#this opera is kind of obscure

[artemismatchalatte]

What if my booktok was just a front to get people to read Anne Bronte? :)

[sluttyquarantinetheory]

My one problem with Star Trek is that no one is ever consuming contemporary media. As in media that's contemporary for their time period. Everyone is always reading old novels and practicing classical music. They study Klingon Opera or read old Cardassian mysteries. No one is ever like really into obscure Klingon Nightcore. Nobody is reading shitty Ferengi pulp novels. There's no kids media of any kind. Where is space Sesame Street or junior novels about gaining superpowers from a warp core accident? What about comic books? Nobody is playing crappy indy holodeck games. It's always some recreation of a historical battle or just lounging in a mud pit at some alien spa. Someone give me angsty Bajoran protest music. I need some rebellious teens producing the worst most cacophonous death metal techno that they recorded in an empty cargo bay. I need contemporary pop culture in Star Trek.

[faruna]

I know they probably won’t meet in the game but hear me out

(spoilers for 4.2, furina’s story quest and faruzan’s hangout)

Two young (old) women who were trapped for centuries doing one specific task relentlessly and now, having been freed from that task, are having to adjust to normal human life even though things are different. They both used to hold lofty positions and now they’ve lost some of their celebrity status and fallen out of step with society to a certain extent, there’s a degree of separation there that wasn’t there before.

Furina spent 500 years performing a role in accordance to what her people wanted to see, I kinda like the idea of her being with someone who isn’t involved with the world of theater at all. Faruzan is so bluntly, unapologetically true to herself even though her academic studies and interests have fallen out of fashion and I think Furina would admire that about her.

And I think Furina could broach that century-wide disconnect Faruzan tends to have with most of the people around her. There is such a specific kind of loneliness and silent endurance that these two carry with them and it’s sometimes addressed but never fully unpacked in the game. I feel like it would be kinda sweet if they were able to slowly heal together.

They have such big personalities, I think their dynamic could be silly, especially at first.

Maybe Faruzan makes some easier puzzles for Furina to solve and Furina teaches her how to dance. Maybe they move in together and infodump about opera and mechanisms over simple, homecooked meals. Maybe they grow old together and the process of physically aging is a relief and a comfort to both of them.

I know this is such an obscure pull but I feel like they match each other in interesting ways and could maybe be cute together, thank you for reading!

[34saveme34]

IT'S FINALLY HERE !!!!

I recommend reading Sever the Ties before reading this one! As it does have references to it so reading this fic without context might make this fic more non sensical.

warnings: Gore although not explored to an uncomfortable amount, trauma upon trauma, Axol gets brought up in an awful way, I know that Mercy is from Overwatch

It turned out a bit gayer than I thought it would. If you end up having any questions after reading this, don't be afraid to ask :3 I'll try my best to answer you

obligatory @birrdify tag so you can find this beast easy !!

word count:16451

It had been a while since 3 and 4 had their rather emotional adventure. Since then, things have been better. 3 finally let 4 help him more seriously with the café while 4 let 3 help him with his videos. 3 still didn't want to just take help without anything so this was the compromise they reached. The others were peaceful too, 1 and 2 calmly doing their meme research, Meggy, Melony and Tari training together, mainly Tari since Clench appeared. Although he wasn't very fond of that. They had to give him duck pictures every few minutes to comply. He's like a toddler. Saiko was there too, although more passively, just making sure everything was okay. Everything that had been happening lately just had her really worried. Although she didn't show that, she didn't want to worry her friends. And usually when she would show concern, people many times thought she was overreacting.

Luigi was tending to his flower shop like usual, just… Very Peaceful.

Everything was just. A bit too peaceful, very little chaos present, almost worryingly.

4 started thinking about it. It was weird. He searched for Mario and, interestingly, found him in one of the unfinished rooms, watching TV. 

He only managed to find him because a set of extension cords plugged into each other were leading to a room there.

“Mario?” 4 peaked in the room to see only the TV’s light and Mario, anything else that could’ve been there was obscured by the darkness.

“... Yeah?” Mario replied a bit slowly.

“What… What are you doing up here?”

“Watching Tee Vee” Mario said cheerfully. TV made Mario very happy.

“Why here?”

“Nothing distracts me here” 

“Huh, um… alright. I was just worried because you haven't been bothering anyone for a while”

“Awww, SMG4, you miss it?”

“Um-”

“Oh my god, you miss when I mess with you guys! That's so funny” 

“Mario… I guess. I guess I did miss it”

Mario chuckled.

“Sometimes even Mario has to rest you know”

“Yeah, I get that… what are you watching anyways?”

4 asked as he walked beside Mario to see what he was so occupied with. It turned out to be what 4 would guess is a spaghetti themed soap opera, considering the vibes of the scene he saw with pasta in shape of a man and also some in shape of a woman arguing then making out and then arguing again-

“It's very entertaining”

“I… sure see that…”

4 wasn't exactly that big of a fan of such dramatic television. 4 went to leave the room but stopped for a bit.

“Make sure to do something other than watch TV though. Dark rooms…. have their effects…” 

“Okay, mom” Mario dismissed 4.

4 rolled his eyes then finally actually left. Besides, he had a lot of videos to work on with 3. It was kind of interesting working with him like this. Especially that things are really looking up now.

Although Mario wasn’t exactly respectful towards 4, he still took his word. But not to touch grass. He found a show that reminded him of Two Piece.

“Ooooh, Melony would love this!” Mario picked up the TV and ran with it in the direction of Melony. Actually, he wasn’t even running, he was flying like a torpedo. Must be all his pent up energy bursting out of him or something.

He found Melony sleeping. He repeatedly tapped her until she woke up.

“Hmm..? Mario?” she looked at him tired “Do you need something?”

“Mario found a show you might like!!” he slammed down the TV with excitement. The giddiness was kind of rubbing off on Melony. 

“I’ll take a look at it then” she smiled, clapping her hands together. 

Mario took off incredibly fast, which surprised Melony a bit. She thought cardio wasn’t his thing but guess that isn’t always the case after all.

The show was really fun for Melony, truly exploring the depths of fruit romance, in ways that resonated with her so deeply. She wished she could just… absorb it into her. She never saw romance between fruits shown so intimately. With the way they’d hold each other, holding onto each other until the end. Though she was especially sad about a pairing where one of them lost their life to an evil chef. Oh, she awfully hated that chef. She actually kind of resonated with the character that got left lonely. She wished… she could just grab her, pull her out of the screen… Tell her, it won’t be easy but… it’ll pass one day. Everything will be okay. And she also loved the way fruits rotting were depicted. She usually wasn’t quite comfortable with the topic but there was just… something so well done about it here. Slowly seeing your loved one succumb to a different, much more deteriorated life.

The deep excitement she felt about the show slowly put her to sleep. It was odd for her to sleep like that but hey! Sleep is always good.

She found herself in a black void. Though she could feel ground underneath. She breathed in. Breathed out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Relax.

She tried to make out anything in her surroundings. As she walked around, her steps echoed, although it didn’t sound right. The way how even just the sound of her breath would bounce off the walls, then the sound ringing in her ears. She wasn’t exactly the cowardly type but this was starting to freak her out.

Regardless, she marched on, trying to find a way out of whatever she was in. She found a doorway that was blocked by debris. She sighed then thought for a bit… She had her deity powers. She tried to pick up the debris bit by bit but for some reason, even the smallest bits felt infinitely heavy. Even just a dust particle made her sink into the floor, no matter how much she tried. She sat down on the ground. It had been a while since she felt so powerless.  She didn’t think she would find herself digging out such feelings she held. She thought she got rid of them at this point. Though there will always be inevitable things she won’t be able to escape.

She just sat there. Her breath. Echoing. Yet it was so deeply quiet. Way too quiet. Ringing in her ear, the depths of this nothingness she was trapped in. It had been a while since something was threatening to drive her mad this badly. She finally got up, walking in a different direction. Maybe she’ll find the way out that way. Or at least a purpose so she could stop feeling so worthless again. She knew her friends cared but she still couldn’t quite shake off everything she was feeling. Especially after missing out on so much. She was wondering if she felt that way because she had been avoiding new adventures so much. Sleeping away another day or 2, in hopes that tomorrow would be a new day she could finally do something more. 

As she walked, she found a doorway with a beaten up door barely in its place. As she looked at it closer, she noticed blood splatter on it. Some of it looked old… some of it new. She was starting to feel rather anxious. Although she should be strong, the sight of blood always did something to her head. As if reminding her of times she would rather forget about.

She barely thought much more as she opened the door. Hell, to her it almost felt like she was being controlled. As she looked around, a horrific sight filled her view. It was Axol. He tried to speak but…that wouldn’t have been possible, looking at his state. She couldn’t speak either. She couldn’t call out. She didn't want this. She JUST had this image slowly fading from her mind. The time when she had to kill him for the good of everyone. He wanted her to kill him at that point. They both knew there was nothing else they could do. Yet, she would still be often haunted by this scene. A scene only she had to witness. Only she had the burden of having to see the light leave his eyes, to see him go limp, lifeless. And now, it was so clearly in front of her, so deeply visceral. Just as visceral as it was in the moment. She cried, she couldn’t help it. She slowly managed to make herself look away. It was hard to do from everything that was boiling within her then. 

Wait… She couldn’t really be back there. This must just be a nightmare! A really bad one but still, it wasn’t real. She began to walk away from Axol, slowly breathing in and out. After that awful scene, the awful music of the void like rooms were almost welcoming, even if it felt like they wanted to swallow her whole. As she walked, another familiar sound filled her ears. Sounds of drawing with a pencil on paper. As she walked closer to the source, she saw herself, drawing for the manga, Two Piece, which Axol wasn’t able to finish. There were so many crumpled papers scattered around her, her expression tired, focused but emitting a sort of hopelessness. She remembered this… Starting off really wasn’t easy. So many times she just… She just wanted to give up. But with her friends around it was better. She stared at herself for a bit. She wanted to say something.

She placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Hey… You’ll be fine”

Her tired self stopped, then slowly looked at her. No words escaping her mouth. Yet those eyes showed so much. All the ways she suffered with everything. The amount of work she put into it. 

“I” she started again “...We… We might not make it perfect. But that’s okay. Axol wouldn’t expect that anyways, you know? We… still carried his legacy. That’s what only matters in the end” 

Her tired self teared up and pushed her away, going back to hopelessly scribbling.

“Do you even hear me?? We’ll be fine! I promise! A mediocre manga isn’t the end of the world!”

Her tired self slowly raised her hands, bruised from holding the pencil so tightly and for so long. She stared at her. Her eyes were screaming thousands of words. She knew all of it. All the pain. All the doubt. The tears, the needless bruises she bore through it all. She knew it wasn’t for nothing. But it would be too much for anybody on their own. Maybe even with help. 

With being so invested in her feelings, she only noticed an unfamiliar hand on her forehead when she heard a crack.

She woke up, sweating. She looked around. Just where she was before, with the TV still playing the fruit show. She slowly calmed down. It was finally over. Although the images that the dream left in her brain… She couldn’t bear them alone so… best thing to do is to go outside and tell someone about it. That would usually help her. She got up, fixing her hoodie.

