#surely the power of yuri will bring her home early!!!!

[hawberries]

save me Astralyn… save me

[ggukcangetit]

Dreamcatchers Chap 3

Pairing: jungkook x oc

Synopsis: DI Jeon didn’t need a new partner. Unfortunately, his superiors felt otherwise; especially considering the extremely high-profile murder that had just taken place in the port city. Recent transfer, DI Choi Yuri finds herself confronted with a new cityscape, unfamiliar people, a hostile partner, and a homicide that is certain to bring back unpleasant memories.

Genre/AU: fluff/action/mystery | detective! au | police!jungkook, police!oc

Word Count: 4.1k

Rating: NC-17

Warnings: mentions of violence, alcohol, blood, drugs, death. Basically stuff you’d associate with a murder mystery/crime drama

Previous: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Acknowledgement: shoutout to @stutterfly​ for designing this beautiful banner which i am completely in love with and stare at for no particular reason throughout the day

A/N:  reminding everyone that this story features a named oc because i’m still very unfamiliar with writing second person reader inserts. i’m not aiming for strict accuracy in this story, and all criminal investigation/forensics knowledge i have has been gathered by watching crime drama/procedural dramas! my knowledge of geography is also not totally accurate so apologies for that. once again, one thing right by @hobios​ prompted me to write a police inspector! jungkook story. would highly recommend reading that because it’s probably one of my most favorite pieces of writing!

18th December

Ahreum parked her motorbike outside the bakery and checked her phone for messages. There were none. This wasn’t unusual in itself, except for the fact that she had been supposed to meet him 2 hours ago at the other end of town. Which meant that he was hiding from her. 

“Where is he?” she asked, walking up to the counter and heaving a tired sigh.

Seokjin pressed his lips together, trying to suppress the grin that was threatening to break out. Ahreum was definitely a force to be reckoned with - usually bright and overflowing with energy, there was only one situation that caused the optimist in her to hurtle towards a speedy demise. 

“Can I interest you in some raspberry choux au craquelin?” He picked up a tray with freshly baked pastry and waved it enticingly in front of her.

“This doesn’t work on me, Seokjin. Although-” she picked up a few and wrapped them in some paper napkins - “I’m sure Yuri would love to try these. Now, where is he?”

Seokjin sighed and took off his apron. “He’s in the room right at the back where I do the accounts.”

Ahreum sighed and walked around the back of the counter, heading towards the rooms at the back of the bakery. Seokjin had three areas at the back - his kitchen (really no one other than him was allowed in here), the store room (which was way too small to fit even one full grown person in it), and the accounts room (where a certain someone had taken to hiding whenever things got a little too difficult). 

And sure enough, a mop of curly black hair was visible from the door to the accounts room. On any other day, Ahreum would’ve found his shenanigans extremely hilarious; but she was really not in the mood for any silly games today.

“You were supposed to meet me two hours ago.” Her voice was soft but it still made him jump up and nearly knock over the PC he had been fidgeting with. 

“Fuck!” he gasped. “What the hell? I nearly died!”

Ahreum rolled her eyes as she helped him up. “Don’t be dramatic, Tae. It’s really not as attractive as you think.”

Be that as it may, there was not much that could be considered unattractive on Kim Taehyung. He was somewhat of a social media celebrity thanks to the aesthetically taken pictures of his undoubtedly handsome face - all of which Ahreum had taken. In fact, when Ahreum had shown Yuri some of the pictures from her instagram page, she had gasped rather loudly.

“He’s literally a piece of art!”

“I mean, yes, he’s definitely conventionally attractive,” conceded Ahreum, a little annoyed that her photography was almost completely being ignored. “But what do you think of the pictures?”

“‘Conventionally attractive’? Is that the best you can do with your Literature & Creative Writing degree?”

Ahreum peered over his shoulder to see what he was working on so intently, only to find that he was-

“Playing a game?? You ditched me to play a fucking PC game?” she gasped, whacking his shoulder hard. “What the hell is wrong with you, Kim Taehyung?!”

“No!” He held his hands up to protect himself from further blows. “I just started playing a few minutes ago! I swear!”

“Why’d you ditch, then?”

“Because…” he trailed off, looking away guiltily. That, in essence, was the entire problem regarding Kim Taehyung. He ran at the sight of any kind of responsibility or hard work. Correction - any kind of hard work that wasn’t related to his hobbies. 

“You were supposed to finish reviewing company policies today so that you wouldn’t be unprepared when you meet your dad tomorrow.”

“I know.” He looked downcast, switching off the PC monitor. “I just-”

“If this isn’t what you want to do, you should just tell them.” Seokjin walked into the room, untying his apron carefully. 

“I don’t know,” sighed Taehyung. “I’m not sure if this is what I want to do, but I don’t know what else I could possibly do. I’m not like you.”

“You don’t have to be like me, Taehyung,” sighed Seokjin. 

Taehyung let out a humorless laugh. “Eomma and Appa sure are trying their damned best that I do become like you. At least, like you till you ran away.”

Seokjin snorted. “They’re tenacious, if nothing else.”

“Are you ever gonna come home?” asked Taehyung, looking up for the first time.

“No.”

This had never been an easy topic of discussion. Mr. and Mrs. Kim were owners of the largest financial consulting firm in Busan. They were well-liked in society and highly respected for their unusually ethical business practices. So it was a huge shock when their elder son - who had gotten an MBA and possessed all the qualities of heading a large company - had left home suddenly, leaving only a single note.

This is not the life for me. I have dreams of my own. I don’t think I can stay in touch. Please forgive me. 

There were many tears shed, but recovery was quick as a new successor had to be found. Thus, the Kims’ younger son - the one who had lived a charmed and carefree life while his brother learned about business techniques and the history of the company - was suddenly thrust into the front line. 

Naturally, when Taehyung had run into his brother a few miles outside of the metropolitan, running a cozy bakery, he had been less than thrilled. Ahreum still remembered the angry tears that had rolled down her friend’s usually cheerful face. Seokjin, on the other hand, looked so conflicted that Ahreum thought he might just combust on the spot. It had taken a few weeks, but the brothers had eventually reconciled. Taehyung had made a deal with his parents - he would attend all meetings and grooming lessons as long as he was allowed to live somewhere else. And that somewhere else happened to be Seokjin’s small, but tastefully done up, apartment. 

Taehyung usually had 4 meetings in a week; all ending by 4 pm so that he could drive home before nightfall. The rest of the days, he was free to do whatever he pleased. This arrangement had worked well for almost 3 months, but Taehyung’s free-spirited nature could only hold out for so long. He had been reaching meetings late, forgetting to complete paperwork, and even sneaking out early if he could manage it. Seokjin had requested Ahreum to make sure his younger brother attended all his meetings because he was always managing the bakery at those times. Seokjin himself made sure that Taehyung didn’t forget to do any of the work that had been assigned to the younger boy during his meetings. 

Today, however, Ahreum realised that her friend was at his breaking point. He had done everything in his power to avoid her so that he wouldn’t have to prepare for the meeting. Not just that, Seokjin-

“Why’d you let him hide here?” Ahreum turned towards the older Kim brother, her hands on her hips - a sure sign that her patience was running thin. “After the dozens of lectures you gave me about making sure he’s doing what he’s supposed to, you go ahead and help him play hooky? What the hell, Seokjin?”

Seokjin didn’t know how to explain to her that he felt guilty. Guilty that his younger brother was suffering like this, guilty that his parents were so desperate that they had decided to entrust the future of the company to a young boy who had missed his final university exam because he had found a stray puppy during his morning cycle rides (and had promptly decided to adopt it). But Seokjin couldn’t leave behind his dream - his resentment towards his family had been growing with each passing year, and the drastic move and change in communication had been a desperate attempt to stop himself from hating his family forever. Caught between doing right by his own self and by his parents and younger brother, Seokjin often questioned if any of this was worth it. 

But rather than explain all this to his brother’s friend - who had pinned him with a rather glowering look - he did what he always did in difficult situations. He avoided answering directly and used humor to deflect everything.

“I was cleaning up your mess, unfortunately. I’m not the one who lost him during a fixed study session, Ahreum. You should be thanking me,” he grinned, dodging the pencil Ahreum threw at him. “But since I’m such a generous, handsome, charming, and talented individual, I’ll let it slide and pack two large boxes of pastries for you to take home. One for your friend and the other for Namjoon. No charge, it’s on the house.”

Ahreum rolled her eyes while Taehyung giggled at his brother’s speech. 

“I’d better get 4 large iced teas along with the pastries,” she said, finally relenting. Seokjin winked at her and went back to the front of the store to get everything prepared.

“I’m sorry for ditching you,” Taehyung said softly, his black curls falling over his eyes. “It won’t happen again, I promise.”

“Maybe we should try and figure out a different system. How many more of these meetings and lessons do you need to attend, anyway? Why don’t you ask your parents if you can reduce the number of meetings in a week?”

“I guess I could,” he replied, thoughtfully. “By the way, did you see Jimin on your way here?”

Ahreum shook her head. “Nope. Was I supposed to have?”

“No… it’s just that-” he checked his phone absentmindedly. “He hasn’t been answering any of my calls or texts since last night.”

“Since when does Park Jimin start his day before 3 pm?” scoffed Ahreum. “He’s probably hungover at some girl’s apartment.”

 “Aw come on, Ahreum. He’s been so much better recently,” whined Taehyung. “And I’m not saying that just because he’s my best friend. He barely parties anymore - unless it’s a business appointment. He’s been helping his dad with the business as well. Unlike me, he actually goes to work 5 days a week.”

“Wow, let’s give him a medal for doing the bare minimum.” 

Seokjin appeared at that moment, holding two bulging pastry boxes and a cup holder with 4 cups of iced tea.

“Tell Namjoon to drop by sometime, or that’s the last eclair he’ll be seeing!” he yelled as Ahreum strapped on her helmet and bade goodbye.

xxx

Jeongguk sat at his desk, his mind straying to that night in November. He could clearly recall the murder - the young woman on the ground, blood leaking from the multiple stab wounds all over her abdomen. She lived on part-time jobs, her demeanour quiet and unassuming as recounted by the handful of employers who had managed to recall her face. It was not surprising that she did not have too many possessions of her own, her life neatly tucked away into a one-room storage on the ground floor of a run-down building. But it wasn’t all of this that kept distracting Jeongguk from almost everything in his life - it was the picture of a three year old girl, the only evidence of life in the entire room, smiling brightly at her mother. The mother who lay in a pool of her own blood, and the little girl who had been missing since that day. 

“The ramen’s gone cold? Things must have really changed since I last saw you, Jeongguk.”

Jeongguk turned around at the sound of a familiar voice, his eyes lighting up in surprise.

“Yoongi? What are you doing here?” he asked, getting up and hugging his friend. “Why aren’t you in Seoul, putting bigwigs behind bars?”

“Let’s get some lamb skewers. My treat.” Jeongguk grinned at the suggestion, the grisly murder and the missing girl temporarily forgotten.

20 minutes later, they were sitting at a hole in the wall diner that Jeongguk hadn’t been to since he had been promoted to Detective Inspector. 

“Are you telling me that our own Min Yoongi is now a father? The same guy who instilled fear in the hearts of the juniors by narrowing his eyes at them?” 

Yoongi laughed, his gummy smile appearing for the first time. “She’s almost 4 weeks old. Sometimes I’m not even sure if she’s real. But then Eunbi puts me on diaper duty and there’s no way that smell can’t be real.”

“Knew she was something special the day she called you out on your bullshit,” grinned Jeongguk. “The famous Min Eye Narrowing technique didn’t work on her.”

“Yeah, she told me to stop pulling all-nighters and get a new prescription from my eye doctor,” recalled Yoongi, adjusting his glasses. “Turns out the famous Min Eye Narrowing technique was just plain old myopia.”

“But enough about me,” he continued, once Jeongguk had stopped laughing. “Why was that ramen sitting out and getting cold?”

Normally, Jeongguk wouldn’t discuss the details of a case with anyone else. But Yoongi wasn’t just anyone - they had trained at the same police academy in Seoul and the older boy had quickly understood that 18 year old Jeongguk wasn’t a standoffish troublemaker; just extremely homesick. Even after Jeongguk had moved back to Busan, he and Yoongi still kept in touch with each other, no matter how sporadic.

Jeongguk sighed and explained the details of the November case. “I just can’t let it go. Where is that little girl? We haven’t found a body either - so there’s a chance she might still be alive. It’s just- I think I’m going crazy.”

“I understand,” said Yoongi, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “That pathetic partner of yours can’t be of much use either, I’m sure. Still don’t know how they promoted Song to Detective Inspector. I’ve always maintained that he’s one shot away from becoming an alcoholic.”

“Well you weren’t wrong,” said Jeongguk, with a resigned chuckle. “They relieved him of his duties a couple of months ago.”

“Oh? Who’s your new partner then?”

“Some annoying Captain America wannabe,” grumbled Jeongguk. It was a well-known fact that he was a huge Iron Man fan and had not appreciated the ending of Civil War. “Choi Yuri - she’s from Seoul.”

“Choi Yuri?!” asked Yoongi, his eyes widening comically. “Your new partner is Yuri??”

“You know her?” asked Jeongguk, frowning.

“Of course I know her! We worked together for almost 3 years!” exclaimed Yoongi. “Wait, why’d you call her a Captain America wannabe? You hate Steve Rogers.”

“I do not hate Steve Rogers. I hate Captain America. There’s a difference.”

“Still doesn’t explain why you don’t like Yuri.”

“She’s too by-the-book.” Jeongguk frowned, his fingers twirling the chopsticks absentmindedly. “Perfect first impression, perfectly friendly to everyone, perfectly punctual; Goh absolutely loves her. I’m sure she’ll get in the way of the investigation because of her need to follow procedure to the t.”

Yoongi frowned. “That... doesn’t sound like her. I mean, she’s definitely punctual but she’s never made a great first impression. She usually comes off as reserved, aloof - haughty even.”

“Maybe she’s changed,” shrugged Jeongguk, not particularly interested in the personality changes of his new partner.

“She has. I didn’t think that incident would have affected her like this. But…” Yoongi trailed off, staring at nothing in particular.

“What incident?”

“The reason she was transferred from Seoul. Hasn’t she told you?”

“No.”

“I don’t know if I should…” muttered Yoongi, his face reflecting his inner conflict. “But if knowing the truth makes it easier for you two to work together, then…”

Jeongguk frowned, wondering what exactly the big mystery was.

“We were investigating a homicide and it led us to a very high profile family in Seoul. It was quite clear that the eldest son was involved in the murder. I was Chief Inspector at that time, and we were getting a lot of pressure from above to wrap up the case without involving the family. But Yuri was determined to pursue the investigation. She had even rented an apartment closer to work so that she could devote more time to the case. One night, when she got back to her apartment, someone attacked her. It was quite brutal and she needed a couple of surgeries and two months of therapy after that. We eventually had to drop the case against the eldest son. Right after that, Yuri got her transfer letter. I didn’t know she had been transferred here, otherwise I would’ve told you about her. She’s a smart detective, Jeongguk. Just try and work with her. Maybe she needs some time to adjust to getting back to work after that entire fiasco.”

Jeongguk was stunned. He would never have thought Yuri had gone through something so traumatic if Yoongi hadn’t told him. Her outward demeanour hinted at nothing of the sort, and he felt a small bubble of guilt forming in his stomach.

xxx

Yuri sat at her desk, going over the autopsy report for the twentieth time. There were no leads (other than a very uncooperative Park Jimin), no physical evidence, no concrete motive - things were looking increasingly hopeless. On top of that, she still had to contend with an asshole of a partner. 

“Yuri?” Seulgi ran up to her desk, slightly out of breath. “Where’s Jeon?”

“Dunno,” she shrugged. “Why? What’s wrong?”

“I think we may have something.” Seulgi pulled up a chair and sat down beside her. “After the autopsy concluded that Eunwoo hit his head after being pushed, I wondered if there was a proper fight preceding that. So I examined his clothes and hands once again - to try and find any evidence of a scuffle. And I did. There was dried blood, not a lot, put enough for me to run a test on it. And you know what I found?��

“It wasn’t Eunwoo’s blood.”

“Exactly. Which means...?”

“It might be from the person who fought with and then shoved him to his death.”

“Unfortunately, the blood on the sleeve doesn’t belong to anyone in the system so I would need a sample to test it against.” Seulgi waved a hand in front of Yuri, trying to get her attention.

