Alaska! 

That’s rich, Zen. Calling Jumin an alcoholic. Pot meet kettle.

Shit goddamn Jumin, was it necessary to be THAT savage about Zen’s selfies?

Jihyun turned into a beautiful happy hippie.

Hippie Jihyun is hot as hell. That smile. Wow.

Holy shit. “I want to love you. I will love you. I love you, just as I love myself.” That’s a damn good line! Damn good. 

Honestly, I am beyond glad, thrilled, immensely happy that there was a two year gap between Jihyun & MC actually getting together. If he had just jumped right into a relationship with MC after all of this, I would have questioned the foundation of the relationship. He was not emotionally ready for that so I’m glad the story allowed the time break so he could grow, heal, discover on his own.

I like that Jihyun wanted to be called his birth name again, not the ‘persona’ V that he’d created for his art, like a cloak or shield. He found & accepted himself & wanted to be that person. That’s beautiful. Self-love is very hard to achieve. I know a lot of people struggle with it, so it’s nice to see that represented in a character.

I want answers for what happened with Rika. We are just to assume she was sent off somewhere to get help with no updates?

I do not like that Seven was never told about Ray. I know it would cause more hurt for him, but he deserved to know. That just felt dirty. I feel dirty.

I am genuinely impressed that Yoosung was the one to stand up at the end to apprehend Rika. He was a little tornado this entire route & I was glad to see him finally understand at the end that this Rika was not the same one he cared so deeply for. Being the one to grab her & hand her in, had to have hurt him - but he stepped up & did it. That was good progression for him. Took him a long damn while to get to that acceptance, but that action of his took a lot.

I’m glad Jihyun’s route focused more on his development to turn away from obsession & look toward himself. It’s a similar kind of character growth in the other routes (learning to accept yourself & grow beyond something holding you back). These stories were never just about falling in love with someone, they grew to be better versions of themselves in the end. Jihyun’s development was definitely more artistic (cushioned in prose & woven in metaphors & abstracts) than others, but it was interesting just the same.

I like that they made such a big deal about Jihyun getting his eyes repaired. He refused to get them healed other times, but showing he was willing now & grateful to Jumin for setting it up was a nice touch to see how developed he’s become & showing he’s willing to let go of Rika (despite him talking about her every other sentence still…). Baby steps. He’s letting go of the hurt, recognizing he’s worthy of love & happiness too.

Maybe it’s just me, but was anyone else sort of wanting to see a CG of one of Jihyun’s paintings? I would have liked to have seen what they considered his painting style. He looks much more relaxed & carefree in his good ending CG, I wondered if his paintings would have reflected that.

PARTY ATTEMPT #2 (Invited 5 guests) - Normal Ending?

I really like this idea of Jihyun just venturing out on his own to find what he likes, what makes him happy. The self-discovery journey. But boy, you were just stabbed. I don’t think you can be discharged within a day after a celiotomy.

Jihyun talking about his dream house is ridiculously cute. This man essentially wants a little messy cottage in the city. How adorable. He went from being a materialistic & pragmatic teenager to being content with a sort of abstract pleasures in his adulthood.

Oh, so in this ending Jihyun asks MC right off the bat to be with him. Seems a little rushed, no? I don’t think he’s ready. He’s feeling a lot right now. Who is to say his obsession won’t transfer over to MC? He claims to have learned his lesson & to recognize the difference between obsession & love but I still think it’s very soon. I really wouldn’t want this to turn into Jihyun becoming dependent on MC after this emotional trauma & that being the basis for their relationship.

MC’S ONLY RESPONSE IS “ALRIGHT” Omg. So bland.

Are we to assume that Rika is actually dead in this ending? Because she never showed back up? Hmm.

So there’s a 2 year jump in this ending too, only we’re to assume that MC & Jihyun have been together as a couple during that time?

Ohhhhhh you can call Jihyun “darling”! <3

Wait, didn’t Jihyun say he wanted a little house in the city with curtains to block out the sun? This looks like a high rise apartment with massive fucking windows & sheer curtains that let in a lot of sun... but ok.

WHOA WHOA, Jihyun became a musician in this ending?! I want to know what he plays! Does he play piano like his theme song?! Does he play violin like his mom?!?! I will cry.

Jihyun’s pouty voice is ADORABLE! Holy crap where has this been all my life?!

