#they do all have the same eye color to signify their relation and the fact that they are all. from space.

[universalheart]

some generation 12 reworking, with starshine taking on pearly's original gray "impressionable" color palette, and sunshine and moonbeam being renamed hypatia & cosmia (respectively) to signify their otherworldlyness beyond just their alicorn bodies (although this would do just as well, as many ponies have forgotten the princesses' names, and they are the only alicorns in existence because that is not something that naturally happens...) anyway any feedback always welcome.

[the-meat-machine]

speaking of language use in homestuck, now i'm thinking about how calliope uses british spelling but caliborn doesn't, and what that says about their respective characters

for one thing, it makes calliope's accent come across as affected. she and caliborn grew up in the same place, were dubiously "raised" by the same person, and presumably had access to all the same writing and media, so there's no particular reason for them to have different accents. but then again, they've never heard each other speak, so there's no real reason they should have the same accent, either!

still, to me, calliope's british spelling comes across as a cute affectation. no one else in the comic spells words that way, so she almost certainly deliberately adopted this style of spelling - probably (at least at first) simply because it would let her use the letter U more in her writing. but it also suits her character and gives her a distinctive voice, so that's cool too

and then on a meta level, her british spelling connects her to lord english, which was a clue that she was related to him before the audience got the reveal that she was a cherub. this to me is the biggest reason why it's interesting that caliborn doesn't use british spelling!

but i think it makes sense that he doesn't, actually. to american ears, british accents tend to come across as a little posh. (i'm aware that simply using british spelling wouldn't signify anything of the sort to british people, but homestuck was written by an american for an assumed primary audience of americans.) but caliborn is the exact opposite of posh. he's rough and crude and he doesn't have any patience for cutesy affectations like calliope's pointless alternate spellings

it's also, well, something calliope does that no one else does, which makes caliborn even less likely to do it. in his eyes, everything that she does is worthless. he will do everything that he can to be the exact opposite of her in every way, typing style included

(also interesting is the fact that caliborn's land is the land of "colours" and mayhem, even though caliborn otherwise always spells that word as "colors". this is presumably to fit with the colours and mayhem music album, which i believe came out before the name of caliborn's land was revealed. though amusingly, the album itself seems to have been named as a reference to one of calliope's lines from a conversation she had with jane. i wonder what caliborn would think if he knew that his sister indirectly "named" his land!)

[gunsli-01]

So, are you ready to jump into the first part of the Tarot rundown? Probably, hopefully... I've only been vaguely mentioning this essay for weeks at this point. Today we'll be going over the first five cards in the celtic spread shown first in MeMe. Next, we'll go over the other five and our interpretation of the cards overall. Then do the same with the second spread.

Now we're not just giving a surface level reading here. We'll also be taking a deeper look into how Mikoto designed his cards in comparison to the classic ones. This is going to be long and go over what people may feel is superfluous off topic information. Such as the history behind some tarot cards which will include how they were typically depicted and the history around those previous depictions.

Now with all of that out of the way let me put my suffering on full display. If anyone goes under this cut, you'll see pretty quickly why this was separated into four parts. Five cards down fifteen more to go-ha ha no some of these repeat so it's literally like maybe twelve or eleven.

Here's the link to preface explaining every bias I may have

Spread One

First Card Represents: The Situation

Card Drawn: Hangman

Position: Reversed

In Mikoto’s tarot deck the Hangman is portrayed as a yellowish orange man strung upside down by their leg on a glowing blue cross a yellow moon behind their head and eyes peering at them from behind. As if put up on display against their will. This is fun for multiple reasons it plays on Mikoto’s fear of being surveilled or unknowingly put into a situation where he is being watched by others with no escape from their gaze.

However, the eyes watching on at the display remind me of the game Hangman. That fun game where a person or team of people have to guess the letters in a word or term but if a guess is wrong another piece of the hangman is drawn on the board until he’s completely there signifying the guesser’s loss. It’s the one-time people will look on intently at something usually considered gruesome and find entertainment in it.

We’re not saying this could have been an intentional allusion when it comes to the eyes it’s just a fun thought. Especially considering that Mikoto has been related to competitive children’s games already.

Mikoto’s variation on the Hangman card is pretty close to what the card looks like within most modern tarot decks. Hanging upside down by their foot tied to a cross of some kind. Certainly, he took some liberties with the background. Though roughly it’s not too far removed from its typical depiction that it’s difficult to tell what it is.

However, that’s considering its modern-day depictions. Historically the Hangman card while still depicting a man hung upside down by one of his feet did not have him tied to a cross. In fact, he was tied to a tree said to hold up the heavens with roots that directly connected to the underworld. The card has been depicted with the man hanging from a branch held up between two trees firmly rooted within the ground. That or one tree with leaves on each side of the top branches. Over time the tree the hangman was attached to slowly became more and more cross-like. Eventually the cross took the tree's place entirely and no greenery can be found within most depictions of the card.

The hangman is also associated with the motif colors of both of the Kayanos seen in MeMe. Red and Blue. The hangman is also associated with yellow. In versions of the card the Hangman is depicted with golden blonde hair, yellow shoes, red pants and a blue shirt. The red is meant to represent the passion of humanity and the human form. While the blue represents calm and reflective emotions. The yellow on the Hangman’s personage is meant to represent his intellect.

In Mikoto’s first iteration of the Hangman card (the painting seen at the beginning of MeMe) the color red does not appear at all. Though this could be because it is unfinished.

However, I think the Hangman is the tarot card associated with Boku Mikoto. The Fool being the one associated with Ore Mikoto. Fun fact the painting of The Fool can be seen in MeMe as a visual indication of when Ore Mikoto is on screen in some scenes.

I think this is the correct interpretation of things not only because Ore Mikoto is heavily associated with red throughout the mv and Boku Mikoto Blue or because blue is the color of focus within the hangman card Mikoto draws originally. It also makes sense when we take their individual personalities into account.

Boku Mikoto is the leveled and calm one. Having him be represented by the hangman tied to a blue cross the color the card associates with calm emotions; the body and moon be yellow the color associated with intellect. Fits especially when you take into consideration that The Hangman is no hostage or victim of circumstance. It’s generally believed that he is not only fine but is there of his own volition. Only having one leg tied and his hands freely held behind his back.

It's thought that the hangman can leave whenever he pleases but he doesn’t. A lot of people would assume his hands are tied as well as his one foot and tend to be wary about receiving this card in any reading. Just because of the look of it alone. However, the hangman itself is the embodiment of calculated risk and reward. He’ll stay where he is until the time is right to get what he wants.

Hm, if that isn’t reminiscent of a certain lyric.

“I’d play dead even though I’m alive right?”

The Hangman usually foretells sacrifice in the sake of progress. To obtain or accomplish one’s goal something must be given. Though this time of sacrifice may not be pleasant it is expected to lead somewhere in the end. It can also allude to needing to take a premeditated step backwards to better move forward later. However, it is usually interpreted as a sign to stop. Warning against continuing forward on a particular path or with a certain action. Heavily recommending one take the time to step back to better analyze the circumstance before proceeding regardless of how urgent the matter may seem. Due to this it can also be seen as a sign of indecision.

It appears here in its reversed position which foretells that the querent has reached a point in their life where they feel as though they’ve sacrificed so much yet very little, or nothing has been gained in return. They have reached an impasse filled with a feeling of crippling stagnation. They are possibly curious if anything can be done from the position, they find themselves in now. Finding themselves feeling as though whatever they attempt to do, no matter how much they try nothing is turning out as it should.

“All those ridiculous accusations. Hurting it, holding it down, it doesn’t change anything, does it? Ah, it’s the same anywhere I go. It’s like what’s wrong isn’t wrong.” –- “My life it wasn’t supposed to be this way.”

Second Card Represents: The Challenge

Card Drawn: Queen of Swords

Position: Neutral

The Queen of Swords is usually seen with a stern look, her sword pointed up to the sky in one hand and the other out as if offering something. This card has been associated with the element air and clouds. It has been stated that the Queen of Swords place is in the clouds far from the reach of anyone who would wish to do harm to or deceive her. However, in Mikoto’s Tarot deck the Queen of Swords is represented by multiple knives with a chain-link fence behind them. As though the queen has been caged in and separated from her place in the clouds.

The clouds even appear to still be present just behind the fence. The Queen of Swords is meant to instill clear judgement when it comes to mundane situations that occur in the querents day to day activities while also leaving them flexible to the input of others. Overall allowing them to gain more knowledge from their peers while completing their everyday responsibilities.

It appears to signal to the asker that sometimes it is best to make decisions unclouded by one's own emotions. Instead beckoning the person to look at all the facts of the situation before making a snap judgement. Whether reversed or right side up it tells the wonderer to stop thinking with their feelings and look at things objectively. However, in this case it is neutral and representative of a challenge one will face.

When combined cards one and two form the heart of the situation Mikoto in this case the querent is currently facing. The queen being here doesn’t seem like a problem but should be read as such. Everyone interprets tarot differently so feel free to take the proceeding interpretation with a grain salt. Taking in all the information we have on Mikoto at this time.

Card 1 & 2 add up to one interpretation. Mikoto is having a difficult time with the outcome of his choices. He feels like he’s in a constant spiral of giving without ever receiving anything in return. The problem is he has no proper way of communicating this. Be it that his grievances are too far in the past to bring up now,

“If I could laugh, if I could go back, I’d play dead even though I’m alive right?”

A lyric that under this interpretation could be considered to mean even if I went back, I’d still keep quiet while screaming on the inside. He’d still just keep it to himself even if he could redo it all. This may be because he doesn’t even know where to start when it comes to communicating how he’s feeling or he’s willfully holding it all in. Making direct communication a closed off option entirely. This could possibly explain why the queen has been fenced in within his Tarot design as well.

Okay, so what? Mikoto has a problem. He’s feeling like all his hard work has amounted to nothing and he’s only being asked to do more. He can’t/won’t communicate that issue. Something that is very in character given how his communication style has been portrayed so far.

So, let’s talk about that communication style. Mikoto’s style of communication has been shown to be a mix of Passive and Submissive. He’s not a pushover but he has a general unwillingness to burden others around him. He doesn’t balk at communicating in general and attempts to keep the atmosphere amicable and positive. He shows outward disdain towards Futa whose communication style drastically conflicts with his own. Noting that he believes Futa’s way of communicating to be attention seeking in nature.

“Hey, it’s a bother having you be so angry and tense all the time. You should stop trying to get everyone to pay attention to you. You’re a uni student, right? You can’t act like that once you start working properly.”

Mikoto interprets Futa’s more aggressive communication style and tense mannerisms as attention seeking and notes it as a problem. This contrasts with his usually more amicable demeanor and mature way of communicating. While also showing off his ability to directly communicate issues with others. Even though Mikoto attempts to be the mature one most of the time like Mahiru he seems to genuinely enjoy communicating with others.

He may even find comfort and needed stimulation from his social interactions despite the strange circumstances. He even goes up to Shidou someone he states is difficult to talk to in a previous interaction five days later just to chat. All because a good opportunity to break the ice presented itself.

Even though Mikoto’s upbringing may not have allowed him to develop the best communication style when it comes to taking his own feelings into account, he seems to get some satisfaction from conversing in general. I believe his chatty nature is displayed the best in the Portal Timeline Posts on 20/07/15 when he discusses his studying habits with Amane, 20/05/31 where he talks over his belief that Milgram is a reality tv stunt with Mu, and 20/05/25 where he’s caught talking aloud to himself by Mahiru before they introduce themselves to each other.

In all of these situations someone initiates conversation with Mikoto first. Who is shown to be more than happy to reciprocate when prompted and willing to stretch the conversation on longer. Having to stop himself during the conversation with Amane twice because he recognizes he may be talking about things she doesn’t understand or someone her age might not be interested in.

After confiding in Mu that he still believes this is a reality stunt. Because he really hasn’t murdered anyone. So, this can’t be real but if that is the case, he is worried about being seen doing something as embarrassing as getting upset about his wrongful imprisonment. He then follows up lengthening the conversation by changing the topic to how if it is a tv stunt Mu will be really popular because she’s good looking. Plus, there are lot of folks who get their big break from things like this.

The focus of his conversation with Mahiru is usually how he gives her a nickname immediately. Mikoto explains who he does and doesn’t give nicknames to and why he likes using them as well. It doesn’t seem like a socially manipulative tactic on his part even though he notes the psychological benefits of it and recommends it. He says he doesn’t give them to people who are hard to talk to like Shidou or children like Amane. So, if he were using nicknames in a psychologically manipulative way or to come off more endearing wouldn't it be easier to use it on people you have difficulty speaking with like Shidou instead of not using them at all with a select few.

Something that could easily be taken as personal slight when you're known to give everyone else nicknames. Mikoto's reasoning behind who he doesn't give nicknames to leaves Futa to wonder where he falls between the Amane and Shidou. Difficult to communicate with or child. Neither of which are good options for the college student.

However, I propose he falls squarely into the category of Mikoto’s actual reason for giving nicknames. To differentiate between the people, he feels comfortable talking to and people he doesn’t. That’s why Futa doesn’t fall into either of the categories he presented and why the only common thread between these three is how he’s shown hesitance when it comes to communicating with them. Even if the reasons why vary. They're all people that he’s on more than one occasion shown a need to watch what he says around or a general discomfort speaking to.

That leads me to believe these nicknames are his way of going oh I feel comfortable around this person and want to interact with them more. This lines up with his introduction to Mahiru as well. Mikoto doesn’t just give her a nickname out of the clear blue sky before he does, he literally says,

“Ahh, I’m glad there’s someone here who’s easy to talk to.”

So, it’s likely that this is just his subconscious way of going this person is easy or safe to talk to. Our overall point is while Mikoto does struggle with communicating certain things he seems to enjoy the act of communicating itself. Something that makes sense given he’s the only individual in Milgram to have a communications-based vocation.

Q.08 What’s the most rewarding part of your current job?

Mikoto: I mean, it’s the top advertising agency in the industry? Anyone would be proud to be a part of it. I put a lot of work in just to get there, too.

He is just very unlikely to voice displeasure or do anything that he views as burdensome, uncivil, or generally embarrassing. This means he probably has a lot of patience when it comes to dealing with bad actors. Possibly holding the mentality that regardless of how another person behaves towards you, how you react to their treatment is a choice that reflects your character so be the bigger person. Let their actions speak for them and your actions speak for you.

If that's the case though... Then what could have occurred that was causing him so much emotional distress and irritation that his communication would be affected to this degree?

Third Card Represents: The Past

Card Drawn: Wheel of Fortune

Position: Reversed

In Mikoto’s Tarot deck the Wheel of Fortune is represented by multiple wheels. Some wheel designs appear multiple times throughout the card. However, the wheel with double layered spokes and rims only repeats twice. The wheel right above where the card says Wheel of. Another tire like it appears behind and under further behind the wheel stained with blood. One can tell it’s the same wheel because of the doubled spokes that can be seen in the gaps of the tire in front of it.

Since that specific wheel design appears twice it could be the design of Mikoto’s bicycle wheels. However, the shape and size of the wheels are more reminiscent of car tires with a snake slithering between them.

There are two things that we can consider odd about Mikoto’s rendition of this card.  Those being the snake and the use of car tires. To our knowledge Mikoto doesn’t own a car and to his own admission does not like reptiles.

Q.06 What do you hate?

Mikoto: working overnight / reptiles / violence

The wheel of fortune historically has been represented by one wheel usually covered in alchemical symbols surrounded by multiple creatures. An Angel in the top left corner representative of the zodiac sign Aquarius Air and Intellect, an Eagle in the top right corner representative of Scorpio Water and Emotions, a Lion in the bottom right corner with wings representative of Leo Fire and Passion, and a Bull in the bottom left corner with wings representative of Taurus Earth and Possessions. They are all depicted holding/looking at books.

Q.12 How do you travel to work?

Mikoto: Road cycling. It’s one of my hobbies, good exercise too.

The fact that I don’t have to worry about making the last train can be both a blessing and a curse.

Why are these astrological signs associated with the wheel of fortune? Simply put there is a bit of an overlap between Astrology and Tarot reading. Tarot cards overlap with many things. However, the explanation for these signs being used specifically may lie in the myths associated with them and their elements as signs.

The water bearer depicted in Aquarius represents a boy of legend by the name of Ganymede. While tending to his father’s land Zeus saw the boy falling for him instantly. Zeus then turned himself into a bird and swooped down taking the boy and bringing him to Olympus where he became the water bearer of the Gods. Going from farmer to immortal is hardly an unfortunate thing. Though being abducted by a bird kind of is and if you go into the emotional logistics of if the guy hated or loved his family, then it could have been a bit of a downer.

Either way, there at the top left corner of the wheel the eleventh sign Aquarius sits displaying that even life’s best turns are unpredictable.

In the bottom left laying peacefully is the second sign Taurus. The bottom is usually a rough place to be, at least that’s what many people believe. However, sometimes the place where you are is right where you're needed. Taurus showcases the ups and downs of the wheel perfectly with its myth. In it Zeus transforms himself into a white bull to steal away the object of his affections Europa in which he succeeded. Taking her to Crete and wooing her with multiple gifts. They had three children together. One of them would go on to become the King of Crete known as Minos.

However, the path of the parents is rarely the tale of the offspring. To become the King of Crete Minos prayed to Zeus’ brother god of Seas Poseidon. Poseidon then sent a bull from the sea as proof that Minos had the right to rule. Minos had promised to sacrifice the bull back to Poseidon in thanks. When met with the bull's magnificence much like his mom when it had come to Zeus he took a shine to the animal. It was gorgeous. So, what was wrong with keeping it? Minos then decided that he would partially keep his word to the Sea God sacrificing a normal bull to Poseidon instead.

As you can guess this did not go over well with Poseidon. As recompence for words not kept Poseidon had Aphrodite make Minos’ wife lust for the sacred bull. So, even though Minos had become king by not keeping to his word and trying to take more than promised. He became king but his wife was well getting horny over other things soooo…the bottom left you lay Taurus. Life truly is full of highs and lows.

On the upper right-hand side rests, the eighth sign Scorpio depicted as an Eagle with a book beneath its talons. Scorpio is tied to the myth of Orion. There are many myths surrounding Orion. He is a son of Poseidon and best known for hunting. It is even said he accompanied Artemis on a hunt.

His tale has many iterations in one telling of events he boasted that with his skills he could take down any creature on earth in another he promised to kill every animal on earth. This display of arrogance or callousness depending on the story offended and upset Gaia who sent a giant scorpion after him. Orion and the Scorpion both died during their altercation leading to the creation of the constellations Scorpius and Orion.

Zeus or Artemis decided to memorialize Orion in the sky, but Gaia is said to have created Scorpius in honor of the scorpion that killed Orion. In another tale Orion while a hunter spent most of his days attempting to obtain the hand of the woman, he loved the daughter of Oenopion the king of Chios. During his efforts to gain the right to be with Merope Orion cleared the beast from the island and brought his beloved the spoils from his hunt. Like a cat.

Despite all the spoils he had gathered her father Oenopion was disinterested in the man’s advances. Refusing to give his consent for the union. This led Orion to try to take Merope by force. This did not go over well with her father who blinded Orion while after he’d gotten inebriated and sent the man out to shore. He eventually found his way to the sun god and got his sight restored. After which he stayed with Artemis (Diana) as her hunting partner. Artemis grew fond of the man but her brother Apollo was brought to upset by this and would chide her about said affections.

One day when Orion was out at sea Apollo spotted him from above and bet Artemis could not hit him. It must be noted that Orion was so far out that he appeared to be nothing more than a black speck. Artemis took deadly aim and fired. When Orion’s body washed up to shore, she was so aggrieved she placed him into the heavens.

The less extravagant telling of events and possibly what the wheel of fortune is referring to is… Orion was a man who led a rather sad life and ultimately met his end when he accidently stepped on a scorpion. The Gods felt so sorry for him that they immortalized the hunter in the sky surrounding him with many animals so that he could continue his hunting even in the stars. Showcasing that even when the wheel runs you over you will one day roll up to the top again.

Last but certainly not least is Leo. The fifth representative of the western This one is somewhat common knowledge or at least has been showcased in various media over the years since it’s tied to Hercules/Heracles. For reference you know the giant lion Hercules fights during Zero to Hero in Disney’s Hercules. Yeah, that’s Leo. Getting folded by Hercules in what’s basically a visual footnote in the background of a musical number. That’s certainly a way to get to the bottom of the Wheel of Fortune card.

Yet somehow it gets worse for poor Leo. In one story possibly connected to the lion of the stars there was a young couple Pyramus and Thisbe who very much wanted to be together, but their parents contested their relationship saying that they were both too young to be wed and separated them. However, the pair decided to meet secretly with white berries beneath a certain mulberry tree. When Thisbe arrived, she was attacked by an already blood-stained lion at which point she ran away from their meeting spot. As she left her veil fell from her face and onto the ground and the lion pounced atop it. When Pyramus arrived, he saw the blood veil and assumed the worst. He then threw himself atop his own sword in grief. Thisbe returned briefly after whether it was out of concern for her already fallen love or just to keep to their meeting is unknown. However, when she saw the Pyramus there blade ran through him and her bloody veil nearby she took her loves sword and quickly followed him. It is said the blood of this tragic couple is what colored the berries of the Mulberry tree red. Some even believe that Zeus himself placed Thisbe’s veil in the sky as Coma Berenices.