“Oh yeah… Sorry. Yeah, a blood sample. Our only suspect right now is Park Jimin. But we let him go yesterday because we didn’t have anything concrete to hold him.”

Seulgi frowned. “So what are you waiting for? Ask him to come in and provide a blood sample.”

“It’d be completely voluntary, though. He has every right to refuse,” said Yuri, closing her eyes in frustration. She had a feeling there was no way Park Jimin would cooperate with her now when he had blatantly refused to provide an alibi earlier. 

“I know you’re new here, Yuri,” said Seulgi. “But Jimin’s an asshole. Everyone knows that. He’s evaded the law so many times because his father has the best lawyers on his payroll. That’s why he’s not in the system even though he deserves to be - he’s bought his way out multiple times.”

“You really don’t like him, do you?” asked Yuri, genuinely curious.

Seulgi’s body stiffened at the question and she stood up suddenly. “I’m just stating facts. I don’t know him personally.” 

Yuri could see that she had touched a nerve. “I’ll try and get him to give a blood sample. How long would you need to run the test?”

“I can have it done the same day if I get the sample early enough.”

Yuri pocketed her phone and keys, swiping the half-empty bottle of water from her desk, and walked towards the exit. Her mind was thinking of how exactly she could convince Park Jimin to willingly provide a blood sample. Try as she might, she couldn’t shake off the wariness she felt around young sons of influential businessmen and politicians. She no longer knew what the right step forward should be in an investigation. Something that was instinctive and almost second-nature to her, had been robbed from her and she had no idea how to get it back. Her continuous second-guessing would eventually show in the investigation, and she had no doubt that Jeon would jump at the chance to expose her inadequacies. Once again, she felt alone and vulnerable; somehow trying to survive while her weaknesses were laid bare for anyone to pick at. She had never felt this powerless since graduating from the academy.  

In her distracted state, Yuri almost ran into heavy incoming traffic. Almost. Fortunately, someone grabbed a hold of her and yanked her back by her elbow before she could become roadkill.

“Oh my god! Thank you so much! I-I wasn’t looking where I was-” she stopped short as she realized who had pulled her back to safety.

“Yoongi?!”

“Don’t sound so surprised. I’m not the one who was heading directly into peak traffic,” said Yoongi, rolling his eyes. “Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah I’m fine,” she said, still trying to process everything. “What are you doing here?”

Before Yoongi could reply, another voice spoke up. 

“Why don’t you guys go ahead and catch up? The coffee shop across the street isn’t too bad. I need to attend to some paperwork anyway, so don’t worry about me. I’ll see you later, Yoongi.”

Yuri stared open-mouthed as Yoongi grinned and thanked Jeon for lunch.

“So, coffee?”

It had been a few months since Yuri had seen her friend and senior. He didn’t look too different, except for the bags under his eyes. Maybe he had become a little thinner as well.

“You didn’t tell me why you’re here,” said Yuri, once they had both gotten their orders. 

“I came to pick up something for the little one,” said Yoongi, opening a packet of sugar and offering it to her.

“Shit. I totally forgot! The last time I saw you, Eunbi was approaching her due date! How is she? And how’s baby Min doing?”

Yoongi scrunched his nose at the last question. “Baby Min is a horrible way to address anyone. Let’s not do that. Eunbi’s fine, and so is the little one. We still haven’t decided on a name yet.”

“I’m sure you’ll think of a really beautiful name,” Yuri said, smiling softly. “There’s no need to rush.”

“How are you?”

Yoongi’s question was simple. But they both knew that the answer to it was anything but.

“I don’t know.” The frown on her face told Yoongi that a direct approach was not going to work.

“I heard that you haven’t been getting along well with your new partner,” he asked instead, suppressing a grin when her eyes lit up furiously.

“About that,” said Yuri, crossing her arms over her chest. “How do you know Jeon?”

“Jeongguk and I trained at the same academy. I was a couple of years ahead of him. But we have a mutual love of lamb skewers that helped us bond. He’s a good kid.”

“Could’ve fooled me,” muttered Yuri. “Didn’t think I’d ever doubt your character judgement abilities, Yoongi, but I’m gonna have to disagree with you on this one. Jeon’s an asshole. And he’s made things really difficult for me, even though it’s barely been three days since I started here.”

“I won’t lie,” chuckled Yoongi. “He didn’t have the best things to say about you either. But I think I know you both quite well. And I think you’ve both got bigger things weighing on you right now which have clouded your personalities. I’m not saying you should go ahead and become best buds right away. Just… keep an open mind.”

Yuri remained quiet, not sure how she felt about what Yoongi had just said. It annoyed her that her friend didn’t appear to be on her side completely. 

“I can see that you aren’t liking what I’m saying and the annoyance has already started to show on your face,” said Yoongi with a twinkle in his eye. “So I’m just going to say one last thing on the issue. The 2nd November case that Jeongguk’s been overseeing - I want you to go over it. You might be able to help.”

“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea…”

“I know that you’re scared. Your fear is completely understandable. But that’s just a part of you - maybe a bigger part than you would like, but a part nonetheless. You didn’t choose this and you definitely didn’t want this. But it’s something that you are going to have to accept eventually. The scars that are formed unknowingly, unwantedly, mistakenly - they are all part of your constellation.”

It was strange. Yoongi hadn’t told her to overcome her fears - he hadn’t even asked her exactly what it was that she was afraid of. But his words had struck a chord somewhere. 

When they parted outside the station a little later, Yuri stared at her friend while trying to decide what to tell him. In the end, she settled for something professional whose meaning was deeply personal to the two of them.

“I’m sorry they demoted you.”

xxx

hey everyone! hope you’re enjoying the story so far. feel free to drop a message/ask if you have any questions/thoughts on the story.

[gallantgautier]

Pokemon AU notes

So, this has been a long time coming. I’ve had Sylvain’s team set out for quite some time, but never really got around to writing out anything cohesive. (Sometimes life just be like that.) But over the last few days and their conversations, it was high time I got this out onto the dash. Thank you to Rai for letting me look to her wonderful post about Yuri’s life in the Pokemon world to serve as a template for me!

 Under a cut because oh jeez this ended up over 2.5k

Sylvain’s life notes.

Surrounded by snowy hills and woods, Sylvain grew up in Circhester. Used to such a cold climate, he still very much has an aversion to hot temperatures, poor guy just can’t handle them.

Life at home is similar to canon but has its differences in terms of why things happen. He’s slightly better adjusted in terms of his mental health due to the fact that expectations placed upon him from his family didn’t fall upon him as early as they do in canon. More on that in a bit.

The Gautier family has been full of successful Trainers, some even having travelled to other regions to hold positions within the Elite Four in previous generations. While none alive hold such positions now, they are nevertheless still a respected name when it comes to dark-type specialists.

Speaking of dark-type specialisation, this comes from the Guatier Crest’s link with Death in the Major Arcana. An often-misunderstood card, Death symbolises an end, such an end can pave the way for a new beginning, but it is not Death’s purpose to usher in that beginning, only to make the space for it. On its own, Death could also easily be attributed to ghost type Pokemon, but I feel Dark is a better fit on the grounds of dark often being attributed to evil when such is not the case, and Death often being seen as, well, death and general bad stuff.

Miklan was expected to have a successful career as a Trainer much like everyone before him. He had been gifted a Larvitar as his first Pokemon from his father. He was not ignored upon Sylvain’s birth like he had been in canon, however, in this ‘verse, as Sylvain was second born and thus not expected to climb the ranks of greatness, the younger brother was often coddled where Miklan was always pushed to train. That lack of affection and jealousy over the freedoms Sylvain was allowed became the source of his resentment.

With a brilliant mind for strategy and a ruthlessness born from a lack of compassion, Miklan could have been a Trainer that would become legendary in later years. But the absence of a kind bone within his body is also his greatest flaw, and it creates a barrier between him and success. He and his team are more like co-workers than friends, and it inhibits him from reaching his full potential. He would later fall into disgrace after a certain incident, and all the expectation that was once his would fall to his younger brother.

Sylvain, for his part, was content with never having to become a proper Trainer, preferring to watch Glenn and Felix train, or being able to just play with his Pokemon rather than battle. But after Miklan’s disgrace, his family would then push him towards becoming a brilliant Trainer worthy of the Gautier name. Luckily, he doesn’t have to undertake his journey alone, as it comes at a time when his best friend is preparing for his own.

Being out on the road and without his brother’s torment and his parents breathing down his neck, Sylvain slowly begins to discover the joy of simply learning about all the wonderful creatures that inhabit the wider world outside his snowy home. He comes into his own when it comes to creating recipes that are both nutritious and enjoyed by his and Felix’s companions, studying and coming to an understanding on how different kinds of Pokemon communicate with each other, and discovering ways to help improve the quality of life between a Trainer and their Pokemon. He’ll eventually go on to becomes something like a Pokemon Breeder – think animal husbandry rather than an actual breeder or even a Pokemon Centre staff member.

Yes, I’m aware that he’s almost literally Brock in this ‘verse! And I swear that’s just a happy accident! I thought long and hard before Rai pointed out the similarity to me and had come to the conclusion that this is a life he would lead to reflect canon. In the majority of his endings, Sylvain goes on to open communications with Sreng and brings peace at the border via diplomacy rather than with force like his ancestors had long employed. And it feels fitting that he would initially set out to become a Trainer who is expected to rise up to challenge the League (sent to the Officer’s Academy to learn battle strategy and train to eventually wield the Lance of Ruin and fight at the border) but instead finds his calling in communication and understanding.

But, add that he’s a ridiculous fun-loving flirt, he ends up as Brock. And honestly? I love it.

Sylvain’s team

Sylvain doesn’t really have an overarching theme for his team. Granted, when he set out, he was expected to become a dark-type specialist too. But at his core, Sylvain’s growth is always about subverting expectations. There were plenty of choices that I threw out simply on the grounds of too obvious, they’d be Pokemon he would have on his team that would – much like the face he presents the majority of time in canon – not really be him. Instead, I tried to think about how he would feel when meeting various Pokemon, how he would interact with them, and what role they would play in each other’s lives, rather than simply looking for reflections of aspects of his personality.

In order of acquisition:

♂/ Illusion

Sylvain’s very first Pokemon and his other best friend, Zorua was gifted to him at a young age as a pet rather than a partner. The reality of it is that Miklan had been given his Larvitar to begin his training, but since Sylvain was somewhat spoiled and coddled, he had to be given a Pokemon too. To fit with family traditions, it also had to be a dark type, but since his parents were more concerned with giving him a cute little playmate than a Pokemon that would eventually become a powerful battler, they picked fluffy little Zorua.

Zorua would be ever present at Sylvain’s side, weaving between his feet as he’d run down the road to visit Felix, climbing up the furniture to give it enough height to leap up and then curl over Sylvain’s shoulders, laying over his arm while he reads and looking at the pages with him. He would often disguise itself as some of Miklan’s Pokemon and act in a ridiculous manner in an attempt to cheer Sylvain up when his brother’s bullying caused him to withdraw and hide in his room, curling up on his chest while his Trainer slept to keep a watchful eye on the door.

Much like Sylvain in canon, Zoroark is a master of illusion, masking its true self in favour of showing a different face. It’s also fiercely protective of its pack, tricking its opponents to ensure their safety. Zoroark considers Sylvain, and by extension, Felix and his team, as members of his pack. And while Sylvain doesn’t train as hard as his friend, Zoroark pushes himself to become ever stronger to defend them on their journey.

 ♀/ Bulletproof

Applin was also something of a pet for Sylvain initially, found during his childhood before setting out on his journey with Felix, Sylvain found her during a trip to Turffield with his parents. Out for a walk one day with his mother, they were picking apples to bring home with them, and, of course, he had to grab the biggest, shiniest red apple he could find. Imagine his surprise when, after returning home and deciding to indulge in the delicious looking fruit, something green poked out of it! Sylvain immediately ran to his mother, who laughed, ruffled his hair, and told him “that’s a little dragon Pokemon, sunshine.”

 Amazing.

Sylvain could wait to show his friends, charging down the road to the Fraldarius home, proclaiming in a voice full of wonder and awe “It’s a dragon, Felix!” His friend, understandably, didn’t believe him until Glenn told them all about it. Sylvain kept her, wanting to learn all he could about the tiniest dragon he’d ever heard of, amusing both himself and his new apple-like friend by gently rolling her back and forth on the table between his hands.

Miklan made fun of her, called her a ‘pathetic excuse for a dragon,’ but really, that only cemented Sylvain’s resolve to keep her.

This is one of my picks that isn’t attributed to Sylvain’s personality, and is entirely down to how his reaction would be to discovering a creature like Applin. There’s no way he wouldn’t be utterly delighted over its very existence. It’s a dragon. He can’t get over it.

♂/Overcoat

The first Pokemon Sylvain caught after he left home, at first, Sylvain wasn’t really sure what to think of Karrablast. He’s not really the biggest fan of bugs, they’re kind of creepy, and they’ll always remind him of the betrayal he felt when he learned that sweet little Joltik evolved into the terrifying monstrosity that is Galvantula. (Look, he just really does not like spiders.)

Still, he caught it anyway, mostly out of curiosity. It was kind of weird and kind of funny, and he wouldn’t mind learning a bit about it for a while before setting it free. As it turned out, Karrablast had a fierce competitive streak, often wanting to challenge Pokemon much bigger than himself. His sheer determination to prove himself is what caused it to eventually evolve (look, I know it’s a specific trade in game, but this is a far better narrative) and cemented himself in a permanent spot as one of Sylvain’s companions as it defended him and the others during a run-in with Miklan.

Escavalier also doesn’t at all mind using his lance as a makeshift skewer to help Sylvain cook their meals, so that’s a nice bonus.

This one is the only surface level pick for Sylvain’s team, he has to have the cavalier Pokemon. In a sense though, it does fit with Sylvain’s theming of subverting expectations. He doesn’t like bugs, Escavalier is a bug, he has one anyway.

 ♂/Rock head

Abandoned and all alone, Cubone joined Sylvain’s team mostly because of his bleeding heart. Who wouldn’t want to help such a sad looking creature? There was also, though he would never say it out loud, a sense of being a kindred spirit. Cubone had been horribly mistreated by his previous trained before being left behind, but despite it, Cubone still missed them.

Sylvain knew all too well how it feels to wish someone loved them back, especially in the face of such an impossibility. He initially took Cubone in to treat his wounds and keep him safe until they could find a sanctuary to leave him in. But as is natural when encountered with shared experiences, Sylvain grew attached, and Cubone came to slowly consider Sylvain as a safe person to be around, hiding behind his legs and sitting close to him around the campfire.

Through plenty of attention, love and patience, Cubone would grow from timid and tearful into a proud Marrowak as he slowly but surely tried to emulate the strength and confidence shown by Felix’s Corviknight.

 ♂/Defiant

We’re gunna do this one in reverse to the previous entries, where I talk about ooc reasoning first instead of the in-universe acquisition. Simply put, this started as an off-hand comment made not by me, nor by Rai, but by Rai’s muse. The story goes something like this.

 Rai: “Me: looks at Falinks.”

Rai: “My Felix muse: Oh, it’s Sylvain.”

We both laughed. Made jokes about the red plume. But then I thought about it a lot. Falinks is a soldier. Falinks is all about teamwork which lends to strategy which Sylvain is good at. The first individual that makes up the team that is Falinks is the only one that can be seen using its shields, ready to take the brunt of an attack for its teammates much like Sylvain. Falinks has the unique move No Retreat, which raises all of its stats but prevents it from fleeing, much like Sylvain charging into danger to help his friends with no regard to his own safety.

Wouldn’t you know it, Felix really does know Sylvain best.

As a reflection of this half-joking but actually on-point discovery, Sylvain encounters Falinks on the road and finds him to be utterly hilarious. Just look at the way it marches! It’s love at first sight, he’s just so charmed and he absolutely has to catch it.

While Zoroark might be Sylvain’s partner, slowly but surely, Falinks becomes his ace. Their ability to perform complex manoeuvres seamlessly with their unparalleled teamwork is a perfect compliment to Sylvain’s talents in tactical mind.

Falinks are also the only Pokemon on Sylvain’s team to have nicknames! Allow me to hand you over to the man himself to tell you them.

With a smile bright enough to light a Gym Stadium, Sylvain radiates joyful energy as he makes a small gesture to the six round little creatures at his feet. “Alright guys, form up!” In unison, the Falinks line up and stand at attention.

