#the show may be dead‚ but the friendships continue to thrive

[cherylblossom]

LILI REINHART & CAMILA MENDES “this is our wedding day actually.” — (x)

[lordoftermites]

You Never Break ⚜ Part Ⅰ

⊰ ☘ ⊱ Cardan's POV: The Queen of Nothing, from the end of Chapter 13 through Chapter 17. ⊰ ☘ ⊱ A massive, pterodactyl-screeching thank you to my dearest punishment @euridce and the bombastic @figonas for dealing with my bullshit and allowing me to subject them to betaing this (and literally everything else), but especially for being my Hype Train Goblin Queens and not letting me lose to my perfectionism. ⊰ ☘ ⊱ { edit: the wordcount actually turned out to be 3,765 because I added more shit after I copypasta'd here but I literally cannot be arsed to change the graphic lol. }

≼ FIC MASTERLIST HERE≽

Contrary to erstwhile thinking, it is not quite as simple a task to travel at any expeditious speed whilst carrying a half-dead goblin through the biting nighttide—whilst also taking care to keep yourself and aforementioned half-dead goblin undiscovered by those who would very much like to lop your kingly head right off of your kingly shoulders.

And, if all of that is not enough of a juggling act, appending the minor detail that you’ve just taken flight on a steed conjured from the ragwort in your pocket, after leaving your wife below (at her behest and your protest) to fend for herself with naught but a magical cloak and her unspoken, mortal promise to do as you say...

Well. There are reasons you are not lauded for your prowess as a jester, just as your Queen is even less admired for her graces of verity.

Yet, surely by some feat of fortuitous magic, Cardan does manage it; the concealing mists part just enough to allow the flying mount and its travelers to slip through.

Braving a glance over his shoulder, he watches as the fog coils and swirls closed like a protective curtain behind them. It's disorienting—very like taking an overconfident step forward, only to find the ground is not quite as close as you first perceived. Even as one often besotted with wine and other such stupefacients, Cardan does not particularly enjoy that feeling.

Sea fret mingles with the haze of preternatural clouds as they begin a descent. It veils his lips, clings to his wool-spun clothing and weighs down his hair. He shakes the dampened curls from his eyes just as the four isles of Elfhame begin to take shape in the darkness beneath him, and lets out an unsteady breath; he wonders, absently, if he's exhaled at all since leaving Jude on the ground.

He cannot help the inglorious relief that the Roach, in his state, does not hear it.

It’s an odd sensation, to observe your kingdom from such a high vantage point. Perhaps, before now, he disallowed himself to feel the full measure of his obligation; the sobering comprehension that this vastness of soil and sapling and stone, along with all its inhabitants, will thrive, or decay, under his governance. Looking down at the land—his land—brings that realization crashing down upon him with as much force as one of Balekin’s punishments.

Cardan tightens his grip on the animal’s leafy mane against a bout of dizziness, abruptly wishing he had something a bit less insubstantial with which to steady himself.

The Crooked Forest rises to meet them, gnarled limbs twisting upward as if to embrace their sovereign. That seems illusionary, though Cardan does note at once the marked shift in the air; while still cool, no longer does each inhale carry an icy jab to his lungs or bite at the tips of his ears. It envelopes him and his company, gently carrying them above the mossy heads of slumbering root men and women. None of them stir, thankfully, but Cardan isn’t altogether sure his arrival goes unnoticed by them, either.

Welcome home, young King, the wind seems to whisper in his ear. Cardan shivers, and it has nothing to do with the weather.

Alighting just at the edge of the hollow hill, Cardan takes a half-breath to think—and reproaches himself for not doing more of that before they had landed; the Roach’s etiolated complexion, rattling breath, and stiffening limbs are not an entirely promising combination. Then, there is yet the matter of finding Liliver, who might not even be in the palace. And even then, there is the very real likelihood that he is already too late, that the deathsweet’s effects may have already reached its peak.

Cardan has to swallow against the bile creeping up his throat at that unsettling thought.

If only Jude had just come with him. Mistress of strategy and scheming, she would have drawn up a clever plan before they even took flight, as well as a surfeit of contingencies. Moreover, she would know better than he whether or not they held the favor of time; her province of poison is concerningly vast, as she had proven when Cardan himself very nearly shuffled off his immortal coil in dissolution.

Jude had known in an instant, merely by tasting the wraithberry that had stained his lips. How she knew its savour, to say nothing of how she knew it so intimately, Cardan knows not and she has yet to divulge. It is but another closely-clutched secret he must tack onto the growing list of queries for things a man really ought to know about his wife.

In the interim, the High King of Elfhame—and, more regrettably, the Roach—must rely entirely on himself.

Not much of a comfort, that.

Keeping a hand on the Roach to prevent his suffering an unnecessary fall from the horse, Cardan swings himself off of the thing’s back. With care, he lifts the inanimate body of his mentor into his arms. A low, distressed groan comes from the Roach at being jostled—the first sign of cognizance he’s shown since they left Grimsen’s forge. As pained as the sound is, it nonetheless gives Cardan a small hope that perhaps he hasn’t been too late after all.

Its magic spent, the ragwort pony dissolves in a puff of yellow perianths; an indolent breeze scatters some of the remnants across the dark hill, while others continue their aimless drifting to pollinate elsewhere on the isles. Cardan watches a lone petal catch in the wiry hair of the Roach’s brow and without thinking, he brushes it away. He justifies this allowance of rare gentleness with the fact that no one is around to bear witness to it.

As friendship goes, Cardan is all too aware he hasn’t known much in the way of loyalty or for reasons beyond selfish gain. His former companions had desired only what they could glean from him, the immunity his sway as a prince that had granted them the ability to carry out whatever deviant fancy they could dream up. Even Nicasia had had her own contrivances for being his lover, until she had ultimately found more excitement in the stories—and bed—of Locke.

He is not experienced in having a friend simply for the sake of it. In having someone—or a few someones, for that matter—enjoy his wit and cleverness and skills. That enjoy him, Cardan Greenbriar, rather than what advantages the crown atop his head can give.

Perhaps it is dangerous territory for a king to have bonds extending beyond those of mere allies. Perhaps the trust that comes with such friendships is a bit like handing over a blade to your enemy, freshly sharpened, and saying, Here you go, this holds all the ways with which to kill me. I’ll just turn my back.

Even so, when all you have known your entire life is the contempt and malignancy of those who ought to love you, it is not an entirely stunning realization that you would hand over that blade so willingly.

And he had done, in earnest; in his naivety with Nicasia. In his camaraderie with the Court of Shadows. In everything with Jude.

This is doubtless the reason Cardan’s feet begin to move now, carrying him and the Roach in his arms to the palace entrance with some new swell of confidence. Perhaps it is a detriment to believe that these new friends would not be so hastened and flippant as the last to betray him, but he believes it nevertheless. He also knows, albeit by way of unfortunate experience, that when the situation had been reversed, they had not wasted an idle moment in saving him.

So on he goes, through the wall and into the brugh, careful to keep the Roach’s pallid face hidden in the crook of his arm and denying any assistance his guards offer with a firm shake of his head. They move to follow, but halt at once and return to their posts when Cardan waves them off. Of the merits that come with being King, Cardan is especially grateful that denying explanations is one of them.

Even more fortuitously, his journey is not further hindered by any member of the Living Council—who have undoubtedly been tearing at their beards and skirts attempting to locate and descend upon their unruly monarch. Cardan imagines even now they are in the war room or assembled in his chambers, pacing and theorizing and crying out in panic. At the thought of the Minister of Keys pounding his fists on the table and cursing his luck for having such an impudent master to serve, the corner of Cardan’s mouth twitches. If only the wizened Randalin had the sense to make himself more difficult to nettle, perhaps Cardan would try to do so less.

Though the hill is yet alive, with lingering revelers still clutching the edges of twilight and servants clearing the remnants of food and drink, the many tricks of sly-footing he has been taught manages to keep him out of sight from any who might notice; it takes no time at all to slip through the hidden passage, into the wine cellar and emerge on the other side of the new Court of Shadows.

Cardan had hoped to show and consult Jude on the plans for these rooms, including the strategy chamber he had in mind for her—of which he was particularly proud: he had designed it himself—after she pardoned herself and returned to him. That hadn’t gone entirely the way he had imagined, and so they had gone on with the rebuilding without her. Cardan resolves that now, he can simply give her a full tour of them, should she come back posthaste. Should she decide to come back at all.

No, he rebuffs that line of thinking. Jude will return, just as she promised. When she comes home, Cardan will lead her through the rebuilt Court, and she will ooh and ahh and find him so ridiculously clever she’ll be too awed to do anything but kiss him for his prodigiousness.

She will forget she had ever been angry with him—or, at the very least, spare him the full measure of her wrath. She will forgive him for his trickery and assure him again that she had not fed his letters to the fire; she will tell him how desperately she missed him, that the mortal world is awful and terrible and nothing worth going back to. He will kiss her hair and tell her they need never be parted again. They will begin their reign as they should have done the moment their vows were made, and all will be just fine and well and as it should be.

These are all of the things Cardan tells himself as he steps into the main chamber.

He chuckles quietly to the darkness, a sudden incredulity sweeping over him; after all his prior distaste for mortals and those little hopeful deceits they allow, to wish away an awful thing or to make that awful thing seem less terrible, he has caught himself doing just that. He wonders what Jude might say, if he said her mortality was rubbing off on him?

Upon entering the main hall, Cardan is met with a collective gasp—either from the sudden, unannounced arrival of the High King or at the state of the Roach, he doesn’t know, nor does he have time to find out; before he can call for her, Liliver is already there, her dark face paled and taut. She does not seem to even notice Cardan, her frantic, wide-eyed gaze fixed on the Roach.

“What happened to him?” The Bomb demands, seeming to realize Cardan’s presence only as an afterthought, though he does nothing to reprimand her for her tone. The current circumstance, along with the raw fear on the rogue’s face, is enough to cast any necessity for formalities into shadow.

"Darts, poisoned with deathsweet," Cardan tells her, elaborating when Liliver's piercing glare flickers up to meet him. "We... misestimated the cleverness of the traps Grimsen set to protect his forge." The Bomb frowns at that, and Cardan is sure he’ll have much more explaining to do before the night is through and she is fully satisfied, but neither of them need reminding of the more important matter at hand. “Let’s—let’s get him to a bed,” Liliver says. Though her voice wavers, her eyes never leave the disturbingly still body of the Roach as she leads them into a small room carved out from the main one.

She steps aside to allow Cardan to enter and lower the Roach onto the single bed, before seating herself on the edge of it. A bundle of tinctures and salves rest in her lap, from where or how she procured them so quickly, Cardan doesn’t know and isn’t inclined to ask. By the deep-set furrow of her brow and the way she worries her bottom lip between her teeth, she is calculating the situation and he wagers any unnecessary queries might hinder—or annoy—her deliberation. So he simply stands there, silent and helpless, watching her work.

The light emitting from the small orbs hanging above their heads does little to illuminate much of the Roach’s features, but it’s bright enough to view the waxen sheen of his skin, the odd way his limbs lie rigid at his side. He looks as close to death as one could appear, and if not for the shallow rise and fall of his chest, one could easily believe he had already gone. Cardan swallows and looks away, as if staring instead at the rough stone floor will quash the disquiet he feels.

If the Roach succumbs to the poison, he knows with whom the fault will lie, and there will be none among them to scorn him as much as he will scorn himself.

As Liliver works, sifting through the assortment of small glass bottles in her lap until she picks one filled with a thick, amber solution, Cardan gives her as much detail of the night's emprises as he can in short order: their attempted (and rather unsuccessful) rescue of Jude, of the Roach’s poisoning; of why they had entered the smith’s forge in the first place.

Upon hearing the truth behind the Ghost’s betrayal, the vial slips from her hand and Cardan barely manages to snatch it from the air before it shatters on the ground. The Bomb’s eyes are wide as saucers as she takes back the bottle, but Cardan thinks he catches the smallest glint of hope in them, despite their current predicament.

“You mean, all this time... he was being commanded? Controlled by Locke and Madoc?”

Cardan nods. “Doubtless by my brother as well, though Jude didn’t say one way or another.”

He wouldn’t have considered it debasing of Dain's character to control someone in such totality. In fact, he has no misgivings at all that there was anything, save perhaps a grubworm, that had been beneath his brother. He shakes his head and shrugs, more to his own thoughts than the Bomb's question. “I’ll let her tell us which it is, when she comes home.”

It is too afflictive to imagine she will not, that he has yet again voraciously lapped up a lie she has fed him. He cannot believe that as he waits, Jude is riding off through the air with her sisters back to the mortal world, laughing as she tells them how effortlessly she has fooled the desperate High King of Faerie.

He will have time enough to wallow in his own selfish, agonized reveries; Cardan wills his attention back to the present, back to the Bomb and the Roach, who appears even less on the fortunate side of time since they arrived.

“Will he…” Live, or die. Both words are there on his tongue, but he cannot bring himself to say either and the question lingers, thick and unfinished in the air between the three of them. Liliver doesn’t seem willing—or able to answer, only giving him a small shake of cloud-white curls as she keeps her back to him.

Watching how carefully she wipes the Roach’s forehead with a damp cloth, hearing the hushed, unintelligible things she tells him, the understanding that Cardan perhaps ought not intrude further becomes all too clear. He has completed his task, what he promised Jude he would do. There is nothing more required of him.

With Liliver’s promise that she will send word of any changes, good or ill, Cardan excuses himself from the Court of Shadows.

Cardan spends the remainder of the day in his chambers attempting sleep, because he has proved himself of little use elsewhere, there is nothing else to do, and because if Jude were here she would tell him a High King needs rest if he is to go delegating and answering petitions and doing whatever else there is that good, proper kings are supposed to do.

However, it is precisely because Jude isn’t here that he cannot rest.

Though he does give it an honest effort. He tries lying on his back, drawing forth tiny white blossoms to count as they bloom above his head, aiming to bore himself into a stupor. He counts and counts and counts. The mingling fragrance of several different flowers permeates the room and penetrates his nose. When he reaches six hundred forty-seven for the third time, he gives that up.

Exasperated, Cardan flops onto his side, stretching an arm across the sheets. He stares at the empty space beside him, where Jude had rested the first night they had spent together—the night he had convinced her that becoming Queen of Elfhame, his wife, was the better choice for both of them.

It had all been true, of course: everything Cardan had said to get her to agree. There had been no deception or scheming in his words; he had desired his freedom, as desperately as Jude craved power, and their union had the ability to grant both in absolution.

The Living Council had become insistent on the idea that their King should take a wife anyway, for their own overboring political reasons, and so Cardan had.

The only addendum to all of this, the only detail that he had surreptitiously kept from both the Council and Jude, was that he wanted to marry her. Not Nicasia, as the Council had wanted, as Cardan had once believed he should and could enjoy. Not the hag Mother Marrow’s daughter, who likely would have found some clever way to cause his demise so that she might live on as the sole ruler of Faerie. None of them would have been well-suited for him, nor he well-suited for them. None of them could give him what he wanted, because what he wanted was Jude.

That is all he wants now—to have her home and here in his bed, to fill the space that has been empty since she left. Since he made her leave.

Cardan pushes himself off the bed in a frustrated huff. Deciding he could do with a little less sober thinking, he calls for wine, and when the servant arrives with a fresh decanter and goblet, he fills it to the brim and drinks it to the dregs. After repeating this process a few more times, Cardan rounds the large desk—his father’s desk, he cannot help to remind himself, no matter how many times he sits at it—to continue the speech he’s been writing. He picks up the slip of paper between two fingers and holds it to the guttering candle flame to examine it. It’s already a rather lengthy speech, admittedly, but more important than any he has articulated yet. It is one explaining to Jude that her exile had not been methodically planned, that he thought she would work it out much more expeditiously. He would further explain he had not accounted for the fact she hadn’t worked it out at all, and that he had come to fully regret his own cleverness midway through his second letter.

Of course, Jude had told him she hadn’t received any of those letters.

He cannot help recalling how she looked at him then, the last time they were here in his rooms: skittish and trembling, desperate as a wild animal backed into a corner.

Hardly a fortnight has passed since Madoc had taken her, believing he had heroically rescued her twin from nigh execution. And yet it feels as distant as any half-remembered dream upon waking, blurred on the details and every attempt to grasp the memory only causes it to slip further away. Like a hand waving smoke.

Except a dream is something usually pleasant; smiling faces, a kiss one might yearn for in the waking world and only receive when they close their eyes. Dreams are things of wonderment. Pretty visions and heart’s desires.

No, it had not been like a dream at all—not the way she had looked at him.

That hatred, burning into him like white-hot iron, the fear she could lie away with words but could not conceal from her face, the venom in her voice when she spoke. It was more terrible than any of Cardan’s nightmares.

Everything you say to me, everything you promise, it’s all a trick. And I, stupid enough to believe you once.

He had wanted to reach out to her, to take her hand and tell her his trick had been only that, a hasty plan to keep her out of Orlagh’s grasp. He had wanted to pull her to him and breathe in the comforting scent of her hair, to feel her warmth against his chest. To beg her forgiveness and will away her anger with a kiss.

Then he had seen the glint of the blade in her hand.

Even after Vivi’s flustered explanation of her sister’s capture, after he and the Roach had set out from the mortal world to find her—even after their brief moment in Madoc’s camp just hours ago, when Jude swore she hadn’t thrown in her lot with her betrayer of a foster-father, Cardan cannot rend from his mind the image of her holding that knife.

He passes the paper through the flame and watches it burn until it is nothing but a stain of black ash on the desk.

Waving away the lingering smoke, he rises and goes to dress for the night ahead, without rest, and knowing that no amount of sleep or drink or honeyed words will erase what he has done—or may yet do.

⊰ ☘ ⊱ okAY so this first bit turned out a lot longer than I'd originally intended (legit this whole thing was supposed to just be a oneshot lmfao) but if you made it this far, I'm very sorry but thanks for taking the time to read. I hope you enjoyed it, and as usual—if you didn't, don't tell me about it.

If you want to be added to my tag list, just yeet a reply to this post and I'll add you.

⊰ ☘ ⊱ @euridce @figonas @jurdanhell

[ginger-danica-snapps]

WIP Wednesday. A snip from my back in time, fix it Jonsa story and my Ned marries Cersei instead of Catelyn AU.

"Here,” the child said and while Sansa was kneeling another person slipped from between the trees. This time a woman in a long flowing, tan dress, but her hair looked like the bark of the weirwood. She held something in her hands.

Jon watched as Sansa realized what it was and began to stand and protest, but Jon placed a hand on her shoulder to keep her kneeling.

“þú eru dawninn bringer, protector ór fólk,inn móðir ór allr hverr eru eigi dauðr. Vargr dróttning fran Norðririnn,” the child intoned as the woman came to stand before and raised a crown of weirdwood branches somehow petrified into a glistening, smooth crown with wild branches reaching to the moonlight.

Old tongue again, Jon realized and began to work through the translation, suddenly more grateful to his time among the freefolk.

“You are the dawnbringer, Protector of the People, Mother of All who are not dead. Wolf Queen from the North,” he murmured quietly, but kept his hand on her shoulder when she immediately began to protest.

The crown was nestled onto her head and Jon was moving to the front, pulling Dark Sister from sheath again and laying her tip down onto the ground with his head bowed.

“I swear to be the sword that guards you till there is no breath left in my body. Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no other to wife, hold no lands that are not yours as well, and father no children that do not call you mother. You are the queen I choose. You are my queen, now and always.”

It was a cold morning when Cersei Lannister pulled her cloak around her shoulders and slipped out of her room. Melara and Jeyne already waited for her patiently and she slipped past them without a word of greeting. They followed silently as Cersei expertly navigated her way outside of Casterly Rock without running into nary a servant or soldier who would scamper off to tattle.

They reached the woods without speaking and Cersei turned with a sharp grin. She held her hands out to the two girls and they smiled back and reached out to clasp hands. Turning they ran into the forest, laughing, as Cersei led them to the small creek.

“Where did you say she was?” Cersei asked as they cautiously stepped onto slick rocks, never letting go of each other.

“A good walk down the creek and even longer into the dark of the woods. Cersei, are you sure we should do this?” Melara whispered.

“Of course,” Cersei answered automatically and turned to go deeper into the woods while tugging at their hands.

“Your father, Cersei, we would be in so much trouble,” Jeyne added as she slightly resisted.

Cersei sighed. What use was having companions if they weren’t willing to take chances? As always Cersei struggled with the idea that these were her childhood friends, but that they were first put in place by her Aunt Genna and likely reported much of her adventures. She was still pretty convinced that it was Jeyne who had reported Cersei and Jaime switching places every other day in his training.

She missed the physical exertion of swords play and the way she was able to hit the mark every time she released her bow string.

Still, it was her responsibility to soothe her companions when fearful.

“You will almost always be the highest ranking woman in the room, Cersei. One day, you will marry a Prince of Dorne if all goes as planned and only the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, her daughters, and the wife of the Prince will outrank you. You need to always be the calming presence for your ladies. They must never see your fear, because then they will remain calm and know all is well,” Joanna Lannister brushed Cersei’s hair back from her face in soft, strong strokes.

Her mother was always soft and strong. Cersei wanted to be just like her when she married and took over her own household.

“I heard father say he wished me to marry Prince Rhaegar, Mother,” Cersei answered quietly.

Her mother’s hands froze for a second, but then she began her strokes anew.

“Your father thinks he can sway Aerys, yes, but I fear, little light, that Aerys will only seek to enrage your father. Lions were not meant to marry Dragons, my daughter. Remember that, if you remember nothing else. We may work in service, even be close in friendship as I was once to Queen Rhaella, but we must never join with the dragon,” Joanna whispered, “I would not have my little light burned by a dragon’s fire.”

Cersei spun around again and squeezed her companion’s hands.

“You need not fear my father, Jeyne,” Cersei assured her, though she also felt her very heart tremble at the idea of being caught.

They continued into the forest, following the stream till it ended in a pretty little waterfall, before tipping deeper into the forest than Cersei had ever traveled. They found Maggy the Frog’s house tucked into a dark clearing, behind a small pond. Moss grew over the old stone and the roof was thatched.

Badly, Cersei noted to herself. There were holes and water gathering in a way that her father would never have allowed Lannisport to weather.

Her mother would have cared about the witch in the wood, but her father would likely burn her out if he realized she was here.

“I…,” Jeyne stuttered and Melara and Cersei turned.

Jeyne wrenched her hand from them and looked around with wide, frightened eyes.