The other tale is that of Hercules. In Nemea lived a beast of great size with a hide thick as iron that no weapon could pierce with claws that could rip through armor. A lion of great strength that far surpassed the others of its kind. It brought fear to the hills of Nemea. Hercules’ first task was to defeat the beast and bring the King its pelt. During his first attempt Hercules used arrows to no avail. After which he went after the beast with his club chasing it into a cave with two entrances, one of which he’d already blocked off.

He cornered the animal realizing it could not be slain with human tools he took to using his bare hands. Choking out the beast in his with his mighty arms while avoiding and at times ignoring its claws. So, there Leo sits at the bottom right of the Wheel.

-Back to Mikoto for those not interested in the mythology stuff-

I may have been writing this for too long but that last story of the lion sounds a bit familiar. Sort of reminds me of what Mikoto is shown to be going through in MeMe. Particularly, his last obstacle where we see him burying a person alive, but his bat is weirdly absent as though he was incapable of using it in that bout or disarmed. Though we’ll go into his crimes in another post. Just thought I’d note that here.

I explained all that to get across that there were many animals more prominent within the wheel Mikoto could have chosen. He could have even played on the eagle representing Scorpio and had scorpions crawling through the tires. The snake isn’t even a mainstay in most iterations of the card. It’s small and off to the side. Only there to represent evil. The fact that Mikoto’s tarot design of the Wheel of Fortune hones in on the snake says a lot about how he views fortune in general.

This also plays into why there are multiple wheels instead of one within his depiction.

For the most part Mikoto has presented himself as an individual who believes in personal accountability, working towards one’s own goals, and being considerate of those around you. Considering his character, it’s not surprising that the wheel of fortune is not just one individual wheel but multiple wheels that seem to be crushing and overshadowing his own. As though he’s just a cog in a larger machine as the snake slithers through unperturbed by the chaos around it. It really does perfectly visualize the fickle crushing weight that is the reality of such things as fate and luck.

Highlighting how most people don’t get anywhere without the help of others and sometimes it’s not about letting go or letting whatever happens happen. Instead, it’s only who you know and who likes you that decides how the wheel spins.

This card perfectly visualizes the fear Mikoto has around letting go of control of things like his emotions, job, or even past choices that aren’t working out and letting what will happen after just happen. Because there are so many variables that can’t be accounted for, and life is full of wills outside of one’s own. Having your life be affected by the lives of others is unavoidable.

Yes, we are all crushed by the wheel, but some are ran over more than others and the chaos surrounding his version of the card perfectly illustrates that. While it does a great job of highlighting his general wariness about letting what will be, be it also shows his disdain at the concept. Whether consciously or subconsciously Mikoto associated the one thing he openly dislikes with the card that literally symbolizes that everyone will have to relinquish control of a situation at some point and just have faith things will work out. That good and bad times both will pass.

Mikoto’s response to this card's existence is direct hostility, and he is using his artistic abilities to call bullshit on the concept of the card itself. He really went no I dislike this card specifically, designed it like this, and then drew that shit in two separate Celtic spreads. Like the cards, the cards, the cards will tell- Man I’m surprised he hasn’t burned this deck. The only thing I’ve realized through writing most of this is that Mikoto can be incredibly passive aggressive, and I love it.

Now when it comes to the car tires. He may have chosen them to represent the Wheel of Fortune because cars tend to be expensive making it fortunate for one to own such a vehicle. However, we believe there may be more meaning to this. One that may be discerned from looking at the other cards.

The Wheel of Fortune signifies the uncontrollable and cyclical nature of life. The ups and downs spinning in tandem with no signs of stopping. Reminding people that regardless of their status some things are just fated to occur. Like life’s many saddening facets and happy accidents, some things are unavoidable. The wheel runs over all indiscriminately.

It reminds the querant regardless of the situation they currently find themselves in that their present is not their end. Things will change. Upright it reminds people to appreciate the good times they may be having for they will not last and in reverse it reminds them that the bad times too shall pass. As the third card in the Celtic spread, it is representative of the querants past.

In this case signifying that Mikoto has faced many troubles in his past up until this point. Yet these times may be passing.

Fourth Card Represents: The Future

Card Drawn: Five of Swords

Position: Upright

In Mikoto’s Tarot deck the Five of Swords is represented by five cooking knives with seven holes above the edge of the blade. Other than that, the card does not differ too much from its regular depictions. The fourth card in the Celtic spread represents the querants possible future. So, we can discern a bit about how things may go from this card.

The Five of Swords suggests that the querant is facing a conflict of some kind. This conflict can be internal or external. It can allude to one having social disagreements. It advises the querant to introspect upon what is more important in this argument, being proven correct or keeping polite relations. Warning that even though it seems they have won they could end up losing in the long run due to the ire they’ve incurred. Highlighting that it may be necessary for the querant to face themselves by fully investigating their beliefs.

It warns against becoming overly ambitious. Stating that continuing in this manner will either lead to querants defeat or a victory in isolation.

“If I could end, if I could stop; how long would this dream go on?”

“Why, hey why, I’m nowhere to be found?”

Fifth Card Represents: The Conscious/Above

Card Drawn: Ace of Cups

Position: Upright

The Ace of Cups in Mikoto’s tarot deck is represented by a cup pouring what appears to be paint over the broken remains of a bunch of wooden mannequins used for figure drawing in front of a bluish moon. I could have brought this up earlier, but I assumed it was readily apparent and could not remember if there was an exact word for these things. However, I’ve given up on finding out if there is at this point.

So, yeah, the human figures in Mikoto’s tarot cards are wooden figure drawing mannequins. Tiny dolls with moveable joints that artists position in order to get a better grasp on poses. They can be found in art schools for example the only reason I know what they are is because I went to an arts high school, and they were brought up at points by students. They can also be found in art supply shops. Not everyone uses them, and some artists find them finicky opting to just look up references or stock photos instead.

However, these mannequins are usually fun to use, position in various ways, and are helpful for those who like a three-dimensional reference. So, it might be more likely that artists who studied mostly through drawing art models people who pose for art students to draw them either clothed, partially clothed or nude would gravitate towards these. While we’re on the topic all the items except for maybe the car tires depicted within the wheel of fortune are items that can be found within Mikoto’s home.

Pentacles being represented by records there’s a record player on one of his drawers, his baseball bat representing wands, the kitchen knives representing swords we don’t see his kitchen in MeMe but I assume he has knives and these figure drawing mannequins while not seen in his home are possibly something he uses for work or has around in an area of his house we have not seen yet like with the knives.

As I brought up, when going over the wheel of fortune card two of the tires within the wheel seem to belong to Mikoto. However, this is only believed to be the case by us because they have doubled spokes and are the only tires to appear just twice throughout the card.

Moving on. Usually, the Ace of Cups is depicted as a standing but overflowing cup held out by a hand as if it is being offered to the asker. Even though the Ace of Cups is depicted as overflowing it is rarely depicted as being deliberately poured out as it is here.

It is usually shown with five separate streams of water flowing out of it as it stands. In a way reminiscent of a fountain. Comparing the amount coming from the cup in Mikoto’s interpretation of the card to how much water is usually depicted in other variations of the card it becomes apparent how measly this amount is. So, why might that be?

Well, the answer can be found when looking into the meaning of those five streams. The five streams are meant to embody the power of intuition, highlighting the effect looking inward and listening to one’s inner voice can have. The cup standing showcases how it does not need to be disturbed or moved for it to overflow just filled or fed by its holder. The streams flowing or jutting out of it illustrate the tangible effects the holder can have on their environment by doing such a thing.

Think of it similarly to how we talked about bottling up emotions earlier with Kazui. Doing it for too long will eventually cause one to overflow in numerous ways. It can either boil over or burst forth in a controlled way.

However, in Mikoto’s case doing it too little will leave one with nothing to fall back on when external sources of validation fail them. Because there’s very little of an inner voice to connect to in Mikoto’s case be it from him focusing most of his emotional understanding outwards or other reasons he has to tip the cup over to even get a smidgen of what for most it can give while standing.

The Ace of Cups is Upright here highlighting that the inquirer needs to let go of any lingering pain from their past to move forward in a more open and unburdened way. New beginnings are on the horizon if the asker is open to them, themselves, and is willing to leave their baggage behind. Because it is in the position representative of the querents conscious state.

This can be interpreted to mean that Mikoto is making the conscious decision to remain open and flexible. He’s making a conscious effort to be approachable and amicable in his relations. Possibly even purposely ignoring any misgivings he has about his circumstances to do so.

“The minus energy that I swallowed hugged me.”

[afklancelot]

the weekend's ere, so yknow what that means: rambling 'bout The Familiar by MZD! specifically, I wanna talk about the color of the banners under each narrator's tag and their significance

more info under Read More per usual, and pictures for each narrator's tag + banner will be included. of course, heavy spoilers for TF, but if ya haven't read the series but want to be spoilered, be my guest. i will tag HoL mainly because of one or two specific narrator banner(s) but it’s only tangentially related.

ok so as i said, each narrator has their own banner underneath their respective tags, and those banners, like the tags, have their own significance in relation to their narrator. i'll try to summarize each narrator's banner's significance right ere right now.

Xanther:

prolly the easiest banner to gain significance from. Xanther’s banner is black, which brings to mind of Luther, whose tag is black. literally by the end of book 1 we know that the two are pretty much foils to eachother, and as the series progresses we see Xanther acquire characteristics similar to Luther (more rebellious, starts looking people in the eye, killing people (indirectly, using the cat)). not much to say that isn’t already obvious.

Anwar:

Anwar’s banner is probably the second easiest to parse. his banner’s color directly correlates to Cas’/The Wizard’s own tag. this connection is first implied in Cas’ last section in book 1, where she catches a glimpse of Xanther in the Orb, and then explicitly stated when Mefisto, an ally of Cas and Anwar’s friend, show up in books 2 and 3 in their respective sections. again, don’t have much to say bout it.

Luther:

Luther has a yellow banner. it tips the reader off that Luther and Isandorno are connected, and it shows even in the first book (both are hispanics and their sections are probably the most violent and bleakest in portraying their world. again, like Anwar, this is later confirmed in book 2 when The Mayor, Isandorno’s employer, mentions Teyo, the employer of Luther. fun fact. in the orbit piece that Danielewski wrote, it’s mentioned that Isandorno would’ve travelled up north to Cali to meet Luther, which is interesting given Isn’s ‘curse’.

Özgür and Shnorhk:

yknow what forget what i said earlier: Oz’s and Shnorhk’s are the easiest banners to parse, given that Oz’s banner is Shnorhk’s tag and vice versa. in other words, they fuckin mirror each other! this gives anticipation that they will sooner or later encounter each other (and they do- in vol5), and it is amplified by Shnorhk’s own prejudice of Turks, no thanks to the Armenian Genocide.

jingjing:

imma be honest: when i first came up w this post, it was partially bc i thought jingjing’s banner’s color was the same color as text pertaining to the minotaur from HoL. but now that i have the pic up there, i realize it’s more of a pink color. course, there is still significance in that Xanther has tian li’s (an old woman who jingjing assists/lives together with) cat, jingjing’s want for pink balloons, and the two’s confrontation in the last book. that said, i wouldn’t completely disregard my own first assumption given that A) he is described in vol5 in terms related to the minotaur (red-routed eyes), and B) this banner’s color is too dark pink to be explicitly Xanther’s color: maybe a mix between pink and red?

Isandorno:

isandorno’s is simple at first: his banner matches Shnorhk’s tag. thing is, there isn’t that much to connect the two with all the material we got. only thing i have to say they’re connected is that they both seem burnt out/cynical, and their narrations are stated by Narcon 9 to be translated from another language (mostly, in Shnorhk’s case). maybe if the series went on Isandorno would’ve met Shnorhk when the former hails the cab that the latter drives?

Astair:

ok i’ll be honest: i’m not sure what Astair’s banner signifies. if we go by the usual ‘banner color matches another narrator’s tag’ shtick, it would imply Isandorno would play a significant role in Astair’s life (could you imagine) but Astair’s banner isn’t really yellow: it’s more of a lighter shade of orange. well, if Astair’s own tag is orange, then her lighter orange banner might signify how self-absorbed she tends to be in her narration (the seizure alert dog, for example, was more because Astair loves/wanted dogs and less for Xanther’s sake).

Cas:

last but not least: cas’ banner is a blue color. like Isandorno and Shnorhk, there isn’t much to connect Cas to jingjing, who has a blue tag. besides, jingjing’s is more of a lighter/pale blue, which connects him to the pale blues he starts to smoke. in that case, do you know what DOES correlate to Cas’ banner?

The House.

a bit of a stretch, yes, but i can say with 95% certainty that the color of house text is the same as Cas’ own banner. i have no idea myself what it means except Cas’ very last section in the whole series was titled ‘The Labyrinth’.

Yeah.

one last thing i realized halfway thru typing this goddamn post: none of the narrators’ banners are green. yeah Anwar’s own tag is green, but besides that none of the narrators has a green banner. even Xanther’s and jingjing’s tag colors kinda show up in other narrator’s sections (jingjing and cas, respectively), even if they’re not the same color. it’s noted that green tends to signify goodness and benevolence (Anwar being shown as a compassionate stepfather, green being tian li’s (and jingjing’s) thing, etc.).

[ladyartemesia]

The Secret

◐ PART IV of THE ALPHA ◐

◐ Part I ◐ Part II ◐ Part III ◐ Series Masterlist ◐

Pairing: Alpha Werewolf Jimin x Omega Reader

Rating: Mature (for this installment)

Warnings: ABO sexual dynamics including discussion of scenting, marking, mating, and claiming. Violence and discussion of violence relating to ritual combat. Jin’s pheromones need their own warning. Yoonji and Yunli are not the same person.

Word Count: 3600

Author’s Note: This update literally made me sob because I edited it and formatted it and it just disappeared when I posted. I seriously felt my heart drop because it took so long to format... ANYWAYS I wonder if anyone guessed the secret.

”You can’t do this, Luna ... Come back inside.”

Your hand tightened on the doorknob.

“I was just going out for some air-”

Jin shook his head, letting his lanky frame collapse onto the overstuffed chair by the fireplace. 

“And after the air... then what?”

Your terse silence was confirmation enough. 

He sighed heavily, hating himself a little for what he had to do. 

“You cannot go to him. They’ll smell you on his skin and it could cost him... dearly.”

Your eyes fluttered shut.

“I just wanted to see him...,” you whispered. “I wanted to talk to him just once before-”

A sob bubbled up in your throat and your hand flew up to cover it. 

The dawn would come in two hours. 

And then Park Jimin would be gone. 

Jin’s arms wrapped around your shoulders and you fell against him hopelessly. 

“They’re going to make me watch, Jin-ah. I-I have to watch him-”

Bitter tears overtook you, wracking your body with the violence of your despair. 

“I know...,” he murmured softly into your hair, “I know.” 

“Do you think he’ll really show up?”

The chief elder glared fiercely at the young man who dared voice such a question. 

The entire pack had jammed themselves into the clearing where the challenge was taking place and despite the solemnity of the occasion, the atmosphere buzzed with barely contained speculation. 

“Park Jimin was chosen by the goddess herself to be her champion or to be the divine test of her champion. Have some respect,” he hissed. 

The young pup had the decency to look abashed, but the chief elder was already ignoring him in favor of the newest arrival... 

A Luna wore only three ceremonial colors at any given time. 

Green for celebration and harvest was worn in times of laughter and gaiety. 

Blue for mourning and peaceful resolve was worn in times of trial and hardship. 

Red for passion and vengeance was worn in times of war and signified the sacred bonds that wove the pack together. 

Your mother laid out a blue cloak as it was the color chosen by every Luna who had ever faced down a provocatione ritual.

But you arrived in sumptuous Red. 

It was a stunning act of defiance, a wordless declaration of your fury. You were here to obey the goddess, but in a crimson cloak you would not embrace this challenge with peaceful resolve. 

An attack upon your mate, even under these circumstances, was an attack upon you. 

You had come dressed for war. 

Jimin heard the gasps echo around his meditation cell.  

He and Namjoon arrived at the sacred circle a full hour before dawn and sequestered themselves in the small, free-standing hovels on opposing sides of the the site. 

The tiny pods were spaces for an individual to commune with the goddess and center themselves before engaging in the typically life-altering events that brought them there. 

Sometimes it was marriage or celebration, sometimes it was acceptance to one of the guilds or a promotion to a higher rank within your family’s clan...

Today it was life and death and the future of the pack that weighed upon the combatants’ shoulders. 

The sudden swell of movement and sound pulled Jimin from his meditative state. 

What happened? 

He got his answer soon after an elder came to escort him into the circle. 

It was you. 

Your hands and feet were bound to the ornately carved chair they had seated you in. This was a typical precaution because it was natural for a wolf to defend their mate if they were in danger and the restraints kept the Luna from doing so. 

The pain in your gaze was agonizing, but in red, flowing down from your shoulders with fiery obstinance, you were every inch the warrior queen. 

Yet it was not your rebellious cloak or even your incredible beauty that caused his heart to pound and stutter in glorious shock...

It was the familiar praesidium bracelet wrapped around your wrist; an intimate message of devotion that he and he alone would understand. 

Pride and possessiveness roared to life in Jimin’s chest. 

She’s mine.

“You look... surprisingly calm.”

Taehyung jerked guiltily. 

“What? Me? I don’t know anything - I mean I’m not calm - I’m frantic. I - I don’t even understand the question.”

Yoongi’s eyebrows raised right up into his hairline. 

“Taehyung-ah? Did you put those special mushrooms in your broth this morning? You’re acting a bit strange-”

“No,” Taehyung’s voice cracked. “This is me - this is totally normal me. I’m not - there were no mushrooms-” He cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “So - uh - how’s Yoonji?”

“Oh my go- really?!” 

The chief elder began to recite his speech, reminding the pack of the profound significance this moment carried...

But Yunli could barely hear his words over the ringing in her ears. Her gaze fixed on Namjoon from the moment the elder brought him forward... yet he had not glanced toward her once. 

He looked so strong and confident. 

So capable of victory. 

A faint whimper of abject sorrow worked its way passed her lips and Namjoon’s eyes flew to her instantly. 

As if he had always known exactly where she was. 

Longing split his features for a fraction of a second. 

Then his gaze shuttered again and Yunli’s wolf howled in silent, mournful agony. 

Anticipation bore down upon the assembly as the chief elder uttered the last few sentences with reluctant finality. 

The moment had come.  

Both alphas stepped into the circle. 

You began to tug frantically - futilely - against the bonds. Jin’s hand gripped yours as a tear slipped heedlessly down his cheek. 

“I’m sorry,” Namjoon whispered - to you - to Yunli - to Jimin -

To himself. 

Then his claws lengthened to a deadly point and he tore forward with a chilling snarl. 

Jimin remained unnaturally still, watching his rival barrel towards him with almost calculated intent. 

Namjoon’s arm drew back to land the first strike and- 

———◐———

Last Night...

———◐———

“Wait - WHAT?!”

“It was... me. I broke the table.”

Taehyung drew back slowly. His eyebrows furrowed in profound confusion. 

“With what? A jackhammer!?”

Jimin tilted his head in amusement. 

“Hammerfist strike... actually.” He shrugged. “I lost my temper.”

“You - You lost your-“ Tae began shaking his head rapidly. “Is it a spell of some sort?! Goddess you know better than to get tangled up with witches! You let them give you a band aid and then they show up ten years later asking for your firstborn!”

Jimin rolled his eyes. 

“Of course not! No... it’s...” he bit his lip. “You remember that time I came to your house a little too early and... Yoonji had you tied to a bed...”

Tae paled. 

“We agreed never to speak of that.”

“And I haven’t - spoken of it - especially since Yoongi still thinks his precious baby cousin is unaware of big bad boy wolves and if he found out you were corrupting her-”

“Wait. You think I was corrupting her?!“

“The point is... it’s a secret. And I know you have your reasons for keeping it that way so... I hope you’ll understand what I’m about to tell you...”

———◐———

Fourteen Years Ago...

———◐———

Jimin’s hands fidgeted nervously over the flyer that the human boy offered him. 

“But I’m only in Seoul for the summer.”

Just long enough to miss Alpha Camp entirely. 

“That’s perfect because it’s only a summer program. Seriously, you were so fast catching that jar I knocked over. Your reflexes are amazing and it looks like you’ve got the perfect build for it too.” He tapped the flyer for emphasis. “Think about it.”

No one had ever told Park Jimin that he would be good at anything like this. In fact most people told him he needed to be better...

Bigger. 

Stronger. 

His eyes traveled over the large letters printed at the top of the brochure. 

“Taekwondo...”

——◐——

“...so thank you all again for signing up and attending the orientation. I will see you tomorrow for our first class.”

A strange sense of anticipation hummed through Jimin as he gathered his coat. He was finally doing something for himself; something that had nothing to do with being an alpha-

“You’re a wolf, aren’t you...”