“Let me introduce you to the squad. Cufflinks!” The largest of the six steps forward, jumping up just an inch and waving one of his shield’s in a manner that could be considered a salute, “Hoodwinks!” The first steps back and the second takes his place, performing the exact same salute, “Tiddlywinks!” As does the third, “Slowblinks!” And the fourth, “Fourtywinks!” The fifth, “and Hotdrinks!” and finally the sixth.

As Hotdrinks takes his place back in line, Sylvain beams at him, and they all beam back.

 ♀/Flashfire

A rare sight in the Galar region, this Ponyta hails all the way from Kanto. Much like Cubone, she joins Sylvain’s team after he rescues her from mistreatment, but this time it was at the hands of those seeking to make some money from the black market due to her rarity.

Unlike Cubone, shy or timid are the last words that could ever be attributed to this Ponyta. With a spirit burning as hot as the fire of her mane, she was not broken by her confinement. She was, however, injured and malnourished. Due to her nature, she gave Sylvain no end of grief as he tried to nurse her back to health.

But while slow to trust, once that trust is earned, it’s unbreakable. Her evolution into Rapidash came as a display of her undying loyalty, even allowing Sylvain to ride upon her back without burning him. Unfortunately, that trust doesn’t extend to Felix. She holds an almost-respect for him, but as close to Sylvain as she grows, she doesn’t like how much of her Trainer’s attention he gives his best friend instead of her.

In any universe, Sylvain just isn’t Sylvain without a horse, he loves those big dumb yet loyal animals. There were plenty of options to choose from, but considering his story and goals in this universe, rescuing one seemed the best course, and a Kantonian Ponyta/Rapidash felt like the best candidate for the region his story takes place in.

Also, yes, she’s Chastity.

 Bonus!

I’m not going to go into the story details, but here’s Miklan’s team, also in order of acquisition:

♀/Unnerve

♂/Infiltrator

♂/Moxie

♀/Defiant

♀/Levitate

♂/Pickpocket

[justselfloathingthings-blog]

Magical Christmases

When I think of magical Christmases, I think of a lot of things.

I think about Sakura Kinomoto. She’s alone with Syouyoan; Tomoyo and Meiling has grown enough to realize that they should let their friends have the night to themselves, rather than intrude due to fixating over might-have-beens. Though Sakura and Syaroran had made absolute sure to have a Christmas Eve celebration that included them, because the two girls were their friends too, and that was so important. Not to mention a surprise video call before Sakura and her boyfriend went to bed. It was a bit of work to get things set up, but to the two of them, the smiles on Meiling and Tomoyo’s faces were worth it. 

The two are at Sakura’s place, admiring the heartfelt gifts they got each other. The moment he opens the present and gives off a radiant smile of heartfelt glee, is one that she wishes could last forever. 

After a while, the pair have dinner- Though Meiling insisted on providing advice it was largely a Kinomoto product-  Syaoran complimenting the meal all the while. And afterwards, the two end up falling asleep in each other’s arms, simply enjoying the warmth.

The girls in Mitakihara would also gather together, even if it wasn’t initially by choice. While Sayaka and Mami were enthusiastic about a party, Kyouko and Homura were more reticent, though they conceded by the end (Kyouko largely due to Sayaka’s pleading and puppy-dog eyes.)

The food was provided by Mami of course, there was no question about that. Aside from some cheap offerings that Kyouko and Sayaka gave each other- though they insisted that they loved them regardless, without even any hesitation- it had been decided that they simply didn’t have the money to spare. So they simply spend the time in each other’s company, swapping stories about wraith fights, and grand victories. (They didn’t talk about the tense near-defeats). Mami attempted to turn the party into a strategy meeting, but Kyouko and Sayaka continued to shoot that down. 

Kyouko, Sayaka, and Mami did talk some about school. Sayaka had wanted to invite Hitomi, but Hitomi had already had plans with Kyousuke, and they had spent Christmas Eve together. So it was all good. None of them had many friends, but even Kyouko had some fond memories to offer, which brightened the mood slightly. 

Homura, surprisingly, was the one who took the initiative, helping to build on that groundwork and take the direction as far away from wraiths as possible, given their current circumstances. To anything to talk about that would actually bring smiles to their faces, and in part it succeeded. 

As night dragged on, it was decided that they would spend the night. Kyouko and Sayaka decided to share the sofa (by which it was meant that Kyouko got the sofa, and Sayaka got the floor.) 

And Homura stayed in a room by herself. But, right as she was about to go asleep, a Goddess decided to pay a short visit and talk about how nice a certain girl looked in a certain ribbon. 

It was Christmas, and she had the power of a god. How much could bending one rule for one night hurt?

And when it made it a Christmas Homura would never forget, all the better.

The Hero Club also spent the day and night together, but the occasion was far more joyful. Everyone continually found new things to talk about, with Yuna leading the pack. All forms of games were played (though the Japanese war games that Togo suggested were quickly shot down.) There was talk about the past, present, and future with pure joviality. Itsuki did a short song, to a grand display of applause. Presents were exchanged to everyone, though they made a fun Gift Exchange out of it, Yuna and Fu declaring that that was merely the most festive way to spend the holiday.

They weren’t alone, of course. The girls invited as many classmates that would be alone that Christmas as possible, and managed to get a full house in their clubroom, with everyone saying afterwards that they had simply had the time of their lives, to the four girls’ satisfaction. 

It is worth noting that this was something Yuna had decided on last minute, and everyone had had to scramble to make it work. But... it had. Which made sense. 

After all, the most valuable tenet of the Hero Club was “You’re likely to succeed if you try”, and if these girls were proof of anything, it was that.

Meanwhile, for the Sailor Senshi it’s a group affair; given that Mamoru is abroad, the girls decide to throw a group party. It takes some pleading to get Haruka and Michiru to agree (both on the Inner Senshi’s end and Hotaru’s), but eventually the two cave. Usagi tries to help prepare a fantastic celebration... but preparations prove to not exactly be her forte, and Minako and Rei end up taking point. But it turns out great regardless (and Rei lets Usagi help with some minor aspects after enough pleading), with the Inners and Saturn opening presents with relish. 

While Haruka and Michiru’s reactions to the gifts they receive are typically rather detached (except for Hotaru’s, of course), the two are rendered absolutely speechless by what they gave each other- someone close enough, as Hotaru might get, would notice how close they are to crying. (They would try to get out of staying after presents were opened. They would prove unsuccessful.)

The other’s reactions would be variable, though Usagi would absolutely tease Rei for her “thoughtful gift”, to some very unconvincing bluster. 

After presents, Hotaru would likely spend most of her time playing with Chibiusa, and the other girls would just... talk. About anything that came to mind, and fond memories that helped build the foundation to even make this possible, with a wide supply of snacks and soda for consumption (Ami put her foot down when it came to alcohol.) Usagi would probably insist on a round of Truth or Dare or two. Or three. 

Haruka and Michiru would manage to leave the party a little early, lying and say that they were tired- they would probably leave Hotaru with them for the night. 

The two would then immediately make sure to go to the Time Gate and give Sailor Pluto the presents everyone (including them) got her, and talk about old times and beloved memories. Pluto would eventually wave them off, and tell them to spend the rest of the night with the person that meant the most to them. And while perhaps slightly reluctant, they do, going home and sleeping in their bed, comforting each other with their touch until they drift off to sleep and, for once, have happy dreams.

Erika is absolutely not somebody that would let a party opportunity go to waste. She’d weaponize the Fashion Club, making colorful and fabulous looking decorations. She would send invitations to as many people as she could, and Tsubomi would be there to comfort her when less people came than she hoped (oh, she’d pretend to be fine with it, but the others would be able to tell.) 

Tsubomi would celebrate the fact that she managed to actually talk with all 16 people at the party without stuttering once; practically giddy with excitement even as Erika desperately tried to help her calm down. Itsuki would arrive roughly on time, dressed in an adorable ensemble and be confused at how absolutely nobody seemed surprised at this point that she was a girl, but Lord knows how relieved she’d be. This is probably part of what would inspire her to wear more feminine clothing. She would bring her brother, he was doing better now but he still had little experience at parties due to his former condition, and Itsuki would merely smile and nod when her brother asked her to let him do this himself. 

He would find himself with a couple new friends after the party and nearly jump for joy. 

When present time came, people would mostly just be pleasantly surprised, but Itsuki would borderline be ecstatic at the two teddy bears she got- only Tsubomi was bold enough to point out they were the same, only for Itsuki to happily reveal that she didn’t even really care. Tsubomi would blush madly at Itsuki’s seemingly innocuous gift, to Itsuki’s confusion. Erika was diplomatic enough to not really say anything. 

Yuri, meanwhile, arrived just a little late. Her claim that Momoka asked her to chaperone would prove a rather transparent lie when she “reluctantly” started participating in the festivities herself, and just happened to have a thoughtful (if rather pricey) present for each of her teammates. She would exit when Momoka returned from a party of her own, but would casually let Erika know the next day that she’d whispered “thank you” as she left.

When it came time for games, Itsuki was admittedly a little confused as to why all the girls wanted to play spin the bottle with her- and only her, significantly enough. When asked, Erika, again, diplomatically remained silent while Tsubomi merely was reduced to monosyllables. Erika did convince them to play a few rounds of Truth or Dare, but was rather soft when it came to the punishment/question in particular. When asked, she’d say “We came here to have fun. I want everyone to leave this party without regrets!” 

And nobody could really find much of a flaw with that logic.

Eventually the party would wind down, but outside Yuri the team decided to stay at Tsubomi’s house for the night, after spending some time at the greenhouses, admiring the flowers. They all chose one room and slept together, their hands firmly interwined. 

Like Erika, Saki would jump at the chance of having a celebration. It’d be akin to the welcoming party Mai received, but just the four of them. It would also be a rather quiet, peaceful affair; not too much in the way of festivities, just some quick present exchanging and mostly just... talking, about the past and present and future. All their time together, all their time to come. Mai would be grateful, both for the lack of a huge amount of people, and Saki’s company.

While he wasn’t there the whole time, Kenta came by until it started getting late too, and the girls made sure that he never felt excluded, answering any (non private) questions he had without hesitation and with a smile. Mai hadn’t prepared a gift for him, but came up with a full-body portrait from scratch, much to Kenta’s amazement.

Michiru and Kaoru would come exactly on time. They would need some explanation of what “Christmas” entailed and why it was important, of course. They would likely come across as rather awkward at first, even just among the two Cures, but they would get into it eventually. At one point, Kaoru would smile so wide and was so beautifully framed by the red of the sunset that Mai absolutely had to do a quick sketch, after Kaoru assured her that she didn’t mind. The joy Kaoru showed on her face when Mai gave it to her, assuring it was hardly any bother, somehow managed to be almost as beautiful. She would draw sketches of all of them before the night was done, of course. Saki ended up breaking out some artificial lighting so that she could continue even into the night. 

Michiru and Kaoru would express confusion over Earth games, and the girls would eventually settle for Hangman and Pictionary (Mai dominated the latter, though Michiru had grown slightly more adept at art herself. Saki struggled at Hangman too, always complaining that the words were rather complicated, though when it was her turn she continually bewildered the others with softball jargon, much to her delight.) Michiru and Kaoru made sure to avoid words associated with the Fountain of the Sky, for everyone’s sake (it didn’t exactly bring back pleasant memories), and their vocabulary was more than up-to-the-task of befuddling the two Cures regardless. (Kaoru tended to be more on point.)  

Kaoru and Michiru didn’t really know to bring presents, but Mai and Saki just happily gave them the gifts the two had planned regardless, assuring them that it was all about the giving, not the receiving. 

At the end of the night, when Michiru and Kaoru in particular wanted to leave, Mai decided to draw one more sketch; one of them all in front of Mai’s house, grinning from ear to ear. Everyone agreed that somehow, it managed to be the absolute best picture that she’d done that night. 

Team Suite would have dual parties, one in Majorland and one on Earth; Akko couldn’t really come to the latter, she wanted to spend the day with her family, and absolutely none of the others could blame her for that. The party at Majorland was, to Hibiki and Kanade, still larger than life, with grand gestures, a beautiful musical display (lead by Ellen and Hummy at vocals), and a feast.

Akko would be incredibly confused at how they hadn’t expected this.

The party didn’t just involve the Cures, Akko’s parents taking some degree of prominence. It was the first time Hibiki and Kanade had come to Majorland in a while, and the lavishing of praise was still rather embarrassing, but Ellen, Hibike, and Kanade adapted. Kanade and Hibiki would quickly reject the gifts offered, believing them to simply be too much, despite Akko’s mild confusion and her parents’ insistence.

The Earth party was a quieter affair. Ellen wanted to stay in Majorland for the day, and neither of the girls had much of an objection. Hibike and Kanade both completely misunderstood what the other had asked for, but neither seemed particularly upset at the other for having to return the present. Mistakes happen, you know? 

There was no need for anything special really. The “party” took place in Otokichi’s music hall, and was just the two of them. Ouji made a short appearance, performing some beautiful festive tunes on the piano. Hibike gave him an obligation gift, and Kanade actually wasn’t particularly nervous as she handed hers over. (The fact that she had gotten over him certainly helped.) 

At their polite request he left before night fell. The two then spent most of the night playing on the piano, channeling their friendship of the past, their friendship and heroics of the present, and whatever lay in the future. The two complimented themselves even more beautifully than they ever had before, the accompaniments being beautiful beyond words. 

The two agreed, hand-in-hand, that it didn’t matter that the gifts were a bit of a flop. Though they would only live on in their memories, those pieces were the best gift that they could have given regardless.

While they celebrated Christmas Eve together, Team Fresh spent Christmas day apart. Ibuki spent it with her family, helping as best she could with any animal emergencies that headed their way. She also dug into the animal textbooks that Love, Setsuna, and Miki had pooled their money to get her, promising to make as much use of them as she could. 

Miki, meanwhile, spent the day with her mother. The store was closed that day, and they merely chatted about whatever came to mind, as well as the typical present exchange. Miki was thrilled at all her presents- her favorites being Setsuna’s perfume and her mother’s fashion guides. She admittedly did spend much of her day in her room, devouring the books and getting some early use out of her perfume, trying to make sure she had everything down pat before the next audition. She needed to be perfect, after all.

Love and Setsuna was a different kettle of fish. There was a lot that Setsuna still didn’t understand about the holiday, and Love made it her mission to teach her about every aspect in as much detail as she could. They included Love’s parents in the festivities as well, of course. (Daisuke was also invited but decided against it, celebrating with Love and Setsuna the day before instead. He said it seemed rude to “intrude” on Love and Setsuna’s day, much to Love’s confusion and irritation. It lead to animosity that lasted the whole of a couple hours.) 

Everyone had a great time, but eventually Love and Setsuna were alone. There was no awkwardness, of course, the two just naturally talking and chatty about various frivorous things, when Love asked Setsuna about Labyrinth. Love noted that Setsuna had been coming more and more lately; Setsuna agreed that there was becoming less that she could do herself and she honestly preferred to spend time on Earth, though why that was she... choose to not say. 

The talk about Labyrinth, however, caused Setsuna’s mood to spiral. She started remembering the last time she was here around this time of year, of everything she’d done, of how she couldn’t be forgiven. Love merely gave her a hug- making sure to not be too tight- and said that if anybody could be forgiven, it was somebody that was always trying to become a better person.

And if there was any time that they could be forgiven, it was mostly certainly today. And that there was no question Setsuna deserved that.

Setsuna nodded, though she didn’t look convinced. And she talked about going back to Labyrinth to supervise, but Love quickly shot that down. Love noted that she was slightly disappointed in the present that she had gotten Setsuna; she didn’t think that it really conveyed how much Setsuna meant to her. So she was going to do nothing for the next three days except spend them with her, doing whatever Setsuna wanted to do, learning about whatever Setsuna wanted to learn. It would be all for her, and a reward for doing so much to try and make things right. Setsuna didn’t even bother trying to protest; partially because she knew it would be fruitless, and partially because if there was anything she wanted in the world, it was to spend more time with Love. 

Before they went to bed, Setsuna admitted something else; after she had gotten so upset that night, she was terrified that she’d have nightmares again. She had them in Labyrinth all the time. Love immediate suggested that they spend the night together then, that Love could help chase the nightmares away. And Setsuna immediately agreed.

And that’s how it was when they were drifting off to sleep, Setsuna embracing Love in her bed with a tight hug, desperately hoping that everything she felt for the girl next to her would be enough to keep her demons at bay for one night.