She looked out of the room, seeing Meggy and Tari both resting and Saiko beside the 2, calmly strumming on her guitar. They must’ve been training even after she left. She admired how resilient they both were. Even Tari. After everything she had also been through with everyone, she changed a bit too. To her it felt like inspiration. 

“Hi, girls!” she cheered at the 3. 

All 3 looked her way saying hi back but stopping, all of them looking at her horrified. She felt a bit confused.

“Why are you looking at me so weird? Is… my hair looking weird or-”

“Your… face” Saiko was the only one speaking up.

“My face?” Melony slowly felt her face, from her chin to her forehead, her fingers brushing over her usual features until she felt something weird by her forehead. As she trailed along lines she could feel were like valleys on her face. She rushed to the bathroom, the other 3 running after her, with Saiko at the front of it. 

Melony looked in the mirror, her face was cracked like a mask. Wait… The nightmare… the crack before she woke up. It was starting to make sense. Too bad she wasn’t too happy about that. 

The other 3 finally caught up to her, finally being able to be by her side.

“Melony…” Tari looked like she could cry for Melony. Melony could cry too. She couldn’t take it, so she hugged Tari. Meggy patted her on the back and she got pulled in the hug too. Saiko stood there before Melony locked eyes with her and oops, she was in the hug now too. 

“I- I.. I can use all the comfort right now” she spoke quietly. Saiko understood.

They stood there like that for a while. 

“So…” Saiko started “What… happened?”

“Uh… I… I had a nightmare”

“About?”

“Well… Axol”

All 3 looked at her concerned.

“It’s been a while since he showed up like that in your dreams”

“I know! I don’t know… I don’t know why… Oh and… I heard a crack in my nightmare… so…”

Saiko already looked angry.

“I’ll look around in your room” she left.

The 3 looked after her sadly.

“I didn’t know it was still that bad…” Meggy commented again, feeling kind of guilty, as if it was her fault that Melony had such an awful nightmare.

“I thought it wasn’t either” Melony sounded sad.

Tari leaned on her more, trying to comfort her better.

“I know you were getting better! There must be an explanation for this… I think… This is unusual for you?”

Meggy and Melony shared a look, as they both realised Tari is right.

“We must get to the bottom of this” Meggy piped up, as she left the bathroom, going after Saiko. Tari followed, though stopped in the doorway.

“Are you coming too?”

Melony calmed herself a little, lightly clenching her fists, preparing herself to face whatever may come her way. Then she gave a small nod and followed after Tari. 

They all got to where Melony slept before, the TV still in there, undisturbed for the most part. As there was nothing wrong with it, except for the fact that it was turned off. As Melony was looking at it, it was as if the screen itself was crawling deep into her soul. She wasn’t sure if she felt uncomfortable by it or not. But it was a strong feeling either way.

“What is this TV?” Saiko asked Melony.

“Well, Mario showed me a cool show on it. I actually watched it until I fell asleep”

Saiko looked back and forth between the TV and Melony. Seemingly, Tari was slowly catching on.

“Do you think… the show has something to do with it?” Tari looked at Saiko, lightly cocking her head to the side.

“I would say yeah”

“But the show was so good! I’ve never watched something so nice! It’s probably just the show that made me think of the past but that’s- that’s understandable! It was genuinely nice”

“What kinda show was it?” Tari asked.

“It kind of reminded me of Two Piece actually” she cheered.

“Oh, I love Two Piece! Could we watch it together sometime?” Meggy joined.

Saiko was a bit stupefied as the 3 went on to talk about the show as if there was nothing wrong. She still couldn’t shake off the fact that Melony’s face looked like that. She had to go look for answers. And… She might have had just the right idea…

It had been a few days then, Melony’s face still cracked but it seemed she cared less and less. Everybody else around just- seemed to care less. Especially as everyone seemed to be occupied with shows of their dreams. Meggy with a show with so much action and fighting she only could dream of. With wonderful character development, she was mesmerized. Not only that, the female lead absolutely had her from first sight, perfect role for someone so interesting. Playing the whole part perfectly, trying to survive in a world that tried to get rid of her and turning up victorious against all odds. Tari was watching a cutesy show, it was peaceful but still kind of mature with the way the characters talked. She related to the very real issues the characters had while adoring their adorable designs. They seemed to lead much more normal, relaxed lives than what they’ve been having in SMG4. It almost felt idyllic to her. She was close to just… jumping into the TV to escape everything else. 3 and 4 were too busy with their work to even notice at this point. It seemed, even together they can get a bit carried away. Or maybe flirting during work did them in a bit. And nobody even noticed that Saiko was still gone.

This continued. And only got worse. 3 and 4 only realised when barely any customers were coming in.

“You think we messed up? Do they think this place is bad again?” 3 sounded worried.

“No way, we’ve been doing so well! There must be an explanation” 4 wrapped his arm around 3 to comfort him. As usual, it did sort of work. 

“I say we close up and look around”

“Just what I was thinking!”

They closed the café for the day.They first approached the castle, maybe the crew could know something about what was going on. 

They both entered the castle. It was way too quiet. 

“This is creepy” 3 quietly commented.

4 looked at him, that teasing look in his eyes.

“What’s the whispering for? Are you scared someone else will hear you and know you’re a coward?” he laughed.

3 grabbed 4’s face.

“As if you’re not scared!”

“A bit maybe” 4 laughed. 3 pressed a soft kiss on 4’s lips before moving ahead.

4 was left like a smiling idiot before moving along with 3.

They looked around everywhere, not seeing anybody.

Except… Mario. Mario was watching TV, just like how last time 4 really managed to talk to him. Because of work he didn’t manage to hang out with him as much as he wanted to. 

“Mario! Are you at fault for people disappearing??” 3 barged into the room Mario was watching TV in. It was the same room 4 found him in before.

“Shhh!!” Mario shushes 3.

“Dude! This is serious!” 4 chimed in.

They both got slapped out of the room.

“Mario’s watching TV!! Go away!!”

They both got up, it was quite the landing as Mario slapped them pretty hard. 3 had a devious smile on. 4 looked concerned.

“Hey… 4… I have an idea. But you might not like it”

“Say it anyways”

“We could… unplug the electricity! He can’t watch TV then!”

4 thought about it.

“Well- Damn it, what else can we do anyways, let’s go”

“Heh… didn’t even need to convince you this time”

“I just don’t have a better idea”

3 chuckled. They went down to the basement to turn the electricity off. As they came up, they quickly met with a very distraught Mario. And quickly he also went past them. Screaming something about spaghetti. They followed him to see that he devoured the whole fridge.

“M… Mario?” 4 asked him carefully, he was kinda scared.

Mario saw him and ran out. 3 and 4 ran after him to see him yanking the extension cords with might and devouring the TV whole. 

“Much better” he cooed as he sat on the ground, seemingly satisfied with himself.

“What… What was that Mario?” 4 was in disbelief.

Mario raised one finger then lowered it as he thought.

“I remembered I was very hungry! I couldn’t think! TV tasted kind of weird but it’s fine”

“Sure, man” 3 wasn’t even surprised anymore. Mario just pulls stuff like this.

“So… Mario…. Where are the others?” 4 asked, trying not to freak out as he remembered their original goal when they came into the castle.

“Hmmmm…. Mario doesn’t know…. Let’s look together?”

“Sure, come with” 4 said as he now led the way outside.

Walking around, everywhere was kind of quiet. 

“Oh, sure hope this isn’t like that one time Mario stopped time…” Mario sounded scared.

“We’re still moving, idiot, you didn’t accidentally stop time” 3 replied.

“Yeah, 3’s right”

“You’re only saying that because you’re gay for him….” Mario pouted, looking away, crossing his arms.

“Just because I love him I’m not gonna spare him from the truth”

“You heard him!”

“Hmmmm…” Mario wasn’t convinced.

“Besides, what have you been doing all this time?” 4 questioned Mario.

“Watching TV. Only that really”

“Damn, shut in” 3 laughed.

“I… I felt glued to the screen. So… yeah…” Mario looked away from the 2. 3 felt bad almost immediately.

“Okay dude… I guess it’s not your fault- at least you’re outside now” 3 attempted to apologise.

“You tried” 4 didn’t spare 3 of the truth.

3 rolled his eyes.

Mario suddenly stopped by a window. 3 and 4 stopped too, to see him looking at a TV.

“Don’t tell me you’re trying to watch TV again-” 4 was about to freak out on Mario. 

“No no- look” Mario said, pointing at the TV “This is just like the one I had at home!”

The 2 looked at it closely, and recognised it. Not only that, they saw familiar faces on TV. Acting nothing like themselves. Their friends were stuck in shows. 

“That looks like the TV guy’s head who manipulated you” 4 almost shouted with how angry he was at just the sight of the TV.

3 was more calm, at least on the outside. He was more scared if anything. He really didn’t want to see that guy again. 

“That means… that abandoned studio! We… we need to go back there” 4 said.

3 looked uncomfortable.

“Do we… really have to? I mean uh, it’s not like I’m scared but-”

“It’s okay, 3… I believe in us. This is… for all of our friends”

“Our friends… you’re- you’re right but-”

“You’re scared he could take advantage of you again, aren’t you?” Mario pointed at 3.

Both were a bit shocked.

“I… I am” 3 looked at him “How… How did you know?”

Mario twirled around once before finally giving a reply.

“Mario cares about his friends”

3 was a bit flustered by that.

“Aww, you’re still not used to being called a friend! 3 !!!” 4 teased him while hugging him.

“Awww, SMG3!!” Mario joined in on the hugging as well.

“C- Can- Can we just go, please??” 3 cried out. The other 2 laughed as they now got going to that very dreaded place. At least they felt a bit better now.

Just as they were about to go in, even if they likely just. Weren’t allowed to, they got grabbed from behind. 

And, my god… All 3 screamed.

“What- quiet, oh my god” the very mysterious TV man said as he stepped back from the 3.

“What are you doing to our friends? Let them GO??!” 4 was ready to throw hands. He was so furious.

“Hold your horses, SMG4, we didn’t even have a formal introduction yet!”

“Hell if I care, I just want you dead” 4 didn’t look like he was kidding. 

The TV headed man looked unamused. 

“I should’ve expected that…” he reached a finger towards 4, stopping him in his place.

“Now! Might I introduce myself! I’m Mr Puzzles, the head of Puzzlevision, a studio that is on its way to be THE best one. You’re walking on historic grounds”

“This place was a dump not too long ago”

“Oh, you must’ve dreamed that!! And what an awful dream that sounds” Puzzles grinned, a menacing aura emanating from his gaze.

“Wh… What but… you… we… we…”  3 felt scared again. 4  wanted to move so badly to comfort him but couldn’t.

Mario wasn’t sure what to do. He realised, he needed to stop thinking. And so he stopped his needless thoughts and rammed right into Puzzles like a bull. It was so sudden, Puzzles had no way to react.

“Oh why YOU-” 

It was then that Mario realised he got himself into a bit of a pickle. He didn’t have time to think, he launched himself right into the studio.

“YOU CAN’T GO IN THERE” Puzzles ran after Mario, looking so angry he was tearing up from it. 