Cersei nodded and gave a slight shoulder shrug, “Walk back to the water, Jeyne. Melara, go with her. I will speak to this Maggy the Frog and come meet you.”

Jeyne barely dipped a slight curtsy to her liege’s daughter, before lifting her skirts and running back the way they came. Melara gave Cersei a concerned look and Cersei thought she could see real concern. She motioned her away.

She waited till both girls were gone and turned back and set her shoulders with determination and marched up and knocked on the door. If her companion’s had stayed, Cersei would perhaps have marched in with no regard to the owner just to show her seniority on her father’s land.

“A humble lady will always garner more loyalty among her compatriots than a prideful one,” her mother’s voice whispered in her ear.

“The lion does not lay down and sleep with the sheep,” her father followed.

“Come in, little lion child,” a voice called out and Cersei opened the door and softly stepped in, her boots already ruined from the walk.

“Are you Maggy the Frog?” she asked, forcing strength into her tone.

The woman cocked her head and Cersei was at least glad to find the woman did not resemble anything like a scary monster. In fact, she was quite boring.

“We wanted to see the monster,” Oberyn Martell said and Cersei rolled her eyes.

Everyone wanted to see her little imp of a brother.

“He’s just a baby. An ugly baby, but a baby,” Elia added and Cersei resisted the urge to snap back with a cutting remark.

He might be the curse upon her life, but he was her little brother and no one else was allowed to speak ill of a Lannister.

No one understood that Tyrion was a monster because he killed her mother, not because he was a misshapen little thing.

“Often go into your thoughts, girlie? I’m the one you call Maggy the Frog and I assume you’ve come to hear your future?” the woman said.

Cersei’s eyes widened. That, however, was not boring.

“Yes. I have. My father and aunt say I am to marry Prince Rhaeger, but my mother wished me to marry Prince Oberyn, though my father refused the Princess of Dorne. I want to know if I am to marry the prince and one day be Queen? How many children will I have?” Cersei eagerly stepped forward.

She would love her children and they would love her. They would never fear to whisper their secrets, hopes, and fears.

Maggy the Frog tilted her head and stared at her before reaching down and pulling a small dagger from beside her. Cersei took a step back, fear dogging at her step, before forcing herself to stand tall again.

“This is my father’s land and if you harm a hair on my head then he will gouge your eyes out and you will not see any future again, certainly not your own,” Cersei said coldly and startled when Maggy tilted her head back and laughed uproariously.

“Oh, little lion girlie, you are quite the opposite of what I saw for today as it is. Let us see what else has changed. A little taste of your blood girl to be able to see what is going to happen. To see if gold crowns and cold shrouds no longer lay across the lion spawn,” the woman explained and held the knife hilt out.

Cersei took a deep breath and stepped forward to take it. She laid it down easily onto her thumb and gave a slight whimper when it cut into her skin and blood welled to the top. She went to hold the knife back out, but found herself being yanked forward and her finger in the witches mouth.

Cersei had barely had time to react before she was released and she cupped her hand to her chest.

“Three questions, girlie, but most do not like my answ…” the woman made a sudden sharp noise and gripped at her head, gasping for breath, and Cersei started to move forward to help her.

The woman suddenly sat up and completely still, eyes shut, and back ramrod straight.

“Maggy?” Cersei whispered, fear starting to creep into her.

Maggy’s eyes flew open and Cersei gasped at the milky white expanse that existed where muddy, dark brown eyes had.

“The song of fire and ice comes, and nothing will stop the stag from killing the dragon. The wolf brother of the stag will help without knowing, without seeing. The wolf’s sister will die so their son may live. The gods give another choice not given before, eyes were open, but could not see. Winter comes, winter comes, and the wolves must live. A Queen she shall not make, but a mother of a King she shall be. Remember, learn, live, and roar. The Lioness will triumph if the last dragon son thrives,” Maggy gasped and then she collapsed.

[itsclydebitches]

YYH Recaps: Episode 4 “Requirements for Lovers”

Hello, everyone! It's been quite a while, huh? Ah, the endless cycle of wanting to write and yet, astoundingly, not writing. I know it well.

Good ol' writer's block has skedaddled for a time though, so let's make good use of that and dive into Episode Four: "Requirements for Lovers." 

Ohhh, YYH getting spicy with its titles 😏

Actually wait, I shouldn't be making dumb jokes just yet. First I want to acknowledge a slight change to future recaps: YYH, RWBY, and anything else I might try my hand at. Namely, a lack of pictures moving forward. A few weeks ago — months? I honestly can't keep track — tumblr implemented a new limitation where no post can have more than ten images in it. It's a move that, while I'm sure has its justifications, makes sharing analyses of visually-based media all the more difficult. I'll be doing my best moving forward to describe scenes as needed, as well as combining connected images together to stretch out my limit, but I'm not going to pretend that it'll be the same as getting the visual play-by-play we’re used to. 

Tumblr certainly is a website, huh?  

Anyway, we open on Yusuke once again lamenting the difficulty of hatching a spirit beast that doesn't immediately devour him from the head down. On the one hand this is an admittedly easy way to reset the story over the course of this arc — the storytelling equivalent of waking your character up each morning — yet I cannot deny that if I were undergoing a resurrection test, it would consume my every thought too. Can't really blame Yusuke for endlessly bringing the conflict up when the conflict is this deadly.

Well, deadly for a ghost, anyway.

Specifically, he's worried about how embarrassing it would be to get eaten by something that came out of an egg this tiny. I'm torn between reminding a fictional character that things grow — a pissed off chicken could kick my ass and it started out in an egg too — and just shaking my head over the absurdity of worrying about embarrassment when, you know, you would cease to exist. It's not even a matter of, "What if I die and then I'm embarrassed about it in the afterlife :( " Yusuke is already IN the afterlife. He's got nowhere to go but oblivion!

Luckily, Botan takes a more practical approach to these worries, pointing out that he'll be just fine provided he does some good deeds. Yusuke starts a rant about how do-gooders are only ever out for themselves.

Yusuke, you dumb-dumb, you're a do-gooder now. What was all that help for Kuwabara, hmm? As said, these early episodes exist in a semi-reset loop, where Yusuke needs to stew in his main character flaws for a while before any real growth starts to stick. Those flaws being, primarily, "I'm a pessimist" and "also I hate myself."

Case in point, Botan accuses him of always seeing the glass as half empty. Which, while true enough (outside of his confidence in fighting, anyway), by now we've got a pretty good sense of where Yusuke developed this attitude. He affirms this by talking about how Koenma's got him by the balls, "just another idiot abusing his power!" With an alcoholic mother and those teachers from last episode, it's no wonder Yusuke thinks this way. Mr. Takenaka's interest and Keiko's care aren't enough to combat the rest of Yusuke's experience, not when Takenaka is an outlier and Keiko is Yusuke's peer. Her desire to keep him on the right track reads only as an inevitability at best (the downside of having a perfect childhood friend), or a legitimate annoyance at worst. Or, as we'll continue to see in this episode, a way for them to flirt.

Is it any wonder Yusuke would sneer at Koenma's offer then, expecting the worst? The fact that Yusuke is still undergoing the challenge at all, no matter what he says, speaks volumes to me.

However, Botan is less than comfortable with his criticisms. She panics a bit at Yusuke insulting the (junior) ruler of the underworld so blithely. That, and the fact that he's carelessly tossing his egg around.

(Yes we’re using precious picture space for memes are you SURPRISED?) 

Anyway, Botan isn't just concerned for the sake of concern. She cautions Yusuke against speaking too freely because there may be investigators checking in on his progress. No sooner does he ask what those investigators look like than one appears.

Thunder! Lighting! An energy so intense that Yusuke is briefly blinded! It is, as he says, quite the entrance. What kind of being could possibly be at the heart of such an astounding show?

Why, this teeny-tiny cutie, of course.

Remember, few appearances in YYH coincide with the character's true self. Would you ever assume this is the all-powerful investigator who holds Yusuke's future in her hands? Of course not. That's the point.

The investigator introduces herself as Sayaka and immediately demonstrates that she has no more patience for Yusuke's attitude than Botan does. "These damn kids," he mutters and my brain briefly blue screens because Yusuke. You're fourteen.

Plus, Sayaka and Botan clearly have some sort of eternal youth situation going on, so there's that too.

Sayaka is, in a word, fantastic. She pulls no punches with Yusuke, teleporting away from him with what can only be described as a shit-eating smile, all while refusing to tell him what exactly she's investigating. “I’m sorry, but that’s a secret!” However, Keiko is clearly at the forefront of her interest. She refers to her as Yusuke's "girlfriend."

Botan is more than happy to point Keiko out — because of course they're still following her around! — and pulls a Et tu, Brute? on Yususke, leading Sayaka right to her. Like most of the Underworld, Sayaka is rather shocked that the pretty, popular, scholarly girl is supposedly into the delinquent. It's the power of childhood friendship, you fools! Specifically, Sayaka references the "positive markings" that Keiko has accumulated, but the audience already knows by now that such markings are suspect at best. Yusuke himself is proof of that. So if his terrible marks don't preclude him from being a young kid's savior, should we really view Keiko's as proof of superiority?

I mean, Keiko is fantastic, but that's not really the point here.

Starting her own investigation into Yusuke's life, Sayaka begins with one hell of a bombshell: "There's no point in doing [the resurrection] if the people closest to you don't care." WOW. Not only is that a harsh assessment, it's one I don't think I can personally get behind. The offer to restore Yusuke to life is built on the acknowledgment that their system is flawed (even if there's no work to change or dismantle that system): they thought he was worthless, his sacrificial death seems to have proven them wrong, and now they want further evidence, in the form of this trial, that Yusuke is a good person at heart. The whole point of this challenge is to give him a second chance, with testimonies like Mr. Takenaka's emphasizing that Yusuke has always been capable of more, so long as he applies himself. This, as we'll see throughout the series, applies to relationships too. The Yusuke with one friend he play-fights with, a distant mother, and a school worth of kids who are terrified of his very name is not the future Yusuke they expect him to become, so... why base his resurrection on what he's already (not) accomplished? Granted, the show is very unclear about what, if anything, Sayaka will do if she decides that Yusuke doesn't have a life worth going back to (even if I have my own theory discussed at the end), but the fact that this is suddenly a factor at all seems grossly unfair, not entirely unlike Kuwabara's rigged promise. We as the audience know that people love Yusuke. Yusuke himself is beginning to acknowledge that. But if this fourteen year old delinquent truly had no one that wanted him back from the dead... isn't that all the more reason to allow a resurrection and give him the chance to build a life where he would be missed? 

This stupid shonen got me thinking too much istg. 

Yusuke, ever the self-deprecating pessimist, bypasses all of the above thoughts and jumps straight to, "It's clear if [Keiko] had any sense she'd want me gone." I'd find that attitude incredibly sad if I wasn't distracted by how cute Botan and Sayaka are, sitting on the oar together. The spirit girls who fly together, thrive together! 

Botan starts teasing Yusuke about having a crush, which just feeds his temper and Sayaka's confusion. Deciding that she needs to gather more info, they follow along for an average day of school because these earlier episodes are, apparently, ghost-stalk Keiko hours. 

We see her reading aloud in class from Heart of Darkness (not the easiest book for some middle schoolers), scoring a point during volleyball practice, refusing to let one girl cheat off her homework, but happily helping another who runs up with a question. So she's pretty, athletic, and academically successful, the trifecta for any good love interest. Sayaka is impressed not just with her "nearly perfect" scores, but also the maturity that Keiko demonstrates, such as maintaining her morals about cheating while remaining compassionate. 

Actually, I really love the contrast this provides for us, the viewer. Meaning, Keiko is shown to be at her least mature when in Yusuke's presence. Not that her responses aren't justified, but watching her dramatically snatch gum from his mouth, slap him across the face, or pull crazed expressions as she yells at him is a far cry from this calm, poised, soft-spoken Keiko. It's a way to visually show us that she's comfortable in his presence, despite the suspect humor attached. Not that the Keiko we see at school is faking or anything — she is legitimately that kind and articulate — but we see that being with Yusuke allows her to relax in a way she doesn't with others. School!Keiko is, as Sayaka says, pretty much perfect, 24/7. Yusuke's Keiko is a little rougher around the edges, in a way that implies a multifaceted personality shining through. 

However, the only conclusion our trio draws is that, given Keiko's accomplishments, any attraction must be one-sided.

Poor Yusuke lol. 

In a plot move that is so ridiculously contrived, just as Yusuke is grappling with the accusation that Keiko couldn't possibly like him back, a "handsome boy" arrives to ask Keiko out. He says that he couldn't bear it when she stopped reading Heart of Darkness because he's fallen in love with her voice. "Will you be my girlfriend?" 

Please excuse me while I lose my shit over how ridiculous this is. I legitimately straight up cackled when I watched this scene. 

Luckily for Mr. Absurd, Keiko takes him seriously — and lets him down easy. She says she can't be his girlfriend and when he presses the "Why?", asking if she already likes someone else, Keiko confirms that she does. This is done through a shot of her feet. Not a POV shot given the angle, but close enough that it feels like we're stepping into Keiko's shoes (haha), shyly staring down at the floor in embarrassment and regret. 

Rejection complete? The guy screams. 

I mean he screams. 

I mean this nobody we're never gonna see again unhinges his jaw and lets out an unholy shriek the likes of which makes me shriek in utter GLEE. 

It's insane. It's wonderful. I'm going to use one of my coveted image spots to show you his face: 

Look at that and tell me this show isn't amazing. 

Okay, I'm focusing again. As Keiko runs off Botan and Sayaka start dragging Yusuke, teasing him about how Keiko chose him over that "charming handsome boy." 

...Please scroll up and look at that image again. I find YYH's definition of "charming" and "handsome" to be hilariously wrong. 

Yusuke, as per usual, throws himself into damage control, claiming that Keiko didn't say who she liked, so really it could be anyone. They're not buying it. “'I like Keiko' is written all over your face!” Botan crows. Meanwhile, Sayaka is scribbling in her little investigator's journal that feelings on both side are severely misunderstood. "Suggest serious counseling." 

Fantastic idea, Sayaka. I'd personally suggest counseling for the whole dying/best friend getting resurrected thing... but relationship woes work too! 

We cut to later when school is out and Keiko has gone over to Yusuke's. To say that Atsuko has done a poor job of keeping the house clean lately would be a serious understatement. 

Keiko points out the old food and broken glass specifically, cluing us in that this isn't just a messy environment, but a dangerous one as well. This is proven when she accidentally knocks a stack of books over and a used bowl falls onto Yusuke's face. What's interesting is that Keiko says that things are "back to normal" now, though I'm not sure if that's in reference to the state of the house, or just the note Atsuko left behind, asking Keiko to take care of Yusuke while she's out. I'm inclined towards thinking it's just the note, partly because of Keiko's shock when she first arrives, because the house wasn't shown to be in this state prior to Yusuke's death (first image above), and because the note is accompanied by a great voiceover that makes Atsuko sound quite sloshed when she left. That's what's normal, the drinking and carefree attitude, not the state of her home. If we buy that reading, it allows for another fantastic look into Atsuko's mental state. If she's already an alcoholic, the trauma of her son's death and the following revelation that he's coming back might make her struggle in other ways. Like finding cleaning to be an impossible task. 

She's depressed. It doesn't excuse the state she's left Yusuke in and, as previously acknowledged, YYH is definitely not a show interested in this nuance, but I still find it fun to take what little we've gotten and run with it. 

However, Keiko is firmly on team "WTF Atsuko." She hurries to make sure Yusuke wasn't hurt by the falling bowl, bemoans him being "covered in garbage," and says that leaving him in this state should be considered a felony. Knowing it's far beyond her power to fix Atsuko's failings, Keiko swears to come here after school every day until Yusuke regains his body. It's as she's cleaning him of the dust that's gathered that Keiko becomes entranced with Yusuke’s features. Particularly his lips. The soft lighting returns, their theme song swells, and Keiko gets thiiiis close to kissing Yusuke for the first time. 

Which is a little weird, right? I mean, we know why Yusuke is freaking out. Beyond the embarrassment of a middle schooler receiving his first kiss while two ghost girls eagerly watch on, he's made a hobby of denouncing his interest in Keiko to anyone who will listen. But for the average viewer — for Keiko herself — don't we care the he's, you know, dead? Or if not technically dead, very unconscious? Don't get me wrong, I fully understand the appeal of this situation in a generalized, cultural sense (with the side disclaimer that I'm reading a Japanese product through an American lens). Sleeping Beauty exists for a reason and there's definitely an element of that here: a gender-reversed setup where Keiko’s kills may break the "curse" of Yusuke's untimely death. Even his in-between state of being mirrors the "death like sleep" of the fairy tale. But when you strip away those Disney-esque thoughts, we're left with a girl about to kiss an unresponsive body, not as a common gesture of care (the parent who kisses their child while they sleep), but as a first time, romantic milestone. 

It's a little weird lol. 

But embrace the romance! As well as its inevitable interruption. Just as Keiko is about to land a peck, the neighborhood watch committee announces a heat and fire warning, startling Keiko out of her thoughts about Yusuke's "beautiful face." (There's another gender reversal for ya.) She gasps at her almost-action, conveniently remembers that her mom wanted her to do some shopping, and hightails it out of there before embarrassment can really kill them both. 

So she runs off for food... in a sweater? The outfit is cute and all, but I wonder what the animators were thinking, putting Keiko in a puffy pullover during an episode all about a heat wave. 

It's about at this point that the plot goes from cute romance to absolutely buck wild. The fires the neighborhood watch committee mentioned are not, in fact, due to the overwhelming heat, but an arsonist that's going around tossing molotov cocktails through open windows. Why is he doing such a thing? I don't know. Arsonists be doing arson, I guess. The important bit is that Yusuke's place is his next target, considering that Atsuko forgot to lock the windows when she went out. Within seconds all that garbage is set ablaze, quite obviously putting Yusuke's resurrection chances at an all time low. 

"Wake up, stupid!" he shouts at his unconscious body. Mood, Yusuke. That's me every morning. 

So this is a full scale emergency now and everyone is scrambling trying to think of something to do. Yusuke comes up with the idea to possess himself like he did Kuwabara — nice attempt at a loophole there — but since it would technically count as his resurrection, no dice. Botan decides to go get Kuwabara himself, even though he's too far away to do anything. It's still worth a shot. Sayaka, meanwhile, watches all this unfold with a somewhat clinical detachment. She's not quite indifferent and she's definitely not cruel... she’s just not as emotionally invested in this as the other two. Which not only re-emphasizes her purpose here, as an observer judging Yusuke, but also highlights the bond Botan is forming with him. As mentioned before in regards to her hanging out with Yusuke rather than ferrying souls, Botan is well past someone assisting Yusuke simply because it's a part of her job. He's her friend. 

We get some shots of the growing fire which includes a hazy texture to the animation I quite like and then we cut to Keiko several blocks away, shopping bag in hand. Word of the new fire spreads, with one bystander mentioning that it's the twelfth today. 

"This is eerie.” 

“Yeah, I can’t help feeling we’re under attack.”

That's because you are! Someone stop that man! 

Sadly, I don't think the arsonist is mentioned again, let alone captured. We'll just have to relegate that to my incredibly niche fic wishlist. 

Keiko also overhears that the latest fire is on fourth avenue, which of course is where Yusuke lives. Recognizing that he might be in trouble, she takes off at a run. 

Meanwhile, Botan finds Kuwabara practicing his kicks against a Yusuke dummy. Amazing resemblance, right? 

Watching for the purpose of recapping, I'm picking up on a lot of details in the animation I quite enjoy. I don't think anyone would claim that YYH, at this point in time, has the most impressive or flashy animation (the fight scenes later are another matter entirely), but there's a clear love for the product that shines through. The scared expression on Kuwabara's dummy. His unexpectedly dainty kick, complete with pointed toes. Botan's more translucent coloring to emphasize her supernatural status compared to Kuwabara. There are a lot of nice touches despite the overall simplicity. 

Plus, you can't forget the lovely irony of Kuwabara fighting a defenseless "Yusuke" while the real guy actually lies defenseless amidst a fire. We already know that despite his tough talk, Kuwabara would be horrified to learn that his friend rival had died (again) in such a manner. 

Capitalizing on that transparency, Botan runs a hand through Kuwabara's back to catch his attention. He gets his "tickle feeling" and instinctively looks around towards Yusuke's house, seeing the smoke. "Something tells me I should go that way." Gotta love a guy who drops everything to chase a vague, supernaturally induced hunch. 

As Kuwabara leaves we cut back to Keiko arriving at the house, staring in horror at the blaze. We get an audio flashback to her talk with Yusuke where she promised to take care of his body until he got back. So she tries to run in, only for a couple of the onlookers to snag her, quite correctly keeping her from undergoing a suicide mission. We learn later that Keiko absolutely would have died without Yusuke's sacrifice, so her "You cowards!" is born more of emotion than justified accusations. It's not cowardly to look at the raging inferno in a small apartment and realize that recklessly running in will only result in two dead teens, not one. 

I mean, the flames are already right there, licking the door. Even if Keiko somehow managed to avoid burns, the smoke alone would do her in. Still, Keiko tries to mitigate the damage by dumping a bucket of water over her head. As a kid I remember thinking this was the smartest thing ever. Utterly inspired. Keep that in the back of your mind, kid Clyde, for future reference. As an adult... I have no idea whether this would actually help or not lol. Any firefighters doubling as YYH fans? 

Recklessness and iffy precautions aside, I can't express how much I appreciate the story giving Keiko things to do. Yusuke recognizes that she's the only one with the maturity and open-mindedness to believe in his resurrection. She's the one picking up Atsuko's slack regarding his day-to-day needs. She never hesitates for a moment, heroically throwing herself into this blaze for Yusuke's benefit. Yeah, a lot of that still falls into the emotional/domestic sphere — what we expect of the love interest in a 90s anime — but too often action stories don't have a clue what to do with their non-action characters, not even when it comes to just supporting the fighters. They're simply... there. Keiko, however, isn't window dressing. Whether it's helping Botan survive an upcoming, supernatural plague, or cheering the team on at the Dark Tournament, Keiko is an important part of the story, despite lacking the fighting prowess of the rest of the cast. 

Just as important, this episode establishes a core equality between her and Yusuke. We just watched Keiko reject a (presumably) accomplished guy for him, telling the audience that these surface differences — academics, power levels, popularity, looks — don't matter to them. Yusuke is not Keiko's lesser just because he doesn't have the same scores in Sayaka's book and Keiko won't become Yusuke's lesser just because she doesn't have spiritual power like he does. The only important thing here is that they love each other and they're both willing to sacrifice everything for the other. In the span of about ten minutes, Keiko nearly gives up her life for Yusuke and, in turn, Yusuke gives up his resurrection for her. The level of care they show towards one another is balanced, despite those differences. 