Oh, interesting! He’s still very sensitive to the opinions of others (I mean, I certainly didn’t expect that to go away, you’re always going to fear criticisms). At least, he seems a little more open to hearing them, even if he’s hesitant to play for MC again since he wants her to like what he plays. He’s still a little shy, private, & sensitive. Cute.

These rich boys & their pancakes…

Jumin obsessed with pancake recipes confirmed. I love him so much.

His answer about their relationship was very sweet & shows how he’s come to understand a give & take balance, as well as loving himself & genuinely loving together. That was cute.

Still pissed that Seven never found out about Ray.

I want to know what instrument Jihyun plays!

OTHER

I went from being very skeptical of Jihyun’s character (he just felt downright shady) in other routes to liking him (now that we see the depths of his self-damaging & self-sacrificing behavior & the full reason behind all the secrets). He’s certainly not perfect. He’s made many mistakes. He was misguided in a lot of aspects. He’s still learning & now trying to do better. He’s talented, pretty, sensitive, kind, & generous. He was a victim as well & even had a hand in his own progressing downfall before he realized his mistakes & reevaluated himself & the situation. I definitely like him a lot more now that I know the reasoning behind his actions & seeing the changes in him for the better - especially seeing him accept & appreciate himself more. 

Yeah yeah, I’m going to be that person - I’m sad we didn’t get a kiss CG! I wanted one, not going to lie. Maybe we’ll get one for his After Ending if he gets an after ending?! Who knows. I wanna smooch him, that’s for sure. 

I expected to like the normal ending more since I liked all the other normal endings for the other characters more than their good endings, however I find myself liking Jihyun’s good ending over his normal ending. I just can’t get past the fact that I think he needed that self-evaluation time away from MC. That two years apart (though probably a lot longer than I would have expected the game to do) felt necessary. In his good ending, Jihyun sounded much more certain that MC was who he wanted to be with & to love instead of asking MC straight away to just stick by him in his normal ending. In his normal ending, MC questioned him, & he sort of recited a dialogue about their love. Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but it sounded like he was trying to reassure himself? Or maybe MC was just trying to gently remind him that yes, what we have is real, & healthy, & good for both of us & just needed him to say it aloud? Regardless, good ending sat better with me overall.

I still want to know what the other photos were in that series of photographs he took. I mean Seven, sounded pretty damn shocked by them. We didn’t even get a line about if it was actual imagines of inflicted harm or salacious material (I’m not trying to be a pervert for once, I’m genuinely curious).

Ray deserved better. I don’t think I can put it into any other words than that. I was very upset with his end in all of this. He didn’t deserve that. Only Rika & V knew his identity. Rika is either dead or being treated somewhere (depending on whichever ending you cater to) & in neither of the endings did Jihyun make known that the hacker was Saeran. I’m legitimately angry about this. How can Saeran even rest in peace that way? Is only the audience (& MC) to mourn for him? Everyone (RFA) is mourning for Rika in a sense but Ray deserves SOMEONE who knows who he was. Sure, Rika has that moment where she screamed & felt remorse, but she still didn’t speak up. Would anyone have believed her if she had? Maybe not. But he deserved someone trying on his behalf. Maybe I’m sitting too long on this, but it felt dirty. I know I said that earlier somewhere, but I still think it. This was wrong. He died in an explosion, alone, with only two people knowing who he really was & they didn’t fucking say anything. Seven is never going to really know what happened to his brother, so what happens if he goes looking for him in the future? Fuck, I’m crying again. I’m so sorry, Ray. You didn’t deserve this, you just trusted the wrong people. 

[ruhigknight]

TT: Judas Contract Review

Beware spoilers along with rage and some positivity.

Okay I'm going to get this huge big thing out of the way and then go on with the mostly pleasantly surprised positive reviews towards just about everything else.

The Jericho-like character's sole purpose in this film is to demonstrate how Brother Blood's power su king/granting machine works. Does it on himself he comes out seemingly invulnerable and strong (doesn't feel getting hit by pipe and bends said pipe). Then once his services are done Mother Mayhem shoots him in the head...yeah I don't care if this wasn't a character I wasn't super invested in this is Grade A example of doing really disrespectful cameos of characters up there with BvS's handling of Jimmy Olsen. You got a hero, a disabled recently revealed to be bisexual in current comics hero, who was introduced in the original story to help save the day and his cameo in the story's film adaption is to aid the main villain and seemingly be killed off. A big hardy fuck you movie. BUT WAIT APPARENTLY I WAS TOO HASTY AS THE END CREDITS REVEALS JERICHO-LIKE CHARATCER IS ALIVE AND IS JERICHO AND THE MACHINE GRANTED HIM GLOWY GREEN EYES. So judging by the use of end credits indicating the next movie, Jericho is playing a role in the next TT movie. Or this is like Lex Luther recruiting Ocean Master at the end of ToA which we are still waiting for the pay off. Which is odd as I know I read somewhere that the hypothetical third TT movie will be focused on Kory and Blackfire. Or scarily we might get Titans Hunt but that story itself was a weaker retread of Judas Contract so maybe something remotely original.