3 sighed, looking at the still frozen 4. He couldn’t hide it, he felt a bit hopeless. He grabbed 4’s frozen hand with which he was trying to reach for Puzzles. His hand still had the warmth he was very familiar with. At least something to comfort him amongst everything.He only stopped feeling so pensive when he could feel 4 move a finger. He got so excited, he squeezed 4’s hand as he then fell over with him. 3 chuckled, feeling a little stupid, a little embarrassed. 

“Sorry, man” 4 chuckled back as he tried to get up.

“A little more?” 3 held 4 back.

“I appreciate that but- on the ground?”

“Okay okay, fine” 3 looked away as he got up. 

“No need to be embarrassed! I do love your hugs” 

3 sighed as he pulled 4 in for a quick peck on his lips.

“Yea yea but we have bigger things to worry about right now! That TV guy is still definitely chasing Mario”

“Mario! Right! Oh god, I hope he’s okay” 4 ran in, 3 followed after.

“Probably-” as they walked in, the place was in chaos. They looked around, finally finding the 2 with Mario being about to be caught.

“Mario!” 4 cried out when he saw him. Puzzles got distracted, which gave Mario the chance to fight back as he punched Puzzles’s screen. And not lightly at that. The sound of it shattering. It was as if the whole building went silent. Puzzles seemed to stop. It was so quiet, you could hear their breathing.

Puzzles slowly looked back to Mario, holding his own face. His gaze rained on Mario like an avalanche. He wasn’t exactly one to feel intimidated but here he was. It was as if the TV was bleeding pure technicolour. The TV itself still somehow worked, although glitchy. His head twitched. 

3 had enough of watching as he kicked Puzzles in his shin. It distracted him long enough that the 3 of them could escape Puzzles’s grasp. For now.

They ran and hid in a room. It was dark. Not pitch black but pretty dark. As their eyes adjusted, they noticed 3 chairs by each other. It was a bit weird. Mario took a seat without thinking much about it. 

“Mario, you can’t do that!” 4 tried to warn Mario who really didn’t give a single damn. 

“Why can’t I? It’s just a chair!”

3 and 4 were staring at Mario for a bit, nothing seemed to happen.

“Eh, might as well” 3 took another seat.

4 gave into peer pressure, sitting down himself.

“Okay, but we still need to figure out what to do about this guy… But more importantly, how to save our friends.”

“Yeah… I don’t get it. I thought we got rid of him then!” 3 grumbled.

“If anything, he acted as your wingman with how long you took to get together” Mario said rather nonchalantly. 

The 2 stared at him.

“I bet we would’ve realised without him!” 4 felt upset, 3 patted him on the back.

“Yeah! And our confession to each other would’ve been so much better if he didn’t step in!” 3 was upset at the idea that Mario proposed as well.

“Not to my knowledge”

“What do you know anyways?” 3 was agitated.

Mario just grinned so wide, even in the dark it was annoying.

Just as 3 was considering hitting Mario, light appeared in the room, in the form of a TV.

3 and 4 felt rather scared, jumping into each other’s arms, maybe even considering leaving while Mario looked excited.

“Yay TV time!” Mario cheered, as if he wasn’t JUST chased by a TV headed man out to kill him.

3 and 4 sat back, trying to calm down. A film started playing.

As the credits rolled, they recognised some names. Their friends were playing in the movie.

3 and 4 shared a glance while Mario was almost glued to the screen. 

Then the title came up.

…

“The fragmented director”

The scene opened with a montage of a cheerful kid, drawing and getting older over time. Just as the time passed, his drawings were getting better too, more advanced, as if it could escape the screen and get you. Especially because they were animated. The film continued with the now teenager making more and more things. So much of it felt like a reference to something, especially from big movies and shows. 

3 and Mario didn’t quite see it, but 4 was starting to get uncomfortable with how alone the kid seemed to be. Nobody else appeared in the scenes so far, just this kid and his drawings. 4 could relate in his own way. Thinking about all the times he locked himself up to work on things, just as lonely as this character, chosen but still painful loneliness. He was starting to feel it maybe a little too much…

“Dude.. are you crying?” 3 whispered to him.

As 4 took his hand to his face, indeed, tears were streaming down his face. How did he not realise it?

Mario looked at him too, immediately feeling worried for 4 as he leaned on him, trying to give him at least some physical comfort.

“It’s okay… I’m okay… just… a little too relatable”

3 shook his head, holding 4 himself. 4 was trapped in the hold of the 2 people he cared about the most…It was reassuring as he managed to look back at the screen.

The next scene began as the adult version of the once teen entered an office. As the scene continued, it became obvious that he got a job in the animation industry. He was still rather painfully lonely, even if there were people in the background. They were never directly interacting with him.

As the scene went on, he seemed to have more and more workload on his desk. His hand was shaking, his eyes not focused, with eyebags. He was overworked. He couldn’t stand it. It was obvious. 

The scene ended with him finally clocking out and heading home. 

4 was starting to feel weird about the relation of the title to the actual contents of the movie. This guy was nowhere near to being at such a high position, neither did he seem fragmented. It gave him a bad feeling. 

It was late at night when the scene opened again. The man couldn’t sleep. He got up and went outside. The night looked peaceful, everything looked serene. The sky was just as pretty as ever.

The man looked up at the sky, as if wishing for something, then he went inside. 

He seemed to think for a bit, before getting out a box full of DVDs of movies he could watch. As he was searching, he didn’t hear it. He didn’t feel it. He didn’t know what was coming. It was loud, sudden. Fatal. It ripped his head right off, whatever it was. The scene was dark enough that you wouldn’t be able to see too much detail, just enough to make out what happened. It left 4 stunned, but 3 seemed to take it worse as he noticeably hugged him tighter when the scene happened.

The scene slowly closed with slowly zooming in on the TV, kind of damaged yet for some reason it still seemed to be on and flickering.

The scene went dark, then it opened in the studio the guy worked at. It seemed the workplace was more alive. With some people chatting on a break, others working on stuff together, helping each other. Although it wasn’t corporate grade efficient, people were definitely having more fun.

Slowly, as the scene panned from everyone working, it seemed to go to one door. A closed door. The door slowly opened. As if for a split second it looked bloody everywhere, the red mixing with a familiar technicolour mixed within, making the scene pretty yet still gruesome. However the scene went back to normal, as if nothing was ever out of the ordinary. 

The door revealed the all too familiar Mr Puzzles sitting behind the desk in a rather comfortable chair, directly looking at the camera. He was smiling, although it started to feel more threatening. 

The scene switched back to the dark, red scene. Puzzles was holding a guy, limp. His expression and the amount of blood on him seemed to indicate that he killed the man. There was just enough detail on there to see that the dead man was dressed in formal attire. It seemed similar to what Puzzles was wearing, as if to indicate the idea that he took his place. The screen suddenly went black. 

Then the outside of the studio was shown. Time seemed to have passed, as the text “A few years later” showed up on the screen. The studio was much bigger than what it seemed to be before. It looked like Puzzles brought the place to success. Just as someone with a gun just barely managed to appear on the side of the frame, the scene changed, being on the inside, full of very happy workers. Maybe too happy. Uncanny happy. But they were working.

The scene then switched to a smug Mr Puzzles, looking at something. The scene then switched to what he was looking at, which seemed to be a list on a computer with other studios’ names crossed out. It kind of looked like a hit list for competition in a way.

 But just then. Gunshot. Screaming. And bam, the atmosphere changed. The environment coated red, with bodies littered everywhere, mercilessly. The figure that showed up in the frame before walked by, just as mysterious as before. Walking till they reached an all too familiar office. Though this time, it wasn’t Puzzles’s doing that everywhere was covered in blood. Perhaps the movie was just foreshadowing this. Because it was hard to deny that the scenes when 3 and 4 thought about it - Mario was busy thinking about spaghetti at the sight of the colour red - were way too similar for it to be a coincidence. 

The door opens again. Puzzles looked terrified but not shocked. It was almost like he was expecting this to happen. 

“I’m doing this for everyone” the chilling text read on the screen, oddly enough it was centered. Behind it the gun was slowly raised at Puzzles, who didn’t seem to do anything about it. He was expecting it for sure. 

The screen went dark as soon as the gun was fired. Then a familiar scene showed up. With 3 and 4 when they were in the ruins of the studio. There wasn’t any audio but it was obvious they were being gay. Mario teasingly pointed at the screen, making both 3 and 4 roll their eyes.

However, after they were out from the crumbling building, once they were gone, a hand reached out from the ruins. A very familiar hand at this point. And that was where it ended. Although an abrupt ending, they could sort of start to guess what happened after this.

4 wished he could beat everything that’s left alive in him at this point. He was really tired of this guy. Although the movie had him kind of confused. How did he come back to life? What was even the thing that killed him? And… How did he acquire anti meme energy?

He hated coming back to this same point that had his head in the clouds, clouds that compared to the worst storms. He did get headaches from thinking about it sometimes. He was too curious yet he couldn’t figure it out… The Godbox was no more. They destroyed it. Wasn’t that the only place where anti memes would occur? It didn’t make any sense. And yet he tried and struggled for an answer either way to no avail. But it felt like he was missing something. Like a missing fragment of a puzzle that just wouldn’t complete.

He looked to 3, seemingly with a similar reaction. 3 looked back at him. While first with confusion, his expression heavily changed when he realised.

“We brought this bitch back to life!!”

“What?” 4 was as confused as ever. Clueless idiot.

“Our meme energy? I think… I don’t know…” 3 looked down, not quite sure now himself either.

“Hmmm” Mario joined in the convo “Maybe SMG1 and 2 could help?” 

“Wow, smart!... From Mario. What a day” 3 laughed. 4 laughed too, maybe looking at 3 a bit too strongly.

Mario rolled his eyes at the gays, getting up from the chair.

“We don’t have all day… besides” Mario patted his tummy “Mario is about to crave some mad spaghetti”

3 and 4 exchanged glances, before they got up and walked to the door as well, cautiously opening it. Nothing seemed to be around. Nobody. Not a soul. So empty their tiny breaths could echo. 

They left the room, walking out in the chaos Mario left. This felt… too easy… Though, they still didn’t know what happened to their friends. Only thing 4 noticed was they sometimes showed up in the background of that peculiar movie. They weren’t exactly in the focus so it took him a bit to realise that they were appearing from time to time. 

Just as they were about to walk out of the door, Puzzles appeared again. His screen was fixed. It was quite fast for being so damaged.

“Mario can kick you again!!” Mario piped up “I’ll beat your ass”

Puzzles flicked his hand and stopped Mario in place.

He walked up to the other 2 as he shoved Mario out of the way.

“Enough of him, I wanted to offer you 2 something” his now well known menacing gaze came back.

“What?? No, I don’t want anything from you!!” 4 could care less.

“Really now? Not even your friends?” Puzzles laughed.

“Our… our friends”

“You’re a sick freak, I hope you know that” 3 tried to comfort 4 while staring daggers.

“I’ve been told, yes… but… my deal for you, SMG4”

4 stayed silent.