They’re a good ship, y'all. Even if this recapping's got me noticing Yusuke/Kuwabara potential lol. 

To get back to the plot, a drenched Keiko charges into the fire, yelling Yusuke's name for the drama of it because we all know he can't respond. Despite the audience (hopefully) recognizing Keiko and Yusuke's equality, that memo hasn't reached Yusuke yet. "You're a lot more important to this world than I am!" he yells, hammering home that despite everything — knowing he instinctively saved a child, watching his loved ones grieve for him, helping Kuwabara just because he can — Yusuke still, deep down, believes that he doesn't deserve to come back; that he doesn't measure up to those around him. The self-sacrificial nature this insecurity produces shocks Sayaka. She points out that if Keiko doesn't save his body, he's not coming back. "What's the point of being alive if Keiko has to get killed for it?" 

Keiko means more to Yusuke than the rest of his living existence. Jot that down in your notebook, Sayaka! 

Kuwabara arrives and runs into one of his friends who informs him that Keiko just went inside. “Yusuke’s girl? The one we saved from those thugs?”

BOY does that tell us a lot about their rivalry! I mean yeah, we've already established several times over that Kuwabara — just like Yusuke himself — is not the cruel street thug he'd like to present himself as. If these characters actually wanted to hurt each other outside of a martial arts challenge, don't you think Kuwabara would capitalize on the "Yusuke's girl" bit? Everyone seems to know that they have feelings for each other, but Kuwabara never once wields that as ammunition against Yusuke. There are no taunts about him not being good enough. Or rather, I should clarify there are no serious taunts — Kuwabara is well known for his teasing. There's also no attempt to steal Keiko out from under him, the common treatment of the love interest as a "prize" that many stories fall into. Indeed, later this episode YYH will deconstruct this a bit. Yusuke sees Kuwabara grab Keiko's hand and yells that he better not be getting "fresh" with her. But it's purely Yusuke's worries shining through. The audience gets a crystal clear picture of the situation and knows, categorically, that Kuwabara has only the most innocent of intentions in holding Keiko's hand. 

(Well, running from the police isn't innocent, but...) 

I keep getting sidetracked. Plot! Keiko makes it to Yusuke's room and finds that he is already on fire. She then proceeds to try and put it out by patting it with her hands. I take back what I said about Keiko's smarts in this scene. Now we know where that supposed recklessness comes from though. Apparently they're both immune to fire! Nothing to worry about here, folks. 

JK she's actually in danger, despite the animation choices. By this point everyone, including Keiko, realizes that there's no way out: the fire has blocked the door. Sayaka then reveals that there is one way to save her. If Yusuke throws his egg into the fire, the energy of the spirit beast will release and guide her to safety. The catch? Hatch the egg early and it won't complete its intended function of guiding him back to his body. This beast is gonna guide one person and that is it. 

Cue Yusuke's near immediate decision to sacrifice his life for Keiko's. Granted, it's not precisely one life for another. Yusuke's resurrection was always contingent upon the beast not devouring him whole — something Koenma claims would have happened at the end of the episode — meaning that it's not technically a fair trade. Yusuke might have sacrificed Keiko's life for his own... only to fail to get that life back anyway. (There's a tragedy for ya.) To say nothing of how Yusuke is currently dead and has been for at least a couple of days, whereas Keiko very much is not. There's some sort of philosophical discussion there about potential being pit against current reality. 

BUT that's not the point! The emotional point is that he sacrificed his life for hers — the potential of his resurrection, the potential of that life he might have led — all technicalities aside. And I, for one, think that's very neat of him. 

A blue light shines as the egg's energy is released, providing a lovely contrast to the fire surrounding them. A path forms to the door and Keiko, recognizing Yusuke's presence, follows it. "We'll make it, Yusuke," Keiko says, which is one hell of a sucker-punch now that we know she's just carrying a corpse. Unbeknownst to Keiko, Yusuke is very much not making it. That's the only reason why she is. 

Kuwabara appears to help them the rest of the way which is also a pretty awesome thing considering that, from everyone else's perspective, the fire is still raging and blocking the door. Despite his spiritual awareness, Kuwabara gives no indication that he noticed this strange light, or Yusuke's hand in the rescue. Which basically means he lunged into a bunch of deadly fire for Keiko and doesn't question how in the world he isn't burned. 

Keiko's hands are fine, Kuwabara's whole body is fine... fire immunity must run in the friend group! 

Yusuke has another rare moment of vulnerability — "They're both okay" — and I cackle happily at the "both" because see. You love Kuwabara too, Yusuke! All this bluster about hating him and finding him annoying. The second he rushed into that fire you were crawling up the walls. 

Except then that happiness gives way to something that sounds a little more shocked. Devastated. "Well, I sure am... relieved..." Kudos to Cook's voice acting. You can hear the exact moment Yusuke realizes what he's done. Not that he regrets it, but the consequences are finally sinking in. He's relieved that they're safe, yes, but now he's never going to be able to rejoin them. 

As Yusuke has an(other) existential crisis, Kuwabara peels back the blanket Keiko had wrapped Yusuke in, revealing his face. “What are you doing with Yusuke’s body?! Are you some type of sick grave robber?” he shouts. God I love when a story actually keeps track of who knows what. Kuwabara, for all his recent involvement in the plot, doesn't actually know what's going on. From his perspective Yusuke died, he made a scene at the wake, he saved "his girl" from a bunch of thugs, lost a huge chunk of time only to wake up with her randomly hugging him (then slapping him), participated in a bet with his awful teacher and had a couple weird, Yusuke related dreams while studying, and has felt the presence of ghosts perhaps a little more frequently than usual. Now he's trying to help save Keiko from a fire only for her to reveal she risked her own life for Yusuke's body. Of course he's freaking out! What's she doing with that? 

What's utterly fantastic though is that Kuwabara takes all of five seconds to process this and then enters immediate Ride or Die mode for Keiko. She's been hoarding Yusuke's body for undetermined reasons? Well, who is he to judge? The important thing here is that people are arrested for keeping bodies, so they've gotta skedaddle before the firefighters show up. 

Hence, hand-holding and avoiding arrest. 

As Yusuke starts threatening Kuwabara not to get "fresh" with her, Botan sadly reminds him that he no longer has a say in who Keiko does or does not fall in love with. The switch in tone is jarring. Whereas before Botan would have teased him mercilessly for the crush, now she knows that nothing can come of that — and it would be cruel not to remind Yusuke of that too. 

"Oh no. I didn't think..." Yusuke whispers, further establishing that he knew the risks of using his egg, but hadn't allowed them to sink in yet. Now they have. 

He gives a fake little laugh with, "Just when it was getting good" and I cry at the development in the span of just four episodes. Despite what I said at the beginning about the show resetting each week, there has been a lot of change thus far. Yusuke wants to live now! He wants to be there for Keiko! He looks down on his tiny family and screams at the unfairness of it all! They're talking about how they can't wait for him to come back and now that's never gonna happen!!

It hurts, friends. It hurts a whole lot. 

During this conversation between Keiko, Atsuko, and Kuwabara, we see that a couple of hours have passed (it's nighttime now, the fire is out) and Atsuko is apologizing for putting them all in danger like that. And by that I mean yes, she does technically apologize with an "I'm sorry" and everything, but it's also a one sentence apology pit against... well, near death for the three people standing (and sitting) before her. Atsuko seems just as concerned by Keiko losing her hair as she does Keiko nearly burning to death and she kneels by Yusuke's wheelchair, baby-talking to him about how he forgives her, right? I love Atsuko, she's great, but objectively speaking she is not a good mother. Not right now, anyway. 

Oh yeah, and just to reiterate that: Keiko's hands are fine after patting down Yusuke's on-fire body, but her hair, which I'm pretty sure never catches, has to be cut short. Ah, anime logic. Funny thing is, YYH isn't the only story to take the love interest and give her a cool, short cut thanks to a traumatic event. Anyone read Ranma 1/2? 

During this conversation we also learn that, sometime between the fire and now, Keiko filled Kuwabara in on everything that's happening with Yusuke. Makes sense. He kneels beside the wheelchair, joining the others in telling Yusuke that they'll wait patiently for his return. Yusuke, above them, continues yelling about how they're waiting on a dead man. 

“It can’t be helped. He made this decision on his own." 

Except it can, in fact, be helped!

Just as all hope is truly lost, Koenma appears and announces that Yusuke will be returned to life. Why? Because sacrificing his egg for Keiko is a better indicator of his worth than the egg itself could have been. Despite feeding on his negative outlook and heading towards biting Yusuke's head off — something the animation backs up by showing us teeth during the fire

— Yusuke's act demonstrates a tendency towards being a "decent human being" that is "so rare." Wow. That's depressing. Still, yay that Yusuke has those qualities! And this, to my mind, helps explain Sayaka's presence. Koenma recognized that judging Yusuke couldn't be left to the egg alone and indeed, Sayaka took note of his worth before he ever threw the egg into the fire. First it was questioning why someone as amazing as Keiko would go for him, then it was solidified through the shock of Yusuke announcing that coming back to life was meaningless if she wasn't in it. Even if Keiko had somehow, miraculously escaped the fire before Yusuke's sacrifice, I bet Sayaka's report would have tipped him in resurrection's favor anyway. 

Everyone is, of course, overjoyed and my heart swells at the intense gratitude Yusuke displays. My favorite part though is when Koenma cryptically says that “Your added experience with death could make you very useful" (a nod towards future events that goes right over Yusuke's head) and his response to this is a yelled, "YOU THINK I'M USEFUL?" This poor kid. The God of everything ever is chucking out revelations left and right, about resurrections and spirit beasts, but the only thing that really penetrates is the realization that someone thinks he's useful. Talk about relatable. 

You know, I've been thinking about why this moment works so well. I mean, there are a lot of other stories where undermining the consequences our hero faces — either with humor, or by erasing them completely — can feel like the audience was cheated. I think YYH dodged that with a couple of crucial factors. First, Yusuke's consequence isn't something new that he's now avoided, it's just a permanent extension of something he was already dealing with. We did get to watch him inhabit the space between life and death, grappling with whether he'd ever be able to return. The story didn't deny us that growth, it just confirmed something we all instinctively knew: this tale won't end here with Yusuke permanently going to some afterlife. Second, the Deus ex Machina fix doesn't happen too soon. Yeah, it's only a couple of minutes in a single episode, but we (and Yusuke) still get to sit with that outcome for a while, soaking it in before its removal. Finally, there's no doubt that Yusuke earned this reprieve. Koenma's timing might be sudden and (if you're not genre savvy) unexpected, but looking back at the series as a whole thus far, we're able to agree absolutely that Yusuke deserves this. Far from feeling like we were cheated, this solution invites just as much celebration as we're seeing on screen, for the simple reason that we can buy into Koenma's reasoning. We know now that Yusuke is a good person. We saw him selflessly sacrifice his future for Keiko. We agree that he deserves a second chance. 

Thus, the episode ends with Yusuke flying up to fill the screen in his joy, a far better, final shot than Harry Potter and The Prison of Azkaban managed 😰

And that's it for Episode 4, folks! See you later for Episode 5 💕

[jerakeenc]

many kidfics i’ve read and loved

look who’s reccing a million year old fics now. kidfics, very many. posted to dw for snowflake, thought I’d copy here as well. will be reading most, if not all. if you don’t hear from me again, this list is the culprit.

101 Ways To Get Lucky (In Love) by lenore

18,200 words | SGA, McKay/Sheppard

Rodney McKay is rich, gorgeous and at the top of his game—except someone just moved the goalposts! Now Rodney realizes he is sorely lacking the one status symbol that everybody seems to have…the perfect family. Rodney needs help, so he hires a relationship coach. Single-dad John Sheppard may be an expert, but not when it comes to his own relationships! And every day he spends with Rodney makes him wish that he could be the one to fill the vacancy in Rodney's life…

A Beautiful Lifetime Event by astolat

29,000 words | SGA, McKay/Sheppard

Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans.

An Earlier Heaven by regann

67,400 words | X-Men, Erik/Charles

In the wake of Cuba, Charles and his students are ready to pick up the pieces and work toward achieving Charles's dream of a safe haven for young mutants. Those plans, however, take a surprising turn thanks to a very unexpected complication. As he slowly builds a future for his students and for his child, Charles struggles with the loss of Erik and the secrets he's willing to keep to protect his family, but those strides are shattered when Erik makes a startling reappearance into his life. [mpreg, kidfic, ensemble]

And everything nice by noelia_g

30,200 words | Social Network, Mark/Eduardo

The one where Mark somehow ends up with a child and of course needs a nanny for the amount of time he spends at the office. Only problem is a string of nannys keep trying to get into his pants for what he assumes is his money. Cue Mark's assistant hiring a male nanny, enter Eduardo.

asking to be born by longtime_lurker

26,500 words | Bandom, Pete/Patrick

"Don't worry, it's probably just his big gay freakout," Andy yells cheerfully and unhelpfully into Patrick's ear as they're hustling Pete over to the nearest private clinic.

Better with You by harriet_vane

38,100 words | 1D, Liam/Louis

Based on this prompt at the kinkmeme:

Single parent and solo artist Liam Payne hires Louis Tomlinson to be a full time nanny to his four year old son Sammy. Although the two men don't quite click from the start it's love at first sight between Sammy and Louis. Eventually Louis and Liam warm up to each other and get on like a house on fire, in fact the two become a little too fond of each other.

I refuse to apologize for how sweet this ended up, okay? It's kidfic, I am forever writing kidfic, and this one is even kid-fic-ier than usual.

Can't Get Enough of You (Baby) by eternalbreath

22,100 words | Inception, Arthur/Eames

Eames vanishes from dreamshare and Arthur goes a little crazy looking for him until he stumbles across him -- with a baby.

Chelsea, Chelsea, I Believe by empathapathique

300,800 words | Hockey, Kane/Toews

Patrick meets a girl his rookie year.

Don't You Shake Alone by dsudis

62,180 words | Generation Kill, Brad/Nate

Nate looked exactly like Brad always pictured him: exhausted in the full life-in-a-combat-zone sense of the word.

Dude, what's a bulwark? by kellifer_fic

12,150 words | Teen Wolf, Derek/Stiles

Beacon Hills is the kind of small town where everybody knows everybody, and what everybody knows is that surly diner owner Derek Hale and free spirited single dad Stiles Stilinski have been in love with each other for years. If only they knew it too.

Every Other Beautiful World by rhiannonhero

43,280 words | SGA, McKay/Sheppard

Some things are unexpected but still inevitable in every beautiful world.

Forever, Now by harriet_vane

227,100 words | Bandom, Frank/Gerard, Jon/Spencer, Brendon/Ryan, Brian/Greta

Brian rescues kid!Gerard and Mikey from life on the streets, and eventually everyone finds a family.

here comes the sun by oflights

56,600 words | Social Network, Mark/Eduardo

This is a story about growing up, sad 70's rock songs, too much hair gel, "Maxwell's Silver Hammer", a baby with curly hair, a Geiger counter, a dog that isn't named Max, the Chicken Dance, Cheerios, pepper-spray, drugs, sex, and a stuffed chicken named Cluckerberg, nicknamed Cluck. or: Mark raises Sean's accidental baby, and I write the fluffiest thing ever.

I Got a Love (That Keeps Me Waiting) by svmadelyn

163,700 words | Hockey, Kane/Toews

There's a lot of different ways this summary could go, like:

Patrick Kane gets more than a gold medal in Sochi.

Or, the classic: It's too late to pull out now.

Or: Patrick Kane continues to thrive in high pressure situations.

Or: Patrick Kane gets knocked up, goes to White Castle, and finds love, not necessarily in that order.

But, ultimately, all that really matters is this: Patrick Kane is keeping his baby.

I Would Be by cathalin

20,290 words | American Idol, Kris/Adam

AU. Adam and Kris meet a few years down the road, when down-on-his-luck Kris and his young daughter Katherine show up to rent a room from Adam, who never made it to an Idol audition.

Ice Ice Baby by uraneia

51,340 words | Hockey, Claude/Danny

A gold medal isn't the only souvenir Claude brings home from Prague.

OR: The one where Claude gets drunk, gets pregnant, and gets convinced to move in with Danny, whom he's been secretly in love with for years. What could possibly go wrong?

my heart is bigger than the distance in between us by estrella30

15,000 words | 1D, Nick/Harry

Nick chuckles quietly but grabs the remote and follows Emma, Aimee coming up close behind him. It’s indeed Harry on the telly, singing along to his latest radio hit and smiling slowly into the camera far too seductively for half eight on a Friday morning, if you ask Nick. He presses the volume just in time to catch the crowd’s roaring applause and see the pink flush Harry’s cheeks. Nick watches him duck his head as he gives a small wave to the audience, and it hits Nick that Harry is still the most humble and appreciative billionaire Nick’s ever met.

Good job, popstar, Nick thinks to himself.

or, Nick is a single dad and Harry is his bff and it's a bunch of years into the future and they fall in love

Once Upon a Furry Octopus by skoosiepants

11,270 words | SGA, McKay/Sheppard

He was an intelligent, intuitive pet, but he wasn’t going to start sniffing out ZPMs or hidden Ancient weaponry or detailed instructions on how to kill a Wraith with a common household item. A pen, for instance.

Reconcilable Differences by astolat

40,000 words | Smallville, Clark/Lex

Luthor Family Values.

Shelter by harriet_vane

63,500 words | Social Network, Jesse/Andrew

From the kinkmeme prompt: Some sort of AU vaguely based on Shelter! For whatever reason, Jesse has to take care of Hallie and give up his dream of being an actor. He ends up working in a dead end job when former, now successful friend (Andrew) returns home. They fall in love, etc, only Jesse can't go away with him because he has a responsibility to his family. CUE ANGST.

Show Me The Way Back Home Baby by stilinskisparkles

15,000 words | Teen Wolf, Derek/Stiles

In which Lydia and Jackson produce the world's cutest baby, and the pack goes crazy-- the good kind of crazy. Except for Derek, who is afraid of tiny cute babies and Stiles who plans to be the best Uncle ever. Even if Danny called dibs on Godfather.

Skybird by windsweptfic

33,785 words | Inception/White Collar, Arthur/Eames

Arthur and Eames adopt a kid and raise that kid into Neal Caffrey.

Small Cells and Fibers by sevenfists

7,830 words | Bandom, Frank/Gerard

Tuesdays were finger-painting days. Frank made sure to wear his oldest pair of jeans, because even with his full-length apron and his constant reminders that paint belongs on paper and not on clothing, he always ended up with tiny, multi-colored handprints all over his clothes. There wasn't a thing he could do about it, so he just wore pants from 1995.

Small Primes and Square Roots by liviapenn

12,500 words | SGA, McKay/Sheppard

"I hope you picked someone really intelligent, otherwise it seems like it would be kind of a waste. Of incubation time, if nothing else."

So Wise We Grow by deastar

81,250 words | Star Trek Reboot, Kirk/Spock

"Commander Spock, we have located your son," the Vulcan lady on the screen says, which would be great, except Jim can tell by the look on Spock's face that he's never heard of this kid before in his life. "If it is expedient, the child will be sent to join you on the Enterprise within the week."

Something Better by lovelypoet

18,350 words | Bandom, Frank/Gerard

"We all have to take jobs we don't like sometimes, you know?"

The Next Time You Say Forever by Thistlerose

27,300 words | Star Trek Reboot, Kirk/McCoy

After his ex-wife's death, McCoy is forced to leave the Enterprise to look after his teenage daughter. Under normal circumstances, this would be the end of…whatever it is he has with Kirk that's more than friendship, but less than what he wants. But the universe has other intentions.

The Reeducation of Misters Kane and Toews by jezziejay

15,900 words | Hockey, Kane/Toews

In which Kaner sort of has a kid, and Mr. Toews doesn't know which of them is the bigger brat.

AU featuring teacher!Jon and hockey-player!Kaner. With bonus 'Hawks characters, love notes, pasta jewelry, Be Better Pizzas, pirouettes, a sprinke of angst and guest appearance by Derek Jeter.

The Road Delivered Us Home by keelywolfe

117,430 words | Hobbit, Thorin/Bilbo

In the years since Bilbo left Erebor, he has lost his respectability, gained a nephew, and gotten on with life at Bag End.

He'd left aside adventure for the comforts and peace of his little Hobbit hole, and for the love of a child who needed him. Though perhaps, adventures can yet find him.

This Story Was Brought to You by Our Sponsors by scaramouche

29,500 words | Supernatural, Dean/Castiel

Dean's post-apocalyptic life is a friggin' soap opera. Romance! Angst! Separations! Reunions! Pizza Dinners! A Child Dean Never Knew He Had! It's all very dramatic.

throw a little sparkle all over it by etben

26,000 words | Bandom, Frank/Gerard

"Hey, Ma," Mikey says. "No, everything's fine—well, I mean, Gerard accidentally adopted a baby—no, he's changing her now, he can't talk."

Tiny Houses by ohmyjetsabel

77,130 words | Teen Wolf, Derek/Stiles

"So this is what Stiles does. He lies in Scott’s bed and waits for Melissa to say she’s found someone to get it out of him, to cure him of the wrongness and the bad, and he dreams.

God, he dreams.

He dreams of fire and swollen bellies and that scene in Alien, of giving birth to jackals through his urethra, the whole horrific nine yards. His head is a terrible place to be, he can’t imagine his stomach is much better, why anyone would want to put a thing inside of it."

Tip, Slide, Tumble by j_s_cavalcante

42,900 words | due South, Fraser/Kowalski

Ray knew when he found the body in the alley it was going to change someone's life. He just didn't expect that life would be his.

Turn by saras_girl

306,000 words | Harry Potter, Harry/Draco

One good turn always deserves another. Apparently.

Unless it's lies or it's love by sprat

25,300 words | American Idol, Kris/Adam

In which Adam (a rock star) meets Kris (a single dad) at an Emergency Room in Arkansas at the end of a particularly shitty night. Also features: San Francisco, fresh starts, baked goods, OCs, cameo appearances by Matt and Megan, pirates, monsters with garbage heads and a recording studio.

What Child Is This by lamardeuse

30,150 words | Merlin, Arthur/Merlin

A modern AU with Merlin, Arthur, mayhem, a baby and a jingly elf hat.

What to Expect by arsenic

29,200 words | Bandom, Bob/Mikey

Mikey has his band, and his little girl, and that's enough. Really, it is.