All she encountered that night while asleep were sweet dreams and remnants of pleasant memories. 

While Shiny Luminous didn’t come, saying that she wanted to give them “time to themselves”, Nagisa and Honoka had a night that they would remember forever. They ended up staying at Honoka’s place, because Honoka would never allow her grandma to not be included. They noticed that Honoka’s grandmother kept giving the two odd looks, but tried to pay it no mind. 

Honoka had spend weeks preparing some small-scale science experiments to show Nagisa, and Nagisa was amazed at basically every single one (or pretended to be at least), and asked Honoka to explain how they all worked, something that Honoka was quite happy to oblige. They then proceeded to play various games of trivia (Trivial Pursuit was brought out eventually), but the Queen of Knowledge naturally dominated at them. 

This continued to nightfall. 

After Honoka suggested they exchange gifts, Nagisa suddenly paled, saying that she’d wasted most of her money, and could only afford a cheap Cure White bauble, and hoped that would be enough. But Honoka simply broke out into a smile, saying that it, and the thought, was more than enough. Nagisa grew slightly frustrated, continually saying that Honoka deserved better. As Honoka tried to continually persuade her that everything was fine, Nagisa decided that she wanted to give Honoka a gift that she would remember forever.

So she kissed the other girl on the lips. 

Honoka paused for a moment before returning it. 

Nagisa decided to not go home and instead sleep in Honoka’s room, which the other girl had no real objections to. They didn’t talk about what happened afterwards. Not much more needed to be said, really. At least not tonight. They could deal with it later.

Well, one thing was said. Honoka told Nagisa that Nagisa’s love for her, something she’d been praying for for well over a year, was the most bewildering and yet beautiful gift that she had ever been given, and would most probably ever will.

This is incomplete of course; I didn’t touch on a couple Precures and there are one or two other shows (Utena for instance) I didn’t cover because I didn’t know what to do with them. But I think this is long enough. Hope it doesn’t suck.

So here’s my point. Those bits aren’t magical because the girls are. They’re magical because their snapshots of people’s flawed but wonderful lives, lives not unlike our own. They are stories of friendship and love and compassion, things that we all have and we all try to share. 

And at the end of the day, that’s what Christmas is about. Being with people that you care about and that care about you. About love. About compassion. About good will. And I hope that you all are blessed enough to be able to spend it that way this year.

You’re all wonderful people with your own delightful kind of magic. Never change. 

Merry Christmas, and here’s to many more in the future. You’re all awesome people that deserve it.

Cheers. 

[diem-writes]

1hour ficlet batch 5 #3

Another prompt given to me by @lazyblizzarddefendor Asking for a story about 2 of my favorite people in the Yuri on Ice universe. So how could I ever refuse.  I’d write a dozen more of these, if people simply asked. :}

A Touch of Cold

The stares are maybe colder than the howling wind outside of the motel room they ended up getting stranded in. Why they are sharing is just a matter of dumb luck, and the being stranded sheer bad luck all wrapped into one unpleasant situation.

“I don't care, as I'm the youngest it's only fair if I get the bed. I know the ground is dirty but you can take the bloody chair if you think you are too good for it.” Yuri snarls out, still shivering from the melting snow that had gotten down his hoody earlier.

“I mind neither the chair nor the floor, but common rules state that if I take up either one it does mean that the bedding is mine.” His voice is forced through clenched teeth, he wishes the heating will soon start warming the room but he fears it greatly.

“The hell.” Two large green eyes stare at him in disbelief. “I've never heard of any such rule. Why should I believe you it exists?”

Seung-Gil sighs. He is only one second removed from rubbing his temples in the same way he had seen this boys coach do when they had skated together at worlds.

“It seems that my experience with Victor Nikiforov proved me right then after all. Your coach fails to teach common sense to his skaters.”

“At least my coach knows how to train winners.” The defiant flick of the chin makes Seung-Gil laugh, something that even surprises him.

“Yes you win. I am starting to think that is all you are good for.” He smiles. “My coach tries to do the same for me, maybe it is my common sense and shreds of humanity then that are preventing me from being no more than a medal hoarding pack animal.”

The hurt look on the kids face make Seung-Gil waver in his conviction for a moment.

“What do you know about me. Do you have any idea what my life is like. You just stand there being some smuck bastard thinking he knows what the hell he is saying. You know shit about me.” The tears that form in Yuri's eyes are forcefully wiped away.

“You know what. You can have the bed. It isn't the first time I slept on a cold floor without food or heat.” He steps up to Seung-Gil, nearly pressing their noses together. “And once I'm out of here I will use that memory as I've been using for the past ten years to beat you and everyone else for every medal and prize money out there, so that I will never need to do it again.”

Yuri turns ready to pull the flimsy blanket of the bed, and ignore Seung-Gil for the rest of the night. Hoping they can get out of this bloody snow blizzard the next morning. He's stopped when Seung-Gil grabs his wrist.

The dirty look on his face deepens when he sees the look of sorrow on the other face. Crap the last thing Yuri wanted was for this ass to feel pity for him. He wants to live in a world where no one will ever look at him with pity in their eyes again.

“I was unaware that you had a past like that.” He gives him a tentative smile. “Knowing that, I can only admire how you have put yourself together. My apologies for making you feel like telling.”

Yuri takes a moment to asses the situation. Maybe the look he's getting isn't pity, but guilt. Yuuri had told him that that had been what he had felt when he had heard Yuri tell Victor the truth. Guilt for making Yuri relive moments of his childhood he rather not wishes to be reminded of.

“Yakov and my grandpa have done everything in their power to make certain it's not common knowledge. I would appreciate it if you keep it to yourself.”

Seung-Gil blinks a few times before he nods. If that is all he is more than willing to give his word about it. He too has things he rather not have the press found out. So he decides to even the playing field.

“I'm terrified of women. To the point I had to move out of my family home when I was about your age as the thought of my mother's friends and their daughters was giving me hives.”

He can't blame the chuckle when he is met with a look of complete disbelief. The growl when Yuri thinks he's being made a fool off makes him even burst out in laughter.

“I'm not joking. One of the reasons I am always doing my best to avoid Sara Crispino is because whenever she gets her hands on me I have to put on this awful smelling lotion on my skin that itches like crazy.” He looks a bit bashful “It influences my skating and not in a good way either.”

“Is that why there's such a big difference between some of your performances?” Then Yuri bites his lip and looks a bit more suspicious. “If that was really the case, why is your coach a woman?”

Seung-Gil sighs. “Because she is the one I can afford once I payed for rink time, and costumes, and my skates. There are some male trainers but they are nearly twice as expensive, and they will not even consider me till I've proven to be able to bring in enough money from my skating to be worth their time.” The shrug tells Yuri all he needs to know.

“It does explain why you are so bloody rude to her all the time. I'd have an issue with a coach that is giving me hives as well.” The snort that follows the words is quickly followed by a short cough.

“Oh damn. You are cold aren't you? Why don't you take a shower, get out of those wet clothes. I'm fairly certain nobody is wanting for you to get cold.” Yuri finds himself pushed towards the doors to the bathroom attached to the room.

“And I've thought of something about the bedding. If both of us put on our spare clothes from our bags, the bed is just wide enough to let us each have a side. That way we both lie comfortable and have use of the blanket in case the rooms heating never gets up to par.”

Yuri looks from Seung-Gil to the bed. Sure he's slept on worse, even shared a bed with his grandfather for a while before he started to make enough money to get noticed by sponsors. It would be the best solution. So he gives a quick nod to agree, grabs his bag, and slips into the bathroom.

After taking a quick wash down with one of the towels because the water of the shower never managed to become more than some lukewarm drizzle, he snuggles into his favorite longsleeve shirt, and biggest hoody. Putting his training pants over one of his dancing leggings, hoping that will keep him warm. He walks back into the room to find Seung-Gil already passed out at one side of the bed, maybe wearing even more layers than him.

'Ha' Yuri thinks, off course he went for this solution, if a Russian like Yuri is already cold there is no way that somebody that comes from a country with far more agreeable temperature isn't freezing to the core.

It takes some tossing and turning for Yuri to decide that the mattress is not one meant to give comfort to whomever is on it. He looks at Seung-Gil and notices that once the guy relaxes he doesn't look half as put off as he normally does.

Yuri's fingers softly caress his eyebrows, coming to the conclusion that they are what give the normal stern look. When two eyes flutter open a bit he pulls back his hand, only to realize that Seung-Gil hasn't really woken up. The eyes slowly close again, and Yuri finds himself lying there for a long while wondering if he was shocked or amazed at the soft look they had had.

When Victor manages to get a spare key for their room after they do not respond on his or Yuuri's knocking he is surprised to find the two young men completely wrapped in each others arms, dead to the world, with the softest smiles on their faces.

Knowing this is the calmest Yuri has been in ages he and Yuuri slowly slip back out of the room and decide to brace the storm a bit to go to the nearby diner and get them all some breakfast. It will be early enough to wake them once they can do it with fresh sandwiches and something to drink.

If you like this story or any of the other 1 hour ficlets, please consider sending in a prompt to get one for yourself.

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[dangereuse-liaison]

Diabolik Lovers Lost Eden ☆Translation☆ Ruki Maniac Epilogue

Ruki: ......Haa.

Yui: Are you alright?

Ruki: There's no problem......But, I really don't have any good memory from the time where I lived here, after all. I hate to say that, but it's making me feel down.

Yui: But even so......You still wanted to come to this country?

Ruki: ......Yeah.

This is not the time for sentimentality. I'll go investigate whatever I need to, so you stay here.

I made some arrangements so that we can live here for a while without any inconvenience. So you'll be alright even if I'm not around, okay?

Yui: (I guess it means that he doesn't want me to come with him, huh......)

......Yeah, understood. Well, then, I'll be waiting here.

Ruki: I'm sorry to have forcibly brought you along here. Well, then, I'm going.

Yui: Eh......Ruki-kun!

Ruki: What is it?

Yui: I'll be waiting, so......Please, come back soon.

Ruki: ............

Don't look so anxious......It's alright. I'll definitely come back.

Yui: Yeah......I'll be waiting.

Ruki: I'll be back as soon as possible......Nnn.

Yui: (......I suddenly became uneasy and stopped him.)

(For Ruki-kun, being in this place is difficult, so......I'm worried.)

Place: Foreign Country's Town

Ruki: (......Of course, it's different from the old days.)

(The memories of that country which are engraved in my mind won't ever leave me.)

(Nonetheless, the informations that I was able to obtain in the Demon World were quite limited.)

(That's why I deemed it necessary to come here. In this place......Where I can get as close as possible to Trismégiste's trail.)

(If I didn't come, I wouldn't be able to move forward......If I'm looking for books, I should go to the library, after all.)

Place: Romanian Library

Ruki: (It seems that the only place where the volumes are all gathered is in my country. I knew it, coming here was a wise choice.)

(......There surely are also some things I don't want to know in these books.)

(I have to make up my mind. For Eden and Kou and the other's sake, too......I shouldn't avert my eyes.)

Then, after having gathered all the books I could, I immersed myself in reading for the time being.

And, in this huge pile of books, I found out several things.

First of all, there was indeed a man named Trismégiste who lived in this country.

This man possessed mysterious powers and seemed to have been going around, curing poor people.

There was a story going around that the President at that time had a daughter who was suffering from an incurable disease.

When Trismégiste showed him that he could perfectly cure his daughter's illness, the President began to place a blind trust in him. That's how the man became friend with the President.

But, obviously, there were some people who didn't quite welcome it. Namely, the nobles sitting in Congress and the politicians.

Although, because he won the President's heart, he had been confronted countless times with assassination attempts and people wanting to bring about his downfall, no one has ever managed to bring Trismégiste down.

No matter how dangerous the situations in which he found himself were, that man always resurrected like a phoenix.

--It's the Devil's work. This is what some people, who found it weird to attribute these theatrical resurrections to him simply having good luck, compared this power to.

The President, in the face of these miracles, began to idolize Trismégiste more and more. He seemed to be hanging on to his every word.

The country's decay started from here.

As a result of having been misled by sweet words, the President cast all the people who had been supporting him until then away without thinking.

He began to embezzle public funds and to impose high taxes on the people.

To collect as much tax as possible, he prohibited abortion even though poor people couldn't afford to raise up children.

As a result, the town became flooded with children having been thrown away by their parents and living on the streets or manholes.

That dictatorship lasted many years, but, at last, the time came when the people decided to revolt.

That event was called "The Revolution".

During said Revolution, the President was executed and the people finally gained freedom.

Trismégiste was also executed, as the person behind this dictatorship and the two corpses were exposed in the town's plaza......Or at least it was supposed to have been the case.

However, it appears that the body suddenly disappeared. Nobody knows what happened to him afterward.

--No matter which book I read, the informations about Trismégiste always ended at that.

According to one theory, it is said that the corpse might have been taken away by his followers.

But this is only speculation, nobody knows the truth.

Ruki: (......The informations I found in the Sakamakis' castle were correct.)

(The President's dictatorship. The abandoned children, the Revolution......I remember everything.)

(Although there were some things that didn't concern the me who was a noble until that day, these tragedies were indeed happening at that time.)

(Back then, my arrogant self never thought that I would get involved in these. That's why I stayed ignorant of the situation......)

(The person behind all that......Was Trismégiste. It's all because of that man.)

~Flashback~

Ruki’s father: In addition, because he kept feeding him lies, the President dismissed me! With this happening, how could I be in a good mood!?

~End Flashback~

Ruki: (The reason why my father, who was a merchant as well as a congressman, was discarded, was because that man suggested it.)

(Because of that man, father--)

(......That day, he took his own life.)

(And I didn't only lose my father. Because my father had changed dramatically, my mother began to hate him and left with her lover, abandoning me.)

(Then, I lost my home, my possessions, my family......And was left alone in the world.)

(--If......And I'm only saying if, that Trismégiste turns out to be Karlheinz-sama.......)

(Does it mean that I......My real parents' enemy......I loved him like a father......?)

......Such an absurd thing, it can't be......

~Flashback~

Ruki's mother: --Ruki! Ruki, are you here?

Ruki: Yes, mother. Did you call for me?

Ruki's mother: Aah, you were over there. Hey, do you know what day it is, today?

Ruki: Of course! It's father's birthday, isn't it?

Ruki's mother: Hehe, that's right. Father told me that he would come home early today, so let's celebrate it all together.

Ruki: Yes......I wonder if father will be pleased with my present.

Ruki's mother: Isn't it obvious he'll be pleased? It's a gift from his cute son, after all. He might even cry tears of joy.

Ruki: Fufu, I hope so.

Ruki's father: I'm home. I just got back from work.

Ruki: Ah! Welcome back, father!

Ruki's mother: Hey, Ruki! Don't run in the house!......Hehe, good grief.

~End Flashback~

Ruki: (......There certainly was a period of time during which I resented them for leaving me behind.)

(But until that day when we lost everything, they were good parents I was proud of.)

(My father who had been cornered was drowning himself in sake, and if he hadn't been hard on mother......)

(Even if we had lost our properties, surely my family would never have been separated. My mother wouldn't have abandoned my father and me......)

(If it wasn't for Trismégiste, we could have remained happy......But--)

                                                  ~Flashback~

Karlheinz: --Ruki. There's something I want you to remember.

Ruki: Yes, Karlheinz-sama. What is it?

Karlheinz: Listen carefully. You shouldn't only believe in the things you can see.

Ruki: ......? What do you mean?

Karlheinz: In this world, sometimes, the most important things can be the ones that you can't see with your own eyes.

You're the only one to decide whether what you see with your own eyes is accurate or not.

That's why you have to be prudent when you want to ascertain things. Since you're a smart boy, I'm sure you'll be able to do that.

Ruki: Understood. If that's what Karlheinz-sama wants.

~End Flashback~

Ruki: (......The only things left in me now are Karlheinz-sama's teachings.)

(I respected that person. That's why I wanted him to acknowledge me.--I didn't want to be betrayed this time.)

(......But, in fact, since the beginning--)

Uh......!

Uuuh......!......Haa, haaa......!

(I have to stop......I shouldn't think about unnecessary things......!)

(It's not a sure thing yet. To think about that kind of things even though I'm not confident......Is wrong......)

(I shouldn't even doubt that person in the first place......!)

Ha......Uh, haa......

???: ......Do you need help?

Ruki: Eh......Don't touch me!!

???: I'm sorry. It's because you didn't seem to be doing well. Did I do something unnecessary?

Ruki: No......I'm sorry, too. Don't mind me......