“You see… I’ve never seen SUCH a strong need for great content as yours. Your will to create… It’s rather marvelous. And I need it. If you joined me… We could make something perfect. I know… I know how long you have been chasing that, even if you don’t tell anybody. I know”

4  looked at him shocked. He couldn’t reply. Puzzles wasn’t wrong.

“Seems I gotcha, didn’t I?” he laughed “Regardless… I was hoping you could join me in this endless endeavor” 

“4…?” 3 looked at 4 worried.

3 didn’t take long getting angry.

“He- He’s not leaving this world behind! I know he enjoys it more when it’s authentic and fun, he doesn’t need you and your artificial concept of perfection”

“Well, just look at him! Don’t you see it in his eyes?” Puzzles leaned closer to 4 “I can see it… that utterly strong urge in him to always prove himself… to prove himself worthy of people’s attention. And I can give that to him, unlike you” 

“I helped him finish the perfect video though”

“And I got him there. I gave him the needed tool to make sure it could even happen in the first place. You 2 don’t even come close to what my tools can do on their own… Imagine how much greater… maybe even both of you would be? Wouldn’t it be great? Finally… achieving perfection, the height of creation… and, leaving behind the times when people didn’t even care about you, SMG3”

Puzzles grinned wide, seeing how he managed to get to the both of them until he got hit hard on his head.

“HUH??” he turned around to see Mario “HOW DID YOU UNFREEZE YOURSELF??”

“Kiss my ass” Mario threw it back before he started running around like crazy. Puzzles could feel something snap in him as he went to chase after him, even if that wasn’t the logical thing to do.

3 and 4 used that time to get away and find 1 and 2 to figure out what’s going on.

It took a while but at least they got away from Puzzles’s grasps.

“3…?”

“Yeah, 4?”

“You… You think Mario will be fine?”

“I… I’m sure. You know he’s strong”

“Yeah but-” 4 stopped “I feel guilty. We just left him there”

3 stopped beside 4, slightly annoyed.

“Maybe… we can lessen his suffering if we speed up and try to get to SMG1 and 2 as fast as possible!” 3 was rather snarky but it worked, as 4 shook his head then looked up to the sky, hope sparking within him.

“You’re right”

“Of course I am, now let’s get going, you lovable loser”

4 laughed at the name before he hurried along.

They got into the city. It was rather empty. No buses even going around. Cars left unattended. 3 already had his villainous look come up on his face.

“4, we gotta steal a car, dude”

“No… Not today, 3. We’ve gotta get to them without committing several crimes along the way.”

3 rolled his eyes.

They looked around more. Waited around. Genuinely, everywhere was empty.

“Okay… we’ll steal a car”

3 immediately chose one that he had been eying for a bit and got into the driver seat, speedrunning hacking it so it can be driven without a key. 4 just took the shotgun seat with a tired sigh.

“Got it!” 3 cheered.

“Alright, just start driving or who knows what will happen to Mario”

“Already ahead of you!”

And they sped off. No cops anyways so 3 wasn’t respecting any of the rules of the road. That much was expected though.

They got there pretty quickly considering there was nobody to chase them either for speeding.

They got out and knocked on 1 and 2’s door in their apartment which they had to sadly break into. There wasn’t anyone there to stop them anyways.

An exhausted 1 opened the door, who looked at them weird for a second before feeling relieved.

“Thank god you 2 are okay! Come in” he motioned for them to go inside.

Inside they saw 2 being greatly buried in research. It seemed they were looking for something. Saiko was there as well, doing her part in research as well. Though she looked more exhausted than the other 2.

“...Saiko? You’re okay?” 4 felt surprised.

She took a bit to look away from the book she was trying to get through.

“Okay is an overstatement”

“She’s been looking for a way to help Melony” 1 added context.

“What happened to her?” 4 asked.

“You didn’t see? Her face cracked, and from what I found… It might not be so great. But I… I’ve been looking either way. I wish I could help her”

“Geez… 4, maybe we’ve overdone the whole uh…” 3 turned to 4.

“We’ve been way too busy… we barely realised what was happening… How long have you been here?”

“About… a few days?”

“8 days and counting” 1 said before going back to searching himself. 

“Well… 3 and I figured something out… And it might not look so great”

“Oh? A new lead is probably what we need right now” 2 crawled out of the books then yawned. Although he seemed intent to listen either way.

“So… I’m pretty sure it’s our fault…”

“What?” 1 looked up surprised “What did you do?”

“You remember that big amount of energy we caused when we uh… mended our guardian bond?”

“...Oh”

“The TV that had been haunting us used it to come back to life”

“It seems that was his plan all along” 3 commented “What an insidious freak… kinda envious in a sense”

4 looked at him, unamused.

“Anyways” 4 continued “I don’t know if I mentioned it before but… I’m starting to feel more and more scared about the idea that he had access to anti meme energy”

“Yeah… that shouldn’t be possible. We destroyed the Godbox!” 2, although tired, was still very adamant about that.

“At least we thought it seems…” 1 said.

Everyone looked at him.

“But we saw it blow up!” 4 joined.

“But you said it yourself. And both of you felt anti meme energy so…. you would know, no?” 

4 wanted to combat it with something but he couldn’t.

“I just don’t… I don’t get it… I thought we destroyed it”

“Wait…” 3 thought for a bit “We didn’t destroy it… it was only blown up”

“Isn’t… that the same thing?”

“No! You see… explosions don’t destroy anything in a meaningful way… they tear things apart. If you exploded right now, we would still have the material you were made of!”

“... You want me to blow up?” 4 looked sad.

“No, you idiot” 3 chuckled “I just brought it up as an example. But if you continue that way…” 3 winked at 4 before getting back to the issue at hand. 4 understood the implications and became rather flustered.

“So you’re saying…” 1 seemed to catch on “fragments of the Godbox could be still out there?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying”

“Oh no…” 2 seemed to start panicking a little.

“Oh no indeed” 4 added on. He didn’t seem any better.

“We would… love to go right away but” 1 yawned “Well you know…”

Saiko already seemed to lean against the wall as a book slipped out from her grasp.

“Mhmm” she seemed to agree with the unspoken need to just pass out right about then.

“I don’t know… will Mario hold out until then?” 4 thought out loud, which made 1 and 2 go wide eyed despite their god awful sleepiness.

“What… What?” 1 questioned.

“We… only managed to get away because of Mario distracting the insane TV headed guy” 3 confessed, it felt heavy either way.

“Oh no..”

“Do we… Do we trust Mario? We… can’t go back alone” 4 proposed, although he didn’t feel good about it.

“I… I’m afraid yes” 1 felt just as bad about it. Everyone did. Mario didn’t deserve this.

They all decided to go rest up for today, they wouldn’t be quite as useful this tired anyways. 

Although the guest room was taken, there was still a measly couch for 3 and 4. Saiko offered to switch but the 2 declined, saying she needs the best rest possible. It was great to feel cared for. She would’ve felt bad if she declined at that point.

Although 1, 2 and Saiko were quickly all asleep in their respectful sleeping places, 3 and 4 had a harder time.

4 laid on top of 3, it was at least a nice feeling to be close like this. 3 was  petting 4’s head, which 4 laid on 3’s chest. 

“Are you able to sleep?” 3 asked him softly.

4 raised his head up.

“I’m trying to…”

“I’m worried too, 4…”

“I just hope he’ll be okay”

“We’ll make sure of it, okay? I promise” 3 held 4’s face in an attempt to comfort him. 4 scooted a little closer to 3’s face to give him a short kiss.

“Okay” 4 smiled.

“Now sleep, blue, a long day is ahead of us tomorrow… as if we never have big evil to fight… we should take a vacation at some point”

4 chuckled at the suggestion.

“You’re right”

They finally laid down for good, managing to sort of fall asleep.

Mario didn’t have such a great time with Puzzles. The man was chasing him endlessly and was trying to trap him in some sort of substance. The whole area around the studio was covered in it. They both felt tired and yet Puzzles persisted, seemingly angrier and angrier with every strike he attempted to throw Mario’s way. His aim was definitely getting worse. But he got so tired, he raised both of his hands up together and in a downwards motion made enough appear to cover the place with it. Mario wasn’t able to run anymore. He got sucked right in. But Puzzles did so too.

Then, Mario found himself in a dark void.

“Am I dead?” he screamed as he got up “Is this hell??”

“Shut up, heathen” Puzzles didn’t take his behaviour well “You’re being too loud for my taste”

“Am I in hell??” Mario whisper shouted.

Puzzles rolled his eyes.

“No. I actually accidentally trapped both of us” he sighed “I have to be trapped with YOU of all people” 

“You don’t like Mario and his sexiness, huh, TV man?”

“You PUNCHED in my screen??”

“You lived? Haha, cope seethe” 

“YoouUUUU” he got up again, going for Mario’s throat.

Mario tried to punch his screen again, though he couldn’t quite reach. In a moment of desperation, he bit down on Puzzles’s hand as hard as he could, making him yelp in pain, yanking his hand away.

“You ANIMAL”

“Rawwr” Mario looked ready to fight again as he lunged at Puzzles.

They fought around for a while, until both felt tired enough to collapse. Kind of weird how they ended up beside each other. Looking up into the endless void was… somehow calming. Even for Mario. He almost forgot he was stuck in some of the worst situations he ever got into.

“Why did you steal my friends again, TV man?” Mario asked, turning to Puzzles. He seemed to be genuinely curious.

It took Puzzles by surprise.

“Oh? Well… I wanted to make my studio even larger so I can have the biggest and best studio in existence”

“What’s the point of that?”

“Wha… What? Are you kidding? Being accomplished like that? It’s the best thing anyone could have happen in their lives!”

Mario stared at him and slapped him.

Puzzles once again angry, he got up, trying to tackle him. This man annoyed him so goddamn much. Mario evaded him and tried to fight back but he was failing at hurting Puzzles as well. It was almost like they were syncing up in the worst possible way. Missing and dodging in harmony.

“Are you happy?” the question sounded from Mario’s mouth, echoing in Puzzles’s mind.

“What?”

“Are you happy?”

“Why are you asking me shit like this? I thought you were a bumbling idiot”

“Not right now. Are you happy, Mr Puzzles?”

“Oh… Oh! I get it now!” Puzzles got up and turned away from Mario “Your personality is inconsistent! That’s why my powers weren’t working on you! All along, your odd character PROTECTED YOU”

Puzzles whipped around, the anger was kind of familiar for Mario at this point. Another fight, another feeling of exhaustion kicking in. Even the fight felt familiar. Maybe it was just the weird atmosphere of this dark void but he felt sort of less worried now.

Once again, they ended up lying beside each other. 

“You didn’t answer my question” Mario sounded calm.

“And I…. won’t ever”

Mario sighed. They both stayed silent for a while.

Mario wasn’t the one to usually think but he did find the behaviour weird.

“You gave up on killing me pretty fast I’ll say” Mario joked. Puzzles looked at him unamused, no verbal reaction.

After resting enough, Puzzles sat up. He kind of felt hopeless in this silence. 

“You know what, Mario?” he looked to him “I’m not happy”

“Thought so” Mario sat up. 

“Do you… want to know why?” 