Winter's Children by neery

66,890 words | Marvel, Bucky/Steve

When their attempts to recreate the super soldier serum failed, Hydra started trying to breed Captain America clones from his genetic samples. Unfortunately, the serum's effects aren't passed down genetically, so instead of an army of tiny Captain Americas, they get a bunch of tow-headed, asthmatic, allergic, immuno-compromised little Steves.

And then the Winter Soldier stumbles across Hydra's failed experiment...

With Six You Get Eggroll by speranza

31,000 words | due South, Fraser/Kowalski

"Kick 'em In The Head: A Guide To Parenting."

ETA: Bonus! Because I apparently lost my bookmark for this one but have the memory of an elephant for kidfic, so it came to me eventually. :D

A Farm in Iowa 'Verse by sheafrotherdon

166,000 words | SGA, McKay/Sheppard

John inherits a farm, Rodney ends up entirely out of his element, and there is much ado about baseball.

[pochapal]

rank every year of the 2010s from best to worst i want some pochapal lore

[warning for discussion of my fucked up mental health and my myriad traumas. we’re really opening the pandora’s box here gang]

ok time for me to overshare on the internet again! super long post because i can’t shut up and you asked for it. anyway, by objective ranking: 

#1: 2012 - halcyon era, my personal peak. spent the whole year writing hunger games oc fics with my deviantart fanfiction besties whom i still think about all the time and always hope are having the best possible day. if you were here for this era understand i still hold you so closely and dearly in my heart <3. 

#2: 2013 - god i was such a good example of a human being back then. was the year my writing like actually took off and i had a healthy balance between creative stuff and a social life (said social life consisting of spending lunchtimes at school breaking into classrooms and discussing fandom shit with five other people. reading homestuck updates in the music room on one person’s really shaky mobile data...legendary). highlight of the year and maybe my life was in the april of 2013 when i got out of failing to submit a hard deadline essay by telling my english teacher i wrote a whole novel over the two week break and then producing said novel. god i wish i had that level of like. fucking confidence back me back then knew what i wanted and how to get it. 

#3: 2010 - the last year of childhood. i was 12 and played pokemon all the time with my friends and went places and had a moderately successful youtube channel and it didn’t matter that i was bullied so badly at school because i was basically high off life. summer of 2010 was so good specifically. i’d used to get the bus with a friend and go see movies and break into historical sites and get into normal childhood mayhem and maxed out my pokewalkers twice a month and i was buzzed because i had two (2) whole friendship groups to choose from and that was such a huge deal to me the terminal social outcast. it was so simple and carefree and even though everything and everyone involved in this era grew up to suck except for one specific person i kinda really miss it.

#4: 2018 - this was the first year i wasn’t depressed to the point of nonfunctioning. it was 20gayteen, i was on antidepressants, i was as close to thriving as i got at uni (going into town with people once a week, attending art and culture events, getting good grades across the board), i started to write for fun again, i got my cat whom i love dearly, i was exhibited in my uni’s city’s literature festival, GOD i actually nearly attended a pride event that year can you imagine. this year was basically my life’s second peak. miss getting the 8am train and daintily sipping on a cherry coke to keep me from passing out. wish this time could have lasted longer.

#5: 2019 - kinda absolute middle of the road year not for lack of anything happening but because the overwhelming amount of good and bad things cancelled each other out. so like there’s the fact that i was at the top of my uni game this year, was basically making the first steps into a professional writing career (covid i will never forgive you for killing all that dead </3), finally saved up enough to buy myself a gaming pc, and the summer after the homestuck epilogues, but equally 2019 was the start of the Pochapal Gender Fiasco which is by far the most horrible thing i am still currently undergoing and i burnt myself out mentally about halfway through the year (being stuck overnight in a hospital for a panic attack absolutely horrible horrible irredeemable) and then got like super death plague flu that i was sick with for three months (literally recovered less than a month before rona hit. god’s cruel karma.). so like...it kind of averaged out? the good shit was good but not as great as other years and the bad shit was awful but nowhere near as terrible as it could have been. gotta give a shoutout to 90% of my current mutual cohort for following me in 2019...omelette route gang make some noise !!

#6: 2014 - oof. this year essentially marked the start of a four year long downward mental health spiral because everything fell into awful alignment. i’d just turned 16, finished secondary school, had all my friends up and ditch me at once, was home alone for a whole summer, and was hit with Sudden Intense Body Image Issues that i couldn’t explain until uh. after very recent developments lmao. this one goes out to the me of july 2014 who did nothing but lay in bed and listen to the same two marina albums on a loop because fuck i’m attracted to men and also my facial and body hair are really starting to come in and if i think about this for too long i will literally kill myself because oh god i can’t handle getting older which is clearly and definitely the issue going on here. my brain fucking broke super hardcore and it’s a miracle that an overeating disorder was like the worst thing i walked away with. 

#7: 2015 - downward spiral year two!! i was so volatile this year it was such a mess. i was totally socially isolated after a brief stint of falling in with a group of people at the start of my first year of sixth form until january where in quick succession a) it turned out every single one of these people was friends with the person who sexually assaulted me whom i obviously had a lot of complicated feelings towards and b) baby’s first crush came out as bisexual but in the “women and also trans women” kind of way which tore me up so terribly in ways i couldn’t begin to understand. no words for the experience of seeing a girl kiss a boy and crying so hard at night you threw up because you could never be her no matter how much you wanted it. actually kinda get the sense what was going on there was bigger than just some crush lmao. then after that i was so mentally ill i basically attended school less than half the time and it was the only year in my life i failed my exams. i ended up having to resit my entire set of first year a level exams because jesus christ was i in such a bad way it was a miracle i even showed up to them. all i did was either have anxiety attacks or enter bedbound depressive slumps for weeks at a time. but it’s okay because it gets worse.

#8: 2016 - downward spiral act iii: the spiralling. prefacing this by saying that i actually had two whole good months (april - may) in that i was functioning enough to do my exams and finish school with decent grades. the rest was super extra mega terrible. my school attendance for year 13 dipped below 65% and literally the only thing that kept me from being kicked out was the fact that i was naturally smart at the subjects i took and also because the school would have a lot to answer for after letting me get to that state despite having a hefty file on how damaged i was. keep in mind every single part of this was fully untreated btw - i was just floundering around and letting it all fester. i spent three solid weeks going to school but locking myself in the bathroom all day every day and having mental health episodes then going home like nothing else happened only to continue the breakdown that night. then things got kicked into fucked up overdrive when i moved out to uni and was cut off from what little support structures i did have. it was so bad all i did was cry all the time and never went anywhere to the point where three separate sources recommended me to the wellbeing and crisis counselling service that i stopped going to after two sessions because i was fucked up in ways cbt techniques could not even touch. at least i tried to make an effort for the first two months of uni which like. good for me?

#9: 2017 - what lieth at the base of the spiral. helltrench year. i was at literal rock bottom. i stopped going to class, i didn’t hand in a single piece of work. i lied to my parents and would book trains each day only to go back to my student flat and sit there and contemplate suicide. like i would just slump on the floor in a catatonic state and vividly contemplate one of four or so ways i could end my own life. i only didn’t because i wanted to wait until the summer to collect my last student loan and transfer it to my parents as an apology for my death which obviously didn’t end up happening. honestly i can’t remember much of the first half of 2017 that’s how bad it was. i remember taking a gender studies class and the teacher made it Weird that i was the Only Male Student in the room and then she sent me a scolding email after i walked out halfway through a class and never returned. apparently i got into a lot of online discourse in this year but i don’t remember anything other than being put on a blocklist by the milkfic author over ace discourse which is funny if you have the context. mostly i just baited terfs and weirdo freaks to get them to say horrible things to me as what i guess amounts to some kind of digital self harm. anyway breaking point came in late august when i got kicked out of university and then nobody could ignore it any more so there was no choice left but for me to seek out help and recover enough to function which luckily i did. i really Do Not remember 2017. you could tell me anything about that year and i’d probably believe you.

#10: 2011 - extra circle of hell for this little fucked up gem of a year. on the surface it wasn’t actually that terrible, until the Summer 2011 Domino Effect Of Bad Shit. up until like may/june it was a pretty all right year! i was 13 and had a surprisingly successful youtube channel uploading pokemon soundfont remixes to an audience of i think ~350-400 subscribers at my peak? anyway then i got hit with the early summer triple combo of childhood friends moving away, cute and quirky sexual assault at the hands of a person in my friend group, and then having some Really Great and Super Appropriate interactions with adults on deviantart. like obviously there’s the actual ptsd-inducing event which totally disrupted and killed the person i was right up until that moment and reshaped every facet of my life for better or worse (there’s an alternate timeline where that didn’t happen and i got into electronic music and/or coding instead) but really it’s the events that followed in its wake which were kind of more fucked up. so like all of a sudden i was super aware of my body and me growing my hair out and being mistaken for a girl in class suddenly became this Less Innocent thing and i ended up spending hours overnight going to transgender questioning forums and looking up hrt timeline videos and having the wikipedia article on tracheal shaving saved because it was a life raft to me whose voice was imminently gonna deepen and i was simultaneously reeling with constant trauma flashbacks and the whole thing was so so fucked up. then i was on deviantart and i don’t remember exactly how but a small group of furry guys ten to fifteen years older than me started messaging me and encouraging and requesting me to produce nonsexual fetish stuff for them and talking to me about stuff like if i’d ever thought about growing up to be gay and i didn’t think anything of it for a long while because they called me a very talented writer and it felt so good to have someone be nice to me after being so alone and isolated for months on end. anyway the only reason i got out of that before it got bad was because they invited me to one of the big furry sites and i was weirded out because i thought it was a porn site and thinking about sexual stuff was a huge trauma trigger so i just ended up blocking them all and pretending like it didn’t happen. at the time half this shit didn’t bother me but in retrospect holy fuck 2011 was such a damaging year. to think if like three events didn’t happen i wouldn’t be the fucked up mess you see before you today.

god fuck this turned out super long but i’m not apologising because this was a therapeutic exercise for me and also constitutes as one of the biggest pochapal lore dumps of all time. come get your food or whatever.

[bellphiie-main]

Carefree [1]

Zeref x F!Reader

I’m posting this from my Wattpad drafts. I only have 3 prewritten parts, so let me know if you want me to continue! Also: This was written over a year ago. I never posted it. So I apologize for any mistakes.

I’m so scared to post this

Genre: Fluff Warnings:  Spoilers? I think. It doesn’t directly follow the story but its pretty close Summary: Y/N goes looking for Fairy Tails first masters’ grave. Someone spots her and ends up in a predicament.. Words: ~1180

╔═══*.·:·.☽✧    ✦    ✧☾.·:·.*═══╗

"Tenrou island?" A sailor asked a small girl.

"Yes! Please, sir, if you can, take me there!" She clasps her hands together, begging the only person with a boat around for miles.

"Are you sure you want to go there? Isn't that Fairy Tail's special island?" The sailor questions.

"Yeah, but I'm close friends with their master. He gave me permission, and even gave me this guild mark! It's not Fairy Tails, but it's to symbolize our friendship!" Y/N lifts her foot to show a F/C mark on her ankle. 

"See?" She smiles happily. "Please take me there! I need to find the first masters grave."

"Alright..." The sailor says with an unsure voice.

"Yes! Thank you so much." Y/N hops into the boat, her outfit blowing in the wind as she holds on to the sail, waiting for the sailor to climb in.

"We're taking off. You should take a seat, it'll get bumpy." The sailor warns as he pushes off from the dock.

"I'll be fine! The ocean looks beautiful." Y/N comments, eyes sparkling at the open water surrounding her. She closes her eyes as white light radiates off of her. Dolphins jump out of the water, doing tricks along the boat. The sailor stares in awe at the magic the girl holds.

"That's some neat magic. What kind is it?" He asks.

"I don't exactly have a name for it. It's just bright, and brings life to things. I can't always control it though, so sometimes it starts working and I don't even realize it. Like what happened a moment ago." She smiles.

-----

"Here we are." The sailor says, bringing the boat to shore.

"Thank you so much! How much do you want?" Y/N digs into her bag, finding some money.

"Oh, that won't be necessary. You're a lovely young lady, and your company was much appreciated. I haven't laughed that much in months. Thank you, and I hope you find what you're looking for." The man tips his hat as the boat gets farther away from the shore, Y/N waving until he is completely out of sight.

"Wow." She breathes, looking around the beautiful island. Her gaze falls on an area in the forest, seemingly devoid of any life. She skips over, placing her hand onto the fallen tree as a white light glows. Soon, the tree is standing tall again, and the others around it do the same. The area is full of life.

A dark figure watches from afar, eyes wide at the sight. He takes in the area that was just dead, and now is thriving with life. Flowers bloomed, birds already perched on trees, even deer were making their way to the girl. He's never seen anything like it.

The girl remains oblivious, continuing to skip around, trying to find the thing she came here for in the first place. Zeref tilts his head, thinking to himself how can someone be so carefree? It's like she's never experienced sadness in her life, ever. She seems almost too happy for her to even be real.

"Is my mind playing tricks on me? Am I that desperate for human interaction?" He whispers to himself. Once the girl skips away, he walks to the area she brought back to life, touching the tree. It is, in fact, actually there. His mind isn't playing tricks on him.

There's another human on this island, one who doesn't know of his existence. That thought alone scares him. What if he doesn't see her, and his magic starts working again? What if he kills her without even realizing it? He shakes his head and turns to walk the other direction.

He swears he will do whatever he can to stay away from that girl.

----

His vow didn't last very long. Maybe two hours at most. He finds himself watching over her, which is strange. He's never felt the need to watch over someone. He can't understand it, but he thinks it's just the fact that she's a human walking on this island. The island that a murderer resides on.

The girl skips around with a wide smile on her face, interacting with any animal she sees. He notices that at some points, light radiates around her, and she doesn't seem to notice it. He doesn't think much of it, maybe it's like his magic.

"Hello!" A sudden cheery voice breaks the silence. Zeref's eyes widen as he looks at the girl, only to fight back a sigh of relief once he realizes she's talking to an animal.

'Strange, can she communicate with animals too?'

"Wow! Your fur is so pretty. Can I pet it?" She asks the rabbit. The rabbit makes a noise, Zeref unable to understand. The girl smiles and reaches out, stroking the rabbits fur. "So soft! What's your name?" She asks.

"Chiera" The rabbit says to Y/N.

"Chiera. I like it. Can I give you a nickname?" Y/N asks, sitting in the grass next to the rabbit.

"Okay!" The rabbit says, seemingly excited.

"I'll call you... Chichi!" Y/N closed her eyes, leaning back on a tree with her hands behind her head.

"May Chichi ask strangers name?" The rabbit asked.

"Oh, I'm Y/N! It's lovely to meet you." Y/N opens one eye, and catches some sort of movement a few yards away. "Huh? Is someone else there?" She calls.

Zeref stands with his back pressed against a tree, holding his breath. He hears Y/N sigh and start talking to the rabbit once more. Zeref can feel his magic building up, he grabs his head and runs away as fast as he can without being seen. He feels the dark magic slowly seeping out of him, the darkness slowly takes over the small area. Once the fog clears, all signs of life are gone.

"Maybe she can fix it..." Zeref mumbles sadly. He glances around and spots a squirrel. The squirrel runs beside the decaying tree and looks up. The tree tilts, leaning towards the squirrel. Zeref's eyes widen as he rushes to get the squirrel out of the way. The squirrel hears the rapid footsteps and rushes for cover. Zeref doesn't stop in time, however.

The tree comes crashing down, Zeref tries to jump out of the way, but it falls on top of his ankle. His chest hits the ground and he groans in pain, looking down at his foot. He concludes that it's not broken, as he can move his toes. But he cant get the tree off. He's stuck.

Back with the girl, she heard the crash. It was so loud that it scared her new friend away. "Chichi! Wait!" Y/N calls, but it's too late. She looks in the direction of the sound and decides to check it out. 

Zeref can hear footsteps slowly approaching, and he starts to panic. He frantically pulls at his foot, trying to get it out from under the tree. A nearby bush rustles as Y/N pops out, her eyes widening at the scene.

╚═══*.·:·.☽✧    ✦    ✧☾.·:·.*═══╝

[1] , (more coming soon) Anime Masterlist Fairy Tail Masterlist

[unioncolours]

One Majsasaurus Year!

Today is a very special day for me. This day marks the one-year anniversary since I uploaded the very first chapter of my very first fanfiction. It has been one year since I stepped into the Naruto/Boruto fandom as a content creator.

This post is going to be a sappy meta post about my year as a content creator and my relationship to my fanfictions, to my writing and to my fandom and friends.

Please continue reading down below 💕⬇ 

I began watching Naruto in 2019, and by summer 2019 I had seen Shikamaru’s arc in Shippuden. I was blown away by his character and I was a full shipper of ShikaTema by then. I could not wait until we got to the end of Shippuden, and began googling the next gen characters (and spoiling the end game couples at the same time) and you can only imagine my satisfaction when I found out ShikaTema became canon and they had a son.

Very soon after this I came up with my first fanfiction idea, the one that gave birth to my very first fanfiction Shadows and Sand. I believed that idea had been done before, but after vacuuming through both ff.net and ao3, and I found nothing, I decided to write it myself.

I may have written fanfictions only for a year, but prior to this I was hardcore into the original writing world. I had written two fantasy novels and five full length plays before I wrote my first fanfiction, one of which was published, so the art of writing was something I was fairly used to.

The fanfiction writers I had read and followed to this point were Big Fandom Name writers with strict schedules and lots of readers. Every time they uploaded a new chapter their audience would write comments like “Your spoiling us with these tight schedules” and so on. I really liked the idea of a consecutive schedule and decided to write the whole first fic in its entirety, so I could “spoil” my potential readers with updates.

Shadows and Sand ended up being 35 000 word long, divided into eight chapters. This was the first story in my whole life I had ever written completely in English (and it was not easy). Going back to Shadows and Sand is cringy for me, mainly for the way I expressed myself in English, thought I still think the plot is great.

Here is one of the lines from Shadows and Sand I to this day think is amazing:

“She [Mirai] looked into his eyes, but he [Shikadai] didn’t look back, because he was already staring into a nightmare where his dad was dead because of his mistakes.”

For a totally new fanfiction writer, with no “fanbase” prior to this, I would say I got quite a lot of comments (around 15 in total on the eight chapters) and I was extremely happy for that.

I uploaded the whole thing in a week and a half, satisfied and proud of the result. At the final chapter I got a comment where the commentor wrote something along the lines of “Well written angst and well written fluff”. I pondered about those statements for a long time, thinking, yes, this was actually angst, even if I in the moment of writing – then I was still unused to the tagging system and the tropes of fanfiction, didn’t categorise the fic as angst, because I thought angst could only be chopped off limbs and painful deaths. But this fic had angst as well. Tiny angst, but still. And a rather powerful feeling rose in my chest from that moment. This is what I want to do in the fandom. To write heartfelt stories that make people feel.

  One week after I uploaded the final chapter of Shadow and Sand my fingers began to itch. I wanted to write more. Wanted to explore the little grain of world building I had already created. Wanted to write more Shikadai and Inojin kissing.

And thus, To go down with the Sun was born.

I began writing Down with the Sun with only one vision – something epic and an explosion. The plot was evolving as I was writing and the result ended up being just beautiful. And I became obsessed with this story. I wrote it in racer speed, 50 000 words in 26 days (that is madness, I tell you, MADNESS!) and then the rest 30k in 20 days. I could not think of anything but this story and the Next Generation Kids I put through trials and hell. I felt true euphoria while writing this story that unfolded under my fingers like in a dream. It was a mania, and a damn strong one.

The first thing I did when I woke up was writing, the last thing I did before going to bed was writing it. I prioritised writing this story above all in my life.

At the time of uploading, the fic did not get that much recognition. I got about one comment per chapter. When I uploaded the final chapter, I got two comments on that one, which was a tiny bummer, since I had hoped for more. It was a lonely, but lovely job to write Down with the Sun, mostly with my own thoughts as company, since the readers were rather quiet with feedback.

But I loved the few comments I got and I still got kicks from just the single act of uploading a new chapter. Because in the end, I wrote for myself and even more for the characters and plot. Finishing the story was the greatest motivator.

I uploaded the final chapter of To go down with the Sun December 7th, 2019.  And I still to this day love the story I created, even if I know that I’d definitely re-write some elements from the story if I’d write it again. But I still love it.

   After To go down with the Sun I wrote the fic that I hold the least emotional value to, Earning a weasel’s trust. The story is cute and short (11 000 words). It was a nice little project focusing on Temari’s motherhood to Shikadai that I wrote in a week. It got close to no feedback or attention, but it didn’t make me sad, because I needed to write and share that story and then move on with my life. I am though happy I wrote it.

At this time in my creative process I had been really lonely. It had been me with my own head and the characters. I had no beta reader and no one to bounce off ideas or anything. I had no fandom friends. I am still amazed I had written around 130k words without almost any support whatsoever in the span of four months.

This all changed in late December 2019. I found a Discord Server that I basically begged to get to be part of, and it really changed my fandom experience. Prior to this, my fandom experience had been lonely, and I just produced and consumed content. There was no interaction between anyone, except me replying to commentors.

And now, I found friends. I found people who loved the same pairing and show as I, and it felt almost life changing. This was the time when fandom really felt like… a hobby. A home. Before, it was a creative outlet, now it became a community.

I thrived.

The mod of this server @loknnica, hosted during this time a writing contest, which I eagerly wanted to take part of. I wrote my contest fic, Branded by Love, during January 2020, in which I made Shikamaru betray Konoha for Suna and Temari, and their son Shikadai became the One Tail jinchuuriki. The fic was 10k words long, and OUCH, the backstory I came up with. As soon as BbL was finished I decided that I wanted to write a long version of this canon divergence-world I had created.

In February 2020 I began writing Trial of the Heart, the epic version of Branded by Love. And damn, damn, damn what an epic story was born out of my fingers and brain. I love ToH, I loved what it turned out to be, a heart-wrenching and sad story of Shikamaru, Temari and Shikadai in a world of war.

While writing ToH the writing contest was ending and to my big, big delight, I WON! Branded by Love and I won the contest! This was precisely the boost I needed to really feel validated in my rather specific writing style and choice of plots.

I wrote ToH almost non-stop for four months, and in the beginning of June, the 28th chapter was uploaded. Trial of the Heart ended up being 123 000 words long. In four months, a whole damn NOVEL was created from my keyboard.

The pride, guys. The pride and joy I felt was like a drug injection.