So yeah, in a Judas Contract movie Titans who had  less or diddly squat to do with the original story are handled more respectfully than Jericho. Goddammit, KEVIN SMITH'S CAMEO IS TREATED BETTER THAN JERICHO'S. ALSO HI YJ VOICE CAMEOS.

AND IT'S A DAMN SHAME THIS HAPPENED BECAUSE EVERYTHING ELSE ABOUT THE MOVIE (Except most of Slade's character but later) IS HANDLED REALLY WELL. It balances the various plot threads nicely between Kory and DIck's relationship on and off the team, Jaime's struggle with the scarab and of course Tara's character arc which is I am  very happy with how they handled it. Ultimately, it's tragic and messy yes but in a more satisfying way I guess? They approach her as a multifaced character taking a lot from the original Terra but here she's an abrasive loner with a traumatic backstory that she flashes back when those memories are triggered. She's revealed happily working with Slade but being around people who are genuinely nice and care about her confuses her and if you weren't aware of versions of her story before it would keep you doubting. SHe's loyal to Slade for saving her life and thinks of him the only person she trusts and when he breaks it....she tries to break him. Not exactly another side change but her fighting because she's pissed off and she basically lost any trust and companionship she had especially from the one she thought she did love. And as a final act of fucking with the feels Tara saves Gar as rocks fall on her. I know many are going go argue about how evil Terra should be and how true this is to the original JC but this version succeeded in pulling of the "sucker punch" really damn well. Obviously, Slade/Terra is there but made clear they didn't "do it." I figured they'd want that uncomfortable aspect still in this version but didn't want to make their fanboy Assassin wet dream look that awful. He does tell Tara after they take care of the Titans they will be together but that can easily handwaived as him lying to use her. Ultimately, this version of Slade/Terra feel like a skeevy, manipulative version of Leon/Mathilda from the film "Leon the Professional" (high recommend plus proof that Gary Oldman could've been a good Joker as well as a good Commissioner Gordon). Gar and Tara's relationship is also handled well, sticking close to the original comic's version of it being rather one-sided and Gar being annoying but his behavior is called out by others and when he actually stops being a flirty jerk he's great and Tara honestly opens to him. There's even a nice reference to the TT cartoon BBT with the two sitting on the beach outside the tower complete with rock skipping.

Also about shipping,  HALLELUJAH NO TRACE OF BBR ANYWHERE IN THIS MOVIE. Unless you count them standing next to one another, exchanging dialogue about how clueless Gar is, and basic human compassion as BBR hints than yes. Also Traci 13! Or at least a girl named Traci with 13 on her shirts.

In other terms of adapting, there were plenty of lines and scenarios lifted from the book from how the Titans were taking down (Gar's is still hilarious, Jaime basically got Vic's, and sadly we were cheated out of a Terra vs Raven fight with just seeing Tara standing over Raven) to even Slade hitting on Starfire almost word for word. Of course with out Joey or Addie Dick is the one to single handedly infiltrate the HIVE/Blood Cult to rescue them because he's Dick Grayson :/ It's impressive but also makes the big deviations with the Wilsons more annoying.

Next to Joey, the other character to get cheated here is Slade sans not committing statutory rape in this version. Of course we're stuck with the Slade who's main reason for capturing the Titans was avenging his son. Here it's for money and the only family is the LoA that Damian "stole" from him. Really there isn't even any hints about other family here even with Joey in the damn film....if Joey is utilized again here how will they explain that? It didn't even seem that hard to adapt some kind of Wilson family drama into this movie with the time they're given. They missed out on what could've been a poignant scene if instead of money Slade gave HIVE Terra to take Nightwing's place in the power sucking machine it was him choosing his son and being a semi-decent father. But nope this Slade is a petty, boring sleazy bastard just caring about power AND money. Because we needed Damian to have something cool to do and take out Slade's eye and make him a generic assassin more tied to the Bat family because yes the Bat Family needs more interesting villains. Yes I'm still pissed at that and safe to say this is another reason I'm ranking Damian low on "Favorite Robins" lists.