“I’m bored anyways”

“Well, you’ve… seen my movie… you know…”

“I know?”

“There’s something inside me that shouldn’t be” he raised his hand to his neck, gently brushing his fingers just above his collarbones. 

Mario only now seemed to catch on. It took him this long to realise that whatever crashed into Puzzles’s living place that night was actually inside him.

“Heh, there’s lot of things inside me as well that shouldn’t be”

“…What?”

“Dumpster”

Puzzles looked at him horrified then chuckled.

“You’re truly a unique kind of a man, Mario”

“I knooow… very sexy and awesome” 

Puzzles rolled his eyes at Mario’s grand modesty. He was starting to find it weird how he was actually starting to have peace with having to be stuck with Mario. Hell, it was a little worrying. 

He never felt this way… Like, enjoying someone’s company? He only ever loved working on his beautiful creations, people were like filler to his life. What changed? Or is Mario really… this special? He didn’t know and never did being unsure in his life make him so conflicted. He always liked to make sure he knew everything, he thought he went into  his plan knowing everything at this point. His plan was flawless. And yet Mario could walk in and ruin it all. And take away the perfection he wanted so much but… In the end, Mario would be right. He doubted it would make him happy. In a weird and twisted way, he felt alright with everything being ruined.

“So… how long are we gonna be stuck here, TV dude?” Mario asked, though seemingly not worried.

“I’m… not sure myself”

“Oh… OH?? Are we stuck here forever?? What have you done?” Mario screamed, jumping up, grabbing Puzzles by the straps of his pants. 

Something hit differently about Mario’s grasp on him as he felt a sharp pain like that fateful day. He screamed as he pushed Mario away.

Mario was confused then saw the state he put him in. Although he tortured his friends, it was still hard to not feel bad for him.

“TV guy…?”

He was in so much pain he couldn’t speak. He slowly laid down, very carefully to not hurt himself even more. Mario sat beside him. His curiosity… He slowly reached out and touched that same place.

Puzzles winced in pain. He didn’t get why. 

He pressed his hand against Puzzles’s collarbone fully.

While Puzzles was in utterly diabolical pain, Mario got reminded of something. This energy he felt. He saw this before. Images flashed in his brain, remembering everything from the time they went out there… Outside of their universe. The anti meme energy. He thought he wouldn’t need to face this traumatic memory again but… Guess he was wrong. Things now started to make sense to him. Although he didn’t know how it was possible. He didn’t need to know that to see that it was. 

He didn’t know what was driving his body but he pressed harder. With both of his hands now. Puzzles screaming didn’t deter him. When he tried to push him away, he sat on his arms, making him ultimately vulnerable to Mario. He didn’t know how to feel. He pushed and pushed until he could reach inside. It was nothing like he thought it would be. Puzzles was warm like a person but not quite of the same consistency. Until he felt something hard within him that didn’t quite fit inside. The memories he had now felt even more real. It sure made him struggle. Even he stopped for a second, especially how it added onto it. Making it more terrifying than it already was. Giving him images of a world where he lost 3 and 4 to a force way beyond him. That was scary to him.

He shook his head. He knew what he had to do. He pulled again. Pulled until what was inside Puzzles seemed to loosen from its place. Puzzles fainted by this point, probably from the unbearable pain. Even though he wasn’t quite human anymore, pain was still a weakness of his.

He finally pulled it out, black blood escaping Puzzles body as he did. Mario felt a little weird now… Did he just kill a man? He wasn’t sure.

He was now alone in the void, with the wretched fragment in his hand, echoing past nightmares in his ears.

His act settled in even more now as he pressed his hands against the wound, not really knowing what to do. It only soaked his hands even more. He desperately grasped into him, just trying to think of something, anything. He didn’t want to be left alone. He wasn’t sure how he felt about Puzzles but it’s much worse without him. That was something he knew for sure. He couldn’t lose him now, no matter what.

As he desperately grasped, light appeared, in the form of dim white strings, seemingly loosely closing up the wound. It wasn’t perfect but the bleeding was getting less intense. Mario didn’t know he could do that. He stared for a bit, not really knowing where to put it.

He sighed, not thinking about it further. He just didn’t want to up his kill count… And he didn’t want to be lonely himself either. He could always get so caught up being around people all the time that he forgot how it feels to be alone. And it wasn’t a good feeling. Though the bleeding stopping made him feel a bit better as he lied down, closing his eyes.

It felt like forever passed as he kind of just fell asleep beside Puzzles. Just because he had the weirdest moment of his life didn’t mean he couldn’t go to sleep with ease. He woke up to movement beside Puzzles as he was lightly clinging to him in his sleep.

“Huh… I’m… not dead yet?” Puzzles spoke, his voice was weak. He looked at Mario. He was finding a fondness he didn’t know he could have for someone.

“Nhggh… Nope… Mario fixed you up with his… white thing”

“Wh… White thing?” Puzzles was confused.

Mario pointed to his wound. The strings were still visible.

“Oh you… you saved me?”

Mario shrugged.

“Mario didn’t know he could do that”

Puzzles chuckled.

“Very well. Thank you though. I owe you”

Mario smiled at him.

“Well, getting us out of here would be great”

“Mhmm… I don’t know how to still” Puzzles frowned.

Mario patted him on the back.

“At least this thing is out of your body” he showed him the fragment.

“Oh- Oh right” he stared at it “What… is this again?”

“Mario’s not the best at explaining things. It is evil though”

“I do agree… it did kinda kill me there for a second” he chuckled

Mario chuckled too.

“You know, Mario… Isn’t this… weird?”

“What is?”

“I don’t feel like getting rid of you anymore”

“Well if you got rid of Mario the world would end so I’m glad” he grinned as if he didn’t just drop information on Puzzles that kinda escaped him before.

“The world would end?”

“You see, Mario is the avatar and if he gets killed for good, the world falls apart”

“A… Avatar?”

“I’ll ask SMG1 and 2 to drop the lore on you” 

“Oookay” Puzzles was a bit confused but he could wait. He would wait all the time needed to have answers if he needed to. It wasn’t the first time waiting rewarded him. He knew patience made greatness.

“By the way…. Mario’s wondering how you’re feeling now?” he looked at him, feeling a bit bad.

“I feel… free in a way. Mind’s less foggy and all that. Thanks, Mario”

“Hehe, I saved the day!”

“I’m still in pain though” he looked away.

“Damn…”

He grabbed Mario’s hand gently.

“It’s probably just the fact that you opened my body without any anesthetics. Which you wouldn’t have been able to get anyways”

“Heh… Mario sees your point” Mario squeezed his hand then thought, as if the brain cells in his empty head decided to align so well this time, he could have a genius idea “I’ve got an idea, Mr TV, but you have to listen to my instructions”

It had been a bit since last night 1, 2, 3, 4 and Saiko talked. Everyone was awake, preparing for their mission. Although 3 and 4 were a bit sore from the couch. It really wasn’t made for sleeping. 

“So…what’s the plan?” 2 asked.

“Well uh…” 4 thought for a bit.

3 took a bomb out of his pocket.

“Can I?” he asked with a silly little smile.

“No” 4 said bluntly. He didn’t give a shit.

3 sulked a bit.

“Well, we know it has to do with the Godbox so… we have to go in, prepared to fight it”

“I guess the best we can do is go in and hope?” 4 sounded unsure of himself.

“Get yourself together, 4. I know you can be a coward but now is not the time” Saiko commented, making everyone look “Now is not the time to question your power to stop this, our friends are on the line here… Melony” the last part from her was rather quiet. She always tried to look out for her when she could so knowing this happened right under her nose filled her with a different kind of fury.

“I say we go in and kick ass” she finished her statement.

“Kicking TV ass does sound good” 3 added with a sly smirk on his face.

“Let’s get going then, shall we?” 1 said as he then led everyone out

It was quite the trip. Almost felt like a little road trip. 3 and 4 fell asleep along it, considering they didn’t exactly get the best sleep then.

Saiko was beside them, kind of trying to ignore them. She might have been a bit jealous. She wasn’t able to see any of the girls for a while now. Kind of hard to live like her, standoffish yet lover of touch.

She slowly got used to it. 

“Oh, they fell asleep?” 2 looked back, while 1 was driving.

“Yeah… I guess they didn’t sleep well last night?”

“Probably the couch being uncomfortable to sleep on” 2 rubbed his chin, as if he was thinking strongly about it.

“If it was anything else I’m kicking their asses, I’ll tell you that” 1 added on quietly. 2 giggled while Saiko facepalmed.

They got there, to the wretched studio, which was covered in black goop. Not fully but there was definitely a place where there was a lot more.

[too-antigonish]

The Great S7 Rewrite

An attempt at summarizing the rocky ground on which we some of us stand following this rather epic post yesterday: Prophetic words from Morse in Oracle?

People had so many interesting things to say that I though it would be nice to keep this discussion public for now.

On the most basic level, Season 7 has two overarching storylines: 

Opera Storyline: The one with Morse, Violetta, Ludo,  and the mysterious accidental deaths

Towpath Murders: The one with Morse and Thursday fighting mainly over whether or not Carl Sturgis did it.

Then you have the episodic murders for each episode: 

Oracle: The math TV program, Dept. of Latent Potential, women’s lib conference, and  misogynist professors in Oracle

Raga: The Indian restaurant, restaurant critic, gay wrestlers, racist poker game organizing politicians in Raga

Zenana: The coming together of the opera storyline and the towpath murder storyline in Zenana.

If, theoretically, you wanted a do-over for S7, what would you need to consider? Below are some of the issues raised in discussion yesterday:

Bone of Contention #1: Opera Rules

S7 may or may not have been asking us to view its world according to “opera rules.” If it wasn’t, then the storylines were just outrageous. If it was, then they didn’t do an adequate job of either:

Signaling that we needed to see this world through that filter

Making the story robust enough that you didn’t *need* to see the opera references to “get” the storylines. (As Durian pointed out: Ride works even if you don’t realize that it’s Gatsby, but S7 doesn’t work if you don’t realize it’s opera. It doesn’t stand on its own.)

I think actual S7 tried to signal that we were in Opera World (#1) by: 

Using theatrical techniques (voiceovers, mise en scene/ tableaux, etc.) to signal that we were in opera world (i.e. heightened reality)

Using opera tropes

Using role reversal with the characters. I think that’s a big reason why the season feels so unsettling overall. Normally Morse is the one doggedly pursuing a hunch based on an obscure clue. This time it’s Thursday. Normally it is Thursday finding out that Morse didn’t check someone’s alibi. This time it’s Morse. Normally Morse and Thursday are calling the shots at the crime scene. This time DeBryn and Strange are having to put them in their place like squabbling children. Etc., etc.

Things in the show are “out of place” as well. (e.g. Thursday is at the early morning crime scene in Oracle instead of Morse. Morse is in Venice instead of Oxford.)

So the questions about Opera Rules are:

Do you keep the idea of Opera Rules for S7?

If you keep Opera Rules, how do you do a better job of signaling them?

If you keep Opera Rules, how do you make the story strong enough that people who don’t understand opera rules will know what’s happening? 

Do you just out-and-out tell people about Opera Rules?