Finishing off works is the greatest, greatest dose of motivation and pride. To write, write, write and finish. And let go of your work, to upload it with a great smile on your face.

During the spring and summer of 2019 three very important friends entered my life.

Vee (@veeganburger on twitter),

Becks (@notquitejiraiya on twitter)

Spooky (@spookymoth on twitter).

These three wonderful ladies really made me feel valid as a writer, and made me love my own work as well. During the spring To go down with the Sun had gained quite a lot of attraction, and the kudos and comments came. All the loneliness I had felt during the autumn was replaced by joy and love of sharing my works. These women have shared their thoughts of my work (and art) to me and I have also in privacy felt secure to talk with these women about nothing and all at once. They never fail to cheer me up.

I love you.

I had also gained the nickname “Shikadai’s tormentor” after multiple times forced that poor boy into horrible situations in my works. The user @shikanaradai’s nickname is Shikadai’s protector and we have an ongoing joke about being archenemies because of this. Ah. The fandom bubble was and is so lovely when you can experience inside jokes with friends. They became my friends, and I gained so much from this.

ANYHOW.

During Trial of the Heart I wrote a friendship between Shikadai and Inojin and I realised I missed writing them as a couple, like I had done in To go down with the Sun. With the support of Vee, who was really, really excited for a new fic where those two boys are a couple, I decided to write a sequel to To go down with the Sun, which I named To dance above the Stars.

In the wait before I began writing that one, I wrote two one shots, 48 hours to live – a next gen focused fic based on a manga chapter from the Boruto manga, and a pure Shikadai x Inojin one shot, I found love in the eyes of a boy, because at that time I knew already I had dug my own grave with that pairing.

I began writing To dance above the Stars in June 2020 and uploaded the first chapter at the end of the same month.

Simultaneously as I wrote Above the Stars I also wrote/edited three fics, one of them called The End, for an application to become a writer to the ShikaTema zine Everything I never knew I wanted. The results of the application came in the middle of July, when I had written a good chunk of Above the Stars.

I WAS ACCEPTED!

I am now officially one of the five writers for that zine!

To dance above the Stars got better recognition that I ever imagined. I was terrified that no one would want to read it, because it was a sequel and had very niched themes. A rare gay next gen pairing in focus and a story with extremely heavy emotional themes. I was so unsure anyone would want to read. The same feeling of loneliness that I had experienced during To go down with the Sun came back a little bit. That it in the end would be only me and my text.

How wrong I was.

To dance above the Stars got wonderful feedback, and more kudos than for example Trial of the Heart got. I received wonderful comments, and even fanart! I was so extremely happy and felt a new powerful emotion. It almost felt like my fic had its own little world in the world of fics, if that makes sense? Like a miniature fandom. During the late summer To go down with the Sun got translated into Russian by a wonderful reader of mine, enabling my texts to a wider audience, which I am extremely honoured by.

As I write this, it is September 2020. One year ago, I was writing Shadows and Sand and struggling through stringing English sentences together and that was also when “my” version of Shikadai was born. One year ago, I was writing what I to this day think is the best fighting scene I have ever written – and I write a lot of fight scenes. One year ago I was listening to “I just want to be brave” from the movie Lion King to get into Shikadai vibes and the mistake he did in that fic, a song I revisit for this reason time and time again.

I remember naively thinking that I will finish Shadows and Sand and then maybe write something else as well. Little did I then, in September 2019 know, that I would one year later have written closer to 400k words of fics, centred around Team 10 or around the Nara family. One year, almost four hundred thousand words.

Now, one year later I had won a writing contest, written three full length NOVELS as fics, been accepted to a wonderful zine, and found lovely, lovely friends. I even got crowned as a “Queen” for the Shikadai x Inojin ship, Shikajin as it is called, since I am one of the like three people who write for that ship, and have to this date written around 180k words for them. Which is a lot, haha!

I feel like I have conquered a tiny corner of the great fandom sandbox, and let me tell you, I thrive in my own corner. I might have few followers on twitter compared to many other creators, but I still want to provide content for those who want to see it. I might write rather niche works, but they filled a space where no fics were, and enriched the fandom in their own ways, even if I haven’t gotten tens of comments on each chapter. I have gotten around four comments each chapter, but it felt like okay.

I might not mod great zines like many of my friends do, something that did for a few months bring great stress into my fandom life. Am I a second-hand fandom member because I don’t want to moderate a zine, was something I often thought about. Am I lesser worth because I don’t do these amazing projects? No, I am not. And I feel very satisfied by just following my friends’ journeys and look at beautiful twitter accounts for zines.

I want to put my energy on writing intriguing plots and difficult fight scenes. Every fandom experience is valid.

In my heart I know my fics and content are good. Maybe not as good as native English writer’s content, but they’ve got a heart and soul on their own, and I really feel like I do have a Majsasaurus genre, trope or theme going on in my fics. And to be honest, I love it, and I accept that other people might not love it as much, or not at all. But it doesn’t matter. What I think of my own content matter.

  If any of you, who read this, have commented even once on one of my fics, thank you.

If any of you have ever interacted with me on twitter through comments, thanks you.

If any of you have pressed the follow button on either twitter or tumblr for me, thank you.

If any of you have left kudos to me, thank you.

If any of you have read my stuff but don’t want to comment because of different reasons, or if you feel shy to reach out, thank you for reading and I appreciate you as well.

 That was one hell of a Majsasaurus Year. Here’s to the next year. Cheers!

Thank you, all of you. You make my fandom experience complete.

 -        Majsasaurus Bex

[tbhwhocaresanymore]

Nancy Drew 1x13

This show continues to thrive in all the best ways. And even though it veers sharply away from the books, it makes sure to keep dropping Easter eggs for the fans. Larkspur Lane, and now Hannah Gruen?? For those of you who don’t know, Hannah Gruen is very important in the books. She is the Drew’s housekeeper, and Nancy’s mom died when she was a kid, and so Hannah is a lot like a motherly figure to Nancy growing up. I was beginning to give up hope on seeing her in the show but here she is!

Okay so The Whisper Box was amazing. This show generally does a good job of keeping its admittedly large cast balanced, but then it goes and drops an episode like this that is totally centered around the main five and the characters just SHINE. We got to see the Bess and Ace friendship, Nancy and George friendship, Nancy and Ace friendship, Nancy and Nick relationship, and even some Nancy and her dad. Sal continued to be a quality addition, although there is still the unanswered question of why he is a repeat patient at a mental asylum. Onto the plot.

I thought this storyline was really good. Nancy is so observational that it makes sense she would notice when there was some type of discrepancy. Although it was a little weird to see her and George such good friends. (Drewdles 😂?) The solving of the graveyard mystery was a solid plot, even if it did eventually end up being useless. And the storyline with Nancy’s mom was really tragic, to learn that the cancer testing was negative and to see her realize that if she stayed in this world she could be with her mother. And then at the end, to see her accepting that it was not real, and even thought it could hurt she had to go back to reality where her mom was dead.

The Tiffany video. Okay so we now know that Lucy was haunting Tiffany before her death, and that Tiffany looking into Lucy’s murder is what got her killed. This ties into the masquerade episode where Lucy said her death led to Tiffany’s. Now Tiffany was obviously not as okay with Lucy’s presence as Nancy. I will assume for the moment, since Tiffany was also trying to solve her murder, that Lucy was doing her best to be a helpful ghost to Tiffany. Maybe she was just new at it, or Tiffany wasn’t receptive to being haunted, but for whatever reason Tiffany was afraid of Lucy. In the pilot video of her death, we see Lucy approaching her, so I think it’s likely that Lucy was trying to warn Tiffany. What I want to know now is what did Tiffany find out that got her killed. We already know she was investigating the Hudsons when she died, and so if she stumbled onto something to tie them to Lucy’s murder it may have been enough to get her killed. I was talking with @ofhergoldenhues and she thinks Lucy herself may have been the one to kill Tiffany. I personally disagree, for two reasons. One, Tiffany was investigating Lucy’s murder and after 20 years I would also want my killer caught by this point, two Tiffany was poisoned to death with a very rare poison and I think Lucy would’ve struggled to get her non-corporeal hands on it. Speaking of Dead Lucy she was beautiful this episode, minimal as her time was. Where she was floating behind Tiffany at the end, after the initial jump scare I laughed so hard because I was just imagining how uncomfortable the actress must have been all suspended in midair like that. And whoever is in charge of Dead Lucy’s appearance needs a raise, I am going to go as her for Halloween 2020.

At the end, when Nancy was back in the real world and talking with the others about who they were in alt-reality, I loved her moment with Nick. But also did you see George in the background, turning to stare at Nancy and Nick for like ten seconds before going into her office? The feelings are there. Anyway, I was really surprised that Nancy was about to admit to Nick that more had happened between them. In the alt-reality she apologized to fake-Nick for not fighting harder for them, maybe she wants to rectify that now. But it’s competing with her belief that as she told Ace, she thinks Nick is better off without her. And Nancy has by now definitely picked up on the vibes between George and Nick, but it’s still progress that she’s opening up more to him, especially considering that was why he broke up with her in the first place. As for George and Nick, I am still convinced it is going to happen eventually, probably sooner rather than later. George is definitely feeling some feelings, so I think the question is will Nick start to see her as more than a friend? However I also think that if George at all suspects he still has feelings for Nancy she will keep him at bay with a ten foot pole, because after her affair with Ryan George does not seem like the sharing type. Which I mean good for her, but also Nick just had/has such strong feelings for Nancy that I don’t know if she would ever be able to get past that. It’ll be interesting to see how the writers throw them together, and if so how long it will last.

You guys I’m sorry but the shady priest was the funniest fucking part of the whole episode he was acting like a drug dealer and the dude legit teleported out of the car I was just cackling the entire scene. “The church won’t approve” like what are you worried about not getting permission from the non-existent regulation committee of holy water like you could bless a bottle of Mountain Dew if you wanted and no one would care, just give them a jug of the stuff and be done with it.

Moving into next week when we hopefully find out Tiffany’s murderer. Suspects include: the Hudsons, the Marvins, Lara Tandy (who I don’t believe but feel obligated to put), and Lucy. The Hudsons might have killed Tiffany for something she discovered while investigating them, if so probably in relation to Lucy Sable’s death. The Marvins I don’t have a lot of evidence for but they are a rich twisted family and Owen has been cozying up to the investigators and since Lucy knew about the affair, she also technically knew Marvin family secrets and could have known more and so they could have killed Lucy and 20 years later killed Tiffany to cover it up. Lara Tandy because of all that stuff Ace said about the money from their parents and blah blah don’t buy it. Lucy I also don’t buy, but the trailer seems like it wants you to think it, we know Lucy was haunting her, and Tiffany saw Lucy right before her death. Let me know if you guys have any ideas about the killer. I will also be doing a rewatch likely over the weekend to prepare for episode 14 (WHICH DOES NOT AIR UNTIL FEBRUARY 26 BECAUSE THE GODS ARE CRUEL), and I want to hear your theories on Tiffany’s murderer. Based on the promo Lara Tandy is officially up and kicking again, and I have to admit I love her character, so I am excited. Send me your theories or asks about mine or come into my message box and let me know if you ship Nancy x Nick or Nick x George.

[nelvana]

In which the dusknoir is taken around town

First [ARC 1]: In which the human is transformed First [ARC 2]: In which a present is prepared Next: Intermission Previous: In which the dusknoir is met

    Dusknoir had never quite expected to see the sun, or experience other leisure of the past. He had always been aware that for his master, Primal Dialga, to thrive, that the dark future was required. It made sense anyway; what Master Dialga said had to be law, as they knew best. They would fix things in the dark future, even if it had to stay dark.

    Being here in the past now, made all that strange. The world was suddenly full of many simply beauties that deep down he longed to explore more, but he couldn’t help but wonder if this was really right.

    Regardless, he was here, and he would get answers soon. In the meantime, it was fascinating to learn more about what he could experience now, including the other pokemon in it. Somehow, that obnoxious time travelling trio had built more friendships, though in hindsight, it probably shouldn’t have been so surprising, and each new pokemon was almost more interesting than the last.

    Right away, Dusknoir was curious about the situation with that human, Nelvana. It didn’t take long for it to come out that she was, in fact, the cubone he had glimpsed fall behind the island table and then hurry up the stairs. He managed to learn that she had amnesia, but despite that still made the same choses and acted similarly to before; which, in a way, Dusknoir found odd. Apparently, Gardevoir had been involved in both the transformation and the amnesia, but past the fact that she had been able to do that because of a ninetales, he didn’t get much out of her. Strangely enough, even Gardevoir didn’t seem to have all the details on the situation.

    Either way, he didn’t have much more than the word of the others in the household. Somehow, she had found a way to never be caught in the same room as him, even when he thought there would be no way for her to noticeably run off. In fact, just when he thought he had cornered her in the living room so that he could try speaking to her, it felt like he had just blinked and she was gone, despite literally being in a corner before he even tried entering the room in the first place.

    Aside from that, most of the new pokemon seemed to try treating him with respect, but still otherwise kept their guards up. Evidently, that grovyle had been catching them up on all of his crimes. Sometimes Dusknoir wanted to laugh at that thought; he was doing his job, it was what was right.

    One pokemon though, was especially new to him. He had glimpsed her the first night as well for a moment, but she hadn’t even lingered for a moment before going back upstairs; of which he still hadn’t seen yet, though he wanted to. It took awhile, but she finally showed herself to him. He learned that her name was Tsuki, and that her species was an absol.

    “Ah… I see, an absol. That would explain it,” Dusknoir murmured, looking over the long-furred quadruped that stood uncomfortably in front of him.

    “Explain what, if I may ask?” Tsuki questioned, wincing for a moment but holding her composure.

    “Why I hadn’t recognized your species before,” Dusknoir answered immediately, “I have only heard of absols in passing before; I believe that they went extinct in the future.”

    “Extinct?” Tsuki repeated, looking at Ceebee, who also was in the room for this introduction.

    Ceebee nodded sadly, “yes… I believe that the others hadn’t brought it up before since they weren’t certain, and probably Keahi explained absols well enough to them…” she murmured, “but, in the dead timeline, many absols could not handle the constant disaster. Many went mad, and most ended up disappearing either into the dungeons or from the world entirely.”

    Tsuki merely hummed in response, accepting what sense that answer made. Exhaling and shaking her head, she made her way over to the door.

    “Well, at least that is not the case now,” she mumbled, “anyway, it was nice to meet you, but I must be going now,” she continued.

    As Dusknoir would later learn, he apparently gave the absol headaches because he “carried disaster”, which, to him, didn’t make terribly much sense, but he had also picked up that Edgar could sense that he had killed others before, so he supposed she too could pick up on that.

    For his first day with this rescue team, Team Galaxy, he reminded himself, he had practically been locked in the house, stuck on the main floor still even when no one else was up there, until everyone else could “figure this out”. Evidently though, they realized it would be ridiculous to try keeping him inside for too long, and Keahi decided to take it upon zirself to show him around Pokemon Square.

    Pokemon Square was a loud and bustling town, with townsfolk who were cheery and loud. They were all fairly friendly, though evidently intimidated by Dusknoir’s appearance, which he didn’t mind. He did his best to come off as polite and respectful, noting the importance of keeping his relationships here positive. Though, deep down, he found most of them too cheery and loud. He wondered if they had ever dealt with someone troublesome before. They acted as if nothing would ever go wrong, he found.

    Regardless, it was still interesting to him to meet all these pokemon. He had never met so many others at once that responded to him with such friendliness, and despite his mild annoyance at this naivety, it was still nice, in a way. The two kecleon brothers running a shop were polite, but he could tell that they were shrewd salesmen; that put them higher on his enjoyment list. Persian was the other who he actually considered to not be annoying. She spoke of Edgar fondly, but otherwise was actually a bit snappy and protective over her business. Otherwise, there was Kangaskhan, who Dusknoir felt came off as too sweet; Lombre, Snubbull, and Bellsprout, who Dusknoir figured only ever shared a single thought between them at a time; Whiscash, who astonished Dusknoir at being still around, at his age and forgetfulness; Spinda and Gulpin, who Dusknoir just found plain annoying; and Makuhita as the only other notable one, who Dusknoir found was far too lenient with his business. There were, of course, others around town, but he hadn’t gotten much of a chance to meet them yet, though grouped most of them under the same general category of “cheerful and loud” that he was gathering.

    It was fascinating how much pokemon in the past let their guards down around others. Part of him wondered how quickly he would get caught if he actually did do something, but he knew better than to do that. There was no point aside from curiosity, and that wasn’t nearly enough motivation, especially with how he understood the grave consequences of such curiosity here.

    Keahi led him off eastwards, the sounds of chatter from the town fading as they headed further away from town, being replaced with the noises of something pounding on the cliffs that came into view. As the smell of the ocean hit Dusknoir’s senses, he realized that that unfamiliar noise was water crashing onto the rocks.

    “Did you like the townsfolk?” Keahi asked hesitantly, zir voice pulling Dusknoir back away from the sound of ocean.

    “Yes,” Dusknoir lied, because for as interesting as they were, he still found most of them annoying; not that he was going to admit that, he needed to be more well-liked around here.

    Keahi frowned, making Dusknoir pause. He had always thought of himself as a good liar, not that he actually found himself lying that often, so how…

    “Look, my partner wears a skull over her face. I’ve learned to keep an eye out for body language and tone of voice more than facial expressions,” Keahi told him with a sigh, answering his unsaid question. “I’d rather not be lied to. Why don’t you like them?”

    Dusknoir made a mental note not to underestimate the other pokemon on Team Galaxy. Clearly, his old foes had done well picking other teammates. They weren’t like the citizens of Pokemon Square he had just met.

    “I am simply not used to them yet,” Dusknoir responded, “such volume and blind positivity was not seen often in the future,” he added.

    “Alright, yeah… Nel took awhile to get used to the noise too, I can only assume so did Alex when he first got here. Ceebee too, but she did get used to it pretty quickly,” Keahi hummed, zir gaze drifting off to gaze at a large board with papers attached to it. “This is the mission board. Pokemon needing help will post requests up there, and rescue teams will take them and complete them. Though, since the meteor was destroyed, there have been a lot fewer missions!” zir explained, “and over there is the Pelipper Post Office. We won’t go there today, but if we had a letter to send somewhere, we would give it to the workers there.”

    “I see…” Dusknoir murmured, eyeing the board and then the building by the cliff as Keahi mentioned them. “Is that it, then?” he asked.

    “Yeah, that’s most of the town!” Keahi answered, “I think I’m going to check out how the others are doing at the dojo, you can go back to the house if you’d like-“

    “Actually,” Dusknoir interrupted, “I think that I would like to go there as well, if that is no trouble to you.”

    Keahi blinked, but then after a moment’s thought, slowly nodded, “okay. We don’t want to really disturb them though, they’re probably busy.”

    Earlier that day, Alex decided to take some of the others on a training session. With the impending idea of another adventure to fix the world’s balance looming over them, he wanted to see about touching up some moves and battle techniques. He had the idea of doing this with Edgar in particular, who didn’t know many actual attacking moves. Tsuki came with him, and so did Damien; who was finally beginning to run low on chores to do around town. They planned on working in the dojo, while Ceebee took Gardevoir and Nelvana out to train a bit while Keahi started zir tour with Dusknoir. Nelvana was with the two psychic pokemon as they had discovered that Gardevoir already had the best psychic bond with Nelvana; it just seemed to be the best way to build up strength by training with her as well. Plus, at least in Alex’s opinion, Nelvana wasn’t in need of much physical training, currently.

    After a bit of warming up, Alex decided to start Edgar training up his pursuit move. It was one Alex was quite familiar with himself, and Tsuki as well. He figured that Edgar was at the right level for the move, so it was just a matter of getting him used to using it.

    “Alright, Edgar, have you ever used pursuit before?” Alex asked, stepping out further into the center of the large room.

    “No, I haven’t…” Edgar admitted, following the grovyle at a bit of a distance. “That’s the move that gets stronger when your enemy is running away, right? I’ve seen some of the others at the tower use it before!” he added.

    “Yeah, that’s the one!” Alex responded, “now, Tsuki and I are going to demonstrate first. You can hang back with Damien for a moment, okay, Edgar?” he continued, “actually… Damien, can you learn pursuit? I can’t remember if that’s in your movepool.”

    Damien shook his head, “nah, I don’t think so. I wonder if there are any moves we have in common…?”

    “Eh, you’re more likely to have common moves with Tsuki or Edgar,” Alex muttered.

    At being mentioned, Tsuki stood up from where she had seated herself over by the wall. Shaking her fur out first, she padded over towards Alex while Edgar spun around and headed back over to Damien.

    “Did you remember to bring your TMs that you mentioned?” Edgar asked the gengar as he floated up next to him.

    “Augh, damn, I forgot… Should I grab them now?” Damien responded, glancing from the duskull beside him to the grovyle across from him.

    “They can wait for now. Right now, let’s focus on moves we actually should know already,” Alex answered, sparing Damien a look before focusing on Tsuki. “Now then, would you like to use it on me, or should I attack you?”

    “I resist the typing. You can hit me for this demonstration,” Tsuki decided, shifting her position to a more battle-ready crouch.

    Alex nodded, “great. Alright, so, like Edgar said before, this is a move that gets stronger when the opponent is fleeing. However, you can use it at any time. From experience, it’s easier to pick up when you fall into that instinct of attacking as they flee, so we’ll go straight into that,” he explained, turning back in Edgar’s direction again. “There are plenty of signs to look for and timing to get right, but we’ll keep things simple for now. Usually, someone only runs away from a fight if they think they are going to lose. Keep an eye out for that. They may start trying to look for escape options, and focus more on dodging than attacking, becoming jumpier.”

    “Okay!” Edgar called back, bobbing along in the air to confirm his understanding.

    “Now, we’ll demonstrate then.”

    With that, Alex made a lunge for Tsuki. He purposefully went wide though, and the absol barely had to sidestep to avoid the attack. Baring her teeth, she snapped at his head leaf, again, purposefully missing. They didn’t have to hit each other to make this a battle; the only attack that would be important to land for this demonstration would be the pursuit attack.

    After about a minute of throwing out various attacks and jumping around each other, Tsuki began shifting her gaze. She exaggerated nervousness, pawing at the ground as she moved around Alex. He wondered if he should point it out to Edgar, to be sure he understood what to look for, but trusted the duskull had already noticed just fine. Instead of speaking, he readied his pursuit attack, gathering dark energy in his claws. Normally he would try hiding his hand to keep his foe from suspecting anything, but it would make more of a difference to Edgar here if he made the move more visible.