The young instructor who gave the initial demonstration and spoke for most of the orientation stood behind him with his arms crossed.

Jimin’s eyes widened in shock. 

“How did you know?”

The stranger tapped his nose. 

“My grandfather had a human mate and his pack exiled him for it. I’m mostly human, but this nose can pick up another wolf’s scent just as well as yours.”

Modern packs didn’t exile wolves with human mates anymore, but fifty years ago the practice was still unfortunately common. 

“I’m sorry about your grandfather.”

The young man smiled. 

“He lived a long happy life with his mate and his family. There’s nothing to be sorry for.” He stretched out his hand. “Lee Taemin.”

“Park Jimin.”

They shook firmly, and Taemin continued to examine him with unconcealed interest. 

“Tell me, Park Jimin, what’s an alpha wolf doing all the way out in Seoul? The only pack around here married their last child into one of the mountain nations years ago.”

“That was my mother, actually... I’m here visiting my grandmother.”

Taemin tilted his head curiously. 

“I’ve never known wolves to be interested in human martial arts. You lot prefer to fight shifted... In fact, I doubt a mountain wolf could even throw a punch,” he snorted, “not that they’d need to with those fangs.”

Jimin’s shoulders fell a little. 

“So... you don’t think I’ll be good at it.”

“On the contrary, I think you could be incredible.”

The young wolf’s face brightened immediately. 

“Really?! Even if I’m not as strong as other wolves?”

“Taekwondo isn’t about strength. It’s about speed. Master the speed and the strength will follow.”

———◐———

“Relax your body. Focus your energy.”

Jimin drew in a deep breath as he moved  through the pattern Taemin taught him. 

“The power and speed of your wolf is constant, but most wolves do not bother channeling it in human form. Concentrate on your wolf and bring that power into your strike.” 

His hand came down on the thin press wood and-

It hurt. A lot. 

Taemin chuckled as Jimin cussed and swore, cradling his tender fist grouchily. 

“You’ll get it. Just keep practicing.”

“Are you sure I’ll be able to break the boards one day?”

The boy’s face was so round and adorably hopeful. Taemin nodded confidently and offered him some ice. 

“A human with training can break boards, but a wolf who harnessed his natural speed and strength could break much more than that.” 

———◐———

Twelve Years Ago...

———◐———

“You’ve improved a great deal since last summer. Were you finally able to find a teacher near your pack?”

“Yes - but... she’s not as good as you.”

Finding a local Taekwondo teacher had been the easy part. 

Constantly making up excuses to explain his habitual disappearances... 

That was trickier. 

His mother thought he was hunting with Taehyung, Taehyung thought he was sniffing around some human girl and needed a buddy to cover his tracks. 

Sneaking away to practice wasn’t too difficult, but he panicked when Yoongi caught him moving through forms in the woods once and pretended to be doing an interpretive dance. 

With no music.

Yoongi had looked at him a little funny since then. 

Taemin grinned. “Of course she’s not as good as me. I’m the best. Now take position and let’s see if you can finally land this kick.”

———◐———

Ten Years Ago...

———◐———

Jimin glared at the thick oak board Taemin sent him home with this year. 

“It’s a 4x6 solid oak plank. I want you to break it before the winter solstice.”

He snorted, positioning the board between the makeshift vices he fashioned to hold it in place. 

“Sure, I’ll just get right on that.”

“...Who are you talking to?”

Jimin groaned internally.

Of course. 

“Hey guys,” he turned to greet Jungkook and Hoseok brightly (while completely ignoring the question). “Where - where are you two headed today?”

Jungkook’s eyes sparkled with excitement. 

“One of the elders is going to teach us how to build traps! He invited all the unmated alphas to go with him past the boundary lines to test whatever we make!”

A familiar embarrassment settled heavily in Jimin stomach. 

“Oh... I uh... I didn’t hear that.”

“I’m sure it was just a mistake that they didn’t call for you,” Hoseok rushed to reassure him. “You could come with us. I don’t think the elder would mind.”

The older boy’s gaze was filled with discomfort... and pity. 

Jimin cleared his throat and forced up a sunny smile. 

“No that’s fine - I have work to do anyways so...”

Jungkook nodded quickly, desperate to escape the unexpectedly awkward conversation. 

“Have fun!” he shouted, already beginning to jog away. 

Jimin watched quietly as their figures grew smaller, waiting till their clumsy steps no longer disturbed the stillness around him. 

He should be used to it by now... 

The passive rejection. 

It shouldn’t bother him anymore. There was no malicious intent... just casual dismissal again and again and again-

An angry roar tore past his lips as he brought his hand down on the board. 

It cracked in half. 

———◐———

Eight Years Ago...

———◐———

“It’s strange but - I feel like the better I become at this, the stronger my wolf is.”

“That isn’t strange at all. You and your wolf are two halves of a whole. The more you balance your energy, the more your strengths can be shared. Now - stop stalling and get to it.”

Jimin eyed Taemin’s latest idea with a reluctant groan.

“None of the other students have to break cinder block.”

“None of the other students are wolves. Besides, it’s been 6 years, you’ve broken stacks of boards. It’s time for a real challenge.”

“I’m lucky I haven’t broken a bone,” Jimin mumbled irritably. 

He did that day, but it was healed in a week and he broke his first cinderblock a month later.

———◐———

Five Years Ago...

———◐———

“Remember, timing is everything. Never let your opponent see what you’re going to do.”

“How many times do you think I’ve heard that over the last ten years?”

“Not enough, clearly. You’re still telegraphing with that right foot.”

Jimin’s left hand shot out and connected with Taemin’s jaw.

“Am I?”

Taemin blinked up at him from the floor. 

“Ok. I admit. That was pretty impressive.”

———◐———

Three Years Ago...

———◐———

“Oh! I’m so sorry, I was looking for Jin.”

Jimin scrambled to his feet, dumping the pile of pebbles he collected (for his mother’s garden) noisily to the ground.

“Luna...”

He took a discreet step backward as your gaze scanned the area in frustration. 

“You haven’t seen my cousin, have you?”

Jimin gulped. 

He had seen Kim Seokjin - leading a curvy beta girl (nose first no doubt) in the direction of the old wading pool. It took every bit of self-restraint he possessed not to laugh out loud each time Jin bashfully declared that he was a ‘good boy’ and to ‘be gentle with him,’ - after all, he’d given the same speech to two other she-wolves last week. 

Best not to scar her for life. Some things cannot be unseen.

His mind darted briefly to the scene he’d walked into at Taehyung’s house yesterday.

“I have no idea where Seokjin is, Luna.”

You sighed, gnawing absently at your lip while you considered his words, and Jimin felt a familiar hint of futile longing whisper through him. 

He’d never been so close to you, and now that he was, his wolf was making all sorts of insane suggestions to keep you near. 

Do a backflip. Climb a tree. Build her a house. 

Jimin bent quickly to gather his scattered stones, ashamed at the direction of his thoughts. 

You were so incredibly beautiful...

It was almost enough to make him forget that he would only ever be Park Jimin.  

He couldn’t blame the others for fighting and fawning over your attention like they did. You were the moon and every man around you was drawn in like the tide. 

“Today is my seventeenth birthday, you know.”

Jimin looked up to discover that you had moved much closer and were now looking down at him expectantly. 

He blinked. Twice. 

“I - yes. I did know.”

The entire pack was celebrating. He’d have to be comatose not to know.

“Should I save you a dance, Park Jimin?”

Up until that exact second, Jimin would have bet his life savings that you did not know his name. 

Yet here you were - so very close to him - gazing down into his eyes almost shyly.

He nodded because he couldn’t think of a single reason not to give you anything you wanted. And when you smiled so brilliantly -  he almost believed that you truly wanted to dance with him...

Almost. 

He never went to your party. 

He never danced with you.

Not that day. Not ever.

Because deep down he suspected that if he held you in his arms - even once - he would never truly let go. 

He was sure you wouldn’t notice his absence...  You wouldn’t remember talking to him by the time the evening rolled around. 

He never saw you search the crowds for his face right up until the midnight bell. 

He never saw you turn down dance after dance hoping that the beautiful boy from the forest would finally come and take your hand. 

He was your only wish that birthday. 

But he never knew. 

———◐———

One Year Ago...

———◐———

“I’ve never seen anything like your skill. You’ve long since surpassed me. I’m not sure what more I can teach you,” Taemin smiled, bumping Jimin on the shoulder, “Perhaps you should find a woman and spend a little less time practicing.”

An unwelcome flash of silver eyes and a laugh like sunshine danced through his mind. 

“No. I’m... not really the type wolf girls go for.” 

Taemin snorted. 

“I don’t believe that. Aren’t you an alpha?”

“Yes, but it’s... complicated.”

“Isn’t everything?”

Jimin laughed. 

“Yes, I suppose it is.”

Silence settled comfortably between them as they nursed several bottles of soju on his grandmother’s porch. Taemin had charmed the old hellion quite thoroughly and he would often drop by for a visit even when Jimin was back home with his pack.

“So what will you do now?” he asked. “You can’t compete. I can barely withstand sparring with you, and you’d kill a human - even if you landed a blow at half strength.”

Jimin ran his fingers absently through his hair while he pondered his mentor’s words. 

“I learned to fight because I was searching for something that would help me sort out who I was.” He scoffed. “I don’t know that I’m any closer to that goal.”

Taemin shook his head. 

“No. I think you’ve got it all wrong, Park Jimin. No one achieves what you have without knowing who they are. You’ve always been a fighter and some part of you realizes that.” He sighed heavily and finished off the rest of his drink. “Now I think you’re just... waiting.”

“For what?” Jimin chuckled playfully. 

Taemin pulled out another bottle and met his gaze with a knowing grin. 

“Something worth fighting for.”

———◐———

Now...

———◐———

Jimin remained unnaturally still, watching his rival barrel towards him with almost calculated intent. 

Namjoon’s arm drew back to land the first strike and- 

It was fast. 

So fast it almost seemed like magic. 

One moment the Kim alpha was the barest breath away from a swift and decisive victory-

Then he was crashing backwards onto the dirt. 

Those who watched carefully saw Park Jimin spin into a vicious kick, one that connected solidly with the middle of his opponent’s chest. 

Stunned silence pressed in from every side as Namjoon scrambled back to his feet, his expression wavering wildly between excruciating pain and monumental shock. 

Jimin smiled, letting his razor sharp canines lengthen menacingly as he flowed back into a perfect combat stance. 

“You didn’t think I’d just let you have her, did you?”

Please comment if you would like to be added to the taglist! If you have already asked, you will be tagged automatically in every update. 

Please please please let me know what you thought of this chapter! (*insert puppy face here*) I am so excited to hear what you think of everything that went down in this update and I savor each word of feedback like fine wine. Your theories and commentary have been such a gift. It truly keeps me writing. 

[mardereads19]

A Comparrison between Az’s Chapter and Cassian’s Chapters in Acofas

Today I found myself inspired by @thereaderspeaks ‘s post and what I had to add about it, to write this long-ass post comparing Az’s chapter in Acosf to Cassian’s three chapters in Acofas.

@rhyssescups does an amazing job in this post (and @psychee92 in this one) of comparing Az’s chapter to Cassian’s POV in Wings and Embers. I’ll also attach @psychee92 ‘s comparison of both batboys’ attitudes after their respective solstices. But I’m going to concentrate on Az’s POV and Acofas rather than Wings and Embers.

There are a LOT of things in common, so when you add the posts linked above to this one, you’ll see how Azriel’s emotions and his interaction with Gwyn mirror those of Cassian. Everyday I find more peace of mind regarding Elriel.

Before I begin, I want to clarify that Emerie is not in Wings and Embers, but on Cassian’s perspective in Acofas. I had seen many people on Tumblr and on Twitter saying (by mistake) that she’s in W&E, so I wanted to point that out. It is Mor who is mentioned in W&E. How Cassian does not want to tell her about Nesta, etc. For more on that, check out the links I attached above.

There are many elements that Cassian and Azriel share in their chapters and I decided to divide them into categories. I’ll support them with quotes so that we have the receipts. With that said…

Let’s get started!

1. Distance

In both instances there was something that separated the couples and caused distance. 

In Cassian’s case it was post-war-Nesta and even Cassian himself (it was pride that kept him ignoring her all through the party until he couldn’t take it anymore and ran after her, simple as that): 

In Azriel’s case it was his understanding of what he feels for Elain and the fact that she has a mate. But also, let’s add Rhys’s order as a new element that will cause distance.

2. Emotions

Cassian did not allow himself to think about Nesta because of the feelings that stirred up in him.

Anger, passion, confusion.

And Azriel… 

Well, well, well... What do we have here? 

Anger, passion, confusion. 

He was ready to spar it out of his system, too, like Cassian.

3. Something the batboys associate with their mate Archeron sister

I noticed that in both cases, Cass and Az had given their girls something that they associated with them, be it material or other.

For example, Cassian’s was names for Nesta’s poses.

He saw Nesta stand in any particular way and if it was something she repeated he gave that pose a name. It is something he associates with her.

In Azriel’s case, we know he gives Elain a rose necklace. 

Roses signify Elain because of what she does: gardening; But also, it could simply represent them. Their way of spending time together (here’s a post of different refences of Elriel in the garden by @silver-flames​) and their relationship that has been slowly blooming in secret, like how that charm shines with colors when it’s in the light, but looks ordinary in the dark.

4. The batboys hurting the sisters

In both POVs the Illyrians hurt the Archerons. 

Cassian does it out of anger. Because Nesta kept rejecting him. Instead of holding his tongue, like any mature person should, he tells her something that destroys her (we know by her reaction).

See how her eyes go empty? 

Well, in his chapter, Azriel hurts Elain, too, though it pains him as much as it pains her because he did not do it intentionally. 

5. The sisters rejecting/returning the gifts

Nesta rejects Cassian’s gift, though I wouldn’t have taken it either after what he told her. This quote comes from before his insult, but my point is that she left without taking the gift.

Also, notice how Cassian hadn’t wanted to give Nesta her present in front of the others, something that Azriel does, too, though for different reasons. Cassian had feared rejection and had been waiting for her to approach him.

Azriel had not given Elain her present because Lucien, her mate, was there.

And of course, Elain returns her gift after Azriel left her standing in the hall with the words “this was a mistake.” I wouldn’t have stayed with that necklace either, not when it reminded me of that moment.

6. Regifting/Comparing

Something particular that happens in both characters’ PoV is the regifting of the objects the batboys used to relate to their girls. I do not think they are necessarily wrong, just that it happens.

Cassian uses the name of one of Nesta’s poses to describe Emerie.

He also compares her way of speaking and the look in her eyes to that of Nesta.

Azriel regifts the necklace that represents Elain to Gwyn (though he doesn’t give it to her personally, just hands it to Clotho for her to do it), and describes her with the same quote he used on the necklace (Elriel). 

I have my own theory on why the thought of her smile makes him smile. Soon I will explain.

7. Getting rid of the gifts (decisions made in haste)

Cassian being all impulsive and throwing the very expensive and extremely unique gift to the Sidra:

Gotta love our hotheaded overgrown bat. (My baby!! <3)

Then, we have Az making the dumb decision of regifting the present because somehow he couldn’t get rid of it (symbolism but not the post for it).

He was in a bad place when he made the decision, and even Clotho points out that his eyes are sad. 

The quote in purple is important to note. The theory about Clotho not giving Gwyn the necklace? That line is good for it. The fact that he told Clotho to give the necklace to anyone as long as he didn’t have it and the sadness she gleaned in his eyes is enough for her to know there is more to it than what he tells her.  

I also want to point out that we know for a fact that Cassian regretted getting rid of the present and that he knows he had been foolish that night. So, considering how parallel to each other these chapters are, I’m sure that Azriel will, too.

8. Distraction/Consolation (Aftermath)

I think it is important to highlight how Cassian got to the Townhouse late and was followed by a worried Mor, who most likely consoled him after his disastrous evening with Nesta...

...and compare it to how Azriel had needed to release unspent energy and was successfully distracted from his bad juju by the short lesson he gave to Gwyn:

He straight up says he’s thankful for the distraction. That was what the whole convo had been for him -in a good sense. 

It also aligns super well with @silverlinedeyes​ ‘s theory of Gwyn being a lightsinger in how they appear to people when they are lost. Gwyn was there when Azriel needed someone (even just to distract him), be it coincidence or not, and that cannot be ignored. 

If Gwyn does take on a role in Acotar 5, I think it will have a lot to do with being his friend and confidant (and trainee), someone who will help him figure out what to do about his situation, just like how she unknowingly helped him on solstice.

9. Empathy towards the Valkyries

Another parallel that I found in the chapter is how Cassian felt empathy for Emerie’s situation upon looking at her...

...and how Azriel’s interaction with Gwyn brought about the same reaction:

This is what I was talking about earlier. Notice how he sees her pain and grief and prefers when she’s happy to when she’s sad? Who wouldn’t want that? That is the same mentality I apply to his smile at the thought of her smiling. That he is glad that something would make her happy after what she has been through. Especially after remembering her past (within the last three pages). 

10. Emerie and Gwyn’s attitudes

This was super curious for me! Look at how both girls say goodbye to the batboys:

Emerie being a whole independent female, and Gwyn… 

All business. 

Literally got the same energy from them. 

Gwyn finished the convo and continued her practice like the badass warrior that she is. There was no demure glance or cloy blush anywhere. The interaction was not romantic, purely platonic. Just like Emerie’s with Cassian.

11. This interesting parallel:

These two moments that are almost identical:

Cassian tells Emerie to give the Illyrians the clothes he just bought and to tell them it was the High Lord’s gift. He does it because he knows the Illyrians would not accept them if they knew they came from Cassian.

Azriel:

Another one (DJ khaled voice). 

“Just tell her it was a gift from Rhys.” 

Why does he do that? Because it wasn’t romantic and if Gwyn had known she’d have brought it up in conversation. He just wanted to be rid of it, so he gave it to her, perhaps as a way of thanking her for the distraction yesterday, but nothing more. 

“If there’s another priestess here who might appreciate it, give it to them.” He didn’t care who’d have it as long as it wasn’t him. 

Conclusion: 

(Wings and Embers + Acofas) Cassian = Acosf bonus chapter Azriel

That’s the real formula bestie SJM used and the receipts are here. 

Azriel mirrors Cassian in emotions, actions and interactions. 

Remember how Nesta Antis began shipping Cass with Emerie after their interaction in Acofas simply because they hated Nesta? Their scene had zero romantic energy, but Nesta Antis still did it. 

Well, history repeats itself with Elain.

Regarding Gwyn: So far, I see no build-up to something more than a friendship. Like we explored, Az’s scene with her was similar to Cassian’s with Emerie. The differences lie in that Gwyn is more energetic than Emerie and that Az’s shadows reacted to her power (she has powers, read about it in the lighsinger theory). 

There is literally nothing more I can add. 

Peace out.

[dsmp-shitposts]

OKAY I'm in an analysis mood so!!

Here's why "Savior" by Rise Against is such a good song about c!wilbur and c!Tommy's relationship in the dream smp!

Firstly tho I just want to give an honorable mention to the first lines of the song: "it kills me not to know this / but I've all but just forgotten / what the color of her eyes were / or the scars and how she got them." it's such a good c!bee duo line and I might have to analyze it in another post lol

(there's kinda a tldr at the bottom if you don't want to read the specific lyric analysis and just was the overall analysis!)