Bone of Contention #2: Ludo and Violetta?

I have yet to hear from anyone who really likes Ludo and Violetta. If someone reading this does, I’d be fascinated to hear why. To say that I find them off-putting is being kind. Why is Morse attracted to two such unpleasant people? And not only attracted, but taken in by both of them? Normally Morse is attracted to girl-next-door types (Monica, Joan). Normally Morse has no time for snobs who name-drop and talk about themselves non-stop (Oxford Don stereotype). 

For me the disconnect lies not in the fact that he could be taken in. I think Astrid and Fanfic are very right about both Morse’s lack of wisdom when it comes to friendship and love, and well as his “secret” desire to have friends who perhaps share more of his interests. The leap I can’t make is that it would happen with these two specific people. Even taking into account that Morse is behaving “the opposite” of his usual way, I can’t see him being attracted to either of these two personalities. 

In the end, like Astrid, I like the *idea* of the Ludo and Violetta storyline but found the way it was played out too incongruous. So what to do? It seems like you can either retool Ludo and Violetta or replace them entirely. Which you choose I think depends on how you want to remake the story and how loyal you are to canon.

My first instinct is to replace them. I find both of them so repugnant, but I do find myself returning repeatedly to an idea that I had when I first watched Oracle, which was that Violetta might actually be more directly based on the Violetta from La Traviata.

She would be a woman from the “other side of the tracks” so-to-speak, but genuinely in love with Morse. You could also use Traviata’s bit where Violetta’s “betrayal” of Alfredo is actually self-sacrifice, etc. I’m not sure about Ludo, but it would definitely need to be someone that Morse would *actually* want to befriend and not someone as obvious as Ludo.

So the questions about Ludo and Violetta are:

Do you keep Ludo and Violetta?

If you keep them, how do you retool them? 

If you throw them out, what do you replace them with? 

Either way (new or retooled), how do you make Morse’s attraction to them believable?

Either way (new or retooled), do you use existing opera tropes/storylines as a basis for their story?

Bone of Contention #3: Towpath Storyline

It seems that there is pretty much universal agreement on keeping the Towpath Murders as a storyline. Also, there is pretty much unanimous approval for the idea of an earlier and more prominent role for Dorothea in the case. Durian points out that this could also have the side effect of reducing some of the tension between Morse and Thursday. 

Disagreement arises over two main elements:

Too many things going on in the storyline

How the conflict between Thursday and Morse is handled.

I’m in agreement on both of these things. In terms of the number of things going on in the storyline you have the whole is it or isn’t it a serial killer, the ESP angle, the flasher thing, the copycat killer, all of the animal imagery and later wolf imagery, the blood drinking, and much, much more. It could work if it all tied together coherently, but it doesn’t—at least for me. It feels like I can sort of see what they were going for, but that they definitely didn’t get there. There needs to be a unifying theme.

With the conflict between Thursday and Morse, my problem is not so much that they have the conflict, but that it comes seemingly out of nowhere. We jump from the reconciliation of Degüello to the petty arguments of Oracle with nothing in-between to explain the change. It’s not that I didn’t find the conflict between these two characters interesting or believable. It’s simply that there was nothing to explain it. Yes, you can say that Morse was becoming more of his own man, but that doesn’t seem adequate to me.

So the questions about the Towpath Storyline are: 

What elements would you throw out and what would you keep?

What would make a good unifying theme for the Towpath case?

What is the source of the conflict between Morse and Thursday? What sets it off?

How do we have Ms. Frazil on the case sooner rather than later?

How does Dorothea diminish tension between Thursday and Morse. 

Of the arguments between Morse and Thursday, what would you keep and what would you throw out?

Bone of Contention #3: The Episodic Storylines

I find it pretty telling that except for one brief mention, no one has strong feelings about the episodic mystery in Oracle. It definitely had less substance that the one in Raga, in part because it had to leave room for the establishment of the two big overarching stories. Personally, I found the sexism angle (the Women’s Lib Conference and Prof. Blish beating out the others for the spot on the tv show) more compelling than the ESP studies angle.

Durian mentioned that Raga, like the Towpath Murders, has way too much going on (Indian restaurant, Oberon Prince and his ex-wife, the gay wrestlers, the racist poker game, the return of the evil beautician, two stabbed teenagers, etc.) Fanfic raised the interesting idea of making the conflict in Raga more of a family conflict, using the political situation with East and West Pakistan (Bangladesh) as a focus.

So the questions about the Episodic Storylines are: 

What elements would you throw out of Oracle and what would you keep?

What elements of Oracle would you change entirely?

What elements would you throw out of Raga and what would you keep?

What elements of Raga would you change entirely? (e.g. changing to internal family conflict)

OK. I'd love to hear thoughts on all of this!

[potol0ver]

Ask; Hello, I read you have your request open, and I really like how you write about Erik. So, if you feel in the mood, I like some scenario (GN or AFAB) in which y/n starts to work ato Opera House like an skilled effect artist and one night, when y/n finally has some time free and alone, Erik found her playing something like ROxxanne tango with the cello, because she play it but only for herself.

Tags; Fluff, GN reader (you and yours),

A/N; Hey, I’ve been silent for a while and I’m sorry for that. I wasn’t motivated to post any fics and was in writers block. Now I need to focus on my health because a serious health concern has come up for me, so I apologize for continuing to be radio silent. I’m a little out of it while I’m writing this so I’m sorry, Please injoy this fic, it will most likely be the last for a while. (You may continue sending asks just be warned I might not be able to get to it for a couple of reasons.)

With a heavy sigh you put aside your art peice, a stage mask that just wasn’t holding up to your standards. You’ve painted over your dried paint and wiped it off to many times to count already. Your hands had become shaky long ago as you sit at your desk that was in an obscure corner of the Opera house.

You push your chair back that gave a screech and sluggishly walked back to your small room in the Opera house. Thankfully it looks like none of your roommates are in the room which means you can properly relax and wind down. Most importantly in your mind, it means you can practice your cello without disturbing anyone.

Quickly you set up your space, adjusting your chair, setting up your music stand, making sure your bow has enough rosin. Flipping to your favorite cello peice you take a breath and start playing. Letting your fingers and how move on the strings fluently, you we’re getting entranced by your cello. Unknown to you, you weren’t the only one being entranced.

Somewhere deep in the Opera house, the Phantom can hear your playing faintly thanks to the echoing of the monumental walls. Intrigued, Erik quietly yet softly made his way to you until he could hear you clearly. Leaning against a wall he let his eyes shut and get wrapping up in your music, loving where you crescendoed and adding your own flare.

When you got to the end of the piece and pause your playing to find another to play, he finally peeked a look at you. He thought you would’ve been apart if the orchestra, but he didn’t recognize you, it also looked your your cello while well kept, was quite old to. Erik became very fascinated by you now, he started by “testing” you. Slipping new and harder pieces for you to try, and if you did play them he’d be happily surprised with how well you make the notes come to life.

Next, after you passed his “test”, he worked hard to see if he can find you a proper newer cello. Only the best for his new found talent, that day by day he was slowly falling for. The more he became infatuated with you he got more determined to find a cello to match your one of a kind soul.

After a while he did find a very good cello, a one of a kind, just for you. So, Erik made quick work to insure it’s yours. He personally polished and cleaned it, making sure no scratches were on the instrument. While you were working hard at your props job for the play, he made diligent work to set up the present in your new room. That of course was also a present from him. How could he let his musical muse share a room with a bunch of strangers?

Leaning the cello against the bedside table he placed a rose and a note next to it. Despite watching you for so long and being so devoted to you, he never got to the courage to say anything to you. Hopefully the grand presents will be a good first impression.

Groggily you walk back to your room, only to be told you don’t sleep there any more. Which after the long day you had of making props wasn’t good for your anxiety. As you followed the directions to your new room, you think about how you could’ve gotten on the bad side of someone to get an even more run down place to sleep in than what you have already had.

All of those thoughts quickly got washed away when you opened the door to your new room. It had everything you needed to live alone, a small kitchen/living room, a nice bedroom with a decent sized closet, even a space to practice your cello. You were so stunned at what you did to deserve this new room that you didn’t question how everything you own was already there.

Quickly, your eyes caught the sight of the luxurious cello next to your new bed. Gently you caressed it, looking over all of the fine details, it looked like a masterpiece that was specifically catered to you. The red rose next to the cello caught your eye next, along with the letter that had a skull stamp.

Carefully opening the letter you scanned the words, a mixture of your emotions sitting in your stomach as you read.

“My dear, I have heard you playing for a while now, and I must say the way you make the notes come to life is hauntingly stunning. You have caught my interest in the best way.

I know you haven’t seen me or heard me before, which is why I hope your new room and house warming gifts are a good first impression. If you wish, I can also arrange a seat for you in the opera’s orchestra so you don’t have to continue working in the messy arts department.

P.S. If it’s not to much to ask, I would like to hear back from you, so please consider us to be pen pals now. Also, if you ever need a quiet place to practice you can always come to my lair to whine down, maybe that way we can play music together.

~Yours devotedly O.G.”

A single thought ran through your mind as a mixture of unease and swooning butterflies ran through you…

What have you gotten yourself into?

[devildomditzy]

Dates I think these mf’s would take you on

Lucifer

I ain’t gonna lie probably the opera 😭

Or like some kind of symphonic orchestra

Even if you’re bored as hell he’s sitting there with a small smile on his face looking pleased with himself

He’d probably take you to a really fancy dinner before or after

The kind that’s so fancy it makes you uncomfortable you feel me

If you’re walking beside him, you’re going to be hanging off his arm

you have no choice in the matter

But at least he’s the perfect gentleman!

(I am a little scared of him)

Mammon

Love of your life he will literally try to snoop into your stuff/eavesdrop your conversations to figure out what you like and try to plan a date around that

But he also likes to be really spontaneous with it, so his two styles clash, he doesn’t really ‘do’ planning

Honest to god he will bring you along with him to one of his schemes and call it a date 😭

But he also really likes just taking you for long drives, he gets to have you alone, all to himself, and you can go anywhere and do anything

Makes him feel so, so happy when he sees you all excited

When he feels important to you, that’s when he gets all cocky

I want him so bad

Levi

Listen…

Y’AINT leavin the house

He wants to lock you in his room to marathon your favorite shows or finish the latest video game in one sitting

He’d bring you into one of his immersive video games as a date, cause he can make any scenario you’d like happen, and he doesn’t even have to leave the house!