    Sensing that Alex wasn’t about to say anything to add to this lesson and was instead going right for the pursuit, Tsuki turned tail and fled. She bolted across the room, using her full potential for the first time in this battle to put as much distance between herself and the grovyle as possible. As she began moving away, Alex crouched down and then lunged towards her, the dark energy only growing and pulsating around his hand. Then, he appeared upon the absol, striking her with the move. It was almost as if he had teleported, except his movement, while extremely fast, was still quite visible, as if a teleport had been drawn out instead of instantaneous. His weight threw Tsuki to the floor, though after a moment, she easily stood up again and threw him off her back, shaking her fur out afterwards.

    “And that’s pursuit for you,” Alex said, brushing himself off as he turned to look back at Edgar, who clapped quietly with his robed hands. “Would you like another demonstration or more explanation, or would you like to try it out for yourself?”

    “I… I think I’d like to see it again!” Edgar decided, almost answering instantly but hesitating to actually think about it before making his decision.

    “Got it.” He glanced back at the absol as he made his way back towards the center of the room. “Do you want to get to hit me this time? You’ll probably end up taking the brunt of the hits when Edgar gives it a shot,” Alex offered.

    “I can always take an oran berry if I get worn out,” Tsuki assured him, following him some of the ways, providing them with more space for the fight. “Thank you for the thought, though.”

    Alex only hummed in response, accepting her choice and preparing himself to fight again. This battle went similarly to the last. In a way, it was a chance to practice some of their own moves, even if they didn’t want to actually hit each other with most of them. Eventually though, Tsuki tired of the dodging and throwing around various attacks, and took the chance to flee again, earning another pursuit to the back to finish the fight.

    “Okay! I think I want to try now!” Edgar exclaimed, hurrying over to the others.

    “Alrightio,” Alex responded, stretching. “You’re up against Tsuki then. Pay attention to when you think she’s going to flee, and get your dark move ready. Dark-type moves work best with negative feelings, at least when learning, so channel frustration at her running away. Keeping in mind that you want to stop her from fleeing will help ready pursuit as well,” he advised.

    Edgar nodded, and Alex made his way over to sit beside Damien. Sitting beside the gengar earned him a chill, but he didn’t mind that so much. Instead, he focused his gaze on his two teammates, who positioned themselves for the battle. Tsuki continued giving more advice to Edgar before they began, and Alex distantly listened, paying more attention with his eyes rather than his ears.

    “Edgar mentioned that I should be able to learn confuse ray and night shade like him. I’ve used both in the past, but it would be good to touch up on,” Damien mumbled, not really looking at Alex as he spoke either, watching the battle about to unfold instead.

    “That’s a good idea,” Alex agreed, “the confusion status is good to have on our side. If you use it too, then that frees up time for Edgar to land a will-o-wisp instead in a fight.”

    With that agreement, Damien didn’t pursue any more conversation for the moment, and instead watched as Edgar and Tsuki began to train. It took a few tries of the absol running off and then returning for Edgar to get the hang of the move, but eventually he pulled off a successful pursuit, nailing Tsuki from halfway across the dojo.

    “Oh, hey! You got it!” Damien cheered, sitting up with a smile.

    “Yeah!” Edgar exclaimed back, doing a victory spin in the air.

    “That’s great! Can you ready the attack without the idea of attacking a fleeing pokemon though?” Alex asked, standing up on his feet and taking a step towards the duskull.

    “Oh, hmm… let me see!” Edgar responded.

    His eye flickered for a moment, before finally disappearing from the socket all entirely, and the dark energy managed to form around his hands. It wasn’t as much as Alex had been able to form in his demonstrations, and evidently took much more focus, but was still great progress for him.

    Alex grinned, “great job! So, do you wanna take a break for now, or do you want to practice that a bit more?”

    “I think I want to practice it a couple more times, but then I think I want to help teach Damien confuse ray!” Edgar responded.

    “That would be a good opportunity to train the rest of us how to snap out of confusion quicker,” Tsuki pointed out, strolling over towards where most of the others were.

    “Ah, that’s a good point! I didn’t think about that, but you’re definitely right. We should give that a try,” Alex agreed, snapping his fingers at the thought. “After Edgar finishes with pursuit, of course,” he added.

    Nodding along, Edgar turned back away from the grovyle and back towards the center of the room, where Tsuki followed. They continued this repeated training, but before Edgar could announce that he was ready to change to train something else, the door to the dojo opened up.

    Keahi entered the room, almost sheepishly as Dusknoir trailed behind zim. His large eye scanned the room, landing on the pair, who were still training without much of a pause. They had, of course, heard the door as well, but for now were not letting this bother them. Keahi hurried over to Alex and Damien, hopping up to sit up on the bench.

    “What are you guys doing here?” Damien questioned, tearing his gaze away from Dusknoir to watch he torchic scurry over to them. “You already passed by the dojo for the tour…”

    “I wanted to come back to train with you guys!” Keahi explained, “and… Dusknoir wanted to come with too. If he’s going to bother you, I can take him back to the house first…”

    Dusknoir, overhearing the conversation, floated over to weigh in his own thoughts, “I do not plan on being a loud disturbance,” he told them, “and if it is the idea of me learning your moves and applying them to avoid later… Remember, we are unlikely to get into a battle against each other in this time. I was actually considering teaching a few of my moves. It would be best, after all, for a ghost-type to teach a ghost-type…”

    Alex narrowed his eyes and frowned, “I’d rather not,” he insisted, “I guess you can stick around here for a bit, just to watch though, if you insist,” he relented bitterly.

    “Ah, please, it would be no trouble. Edgar is part of my evolution line, and I happen to share a similar movepool to that of a gengar…” Dusknoir pressed, the corners of his stomach smile creeping upwards.

    “I said no,” Alex snapped, crossing his arms.

    “Is this really your choice to make?” Dusknoir questioned.

    “Why are you so insistent on this?” Alex questioned instead of answering, sending a final glare at Dusknoir before looking back at the battle, which Tsuki was about to flee.

    Dusknoir merely hummed in response to this, turning his own gaze to the remaining moments of the battle as well, “training pursuit?” he commented, “I have not used that move in a long time… It is quite handy though.”

    Alex muttered something under his breath. Dusknoir glanced over at him, but did not request for him to speak up and say whatever he was muttering to his face; not for now, at least.

    With this round of battling finished, Edgar headed over to join the others. Tsuki stared over towards them longingly for a moment, but instead proceeded to the opposite end of the room, where she began searching for one of the oran berries stored in the dojo. Edgar’s pursuit attacks weren’t doing that much damage, but too much of any attack can wear someone down.

    “Hi Keahi! Hi Dusknoir!” Edgar greeted cheerfully, “did you see? I’m learning pursuit!”

    “That’s really cool!” Keahi chirped, “now half the team knows it! That ought to be pretty handy!”

    “What move shall you be training next?” Dusknoir asked, staring down the duskull.

    The light in Edgar’s eye flickered momentarily, but it quickly returned to its usual brightness, “confuse ray!” he told him, “Damien and I plan on working on it together; I already use it a lot, but he hadn’t in awhile.”

    “Ah, I see. I’ve only used that a couple times myself, but I can see the use in it for others,” Dusknoir replied, “I was just talking about maybe getting the chance to train you and Damien sometime; I know a lot of moves you could learn.”

    “And I said no,” Alex spat, “don’t try to twist this like I had been agreeing with you.”

    “It is merely an offer, and it is their choice,” Dusknoir stated calmly, with almost a smug undertone to his words.

    “Oh… uh, I don’t know. I’m not that experienced anyway; there probably isn’t a lot you could teach me until I get stronger on my own,” Edgar murmured, glancing from the grovyle to the dusknoir. “Thanks for the offer though!” he added politely.

    Damien blinked, paling as he realized he would have to answer as well, “well… aren’t you a physical attacker? Most of your moves won’t be that good for me; I’m a special attacker, usually,” he said.

    Something seemed to darken from Dusknoir at these answers, but he let out a low hum and slowly nodded. They were fairly reasonable excuses. He would accept this, for now.

    “Very well. Let me know if you change your minds,” Dusknoir murmured, “don’t let me interrupt you, you may get back to your own training now.”

    “Come on! We’re going to need a couple targets for this move; no sense in confusing each other!” Edgar hummed, heading back towards the middle of the room once more.

    Alex, Keahi, and Damien all followed. Dusknoir stayed over by the wall to watch, and Tsuki stayed on her end of the room to watch as well, doing her best not to let her ability make her too bothered by the large ghost-type across the room.

    They trained for another hour at least after that, but then Gardevoir entered the dojo to gather up everyone to take a break and do something at home. Despite the interruption from Dusknoir, Alex considered that to be a good training session.

    As for Dusknoir himself, he was quieter for the remainder of the day, though he did not seem too upset either. It was strange, though not something for anyone to really comment on. Nelvana was quiet too, actually. Though, she did remain around the same room as Dusknoir to be with the others, so that seemed to be a step forward. Dusknoir noticed during this time, that a torn scarf that almost looked like a reaper cloth was tied around her wrist; a mobile scarf. Well, at least that answered one of his questions.

First [ARC 1]: In which the human is transformed First [ARC 2]: In which a present is prepared Next: Intermission Previous: In which the dusknoir is met

[stargazer-writing]

The Arcana Disney Movie AUs

So I’ve been trash for this game since December, and I’ve been thinking about making this for a while, so I’m just gonna do it on my side blog since it’s technically writing, right?

This is probably gonna end up being long so I’ll put everything under the cut

Also sorry to Lucio stans, but I’m afraid he’s gonna end up as the villain for most of these T-T

HERE WE GO

Asra: Aladdin

No one really knows how Asra ended up on the streets, but he uses his magic to make money by telling fortunes to travelers 

He doesn’t really get into all that much trouble with the guards, but has been known to talk himself out of a problem or two

Faust is Abu :3

MC is the child of the Sultan, and the two meet after MC accidentally steals pumpkin bread from the baker after running away from the palace

Asra falls in love with their kindness and confidence, but after learning their true identity, knows they would never love a street rat like him

Lucio, advisor to the sultan, plans to use the lamp in the Cave of Arcana to become sultan, and uses Asra because only someone with magical abilities can set foot inside the cave

Julian’s the genie

I absolutely believe he would be thrilled to make all of the jokes the genie makes

(Also: I can’t bring people back from the dead. It’s not a pretty picture, and I don’t like doing it!)

Asra disguises himself as the royalty Alnazar to see MC again, and charms them with a carpet that he enchanted to take them all over the world

MC figures out who Asra really is, but Asra, afraid they will be angry at him for deceiving them, lies and says he disguises himself as a peasant to avoid palace life

Now Asra, afraid he will be discovered, decides not to use his last wish to free Julian like he promised, and Julian, angry and hurt at his betrayal, refuses to serve Asra any further

After the argument, Lucio, having discovered Asra’s true identity, steals the lamp and forces Julian to make him sultan, banishing Asra and forcing MC to serve him

Instead of Lucio turning into a giant snake during the climax, he just turns into a giant, angry goat

Asra manages to convince Lucio that if he truly wants to be powerful, he should wish to become a genie, as they have the power to do anything they please

Of course Lucio takes the bait, and upon using his last wish, finds himself trapped in a lamp, which is promptly abandoned in the desert

Asra apologizes to Julian, and uses his last wish to free him like he promised

Then Asra and MC live happily ever after traveling the world on their magic carpet

Nadia: Sleeping Beauty

This one wasn’t all all that interesting as it was but there wasn’t anything better for her, so I’m gonna change it up a little

Nadia is the queen of a thriving kingdom, but has no one to rule alongside her

Of course, Nadia’s perfectly fine with that, but still receives marriage proposals from nearly every royal in a hundred mile radius

One particularly persistent one, Count Lucio, insists that a marriage between them would strengthen both kingdoms, but Nadia continues to refuse

Finally, enraged by her constant rejections, Lucio threatens the queen, saying she will regret not marrying him, and storms out 

While Nadia doesn’t take his threat seriously, her courtiers manage to convince her to hide in the nearby forest until they can be sure he won’t try anything

While laying low in a little cottage, Nadia meets MC, a magician from a nearby village, and without anyone else to talk to, they strike up a friendship pretty quickly

She also meets and befriends a couple of forest fae, Asra, Portia, and Muriel

Meanwhile, Lucio has been scheming on how to get his revenge, and eventually decides to summon a demon to curse Nadia

He finally does so, and the goat demon curses Nadia and the rest of her people to fall into a deep sleep, which can only be broken if the queen receives true love’s kiss, as he knew she had no one who could do such a thing for her

He also plans to seize control of Nadia’s kingdom after everyone has been cursed

After a while, Nadia, figuring she is out of danger, decides to return to the castle, and makes MC promise to visit her

She definitely doesn’t have a little crush on them at this point, nope, no way

However, as soon as she returns, the curse takes its effect, and by the end of the day everyone in the kingdom is sleeping

After hearing about this from their fae friends, MC decides to rescue the queen, but before they can get to her, they encounter Lucio

Lucio’s deal with the demon came at a price, and he now guards the castle as a giant, mangy goat

MC uses their magic to battle him, and finally manages to chase him away from the castle, where they find their sleeping friend

They approach her sleeping form, and gently press a kiss to her lips

She awakens, and upon seeing MC, smiles and grabs them, kissing them again

Eventually Nadia asks for MC’s hand, and after a while, she finally has someone to rule alongside her, and they live happily ever after

Julian: Tangled

Flynn Rider!Julian owns my heart and soul <3

MC lives in a tower in a secluded part of the forest, and they possess long, magical hair that can be used to heal and grant temporary power to others

Lucio has held MC captive for the majority of their life, brainwashing them into believing he is protecting them from those who would use their hair for evil; meanwhile, he has been using their power to keep himself young and powerful

Julian stumbles on the tower after going on the run, and seeing an opportunity, MC decides to ask him if he’ll take them into town for the festival about to happen

He’s pretty confused at first, because “Really, my dear? You want to trust a common thief like me to take you through the forest all alone? Aren’t you afraid something might happen?”

Eventually agrees, because he figures that MC will wise up and run back to their tower in a few hours anyway

But they don’t, and throughout the trip, Julian begins to believe that maybe someone really does see some good in him

He reveals to them how he became a thief, leaving the orphanage to try and make something of himself to bring back to his little sister, Pasha, but never managed to return

He also reveals his real name to be Ilya

They finally reach the town in time for the festival, celebrating the lost heir to the throne who disappeared several years ago

However, before they can begin heading back to MC’s tower, Lucio, who had discovered their disappearance, incapacitates Julian and convinces MC that he ran off, escorting them back to the tower 

Once Julian comes to, he notices MC’s disappearance and, fearing the worse, runs back to the tower

During this time, MC, who has been feeling strange since the festival, finally comes to the realization that they are the lost heir, and confront Lucio

When Julian arrives, he’s is too distracted by MC bound and gagged to notice Lucio sneaking up behind him with a knife

MC begs and pleads for Lucio to let them heal him, and he finally agrees on the condition they stay with him, letting him use their power 

Julian, not wanting his love to suffer at Lucio’s hands for the rest of their life, uses the last of his strength to cut the hair, causing the effects its had on Lucio to wear off, destroying him

(Whatever you do, don’t think about Julian in Flynn’s death scene)

Luckily, the last bit of magic left in MC brings Julian back, and together they return to the kingdom to reunite with MC’s parents, as well as, eventually, Pasha, and live happily ever after

Muriel: Beauty and the Beast

MC lives in a small village with their friend and mentor, Asra

One day, during one of his usual trips searching for new spells and ingredients, Asra becomes lost and stumbles upon an old, decrepit castle

He stays for a while, not seeing any sign of someone living there, and eventually decides to leave, but not before seeing a rose to take back to MC

Just as he picks it, an earth-shaking roar comes from the castle, and before he can run he is confronted by a large, terrifying beast

 Meanwhile, MC is at home when Faust returns, warning of a terrifying creature and leading MC to to same castle

They find Asra locked in a dungeon, but before they can rescue him they encounter the beast; a tall, snarling creature with the features of a bear

MC attempts to beg for Asra to be set free, but the beast maintains he must stay, as he is a thief. Eventually, MC manages to bargain for him, offering themselves in his place

The beast is shocked that MC would give up their own freedom for someone else’s, but nevertheless accepts the deal, with Asra vowing to save them

MC soon discovers that the castle’s inhabitants are cursed after meeting its old staff: Portia, the once cook now turned kettle, Nadia, the head of staff who has become an old clock, and Julian, a court physician who is now trapped as a candlestick

Because the beast, who MC learns from the others is named Muriel, once refused to give shelter to an enchantress in disguise, he is now cursed to look like a monster until he can learn to trust again and can love and be loved

If he cannot get someone to love him before the last petal on the rose falls, he will be trapped as a beast forever

During MC’s time in the castle, Muriel slowly begins to open up little by little, and after several months MC and he have become something similar to friends

He even more slowly discovers he has fallen in love with his prisoner turned friend, and begins to hope that there may be a chance to break his curse

One day, after expressing to Muriel their homesickness and wish to see Asra again, Muriel shows them the magic mirror, and they are horrified to see Asra sick and lost trying to rescue them

Muriel decides with a heavy heart to free MC, and with a grateful goodbye they manage to reach Asra just in time

Upon their return to the village, Lucio, a famed hunter who has been trying to marry MC for many years, learns of the beast in the forest and MC’s relationship with him

Jealous that a beast could win MC’s affection and not him, he gathers a group of villagers to kill Muriel

However, just before Lucio can kill him, MC returns, having realized their love for Muriel, and he is able to fight back, chasing Lucio away

However, he begins to succumb to his injuries, and just before the last petal falls, MC confesses their love to him, restoring everyone in the castle to their former selves, and Muriel and MC live together in the woods, happily ever after

Portia: The Little Mermaid 

Portia enjoys spending her days looking for human objects in shipwrecks and on the sea floor. She has always been fascinated with humans and their culture, and her secret wish is to one day be able to see what it’s like on land

One night, she sees a ship sailing overhead, and swims up to see MC, the heir to the throne of the seaside kingdom celebrating on board

Portia becomes enraptured with the royal and the others, watching them sing and dance all night

Suddenly, a massive storm appears, and the ship is tossed about in the waves

She sees MC be thrown overboard, and quickly swims over to save them, dragging them back to shore

After managing to pull them to dry land, she’s relieved to see they are still alive, and out of curiosity watches them for a while (maybe developing a little crush on them in the meantime), singing to herself quietly

As they awaken, she hurries back into the sea, but not before leaving MC with the vague memory of her voice

Back in the ocean, Portia’s older brother and leader of the merfolk, Julian, hears of her encounter with the humans and confronts her, warning her of their dangers, but she ignores his warnings and instead decides to find the human she saved again

She goes to Lucio, one of the most powerful witches in the ocean, and begs him to give her the ability to walk on land

 He agrees, but only if she gives him her voice in return, and tells her if she cannot get the human to kiss her in three days, her soul will become his

Unbeknownst to her, Lucio plans to use Portia to gain control of the merfolk, using that power to conquer the ocean

Portia, believing it will be easy to complete this task, agrees to the terms, and soon finds herself with two legs and no voice, standing on the beach where she left MC

Coincidentally, MC passes by just as Portia appears, and quickly rushes to help her; seeing her, they at first believe her to be the one that rescued them a few days prior, but discovering she has no voice, push that hope aside

They lead her to the castle, where she is given clothes and a place to stay. Portia excitedly begins to explore this new world and its people, and while her actions seem strange to MC, they can’t help but find her excitement and wonder endearing

During the next three days, Portia attempts to get her kiss from MC, but keeps being interrupted someway or another

Meanwhile, Lucio decides to speed up matters, and uses the magic of Portia’s voice to disguise himself, planning to seduce MC so the deadline of Portia’s contract will pass without being fulfilled

Lucio’s plan succeeds for the most part, but before MC can become too deeply ensnared in his spell, Portia manages to recover her voice, and MC realizes she is the one they fell in love with that day on the beach

However, Portia’s time runs out just before she and MC can reach each other, and she reverts back to her true form

Julian, having been searching for his younger sister and seeing what she had done, offers himself in her place, giving control of the merfolk to Lucio

In order to save the sea and her people, MC and Portia team up to take down Lucio, and finally manage to take back control and banish him from the merfolk’s waters

After finally being given Julian’s blessing, Portia decides to become a human permanently, and she and MC live happily ever after

Lucio: The Princess and the Frog

Lucio is a prince from a small kingdom who has found himself without access to his family’s fortune

In an attempt to gain back his money, he plans to travel to Vesuvia to marry Nadia, a wealthy businesswoman

However, he resents the idea of being tied down, and before meeting Nadia talks to a strange man giving fortunes, wondering if there’s a way to regain his wealth without marriage

The man tells him his future, and instead of payment, asks only for Lucio’s handshake at the end; however, upon doing so, the man reveals himself to be the Devil in disguise, and Lucio is horrified to find himself transformed into a goat, and the Devil now disguised as him

The Devil reveals to Lucio he plans to use Nadia and Lucio’s wedding as the perfect setting to bring all the guests under his control, and will then move on the the rest of Vesuvia

Meanwhile, MC is an employee of Nadia’s and a part-time magician who hopes to raise enough money to open their own magic shop someday

While working at a party thrown by Nadia celebrating her upcoming marriage to Lucio, they discover the real Lucio, now appearing as a talking goat

He convinces MC to help him in exchange for paying for their shop, but upon reluctantly kissing him to break the curse, they find to their horror they have become a goat as well

They eventually end up being chased into the forest, where they meet Julian, a raven, and Muriel, a wolf

They tell MC and Lucio about Asra, a forest magician who could possibly turn them human again, and agree to lead them there

MC and Lucio, who at first hated each other due to their perceived seriousness and narcissism, respectfully, slowly begin to see each other in a more flattering light

Lucio also begins to realize the error of his ways, and how his carefree, luxurious lifestyle has affected him negatively

Upon finally reaching Asra, he reveals to them that only someone of noble birth can break the ancient curse, and because Nadia has distant relatives who were nobility, only her kiss can make them human

Lucio and MC hurry back to Vesuvia, and on the way Lucio, discovering his growing feelings for MC, decides not to marry Nadia but to instead earn his wealth back and work for a living

However, before he can tell MC this, he is found by the Devil and captured, and the Devil begins his plan to enslave Vesuvia

MC, Julian, and Muriel discover Lucio is missing, and finally find the Devil while searching for him; the Devil attempts to win over MC by promising them their shop, but MC, with the help of Lucio, Julian, and Muriel, manages to use their small amount of magic to banish the Devil and save the wedding guests

After explaining everything to Nadia, she agrees to help, and after kissing Lucio, he and MC are restored to their human selves

Lucio explains his new-found feelings for MC to Nadia, and though she is surprised, she calls of the wedding, and Lucio confesses his feelings to MC, who happily reciprocates

They eventually manage to purchase MC’s magic shop, where they both work, and live happily ever after

This is the first time I’ve done something like this, but I had a lot of fun doing this! If there’s something else similar to this that anyone wants me to do for The Arcana, let me know!