???: ............

???: Fufu, the damages look critical.

Kino: And you, Yuri, your senses are so bad you didn't notice me even though I was nearby.

So? Yuri. Do you already know what he was looking into just now?

Yuri: Yes, of course.

Kino: As expected of you. Then, can you give me your report along the way? I want to keep observing him for the time being.

Nevertheless......He really reeks of human, after all.

I don't know what he was looking into, but his face was so pale. He can't be called a vampire.

Yui: (......Ruki-kun is taking a while. It's already so late.)

(Could it be that something happened......? Maybe I should go look for him. But to go wandering alone--)

(......! Looks like he came back.)

Welcome home. I'm so glad......I was beginning to worry.

Ruki: ............

Yui: Ruki-kun......?

(It's as if......He can't hear me. Besides, his face is so pale......)

What's wrong? Are you alright......?

Ruki: ......Yeah......You waited for me to eat?

......I'm sorry. Right now, I don't think I can eat anything.

Yui: Did anything happen......?

Ruki: ......I still haven't sorted things out. Please, leave me alone for a while......

Yui: (What on earth happened......?)

Kino: --He entered his room. It doesn't look like he'll make any more moves for today.

Even so......What was that man's name, again?

Yuri: Trismégiste, Kino.

Kino: That's right, that's right, Trismégiste. When I heard the story, I thought that he was probably a demon......

But that rumor is quite interesting. The one that says that, when the Revolution occurred, he went around to collect corpses in the whole town. I wonder if it's true.

Yuri: Who knows, that's only a rumor.

However, there's still a story going around that Trismégiste had taken away the corpses of the people sacrificed during the Revolution.

Kino: Why did he do that? Is collecting corpses his hobby?

Yuri: Maybe he was bringing them to the graveyard?

Kino: It's Ruki's business, but......Somehow, I'm interested too. I might as well try investigating myself.

Yuri: Then, why don't you try asking the ghouls?

Many of them are originally from around here. Perhaps you'll find some people who'll be able to fill you in.

Kino: I see. Let's do that, then......Maybe there will be some people I might be able to use.

[the-man-of-mirrors]

Doki Doki Literature Club

I caught the hype and noise around the game, so my partner and I decided to play through it, and i’ll be damned if it wasn’t one of the most well made horror games I've seen (which isn’t a high bar, technically, because I usually avoid horror like the plague -- but this was still really good), and it was the first time I ever “got got” by a dating sim -- by low key falling for one of the characters. Just Monika

Spoilers below this point 

So I’m going to, instead of walking through the plot, which is really the treasure of the game -- go play it -- I’m going to discuss the characters, and why the game’s writing caught me as it did. Let’s start in order of importance, both to plot and to me.

Sayori -- I’ll begin by saying, for those of you that played the game, if you went with Sayori as your first girl, that’s just wrong. She’s like your little sister! Moving on, Sayori is perhaps the most accurate depiction of major depressive disorder I’ve ever seen in a visual or written medium. She works so hard to make everyone else happy, because she feels like it’s the only way to get them to stop “wasting” time and energy on her. She puts on a mask every day at club, and is stated to have done so every day of her life, because she wants other people to not think about her. She think’s she’s a worthless, selfish, weak human being, when she is anything but. She doesn’t understand why others would want her around. 

Now, I have depression, though the doctor says its not a terribly bad case, and as a man my symptoms tend to differ from those of women sufferers. I’ve been with girls that have depression like this, and I’ve had the same kind of frustrations as the idiot MC does with those feelings, and that pit-of-your stomach feeling when you don’t know what to do, and you know that you are failing that person. I both understand the worthlessness Sayori feels (to an extent) and the frustration of the MC. Sayori is a very powerful character because of that, and is very much one of the game.

YURI -- Best Girl. Only talked about Say-o first because of plot reasons, I’m sure you understand. So, Yuri was the character that snared me, and did so quite neatly and elegantly. As my partner is fond of telling me, I have a very defined...type. I, as you know, am both an avid reader, and a writer (despite my low activity on this page, I apologize, school gets in the way of creation). Another person having those qualities, especially when those qualities are focused in the deep worlds of fantasy and science fiction (and horror I guess, I do enjoy Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe a great deal), is like having a light turn on inside me. So that’s one box ticked off. To continue, she is very shy and introverted, and only really opens up when she’s talking about something she’s truly passionate about, or if she’s alone with you, and I understand how that feels, though I’ve opened up in the past years. To continue, I have, apparently, some kind of Christ complex, where I want to walk into the lives of people like Yuri and just hold them, and tell them everything is going to be okay. I want to be that person that saves them, I want to make them not be hurting anymore. Most importantly, I understand what it’s like to feel truly, truly alone, and I can’t bear to see someone live like that -- not when I know I can be the rock they lean on, or (and I’ll regret saying this -- my partner will probably read this post and tease me about it) be like their service dog, dedicated to loving and helping them for as long as it takes.

 As I write this, I cannot but help and think that this mental pattern of mine might be terribly codependent, deriving a large amount of my self-worth from pulling other people away from the brink of the abyss many of us know too well. But that’s not the entirety of who I am, or the only source of worth, so I’m sure I’ll be fine. 

Back to Yuri. She’s anxious and both terrified of being hated, while hating and being overly harsh on herself. She is convinced that her weird hobbies (and some of them ARE weird) are justified reasons for people to hate and dislike her, which just isn’t true. So when you let her open up to you, it’s like watching a sunrise over clear mountains -- some things are still trapped and blocked away, and will be for a little while, but there is light now. I hadn’t felt that sunrise since the early days of my current relationship, and it is addicting. Once she realizes that what she likes (for the most part, but we will get there) won’t push you away, she really blossoms. That said, there is still a darkness to be addressed, and that darkness is her (even before act II) obvious habit of self-harm, and the question of her sado-masochistic tendencies (the bloodied finger scene -- which I found really cute -- and the statement from Monika about how she harms for the rush). I’ve been in a lot of relationships where self-harm was there, like that black looming shadow, glaring down on my partner. It’s one of those things that simultaneously breaks my heart, and puts me dangerously close to the stereotypical “I AM MAN. I MUST FIX.” mindset, and people don’t like to be “fixed”. Especially if they are in that state of mind. I suspected she did this from the first interaction -- as my partner says, I have a type, and I can read the signs well. This game is so well written -- but when she was rolling down her sleeve in MC’s house, that was all the confirmation I needed. Whether she actually does it for a rush, as Monika states in act 2 (this of course, being after the point Monika tampered with best girl, and is trying to actively remove her), which is heavily doubtful to me, or is doing so to punish herself, or is doing so simply feel at all, I wanted to help. She embodies that social anxiety and isolation that I know so well, and is also a fairly realistic depiction. 

Do I think she, the actual Yuri (yes, It’s a game, it’s just code, but these characters are so realistic that real life parallels matter, so I will address them as such), self harms for a rush that the pain and blood brings? No, the only trustworthy evidence to that theory is the scene where you prick your finger, and she puts that finger in her mouth, and that could be a number of things, from wanting to make it better (without knowing how), to acting on the clear sexual tension in the room (please?), to what I’ll talk about in a minute. Does she have a sado-masochistic fetish? Probably. I’m a sadist myself, my partner is a masochist, so I understand that feeling to an extent. Does she find blood play hot? Perhaps, maybe in the same way some people find rape-play (yes, it’s a legitimate thing. No, I don’t care to argue that with anyone) hot -- from a distance, or maybe only with slight imitations. These questions are interesting ones, and it made me want to get to know this fictional character better. It’s part of why I’m really annoyed that the there is no way to get a good ending for each character just Monika. 

It’s also really nice that Yuri had objectively the best body and the cutest fucking demeanor in the game. She also looked very, very cute in that sweater and it’s great. 

Natsuki -- I don’t like her, but I haven’t truly explored her character arc yet. I get the definite impression that her home life is traumatizing and out of control, which is why she is so combative and assertive in the club. She is scrambling for any ounce of control. I’ve seen it before, and while her personality turns me off harder than scat porn, I want to know what’s going on. 

Monika -- I saved her for last. I simultaneously wanted to kill her and ask her “why?” for most of act 2, and actually from the end of Act 1 when Sayori said “She was right, I should just ---”. I wanted to murder this girl, as memeable as she is (so, so gloriously memeable). It felt SO GOOD to delete her. So when she came back from the dead, to SAVE you, it felt so strange. She is a walking fourth wall break. I can’t really describe her well, just go play the game. 

All in all, the game is incredible. Yuri describes my type to a “T”, the only thing missing is that she isn’t a redhead. The characters (aside from the idiot MC) were very realistically written and pulled at my heart in ways that, in all honesty, shouldn’t have been so effective -- they are just code, right? 

[renegadepilgrim]

A First-Timer Guide to Yelapa

I recently spent a glorious week in a tiny little hamlet south of Puerto Vallarta with my girlfriend, two good friends and my sister and her girlfriend. I want to share what I learned there so you can plan your own trip to a slice of paradise.

Where is Yelapa?

Yelapa is a 45 minute water taxi ride south of Puerto Vallarta.

See the red dot on the map below? That’s Yelapa.

Fun Facts About Yelapa You Need to Know:

There are no cars in Yelapa. The road stops about 2km from the pueblo. The only way to get there is via water taxi. Pretty cool, right?

Since there are no cars in Yelapa, they have to be creative with transport. Walking is the main form of transportation and the pueblo is easy to get around in, though the roads are a mix of dirt, concrete and cobblestone and the town is quite hilly too. Everything you want to do is within walking distance and no more than a 20-30 minute walk in any direction. You will also notice there are 4WD ATVs running around. For 50 pesos, you can have them take you pretty much anywhere in town. You will also see mules and horses. These are often used to transport goods around town. Be sure to give them right of way.

There are no ATMs in Yelapa. There are a few places that will take credit cards, but will add a service fee up to 5% onto the price to use the card. We also found a few of the jewelry vendors on the playa also took cards. That was pretty much it. Because of this, cash is king in Yelapa. You will want to bring enough cash for your trip, or plan a day trip to Puerto Vallarta to go to a bank to get more money. Do not plan on being able to use your credit cards. And do not bring USD. You are in Mexico. You will need to pay with Mexican pesos. If you do have USD, you will be able to exchange the money around town but the rate is not very good. I also recommend making sure you have bills smaller than the 500 peso ones the ATMs dispense. It helps you be a better guest to the people in town.

Cell service is spotty at best. Wifi is relatively fast, and most places have it but don’t have the password readily accessible so you need to ask for it. I use Verizon, and have their international plan that includes Mexico and Canada, so it was nice to have service when I could get it.

Electricity can come and go. This is normal. It will come back on. Don’t be alarmed and be prepared with a flashlight or a candle or two. Speaking of flashlights, bring one. Or a headlamp. The streets are not well lit at night and you will need one to avoid stepping in horse poop or tripping on a stone.

Life is much slower here. Food can take a while. Don’t worry about it. Good things come to those who wait. Take this time to speak with your friends or family who are with you and enjoy each other’s company. If you want to pay for your meal, you need to ask for the check by saying “la cuenta por favor”. They’ll bring it over and you can pay and go. Tipping of 10-15% on a meal is standard.

If you venture out of the pueblo to the river area, be prepared for bugs and a jungle experience. Why? Because you are in the jungle! Bring some bug spray too.

How do I get to Yelapa?

Such a good question! I am going to share the way we got there with step by step instructions. I will also share some travel tips that helped us along the way. Please note, there are two ways to get there via water taxi. We went with what was easiest. You can google the other one.

Get off your plane and follow the crowd to Immigration and Customs.

Be sure you have the form they give you on the plane COMPLETELY filled out, including the bottom portion (I learned this the hard way). You will give this to the Customs person and need to hold onto the bottom part to give at departure.

The first line is Immigration. This should go relatively quickly, and once you get your stamp, head on to baggage claim. I fly carryon only, so I immediately went to get into the Customs line. This one is a little bit longer. When you get to the front of the line, you’ll hand the form over to the Customs agent and then hit a button. If you get green, you go on through. If you get red, then you will have a secondary screening for organic material in your bag. They’re looking for anything that could allow foreign bugs to infiltrate their local flora and fauna. Leave those apples at home folks!

Once you get through Customs, the fun begins! You will now be subject to a barrage of timeshare sales people. They will do everything in their power to get you to stop and talk to them. They will lie about where the taxis are, they will tell you it’s closed, whatever it takes to talk to get you to talk to them. Put your head down, do not make eye contact and do not stop until you round the corner to where the car rental places are. You are almost out! Round another corner and you are now into the arrivals area. If you bust a hard right, you will see a row of ATMs.

Stop at the ATM and pull out as much money as you think you will need for your stay. Be sure to let your bank back home know you are going to be traveling so they don’t lock down your card. For one week and some some change I took out about 8000 pesos (approx $420 USD). This allowed me about a 1000 peso/day/person budget. This was more than enough for me. I was able to do about 500 peso/day which allowed me extras for souvenirs and other things we needed to buy. Please note: I did not drink alcohol on this trip, so if you choose to drink, your daily rate will go up accordingly.

Once you have pulled out enough cash, walk out the door to the official taxi stand and tell them you want to go to “Playa de los Muertos pier” to get the water taxi to Yelapa. They know where this is and they will ask you if you want to pay in pesos or USD. They will give you a sheet of paper with the price (approx 344 pesos as of March 2019) and where you are going written down on it. Wait for them to get you a taxi. You will hold onto the piece of paper. As you are leaving the airport, you will hand over the piece of paper and pay the 344 pesos. Your driver will help make this go smoothly.

The taxi driver will take you to the closest street to the Playa de los Muertos pier and you can leave him a tip of a couple of dollars (20-50 pesos is fine).

Walk towards the pier and you will see two water taxi offices. The first is one on the left and just past them on the right is the second one. It doesn’t matter which one you use. You can go in and pay. It’s up to you whether you want to get a roundtrip or one way ticket. Roundtrip was 380 pesos. If you are there early, they will watch your luggage for you and you can go to a bank to get the large bills broken down into smaller bills or go grab a bite. The last water taxi leaves at 5p, so don’t miss it!

When you get on the water taxi, there are some kids that will help with your bags. Let them do it and then tip them 20 pesos. Hand it to the kids. Don’t hand it to the adults. Take any help they offer for steadying you or grabbing a hand to help you get on the boat. Trust me. And take it slow and steady.

You’ve made it on the boat! There will be two stops when you arrive in Yelapa. The first is at the hotel pier and the second is at the town pier. Depending on where you are staying, they will tell you which pier to get off of. And most places will have someone there with a wheelbarrow to help you with your luggage. Be sure to tip this person 20-50 pesos as well.

I’ve arrived in Yelapa, now what?

Well, first off….relax. No, seriously. This is the place to relax. There isn’t a whole lot to do here. That’s why you are here, right? Okay, have we taken a few deep breaths? Is all that tension in your neck going away? Good. Here are some suggestions of things to do.

Food and Drink

We ate at a lot of great places. These are the standouts.

Abuelos (great tacos)

Tacos y Mas (more great tacos, only open M-F in the evenings)

Cafe Bahia (best breakfast in the pueblo, closed on Thursdays)

Yelapa Yacht Club (they take credit cards and have large portions)

Ice cream, imported from Guadalajara and next to Tienda Yuri (I think that’s the name), usually open in the evenings. Look for the storefront that says “Helado” on it.

We also ate here:

Mimi’s Cafe

Cafe Eclipse

Gloria’s

Oasis by the River

If you want to cook, you can buy groceries at one of the tiendas and make your own breakfast or lunch. Honestly the food is cheap enough, I recommend at least eating one or two meals out a day. This is a small community that relies heavily on tourism, so share the love.

All the places in town use filtered water for their ice and where you stay should also provide one of those big bottles of water for you to use. I do not recommend drinking the water out of the tap, though it’s fine for brushing teeth and showering. One of my favorite non-alcoholic beverages was either a limonada or a naranjada.

Boat Trip

We found a few places offering a variety of boat trips from snorkeling to fishing. Here they are:

MiraMar Excursions: We met Super Amigo while walking one day. Great guy and would totally go out with them. They have a lot of options and their prices are very competitive. You can book ahead or when you get to Yelapa. They also have places to stay, on their website or on Airbnb.

Garcia Charters: We stayed in an Airbnb listing operated by the Garcia family. They also offer charters. They have more fishing options than other stuff, but I am sure could put something together for you if you asked.