If he ever does take you somewhere outside…

Sorry, it’s to an idol meet and greet

Or a movie premiere of some obscure title you’ve likely never heard of

MAID CAFE YOU HAVE NO CHOICE

At least he’s cute 😭

Satan

I ain’t gonna lie probably the opera 😭

Okay jk definitely a bookstore or coffee shop he’s one of THOSE nerds (but we been knew)

He just wants to read peacefully and quietly, book in one hand and yours in the other

CAT CAFE YOU HAVE NO CHOICE

But it’s so so so cute to watch him light up

This man’s reaction to orange cat activities? priceless 😭

Asmo

It’s to some fashion show or makeup product launch party

He’s your arm candy and you’re his

He wants to take you somewhere where he can doll up the both of you so you can show each other off

Probably would take you to a spa, even if you’re not dating you’re the number one person he’s dragging to the spa

Wherever you go, getting into a photo booth is a MUST

Beel

Another boy who just wants to take you somewhere you’d like 🥺

He’d want to take you to one of those couples cooking classes but lbr you’d have to put a muzzle on him 😭

He likes to take you to do outdoorsy stuff, even if you’re not an outdoorsy person, he thinks it’s important that you get out sometimes

Likes to go on walks, simple strolls where he can hold your hand and talk

If you get tired he will piggyback carry you

You don’t even have to ask, he’s hyper aware of when you’re getting tired because he’s so used to Belphie

Sweetie 🥺

Belphie

Not to be an basic bitch with him but - stargazing, you know it’s stargazing

He loves observatories, he loves just laying down on the grass and staring up, and he loves doing it with you

He doesn’t get tired of explaining the same constellations over and over

He especially enjoys pointing out him and beel’s your star

He also loves nap dates!

Get cozy 😚

Oh, you wanna get up? He wishes a bitch would try

You are glued to the mattress until he says so

[marypsue]

Reblog game: 10 movies you gotta watch if you want to be a freak like me.

I was tagged by @gretchensinister!

This list is not about your favorite movies (though some could be). This list is not about movies that have had the most artistic influence on you (though some could be). This list is about those movies that helped give you your specific kind of freakiness, whether you watched them once or a hundred times, 20 years ago or 1 year ago. Good? Bad? Popular? Obscure? Could be any of these things. Freakiness can form in a person from any source. Definition of freakiness intentionally left vague.

It was tough to settle on a list, because it was tough to settle on a working definition of 'freakiness' for the purposes of this post, but I think I got there in the end! The ten I picked ended up being:

Treasure Planet

The Lost Boys

Labyrinth

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers

Ravenous

But I'm A Cheerleader!

Repo! The Genetic Opera

Renfield

Crimson Peak

Prom Night II: Hello Mary Lou

And I shall tag...@thelibrarybat, @forthegothicheroine, @titleleaf, @maddie-grove, @amethystunarmed, and also

@bixxelated and @aethersea. As well as anyone whose name isn't here but who'd like to give it a shot!

[evil-robot-cat]

Is the inspire!reeve thing actually canon? Is it something that was scrapped but hung on to? Was it just said at one point but never brought up again?

Are. Are you proposing to me? 😳

This one drove me nuts for ages because it's one of those things that- okay first off, yes, it's 100% canon.

Inspire was part of Reeve's scrapped story, which was much more dramatic and big. I don't dwell too often in the What Almost Was information, other than to occasionally dust some of it off and go, "Hey, this would be neat in a fanfic." So I don't have it thoroughly memorized. But if I remember correctly, he was supposed to have a psychic connection to the reactors, and be able to control them to try to save the day. All of that was taken out... except they didn't get rid of the ability, just the reactor thing.

Inspire is never mentioned anywhere in the game. It's only named in outside sources like the Ultimanias, interviews, and the trading card game. Some of the information in older sources is outdated and retconned, so Inspire was in this weird limbo for a while, with some people saying it was, and some people saying it wasn't.

In-game, Reeve has a very good reason not to tell anyone about Inspire - it's the kind of ability that would land him in another department of Shinra, and not as the director. (Poor Chadley, we didn't have a clue what you really were...)

Though the generic term "inanimate objects" is written in its description, we only know that Reeve uses it to control Cait Sith. He can and does control multiple Cait Siths at a time, but he says it's difficult.

Cait Sith has a certain amount of his own autonomy. How much is Reeve, how much is Cait Sith, and how much is they're-both-the-same-person-in-multiple-bodies is playfully obscured. Cait Sith says that he's a living being, an unliving robot, and that he's not sure what he is. Reeve refers to Cait Sith as both his friend and other self. The Gi call him "hollow" and openly don't trust him. In Opera Omnia, both Cait Sith and other members of the FF7 cast say vague things when asked about him. They're either not sure, or they don't feel comfortable sharing.

OG Cait Sith implied each one had a different mind, but they seem to have gotten rid of that in Rebirth, and have just one soul(?) bouncing from doll to doll. (OG Cait Sith #2 introduces itself to them as a new person, and has no idea what's going on when Aerith dies. Rebirth Cait Sith refers to what he just went through, then does a dogeza for his betrayal.)

Will they explain it further in the next game? I strongly, strongly doubt it, because half the fun of Inspire is its ambiguity.

But to sum it all up, once again, yes, Inspire is canon.

[elliemarchetti]

The Queen of the Quills - Jily Edition (Part 5)

Posting on Tumblr too because this fic's sister is already there.

Reading The Queen of the Quills - Blackinnon Edition will not be mandatory to understand the developments of James and Lily's story, but some details could be shared, therefore, for anyone wishing to fully enjoy the experience, I will leave this series' masterlist here.

This was @athenasparrow's gift for @jilymicrofics ' Exchange 2024, but if you like it and are willingly to reblog, it would be super appreciated since stories like this require quite some time and effort🥰

Taglist (if anyone wants to be added, please DM me or comment and I'll gladly add you!): @thaisthedreamer

Plot: James Potter, London's most evasive bachelor, an impertinent libertine, has decided to get married. He has also already chosen his wife, the debutante Lily Evans, a self-confident young woman who has not the slightest intention of being seduced by such a man. A Bridgerton inspired Regency AU.

Words: 4093

Mrs. Potter’s musicale proved to be a decidedly musical affair (not, this author assures you, always the norm for musicales). The guest performer was none other than Maria Rosso, an Italian soprano from the all-witch choir known as Spellbound who made their debut in London two years ago and has returned after a brief stint on the Vienna stage. With thick, sable hair and flashing dark eyes, Miss Rosso proved as lovely in form as she did in voice, and more than one, or it would be better to say more than a dozen, of society’s so-called gentleman found it difficult indeed to remove their eyes from her person, even after the performance had concluded.

The Queen of the Quills, May 17, 1813

Lily felt the exact moment he walked in the room. She tried to tell herself it had nothing to do with a heightened awareness of the excruciatingly handsome wizard, she couldn’t imagine that every woman didn’t notice him immediately, and furthermore, he arrived late – not very, but still enough he had to try to be quiet as he slipped into a chair at the front next to Mrs. Evans – still she noticed him before her own mother and sister did, and it rendered her unable to even breathe. He didn’t look her way, but several candles had been snuffed, leaving the room bathed in a dim, romantic glow, so the shadows must’ve obscured her face and the way she tried to keep her eyes on Miss Rosso throughout the performance, even if the woman couldn’t take hers off of Mr. Potter, and for some reasons, it didn’t improve her disposition. She should’ve rejoiced in the fact, it was just another piece of proof he was every bit the licentious rake she’d always known him to be, but she wasn’t feeling smug, or vindicated, she was just heavily, uncomfortably disappointed, so much so she felt herself slump slightly in her chair.

When the performance was done, she couldn’t help but notice how the soprano, after graciously accepting her applause, brazenly approached her suitor and offered him one of those seductive smiles, the sort Lily would never learn to do even if she had a thousand opera singers trying to teach her. There was no mistaking what she meant with that act, and he must’ve realized too, because he threw her a mysterious look and actually tucked an errant lock of her raven hair behind her ear.

Lily shivered in disgust. For Merlin’s beard, the man didn’t even need to chase women, they practically dropped at his feet and whispered sweet nothing in his ears! Maybe she praised him, or maybe she outwardly offered herself, because he leaned down enough to kiss her neck.

“Lily?” hissed her mother, decidedly irritated. “Stop watching Mr. Potter.”

“I wasn’t… well, all right, I was, but did you see him?” she whispered urgently. “He’s shameless.”

She looked back over at him, still flirting with Maria Rosso, no care in the world about who might see.

“I’m sure his behaviour isn’t any of our business,” replied Elizabeth, lips pursed into a tight line. “He has been kind in delivering the invitations to the musicale himself, but I’m certain he wants nothing to do with you after that fiasco in Hyde Park.”

If the situation had been different, Lily would have argued that it wasn't her fault that his dog had pushed her into the water and he jumped in to save her when she was already swimming toward the shore, but she didn't have the energy to argue right now, so she sagged her shoulders and followed her family as they greeted their lovely hostess. Mrs. Potter had fair hair and light eyes, and she was rather petite to have mothered such a large son, so Lily decided her late husband must’ve been a tall man.

“Mrs. Evans,” she said warmly, “what a delight to see you again. I so enjoyed our meeting at the last ball and I must say I’m very glad you decided to accept my invitation.”

“We wouldn’t dream of spending the evening elsewhere,” her mother rejoined. “And may I present you my daughters? The older one is Petunia, and the younger one is Lily.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both, and I would like to introduce you to Mr and Mrs. McKinnon’s daughter, Marlene,” she said, motioning to a young lady at her side. For some reason, Lily was convinced she had already met her, but maybe she was just a classmate she had passed a couple of times in the corridors at Hogwarts. After all, Londoners were used to minding their own business there too, and she had no doubt that someone so beautiful and seemingly delicate was constantly surrounded by flocks of other adoring young women. Anyway, Lily smiled warmly at the girl, who looked to be about the same age as her, even though the similarities between them ended here: her blonde hair were a perfectly styled field of lovely golden wheat and her face was angular, a rather sharp contrast with Lily’s roundness.

 “Is this your first season?” she asked, already friendly.

Both Lily and Petunia nodded.

“How lucky!” she exclaimed. “I attended a few parties last year and may I say they were a bit… boring? Everything was so new the first time, but by the end of spring I already remembered everyone’s name. This way, I thought I could get an excellent match, but as you may see by yourself, I’m still unmarried.”

As Marlene spoke, Mrs. Evans glanced at her son, who kept flirting madly with the Italian opera singer, and frowned.

Lily felt something very uneasy in her stomach: according to recent issues of The Queen of the Quills, Mrs. Evans was on a mission to get her son married off, and while he didn’t seem the sort of man to bend to his mother’s will, or anyone’s, for the matter, she had a feeling the woman would be able to exert quite a bit of pressure is she so chose. Maybe that was why he was so intent on courting her.

After a few more moments of polite chatter, the Evans left Mrs. Potter to greet the rest of her guests and were soon accosted by Mrs. Bones, who, as the mother of three daughters, two still unmarried, always had a lot to say to Elizabeth – she had long declared herself on a first-name basis with the Evans – although that day her gaze was firmly focused on Lily, who immediately began to assess possible escape routes.

“What a surprise to see you there!” boomed the stout woman, leaving her interlocutor puzzled. “Gossip said you were ill.”

“Don’t worry, it was nothing that serious,” Lily retorted, with a weak smile. How Amelia had managed to become a pleasant person to have around with a family like hers Lily just couldn't explain.

“From what I heard, you contracted it in a rather serious way,” Mrs. Bones added, brows rising a good half inch. It was evident she knew, maybe she was even at the scene, but there was really no need to talk about it at the Potter’s.

“A way of little consequence, as you can see,” Lily countered firmly, although she was finding it difficult not to growl at the meddlesome woman.