[the-purple-martin]

Chapters: 1/? Fandom: Fallout 4, Fallout (Video Games) Rating: Mature Warnings: Rape/Non-Con Relationships: Paladin Danse/Female Sole Survivor Characters: Female Sole Survivor, Paladin Danse (Fallout), Arthur Maxson, Scribe Haylen (Fallout) Additional Tags: Post-Blind Betrayal, Hurt/Comfort, Trauma, Depression, Anxiety, Guilt, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Heavy Angst Series: Part 3 of Beauty from Pain

Summary:

In the wake of the events at Listening Post Bravo, Sole Survivor Jacqueline struggles with the consequences of her choices, while Danse is prepared to let the Commonwealth burn on his path to seek vengeance for not only himself, but for the woman he has devoted his life to. Except the road righteousness isn't what it seems. Will the bonds of love and friendship be enough to save them both?

“Are you angry?”

In the aftermath of her confession, Jackie couldn’t bear to look at him. Twisting and churning, her gut was in knots; this place held enough heartache, but she couldn’t keep this from him. 

“I don’t know,” Danse admitted, his gaze fixed upon the ceiling.  Even from her peripherals, she could see the pensive expression that hijacked his features. 

Since Jackie had stepped into this place, condemned to be his personal prison, Danse hadn’t made eye contact. He’d barely acknowledged her presence; staring at nothing, staring through her, until she slunked over and slid down the concrete wall to nestle beside him. Jackie thought he'd been making progress, healing even, but it seemed he hadn’t fared well in her absence. It broke her heart when she had returned, to see Danse’s decline since her previous visit—he sat slouched on the floor, hiding in the dark, with his head in his hands. 

Even though Jackie had managed to keep Danse alive, the days immediately following his execution had been wrought with endless silence and meaningless existence. And then one night, Jackie awoke to the sound of muffled sobbing. Across the room, Danse sat on the edge of his bed, his face buried in his hands. Even through the darkness, Jackie could see the unsteady rise and fall of his shoulders, hear his stuttering breath as he attempted to smother his weeping. 

She had gone simply to sit beside him, to offer quiet comfort with her presence. After a while he’d looked at her; hopeless and broken, and finally admitted that he didn’t know what the hell he was doing anymore. She’d contended that maybe it was okay not to have a plan and promised that whatever life threw at them, she would be there for him. 

You watch my back, I’ll watch yours, she reminded him. 

When she stood to go back to her bunk, Danse caught her arm and tugged her towards him, pulling her into his arms with such force that they toppled over onto the mattress. When his trembling subsided, Jackie gently held Danse’s face between her hands and he told her he would be lost without her. 

During the weeks that followed, Jackie took him to the nearby settlements and put him to work fortifying their defenses and training the residents how properly to defend themselves. Little by little, Danse had been reclaiming the humanity that had been stolen from him. Slowly he was finding the way back to himself. 

The days turned into weeks and Jackie had laid the Brotherhood to rest, deciding that she wasn’t going back. Before long, nearly two months had passed before the Brotherhood came to claim what was theirs. 

Backed by the setting sun in early May, a vertibird and a familiar face, clad in ridiculous aviators and enough arrogance to sail the Prydwen to the moon, a lancer had come under orders to bring Jackie back. She assured Danse that she wouldn't be long. She'd show face, go along with the pomp and circumstance, and promptly hand in her resignation. A few days, maybe a week, she promised. 

Now, Jackie couldn’t stand to look at Danse because it was a lie. She had failed him. Abandoned him in this miserable bunker because her hand had been forced and the burden weighed heavy on her heart. 

Finally, Danse looked at her but still she refused to meet his gaze. For she feared what he would discover from deep within. Under it all, she was terrified and ashamed. Maxson had broken her. Played to her weaknesses and sliced along her vulnerable underbelly, threatening to make her bleed by destroying the man she'd sacrifice anything to protect. 

Danse’s eyes immediately focused on the discoloration of her neck that her jacket didn’t quite hide. He swept her hair aside and tugged at the collar of her shirt to see the extent of the blue and purple splotches that stained her shoulder and chest. She had waited a few days in hopes that bruises would fade, but like a tattoo, they were branded on her skin. His fingers ran along the markings and she winced at his touch.

Shameful proof of her violation. 

“Did he hurt you?” Danse’s voice betrayed nothing except the clinical calmness of a bedside examination. 

Jackie shrugged away, an abstract smudge of dirt on the floor the focus of her attention. Try as she might though, his voice confirmed what she didn’t want to admit.  This had happened. It was real. 

There was no escaping what she’d done. The admission hurt like hell and no amount of attempting to swallow her shame could keep the tears from streaking down her cheeks, “Just my pride.” 

With a sigh, Danse went to catch her tears, “You shouldn’t-” 

“Everything has a price,” she pawed his hands way. “I threatened him, shoved my gun in his face, backed him into a corner… Did you really think there wouldn't be consequences for my actions?” 

“This…” he shook his head, hands retreating to his side, “the price was too high.  I– it wasn’t worth it.” At least he had the decency to catch himself and not defile her by saying he wasn’t worth her sacrifice.

“Don’t!” This time she did look at him. Her head snapped around and she could feel the heat of anger, flushing across her cheeks, “Don’t you dare patronize me by devaluing my decision to fight for you! I made my choice and so did you.  We did this together. Now we pay the price.” 

It was his turn to look away and hide. To cower in his corner. Slip into himself where no one could reach him. 

“You aren’t the only one who lost something here,” she wrapped her arms around her ribs, holding herself and staring at her knees. “If you care about me—even in the slightest—you won’t let my sacrifices be in vain.” 

“I'm not okay with this.” It was mumbled, but with conviction, like his words actually meant something. As if he could put action behind what he said. 

She shifted and drew up her knees to press her forehead into the knobby join of her legs, “And you think I am?” 

The question went unanswered but she didn't have it in her to press the issue. Instead, she let the tears continue to track down her face and run along her thighs before plummeting to the floor. 

Fragmented pieces of her former self splintered in her chest, the jagged edges scraping and tearing at her with each squeeze of her heart. Who was this woman she had become? On the outside, she looked much the same but an ugliness had consumed her. A disease that festered within and ruined everything it touched. Her insides were boiled and black. She had become infected by the sickness of this godforsaken world. And to think, she now called it her home. 

This place, where the wicked and the damned reaped the fruitful rewards of their lawlessness. They sat high and mighty upon their spoils of war, taking the desires of their flesh, without care for who they trampled in their merciless, single-minded path to obtain it. 

A world where innocence and humility were violations of the human condition because here you were conditioned not to think, not to feel. Because independent thought and emotions would get you killed or left for dead in a ditch. The idea that it was okay to desecrate the body and take the life of another simply because they looked at you wrong was commonplace here. It was disgusting and vile and somehow Jackie had found herself surviving, even thriving in this new world. It was ruining her, bending and molding her, and desensitizing her to forsake her humanity. What scared her the most, though, was the thought that maybe she was okay with that. 

She couldn't help but wonder what Danse thought of her now. It was impossible for her to rise to meet his expectations. She was damaged. Not worthy of his compassion. 

‘I'm not ok with this.’ 

Could he forgive her for her transgressions? Would he leave her? Could she live with herself if he did? 

Selfish. She was such a selfish woman. This had all been about what she wanted. He deserved better. 

Jackie dared to turn her face toward him, to steal a coveted glance at the man she had sacrificed everything for—everything including herself.  She had laid out all her cards on the table and in the face of victory, she'd still lost. Now she had to live with her choices, live with herself, as did he. Danse was entitled to so much more than she had to give.  It wasn’t fair to either of them. 

“I just thought you deserved to know the truth.” It was a meager excuse and she wasn’t worthy of staying here any longer, “I should go.” Though she made no attempt to leave. 

Danse sat much the same as her: hunched over, elbows resting on his knees, and fingers knotted in his hair. Still, she saw the twitch of his lips and tensing of his jaw as his eyes squeezed shut, and she knew. 

“You’re angry.” The statement hung in the air, but he remained unmoved. Unflinching. Unyielding. 

The impact of what she had done was finally beginning to settle in.  He was angry.  She would not be forgiven. And why? Why would he forgive her? Why on earth would she even entertain the idea that he would? The trap had been set and she had foolishly walked straight into it.  Now she would lie with the devil, sign his pact, and give away her soul. All in the name of honor and glory. All to save Danse's own soul. 

“I don’t belong here. I don’t…” she turned away and held herself closer, trying to fall deeper into the cavern of guilt that chipped away at her humanity, “...you deserve so much better.” 

Before the fresh tears could even form, Danse tugged at her arm and his fingers closed around her chin. He jerked her face toward him, forcing their eyes to meet.  There was determination in his muddy browns, a fierceness she hadn't seen in quite some time. 

“I’m only angry with myself,” he held her gaze, searching her eyes to make sure his message was received, “that I couldn’t protect you from this.” He was gentler now, releasing her chin to press his hand against her cheek. 

Jackie gravitated toward his touch and closed her eyes as she leaned into his warmth.  A beacon of hope that all was not lost. 

“Look at me.” Both of his hands cradled her face and reluctantly she opened her eyes, “this isn’t your fault.” The fierceness in his eyes shifted to reveal something more sinister, “I’ll burn down the entire Commonwealth if he lays a hand on you again.” 

She almost had the decency to smile at his conviction, but she was reminded, “You don’t have the luxury of making that promise.” 

The determination that was present before quickly faded. In the seconds it took for Danse’s expression to shift, she could see the desolation of defeat hover across his brow before he could erect the facade. 

“I will find a way to make this right.” Again, his words held no value, but maybe she could pretend they did. Maybe it would ease the raw and achy feeling. 

For a moment nothing happened.  Neither of them moved or even breathed.  They sat in an eternity of silence and Jackie allowed herself to drown in the warm pools of his brown eyes. Perhaps if she lingered there his empty promises would chase away the devastating reality that she had failed. 

Danse shuffled and slipped his arms around her shoulders. There was the briefest hesitation.  A resistance where Jackie contemplated if she would let this happen.  It didn’t take her long to arrive at her conclusion.  She would allow it. 

In a single movement, he pulled her to him and folded her into his embrace.  Jackie shifted her weight, curling up into him and relaxing against his chest only to feel the slightest tremble within his own body. It was too much to bear so she clung to him and wept in his arms because there were no words to ease their pain. 

“I’m sorry,” he muttered after a while and loosened his hold on her to run his thumbs across her cheeks. 

“Yeah,” she didn't doubt him, but she also wasn't blind to the fact that he didn't control their fates anymore, “me too.” 

There were choices to be made and she'd sowed her seeds, chose her path.  She didn’t regret what she had done; she would do it again without hesitation. In the end, though, there was a price to be paid for her transgressions and it just might cost her own life.

[scorpio-karma]

Also, I know JP hates Kat/Bonnie and didn’t want to see her thrive, but if you had things your way, which 3 characters do you wish Bonnie had more interaction with/would have liked to see her have a romantic arc with?

So I'm going to eliminate Bonkai from this because everyone under the sun knows that's my OTP and I've talked about how is write them many times before and I don't have anything new to add. Plus I really want to talk about other Bonnie ships I like since I rarely do.

Also note, these don't exist in the same AU because the potential storylines I have for them can't exist in the same storyline. For how I would weave multiple ships for her refer to this ask.

Tyler: So if you've been on my blog you may know that Tonnie is one of my all time favorite ships and the only other OTP of Bonnie's besides Bonkai. If I was reading a triangle with them I would legitimately have a hard time choosing. This was my second choice of endgame for Bonnie because he's the only other character besides Kai I see being able to relate to what Bonnie has been through and having a positive long term effect on her because their experiences are so similar. This is my fluff ship.

This is actually a ship that kinda snuck up on me. I passively shipped it at first reading fics with them like Best I've Ever Had which spawned my first fic in the TVD fandom My Discarded Men which is more of a multi ship fic but it started out as a Tonnie oneshot. Then I started reading CarlyCo's fics All Warfare is Based on Deception (which is actually a Bamon fic) and Bitten and started falling in love with them, but it wasn't until I read Stranger Then Fiction when I fell in deep and realized their full potential.

What that fic did was put Tonnie in the context the show should have been doing with all the characters, as childhood friends and established them as being close as kids, falling off when he was a douche, but finding each other again when Grams dies. And I love this concept so much because it provides more insight to the pasts of characters who aren't vampires establishing how life existed before the Salvatores showed up, and gave us the one thing we always wanted for Bonnie which was comfort her while she was grieving and provided her with someone she was willing to take comfort from. Plus I love the concept of witches and werewolves being naturally connected to each other.

So I would start with that, Tyler being there for Bonnie after Grams died. It's also a great time for Tyler development wise when they started toning him down. They wouldn't go full blown friendship yet, but they'll be on touch with each other and the the finale happens which will intrigue Bonnie more about what happened when the device went off which she already was but they passed that on to Caroline.

Then that would get into my initial hopes during season 2 rooting for them before we got Beremy and Forwood, only one of those being disappointing. While I did like Forwood's first moment it kinda had to be forced. Instead I would have Bonnie continue her investigation into Tyler and why he was triggered by the Gilbert device which would lead to the discovery of werewolves. When he first transitions she uses her magic to ease the pain. From there they would get closer. Eventually it would come to light what happened to Mason and Bonnie would explain things herself because she knows he'd need to hear it from her. This would cause a rift and he'd leave with the other werewolves where he would learn more about being a werewolf.

Here's where I kind of have the dilemma of using both of their canon storylines and having them come together years later away from Mystic Falls and live out their lives happily; or I fix it for both of them and have them get away a lot earlier. I'd lean for the first option because the main issue with what they went through in canon is that there was no pay off later, I would give them that.

Klaus: This is Bonnie's rebellion ship in season 3 after they killed her mother and Jeremy cheated. First I would continue to keep Klaus' S2 characterization with his affinity with witches. Greta's dead, he'd need a replacement. Bonnie understandably wouldn't go for this especially with what happened to Greta. I'd also change how he'd approach the werewolves. Entitled whiny bitch who causes a mass genocide out of a temper tantrum does not a good leader make.

Instead of making hybrids I would actually have him explore his werewolf side and this werewolves. I'd also have an actual friendly approach with Tyler where they learn the werewolf stuff together. Maybe stop the coffins because that got annoying as well and have the only one he keeps is Esther's.

Then have the events of S3 with Bonnie and she is pissed. When Klaus needs her help she's willing. She joins in on the torture of Damon with Rebekah. People were pissed at her for doing nothing, why not give them a real reason to be pissed. She even goes so far as to fuck Klaus and unfortunately gets the feels. When it comes time to kill him she saves him for personal reasons and Tyler is in on it.

Damon: This I would start in S1. As I noted here, a lot of Damon's actions in S1 were counterintuitive to his objective, and his worst crime, raping Caroline, was gratuitous and served the plot in no way. So the first thing i would change is him approaching Bonnie, not Caroline, and actually having to charm her because compulsion doesn't work on witches.

Basically I'd have the first part of their relationship Bonnie finding out she's a witch and him trying to con her into opening the tomb to get Katherine out. Things would get personal and he'd grow fond of her the more he learned about, but his objective would be the same. She'd eventually figure him out causing her to become hurt and shut him out completely. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and he'd miss her, miss having a friend, which would cause the whole Vicki situation.

This is kind of a different tangent, but I would keep her alive because she would make a more interesting vampire than Caroline did; she would have had more obstacles. Weirdly, much like Caroline, she would be working on control for Matt. Due to their childhood I assume they were very close because they were all the other had.

The events at the Halloween dance would still occur but instead of her dying that would be her moment of reflection like Caroline's after she killed Carter, except she wouldn't have killed anyone. Her history as an addict would make Stefan be very relatable for her.

Tangent over, the point of that is it would also kick Damon into gear and work to get his friend back because he's dangerous otherwise and Vicki being dead would hinder that. They start over completely honest and Bonnie would eventually agree to open the tomb feeling bad for him.

When Katherine isn't there he'll spiral in booze like he dis in canon. While he's drunk and talking to Bonnie he'll have a self-deprecating moment where he'll blame himself about Katherine and Bonnie will attempt to comfort him. He'll kiss her, stunning her, but then stop realizing if that were to happen he wouldn't want it like that. After that i would develop a friends to lovers romance over the course of events from the series just now with his characterization changed to be a lot more productive and care about Bonnie.

[paladinsnevergiveup-blog]

An Open Letter to Voltron: Legendary Defender and DreamWorks

AUTHOR: @astralsheith

SOURCE: https://twitter.com/astralsheith/status/1074317099730919424

READ ON WORDPRESS

What happened to Voltron?

Back in October, screenshots from the final episode of Voltron’s eighth and final season were leaked online. The fandom split down the middle regarding who thought they were real and who thought they were fake and bad behaviour sprung up from both sides. I tried to maintain as neutral a stance as possible, waiting for an official statement to be made but none ever came and confirmation on the leaks came when the final season dropped on Netflix on December 14th. I had always remained hopeful that the leaks were fake, because the implications of them were troubling to me, such as Allura dying and Shiro’s last-minute wedding. My trust in Voltron’s showrunners (Lauren Montgomery and Joaquim Dos Santos) and creative team’s storytelling kept me going and I was, ultimately, excited (if sad about Voltron ending) to see the last season of a show I hold close to my heart.

Lo and behold, here we are, and it is somehow worse than I thought possible.

I can’t say that I hated Season 8. They were some stunning and powerful moments, to be sure, and as always, Studio Mir’s animation was incredible and breathtaking. The documentary episode was clever, dynamic, and brilliantly animated. Honerva’s arc as the show’s final villain was, in my opinion, one of the strongest points of the season. But when the dust settled after I’d finished watching I realised how disappointed and hurt I felt by this season. How, in the end, Voltron’s final season largely felt...hollow. As if the passion and heart that had been put into the previous seven seasons had been lost or smothered somehow. And the air of silence from the showrunners, the cast and crew that has bookended both the build up and response to Season 8 feels not only deafening but damning to how this final season ultimately turned out. Both the cast and crew and the fandom should be celebrating. The show ending may be bittersweet but ultimately, we should be celebrating the successful final season of an incredible show that has given so much to so many people.

Instead, people are crying - out of disappointment, hurt, a sense of betrayal. People are physically sick. Unable to eat. Unable to sleep. Children (Voltron’s supposed target demographic) are upset and confused by what transpired in Season 8.

What happened? What happened between SDCC of this year - when the cast and crew seemed so alight with passion and love for the show and the fact that they’d achieved the momentous feat of having a queer main character like Shiro - and now, with a final season that has left fans in pieces and its showrunners seemingly running as fast as they can from what their beloved show ended up being? For what purpose is this the outcome? Did LM and JDS get tired after working for so long on this show? Did they bite off more than they could chew? Did DreamWorks and other IP holders decide to, ultimately, take matters into their own hands and mold the final season into the Voltron they’d wanted all along? Robot action, transformation sequences, power-ups - those are all amazing if there’s some meaning behind them. That did not seem to be the case in Season 8. Season 8 was something separate in terms of its story and its characters than what had been developed in Seasons 1 through 7.  

What happened to Voltron?

There are several things that are wrong with Season 8 that I could discuss. How about I start with Shiro? Shiro is my favourite character in Voltron and has been from since I started watching the show. At first glance, he might seem the prototypical hypermasculine and stoic leader type but there was such a kindness to him, a willingness to look out for his team no matter the cost, that made him different. An ambition to explore the universe and a passion to help people in need. A sense of humor that was dorky and dark in equal measure. He dealt with trauma. He faced immense adversity. Yet he survived. More than that, by the end of Season 7, he seemed to be thriving. Former Black Paladin of Voltron and current Captain of the IGF Atlas. And he was a gay man - a gay man not defined by his sexuality by any means. There has always been so much more to Shiro than meets the eye. Except in Season 8 - in Season 8, for the most part, all that made Shiro so wonderful as a character in a so-called kid’s show was...gone. He was “Captain”. He shouted orders and directions and rarely did his personality get any real chance to shine. The arm-wrestling in the episode Clear Day was probably the most engaging Shiro was as a character in the entire thirteen episodes. He didn’t have to be the focus of the season - that was clearly Allura and Honerva and that’s great - but he should still have been the character we’ve come to know and love and admire over the last two years or so. But he wasn’t. He just wasn’t.

Furthermore (and I am well aware I might just get written off as a “spiteful shipper” for this), the relationship between Shiro and Keith in Season 8 all but vanished. Putting aside the question of whether Shiro and Keith being canon as a romantic couple was ever on the table for Voltron, their strong friendship was all but erased from Voltron’s “canon” in Season 8. This is a relationship that has been a pillar of the show since the very beginning. Keith’s introduction to the show was him saving Shiro. His first bit of dialogue on the show was Shiro’s name. They’ve had near-entire episodes dedicated to their relationship - Across the Universe, The Blade of Marmora, The Black Paladins, A Little Adventure. What other duo in Voltron can boast that? Maybe Zarkon and Honerva but not even they - as two of the main villains of the show and the catalyst for the entire war that takes place throughout Voltron’s story and plot - have that much plot and character attention as Shiro and Keith have had regarding their bond. Shiro and Keith have soundtracks specific to their relationship.

What could possibly have happened to warrant the kind of erasure they faced in Season 8? How is it I can point to several moments throughout Season 8 where Shiro and Keith’s relationship could have continued to shine yet there was almost nothing there? Was it censorship? Was DreamWorks and Co. unable to handle a gay main character having a close relationship with his male best friend? Because it certainly feels like that’s the case - a fear of what Shiro and Keith could have been by the end of Voltron (even as best friends) and a desperation to backpedal. Was it “think of the children”? Yet how are you “thinking of the children” when Lotor’s melted corpse is allowed on screen? Is body horror and violence “safe” for children but meaningful relationships involving queer main characters are not?