Ultimately, we ended up meeting a guy named Frankie at Fanny’s on the playa and he took us out for about 6 hours, which included snorkeling, hanging out on a private beach, eating lobster in Chimo and getting to experience life as a local. Cost was $60/person (not including lunch in Chimo or tip). If you want to give Frankie a try, ask around town for him and tell him Heather sent ya.

The Playa

We spent a few days on the playa. There are a whole row of restaurants there where you can order some food and lay out on their beach chairs under their umbrellas. You can also rent kayaks, SUPs and try your hand at parasailing. The playa is easily accessible from town, or you can also take a water taxi from the town pier to the playa. Unsure of cost as we never tried it. Also of note: the sandy area at the beach drops off quickly if you go wading out there. Be careful!

Waterfalls

There are two waterfalls. One is in town, and the other is about a two hour hike outside of town. Unfortunately, we did not make it to either of them due to one of our group members having some ankle issues. This is on our list for next time.

Where to Stay

Airbnb is a great option if you are looking for a place with a kitchen. We ended up at a Garcia Rental that was posted on Airbnb. I would also look at MiraMar and Garcia Rentals (both have their spaces listed on Airbnb too) if you want to have your own “home” for your stay. There are hotels in Yelapa if that’s your thing too. For the upscale (or special occasion), you could try Verana. Otherwise, Hotel Lagunita is a popular option. Casa Bahia Bonita is another option.

Be sure to find out how many stairs you have to walk up and down to get to your place. Yelapa is quite hilly and most places are good about letting you know about stairs and how many there are to get where you are staying. You will most likely be right on the ocean, which is amazing for watching birds, iguanas, and other sea life (we saw crabs crawling around on rocks below our Airbnb!) and the views of all the boats in the bay every morning and night is something I always looked forward to. Word to the wise: you are right next to the ocean. As such, the ocean makes sounds. If you don’t like sounds of the ocean, maybe go stay at a resort with soundproof walls and windows instead. I actually read a review from someone who was disturbed by the sounds of the ocean!

If you’d like to see more pictures from our trip, I posted the highlights on my Instagram account, @renegadpilgrim. Check it out! Please leave comments below and ask any questions!

[thinkinaboutjamie]

March 7-10

Disclaimer, I’m putting all first three posts into one.

Hey! Pisngi me

March 7, 2019.

I guess March 8 here, I don’t pisngi know. Is this my intro! Hehe I’m on the plane right now, just woke up from a 10 hour flight, about to watch Black Kkklasmen, says it’s based on a true story. I hope i can watch more movies when I’m back home with my jamie baby. I brought soft son on the trip to me, making my flight super duper coz. Okay not much as happened, we ate some Filipino food shoutout to PAL. I’ll write an update tomorrow!

With love and chungus,

Jerzhy

March 8, 2019.

I arrived today? Last night? Well I’m just gonna go with Filipino time. im super tired, I’m just wrapped in soft son. The air con is fucking blasting and dad roasted me for bringing soft son, but look how great of use I’m making of him! Thanks to my love Jamie for the idea of bringing him. I’m planning on sleeping for a bit, since we just got here. I don’t wanna sleep too long cause I wanna see my cousins, I said hi when I got out of the car. I guess I should address their names? The BBS are Yuri, GBoy, Jedd Jedd, Shen Shen, Ai Ai, Sam Sam, Iris, Nikkos, Shifra, Mote, and Cloris.

Update: there was a fucking earthquake

March 9, 2018.

Today I was supposed to go to the mall, but they had no room for me. That’s okay though, I got to spend time with my cousins. I guess I’ll tell you about each of them along the way. Mot Mot is one of the younger ones, he was with me pretty much the whole day. We talked about Canada, about how he wanted to see the snow. They watched me rush my stats homework really fast, but my laptop was overheating my legs in the fucking heat so I stopped doing homework. We went upstairs into one of the rooms, and at one point it was just me, Yuri, Iris, and GBoy. Iris is the cutest little girl I’ve ever seen, she’s 4 and can speak better English than her headass brother. GBoy is kinda stoic at first, but he’s actually really weird and spunky when you get to know him. He’s so fucking tall now. He also has a tongue piercing. Last year, he sent me a package with a hat telling me to come back to hinundayan. He doesn’t show it but he has a lot of love in his heart. Finally, Yuri, is known as the problem child. He’s the one with a lot of issues with parents and respect and all that. To me he’s just the most rebellious one, with that “too cool for school” act, he has the sweetest heart though. Those headasses tricked me into a video recording and I had no idea what was going on. They taught me how to play Flower power, lucky 9, first three, and ongcol ongcol(?) card games. I watched them play tongits and handtec until SamSam lost all of his money. We all kind of chilled in the room until it got too hot not to.

I got to call my boyfriend after this, it was great. I really miss jamie and his voice and big chungus looking pisngis. I wish he was here, he would love all the kids. It’s a nice break from Vancouver too. Shortly after my love patay’d, I patay’d too really early - like 8pm here. Everyone and I mean everyone was drinking, and Ynna’s mother was literally screaming her name for her. She was so wasted my parents had to help her to her motorcycle and Ynna had to drive her home. Ynna is the perfect daughter, beautiful, strong, nice, and top of her class. She is proper and does everything right, she never talks back and is very polite. I sometimes feel bad for her because of how perfect of a mould she has to embody when she’s here, I told her that she didn’t need to be that around me, she can just be a kid. She loosened up after I told her that and talked more, just like when I first told her that two years ago.

Ynna’s mothers screeching woke me up from my slumber. I went into the other room to see what was going on outside, since one of the rooms shows where they gamble. Jedd Jedd and GBoy were sleeping in the big house tonight, but only GBoy was still awake. I talked to him a bit, and he gave me one of his rings, aka “remembrance.”

March 10, 2018.

Today was a great day. The only thing missing is my lovely boyfriend. I think about what we could do here together if he was here. This morning I ligo sa dagat* (swam in the sea) and it was sooo beautiful. I went with two of my older cousins Kuya Tom Tom and Kuya JR, my ninang Ta Ta and my little cousin Sam Sam. It was quite beautiful and nice out there, beaches far beyond the scope of kitsilano.

After we did that we didn’t really do much for a couple hours, we chilled. I was mostly with GBoy, Jedd Jedd, Mote, and Yuri. Yuri danced to some whack ass Filipino shit for me, he also picked out my white hairs, LOL. Yuri, Sam Sam, and Mot Mot helped me learn some bisaya and Tagalog, and they wrote it down in my stats notebook for me to remember. Uncle Raul got Sam Sam a drone, well, two, but not the ones that you’re thinking. They’re just the toys, without the cameras - not the casey neistat bullshit. He lost it, but later he told me someone found it in a neighbours backyard. SamSam is the thickest one, the one most favoured by the parents but most bullied by the kids. They say he’s a cry baby and he’s a bully and an annoying piece of shit, but I actually love him. This morning I saw him literally dancing and stepping over great Lola Deli, and later overheard a conversation that went like,

Kuya Tom Tom: “Sam, did you drink a lot last night? You’re so fat today.”

Sam Sam: “No, I didn’t drink stupid. I am the one to watch over Lola Deli.”

So wholesome eh? We also all took photos today. I look RANK AF so I’m not posting any of them. I also had a heart to heart with my half brother JerJohn. Not sure what’s really going on there. Ate Bianca, kuya TomTom’s girlfriend, also came to visit and eat with us. She played a round of the card games with me and the bb cousins.

To top it all off, I got to FaceTime my baby jamie. My service got cut off today, luckily I was able to catch him before he slept. It looks like he’s having a rough go at home but some days are better - it’s timed like these where I wish, simultaneously, I would be there and he would be here. It would be nice to take him away for a while.

[ggukcangetit]

Dreamcatchers Chap 2

Pairing: jungkook x oc

Synopsis: DI Jeon didn’t need a new partner. Unfortunately, his superiors felt otherwise; especially considering the extremely high-profile murder that had just taken place in the port city. Recent transfer, DI Choi Yuri finds herself confronted with a new cityscape, unfamiliar people, a hostile partner, and a homicide that is certain to bring back unpleasant memories.

Rating: NC-17

Genre/AU: fluff/action/mystery | detective! au | police!jungkook, police!oc

Word Count: 2k

Warnings: mentions of violence, alcohol, blood, drugs, death. basically stuff you’d associate with a murder mystery/crime drama.

Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Acknowledgement: shoutout to @stutterfly​ for designing this beautiful banner which i am completely in love with and stare at for no particular reason throughout the day

A/N: second chapter! i was planning to post a chapter each friday but got slightly delayed this week. reminding everyone that this story features a named oc because i’m still very unfamiliar with writing second person reader inserts. i’m not aiming for strict accuracy in this story, and all criminal investigation/forensics knowledge i have has been gathered by watching crime drama/procedural dramas! my knowledge of geography is also not totally accurate so apologies for that. once again, one thing right by @hobios​ prompted me to write a police inspector! jungkook story. would highly recommend reading that because it’s probably one of my most favorite pieces of writing!

17th December

Yuri walked into the station at 7 am the next day and found that it was surprisingly empty. She had brought a few small things to keep at her desk - a picture of her parents, a couple of pens, a small sticky notepad, and a mason jar filled with snacks. She smiled to herself as she recalled how her old colleagues always used to teased her about the mason jar.

“Good morning, DI Choi! Hope you’re settling in properly.” Seulgi came over with two cups of coffee and placed one in front of her.

“Oh, thank you! I forgot to get coffee on my way here,” Yuri replied with a smile. “And please, let’s not be so formal. Call me Yuri.”

“Alright then, Yuri, please call me Seulgi!”

Yuri was grateful to see a friendly face at the station. She hadn’t slept a wink the previous night, and had been dreading having to see Jeon in the morning. 

“You’re here really early,” continued Seulgi. “I’m sure Chief Inspector Goh will be very impressed.”

“Ah no, it’s nothing like that.” Yuri brushed it off with a laugh. “We’re bringing in a witness today. I just wanted to orient myself with the station before we questioned him.”

“Oh? A witness?”

“Hmm.” Yuri swirled the contents of the cup in her hand, looking at it absentmindedly. “We couldn’t bring him in last night, unfortunately.”

“I see. Oh, before I forget,” said Seulgi, checking something on her phone. “The autopsy should be ready by this afternoon. That should hopefully help you a bit.”

“Perfect! I think we can start creating a proper timeline once we have the results.”

“I’ll leave you to it then, Yuri,” said Seulgi. “I have to get back to the lab.”

Yuri sighed and leaned her head back against the headrest of the station’s revolving chair. She recalled the interview with Mr. Kang the previous day; he hadn’t exactly been uncooperative, but something about his manner was odd. The absence of grief might not be indicative of guilt, but it definitely hinted at something lying underneath his polished words.

“DI Jeon? DI Choi?” Jisoo came over with an uncomfortable expression on her face. “We’ve brought in Mr. Park. He’s waiting in interview room #3.”

Yuri wondered why Jisoo looked so disturbed. Then again, she had only met the junior officer for the first time the previous day; she really didn’t know anything about her or her usual disposition.

“Don’t accept things from people for the sake of being polite.” Jeon brushed past her, the frown firmly embedded on her face. 

“What?” Yuri quickly put her phone into her pocket and followed him.

“The coffee,” he said, as if self-explanatory.

“What about it?”

“You don’t like it. You aren’t going to drink it. But you’re still holding onto it because Seulgi gave it to you. Just dump it in the trash. We don’t have time for  unnecessary courtesy, DI Choi. It’s a hindrance.”

Although his tone was hard and tinged with irritation, Yuri realised that Jeon was right. She had taken one sip of the coffee in front of Seulgi, but the truth was that she hated plain black coffee. Indeed, the last 15 minutes had been spent swirling the contents of the cup but never taking a sip. Yet, Jeon had noticed and somehow come to the right conclusion. Was she really so easy to read? A tiny bubble of annoyance began growing inside Yuri - what gave Jeon the right to comment on her choice of beverage, or anything for that matter!

Interview room #3 was the largest one in the station. Yuri walked in to find a young man leaning back in the uncomfortable metal chair, looking like he was the one in charge. His silvery blond hair was parted in the middle matching the cold hue of his grey eyes and the pallor of his porcelain white skin. Everything about him looked frosty except, Yuri realised, the reddish pink of his rather plump lips. 

Jeon sat down across from him, flipping open a thin file. “Thank you for coming in, Mr. Park. W-”

“Now now,” interrupted Park Jimin, his voice more soft and high-pitched than Yuri had expected. “We’ve known each other far too long for formalities, Jeongguk. You’ve been to almost every one of my New Year’s Eve parties, remember?” 

Jeon clenched his teeth, a muscle ticking in his cheek. “As I was saying-”

“But I don’t believe we’ve met.” Jimin turned towards Yuri, the right side of his lips twitching upwards slightly. “I’m Park Jimin.”

Suddenly, Yuri felt uneasy. There was something about the way Park Jimin was looking at her that made her stomach feel queasy. 

“DI Choi,” she said, gulping down the bile that threatened to rise inside her. “Can you tell us what you were doing on the night of December 15th, Mr. Park?”

“I can,” he said, leaning back once again. “But whether I will, is another question.”

The thing about Park Jimin was that he was being incredibly transparent about his desire to hinder the investigation in any way. On top of that, his gaze kept flitting towards Yuri - a fact that Jeon seemed completely oblivious to - and lingering for the briefest of moments. 

“I’m asking you again, Mr. Park,” said Yuri, placing her arms on the table. “What were you doing on the night of December 15th?”

“I really don’t think that’s any of your business. Unless,” he paused, his lips lifting into a smirk. “You’re interested in joining me afterwards for a drink.”

“This is a murder investigation, Mr. Park! Stop propositioning the investigating detective and answer the question!” Jeon slammed his fist down on the table, a vein throbbing along the side of his neck. 

 “A murder investigation, huh?” The silver haired man finally made eye contact with Jeon, his eyes no longer flippant and suggestive. “Finally getting down to the facts, aren’t we?”

The air had grown considerably more tense, and Yuri sensed that there was definitely something about Park Jimin that she hadn’t read in his files.

“Who?”

“What?” Jeon clenched the fist that remained stiff on the table.

“Who’s murder are you investigating, Jeongguk?”

The balance of power in the room had tipped in favor of Park Jimin when Jeon reluctantly opened his file and took out a picture. Sliding it towards the other man, he leaned back into his chair and waited for the latter to finish looking at it.

“Kang Eunwoo was found dead in his home yesterday. His father says you visited him the previous night and were possibly the last person to see him alive.”

“No.” Park Jimin pushed the picture back towards them. His body language had stiffened considerably.

“No?”

“I didn’t visit him. I haven’t seen Eunwoo since the Grand Fundraiser Gala held at the end of November.”

“Then you won’t mind telling us where you were that night,” Jeon asked, folding his arms across his chest. 

“I’m afraid not.”

“You’re not going to tell us where you were on the night of 15th December?”

“That is correct.”

“I insist you provide a statement of your movements, Mr. Park,” said Yuri, frowning slightly. “Things could get very tricky for you otherwise.”

“I’ll take my chances.”

xxx

“How long can we detain him?” Suho asked Jeon, glancing worriedly at the door to interview room #3.

“24 hours max,” said Jeon, checking his phone. “Unless we come across something more concrete connecting him to the case. Just because he’s being an asshole, doesn’t necessarily mean he’s guilty.”

“Doesn’t mean he’s not,” added Suho, with a shrug. 

“Have you checked his bank records? Credit card usage?” asked Yuri. “We could try and construct a timeline with that - find out his whereabouts, where he went, what he did.”

“On it!” replied Suho with a grin.

Jeon, on the other hand, didn’t look too thrilled. He sat at his desk, flipping through some files that were clearly not part of the current case - judging by how many of the pages were dog-eared and worn from repeated examination. 

“Why isn’t Jimin providing an alibi?” Yuri asked, recalling the trainwreck of an interview they had just completed. Jeon didn’t answer; the rustling of pages the only indication of his presence.

“If the Kangs and Parks are such bitter rivals, it probably gives him a strong motive. If he didn’t have anything to do with Eunwoo’s death, why is he refusing to tell us where he was?”

Silence.

“Unless, of course, he did have something to do with the death.” Yuri got up from her chair and peered over the partition between her and Jeon’s desks. “Something about him shifted after he saw the picture of Eunwoo.”

Yuri frowned, as Jeon continued to ignore her. Walking over to his desk, she tapped him on the shoulder a few times before he reluctantly turned towards her.