The lyrics I want to analyze (these are more about characterization) are: "as the telling signs of age rain down / a single tear is dropping / through the valleys of an aging face / that this world has forgotten." this is about wilburs resurrection. the first lyrics, "as the telling signs of age rain down" are about how much more different Wilbur looks to Tommy after he was resurrected. wilbur was in limbo for what he perceived to be 13 years, and he shows it physically. he has the white streak of hair that signifies his revival, and I know there's a popular headcanon that wilbur came back "wrong." "A single tear is dropping" is referring to Tommy's reaction to the revival. we know he was in disbelief and even angry at wilbur being back, but intense emotions also can bring on tears. it's a very natural response from your body. The third line is pretty much the same as the first, but "that this world has forgotten" is about wilburs impact on the history of the smp. obviously he's been a very big player in many major plot points, but since his death he has mainly faded to the background in most characters minds, especially after ghostbur's library with all the records from lmanberg got destroyed. as the smp progressed, wilbur got talked about less. focus shifted from him to dream who really emerged as the villain in the story after wilburs death. we can see the impact of this after wilburs revival. everyone on the smp had gotten used to living without him for so long, growing past the people they were when Wilbur was alive. and now when Wilbur gets revived, he expected fanfare and everyone welcoming him back, but in reality people's memory of him faded.

okay now that we have the preface lyrics, we can go into the ones that are more about tommy and Wilbur as a duo. the first ones before the chorus are "but seldom do these words ring true / when I'm constantly failing you / walls that we just can't break through / until we disappear." I'm gonna analyze this with the first two lines and the last two. the first two lines are from Tommy's perspective about him trying to constantly please wilbur. we see this with him gathering lots of stone for him and following Wilbur to stand against Las nevadas and quackity. but even with all of this, Tommy still feels like he's "constantly failing" wilbur and that he needs to do more in order to stay in high regard in Wilbur's mind. we could even look at these same lyrics from wilbur's perspective! wilbur might have felt like he's failed Tommy for not being there for him for the time he was in limbo. I know Wilbur doesn't know about what dream did to Tommy in the exile arc, but I'm betting that if/when wilbur finds out about that, he will feel horrible for not being there himself to stop dream because wilbur cares about Tommy. (this could even lead to him resenting ghostbur more because ghostbur was there but wasn't able to do anything). now with the second half of these lyrics, the "walls that we just can't break through" is referring to the emotional vulnerability, or lack thereof, between the two. I'd argue that wilbur is more emotionally vulnerable to Tommy than Tommy is to wilbur. now, there is a severe lack of communication between the two, but wilbur drops "trauma bombs" where he'll unload something all at once and suddenly. he doesn't do much internal reflection of his feelings, instead wanting to share with others, Tommy in this case, to get validation. with sharing, he wants people to agree that he's a bad person but at the same time wants them to refute those ideas so he feels like he's healing without actually doing anything. now Tommy does more introspection about his feelings (cc! Tommy monologuing) and doesn't feel as big a need as wilbur to share his feelings and trauma. and besides, Wilbur dominates the conversation most of the time anyways so Tommy wouldn't likely be able to carry a constructive conversation about his own feelings without getting talked over by wilbur.

now we're moving onto the chorus! it goes: "that's when she said / 'I don't hate you / I just want to save you / while there's still something left to save' / that's when I told her 'i love you / but I'm not the answer / for the questions that you still have.'" I see this as a conversation between Wilbur and Tommy; Tommy saying the "I don't hate you" section and Wilbur saying the "I love you" section. it's important for Tommy to make it clear to wilbur, and himself, that he doesn't hate Wilbur despite his past betrayal of lmanberg. wilbur thinks everyone hates him, so Tommy consistently sticking by his side is a reminder to Wilbur that he isn't alone. Tommy staying by wilburs side is also how he's ensuring that wilbur doesn't spiral again ("I just want to save you"). he knows that wilbur still isn't in the best mental place, not having the right environment to heal in limbo, so it's more crucial in his mind to be wilbur's crutch right now because it'd be very easy for wilbur to spiral again ("while there's still something left to save"). wilbur, with his part of the lyrics, wants to ensure that Tommy knows he still cares about him despite being gone for a long time. now for the last part of wilburs lyrics, I would love for it to mean that "wilbur understands that he can't be a good mentor to Tommy anymore because of everything that happened. he wants Tommy to realize that he does care for him but their relationship shouldn't function with Wilbur as a mentor anymore," but that wouldn't be accurate to their canon relationship. wilbur still wants to be Tommy's mentor because that's how their relationship has always functioned. my hope is that in wilbur's healing process that he realizes he doesn't have to be a mentor to Tommy, they can just exist as friends. and I would love for Tommy to realize that it's not his job to save Wilbur! while having friends you can talk about your emotions with is good, he shouldn't have to push his own feelings aside to prioritize wilbur's. wilbur also needs to learn that self reflection is a part of healing

the final specific lyrics I want to analyze are: "one thousand miles away / there's nothing left to say / but so much left that I don't know / we never had a choice / this world is too much noise / it takes me under once again." the first three lines, in my opinion, all relate to the fact that Tommy had gone through so much while wilbur was dead, such has dream's manipulation. the last three lines of this section, which are honestly my favorites, are relating to both of their revivals. even though wilbur and Tommy have developed so differently since the lmanberg and pogtopia eras, they have this one thing in common. Tommy didn't have a choice in his death or resurrection. both were committed by dream and have contributed to the massive amount of trauma and PTSD that Tommy has. wilburs death was practically by his own hand as it was an assisted suicide, but his resurrection wasn't his choice, again done by dream murdering ghostbur. that line could also refer to wilbur not feeling like he had a choice in living anymore, feeling like death was the only option for him at the end of his spiral. the last two lines refer to the mental problems that both Wilbur and Tommy are still facing. we talked about wilburs a bit with his need for validation and him villainizing himself in his mind. Tommy still struggles with suicidal ideation, seen most recently with his comments while on the balcony in Las nevadas. he also struggles with his triggers from the final control room and the prison that we see him try and speedrun exposure therapy for. what I'm trying to get at with this is that wilbur and Tommy have developed so differently while away from each other but they have their resurrections in common.

OKAY CONCLUSION TIME!! (also kindof a tldr)

while Tommy and wilbur have been apart from each other for a while and developed in different ways, their relationship after both of them have been revived is centered around both of their relationships to healing from their trauma. Tommy feels like he's the one who has to "save" wilbur and keep him from spiraling again, letting his own feelings be pushed aside to prioritize wilbur's. wilbur lets himself be the saved to Tommy's savior. he consistently seeks out validation for his own feelings instead of taking the time to sort out how he really feels about the things that have happened to him.

if you read this far then oh wow thank you!! I hope this made sense and I'd love to hear what you think of the comparisons to this song!

[etherrealoblivion]

Chapter Three: The Cover

Table Of Contents

Fic summary: Owning a bookstore in downtown D.C. came with its fair share of downsides. You never thought that being the target of a serial killer would be one of them. Luckily, a nice FBI agent by the name of Spencer Reid is assigned to watch over you. What's the worst that could happen?

Pairing: Spencer Reid/Reader

Words: 2,332

MASTERLIST

~

As soon as the hospital would allow you to leave, Emily and her team drove you to the FBI headquarters where they’d brief you on the plan, whatever that meant.

By the time you’d gotten there, you’d heard more about serial killers and their behavior than you’d ever like to. It took a while for you to calm down enough to properly listen, so when you were ready, everyone was as gentle as possible.

“This unsub has killed three other women at the least,” the bald man from the hospital, Morgan, his name was, said.

“Unsub?” you asked quietly.

“Unidentified subject,” a tall, wiry man said. He seemed a little young to be working for the FBI. “He’s been targeting women of your approximate appearance, same hair color, same height.”

The man flipped over a large whiteboard to reveal pictures of women that looked remarkably like you. It was unnerving in the first place, but downright terrifying when you considered the fact that those women were dead.

“But, I mean, there’s a ton of girls who look like me,” you stuttered. “Just because I look like that doesn’t make me a target, right?”

“All the victims have been discovered wearing elaborate costumes, clothes from many different eras. With each of them, a copy of a classic book accompanied the body.” Morgan looked over the police report the officer had been taking from you. “You said you own a bookstore?”

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean there’s a killer after me!”

There was an uncomfortable silence as the team looked at each other, clearly unsure of what to say.

“What?” you prompted.

The leader spoke, Hotch.

“We have evidence that this particular unsub has been displaying stalking behavior on an unknown woman in town. Based on your recent break-in and physical appearance, we believe you may be that woman.”

“That’s a pretty big leap,” you said, doubtful. Someone just broke into your house. It didn’t mean there was a crazy stalker killer after you.

“Actually, the theft of a personal item, something that has value to you and only you: the locket, your hairbrush, signifies that the perpetrator cares less about monetary value and more about what you value. This suggests obsession and stalking behavior.”

If a dictionary could talk that’s what it would sound like. 

“So, someone’s gonna kill me?”

The team hesitated.

“Unlikely,” Morgan said after a moment, “Most stalker-killers don’t intend to murder the subject of their obsession. Instead, this particular one seems to be taking it out on women who look like you.”

“So, someone is killing because of me.”

The silence was answer enough.

You weren’t sure what you had planned on doing today, but it certainly wasn’t this. Sitting in the middle of an FBI conference room surrounded by agents telling you that there was a killer obsessed with you.

“What’s gonna happen?” 

A blonde woman who hadn’t spoken yet came and knelt by you.

“We’re going to place a protective detail on you. An agent will be with you at all times while the investigation continues. We’d like you to continue your routine as normal. Any change in your schedule will prompt a change in the unsub’s behavior. He’s comfortable right now and we want him to stay that way.”

Comfortable. They wanted to keep your stalker comfortable.

“Okay. What do I do first?” You just wanted them to catch this guy so you could move on with your life.

“What do you normally do on Saturdays?” Emily asked.

“It depends. It’s the only day I have off from work. Sometimes I hang out with my friend Steve, go to the park, or just stay home and chill.”

“Well, what does the rest of your week look like?”

“I’m at school from seven to three, then work immediately after. Usually, I close up at eleven so I’m home by midnight.”

A stunned silence followed this summary of your schedule.

“What?”

The skinny man spoke, “What you’ve described is roughly an eighty-eight hour work week not factoring in all the hours doing homework.”

“Fast math,” you muttered. “But, yeah, pretty much. I’m either in school, doing homework, or at work. I don’t even know why anyone would want to stalk me. I don’t do anything.”

“Nevertheless, there is someone after you,” the blonde woman said. “We’re going to have to assign someone from the team to be your protector.”

“Meaning one of you is going to have to follow me everywhere?”

It was an uncomfortable situation already and every question you asked seemed to raise the tension in the room.

“Which of you is it gonna be?” Again, the team looked around at each other, seemingly not sure, themselves.                                                                            

“Why is this happening to me.”

It wasn’t a question. And they all knew it.

~

You waited patiently in the next room while the agents discussed what the cover would be. Finally, alone with your thoughts, you found you weren’t as scared as you probably should have been.

Sure, it was frightening to think there was someone obsessed with you, but you’d been in scary relationships before. And when your last ex decided to break in over a year ago, you certainly didn’t get an FBI detail. You wondered if this was at all related, making a mental note to bring it up later. 

In the office next door, their voices were muffled but loud. You considered each member of the team, thinking about which one would be the best protector.

Emily was the one you’d talked to the most, Morgan seemed strong, as did the leader, Hotch. You didn’t know who the older gentleman with the goatee was, but he was probably your last choice. The blonde woman had made a nice impression. The tall skinny guy was quick-witted and you would have laughed at his demeanor if not for the serious situation you were in.

Your train of thought was interrupted by the doors opening and the team coming back in, somber but determined looks on their faces.

Hotch spoke first, surprisingly gently.

“We’ve created a protection program. There will be a surveillance team parked outside your apartment and your workplace at all times. You’ll need to stop going to school during the investigation. In the meantime, you’ll need someone to move into your apartment with you to keep a closer eye.”

“How many bedrooms is your apartment?” The skinny man asked.

“One,” at your answer, the skinny man went pink. “Why?”

“The cover we’ve created places, Doctor Reid, here—“ Hotch gestured to the skinny man “—as your boyfriend who’s just moved in with you. That way he can keep you safe in your apartment.”

“Boyfriend?” You looked at him — Doctor Reid — and he met your eyes. Upon the contact, his eyes went wide and he dropped his gaze to the floor, cheeks reddening.

“It’s the best cover to place him in your apartment,” Emily assured you.

“Okay.”

It would be strange to live with a man. Sure, you’d had guys crash on your couch before and one very short relationship where you’d moved in together. But that was after a year together. Could you deal with a strange man living in your home so suddenly?

“You should probably get going,” Morgan said, making you and Doctor Reid jump slightly.

“Of course,” the doctor said, standing. “Um, I don’t have a car.”

You felt yourself smiling for the first time all day. He’s actually rather handsome, you found yourself thinking. That thought was quickly shooed away and you responded.

“Neither do I. I like walking places. Anywhere I can’t walk, the bus is much cheaper.”

He gave you a soft, awkward smile and ran his hand through his scruffy hair. 

“Well, you’ll have to use a government-issued vehicle,” Hotch said, breaking the spell between you and the doctor. “It’s safer for you to drive. Now, I want you and Reid to head over to his place now so he can collect his things to move into yours. We have a limited time frame to work in so as not to arouse the suspicion of our unsub. Remember, a security detail will be following you at all times.

“When you get back to your apartment, Reid will send the team a text. We’ll continue the investigation from afar and keep you both updated frequently. Any questions?”

He had spoken so fast, it was a lot to take in. 

“Where’s he gonna sleep?” you said, feeling a blush creep up your neck.

Hotch looked at Reid, then back at you. He opened his mouth, about to say something, then thought better of it.

“I’m sure you’ll figure something out,” he said briskly and left the meeting room.

You turned to Reid and forced a smile. This morning did not go how you thought it was going to, but something about this man cheered you up whether you wanted it to or not.

“Shall we?” he said, motioning to the door and clearing his throat.

Nodding softly, you followed him out of the building and into the parking lot. He led you to a small green car that looked too . . . normal to be in the FBI car park.

“Who’s car is this?”

“It's a government issue. They have a bunch of extra cars down here for undercover work. I grabbed the keys to this one on the way out.” Then, more to himself, “I’ve kinda always had my eye on it anyway.”

He was a strange man. Not the type you expect to work for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Even more startling was catching a glimpse of the gun on his hip as you both climbed into the car.

Reid must have noticed your sudden uncomfortability because he said, “I’m sorry about the gun, I know it can be unnerving, but it's a standard-issue. It’s to keep you safe.”

“I know,” you said shortly. You’d never liked guns. But Reid seemed to know what he was doing and, strangely enough, you found yourself trusting him.

Several minutes of total silence later, you were outside his apartment, helping him load a box of his things into the trunk.

“You really didn’t need to carry that,” he said, getting back in the driver's seat.

“I know, I don’t mind. I figure it’s the least I can do for you after all . . . this.”

He looked for a moment as though he were about to say something, then rethought it and started the car up, driving toward your apartment.

“We have to take the elevator,” you said, steering him towards the lift. He’d placed his bag on top of the box despite your protest you didn’t mind carrying something. Even though the pile was stacked so high he could barely see over the top.

“The elevator?” he groaned.

“I know, I hate it too, but the stairs are broken so we have to.”

“Isn’t it usually the other way around?” he grumbled as you rode the lift up to your floor. There was barely enough room for the two of you. It was less like an elevator and more like a small closet.

“This is mine,” you said, unlocking the door and stepping into your flat, regarding it very differently now that a stranger was with you.

“Sorry, let me just—“ quick as you could, you cleared some space on the coffee table for him to set down his things, took some dishes to the sink, and shoved a pile of dirty laundry into a basket.

He set the box down and took in his surroundings. You waited patiently for his judgment.

“Woah!” He pointed to your bedroom door where a huge Doctor Who poster was. You cringed. If you’d known you’d be having . . . company, you’d have tidied up a bit, hid some nerdy memorabilia. At least you’d closed your bedroom door.

“Oh, yeah, just ignore that. Guilty pleasure.”

He looked at you, eyes wide and smiling.

“I love Doctor Who!”

Shocked, you let a smile slip, earning one from him in return.

“Cool! Well, there’s something to do with our time together.”

Reid looked away for a moment, then regained himself.

“So, about the sleeping situation. . ?”

“Right, of course,” you grabbed some blankets from the linen closet and walked over to the couch. “Um, it folds out. Is that okay?”

“Oh, yeah, yeah!” He perked up, slumping down on the couch and getting comfortable. “I can fall asleep pretty much anywhere, it’s no problem.”

“Okay! Well, I think I’m gonna take a nap. Feel free to help yourself to any food or whatever. The bathroom is just right there. If you need anything let me know. Just make yourself at home, really.”

“Thank you, oh, um . . .” he seemed more flustered than an FBI agent should. Actually, it was kind of comforting. “We haven’t really technically met.”

Oh yeah. You hadn’t introduced yourself to anyone back at Quantico.

“Right! Um, I’m Y/N Y/L/N. I guess I assumed you already knew that. You’re Doctor Reid?” 

You held out your hand for him to shake, but he just stared at it awkwardly.

“Spencer! Please, call me Spencer. Sorry for not shaking hands, but the amount of germs passed through a single handshake is astronomical. It’s amazing it’s still in practice. It’s actually safer to kiss.”

He blanched, then backtracked.

“I mean, not that that’s what I’m suggesting. I just thought it was interest— Let me try again. Call me Spencer. Please.”

He flashed you a pitiful smile, seemingly desperate for a fresh start. It wasn’t necessary though, because you delighted in the way he babbled.

“Alright, Spencer,” you smiled warmly at him. “I’m going to sleep now.”

“Sweet dreams.”

Once you’d gotten comfortable in bed, you realized there was no way you’d be able to sleep. Not with everything that happened today. 

Then you thought of the handsome, smart, strong man in the next room who was dedicated to protecting you from any possible threat. 

You were asleep within minutes.

~

Taglist: @aperrywilliams @mjloveskids666 @dolanfivsosxox @criesinreid @fanficsrmylife @racerparker @sammypotato67 @lukeskisses @reidcrimes @you-had-me-at-hello-dear @l0ve-0f-my-life

[blackvelvetwriteson]

Hi, could I get a one shot fem! black reader x Kakashi, please? (can be nsfw or fluff, it's your choice)

Hey there! Thank you for the request 🥺🥺 I had a bit of a roadblock with this one simply because I couldn’t think of a prompt, BUT I eventually thought ‘why not write about the holidays’ so I got into a groove with it! Once I got into it, it was a really fun write! I hope that this is what you expected and/or lives up to your expectations! 

𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐁𝐋𝐔𝐄𝐒

                                            (  ~ Kakashi Hatake x Black Female                                                                   Reader Insert ~ )

GENRE: Fluffy Fluff!                                                                  

FANDOM: Naruto Shippuden

TRIGGER WARNINGS: There really are none for today, it’s pretty fluffy for today!

SUMMARY: Reader-Chan wants to celebrate the holiday season this year because she never got to, but she doesn’t necessarily know how to approach Kakashi about it since he never celebrates the holidays (or ever even heard of them for that matter.

WORD COUNT: 4303

(Headers are mine, but the art inside of them are not! Please don’t steal or repost without credit!)

     For some reason, you were in an incredibly festive mood this time around. Maybe it was something about how the gilded sunlight made yours and Kakashi’s home feel more… Well, home-y. Maybe it was the remnants of your food that you’d made earlier for your lunch still lingering around the house, or the kids of the village running around outside of your windows, whether subliminally training or not undeterminable, reminding you of your youth. Time had gone by so fast, and already you’d been in Japan for about two years and a half. You already knew that, in general, the people of the area didn’t celebrate Halloween, and actually it was a week AFTER Halloween would’ve taken place in America, but something about today… Something about today made your festive bone quiver and you decided to do SOMETHING to celebrate. 

Since you’d picked up on the shinobi not celebrating American holidays like you were used to, you avoided asking Kakashi about it. Come to think of it, he never really did anything you were accustomed to besides the staring thing; and when you got together he tried to give you food related nicknames. You had to sit down and explain to him why it wasn’t okay and why it made you uncomfortable and then he thoroughly apologized and left it at that. He didn’t really have any nicknames for you, and from research you found that most women in Japan (and men) only go by their given names with -chan/san at the end which was cute, but if everyone had to call you that then it’d lose meaning and it wouldn’t be as cute.

Even still, though, you decided that today would be the day that you participated in the festivities of the holiday season that, in America, would be fast approaching. The only question for you was who you were going to dress up as and suddenly a thought formed in your head as you popped up from the couch and scurried to your guys’s room. You’d dress up as your hero, your boyfriend Hatake Kakashi! He wouldn’t expect it, you’d be able to see how everything fits, AND it’d be cute- at least you thought- and it’d give you something to do so that the crisp, perfect day didn’t go to waste.

You sifted through the closet with eager eyes as you hummed softly, some of your curls coming loose and falling down by your face, your dark brown beautiful eyes twinkling as you pulled out the parts to the outfit he wore from day to day, your eyebrows knitting a little as one corner of your lip lifted a little. “This man, so help me black Jesus,” you whisper softly noticing how much heftier your wardrobe was than his. He had the same outfit to go over about 5 or 5 times, black sweatpants, black shorts, and 3 different headbands all crushed, neatly, together on one side of the closet while your clothing took up the other half. You shook your head and closed the door with your hip once you were sure you had everything you needed for your little plan. You looked it over excitedly, your slender auburn fingers contrasting almost perfectly against the colors of his uniform. “Damn… I never noticed that till now,” you laugh softly as you remove your shirt and start to pull on articles of the outfit, trying to mimic exactly how you saw Kakashi wear his so you didn’t accidentally disrespect him. Of course he only had 2 masks and a shirt with a mask that you’d sewn onto it, and you decided not to mess with any of it. You didn’t want to hide your face at all whatsoever, especially behind masks that might’ve well have been your boyfriend’s comfort items. You had pretty much everything on, the worn out navy blue bringing everything together, the green brightening your pretty almost black eyes. You giggle softly as you look in the mirror and decide to do something with your hair before it dried completely- you’d taken a shower only 30 minutes prior and your hair was a little damp. You scurry off to the bathroom with the bandage and garter in one hand, your yellow hair pik in the other. You looked extremely excited, for once taking a moment to completely love and indulge in yourself. Being in an area where your existence was offensive to others to suddenly going to a place where absolutely nobody looked even close to you was an extreme shift, but Kakashi made it okay, literally brawling with anybody that so much as looked at you the wrong way. You had a small bit of tummy, but he loved that about you; and it’s not like it slowed you down any, made you unreliable, or made you any less attractive than you were. In fact, to some people it wasn’t even really noticeable unless you were wearing certain things. You also had to drop the American style and adopt the Japanese locale and honestly, while that was a HUGE shift, Kakashi helped with that too. Sometimes you’d get yourself in trouble with how you spoke though; that American lingo that’d been generationally passed down to you finding its way showing up and showing out, especially when someone wanted to make fun of your hair, or your physique and compare you to the other local girls, most noticeably Ten-Ten, Lady Tsunade, Sakura, and Hinata. They argued that the more pale girls were more attractive; because you could play in their hair and you wouldn’t have to worry about one slowing you down- at which remarks you stuck the shit talkers to a tree with your kunai for hours after you thoroughly cussed them out and ribbed them a little, telling Kakashi what’d happened so he could go cut them down. On the flip side, the kids absolutely adored you and loved when you were out so they could play tag or ask you unnecessary questions or get some treats from you.