However, we still get "A new Titan takes Terra's place on team and hints at hopeful future" with.....Donna Troy! As one of the Titans cursed to be deaged to Damian's age group because we're ignoring Cassie who comics are doing that anyway. Here it seems no one in Tim's generation existed anyway. Really I'm happy Donna gets to be animated with the Titans but given she probably never was part of the Fab Five and instead Damian's "generation" now and how this is another reason they could've given Joey a more faithful role...the excitement was kind of nulled.

Other than all that, the animation at the end seemed....odd. Like trying to over-emote and drive home how intense the scenes were especially with Terra and Brother Blood.

 Overall, as a Terra fan I am actually satisfied yet still sad but as a Jericho fan I am frustrated and worried for the future. Even when I'm starting to warm up to this version of Titans despite trying to recreate the 03 cartoon around Damian there's always a bit in these movies that's going to massively disappoint me and ruin almost everything else about the movies. Last time was how they handled Raven and Arella's relationship in one of the worst ways possible here it's spitting on Joey's contributions and maybe bringing him back as a villain...god please let that not be the case.

[musicoccurred]

Ben Folds

*Music Occurred friend and frequent contributor, Brett Lass, attended the fabulous Ben Folds show. Review below.

Who: Ben Folds Where: Lyric Theatre When: March 1, 2017

Having given the audience enough time to refill drinks and take sheets of paper from the tables in the lobby, Ben Folds re-emerges from backstage with another glass of tequila and rests it on the body of a Baldwin baby grand. A smile creeps across his bearded face as paper airplanes with requests written on them are launched from the floor and cascade down from the balcony. This kind of audience participation segment is par for the course at any Ben Folds show. Be it inclusion in a four-part harmony or taking the place of Regina Spektor, come with your vocal chords properly tuned and be ready for instruction from the conductor.

Hailing from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Ben Folds is the modern day talisman of piano rock. His most notable venture before going solo was the under-appreciated Ben Folds Five, which to this day is often regarded as a one hit wonder from back when 90's alternative rock ruled the airwaves. Amidst a myriad of other bands with one song to their name before being swept under the constantly changing tides, and tastes, of the music listening audience, Ben Folds Five struck gold with “Brick,” an autobiographical song about a high school aged Folds and his girlfriend and their experience with getting an abortion. After 3 albums, and a loyal cult following, the band broke up in the fall of 2000, and Folds moved on to start a solo career, with his first album, Rockin' The Suburbs, being released on September 11th 2001. In the time since the release of Rockin' The Suburbs, Ben Folds released two more solo albums, and collaborated with the likes of William Shatner, Nick Hornby, and classical ensemble, yMusic. This also included a reformation of Ben Folds Five in 2011 and subsequent comeback album, The Sound of the Life of the Mind, released in 2012. While the music has not greatly changed throughout the years, one would not exactly think of the guy who used to throw his stool at the piano and grab his crotch at the end of sets as someone who would take a great deal of care in sharpening his vocal delivery or someone who would pen classical movements. But, that's part of the intrigue with an artist like Folds. One moment, he's leading the audience in a profanity laden sing along of an improvised version (of which there are many versions to be found on YouTube) of “Rock This Bitch,” and in the next moment, with his head forlornly hung under a pale spotlight, he plays the role of balladeer, tenderly narrating stories about lost loves and growing up.

Tonight's show took place at the recently revived and refurbished Lyric Fine Arts Theatre, located in what is becoming a thriving theater and entertainment district of downtown Birmingham, Alabama. This was my first show at the Lyric, and it must be said that the interior is absolutely gorgeous. A sophisticated, gold tinged, Adamesque motif with private balconies that are lined with panoramas of cherubs with closed eyes and holding different musical instruments. The stage itself is wide and expansive, which actually benefits the minimalistic production of tonight's show.

The opening act was Sarah Jarosz, a folk musician from Austin, Texas whom I was not very familiar with, but came off quite popular among certain areas in the auditorium, including the people sitting near me who were singing along to some of her songs. During her set, she switched between the acoustic guitar and the banjo, and her lyrical content consisted of the familiar themes of roots rock, at times walking a tightrope between Americana and hymnal. Her stage presence was very conservative and interactions with the audience was genteel and brief. As I read later, she has toured in the past with Garrison Keillor and The Prairie Home Companion troupe, which thinking back to her set at the Lyric, totally reminds me of a lot of the music that I enjoyed when our local NPR station broadcast the show prior to Mr. Keillor's retirement.