“What’s your problem, Jeon?”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. You’ve been an absolute dick since I joined yesterday. I’d chalk it up to a personality defect, if it weren’t for the things that Ahreum told me. So I’m asking you again,” she said through gritted teeth. “What exactly is your problem?”

Jeon shut the file and slammed it on his desk. Standing up straight, he was almost a head taller than Yuri. His strong brows emphasizing the ire in his dark eyes. 

“I don’t need a newbie coming in and telling me what to do, and messing up the system.”

“I am not a newbie...” Yuri barely managed to contain her anger. “I haven’t told you what to do! And I damn well haven’t messed with your fucking system!” 

“You really have no idea about my fucking system, Choi.” Jeon glared at her. 

At any other point, the unfortunate choice of word order would have made Yuri cringe. But she was too angry to consider any sleazy innuendos Jeon was trying to throw into their argument.

“I don’t care what Ahreum said about you. You’re a humongous asshole and if this was any other situation, I would’ve walked the fuck out of here! But as it stands, I will be working here. And I will be working on this case. If you continue making things difficult for me-” she picked up the file Jeon had been reading in favor of answering her questions- “I’m gonna drop this off at Goh’s desk. Then you can say goodbye to whatever the fuck it is that you’re so obsessed with!”

“Don’t you dare.” He was standing very close to her now, his jaw hardening aggressively. “If you so much as touch that file again-”

Jeon was interrupted by someone clearing their throat. Seulgi stood a few feet away, looking slightly alarmed at the scene unfolding in front of her.

“Is everything okay?” she asked, uncertainly. 

“What do you want?” snapped Jeon, snatching the file away from Yuri.

“I have the autopsy report.” Her expression still remained concerned, but she handed the file over to him nonetheless. “COD is blunt force trauma to the back of the head. It’s most likely that he hit his head on the granite mantle above the fireplace. Death was instantaneous so he must have hit it with considerable force - not something I’d attribute to an accidental fall. Time of death estimated between midnight and 1 am.”

“He was hosting a party that night,” said Yuri. “There was definitely plenty of alcohol present. Was he very drunk?”

“I’d say there was enough to loosen his inhibitions considerably, but not enough to be completely pissed.”

“What about drugs?” 

Jeon scoffed at Yuri’s continued questions, his eyes never leaving the autopsy report.

“Do you have something to say, Jeon?” asked Yuri, irritably.

Seulgi intervened before the argument could escalate once again. “No, there weren’t any drugs in his system. At least not the regular ones. I’d have to check specifically if we’re looking for rarer, less traceable ones.”

“Can we get the people who were present at the party to come in give us a blood sample?” asked Yuri. “Maybe Eunwoo didn’t do any drugs, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t any drugs at the party.”

“I can run the tests. Most of the drugs I tested for remain in a person’s blood for at least 2-3 days.”

Jeon returned the file to Seulgi. “There’s no need for that.”

“What?” Yuri snapped her head in his direction. “Why not?”

“You won’t find drugs being used at the Kang mansion.” He picked up his backpack and started walking towards the exit.

“Where are you going, Jeon?!” yelled Yuri.

“Home.”

xxx

lemme know how you liked the chapter! 

[valkyri-anna]

This Post is About Anime Openings

I got bored one time and decided to figure out what my top 25 favorite anime opening songs are so here they are

25. Crazy Noisy Bizarre Town - THE DU - Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable

This one is on here almost just because I wanted it to be better. I pretty much knew it was going to end up at the bottom of the list, because a part of me definitely hates this song, but that’s largely because it just doesn’t feel like a Jojo opening. Just imagine moving from the god-tier song that is “end of THE WORLD” to this. It starts out really strong but just goes downhill starting with the chorus.

24. Go!!! - Flow - Naruto

Here’s your nostalgia entry. This song is really stupid but I love it anyway. I was never super into Naruto, and when I was into it I read the manga, but this song is so strongly associated with middle school for me, and the fact that I don’t hate it speaks to how fun it is.

23. Database - Man with a Mission ft. Takuma - Log Horizon

This is a rare anime song that could be better if it was sung by a native English speaker. You can tell English isn’t the singer’s first language, because obviously he’s Japanese, and I think having someone with less of an accent would benefit the song. That said, I do like it, and it works well for a series which is basically just Sword Art Online, except good.

22. For Real - Tokuyami Hidenori - Saiyuki

I don’t like Saiyuki. I tried to watch it, and it just wasn’t very good. Maybe it was good in the 90′s, but if that’s true it definitely doesn’t hold up. However, the opening song is a window to the past in the best kind of way. This is an opening straight from the Sailor Moon era with a sick injection of unnecessary guitar riff.

21. Red Fraction - Mell - Black Lagoon

This song is WEIRD, and it fits Black Lagoon so well. Unlike Database, Mell’s vocals work well for creating the feel the song is going for. Its strange industrial sound gets you way in the mood for a dark slice-of-life about gun-slinging mercenaries, which is perfect since that’s what Black Lagoon is.

20. Sirius - Eir Aoi - Kill la Kill

This song might have ended up here because I had just started watching Kill la Kill when I made this list, but I still like this song. Eir Aoi’s voice is powerful and fun to listen to, and this ridiculous opening is perfect for a ridiculous series like Kill la Kill. It’s like the early 2000′s anime world in a song.

19. We Go! - Hiroshi Kitadani - One Piece

For me, this was the first One Piece opening to capture the fun of “We Are,” and a perfect way to kick off the series’ second half. The punchy, fun music and clever lyrics created what is easily the second best opening the series has had thus far.

18. The Day - Porno Graffiti - My Hero Academia

Here’s a hyped-up song for a hyped-up show. A series about superheroes deserves a super song, and Porno Graffiti delivers it. The punchy drums and powerful vocals always get me excited, and it’s a shame the series’ second opening didn’t live up to “The Day’s” precedent.

17. Tank! - The Seatbelts - Cowboy Bebop

I’m gonna be honest and say I’ve never actually seen Cowboy Bebop, but I definitely still love this opening. The jazzy, upbeat music marks a style of opening that I absolutely adore, and you won’t see the last of it on this list with “Tank!”

16. Stand Proud - Jin Hashimoto - Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders

Of the four Jojo openings that actually feel like Jojo openings, “Stand Proud” is the worst, but it’s definitely still good. The lyrics cleverly call back to Part 1 of JJBA, fitting considering the show’s main villain. It may not be as good as the two openings that came before or the one that came after, but it still manages to be pretty good.

15. Guns and Roses - Paradise Lunch - Baccano!

Told you you’d see this style again. If “Tank!” was fun, “Guns and Roses” is hysterical. It’s fast, fun, and exciting. The lack of lyrics gives the viewer a lot more room to focus on the 12 million characters on screen, and the upbeat music fits the manic characters perfectly.

14. Hyadain no Kakakata Kataomoi-C - Maeyamada Kenichi - Nichijou

I’ll confess that I have a major soft spot for silly, girly, slice-of-life anime openings. The first Yuru Yuri opening could have easily taken a spot on this list, but I only wanted one such song and I think this one is more fun. The duet works so well and it’s adorable. Also, the guitar solo in the middle is a most welcome surprise.

13. The Hero!! - JAM Project - One Punch Man

The original mega-hype mega-song! I don’t know what to say about this song that hasn’t already been said. It rocks. It’s cool. It works for the series. I don’t know.

12. Mazeru na Kiken - Kinniku Shojo Tai - Ushio to Tora

The thing that stood out to me most about this series was the art style, and the second thing was the opening. It’s definitely the closest thing to classic metal I’ve heard in an anime opening, and it works really well. The over-the-top opening primes you perfectly for the over-the-top show that follows.

11. Re: Re: - Asian Kung Fu Generation - Erased

Another series I haven’t seen all the way through, but I do really like this opening. The guitar riff playing throughout is really cool, and the energetic but almost melancholy vocals are so interesting to listen to. It works perfectly.

10. end of THE WORLD - Jin, Coda, and Hiroaki Tominaga - Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders

If Stardust Crusaders was a series about calling back to what came before you, “end of THE WORLD” was the perfect song, and a perfect way to kick off our top ten. It brings back the singers for all three previous openings and puts together an almost theatrical experience that never ceases to amaze me.

9. Guren no Yumiya - Linked Horizon - Attack on Titan

Yes, it’s THAT Attack on Titan opening. I don’t need to explain this one any further, I don’t think.

8. A Cruel Angel’s Thesis - Yoko Takahashi - Neon Genesis Evangelion

This song needs no introduction. Everyone knows Evangelion and everyone knows this song. It doesn’t match the tone of the series at all, but I couldn’t imagine NGE opening any other way. Yoko Takahashi is a goddess.

7. 99 - Mob Choir - Mob Psycho 100

Now here’s a song that couldn’t have gone with any series other than the one it was made for. This song really loses something in the TV version, because the counting motif throughout is so cool, and they had to skip a lot of the middle to fit it into a minute and a half. If you listen to this song, make sure it’s the full version.

6. Bloody Stream - Coda - Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Battle Tendency

I have to first make an honorable mention for “Awaken,” the theme of the Pillar Men, because if that was an opening it would have beat this. That said, if “So no Chi no Sadame” captures Jonathan’s chivalry, “Bloody Stream” capture’s Joseph’s fiery spirit. This was the perfect song for Battle Tendency and it’s extremely fun to listen to.

5. Rin! Rin! Hi! Hi! - Hashiguchikanaderiya Hugs the Superball - Nanbaka

The perfect mix of suave and fun finds itself a home in this song. The singer’s smooth vocals and the unrelenting guitar mix better than they have any right to to make a song that stays fresh every time you listen to it.

4. R.O.D. - YKZ - R.O.D. the TV

Ok, I promise this is the last jazzy opening entry on this list, but it’s the best. It captures the Hong Kong action feel of the show’s best action sequences and I truly do love it. It takes a high spot on this list for all the right reasons.

3.  We Are! - Vic Mignogna - One Piece

I mentioned “We Are!” earlier and it’s not my third favorite anime opening for nothing. Vic Mignogna has managed to lend his voice to the only English dub of an anime opening I actually prefer to the original. I didn’t even start One Piece until 2015, but this song still makes me nostalgic. Honorable mention to the “Friendship Version” of this song, if there was a version of that featuring the English voice cast, that would likely have taken the number one or two spot.

2. Again - Yui - Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

This song is perfect. Yui is perfect. Not a lot of singers can carry a verse like she can, and not many bands capture an almost Nirvana-like energy dynamic like she does here. Only one song by one singer could have possibly beat her, and it’s...

1. So no Chi no Sadame - Hiroaki Tominaga - Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood

No one but Tominaga could have made this song sound as good as it does. Jonathan Joestar is far and away anime’s best-ever boy, and he deserves anime’s best-ever opening. The brass, the vocals, the guitar, everything comes together perfectly to create a song that’s fresh, unique, and PERFECT IN EVERY WAY, JUST LIKE JOJO, I LOVE YOU JOJO PLEASE COME BACK TO US

So anyway that was 25 anime openings that I like, if you made it through this list congratulations 

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Girls’ Last Tour 1 - 2 | Juuni Taisen 4 - 5 | Ancient Magus’ Bride 2 - 3 | Idolish7 1 - 2

The only one I’ve properly kept up with out of my 5 shows this season is Juuni Taisen, so I’m going to roll out the tag for that show first. Also, the Idolish7 first two episodes became free recently so I cover them here too.

Girls’ Last Tour 1

Pipes…grunge…hey, doesn’t this look familiar? *glares at Princess Principal*

I’ve only seen one episode of Made in Abyss but I get a bad feeling about these character designs…

I’m worried about this falling into the Yuri Divide. Sure,the fandom can do what it wants, but please don’t ship the lolis.

Oh right. Wind, meaning there’s an opening somewhere.

That dramatic eye opening made the outside world seem like an anticlimax. C’mon, show. You can do better than that.

I feel like Chito says “shut up” a lot, even though she’s only said it twice. I get how she’s kind of relatable, but this show’s not on the level of MMO Junkie or even Juuni Taisen. It’s just kinda…average.

Did Tangled ever teach you how to use a pan, Yuu?

Everything’s kinda WWI-esque. It’s kinda unsettling for a person who’s never properly seen war.

Even in this snowy world, you could still learn to hunt and cook, right?

If you kill your friend in a post-apocalyptic world, you’ll be lonely by war. Don’t kill each other, kiddos. Lives are precious.

This is serious, kiddos! C’mon!

Eating snow is meant to quench your thirst, but it’s not any good for hunger. Apparently.

Well, I’m quite lukewarm on this. I’ve already found my seasonal hits and I study globalisation, so it’s no surprise I find this stuff a lot like my weekly content. Nonetheless, whoever decided to put Classicaloid behind a paywall’s gonna have to pay (pun not intended)!

Girls’ Last Tour 2

I half expect a “hey you!” joke but they don’t work in Japanese…

What are the wiggly things on the ground next to Chi and Yuu in the OP??? Leeches???

Oh geez. Now they even draw cleavage on the lolis. Meaning these guys are just drawn young. That’s both a good and a bad thing.

Those letters seem to be…no language in particular.

Book burning. What a thing to throw in.

Oh. The blocky writing is actually hiragana or katakana. You just need to look at it closely.

I think that was meant to be comedy…but it was so cruel. Poor book.

I think what they’re saying is “don’t burn history”, but I think we learnt that a long time ago when the Chinese burnt books.

Maybe if these gals had Bear Grylls they’d survive a bit longer…?

Lemme guess: either Yuu burnt them all, destroyed them all or read them all.

The original joke was gomen wa, where ne is similar to wa. At least, I think it’s a wa. It could be a re.

The red circle said Yuu wrote the me wrong, so it’s actually probably gonun ne.

Well, someone funded a sakuga ending. Like the one from ACCA with dancing Lotta.

Juuni Taisen 4

I find it heavily symbolic that Nezumi likes eating eggs. Eggs represents chickens…and conundrums…

Ooh…bam. Nisio Isin’s going the Middle Eastern proxy route.

Hmm. Interesting, it’s basically Bystander Effect: the War.

The anime’s currently ahead of the manga, so I got slightly startled by Boar’s appearance. However, I’ve read some spoilers elsewhere, so I knew she was going to be in Monkey’s story somewhere else. I just didn’t think it was this soon.

Recycled footage…bad show! Bad!

LOL, CGI tank. Sorry for ruining the mood, but that stood out a bit too much for my liking.

“…participation is mandatory…” – Huh. I never saw that detail coming.

“Ow. I thought you were against violence.” – (LOL.) Yeah, but apathy isn’t good when something’s coming to get you in the sewers, so I’m with Monkey on this.

Wa-wait! Y’mean, Rabbit can use Chicken to use Eye of the Cormorant…so Monkey will die this ep??? [Monkey dying]’s exactly what I’ve been fearing for the duration of this episode. Update: If you want the spoiler version from the end of the ep…she didn’t die.

Notice Monkey uses moves that use the strength of her opponent against her. It’s a very pacifist touch, so to speak.

There are a series of images that flash by before the casual clothes part of the ED. If you observe them closely, you’ll see a lot of them involve the number 12. (Example: the cubes have lines on them that read “12”.)

LOL, I think I only just now spotted the bodyguard behind Boar. He’s hard to spot behind all the splatter.

Home boy and his T-bars make me laugh every time. Then of course, there’s Mr Floofy Jacket.

Oh, it’s Duodecuple who’s doing these next ep previews. I couldn’t figure out who it was last time I tried.

Juuni Taisen 5

Genius, with a capital letter? They keep calling him the Genius of Slaughter in his backstory, so I guess that’s where it’s from.

A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing is the same in Japanese as it is English, so at least the pun is there.

LOL, this episode is pretty much all “stuff goes kaboom!”, and that’s pretty much the way of the Sheep. Haha.

Of mice and men, eh??? (I read enough spoilers to know who the victor is…but I don’t know how they win.)

Whoa, yeah, baby! Bring that action! (That happens to be exactly the way I imagine my own action stories – from the front seat, so to speak.)

The snake’s winking! So cute! I want me some plushies like those!

Old-Timer. Haha, great pun on so many, many levels.

Ancient Magus’ Bride 2

I started doing a productivity blog and got caught up in it so much, I neglected anime! Imagine that – me, neglecting anime!

Oh, there’s a little “open” sign near the door.

It’s anime Hogwarts! Only the train is more colorful…LOL. (Actually, Little Witch Academia is anime Hogwarts, so scratch that.)