You quick-washed your hair in the sink and started to blow-dry it deciding that you’d give yourself an at home blowout so that you could complete the look. Being the multitasker you were born into being, you found something to prop the blowdryer up while you piked your hair out quickly, smiling as you watched your hair fluff up, watching your coils straighten and then get bigger until it couldn’t anymore. Then it hit you; Kakashi hadn’t seen your hair blown out except once and that was while you were braiding it back and his eyes were fixated on your fingers as he wondered how a person could do that. At this point, your hair was halfway done, and while you let the tool dry your hair even more, you attempted to wrap the bandage around your thigh and it only BARELY made it, your thigh utterly choked in the process. You looked down at your leg and then pensively looked at the garter and decided that wouldn’t fit around your leg and you let out a frustrated sigh. “That man, is fine as fuck, but why he built like a bean pole,” you huff quietly as you let the bandage loose from trapping your thigh before your mind wandered to him. “…. Aight so maybe he got a LITTLE bit of muscle, but we aint talkin’ about that right now,” you laugh softly before looking at your phone seeing that he sent you a text signifying that he was on his way back from training for the day and that he was fine. You smiled cheerily at your text and tilted your head some at yourself, using your pik to fluff your hair out more before you scurried back to your guys’s room and snatched one of his spare headbands up, securing it quickly and tactfully. You looked at yourself in the mirror, your hands coming up and sliding into the arm holes of his navy green vest. You turned to one side, then to the next, then finally you looked at yourself from a front profile and your eyes glistened a little. “You’re… so heroic,” you mumbled under your breath before you heard some clatter coming from outside of the room.

“Oh right… You can do that,” you say as you open the door and watch him freeze completely in his spot, his eyes slowly raking over you from head to toe then back up again, his stoic expression unchanging from what you could tell. “H-Heyy… Honey,” you smile nervously as you wave with one of your gloved hands. He walked towards you and slipped one side of the headband over one of your eyes and then he stifled a soft grunt under his breath.

“It’s Kakashi. We’ve talked about this,” he said softly before he looked over his shoulders, his hands sliding in his pockets again as his back straightened out some. “….Why are you wearing my clothes,” he asked with a slight edge to his voice, meanwhile you were still frozen in place, your legs starting to quiver some. You didn’t know why he was being so cold to you and it made you just a little insecure. “Particularly… Those,” he said as he stared at the wall below the TV you both had, his legs crossed as he leaned back into the couch.

“Damn so you not gonna say ‘hi.’ Or ‘I missed you,’ or nothin’ like that hm? Well… My bad, I guess I’ll just go take it off,” you say softly, the spirit of the day becoming crushed. He mused softly and his head only tilted a small bit. He didn’t even look at you and you noticed this. The whole time you were here… The whole time you were together the only thing you wanted was his eyes on you and his praises. You were struggling and it was on you for the most part because you hadn’t reached out to him for help. He was a real big one for “say what you mean or need,” or something like that. You LOVED the idea behind the last stretch of the year; the days designated for giving thanks, hanging out with the ones you love, amazing food, and gifts, and movies, and music. All of it… But having come from where you had, you never really had good times or a good chance to make memories. Now that you were old enough to have someone of your own and actually be able to create memories, you wanted to… But instead you’d been trying to force it out of your life to make your man happy, however you weren’t having it anymore. You just didn’t know how to bring it up.

“Mm.. What’s-“

Before he could even finish speaking, you’d vanished back into your guys’s room and shut the door behind you. He sat back in the seat and he let out a low drawn out breath and then stood up. Within one second he vanished from the living room and appeared right in front of you with his arms crossed.

“I asked why you were wearing my clothes, not that you had to take them off,” he said as he looked blandly at your hurt expression. “And I was trying to ask what was up with you,” he said as he reached one hand out and gently tipped your head up, his free hand reaching for where your bangs covered your eye but then he stopped as he usually did and he tilted his head some. “May I?” He spoke from behind his mask. You push his hand out of the way and move your hair out of your face by yourself, your sharp eyes peering into his. This time his eyebrows rose a bit more noticeably and usual and he waited for you to talk so he could listen, his hands now in his pockets.

“Yknow… I’ve tried to work what is normal to me out of my system… And when I was younger, that would’ve been… Easier. But now, it’s not… Kakashi, when you don’t look at me it makes me feel undesirable… Because nobody else looks at me unless they’re making fun of how flat and wide my features are… or how damn burnt I look even though this is my natural skin tone! I just… Want you to call me your baby once in awhile damnit! I want to call you *mine* and not just… Ka-ka-shi. Everybody calls you that… And… I get jealous when I see the other people hanging out with you, the cooler people with the sharingan variants, or the cool eyes and the people with the slim builds, or the people with the advanced shinobi skills that are greater than mi-“ You hadn’t noticed that while you were talking, Kakashi pulled his mask down, then you were interrupted with a kiss. It was a soft, but soulful kiss; the kind where one of his gloved hands had you by the chin and the other by the back of your head. The kind where you could feel his body heat completely wrapping you up. The kind where you felt his trembling breath break his completely calm composure. Your hands were gently pressed against the back of his arms, one of your hands at his elbow as he pulled away and allowed his eyes to slowly open. His shadow was cast down onto you and you saw his eyes squint a little, his smile hidden by the mask he’d pulled back up after the kiss. On the other hand, your eyes were wide and your lips were barely parted, your eyes glistening as you looked over his mostly hidden smile. Your knees buckled under you and he helped make sure you didn’t fall, his chest pressed against yours.

“You done?” He asked as he helped you stand upright again. You were dazed just staring at your man and he smirked a little as he pulled his mask down again still standing close to you. “I see… You want everyone to know that you’re mine and vice versa? That’s it? That’s why you’re wearing my clothes today…? You want me to… Call you mine? Right?” He spoke quietly, he was ONLY talking to you, his deep voice getting a little more hoarse as he continued to drone on, his hands on your hips pulling you closer to him, his intense gaze still cast into your eyes. You swallow hard and nibble the inside of your cheek. “You want you to call you my baby? My beautiful, perfect baby girl? Hm? Is that why you’re acting out? Or… You want me to show you that I care more, right? Maybe… You want me to make dinner once? Or bring you flowers? Or watch you train? Or… Cheer you on? Right? Perhaps tease you a little… Or hold you this close all the time?”

You nod slowly and then look away already knowing what this was sort of leading up to but his slender fingers forced your gaze back on him.

“Look at me when I’m talking to you, baby,” he said softly as he tilted his head a little. “If you wanted that… Why didn’t you just say so? I can’t read minds… And I’m still relatively new to this whole… Romance scene,” he said softly as he gently stroked your cheek with his thumb. “You know this. I’m a little… Dense? I’m not sure if that’s the proper word. But…. You’re just… Ugh… I didn’t know that me hanging around people made you jealous- perhaps it’s in my best interest to just tell you how much you mean to me all of the time. You’d want that too, right? I know you would,” he said softly as his fingers gently trailed up your back. “Or… Maybe you want to have a little bit more sex? Is that apart of it?” The question made your eyes wide, skin burn with an invisible blush, and your jaw drop a little. He let out a hollow laugh in turn, gently pushing your jaw up to close your mouth with the tips of his fingers. “Baby steps. I got it. For now, let me just say this: You’re beautiful… All of your scars, curves, marks and all. Those coffee colored eyes of yours are so much more… Stupefying than any sharingan I have seen and will ever see…. The little spark they get when you’re determined, or that soft glisten when you get embarrassed,” he said as he looked over your whole face. “Your body… Your whole body… Is amazing… You don’t have to be slim to be an amazing shinobi; and so help me, my beautiful queen,” he says softly as he leans down so he’s eye level with you. “If you ever discredit yourself like that again, I’ll work you out so that you’re not able to move for the next week. You’re right on the fast track to be a fine shinobi- possibly even the greatest at that. Well… Not greater than me, but that’s another story and another conversation,” he said quietly as you were pushed back onto your bed while he stood over you. “Are those idiots getting into your head again?” His eyebrows furrowed a little as his hands slipped back into his pockets.

Finally you were able to find your words again and you crossed your legs out of habit. “Y-Yeah… For… Like… The past 3 weeks they’ve been telling me that I’m too slow… Or I’m too… Wide… Or making fun of me and my eyes, or making fun of how dark I am… Or making fun of my hair! My damn hair! It hurts… A lot… And we’re together, but I don’t want to be known as that abnormal girl that calls on her boyfriend every time she needs saving. I got it… Aight? I can handle that… But… That’s why I need YOUR praises…. To validate me I guess… I already know I’m THAT… girl… But I want to hear it from you… I want you,” you mumbled softly. “And the reason I’m dressed up like this is because I’m dressed up for Halloween- In America it’s a day where people dress up and do their makeup and hair and have fun at parties or go trick or treating to get candy and stuff! I’ve always loved it despite not being able to… Participate much,” you say softly as you rub your arm. “I dunno, I guess I just wanted to celebrate the holiday season this year- even if we never do it again, I at least want one memory of a great holiday season with mine… With you,” you say softly. He listens to everything you say with an opaque grin on his face.

“If that’s what you wanted, then why didn’t you just say that?” He said softly as he climbed over you, his hips barely resting in your lap as your heart skipped a beat. He pushed you to lay down on the bed and his hands rested right by your head, your eyes peering up at him with a soft grin rested on your face.

“I-I d-didn’t w-want to get told no… I d-didn’t want to… Bother you with something that seemed so insignificant… I didn’t want you to think of me as weak,” you say softly as he gently kisses your neck. You shuddered a little and bit your lip as you tilt your head up some.

“Well now’s your hot seat,” he huffed quietly against your neck. “Tell me what you want, tell me everything you want, and I’ll do it until you tell me that you don’t want it anymore,” he said as he looked back into your eyes, your hands rested against his chest as you thought for a moment before speaking again. “W-Well… I want you to call me your baby and vice versa… Or come up with a nickname or something… I want you to watch me train and root for me, I want you to let everyone know who I belong to, but allow me to show who you belong to, too… I want you to tease me and hold me close… Everywhere… I want you to go on dates with me and do holiday stuff with me… I want you to make me feel wanted and loved… I just fucking want *you* Kakashi…” you say softly as you look up at him. Upon gazing, you notice that his expression had soften significantly, and the hold he had on you was more protective than ever. “A-And I guess more s-sex would be cool,” you say softly and he chuckles quietly in return. You reach one of your hands up and gently cup his face, your thumb gently caressing his cheek. “You know… You should smile more… You’re quite handsome when you do… Well I mean you’re fine as hell either way, but I like it when you smile… And laugh like that…” you say softly as he leans his head into your hand a little more. He kisses your clothed palm and smiles just for you and suddenly you took on a breathless expression, your eyes halfway open as he blushed a little and you just took this moment to adore him, everything about him. “That’s what you want from me? Okay,” he said softly before moving to pin your hand weakly to the bed above you, his eyes both gazing into yours- well as much as he could anyway seeing as your hair practically swallowed your face leaving your bottom half of your face exposed for him. You could see him just fine, he just couldn’t see you… And for the moment that was fine. His gentle lips pressed against yours from above and your eyes fluttered shut as usual when this happened. You felt a little touch starved because he didn’t like contact very much, but he was warming up to it a little more. You wrapped one of your arms around his waist and pulled him closer, and then the two of you melted into each other on the bed in a fit of grunts, deep, passionate, soft kisses, dulcet giggles coming from the both of you, his hand wandering up your waist up the natural curve of your body as yours tried to find where his clothing allowed you access to his skin. You found it, your warm fingers contrasting against his lukewarm skin. He jolted a little and let out a groan before looking at you again, nibbling your lip gently before he pulled away. “You’re amazing,” he whispered quietly and breathlessly against your lips as you tried to control your breathing again.

“Says one of the most notable and historic ninja warriors of all time,” you say with a soft chuckle, moving your hair out of your face so you could look at him and so he could look at you.

“You know… Paths like that carry plenty of… Skeletons in the closet, right?” He said softly as his gaze intensified only a little bit.

“Yeah, and? You still made it… Everyone looks up to you… You’ve killed people and seen plenty of your own killed… And people that couldn’t handle it… Y’know… But, Kakashi Hatake,” you say softly as you turn his head back towards you and your own expression hardens a little. “No matter what, I’ll still love you like the day that I met you… Just like that day you first came to protect.. Well the other person- after they were bullying me… After you checked to make sure I was okay… Baby I love you, and as long as you love me too, I’m gonna be on your side. I’m your woman- I’m your queen, right? A queen needs her partner in royalty, and this house is our kingdom. You’re my king, and unapologetically mine… And I’m the same for you,” you say quietly as you sit up and smile a little. “I know you haven’t been sleeping, Kashi,” you say softly as you gently kiss his lips. “I’m not a super heavy sleeper… You’re safe now, though,” you say softly as you run your fingers through his hair. “Let me go make dinner tonight and… C-Can I decorate?” You whispered softly, expecting a no as you turned and gently pushed him to make him lay on the bed and he chuckled softly, gently grabbing your hand.

“If decorations are what you want, then I don’t have a problem with it,” he said softly, kissing the back of your hand gently. Your skin burned with an invisible flush and you pulled the covers up on him, trying to make the room just a little more homey so that he could sleep better.

“I… Wow… Um… Okay,” you say softly, lighting a candle and setting it on the nightstand, standing in the doorway. “I d-don’t know if I said this already, but I’m gonna make a hot pot for dinner… And I’ll go see if there are any pumpkins in the area… I’ll make us some pumpkin bread and make some cookies for the kids,” you say with a beaming smile, looking at your sleepy man who was already cuddling a pillow on his way to sleep. He admired your soothing voice, able to relax for the first time in a long time, and how the golden sun gave you a gilded glow that made your skin twinkle and your eyes illuminate the room. He had never felt so lucky to have someone as good as you to him, and that was the last thing he saw- or thought- before he slipped off into dreamland and you disappeared behind the door to excitedly start dinner.

[outbythehighwind]

Aerith & Tifa: Visual Design

An Analysis of the Final Fantasy VII Heroines [Part 1]

This is the first part of my in-depth analysis on FF7′s heroines, where they are depicted as perfect foils to one another. For those who don’t know, a foil is a character who contrasts with another and simultaneously highlights the qualities of that other character. Foils can range from protagonists & antagonists to, in the case of the FF7 girls, very close friends. In exploring this particular writing technique, I will examine their differences and similarities, friendship, relationships to Cloud and Sephiroth, and their differing but equally important roles as heroines in the overall story. Before starting though, I want to mention one thing: I adore both characters, and Tifa and Aerith are to me the exemplary role models of fictional heroines.

Now let us begin with the first thing we are introduced to: their visual designs. (Note that visual design, like narrative, is a tool that can be purposefully accurate and/or purposefully misleading. This should be kept in mind throughout the entire analysis, for FF7 - to no exaggeration - gets more than the average game's pleasure out of tricking, subverting and astonishing it's audience.) Now, onto our beloved flower girl...

AERITH

Aerith’s visual design, at first glance, is one of a meek and kindly girl. Her long, sleeveless dress, pearl pink in color, elicits an air of grace, of softness and serenity. She appears gentle and pure. These qualities are enhanced by the matching pink ribbon in her hair, which adds an additional purity to the character – one of youthful girliness, evoking a naive separation from the gigantic world around her.

Accompanying the dress and ribbon is a short sleeve crop jacket. And instead of enhancing this grace and naivety, its crimson shade shows quite the opposite. Red is a bold and brazen color. Coupled with the 90’s crop-style of the jacket, it enforces strength and vigilance. The loud (and somewhat rebellious) qualities of her jacket countervail the quiet elements of her dress and ribbon. They are a contrasting balance, as we will soon find out, of Aerith’s personality. She is gentle and pure, but she is no softie. She has complete confidence in herself.

These contrasting qualities are connected in the fact that red and pink are proximate colors. While the dress and jacket themselves are from two different worlds, the colors go together. Moreover, red and pink are the colors that represent love. Mixed together, they create ‘hot pink’ – a color used to communicate playfulness. A beautiful metaphor for both Aerith’s love for all life and her playful, sassy personality.

Moving on to her footwear, we find an even sharper contrast. One would expect that a person who so fashionably marries grace and strength would have stylish footwear to match. Yet here is Aerith with a pair of grimy, commonplace boots. While the dress, jacket and ribbon communicate her nature and personality, these grimy, commonplace boots inform the player of the life she is leading – the life of a girl who has grown up in the slums. These grimy, commonplace boots are the wise and fitting footwear to get by.

Aerith’s boots and hair are the same shade of brown, framing the vibrant personality her outfit presents. In addition to the bright, lively clothing, her hair is a standout feature of her character. And there is another character that shares this feature. Aerith’s trademark bangs share an almost-identical design to Sephiroth’s, an allusion to her in-every-sense enemy foil. Not only do the pair share similarities in their hair, but also in clothing: Sephiroth’s collar parallels Aerith’s jacket; his wrist-cuffs parallel Aerith’s bracelets; his cloak parallels the length of her dress; and his eyes – although mako-induced – are an even deeper green than Cloud’s, in direct match to Aerith’s.

Their bright green eyes further represent their foil-roles in relation to the external plot of FF7 – the plot concerned with the Planet. Aerith’s eyes are green with life, representing her connection with the Planet. Sephiroth, of course, holds a connection too, though his Mako-induced green is not his authentic color, portraying him as the false ‘savior’ he acclaims himself to be, in contrast to the true savior that is Aerith.

To see Aerith and Sephiroth’s designs as directly antithetical to one another, consider their concepts below, with Aerith’s weapon and hair trailing right while Sephiroth’s weapon and hair trails left – like a mirror image. Also, notice Aerith’s bright, vibrant design against Sephiroth’s dark, monochromatic design - a visual display of life and light against darkness. But more on Sephiroth later.

There is no FF7 character with a brighter visual design than Aerith – fittingly, for she is the party’s light. In the remake, her outfit is much the same, if not expanded upon. The jacket reaches her hips rather than waist, and the boots are black, yet about as commonplace as the original brown boots. The notable difference is her dress. The remake fits Aerith in a looser, frilly dress, which actually enhances her grace and creates a more deceptive air of naive youthfulness, much like the longer crop jacket further enhances her boldness.

TIFA

There are two roles incorporated into Tifa’s visual design: Tifa the barkeep; and Tifa the monk (that is, a martial artist of FF-verse). We will begin with the former, the first role introduced when the player meets her in Seventh Heaven.

Tifa’s barkeep design consists of black forearm sleeves matching a black skirt that is held up by suspenders. With her hair tucked behind her left ear, a teardrop earring is visible. Immediately, one gets the sense of warmness and invitation they would associate with a hostess. The skirt and suspenders appeal to the sensuous aspect of the design while the sleeve and earring give off an aura of classiness. Overall, an attraction is formed between Tifa and player – that sense of warmness and invitation drawing the player toward her. This attraction is enhanced by her long, dark hair and warm, wine-hued eyes. Not only is the color of Tifa’s eyes a clever nod to her literal bar-hosting, but it alludes to what her bar-hosting metaphorically symbolizes – a nurturing motherliness accentuated by their warmth. Not only is the player drawn in by the clothing she dons, but Tifa’s natural features are what inaugurates the invitation.

Next is the role of monk. Padded gloves and boots match the dark red shade of Tifa’s eyes, coupling her warmth and hospitality with strength. Strength and its associated qualities – firmness, power, intensity – are usually found in opposition to tenderness. But manifested in these items of clothing that are the same color as the defining embodiment of the latter (Tifa’s eyes), strength and tenderness are bridged together. Tifa is a fighter fueled by compassion. Tifa is a fighter who fights to protect. A matching dark red band ties the ends of her locks together to keep them collected, and on her left elbow and boot are armored guards, enhancing her aura of strength. Finally, she wears an ordinary white tank top for practicality in movement.

Put together with the elements of her bartender design, Tifa’s fighting gear gives her an unconventionally unique appearance: a smash-’em-if-required barkeep; a drink-serving monk. This overall appearance has an appropriate balance between allure and profession. It is attractive without being voluptuous. It is welcoming without hiding the fact that she could easily kick one’s ass if need be. And across her entire visual design, the two roles are in equilibrium. The player is drawn in to her design in the one sense, and then they are let in on what she is physically capable of. In other words, Tifa’s visual design uses its every component to give the player insight on her character. At the same time, however, it purposefully masks a great deal.