And then there’s Shiro’s wedding in the “epilogue”. I won’t deny that the image of a gay main character such as Shiro, marrying and kissing another man, isn’t (on the surface) powerful in its own way and could perhaps prove to be a gateway to more male queer representation in Western animation. Yet when that man is a man I only the know name of because I watch Voltron with captions, when that man is mistaken for Shiro’s dead ex partner by Netflix’s audio description, when that man is marrying Shiro at the seeming expense of Shiro’s entire character, it can’t help but feel cheap. A PR stunt for “representation points”. A quick-fix due to the backlash Voltron faced after Season 7 and Adam’s death. There’s no weight or true meaning behind it. No development. The fact that Voltron’s supervising producer last work for Voltron that he posted on his Instagram was him drawing and animating Shiro’s wedding weeks (September 13th) after said backlash kicked off (mid-late August) does not feel unrelated or coincidental to me. It doesn’t feel genuine. It doesn’t feel true to the story Voltron’s been telling these past 2 ½ half years.

Allura. Oh, Allura.

I can’t think of a solid reason why the decision was made to kill Allura off. I’d like to think that the original idea was to have Voltron be sacrificed but DreamWorks was reluctant to let go off the eponymous robot and Allura was the only character close to powerful enough to be convincing of rebooting all realities, along with Honerva. But who's to say that’s even close to the truth? And why not have it be solely Honerva? I would have believed that if they were truly committed to a “redemption in death” for Honerva. Why Allura? Why go against Allura’s character of arc of moving away from destructive self-sacrifice, learning to trust her team, finding a new family in the paladins? Why have the paladins so readily accept Allura’s decision? “We are always stronger together” - yet Allura is the only paladin to sacrifice herself? She faced so much loss as a character - why have her lose her life, too? Allura was never meant to be a martyr. She was meant to live. To move past her father’s legacy and help rebuild the universe. Lead her people. Experience Altea again. And the relationship between Allura and Lance in Season 8 was wonderful and sweet but in light of Allura’s death can’t help but feel somewhat contrived for maximum emotional impact when they say goodbye. Allura’s death, ultimately, felt unnecessary, unfair, and ill aligned with what I thought were Voltron’s primary themes. Power of love, of friendship and family, of teamwork. What’s the point of a team if, in the end, they do very little to help save the universe and the burden is left on one person alone?  

And the rest of the team in Season 8 suffered, too. Pidge barely interacted with any of the other paladins. Hunk displayed some great moments with his love of cooking and how that helped people but the heroics he displayed in Season 7 seemed to fall to the wayside. Lance’s signature goofiness seemed to get lost in his constant worry over Allura. I am grateful for his newfound maturity but it shouldn’t come at the expense of what made these character so distinct in the first place.

I have loved Voltron. I still do, even if I am currently working through these difficult emotions regarding its final season. I have defended it in the past from irrational “critique”. Seven seasons of great storytelling does not vanish in the wake of a troubling and disappointing ending. At some point, I will continue with my rewatch. Right now, I think that would be difficult. I’m not trying to point specific blame at any one person or party in particular, as I don’t know the truth of what happened during Voltron’s production (as much as I would like to). I just know that Season 8 felt like a lie. Not only a lie but a bad lie. A transparent lie. And I and so many other dedicated fans would greatly appreciate the truth. I don’t need to see what Season 8 would have originally been, if there is such a thing. I can honestly quite easily imagine it, because Voltron’s previous seasons had set it up so thoughtfully. But I would be grateful for an explanation, for a break in the silence, for someone involved with the show to come forth and help the fandom move forward in the wake of Season 8.

What happened to Voltron? Tell us, because we’re ready to listen.

[momestuck]

Let’s read Hiveswap Friendsim... volume 17!

The penultimate volume. Let’s sacrifice a few more timelines to the great tapestry of fate that we’re weaving. Or more likely, Doc Scratch is weaving.

This time, “Of Teen and Tech, Acerbic”.

One more jade, and one more indigo. I think at this point we have a pretty even spread across the non-Sea Troll blood colours.

Daraya

I thought there was a TV show of this name, but apparently it’s ‘Daria’. This troll and that Daria seem to have a similar attitude, judging by the image. As for ‘Daraya’, it refers to a handful of places, notably Darayya in Syria, which was apparently the site of a massacre seven years ago during the civil war. Oof.

Daraya is the final troll written by Cee. L. Kyle, creator of prior memorable trolls Bronya, Zebruh, Remele and Lynera. I guess Cee likes writing jades.

Anyway, Daraya’s route begins as a few have in recent episodes - the protag feeling lethargic and listless, too tired to make friends.

We end up in a cerulean neighbourhood. There are some pointed lines...

When this game wants to, it really skewers its targets.

Anyway, the music kicks in as we realise Elwurd (the huge lesbian) texted us to invite us to a party. A bunch of other trolls seem to be showing up as well...

The track this time is called “trollkind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. to obtain something, something of equal value must be lost. that is alchemys first law of equivalent exchange. in those days, we really believed that to be the worlds one and only truth”. No prizes for guessing who decided to name a song after an extended quote from Fullmetal Alchemist.

There’s some more emphasis on how artificial our friendship feelings are...

Anyway, as we approach the party, we spot Daraya, busy looking very goffick.

She’s not thrilled to see us. Of course we’d be friends with Elwurd, she says grumpily.

Now in Befriend Mode, we do our best to mimic her whole ‘disaffected slouch’. Apparently being vaguely cynical and depressed is pleasing to Daraya. She seems to like Elwurd though...

Lesbians, I swear...

I swear...

Anyway, we learn that Daraya has snuck out of the caverns - though she’s not as restricted as little Wanshi. She whines about Bronya’s ‘cloister rules’. But hey, she met Elwurd through Bronya...

We blather about how the caves aren’t so bad, and namedrop some other jades we know. Daraya is not impressed.

Anyway, she’s not invited. So our first choice is to tell her to go home or invite her in.

Let’s let her in, because the other way doesn’t seem to go anywhere interesting.

Bronya isn’t the only troll we know at this party. Chahut apparently hasn’t yet shipped out off planet, and she shows up too.

Chahut makes some remarks about how fascinating she finds jadebloods... or ‘greenies’ as she puts it. She makes a murder joke about whether Daraya is really jade or not.

Yes, that’s exactly how I’d put it. Definitely.

After that brief brush with death, Daraya gets other ideas.

Mmhmm. As we head off, Daraya suggests we have a reputation for being ‘unconventional, weird and rebellious’. That’s certainly one way to describe ‘being a clueless alien pathologically addicted to making friends’.

Ahahaha nicely done.

Unfortunately we don’t have a lot of edgy rebellious ideas tonight.

I’m in favour of being a hoodlum.

Lots of new backgrounds in this episode. Somewhat different style too...

Apparently these are by Phil Gibson.

We ask Daraya how she’s doing. Her answer: not well.

Daraya says some dangerously radical stuff about how everything sucks for everyone but the highbloods... and maybe them too. We get a callback to the joke from last time...

Ha.

The narrator refuses to comment on that. That’s a good call, I think.

Daraya continues to complain. As a jadeblood, she’s not going to have to go into space, but life in the caverns tending to matters of social reproduction. We commiserate, which she appreciates.

We raise an eyebrow at the mention of Lynera. Danara assures us that she hates her - and not in a romantic way! (“or well...”)

At that point, we run into Tyzias. Just the person to take Daraya’s alienation and dissatisfaction and forge it into a revolutionary will, right?

Luckily, protag has the same idea. Which is no doubt why Tyzias was written into the plot at this point.

The well known “goth to anarchist” pipeline, right?

There’s a brief allusion to the weird shift that happened with Fozzer - a vague memory of a different Fozzer. “But why did you remember that guy?” indeed.

Tyzias tries to give a Daraya a little pep talk against hopelessness... Daraya is not particularly persuaded.

God I know that utterly depressing feel. What can one troll do, indeed?

Tyzias answers it the challenge.

She’s not wrong.

Daraya is not exactly being won over, but the protag does manage to get her to chill a bit and keep the conversation going. Tyzias has more real shit to say.

Daraya challenges her - is it just about making herself feel better, if there’s no realistic hope of real change? Tyzias says... in some way, it is. And the protag chimes in - that doesn’t make it less effective, at whatever little it is achieving.

At the end of this, I’m gonna try and make a list like... troll I would most want to be friends with in real life, and least, favourite route and so on. Spoilers: Tyzias would be the friend I’d want to make.

Tyzias points out like... what the hell else are they gonna do? Daraya finally admits she’s got a point.

And... having secured a friendship between not just us and Daraya, but us and Tyzias... we reach the end of the arc.

Let’s go fuck shit up. By which we mean, read law books. I guess!

That was nice. I fully support this lesbian goth and her budding revolutionary consciousness.

God I’m predictable.

Unfortunately, finding the friendship route here means it’s all downhill from here.

If we tell her to go home instead of bringing her to the party...

strut pod encasements!

That was predictably short.

OK, now for the non-phoned in side branch.

She does have an idea, it turns out. We hop into our (now quite low on fuel) car, and head off to a ruined city somewhere near the thriving one we’re living in.

Ooh. I wonder what we’ll find?

We make our way to an abandoned mall to go urbexing. Fuck, I love reading about urbex. Too much of a shut-in to have ever actually tried it.

We end up in a food court with the roof caved in. It’s apparently cool as hell. Alas, it’s not illustrated.

I’m not sure which rebellion this would be associated with. That of the Signless, or some other?

Ah, that narrows it down. The Signless rebellion, then. In which case... Alternian malls are really built to last!

We comment on the strangeness of the absence of adults, but this upsets Daraya.

Apparently, as an adult, she’ll be cloistered off on her own somewhere, and forbidden to contribute genes to the slurry. Huh.

To be honest, it’s a wonder that most other trolls are so cheery. Daraya’s attitude seems like the sensible one on this planet.

Daraya says some real shit about the existential dread she’s living with, the paralysing hopelessness of having no future to speak of.

Hey Daraya, do you fancy this copy of Baedan I happen to have on hand?

make total destroy etc. etc.

Anyway, at this point... Daraya somehow manages to set the mall on fire by throwing a mall at a cooker.

And... the narrator has no choice but to leave, as Daraya lets herself burn in the centre of the mall, one of the few places she cared about.

God, this episode was a bit real lol.

It’s not wrong though. Leftist theory certainly hasn’t cured my depression (lol), but it has given me some perspective to put it in a context where it can be managed, I guess. Something to work towards, no matter how futile it may be, in this fucking hell world that created me.

In the words of 2B... “Everything that lives is designed to end. We are perpetually trapped in a never-ending cycle of life and death. Is this a curse? Some kind of punishment? I often think about the god who blessed us with this cryptic puzzle... and wonder if I will ever get the chance to kill him.”

Let’s look to the struggle within the cycle. What else is there?

Nihkee

So now for...

Nihkee. She stronk. Keep your pants on, lesbians.

Nihkee is the creation of David Turbull, who previously made Tegiri (weeb) and Tirona (baby lawyer). Her theme, appropriately bombastic, is another James Roach piece with a long name: “lmao i still dont know if it’s nicky or nike (like the shoe, not like... the name mike)”. Make of that what you will.

This episode opens in media res - at a sporting arena. How did we get here?

We seem to be watching some kind of cage fight. Knowing trolls, I imagine it will be a lethal one.

Apparently we’re attending to Amisia. She bemoans the ‘boorishness’ of the purplebloods.

This seems to be the troll equivalent of pro-wrestling, rather than, say, MMA. However, injuries are a lot more common. We learn that Amisia won us tickets in a raffle, and invited us to this ‘Display of Muscular Theatre’.

We are watching The Huntress (olive) fight Cullpitz (purple). The narration mentions that Cullpitz is bizarrely un-clowny.

The fights are, naturally, rigged by hemospectrum. The narration notes that The Huntress seems to be deliberately holding back to avoid inciting the crowd. Amisia, however, is excited for the next competitor: Nihkee Moolah of course, who - Amisia claims - has never lost a fight.

Cullpitz wins the fight, and causes The Huntress a likely permanent injury. The protag feels sick enough to have to step away. But as we leave, we get drawn into a conversation with a violetblood (seadweller). He promises money (nah), fame (no thank you) and at last, friendship. And the deal is sealed.

Unfortunately, Nihkee’s opponent is dead. Which means... he wants us to take their place. Having an alien will make big money for the ring.

Let me guess: the choice is gonna be to refuse this terrible plan or go with it.

Maybe, but not yet...

We meet Nihkee, in the middle of working out. Some of these trolls are dressed more for MMA than pro-wrestling but who knows.

There’s a meta joke in the narration.

She is not best pleased with the showrunner for interrupting her prep. Though, I get the impression it’s all in the spirit of showtrollship.

Sure are some muscles. I’m not entirely sure what the [()] typing quirk is menat to represent exactly. Probably not a yonic symbol?

It’s worth noting at this point that all of my knowledge of professional wrestling comes from reading the TVTropes pages a couple of times. If you’re curious, it’s an impressively comprehensive discussion of wrestling terminology and the various dynamics involved in its production.

Kayfabe is the way wrestlers pretend in their media appearances that pro-wrestling competitions are not mostly scripted athletic performances with exaggerated personas, but genuine fights between real people who actually act like their stage characters. Now all the fans fully understand that wrestling is fake (but still fun), it’s not taken as seriously, but apparently it was a huge deal back in the 70s. Give the article a read, it’s fascinating.

Nihkee is not particularly impressed by the suggestion of performing with us.

We protest. At length.

We get the first choice: are we ready for a BUTT CLENCHING, FLESH ABRADING, KNUCKLE BLISTERING, MUSCLE RIPPLING, SMACKDOWN FROM UPTOWN?

Of course we fucking are.

She gives us guidelines for the show. Basically: follow her storyline. “The alien invader challenges me in an exhibition match to TOPPLE the MIGHTIARCHY.” We struggle, but eventually...

...PREVAILS AGAIN!

(I guess to convey suitable drama, a lot of Nihkee’s dialogue is split between multiple dialogue boxes, which makes it a little hard to take screenshots.)

We ask if we’ll die. She assures us no - unless we’re especially weak. But even then...

Well, that’s a great reason to die. Sign me up.

Secondly, an “exhibition match” means we will not be challenging each other for positions on the “flexeladder” - otherwise we’d have to wrestle nude, like at the “Intergalactic Trollympics”. I’d count that as a blessing.

We bring up the question of face and heel. You can read about these on tvtropes, but the narrator does a pretty good job of explaining.

In troll society, of course, the traits we’d ascribe to a ‘heel’ are valorised. So we’re just going to get crushed under her heel. Indeed.

Time for the match. The showrunner does the announcement for Nihkee.

In a clear allusion to good old Equius, Nihkee’s entrance is accompanied by a shower of thrown glasses of milk from the fans.

And opposing her whole deal is...

“Some messed up lowblood alien”. Huh, usually when I go into an arena fight in games I’m the “mysterious stranger”. Who could have seen this coming?

Ah, that’s what fate was working towards this whole time! Thanks, Doc Scratch, for your dedication to the cause of wrestling.

So, naturally, we’re playing the foreigner. Here to prove our superiority to trollkind. TVTropes naturally has an article on this: the Foreign Wrestling Heel. We’re going by the book here.

We put up a good bit of bravado. But are we prepared to face, Nihkee demands, her...

OK, you got me. I’m laughing out loud again.

The protagonist puts up a pretty good show, it seems like - barely dodging Nihkee’s attacks in a suitably dramatic fashion. We bleed, but the narration suggests that under the stage lights, the trolls will take it as ordinary ‘rust’ blood and not ‘mutant’ red. We hope.

Nihkee invites us to attack with appropriate pomp. But we...

...don’t do that, not directly. We springboard off the edge of the cage in “a classic clothesline manoeuvre”... and get knocked the fuck out.

But we haven’t reached our second decision point yet, so that can’t be the end of us. Hopefully we gave the trolls what they wanted.

Do we even have a fourth wall anymore?

Anyway, this turns out to be Nihkee’s hive. She is not impressed at our ring performance - getting knocked out by our own attack. Well, that’s fair.

Training montage incoming?

Hell yes. (She calls everyone sister, including the announcer guy, in case you’re wondering if that’s an implicit gendering of the protag.)

She’s brought us to her BRAWNISEUM. As we can see in the illustration... it’s pretty much made for Space Marines to train at.

After her speech about our indomitable will and potential, she invites us to ASCEND with her.

Hell yeah. Let’s [S] ASCEND together!

Of course we fucking take it.

We start with the acid treadmill. (The acid doesn’t seem to be depicted.) She turns it up... a bit fast.

We manage to run at 12 miles per hour - which is about bronze level good. Apparently all the machines rate us by blood colour. While the low end of the hemospectrum gets the badass psychic powers, the high end gets the physical strength, it seems. There’s more jokes about how great our legs are - they merit a cerulean!

All the while, Nihkee ‘encourages’ us in a way that’s gendered in the opposite way that things usually are on Earth.

After half an hour of that, she gives us a protein shake... except it’s not a protein shake but ‘gatorade mixed with milk’. Amazing.

Then we get tested for ‘pressure resistance’ in a soft iron maiden. Apparently that’s olive level.

The overall verdict?

Hooray.

We do more of this - including getting chased by a literal toothy monster. By the time we finally collapse...

She’s impressed by our commitment - our “strength of heart and soul”. And our great appreciation for the MOST RIGHTEOUS OF PURSUITS... earns us the recognition of “workout friend”.

And that rounds out the arc. Presumably after some more of this, the narrator will be due for a return to the ring.

Go us!

Easy arc to find the right answers in, evidently. Now to see what happens if we hesitate.

First of all, before the match...

We can’t watch as she pulls out lowblood challengers from the audience and smashes their faces into the spikes. Oh, trolls. We get treated to an image of this, too.

Mmm, indeed.

Now, if we hesitate later before the workout session...

She dismisses us - unworthy of her gifts, unwilling to reach our full potential.

She tells us to get out of her sight. The narration steps in to make another meta joke (that’s like three this arc?)

We get a fake out fade to black and the first note of the end card music... but then!

...GET RIIII(...)IIIPPPPPED! In our own way.

D --> Hmm, 100k at this e%tremely subtle reference.

Anyway, that someone turns out to be... Stelsa! And Tyzias, who happens to be present. There’s a brief discussion of a fast food service called ‘door smash’, and Stelsa’s love of scheduling. They’re cute together.

But let’s get down to business... to defeat...

...our own flimsiness.

Stelsa’s into it.

Then we hang with her and Tyzias for a bit. We suggest Tyzias might consider energy drinks.

This arc then extends over... a long time!

Multiple weeks! And the training seems to be going well...

It’s almost as if ‘drill sergeant’ isn’t the ideal demeanour for a coach after all.

But as we go to show off our progress to Nihkee, the question of this being a non-canon branch leads us to hesitate.

So we decide to ‘blitz our chakras’ to try and work this out. We put on some ocean noises (which leads to a change in the soundtrack! soft music starts playing, seguing into the menu music) and... start imagining some metaphors.

In our reverie, we slip beneath the surface of the river.

Things get kind of meta. I’m just gonna take a bunch of screenshots because this seems... important.

The images of failed branches, all these catastrophes, blur together on top of each other.

We are implored to ‘find our river’. And we find the two branches of the current route... one sounding much more inviting than the other.

Then things get REALLY meta.

And then we get the rest of the arc in some kind of summary form, all in this... letterboxed? That’s not the right word, but whatever... all in this view. Nihkee is not pleased to see us. We come up with the idea of sneaking in.

It does not seem to end well.

She chases us on one leg and we escape by getting her run over by a train. But she becomes a cyborg coming to chase us down, terminator-like. Yeah, seriously.

NIHKEEBORG spends a year hunting us across the wilderness. And eventually... she catches us. We die.

And coming out of the meditation, we decide... not to do that. We just go to Stelsa’s house instead, and let Nihkee be.

Oof.

God, you never know what you’re going to stumble onto in this game. That was amazing.

Next time: FINAL CHAPTER.

[hell-yeahfilm]

SHAMAN OF SOULS

After a vicious ruler’s reign mercifully ended, the three nations of Meraria formed the Trifecta, and since then, Humans, Elves, and Dwarves have lived in peace for centuries. But now there’s a startling double homicide in the city of Trifectus. Senior officer Kelt McNair takes the murder case and quickly learns that one of the victims was part of the Guardians—essentially the Trifecta’s police force. Kelt was once a renowned Spell Breaker—a hunter of necromancers—though he’s now retired from that job. The Trifecta regulates the use of magic and especially frowns on necromancy—involving communication with the dead—as the late, evil king had been a practitioner. As the investigation continues, 17-year-old loner Xeile Taeris makes his way to Trifectus. He’s dying from a mysterious disease, and his final wish is to forgive Kelt, whom he blames for his mother’s execution. Xeile sees and sometimes converses with spirits, making him an illegal necromancer, but it also puts him in a position to help with the murder case, as he can speak to dead victims. Not all spirits are harmless, though; a monstrous horse, emanating “a black ominous mist” and sporting “bloody crimson” eyes, regularly shows up and attacks people; there’s a chance that this wraith is the killer terrorizing Trifectus. It’s also unquestionably tied to Xeile, whose dark, murky history may play a part in what’s happening in the present.

Wilshusen keeps his epic novel focused with a relatively small cast. The narrative perspective alternates among Xeile, Kelt, and Guardians Criske Val-Zhang and Henrik Ihvihlan. The well-developed characters ease readers into a mystery that relies heavily on dense, complicated history. For example, half-Elf Criske and Dwarf Henrik first meet when they share a patrol, which sparks a growing friendship. Henrik also enthusiastically talks about Meraria’s past, but it’s the two’s discovery of a body that truly immerses them in the main investigation. This likable duo counterbalances the much more complex Xeile and Kelt. Xeile is a relentlessly tortured and enigmatic soul for much of the book; Kelt, though an able and fair senior officer, sometimes wields his authority brutally, using the “dark-stained whipping post” to punish offenses. The book thrives on deliberately obscure backstories, with details revealed only gradually, and genuinely shocking turns. Xeile, for instance, doesn’t know everything about his mother’s death despite witnessing her execution. Other surprises crop up, as well, such as what’s making Xeile so sick and the source of that ferocious “giant horse spirit.” Wilshusen’s generally unadorned prose keeps scenes moving at a steady beat, but he occasionally spruces up the tale with colorful descriptions: “In an instant, her dark-purple aura flared to life, the flickering violet surrounding her body. The stones slowly changed color until they matched her aura.” The ending packs a punch, thanks to one character’s impassioned speech, and forges a clear path to a sequel.

from Kirkus Reviews https://ift.tt/pg7VLMx