Ooh, Elias has a good taste in faces. Not that I’m complaining or anything. (Looks like En-chan, to boot.)

Elias is like the NEET genius of the magic world here. It’s kinda funny.

What’s a Gem’s Bee? (No spoilers, I’m not a manga reader!)

Angelica’s like her (Chise’s) mother, LOL. Seeing Elias properly emote is hilarious, hilarious! (Why I procrastinated on this show? Because it’s a slow mover that should be appreciated in its own time, but I’m not good with binging so…that’s why I’m only watching it now.)

Oh! No wonder Angelica seems like a mother. She is a mother.

Ooh! Ice flowers. Pretty. I’ve already gotten way too many screenshots for my own good out of this show…As a writer, I feel like I could never make a story like this.This is a story best fostered under someone else’s hand.

Poppies, eh? To me, poppies symbolise war and sticking out, but that’s just a product of where I was born. In the case of war, poppies represent the blood of the fallen and those who rise above that.

Speaking of stories I couldn’t write, I’m currently bringing Next to Me to a close. I feel like that’s my best match to AMB, which is why my thoughts dwell on stories so much right now. Next to Me is one of those stories where the world matters just as much as the character building, if not more, which is why the understated majesty of AMB is a good match.

Seeing a blonde Englishman use –kun like a Japanese is a bit disorienting.

Simon really treats Chise like a child, eh?

The “open” sign now says “close”. What is this house, an apothecary?

The CGI door was a bit weird…

Whoa! That was a bit of a fast approach into the dragon scene, but apparently the dragon part of AMB was really hyped…

Ancient Magus’ Bride 3

How does skelly-man see like that?

The dragons look like…Pokémon! (That was my first thought, LOL.)

This blonde is Lindel from the promo material I’ve read. He looks like zaShunina (Kado), so it’s best to be wary of him.

Ooh, now there’s an application of shadows I’d never be able to think of!

Holy flame spirits, Batman! Elias has a tongue! (I got spoilered on that by ANN, but it’s crazy seeing it in context.)

Ancient mages shouldn’t be hot like zaShunina! Where are the real old fogeys like Kiku(hiko, SGRS)?

Uncle Nevin! I found it extremely charming this uil has a name beyond “Uil”.

Can these dragons read minds? Or is it just the power of Dragon Knowledge (TM)?

When they say “Anime saved my life”, I guess they never meant it this literally…or at least, Chise never meant it this literally.

That dragon has way too many eyes!!! Yipes.

Huh. I haven’t felt this feeling since SGRS. The feeling of a masterpiece on my eyeballs.

羽鳥チセ <- That’s how you write Chise’s name, so they did another “Western creature uses Japanese knowledge” thing…

D’aww. That was beautiful! No wonder people like it, now I like it too. Nothing short of majestic, guys, nothing short of majestic.

Hey, the guy who voiced Nevin is called Ryuuzaburo. Ryuu means dragon in this case. (Meta pun!)

Idolish 7 1

Crunchyroll really tried to hype this thing up! Wow. So, here I am at what could pretty much be called a premiere event of the simulcast commentary. Enjoy, friends.

By the way, I’ve tried a bit of the Idolish 7 game (but since it was on BlueStacks, I couldn’t do the “rhythm” part of the rhythm game very well and subsequently couldn’t get too far) and of course, there’s a vested interest through Shirai, Masuda and Nishiyama. Update: There’s no Nishiyama in sight. Sorry, guys.

Oh wow. This is exactly as I remember it in the game, right down to the word!

Yay! I was looking forward to seeing the basketball scene adapted, since it’s possibly the only scene I got to experience in the game in its (Japanese) entirety. Bring the dang game to the Western world, Bandai!

Riku is such a pure cinnamon bun when he gets the basketball back.

LOL, Nagi is such a flirt, kyaa~ (semi-sarcastic).

I don’t remember them dropping Trigger’s name so early…geesh, my memory must be sketchier than I thought it was.

Just as a reference, Iori (black) is 17 while Riku (red) is 18.

Ooh, I just spotted a Trigger ad on one building during that cut.

Ooh, good sense of drama these guys have got going.

Idolish 7 2

Expressiveness for a grump like Yamato, LOL.  

LOL, there’s a shark in the back…

Iori has a cat shirt, hahaha.

Cool and sharp…stationery? Like a compass?

Iori’s so sarcastic, I can’t tell f he’s ever being serious or not.

I don’t know who’s my favourite so far out of these i7 boys. Probably the one similar to my husbando, Tamaki.

Ahh, gotta love me a good, honest hardworking anime gal. You don’t see them very often, y’know. It’s refreshing.

That was a great Iori impression Mitsuki did, even visually (note: I didn’t listen to Mitsuki do the impression, I only read the subs…hence my comment). Troyca really captured the style of the game, to boot, which is another cherry on the cake.

Notice Iori stands in front of the D.C. (da capo) and leaves to reveal it.

I researched who Riku’s brother is while I was watching ep 1 and…(spoilers for the uninitiated!) the brother is Tenn of Trigger!

There was a soba ad in the back in one lingering shot…

Hey, I get the feeling there’s CGI involved in this dance segment, but it’s…hardly detectable! Amazing! These guys seem to have gone a long way since the horribly animated Monster Generation MV.

Notice they (Troyca) only use CGI in (mostly) shots which don’t involve closeups.

Of course Nagi winks in the middle of his performance…

Whoo, yeah. That was a bold move by Crunchyroll, and of course that would grab me more than just leaking the first ep. I wonder if any critics covered this on their blogs…? Or would it not matter, since critics wouldn’t cover this “uncritical slop” anyway? Nonetheless, I covered it, and that’s what matters! (Update: Yeah, all the critics – Frog-kun, Lauren in Space, Mage in a Barrel etc. - passed on it. As expected of those critics…)

[nofomoartworld]

Art F City: This Week’s Must-See Art Events: Constructing Paradise or the Devil Giving Birth to the Patriarchy?

Bea Fremderman

It’s a strange week in post-America, indeed, when the least dystopian art event involves Kim Kardashian ass-workout tapes.

That would be Cindy Hinant’s solo show at MuseumofAmericabooks Monday night. Tuesday, perpetual AFC fav Peter Burr is speaking at the New School, and never has the thought of retreating into one of his installations and imagining life in an underground city been so tempting. But if you’re an artist ready to join the resistance, head to ICP School on Wednesday for a discussion about the role of artists in activism during these dark days. Thursday, every opening feels timely, even Mary Beth Edelson’s 1970s feminist mythologies on view at David Lewis. Down the street, Bea Fremderman waxes apocalyptic at Shoot the Lobster, and the New School has an exhibition about the US/Mexican border that will probably break some hearts.

The weekend brings more timely events, such as David Diao exhibition about his childhood experiences as a refugee (at Postmasters) and a Sunday conference at the New Museum about bodies under duress. Come get advice from lawyers and activists about civil disobedience, the migrant crisis, environmental crises, and more.

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Mon

MuseumofAmericabooks

18 Herkimer Pl. Brooklyn, NY 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.Website

Cindy Hinant: Exercise Videos

Cindy Hinant mines the bowels of pop culture detritus for her series “Exercise Videos”. Namely, Kim Kardashian’s booty-sculpting workout tapes. Each of these—”Ultimate Butt Body Sculpt”, “Butt Blasting Cardio Step”, and “Amazing Abs Body Sculpt”—features Kim K. excitedly talking about her routines while the screen slowly fills with the dominant color from each tape’s packaging.

This reduces the content to color fields, referencing the graphic design of consumerism and “the construction of gendered identities and the aspirational aspects of celebrity culture.”

But has anyone made video art from the sex tape that started it all?

Tue

Austrian Cultural Forum

11 East 52nd Street New York, NY 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.Website

Constructing Paradise

Curated by Dieter Buchhart and Mathias Kessler, this exhibition traces the invention of “exoticism” to 19th Century colonialism and reactionary thinking to Europe’s rapid industrialization. The show includes art historical names such as Paul Gauguin alongside contemporary artists who deal with the consequences of colonialism, such as Kara Walker and Mickalene Thomas.

The New School

2 West 13th Street New York, NY 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.Website

Peter Burr Artist Talk

We can’t gush enough about how much we love Peter Burr’s work. His immersive video installations and world-building semi-abstract, semi-narrative animations are hypnotic and wholly transporting.

In this talk, part of the New York Comics & Picture-story Symposium, expect talk of sci-fi dystopias and utopias, video games, and new approaches to cinema. This is a must-see for any digital art/moving-image fans.

Wed

Michelson Theater, Tisch School of the Arts

721 Broadway New York, NY 6:30 p.m.Website

Film Screening: Amos Vogel and Cinema 16

Presented in conjunction with with the exhibition Inventing Downtown:Artist-Run Galleries in New York City, 1952–1965, on view at NYU’s Grey Art Gallery, this screening night pays tribute to the artist-run Cinema 16 society. Founded by Amos Vogel in 1947, Cinema 16 attracted a variety of artists working in avant-garde film making at the midcentury.

Films:

Arne Sucksdorff, A Divided World (10 min.), Oskar Fischinger, Allegretto (3 min.), Kenneth Anger, Fireworks (15 min.), Weegee and Amos Vogel, Weegee’s New York (33 min). Stan Brakhage, Loving (6 min), Robert Breer, A Man and His Dog Out for Air (3 min). Selected and introduced by Scott MacDonald, visiting professor of Art History, Hamilton College.

ICP School

1114 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.Website

Visual Resistance: An exploration of the role images play in resistance, protest, and social movements with WRRQ Collective

Quito Ziegler and Kristen P. Lovell, founding members of the queer activist WRRQ Collective, will lead a discussion on the role of visual culture in resistance movements. This is a great opportunity for artists who are wondering how to make themselves useful in this fucked up era. Beyond the theoretical, community groups who need visual support will be there, so you can partner with cause there and then.

Thu

David Lewis

88 Eldridge Street New York, NY 2:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.Website

Mary Beth Edelson: The Devil Giving Birth to the Patriarchy

Mary Beth Edelson’s 1970s collages depict strange, invented feminist mythologies. In today’s political climate, where the women’s movement feels like it’s been set back about 4 decades, the goddess demons holding severed heads bring to mind the Frantz Fanon quote “Either one must remain terrified or become terrifying…”

But the scariest thing about this show is how timely it feels. Where’s a destruction goddess when you need one?

Shoot the Lobster

138 Eldridge Street New York, NY 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.Website

Bea Fremderman: How To Do Nothing With Nobody All Alone By Yourself

The doomsday clock is hastening. Never has the end of the world as we know it felt so viscerally within reach. Bea Fremderman’s press release discusses “the apocalypse” as a series of potentials, one that could mean the collapse of capitalism, or a more sinister and violent end brought about by corporate/military/quasi-governmental conspiracy.

We’re not sure what the work here will look like, but the sole image of a Blackberry reimagined as a laughably ineffective hatchet is a compelling one. “Obsolete” technology repurposed as a survival tool? Or illustrating the reality of weaponized communication? In an era where Tweets bring us ever closer to the precipice of disaster, either reading feels urgent.

The New School

2 West 13th Street New York, NY 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.Website

State of Exception/Estado de Excepción

This likely-heartbreaking exhibition includes video shot at the US/Mexico border by Richard Barnes alongside found objects accumulated as part of University of Michigan anthropologist Jason De León’s Undocumented Migration project. These include the personal affects (backpacks, clothing, etc…) of migrants during the difficult desert crossing. State of Exception, created by artist/photographer Richard Barnes, artist/curator Amanda Krugliak, and De León, also includes audio interviews with the undocumented people making the journey. Bring the tissues.

Fri

A.I.R. GALLERY

155 Plymouth Street Brooklyn, NY 7:00 p.m.Website

Bailey Scieszka: The Soft Side of Hardcore

In this performance by Bailey Scieszka, we’ll meet “Old Put the Clown.” I don’t know what that entails exactly, but based on Scieszka’s video work I’ve seen, I’d expect it to be creepy and hilarious at the same time.

Ouchi Gallery

170 Tillary Street Brooklyn, NY 7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.Website

11th 100 EXHIBITION

Ouchi (Japanese for “home”) is a DUMBO gallery in a domestic-feeling space, which for over 10 years has hosted the 100 exhibition series annually. The show brings together 100 artists from Japan, the United States, and beyond for a group show with works about one topic. Unfortunately, this is the last year. To celebrate, the theme for this 100 show is “home.”

Artists: Naoaki Funayama, KAYANO USHIYAMA, TOMOYA ONOUE, Shigeru K, Satsuki Omura, Ayako Okada, Masumi Yoshida, TAKASHI, Kumi Hirose, Lisa Kogawa, kyo→ko, Fumiko Watanab, YOSHIE HIRANO, Tetsuya Furuhara, Yoshi, sato, TOMO, Natsuki Wakita, Saida Shoko, HIRO, Wazen, MEIKO YAGINO, Narayama Furano, Jun Kawashima, Yuki Hemmi, TOYONOBU, Haru, Masashige Furuya, Ayako Bando, Takahiro KOYAMA, Juri Nakano, Hiro Ito, Mayumi Ikejiri, Takuro Hinokio, Yuri Sakai, Shoran, Masako Masukata, Emi Watanabe, Kazuya, Akiko Noda, Ushimaru Saeki, Fumiaki Asai, kaoru, Yoko Iogawa, nana, Keiko Nabila Yamazaki, Misato Takahashi, Tharanga Goonetilleke, Cherry Yiu, Henry MInata, Daisuke Yamada, Tsukamaiko, Takako Hida, MEGUMI OGAWA, Takayuki Nomura, ChIIkako Rosy, Silvia Aviles, chakory dey, Megumi Chiaya, Asami Tatuda, felicia van ham, felli, grace emery foster, gretchen robinette, Keith dragon mackie, laramie flick, lola jiblazee, nana sampongart, tornado byrne, abigail puritz, alex nowak, alexis men-ra, burnet griffin iv, wimpy af

Sat

Postmasters Gallery

54 Franklin Street New York, NY 5:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.Website

David Diao: HongKong Boyhood

David Diao’s paintings take their cues from modernist abstraction and data visualization—from personal narratives to the political histories that inform them. Namely, Diao’s turbulent childhood spent fleeing the mainland Chinese revolution, to chaotic Hong Kong before ultimately moving to New York City. These paintings can manifest as diagrams of his family’s home (no other photographs or documentation survive) to geopolitical maps.

La MaMa Galleria

47 Great Jones Street New York, NY 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Closing Reception: Lintel, Mantel, Module, Shelf

Curated by Samuel Draxler, this group show features artists making work that somehow subverts mass-produced domestic environments. We hope to make it to the closing, as GaHee Park is one of favorite new painters. However she subverts mass-produced space, we expect it to include weird, weird nudity.

Lauren Bakst & Yuri Masnyj, Elliott Jerome Brown Jr., Mary-Ann Monforton, GaHee Park, Isaac Pool

Meyohas

181 E 90th St. New York, NY 7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.Website

Jonathan Mildenberg: THE TRANSITION OF POWER

The phrase THE TRANSITION OF POWER might bring to mind the recent, disastrous transfer of the Oval Office, but this exhibition is informed by an older socio-political tragedy (albeit one that undoubtedly shaped our troubled electoral maps). Jonathan Mildenberg’s sculptural works are inspired by “red lining”, the early-to-mid 20th Century policy of denying mortgages to ethnically diverse, high-density city neighborhoods. The practice essentially forced prospective homeowners to move to segregated suburbs, far more than choice on the “free market”. Here, Mildenberg reflects on the bank and the garden as two aesthetic environments related to the spatial politics of American housing injustice. Should be an interesting show.

Sun

New Museum

235 Bowery New York, NY 11:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.Website

Body Politic: From Rights to Resistance

A.K. Burns, the artist-in-residence through the Department of Education and Public Engagement’s Spring R&D Season, has organized a mini conference to prepare us for the battles ahead. Lawyers, activists, and organizers will discuss “the body under duress.” This topic includes environmental and immigration injustice as well as modes of civil disobedience and resistance.

Participants include representatives from Center for Constitutional Rights, the Center for Reproductive Rights, the New York Civil Liberties Union, the New York Environmental Law and Justice Project, and the Sylvia Rivera Law Project.

Session One 11:30 AM–2 PM Civil Disobedience, Protest, and Healthcare

Session Two: 3–6:00 PM Policing, Prisons, Immigration, and Environmental Contamination

RSVP to attend. We highly recommend this.

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