Accompanying this ‘smash-’em barkeep, drink-serving monk’ design so centered on conveying its dual-role aspects, are two items that educate the more observant player on Tifa’s circumstances. One of these has already been mentioned and is the classiest element of her design, while the other – which will likely go unnoticed – is the most ordinary. The former, Tifa’s aforementioned earring, is in the shape of a tear, subtly reflecting her past of sorrows and heartache. Yet it is her outfit’s grandest, most expensive item; this past of sorrows and heartache is what enabled her to become strong while remaining compassionate for others. Being a single teardrop on only one ear signifies how Tifa deals with emotions – the emotions she, as her name suggests, locks away in her heart. One drop for herself, the basic remembrance, the fuel, is all she outwardly allows.

Then we have the most ordinary item – a pair of woolly black socks. These socks are so subtle that even the exceptionally observant player might miss them, yet they are the single item that appeals to neither monk nor barkeep. They are distinctly… Tifa – Tifa the ordinary. Every other element is inch-perfect on what it communicates, yet here is a pair of ordinary socks that look as though they were thrown on in a morning’s rush. They give her this every-girl, neighborly quality which the player will be distracted from until the truth comes to light, with Tifa’s centrality and intimacy in the internal plot being revealed – the plot concerned with saving Cloud.

Speaking of literal neighborly vibes and intimacy, it is worth mentioning in brief that certain elements of Tifa’s outfit share similarity with Cloud’s. Both wear two metal guards only on their left side (Tifa on her elbow and boot and Cloud on his shoulder and wrist), a subtle allusion to their being ‘half’-selves on the surface (Cloud with his Zack-delusion and Tifa with her hidden feelings). Cloud too wears an earring in his left ear – a studded one, signifying, like Tifa’s teardrop, a certain brokenness of self. In Advent Children, both wear a black sleeveless vest with a high zip collar, a black cape, black boots (notice that Tifa has now replaced her trademark red) and a wolf symbol (on Cloud’s badge and Tifa’s ring) – a symbol associated specifically with Cloud. I mention these details because of Cloud’s centrality to Tifa’s story and vice versa, which will later be discussed in her role as heroine.

Tifa’s design for the remake is a nice though slight variation that fits in with the more realistic aesthetic. Her skirt has pleated segments, making for more realistic movements during combat, and her abs are toned, further enforcing her strength and perseverance in protecting her loved ones. Her black thigh-highs are an additional element, complimenting her forearm sleeves.

Despite the subtle, throw-‘em-on-in-a-hurry socks being foregone, Tifa’s remake outfit perfectly balances her barkeep and monk roles. The omission of such a neutralizing feature works even better with regard to Tifa’s character, in my opinion, for her true thoughts and feelings will be hidden for much of the game. Thus we are led astray, and the narrative will constantly push us further and further away from her inner emotions hidden beneath these two outward roles.

By visual design alone, and in the narrative that will follow, the player is led to believe Tifa has complete confidence in herself. But appearance of course, like narrative, can be deceiving.

SUMMARY

Straight away, by visual design, we have two heroines who are each a blend of multiple characteristics, yet not fitting a particular trope. They are completely unique in their own right, exemplifying both relatable and admirable traits.

Aerith, who we expect to be the meek and youthfully naive girl at first glance, embodies an undeniable self-confidence that compliments her kindness. Tifa, who looks extremely confident on appearance, has an emotional shyness masked by two bold outward roles. Aerith is the vibrant light who guides outer world adventure; Tifa is the inviting warmth who makes one feel at home. Aerith bridges the attributes of grace and toughness; Tifa balances the qualities of compassion and strength. While both exemplify these heroic traits by their very design, they are - however subtly shown - struggling slum girls.

[jerryslogan]

There are few things in the design that are more important than color. Color can evoke reactions, emotions or even action all without using words. So how do we know which colors look good together? The answer is color theory in graphic design! The color theory describes the use of color in graphic design. Otherwise known as graphic design color palettes. However, it’s not only for artists as people use color theory in their everyday life as well! Whether it’s choosing an outfit or putting together a party invitation for a family members birthday color theory helps you choose a colorful graphic design!

1.The Understandings of Color Theory In Graphic Design

The biggest power behind color is their ability to evoke emotions and make people feel things, but the color meaning in graphic design can seem confusing at first as colors often have different interpretations. Let’s take a look at not only what emotions they evoke but also their symbolism!

Color Theory In Graphic Design: Red

Red is in the “Warm” color family and tends to evoke feelings of passion, both love, and hate! Proven by the fact you can see the color red used in both imagery of Cupid, an angel of love, and demons.

red

As it’s also been associated with power and imagery of fire, violence, and warfare we tend to use red as a warning of danger or even to reprimand someone, like marking things incorrect using a large red “X” mark. However, red can also be seen as a symbol of status like when used at red carpet events or it can make someone think of red rubies.

Red is best used as an accent color, as it can be overwhelming, and even harmful to the eyes if used in large amounts!

Color Theory In Graphic Design: Yellow

Yellow, also a warm color is considered to be one of the brightest and most energizing of the warm colors. It’s commonly associated with happiness and sunshine. However, it can also be used to convey a warning or caution as it’s commonly used in construction sighs.

yellow lemon quote wallpaper

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Use yellow when you want a bright pop of happy energy or to draw immediate attention to an area. Yello is also great to use when creating more industrial or modern designs! If you find that yellow is too stark and bright, try using a more muted yellow.

yellow

Color Theory In Graphic Design: Blue

Blue is often associated with sadness however blue is also used to represent calmness and tranquility. The meaning and symbolism of blue are heavily reliant on the shade of blue. Light blues can be both refreshing and friendly while dark blues are considered stronger and reliable.blue computer science post

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When using blue remember the exact shade of blue you select will matter most with how your design will be perceived. Light blues are often calming, bright blues can be refreshing or even energizing while dark blues, like navy, are great for corporate designs where reliability is a featuring trait.

blue

Color Theory In Graphic Design: Orange

Orange is bright and vibrant and so also gives off an energetic vibe similar to yellow, but is much more subdued in comparison. It’s commonly used in food labels or other cooking-related products (including cell phone recipe apps) as orange is said to invoke hunger in people!

While orange in its purest form is vibrant and bright, more muted forms will give off the feeling of warmth, and remind people of fall leaves. Which can be ideal for designs that want to give the feeling of being “cozy” and warm.

orange flower quote post

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Orange can be a better warm option to use over red as it has all of the vibrancy and energy that the color red has but without the potentially aggressive symbolism.

orange

Color Theory In Graphic Design: Green

Unsurprisingly green, a cool-toned color is considered as earthy and will invoke images of nature signifying renewal and abundance. Alternatively, green can also represent envy and jealousy as seen in the phrase “green with envy”.

Going with the same theme as “abundance”, green can symbolize wealth especially in countries where their currency is green.

green christmas party invitation

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Green has a similar calming effect as blue, but with some of the energizing tones of yellow. The brighter the green the more energizing it will be. Muted and olive greens will work best in designs of nature and the natural world while dark greens are the most stable and representative of wealth.

green

Color Theory In Graphic Design: Purple

Before modern-day dyes were created, purple dyes were hard to find and extremely expensive to make so only royals and the wealthy could afford them. Given this history, dark purples are associated with wealth and royalty.

However, lighter purples, like lavender, are typically associated with softness and a more tender romantic love, as opposed to red which ignites more passionate love.

aesthetic purple cloud wallpaper

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When using purples in design dark purples will give a sense of wealth and luxury while light softer purples are associated with spring and romance.

purple

2. What’s the Color Terminology?

When talking about the color theory you may notice a few key terms pop up quite frequently. That is because describing color is best done by describing it’s hue, saturation, brightness or value. Let’s cover what exactly these terms mean!

Hue

Hue is one of the main properties of color and is the property of light by which the color of an object is classified as red, blue, green, or yellow in the color spectrum.

Green, orange, yellow, and blue — each of these is a hue, a color or a shade. A rainbow shows the melting of one hue into another, from red to violet, and all the shades in between. The noun hue means both a color and a shade of a color. Green is a hue, and turquoise is a hue of both green and blue!

hue

Saturation

Saturation is the intensity of a hue from a gray tone with no saturation, to pure, vivid color with high saturation. High saturation colors will come off more colorful or deep, while low saturation images will come off muted or pastel.

low and high hues

Value

Value refers to the lightness, brightness or darkness of a color. Value in the art will refer to the shadows and highlights and will give your work more dimension. It is especially important in black and white photos, design and illustration as it will separate objects from each other and their background.

saturation

Brightness

Brightness is simply both the hue of color along with the value of the color. It refers to its lightness and its ability to replicate light or reflection. This is also known as “luminance.”

value

3. Color Palette For Graphic Design

Creating a cohesive color scheme relies on one thing: knowing what colors go well together and compliment each other. Luckily there are a number of different ways to mix, match and find the perfect color scheme for you!

Color Wheel

The color wheel for graphic design is a circle with different colored sections used to show the relationship between colors. The typical color wheel includes the blue, red, and yellow primary colors. The corresponding secondary colors are then green, orange, and violet or purple.

color wheel

Secondary Color

A mentioned above, secondary colors are colors that come from mixing two primary colors. There are three secondary colors. In RGB graphic design, the secondary colors are purple made from red mixed with blue, orange made from red mixed with yellow, and green made from yellow mixed with blue.

secondary color

Complementary

Two colors that are on opposite sides of the color wheel are called complementary colors. Complementary colors of graphic designs provide high contrast and high impact color combination. When placed together or next to one another these colors will appear brighter and more vibrant.

complementary color

Split Complementary

A split complementary color scheme involves the use of three colors. Start with one color, find its complement and then use the two colors on either side of it.

complementary

Analogous

Analogous colors are among the easiest to find on the color wheel. Pick any color at any point on the wheel. Now, look at any three colors directly to the left or right of the chosen color. Together, those four are a group of analogous colors. Mixing colors that are adjacent to each other creates a colorful yet harmonious look. When using an analogous color scheme it’s best to choose one main color, using the other three as accent colors. This will help keep designs from becoming too chaotic or busy.

Triadic

Tertiary colors are colors made by combining a secondary color with a primary color. There are six colors considered tertiary. In the RYB color wheel, these tertiary colors are red-orange, yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-violet, and red-violet.

triadic

4. Color Sites for Graphic Design

These sites are the top free to use color guide for graphic designers giving you easy to use tools to create graphic design palettes.

COLOURlovers

COLOURlovers is a creative community where people from around the world create and share colors, palettes, and patterns, discuss the latest trends and explore colorful articles. With more than 4,682,736 palettes, 10,035,451 colors, 5,844,503 patterns in 532,217 templates you’re sure to find inspiration to kick start your creative projects.

triadic colors

Color Hunt

Color Hunt is an open collection of color palettes, created by Gal Shir. Color Hunt started as a personal small project built to share trendy color combinations between a group of designer friends. The collection scaled up and now being used daily as handy resources by thousands of people all over the world.

color hunt

Paletton

Paletton, a design tool for creating color combinations that work together well. It was formerly known as Color Scheme Designer.

paletton

5. How to Create a Graphic Design with Color Theory?

Step 1

First, you are going to fotor.com and choose your template by going to Design and choosing Poster found in the Marketing category.

Choose your template from the side panel, I will be choosing this Black Friday sale poster!

Step 2

Next, let’s customize the design!

First, the text, let’s Click on the title text and change the font face to Alibaba Sans Bold.

I will also be changing the “When” and “Where” to Alibaba Sans Bold.

Double-click on the text to change what it says, I will be changing it to “bikes and accessories”

Now onto the colors. Let’s change the yellow to a more outdoorsy green color.

Click on the yellow header, in the upper left-hand corner choose the pastel green color.

Change all yellow sections to this green color. You can even change the rippled texture in the bottom right-hand corner!

Once done, click on all the text and change them to white using the same method. In Fotor, everything is customizable by simply clicking on it, it’s that easy!

change the color

Finally, let’s use complementary colors to make the bike stand out. In this case, we have a lot of green. The complementary color of green is red! So let’s click on the bike, and choose red for our third color box, changing the frame of the boke to red.

Finish up by changing the rims of the bike to white, using the second color box.

change the color of the bicycle

Step 3

Lastly, let’s save our image by Naming out file, choosing .PNG for out the file type and then choosing High for our quality! And you are all done!

[fizzingwizard]

OK gang here we go, episode 33!

It was better than last week, which was better than the week before, so... make of that what you will.

Pic of the week!

A look of steely Dan determination.

More below!

Like I said, this episode is an improvement on the last one, by virtue of plot stuff actually happening, a few big happenings, and references to the other kids that suggest they haven’t been completely forgotten about (only mostly). Don’t get excited though - it still leaves much to be desired. I cry endlessly for the animation budget. But let’s get into it...

Taichi and friends are still in pursuit of SkullKnightmon and Hikari. We found our for sure last week that the creature in the little crystal is, indeed, Millenniumon, or rather a fragment of him, and his fragments fell all around the Digital World at the end of the great war or whatever it’s called and they’re the source of the miasma and they absorb energy from the human world etc etc...

So we find this big ass crystal which seems to be the central one, I guess? because it’s the biggest? and several creepy looking acolytes (dun dun DUN it’s VADEMON my FAVORITE DIGIMON) surrounding it and chanting...

Vademon: Find the horcux, kill Harry Potter, find the horcrux, kill Harry Potter,

In other news, there’s a lot of doom and gloom happening with Jou, who, bereft of his underwear, is forced to censor himself with his partners head. Gomamon you don’t deserve this

Jou: I need to get away from these Nanimon before I go prematurely bald too!!

Mimi, meanwhile, is Boxing Champion of the World.

Koushirou is the only one working. He’s on his way to pick up Jou, so I guess that means Yamato will get Mimi? That’ll be fun lol. We saw Yamato for half a second but it was the same frame of him riding Garurumon we’ve seen five times already so why bother capping it.

Koushirou is also keeping an eye on the satellite situation but doesn’t know what to do about it yet. Kabuterimon asks if he shouldn’t take a break about now and Koushirou says “I’m okay, besides, this is the only thing I’m good for” T___T you know this would be heart-breaking if I really believed the writers have ACTUAL PLANS to make good on Koushirou-related character development.... >:[

no this honestly pisses me off so much but I STILL do believe we will get SOMETHING for him and the others and probably not too far in the future... I think... I hope ugh

Back to Team A, they see lots of Digimon coming at them. Taichi’s like “it’s an attack!” but Sora, whose Fight Mode unlike Taichi’s has an actual Off switch, is about to figure out that they are in fact not interested in the kids at all and are running away from something.

Taichi: I can’t believe they didn’t want to kill us. Doesn’t everything in this world want to kill us?

The Digimon are fleeing from a suspicious crater with a familiar stone in the center. SkullKnightmon raises his own crystal fragment into the air and stuff happens.

By stuff I mean black lightning and purple-blue light which is meant to signify Evil which is mega DUMB because blue and purple are the most awesome color combo EVER I mean it throw some turquoise in there too and I will buy it whatever it is a necklace a shawl a codpiece

There are eight crystals that rise from the ground surrounding the central crystal and share energy with it. I thought the number eight might be significant you know for obvious reasons but it doesn’t appear to matter in this episode.

Evil crystals or not, Taichi’s on his way to save Hikari once and for all!

Hikari: Thanks, but no thanks, oniichan.

Taichi: H-Hikari! You don’t understand! You’re too young to go off with a strange man!

Hikari: But oniichan I love him

Taichi: Who do you think I am, Tevye!? You’re not marrying him and that’s final!

Hikari: waaah why don’t you understand me!!

ok back to the story...

Hikari abandons her brother for his muscular studly lover SkullKnightmon.

... >_>

Using Hikari’s powers, SkullKnightmon evolves to Gundamon DarkKnightmon. Meanwhile there’s lots of chanting and stuff about this being SkullKnightmon’s purpose or some such. I still kinda hope we get a redemption arc for SkullKnightmon or that he has something more to do with the story...

Agumon stops Taichi from wigging out and they go to save Hikari together, but before they can they are beset from all angles by henchmen.

Sora: Hey, you take care of Tweedle Dee and I’ll get Tweedle Dum!

Birdramon: *gets punched in the head* I hope you brought enough aspirin...

Then these guys appear. I’ve forgotten their names but evil as they look they literally just stand there till they get blown up and then more appear... I guess that’s a kind of talent

Takeru: Leave the small fry to me!

Pegasusmon: Takeru when I said I wanted a Happy Meal this isn’t what I meant

Hikari begins to be absorbed into a dark pocket dimension of DarkKnightmon’s or something like that. It seems like a very chill experience.

Taichi: I’ll save you! Take my hand!

Hikari: O... nii... chan... Fuck you...

ok so here’s my problem here.

This is meant to be all emotional and stuff right?? Hikari’s been blowing off her brother for an unknown reason (we all figured out what it was but look the main characters don’t know and that’s what counts) and he’s finally managed to catch up with her. His hand is inches away from catching hers and pulling her to safety. She’s got creepy glowing eyes. She mouths “o..nii...chan...” with a creepy smile before being pulled into darkness.

I know it’s for kids so it’s not going to be too scary or anything but there ‘just like... no build up here. The storytelling style is too mathematical. “We go from Plot Point A to Plot Boint B via Battles 1 2 and 3...” There’s nothing happening in between to make us feel Taichi’s desperation, or even to know what Hikari’s feeling in this moment. Is she really okay with this? Is she having second thoughts? It doesn’t make any sense for her not to be scared. I fully expected her to go through with it, but she can be scared and still go through with it... come on...

It’s like that scene from Utena except sapped of any and all emotional impact.

I don’t really remember how Greymon got up there in the first place since he can’t fly but at least we get a scene of him and Taichi plummeting to the earth after failing to save Hikari. The kind of thing that would be dramatic if there were any kind of animation budget at all.

The one thing the show is sure to do is show us Taichi’s expressions, which I guess is something... It’s just so rushed and the accompanying dialogue leaves something to be desired.

Greymon: Don’t give up, Taichi... Taichi... um. what are you doing...

Taichi: stop hitting yourself stop hitting yourself stop hitting yourself stop hitting yourself

Anyway, Taichi is Big Mad. I thought (hoped, to be honest) that we might get a glimpse of him going wild with dark energy like in the Devimon episode again... Or at least a hint that that was a possibility in the heat of the moment before Agumon snapped him out of it. But nope.

He takes a moment to be upset and then says “There’s no time to worry about what to do” and goes to save Hikari... from inside DarkKnightmon somehow :P

This does not go well.

Meanwhile Hikari is surprisingly okay for someone who was just eaten alive by sentient VantaBlack. She discovers a peculiar light inside... DarkKnightmon’s intestine??? Is that where we are now??? lmao

She recognizes the light as the voice that has been calling her and tries to head towards it, but is blocked by some purple jello.

There’s a kind of cool thing that happens here... We just had a scene where Taichi desperately tries to grab his sister’s hand and yank her out of the clutches of evil, but fails, mostly because she doesn’t do anything to help him since she is weirdly okay with the situation. Now we get a mirror of that moment with Hikari bursting out of the jello with her arm outstretched to grab what is clearly Tailmon’s paw.

Only Tailmon does take Hikari’s hand.

It was really cool to see the brother and sister paralleling each other this much. It shows the ways they’re both courageous and determined and caring.

Meanwhile Taichi finally whips out WarGreymon. Honestly, I feel like this should have been WarGreymon’s intro episode. This would have been a good time for a new evolution, rather than in a fight with a nobody that I’ve already forgotten. Idk. WarGreymon uses Brave Tornado to knock DarkKnightmon’s lances away and burrow into his armor. So, yeah, Hikari’s in his intestines, lmao.

Hikari is being chased by a two-headed monster who is in for the migraine of its (their?) life when the tornado crashes into it.

Hikari: Big brother! You look so cool!

Taichi: Promise me that no matter how many men come into your life, I’ll always be number one.

Hikari: okay that is creepy

WarGreymon explodes DarkKnightmon from the inside out x’D and Taichi gets a redo of his hand-reaching scene. First he berates Hikari for running off on her own and then smiles.

Hikari says she always believed he’d rescue her. Aww.

Sweet sibling love.

Then there’s this really hilarious sound which turns out to be the Vademon hivemind giving a collective cry of distress x’D it’s lmfao amazing. Then they start chanting “Next time next time next time” just in case you thought Millennium was defeated and we can go home now.

Taichi: Sora, do you know where I can buy a leash for this kid? I can’t keep chasing her like this. Aren’t kids today supposed to be glued to their phones and never go outside?

Patamon’s Girlfriend Radar piques at the bundle in Hikari’s arms.

And it is indeed Tailmon, and she’s been waiting for Hikari all this time.

Tailmon: I am Tailmon, a Holy Digimon.

Patamon: oh my god you can’t just call yourself holy ugh you’re so self-centered

D’awww.

They’re both sooooo cute. I’m annoyed they didn’t get a cool ending card like Takeru and Patamon did last week though. But still, this is a sweet moment.