It did not take long for Ben Folds to get the audience in on the act, the 5th song of the set, “Bastard,” includes a three part harmony. But for this particular performance, it was changed to a four part harmony. After a brief practice round working with different areas of the audience to parse out the timing and sections of the harmony, Ben Folds directed the audience mid-song without breaking away from the performance, and it went just about as perfect as it gets when you're playing the piano and directing a few hundred people through a song. As energetic and as amicable as ever, Ben Folds would stomp his feet loudly during songs, imploring the audience to clap along. As mentioned earlier, the audience even got to play the role of Regina Spektor for the song “You Don't Know Me.” Though it was mostly female members of the audience singing the part, I did hear a couple of men in the audience attempt to raise their voices a few octaves out of range to join them. At one point, Ben Folds invited Sarah Jarosz back on stage to perform a cover of a Roger Miller song, “A Million Years From Now.” They also teamed up for a folksier, banjo-version of “Do It Anyway.” The set list was impressive as Mr. Folds manage to touch multiple songs in his vast catalogue between solo albums, side projects, and Ben Folds Five albums. The initial set was actually quite short, and for good reason, the better half of the evening was dedicated to audience request, where everyone was invited to head back out into the lobby to get a pen and a piece of paper and write down any song they wanted before folding it into a paper airplane and tossing them towards the stage for Folds to retrieve and, at his discretion, play it during a sub 10 to 12 song set. Either through luck, or the audience not requesting it, or Mr. Folds himself for not playing it, “Sweet Home Alabama” was not included. During this portion of the night I was girding myself for disappointment if he played the first few signature keys to that song. But, it never happened, so thumbs up for that. Also, yes, I am a bitter and pessimistic hipster.

Even if you take away the audience participation parts, it is still a joy to see someone who appears to have harnessed a very interesting mix between pop music and classical piano music hit the stage and tickle the ivories with such rapid fire precision and flare and showmanship. Before the comparisons to Billy Joel or Elton John rain down, I must say that I feel that Ben Folds took the foundation of what those two artists have created and popularized and kept it relevant and, in his own right, transcended past just being a pop piano player. Given I was not alive or was an infant when Mr. Joel or Mr. John were in the primes of their careers, there's something to be said about an artist going from being played on the call letters for your home for alternative rock music back in the 90's and then with that piano rock sound be able to move into more mainstream roles of judging singing competitions or producing an album with William Shatner or appearing on movie soundtracks (I will fight anyone who wants to challenge that the 1998 Godzilla movie, the one starring Matthew Broderick and Jean Reno, is not one of the greatest soundtracks ever, and my apologies to Led Zepplin fans who most certainly just felt a disturbance in the force after I typed that statement). It is also great that he seems to have taken that mantle of ownership and is interested in recruiting, or at least bringing closer to the limelight, acts that are of a more classic flavor, maybe also shrouded in more niche genres like the one he is categorized in, see his collaboration with yMusic or his album of a cappella covers with different university choral groups. This was probably my 4th or 5th time seeing Ben Folds live, and while nothing really caught me off guard as far as his stage antics or attitude or setlist are concerned, that does not mean that it was not fun. I have never seen and have never heard of a show taking place where Ben Folds is off of his game. Even when I saw him open for Weezer a long time ago, he still brought it. His beard and his choice of side projects might to lead one to think he is reaching towards some kind of musical, or even personal, maturity as he grows older. But, then I realize that I'm presuming this of the same guy who displayed a rather wry smile when the “f-word” was shouted in a theatre by adoring fans just a few days ago.

Setlist: 1. Phone in a Pool 2. Annie Waits 3. Uncle Walter 4. Still Fighting It 5. Bastard 6. Not a Fan 7. A Million Years From Now (Roger Miller cover) 8. Do It Anyway (banjo version w/ Sarah Jarosz) 9. Landed 10. Capable of Anything 11. You Don't Know Me

Paper Airplane Audience Request Setlist: 1. Kylie From Connecticut 2. Rockin' The Suburbs 3. Sleazy (Kesha cover) 4. Brick 5. The Last Polka 6. Carrying Cathy 7. Jesusland 8. The Luckiest 9. Rich Girl (Hall & Oates cover) 10. Emaline 11. Careless Whisper (George Michael cover) 12. Army

-BL