So, there’s not a lot to complain about in this episode, comparatively speaking. I wish we had more dialogue and understood the value of a dramatic pause etc. Also wish Sora and Takeru had more to do than fight the henchmen. Like, if you can just erase an entire part of an episode and it still works fine, you clearly didn’t need that part so why waste time on it.

But at least we do get reactions from Taichi, and at least we got plot development. The Taichi/Hikari parallels were cool. And even though I had other hopes for how this arc would turn out, I’m glad it’s over because maybe we can finally do some other stuff now. Maybe. I want to get back to Koushirou SOOO bad but more than anything I am still gobsmacked by how long it’s been since Yamato’s had anything to do but ride on Garurumon. That is WEIRD. He’s YAMATO.

Next week...

... Looks like it’ll be a light-hearted undersea episode. I’m cool with that. The preview clips had a “Sebastian’s Calypso” vibe that I dig. It’s still about Taichi’s group but I think that’s to do more actual face time with Tailmon and Hikari. I hope we see the others as well and if not maybe the week after. I will be happy if this episode has some personality to it.

[parachutingkitten]

A Totally and Completely Uneventful Night

The beginnings of a short little dewlet fic for y’all. Hope you enjoy!

“No! No way am I doing that!” Louie stood up. “Getting there early, organization, teamwork, dealing with tape. No way! Louie is out!” he announced as he started towards the door.

“I already signed you up,” Huey stopped him, crossing his arms. 

“Come on guys!” Webby rolled her eyes. “It’ll be fun! All of us working together, setting up decorations, having some best friend bonding time! Plus, then we’ll be the first ones there!”

“Why the hell would you want to be the first ones to arrive at prom?” Louie squinted at her.

“Extra time at the photo booth!” Webby smiled.

“Look, I know it’s a lot to ask,” Violet sighed. “But I’m head of the planning committee, and the only other member so far is Huey,”

He smiled at the mention of his name. 

“And this is my big project for senior year! So I really need this to work out, and so many things have already fallen through, I just…” she sighed. “I really need this to work.”

Dewey had been unusually silent for the duration of this discussion and he wasn’t exactly sure of the reason. He speculated it might be a combination of things. He hadn’t slept especially well the previous night, and he hadn’t had breakfast yet, both of which meaning his energy level was far below par, but most likely the main factor was Violet herself. It had been a while since he’d really talked with her. Senior year had been taxing on both of their schedules and neither of them really ever had the time to just slow down and hang out. And it hadn’t been until this moment, when Violet forced upon him the concept of prom, a signifier of the end of senior year, that Dewey realized just how much he had missed talking with her. He admired Violet quite a lot, and seeing her standing before him at her breaking point really made his heart ache in a way he had never quite felt before.

“We’ve got your back Vi,” Dewey assured her. “Come on, I mean the duck boys can handle a little party set up, right Louie?”

“I hate it!” he started. “I hate it so much! You have to try and roll up the tape to stick stuff on the wall, but you don’t stick it to itself right the first time, so it ends up in this lopsided ball, and you try to unstick it from itself, but then it’s lost its sticky-ness! But even if you do get it right the first time, the piece is always too small to actually hold anything, so you just have to throw it away! So then you start overcompensating, and you run out of tape, and you have to go around asking people for tape! Do you have tape? Do you have tape?! No! No one has tape! Because they all made the same mistake you did!” Louie’s hands clenched into spastic fists as a few heavy breaths went threw him.

“How about we find a non-tape related task to delegate Louie to.” Huey whispered.

“What’s the theme this year anyway?” Dewey asked. “I don’t remember it being announced.”

“A Night in Paris,” Violet answered, a smile gracing her face.

“Paris!” Webby squealed, grabbing onto Dewey’s arm. “It’s so atmospheric!”

“And it’s a lot of work.” Violet pulled out notecards from her back pocket, uncoupling them from the colorful paper clip that held them together. “Here’s a reminder of the date and time you’ll need to be there along with a list of things that it would be really helpful if you could bring.” She started passing them out to everyone in the room, Dewey looking down at the small pink card. So much information in such little space. “And keep in mind, as representatives of the planning committee, you will be expected to follow the dress code.”

“Oh my gosh!” Webby jumped. “We should totally go together, and then we could dress up all matching! We could make our outfits out of that fancy flip sequin fabric-!”

“I’ve added a rule banning excessive sequins specifically for you,” Violet stopped her, handing her a card. “I don’t want anyone being blinded.” 

“Well… I guess we could just do normal sequins,” Webby reasoned. 

“Wait-” Dewey broke his train of thought, his eyes turning to Webby as his mind caught up with her proposal. “You want to go with me?”

“Well yeah,” Webby chuckled. “That’s what best friends are for, right? I mean, no one wants to go to prom by themselves.”

Dewey looked at her a moment trying to figure out what it was about this that felt wrong. Webby was in fact his best friend- always had been- and going to prom with friends had always been his plan. Not to mention the idea of showing up in matching blue sequins was definitely alluring, but something just felt off. His eyes drifted across the room, trying to look for his answer.

“What about everyone else though?”

“Oh Louie’ll be fine.” Webby shrugged it off. “No offense Louie.”

“None taken,” he shook his head.

Dewey stared at them a moment, still confused. “What about everyone else though?”

“Huey and I are going together!” Violet smiled. “Mainly so that we can get their extra early for more set up time.”

“Plus-!” Huey chimed in. “If one of us gets pulled away for managing duties, we’re not abandoning anyone!” 

They shared a confident high five, Dewey still a bit dumbfounded. 

“Hold on, let me get this straight, the first one of us to get a date to prom… was Huey?” Everyone glanced around at each other, letting the information process. “This is not at all how I thought senior prom would go,” he mumbled. “I mean Louie going alone isn’t actually that unexpected, but Huey… that’s weird.”

“I don’t know, I think we can find a date for Louie.” Webby crossed her arms.

“You really don’t have to-” Louie broke in.

“Maybe you could go with Lena!”

Louie chuckled. “Lena’s like 14.”

“Lena’s immortal,” Webby rolled her eyes.

“Lena is out of town for the next two weeks.” Violet interjected. “So my sister will not be going with anyone, none the less Louie.”

“No offense Louie.” Webby chimed in.

“Again, none taken,” He shrugged.

Dewey glanced around the room a bit skeptically, still feeling a bit uneasy about the set up. “Well, I guess everyone’s set then,” he sighed. “I don’t know why I’m so worked up about it.”

“You’re nervous about prom, big deal!” Webby teased him. “Come on, let’s go figure out our outfits!” 

Dewey followed her as she headed towards the door, still a bit dazed, perplexed about what it was that felt off. 

“I’m thinking we do blue and pink because, you know, it’s us.” Webby rolled her eyes. “But also, that gives everything a cotton candy kind of feel, which I think will really set us apart.”

“You sure nothing feels weird about this Webs?” Dewey stopped her before they could leave. “I don’t know, something’s wrong. It just doesn’t quite feel like the quintessential high school experience I’ve always imagined, you know?” 

Webby stopped, turning into the room again. “Actually, I think I might know your problem.”

“What?” He asked. 

“There’s no drama.” She shrugged. “Think about it, in every prom movie ever there’s always someone who needs to work up the nerve to ask someone, or their crush is going with someone else, or maybe they just broke up, so they both have to find rebound dates, only to end up together again by the end of the night.”

“That’s it!” Dewey jumped. “How is it that this all worked out so smoothly?! There’s no way. There’s got to be someone who’s hiding something.”

Webby leaned in, both of their eyes turning to the room. “Who do you think it is?” she whispered. 

“It could be Huey.” Dewey offered. “I mean, he seems like the quirky awkward protagonist that could have girl problems.” 

“True, true,” Webby nodded in agreement. 

“But it could totally be Louie. Not going with anyone. I mean, who wants to go by themselves? Is he waiting to ask someone special?”

Webby gasped, turning to him. “Goselyn!”

Dewey smiled, turning to Webby, struggling to keep his tones hushed. “Because she’s in a different school district! He would need special permission to get her to come, so he’s worried about even asking, because it’d be such a big commitment!”

“Or maybe he was secretly going to her prom,” Webby offered. “but all this set up stuff puts a wrench in his plans, that’s why he's so opposed to helping out!”

“Oh my gosh, what if he pulls one of those ‘tries to go to both at the same time, but ends up revealing himself in the end’ things.”

“And by the end of the night we all know about their secret love!”

“Oh my gosh, it’s all so real!” Dewey turned to look back at his brother, now slumped over on the couch, scrolling through his phone.

“Louie ever shown signs of liking Goselyn before?”

“No,” Dewey shook his head. “But like, what’s the other option? We have a normal prom? I don’t think so.”

“Come on, let’s bolt before we get too suspicious.” Webby nudged him, opening the door again, both of them slipping through and giggling as they headed towards Webby’s room. 

“Man, I am so excited for prom now! Matching outfits, set up shenanigans, drama, secret love, we’re going to have everything!”

“I’m just happy for Violet.” Webby brought down the tone as they reached their destination. “She’s going to throw the most boss prom the world has ever seen. She really deserves a win to round out the year.”

“Yeah,” Dewey sighed. “Violet’s like a superhuman, she does absolutely everything and supper well too. It’s kind of crazy when you think about it.”

“I still don’t know how she does it,” Webby shrugged, hopping onto her bed.

“I feel kind of bad. We were really close junior year, even early this year, but we’ve both been so booked recently I feel like I haven’t talked with her in ages.”

Dewey plopped down next to her on the bed, Webby raising an eyebrow. “I didn’t even know you guys were that good of friends.”

“Really?” Dewey chuckled. “We used to hang out all the time. We did lunch together last semester, we would carpool during the winter, she helped me with my homework all the time. We’d even get ice cream after school sometimes if we were both staying after for musical rehearsals.”

“She wasn’t in the musical last year, was she?”

“She was in the orchestra.” Dewey corrected her.

“...huh.” Webby sighed.

“What?”  

“I guess I just wouldn’t pin you as two to hang out one on one.” Webby straightened up, now more interested in the conversation.

“You kidding? Violet’s great! She’s so smart and fun and she’s down for literally anything. I swear we could talk for hours and not run out of things to say.” Dewey could see Webby was still a bit baffled. “I don’t know, I just always feel so... happy when I’m around her. It’s kind of infectious, you know?”

Webby’s eyes narrowed as a smile graced her face. “...yeah.”

“You’re totally right though.” Dewey leaned back, laying down. “She deserves the absolute best prom night possible.” His eyes traced the outline of the glow stars stuck to Webby’s ceiling, lost in a bit of a daze for a moment.

“Dewey?” Webby started.

“Yeah?”

“... Nothing,” she sighed. “I just think we might have more drama than you’re anticipating."

[aestheticdenki]

Butterflies- Tamaki Amajiki

You had a quirk where you could grow butterflies. It’s Tamaki’s favorite thing when you make them when your frightened.

Warnings- Tooth rotting fluff

—-———————————————————————

Tamaki Amajiki caught your attention from the moment you stepped foot into the classroom. His shy nature and sharp pointed ears were the cutest in your opinion. When you were introducing yourself, you accidentally made eye contact with him causing him to blush furiously and look away. The days following, you found yourself wanting to get to know him more than what the school tells you. You knew he was the top three and would soon be replaced by a younger promising student the moment he became a hero, be it underground or pro. Nejire was the first of the three to talk to you with Mirio following suit. They took a liking to you considering, you were like their other friend, reclusive. You were also the youngest of that class surprisingly but of course, switching from the other best school helps. Nobody even cared that you were an entire year younger.

“So were you recommended to Shiketsu Highschool? Is that why you are so young. Are you a daughter of a famous hero or two?” Well, everyone except Nejire. You knew it was her personal mission to find out everything about you and you didn’t mind. It felt nice to have someone want to know you. Setting down your pencil, you looked up at her expecting eyes. You stifled a scream when you saw Mirio popping up putting his clothes back (that Tamaki had to go get) on from using his quirk right next to you. “I was recommended to Shiketsu High when I was only ten due to my growing powers but they took me at twelve. I am not a daughter of a famous hero unfortunately. My mom and dad are both reclusive and scared of people.” While Nejire was talking, you resumed the paper you were filling out with a doodle of the Big Three in hero form. They couldn’t see it though, as you had it pulled closer to you at a weird angle.

“What are your powers?” You thought of how to explain it. Maybe you should just show them. A butterfly formed out of your wrist and flew around the classroom before landing on Tamaki’s nose and he smiled. Apparently, it was rare for him to smile so Nejire took a photo shoot. “So cute!” That startled the boy and the butterfly landed on your hand and disappeared. “So you have a butterfly quirk?” “Yes and no, I can deal with anything plant and bug related i.e growing, controlling, creating.” She smiled in delight. “I-I think I-it’s cool. I-I l-like the butterflies.” You couldn’t help but smile a little. Just the fact that he liked your butterflies made you feel a little better about your quirk. You were by far not the most confident person in your abilities. “What are you drawing? Can you show us?” Nejire pressed, not leaving any time for you to fawn over the boy with red cheeks. Slowly, you put the pad on the table and showed them the drawing of them. “I-I’m not that g-good so please d-don’t criticize me.” They offered you only good compliments and you sighed.

------------------------------------------------------------

Being a quiet person can be a curse and a blessing unless you were one of the big three. No one messes with you then. Since you weren’t part of the big three, you were getting picked on by the other classmates. You’ve become close with the ones everyone is pining for and that made you the easiest target. That is how you found yourself thrown on the ground with your sketches flying everywhere. “Oh look at these. These are all of the Big Three. Oh what is this?” The girl’s condescending voice made you feel small. She picked up the small stack of papers that hadn’t fallen out of your sketchbook. They were all of one person. “YOU HAVE A CRUSH ON TAMAKI?” She laughed in your face and you stuttered to come up with a response but nothing came out.

“B-B-But. But nothing. Stay away from them or else.” Tears in your eyes, you released vines out of your skin to grab the drawings. The girl pulled her hand back from the vine and cried out in pain when it wrapped around her wrist forcing her to drop the drawings. “You bi-” Her words were cut off by Mirio popping up in front of her, his smile never wavering despite being naked. It wasn’t long before she took off and he turned to you. You screamed and fell back into strong arms. Nejire handed Mirio his clothes while you were still being held by whoever had caught you. “A-Are you o-okay?” You shook your head. How could you be okay? Humiliation and embarrassment were all you felt, the tears in your eyes were long gone. Amajiki hugged you tighter and the other two joined in. You were their friend and they were going to protect you no matter how much it costs them.

------------------------------------------------------------

Your bully has been docile the past few weeks and you have been feeling better. On the other hand, your friends have just come back from their talk about hero work studies to class 1-A. Nejire and Mirio were as happy as ever but you noticed Tamaki looking glum. “What’s wrong with Tama?” Mirio explained how Amajiki couldn’t envision everyone as potatoes therefore got embarrassed and couldn’t talk the entire time. You watched silently and sympathetically as the nervous boy took a seat next to you. Feeling sad that they couldn’t cheer him up, Nejire and Mirio sat and watched him silently. No. You couldn’t watch your crush beat himself up over something he couldn’t control so you were going to do something about it. Taking his hand, you turned it over so that the back was in your palm and you hovered your other hand over it.

A butterfly formed in his hand. It had an indigo hue to it’s wings, almost the same color as his hair. You were confident in your decision until he looked up at you and just like that, you lost all your confidence. “Y-You said you l-liked butterflies s-so I wanted to c-cheer you up. I-I’m sorry, I-I shouldn’t have d-done that.” “T-Thank y-you.” He smiled and you did too. Cheering yourself up in your head, you watched as he played with the butterfly for a few minutes. Mirio nudged you, grinning. He knew your secret crush and he loved to tease you about it and push you to confess. “Mirio, no.” “______, yes.” God, you just wanted to smack him into next week. Luckily, he dropped it and moved onto something else Nejire was talking about and you went on watching Tamaki and the butterfly.

The bell rang signifying lunch. Everyone got up and raced towards the cafeteria leaving you behind in the dust. This time, you had to go alone because Principal Nezu and Aizawa wanted to talk to the Big Three. “Well. Well. Well. Look who doesn’t have her bodyguards.” Not again. “I saw that little stunt you pulled for Amajiki and it’s honestly pathetic. He doesn’t like you. Get over yourself.” She used her storm quirk to make it rain on you, drenching you from head to toe and anything you had with you which was the torn sketchbook she ripped the last time. All the pictures you drew would cease to exist anymore. You rushed to cover it to protect the pictures “Are you still drawing him!?” She grabbed the book and threw it on the floor causing it to flip open to a random page clear for everyone to see.

“Just give up and go away.” Your eyes stung with tears and you just let her hurl her insults at you. Why argue? They were all true. All of a sudden, the rain stopped and the girl didn’t move. She couldn’t. Aizawa had trapped her and canceled her quirk. At this point, your tears mixed with the water dripping from your hair. “Are you okay?” Mirio asked with seriousness in his tone. You looked up at him and saw Tamaki holding your sketchbook looking at the pictures. He wasn’t supposed to see them and your friends sure as hell weren’t supposed to see you getting bullied. “GO AWAY!” “We aren’t going to leave you alone right now.” You released vines as a shield and ran off to wherever your feet took you. “Amajiki…” Nejire’s voice was soft, far from her happy self. “I-I have to go.” They watched as the boy ran in the same direction you were knowing this was important.

He found you in an empty classroom crying, the plants around you growing at an alarming rate. Maybe it should be the Big Four, you’d make an excellent partner in battle. “________?” You looked up at him. Why is he here? “A-Are you here t-to make fun of m-my crush o-on you?” “N-No. I-I wouldn’t do t-that. I-I’m happy you h-have a crush o-on m-me.” Amajiki placed your sketchbook in your hands. “Y-You left this. I-I like your d-drawings of me.” “T-Thank you.” The two of you sat in silence. Thankfully, the plants stopped growing and returned to normal. “Y-You already know this b-but, I l-like you.” His eyes met yours and he smiled. “I-I like you t-too.” Tamaki quickly kissed your cheek. You yelped and released a butterfly. Hurriedly, you explained that because he kissed you, you got startled and created a butterfly. “W-Wait! E-Everytime I kiss you, y-you release b-butterflies?” You nodded. “I-I might have t-to kiss you m-more.”

[ladylesso]

thea gushes over kate's "alex vs the school for good" fanfic

i've reread this fanfic twice before it was finished but now it's finished, therefore i will read this beautiful work of art a third time and i have no regrets because this is the best fanfic in the entire fandom and i love kate so let's go (u never asked for it but here it is @pumpkinpaperweight)

i love how alex's close relationship with her parents, especially tedros, is already established within the first scene

alex is so witty and her mind is so sharp i've missed her so much :')

alex ribbin on tedros and agatha laughin as a sign of encouragement is my favorite thing

chapter 3: hooray for teenage angst

I STILL CAN'T GET OVER THE FACT THAT TEDROS NAMED HIS DOG CHICKEN THAT IS SUCH A TEDROS THING TO DO

will there be a one shot on the multiple ooty ambassor incidents????? i am Excited

"...and the author of this tale had lost their copy of The School for Good and Evil, and therefore could not remember exactly what the School for Good was meant to look like. They were running entirely off memory, and not doing a bad job, all things considered." KATE AKSKSJDKLFJ

get this: what if the camelot years were just a fever dream and alex vs is canon. what if.

chapter 10: these dogs are still alive for plot devices and comic relief don't @ me

marcy girl chill out

omg dean cromwell vs alex wearing the boys' uniform scene - iconic and sora-approved

oh my god i actually thought sophie stopping thorne was a scene in the actual books instead of in alex vs skdjkdfs

i love kate's adult! sophie - very realistic and in character

chapter 13: HA! GAY!

talib and sora my babies my precious my lovelies

"talib grinned, looking back in the direction of the classroom - sora kept looking at him and missed a step on the stairs" gay

chapter 15: my gran could do better, and she killed a warlock with a cheesecake - I LOVE THE CHAPTER TITLES SO MUCH

alex is so precious why are people being so mean to her :'( sora and i will happily burn them alive

"chaddick and lancelot always smacked her with the butt of the sword to signify a hit, but tedros had tended to sort of half-heartedly shove her off of the mat, unwilling to hurt her" tedros being a good and caring soft dad :')

"alex, what does your dad have?" "low self-esteem?" JESUS ALEX SKDFJLSDJFLJFSLDJ

"alex's temper was utterly uncontrollable, and hort didn't know how he'd forgotten- now it was all rushing back to him in one big, rather traumatic, wave" I'M LAUGHING

omg four year old alex defending her father i'm heart eyes

#i don't like this cromwell bat bring dovey back

"sora's brain was still trying to work out which panic he should prioritise more -the super deadly predators trotting at his feet, or the fact that talib was holding his hand?" Gay

seeing alex cry is like seeing a friend crying - it makes you sad and murderous

"we have been in so many fights.” said alex tiredly. “i wish our author would think of something else. but she won’t, it’s the Trial by Tale next, and that’s all fighting” KATE

chapter 21: EMMA, THEY'RE HOMOSEXUALS

"sora had snatched nadiya’s handkerchief and thrown it to talib like a maid watching her favourite knight" [crying] i would kill a small child for them

sora and alex trying to hide behind each other at the same time is makin me burst into hysterics

oooo sora bout to murder a bitch

sophie acting like an actual dean :')

nadiya's such a queen we stan

june being friends with talib and fondly calling him an idiot is my new religion

alex saying she's the "loser daughter" and me knowing that tedros and agatha are watching her right now hurts. thanks a lot kate

june and thorne???? ship????

omg sora laying it on thick and pretending to be unconscious so talib could carry him sldjsdlkfjdslf

SORA COMPLIMENTING TALIB ON HOW BEAUTIFUL HE LOOKS IN FRONT OF THEIR CLASSMATES

"my darling angel prince" that's Gay "sora fiddled with talib's collar" GAYYYYY

"gentle marital dispute" i adore kate's humor

TALIB PUNCHING THORNE TO PROTECT SORA

"wow,” said sora dreamily.

“he just punched someone in the face, sora,” sighed marcy.

“i’m dying, not blind. that was hot--”

im going to have a heart attack

sora dragging tedros is my new favorite thing

"sora smiled in a very self-satisfied sort of way, almost as if he knew the annoyance he’d caused several hundred miles away" this is sora's true talent

i love how alex breaks the 4th wall

sora: i don't know whether you've noticed, alex, but i can be really rude?

alex: ur not that rude to me

sora: because i thought it might make u cry

:') i love their friendship so much

yes alex! call him out! sora IS emotionally constipated!

omg im curious as to what color alex's fingerglow is

OMG ALEX'S TALENT IS RELATED TO AGATHA'S I LOVE IT

newsflash cromwell! we don't care about ur reputation OR you

alex clutching onto her aunt's arm :'(

awwwwhhh alex w curly hair!! <3

talib is the sweetest boy ever oh my goodness

OH MY GOD HE'S A PISCES OF COURSE KSJFSDJF SOFT BOY

sora is an aquarius HAHA suits him

alex's dramatic entrances are clearly from sophie's influence :')

talib gifting sora roses that's Gay

sora foreshadowing how ros and raiden will get along >:)

sora is a grumpy old man in a 16 year old body but WILL eat his friend's questionably edible birthday cake made for him don’t test him

TALIB AND SORA KISSING QUEEN KATE REALLY DELIVERS

SORA MAKING THE FIRST MOVE I AM SCREECHING I AM GOING TO BITE MY ARM OFF

oh my go d talib don't go ohmygod kate why

OMG ROSALINE POV I'M EXCITED

agatha planning a wrestling match with her and tedros vs cromwell and agatha confirming that the coven have spilled blood over june and will not hesitate to do it again is my favorite thing

if u look closely or if u look at all, ros is clearly a never

tedros: i don't have favorites

agatha: i do. you're my least favorite

tedros: i'm ur husband

agatha: so?

omg alex is tedros' favorite and marcus is agatha's favorite so does that mean ros is sophie's favorite

and now we're in marcus' POV? kate just keeps delivering

omg the famous camelot family scene i've been waiting for is finally coming to fruition

it's official: we stan emi

whenever i hear somebody call agatha the queen of camelot, i get this tight ache of pride in my chest

i love how marcus just looks at his father and tedros knows exactly what he's asking :')

raiden and the twins, marcus and ros? my Body is Ready for ros vs

WHAT IS IT WITH PEOPLE SLAMMING THE DOOR OPEN IN THIS FANFIC KSHFDJFSLJLJ

anemone campaigning for a ranking board that says who has the hots for who is something i can get behind

"there was a brief scuffle whilst both tedros and agatha fought to hug alex at the same time, which she didn't look in the least bothered about" ALEX FAMILY TIME YAY <3

alex introducing agatha, her famous mother, to her roommates is one of my favorite things

"alex stuck her tongue out at her and went back to rifling in her mother's cloak pockets for food" if this isn’t me -

alex being a wingwoman to make her mom sign marcy's copy of the tale of sophie and agatha is my favorite thing #1972934794

talib not recoginizing tedros as the king of camelot but as alex's dad :')

THE COLD SHOULDER SMOULDER

i love how ros could tell how much a fashion piece costs and what material it is just by looking at it

"there was a resounding crash, and another blade caught his, halfway" i love how tedros entered into this chapter kate is such a good writer

im lovin these marcus and ros descriptions

"rosalind and marcus looked at each other, then, slowly, back at jimmy. both of them suddenly looked a lot older than they were. raiden wondered how much damage they could do as a team. probably quite a lot" "raiden resisted the urge to squish marcus's cheeks" ROS VS HERE I COME

sophie rushing bc she senses drama is a big mood

omg i love these camelot year references

"...whilst tedros tried to pretend he hadn't just tried to shove agatha behind him, and awkwardly returned Excalibur to its sheath" his instincts :')

people mentioning that alex is a big sister makes me feel warm inside

the image of tedros braiding rosalind's hair gives me heart eyes

OMG GIN MILLS AND THE GOODS REFERENCE HAHA I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE KATE

im glad they're talking about alex and the reverse mogrification incident! i am also Intrigued

wait i thought ros and marcus were 10 years old? but agatha mentions how ros is 13? did i miss something

alex and hester aunt and niece relationship :')

this unspoken understanding between the pendragons is everything bless u kate

"i love it when Evers act like Nevers," emi told her grandsons from under her tree. “it’s good for the liver.”

EMI KNOWS ROS IS A NEVER SHE CALLED IT

oh alex u sweet darling child of course sora and talib are boyfriends even thorne could see it

this alex and thorne thing? gotta say,,,,,, i see the ship possibilities

SORA YOU EMOTIONALLY CONSTIPATED BUFFOON JUST TALK TO YOUR BOYFRIEND TALIB OH MY GOD

omg the everboys sitting in the beautification lesson im excited

emma,,,,... darling,,,,.........,,, they're Gay

i support alex's plan to look hot for the snow ball and single-handedly destroy the buffet

i love how tyler and marcy are in the squad now :')

anemone: WHO

talib: i'm not telling u!

anemone: WHICH GIRL

talib: not a - not a. uh, girl

anemone: I RESPECT THAT ALSO

tyler, nadiya, and marcy quietly discussing alex's type LKSDJFLSJFK

sora im bout to body slam u talk to ur bf u idiot donkey don't be like teenage tedros and agatha

"akiyama sora is a dead man," muttered nadiya" i bow to one (1) queen

SORA'S GAY PANIC

chapter 29: fellas is it gay to protect roses from winter damage

"poor thing,” she added as an afterthought. alex was forcibly reminded of her aunt’s 100% Evil status"

i love these scenes with sophie <3

"er. it's okay, professor," said sora's mouth. alex for the love of christ help me you useless git, said sora's eyes"

FINALLY SORA YOUR TWO BRAIN CELLS KISSED AND EXPERIENCED COMMON SENSE

alex saying marcy has horrible taste in men but swearing to take tyler's kidneys if he doesn't go for marcy - true friendship

AWWWWHHHHHH ALEX CAME UP WITH THE IDEA FOR THE EVERGIRLS WHO DON'T WANT DATES TO GO TO THE SNOW BALL WITH ANEMONE <333333

anemone just said the f word is this legal

the amount of times i've screamed over sora nd talib is too much to count - sometimes in excitement and sometimes in pain

"he was cut off when talib seized his collar and kissed him, much harder than sora had kissed him the first time" my lungs are exploding

ANEMONE IS ME I AM ANEMONE

"sora exercised all the curse words he knew in her native language. alex grinned. "you sound like ros. except ros knows more words" oh??????????

i've smiled more reading chapter 29 than i have this whole year

sora: weren't u listening to the announcement yesterday

alex: who was doing the announcing?

sora: pollux

alex: nope

love that tedros deemed his wedding outfit a Sacred Object

i love how tedros and rosalind bond over fashion

alex has a daily ritual of high-fiving the statue of king arthur, her grandfather. i love her.

omg tedros adopting a pseudo father figure role over tyler love that

i said love so many times but i can't help it this fic is just too good

it's official: sora is alex's partner in crime

so just to catch up, the squad consists of alex, nadiya, sora, talib, tyler, marcy, and june - and out of this chaos rises a mom friend: nadi

i never knew how much i wanted to see the teachers gossiping until i got it

of course agatha never hired a nanny for her children she loves them too much to ever not raise them herself >:((((((

magazine with a pic of talib: major hottie alert!

sora: finally, some high-end journalism

kate ur mind is amazing

omg i love this curses! the musical plot point im excited

ros? as the queen of camelot? Sign Me Up

SORA ND ALEX WROTE THE SCRIPT KSJFSDLJFSLD HERE WE GO

alex is drawing a six pack on her stomach with a pen to prepare for her role as tedros somebody please help me my lungs have ruptured 

title reference on a crop top!! impressive!!

"MORE PANACHE !" sophie bellowed at the stage" did soman write this or did u kate

is marcus on the autism spectrum???? it would be great if he was

"alex said a quick prayer to rosalind, patron saint of spinning half-truths to people and getting away with it"

im grinning so hard at agatha possibly dying of laughter during alex's rendition of curses! the musical

"tedros made a sound like an animal in pain and sank down so low in his seat that he was barely visible. agatha burst into hysterical cackles, reminding ros, not for the first time, that she had been raised by an actual witch" "'tedros' and 'hort' had a rap battle that ended up getting too personal and devolved into a fistfight" AGATHA AND I ARE BOTH GOING TO DIE

"she turned around, saw tedros stood behind her, and screamed. tedros held up the programme, open on the page which said rewritten by akiyama sora and alex pendragon. alex screamed louder."

i adore the news' headlines

what's on the school master's mind??????????

omg is it about marcus and ros??

YES IT IS SKFDSJFL

chinhae is ros' friend and both of their names were circled in red bc the school master has a plan for them. whoaaaaaa

"slowly, she turned back to look up at the school master's tower. and got the distinct feeling someone was meeting her gaze" chills

finished 1:06 AM june 14, 2020

[crimsoncondor]

Kakegurui: Psychological Analysis of Yumeko Jabami (Anime)

This is a description of the ENTP personality type:

https://www.16personalities.com/entp-personality

Pathological gambling presents itself in ways akin to Yumeko's derangement:

https://www.ukessays.com/essays/psychology/a-study-on-pathological-gambling-as-an-addiction-psychology-essay.php

(Note the latter source is theoretical. It is possible psychosexual and nurture-related factors contribute to gambling addiction.)

The neuroscience behind pathological gambling directly aligns with Yumeko's mindsets and functions:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3858640/

Color Symbolism Theory:

https://bloodorangesangria.tumblr.com/post/162532139590/kakegurui-color-theory-yumeko-jabamired

Footnotes:

Yumeko is Kakegurui in the form of a character. The series itself is tailored specifically towards her. She is the essence of gambling, addiction, and the combination of both. She symbolizes a myriad of different concepts such as capitalism and Christianity. While Kirari embodies God, she represents Satan. This is implicated in the first opening theme, which is fittingly titled "Deal With the Devil"; this "deal" is the agreement to gamble with Yumeko. She and Kirari appear in the track encompassed by fruit and fish. The former alludes to the serpent's enticements in the Adam and Eve anecdote while the latter refers to Ichthys, a fish-shaped acrostic deemed sacred by the early Church. Because Kirari often compares the order she has established to an aquarium, let us assume the fish is her insignia. The fish may also insinuate the duo are manifestations of Yin and Yang, which is reasonable considering their black and white designs, but this is less likely. In addition, a shot where Midari shoots a girl whose head is a strawberry is featured --- after shooting, a banner stating "Heaven or Hell" appears. In terms of roles and actions in the series, Yumeko carries the debts of others, disrupting the system, and Kirari maintains the debt system itself. This symbolism also exposes some undertones of Christianity, as Yumeko and Kirari are not the polar opposites people perceive God and Satan to be. The color schemes of their designs differ entirely. Black is a prominent color in Yumeko's design, signifying darkness, and Kirari's design is primarily white, representing light. However, these can also represent other notions. Black is associated with mystery, rebellion, sophistication, elegance, formality, aggression, evil, power, strength, seriousness, and authority. Kirari is the authority of the school despite this representation, but Yumeko is gradually climbing up the hierarchical ladder, nevertheless. Given Yumeko's well-kempt, 'yamato nadeshiko' appearance and courteous dialogue, the messages of formality, elegance, and sophistication are valid. However, this design is also reminiscent of many symbols in Japanese horror such as Tomie, Enma, and Sadako. It implies she is a mixture of both and further reinforces her duality. Her breaching of Kirari's system is rebellious, and her largely unenumerated background is mysterious. Regardless of these alignments, darkness suits her as well. Elementally speaking, red and black are respectively affiliated with fire and water, further reinforcing the notion Yumeko has duality. Meanwhile, Kirari's white color is incredibly contradictory, but this is not an analysis of her, so I shall not digress. I will probably analyze her in the future.

Regarding capitalism, the gambling den which serves as the setting of Kakegurui and each of its ties comprise a purely capitalist society. Money is the key to both power and caliber. Yumeko passively defies the system, which exemplifies her alignment: Chaotic Neutral. Kirari and her accomplices such as Runa, Sayaka, Midari, and Yuriko are the government; they perpetuate the class system. The -bami clan has politics of its own and can torture and rampage as much as it wishes due to the money and authority it possesses. Yumeko is a member of this clan but seems to be quite disinterested in its affairs. Many of her relatives are or were dedicated gamblers, so it seems to have become second nature to her. For example, her older sister lost her sanity after risking everything in a clan conflict, resulting in hospitalization. Yumeko's parents died of allegedly unknown causes, insinuating their demises were concealed by the clan and involved them.

When asked by Mary if she was familiar with any of the -bami students, she hesitated and then answered dismissively, which was clearly fabricated. She seems not at all bothered by this baggage, meaning she either suffers from self-induced denial or genuinely does not care. Rei, who had a pleasant relationship with Yumeko's sister before her hospitalization, took her apathy personally, inquiring about whether she felt any guilt towards those she has obliterated via gambling. Yumeko's response was the epitome of addiction: she claimed to feel guilt for not feeling guilt. When Rei unintentionally walked into Yumeko's sister's hospital room while Yumeko was visiting, she saw little sympathy in her eyes. She adds the following inquiry: "Do you know what it feels like too? When a person sinks into despair?" The manner in which she phrased this refers to both her sister and herself. Given Yumeko's circumstances, she most likely "sank into despair" and coped through gambling. However, referring back to "feeling guilt for not feeling guilt", this guilt could have consumed her. The powerful possibility exists she and her sister were in similar situations, but it could also be quite the opposite, resulting in disconnection and therefore apathy. This apathy may be innate as well.

This leads to the core of my theory. Yumeko was born into a gambling family and conditioned into valuing it. She was likely born detached from others and genetically more susceptible to addiction due to the family's customs, but her current state was probably ignited by conditioning as well. The Jabami family was a lower-tier party in the -bami clan, and the capitalist theme of Kakegurui comes into play here, as they possibly gambled for a higher position in the clan --- or simply for the thrill like Yumeko. It would also be psychologically plausible for Yumeko to have experienced trauma due to the clan's harsh and violent ways. Torture was commonplace in several branches of said clan, and Yumeko may have witnessed some of it due to the loss of her family or the natural process of living in this environment. Being poisoned in Season 2 did not seem to affect her greatly; she may be emotionally numb to these acts due to past experiences, or she could have merely been born this manner. She never reacted to Rei's enrollment in the academy either, meaning she was either apathetic or unsurprised. Her relationship with Rei before the events of the story is unknown but most probably meager and distant, founded solely on external observations such as those acquired during the two's mutual visit to the hospital or the auction gamble towards the end of Season 2. The girl has a photographic memory and excellent analysis skills but nonetheless resorts to hunches to shake gambles up; were these characteristics attained over time because of her experienced past in gambling, were they present at birth, or are both the case? Notice my repetitive usage of the terms "either" and "or"; much of this is hypothetical. It is ultimately an enigma whether nature or nurture was the dominant factor contributing to her instability, but both seem to have played a role. Some people are born like Yumeko, others obtain her identity over time, and some are the result of a mixture. Another aspect of her identity implying sheltering and isolation is her lack of familiarity with basic popular culture, but anhedonia and hedonism may have lead to a general absence of interest in the most simplistic of hobbies, which is similar to Midari's situation and another reason the latter empathizes with her.

Yumeko is aware of her gambling addiction, and she is obviously correct, but has she been formally diagnosed? She may have been evaluated when her sister was hospitalized to ensure she would not meet an identical fate; this is not evident, however. It was practically a given for her to be a gambling addict due to her lineage. When push comes to shove, nobody will risk anything they cannot afford to sacrifice. Yumeko has absolutely nothing worth living for and resorts to gambling because it is the final shred of her identity remaining despite her loss. Since it is her lifeline, she assigns different purposes and emotions to it such as lust. Nothing else will satisfy her, so she must force this fetish on herself. Many other members of her clan deal with the same issue because of filial traditions. Gambling preserves and defines her being rather than the loved ones she does not have, so she never quits. She associates the thrills of gambling with those of intercourse to cope with a lack of affection, which is additionally a habit of Midari's and the main reason Midari resonates with her. Despite her fixation on gambling and disregard for those she harms, she does not gamble for the purpose of hurting others, and she seems to possess a morsel of kindness. She wishes for everyone to experience the same thrill she does but cannot comprehend the fact they lack her passions and mindsets. She is also shown to have some level of integrity, as she never cheats and seldom bluffs. This enhances the experience of the game to her, but it may also be a sign of "guilt for not feeling guilt". In Yumeko's unfinished game with Midari during Season 1, she plainly stated she is incapable of feeling fear. Is this natural for her, was it acquired through intense suffering, or are both the case? I honestly believe Yumeko gambles partially due to her "guilt for not feeling guilt". She wishes for someone to strip her of everything she has as punishment for her apathy or any past errors she committed in regards to her late and incapacitated relatives. While she claims she cannot feel fear, one reason other than addiction which motivates her to try whilst gambling is fear of being defeated and having to face herself. She lacks the courage to accept it on her own. Paradoxically, she is utilizing her addiction to scold her for her addiction, and she is risking what she does not need because there is nothing else to sacrifice. She has lost everything.

Why does Yumeko abhor Midari? Their desires are very similar, but Yumeko prefers an intellectual challenge rather than a game of chance. I hypothesize Yumeko relates to Midari in a way which causes insecurities and "guilt for not feeling guilt". Essentially, Midari hits too close to home and is a more impulsive, minimalistic, dramatic, blunt version of her minus the clan controversies.

This character is the subject of the show and is considered a foil; instead of independently developing, she contrasts with others like Yumemi and Sayaka to facilitate their development . . . thus far. This is one of she and Suzui's only similarities.

On multiple occasions, Yumeko is compared to a Joker. As aforementioned, Yumeko has duality, and Jokers are very versatile in a deck of cards depending on the game one employs them for. In Wicca, the Joker is represented by the number zero, a character which includes the meanings of all or nothing, stoicism and comedy, wisdom and idiocy, and delight and despair. The message a joker brings is cryptic, disguised, and mysterious. There are typically two in each deck --- dual jokers. Playing cards have been in existence for more than a millennium, but jokers were added fairly later; the system Kirari established thrived for quite some time, but Yumeko appeared and challenged its rules, much like the Joker.

"Yumeko" translates to "dream child"; at first glance, she seems too good to be true as if she came out of a dream, but in truth, she is diabolical and sly as if she came out of a nightmare. Her surname contains several meanings. The translation "heavy drinker" alludes to her addiction. "Snake", "serpent", "bite", "eat", "drink", and "receive a blow" are other potential solutions. The idiom "snake in the grass" applies to Yumeko and may be one reference appended to the translation; she "thirsts" or "hungers" for gambling. In "Deal With the Devil", she is shown removing Suzui's tie with utensils, preparing to "consume" him with her nature. Her eventful and detrimental background may have “taken a blow” to her sanity. Most importantly, "serpent" may relate to the Adam and Eve tale, making the fruit in "Deal With the Devil" a symbol of her. She succumbs to her desires and encourages others to do the same. Kirari, Rei, and many other characters in Kakegurui are also members of the -bami clan, so "bite" is a section of their names' translations as well, but "snake" is not, making this biblical reference uniquely her own whilst "bite" originates from the nature of her clan.

Yumeko's personality type is easily ENTP. Her extension is A, and her alignment is chaotic neutral. Laws matter little to her, but she is not particularly invested in specific platforms either. The woman's insecurities are subtle to the extent of nonexistent, she is very straightforward and simple-minded, she is able to maintain conversations and presence in given situations, and she is largely separated from reality, which is mostly by choice. Her manipulative rhetoric in tense situations would be quite resourceful in a debate, and since ENTPs are frequently referred to as Debaters, this is sensible. Kirari is an ENTJ-A, which further defends my argument about the two being similar despite representing God and Satan. Hence, her acronym stands for “Extroverted, Intuitive, Thinking, Prospecting, Assertive”. The enneagram is highly controversial, so it shall not be applied to Yumeko.

"Insanity is repeating the same action again and again whilst expecting different results." -Unknown