Mrs. Bones opened her mouth, a sharp intake of breath telling she was preparing to launch into a lengthy monologue on the topic of the importance of good deportment, or good manners, or good breeding, but her youngest promptly interrupted her, offering to fetch lemonade for everyone.

“Lily, would you be so kind as to help me?” she asked, turning to the one she set out to save. “Unfortunately, I still don’t have enough hands to carry all those glasses.”

Lily tried not to appear too eager to accept, but everyone must’ve noticed their urgency to flee from how quickly they walked away, dodging those present with skill.

“Thank you,” she murmured to her saviour once they reached the lemonade stand and grabbed four glasses, for everyone except Petunia, who said she wasn’t thirsty.

“I know how my mother can be, I’m usually her favourite victim, so since I could avoid you what would’ve sounded like a lecture from an almost stranger, I took advantage of it. I’m sure somehow she would’ve found the opportunity to insert me into the conversation just to define me an impertinent social failure,” replied the other, and although a part of Lily wanted to pity her for that cruel fate – no mother should behave like that with her daughter – another part told her not to do so, because the girl needed an ally, not yet another young lady looking at her like a hopeless cause.

“Can we go back for a glass for ourselves?” asked Amelia as soon as they reunited with their families, and her mother nodded in a matter that told Lily everyone must know her youngest wasn’t her favourite.

“Why don’t we go out for a bit of fresh air? Since we’re together, we don’t need a chaperone,” suggested the redhead, who wanted a little more space to investigate on what the wizarding society really thought of Mr. Potter. Was he a hypocrite? A scoundrel? Or even a liar? Had he by chance deluded women and then abandoned them without any prospect? Did he have bastards? She didn't know why she cared so much, after all he probably believed her a menace to society, or he wouldn’t have acted as he was doing with Miss Rosso, still she needed to know if it was the norm or just a game to get back at her. So she asked, rather forward, as she and her friend sank into a cushioned bench about ten yards from the music room. They remained there for several minutes, more than pleased with the comfortable intimacy of their gossip, until they heard one particular voice rise slightly above the low rumble of the crowd, followed by decidedly musical laughter. After a shared look of realization, they hitched up their skirts by a few inches to save themselves from tripping and ducked into the doorway next to the bench, hoping Mr. Potter and his paramour would walk on by, and they could scoot back into the music room and laugh about their little adventure. As their eyes adjusted to the dimness of the room, they realized they were in some sort of office, with walls lined with books, although not enough to be a library, the place dominated by a massive oak desk with papers laid on top of it in neat piles. Clearly the place was lived, not just for show, and as curiosity got the better of them, they wandered toward the desk, Lily running her fingers along the wooden rim. The air still smelled faintly of ink, and maybe the slightest hint of pipe smoke. All in all, she decided, it was a lovely room, comfortable and practical, a place a person could spend hours in lost in lazy contemplation, but just as she was about to lean back against the desk, savouring the quiet solitude exuding from the place, she heard and awful sound. The doorknob clicked, and with a frantic gasp, Amelia disappeared, leaving her with no other option than dive under the desk, squeezing herself into the empty cube of space and thanking the heavens that it was completely solid rather than the short that rested on four spindly legs. Barely breathing, she listened, cursing herself for not taking Apparition class seriously.

“I had heard this would be the year we would finally see the notorious Mr. Potter fall into the parson’s mousetrap,” came a lilting feminine voice. Lily bit her lip, recognizing the Italian accent.

“And where did you hear that?” came James’ unmistakable voice, followed by another awful click of the doorknob that made Lily shut her eyes in agony. She was trapped in the office with a pair of lovers. Life simply couldn’t get any worse than this, unless she was discovered, though it didn’t make her feel much better about her present predicament.

“It’s all over town,” Maria replied. “Everyone is saying you have decided to settle down and choose a bride.”

There was a silence, but Lily could swear she could hear him shrug: “It’s probably past time.”

“You are breaking my heart, did you know?” she asked, making Lily nearly gag.

“Now, my sweet signorina, we both know that your heart is impervious to any of my machinations,” Mr. Potter murmured, and Lily pictured him as close as they were before, his lips nearly on her skin, because next came a rustling sound, which she took to be Maria pulling coyly away to state she wasn’t inclined for a dalliance.

“I don’t look for marriage, of course, that would be most foolish, but when I next choose a protector, it shall be for, shall we say, the long term,” she added, low and husky.

“I fail to see the problem.”

“Your future wife may not.”

“The only reason to give up one’s mistress is if one happens to love one’s wife,” Mr. Potter chuckled. “And as I don’t intend to choose a wife with whom I might fall in love, I see no reason to deny myself the pleasure of a lovely woman like you.”

Lily tried to imagine the reaction of the couple if she jumped out of her hiding place, screaming like a madwoman, asking what made him think she was the right match if that was his plan from the start. It nearly made her laugh, and at the same time she wanted to cry, because there was no way she could make the entrance she wished to make when she was squatting like a frog with her hands wrapped around her ankles. A few unintelligible sounds distracted her from her fantasies, and she dearly prayed they weren’t a prelude to something considerably more intimate. After a moment, though, Mr. Potter’s voice emerged clearly, asking to the singer if she cared for something to drink. Maria murmured her assent, and James’ forceful stride echoed along the floor, growing closer and closer, until he came into view, his athletic frame displayed to surprising benefit from her vantage point on the floor. If he just kept his face to the window as he poured, she might escape detection, but if he turned so much as halfway she would be as good as dead, for she had no doubt he would kill her. Frankly, she was surprised he hadn’t tried last week at the Serpentine.

“Is everything all right?” Maria called out, when Mr. Potter clinked the tumblers slightly together as he set them down before pouring two fingers of amber liquid into each glass.

“Perfect,” he answered, although he sounded vaguely distracted, like a dog sniffing the air around in search of his prey. Maybe that was why Lily froze and stopped breathing completely, eyes wide and unblinking, as he started to hum slightly to himself and his body slowly began to turn.

Keep walking, she screamed in her head, keep walking to your lover and don’t look back.

But it didn't go that way, and she watched with complete and utter horror as his eyes scanned her starting from her shoes and pinned her where she was.

__________________

James knew quite well why he’d brought Maria Rosso back to his study. Surely no warm-blooded man could be immune to the charm of her lush body and her intoxicating voice, and he knew from experience that her touch was equally potent, but even as he took in that silky sable hair and those full, pouting lips, even as his muscles tightened at the memory of other full, pouting parts of her body, he knew he was using her. He felt no guilt in that regard – she was using him as well, and she would at least be compensated for it, whereas he would be out several jewels, a quarterly allowance, and the rent on a fashionable townhouse in a fashionable part of town – no, if he felt uneasy and frustrated, if he felt like he wanted to put his damned fist though a brick wall, it was because he was using Maria to banish the nightmare that Lily Evans was from his mind. He never wanted to wake up hard and tortured again, knowing she was the cause, he just wanted to drown himself in another woman until the very memory of his recurring dream dissolved and faded into nothingness, because Merlin knew he was never going to act on that particular erotic fantasy because he shouldn’t like her like that. The though of making love to her, and not just bedding her, made him break out in a cold sweat, even as it swirled a ripple of desire right through his gut. Bloody hell, the woman must’ve bewitched him, there could be no other explanation for the dream, and besides, even now he could swear he could smell her. It was that maddening combination of lilies and soap, that beguiling scent that had washed over him while they were in Hyde Park.

“Is everything all right?” Maria called out.

“Perfect,” James said, voice sounding tight to his own ears. He began to hum, something he’d always done to relax, and he turned, even started to take a step forward, because after all Miss Rosso was waiting for him, but the damned scent followed him and his foot hesitated in midair, his step forward proved to be a small one instead of his usual long stride, and he kept turning, his nose instinctively twisting his eyes toward where he knew there couldn’t be lilies until he saw her under his desk, crouching like a frog. It was a wonder he didn’t drop the whiskey as their eyes met, and he saw hers widen with panic and fright.

Good, he thought savagely. What the hell was she doing here? Wasn’t making a scene after he doused himself in the filthy water of the Serpentine to rescue her enough for her bloodthirsty spirit? Did she need to spy on him as well?

“Maria,” he said smoothly, moving forward toward the desk until he was nearly stepping on Lily’s hand. “I have suddenly remembered an urgent matter of business that must be dealt with immediately.”

“This very night?” she asked, quite dubious.

“I’m afraid so. Allow me to walk you to the door,” he said, and although the singer’s eyes were curious, she still took his arm and forgave him for his rudeness for not taking her back to the music room.

“I am a grown woman, I believe I can manage the short distance,” she laughed, a low, sultry sound that should’ve seduced him. “And furthermore, I suspect there isn’t a woman alive who could deny you forgiveness with that smile.”

“You are of a rare kind, Maria Rosso,” he replied, hoping she couldn’t feel how far his head was from this conversation. Not too much physically, since Lily was just a few steps away, but metaphorically…

“But not, apparently, rare enough,” she murmured before floating out, finally giving James the possibility to shut the door with a decisive click, turn the key and pocked it. At the sound, Lily crawled out of her hiding place, leaning on the edge of the desk for support, apparently unable to start the much-needed explanation she had to give about her presence.

“Well?” he asked, breaking the bubble of silence.

“It was an accident!” she exclaimed. “I was sitting in the hall and I heard you coming. I was just trying to avoid you and your lover, to spare the embarrassment to everyone...”

“So you decided to invade my private office?” he asked, suspicious.

“I didn’t know it was your office. I…” she started, but was unable to finish her sentence, probably intimidated by his deliberate proximity. He could swear he was hearing the frantic beating of her heart coming from beneath the bodice.

“I think perhaps you did know this was my office,” he murmured, letting his forefinger trail down the side of her cheek. “Perhaps you didn’t seek to avoid me at all, on the contrary, you desired something else, something more… insane?”

Lily swallowed convulsively, long past the point of trying to maintain her composure.

“What do you say to that?” he asked, his finger sliding along her jawline.

Her lips parted, but she couldn’t have uttered a word if her life had depended on it. He wore no gloves, he removed them during his interrupted tryst with Maria, and the touch of his skin against her was so powerful it seemed to control her body, for she breathed when he paused, stopped when he moved. He had no doubt their hearts were beating in time as his breath kissed her lips, and he smiled, victorious, when she deleted the little distance still separating them. It was evident she was an innocent who wouldn’t know what it was like to have a man so near the heat of his body seeped through her clothes, who wouldn’t recognize the first prickles of desire, nor would she understand that slow, swirling heat in the core of her being, but it was there, he could see it in her face with only one look of his experienced eyes.

James told himself that if she hadn’t kissed him, he would’ve stopped right there, left her bothered and breathless, but he knew he was lying, he knew the moment there had been barely an inch between their faces back in her house and he resisted the pull to give in to her beguiling scent only because the footman might’ve saw them. But right now, there was no chaperone, they were in the privacy of his study, her mother was probably immersed in conversation and the prickles of desire he’d meant to spark within her suddenly ignited him, sending a warm claw of need to the very tips of his toes. Although her kiss had been chaste, and rather desperate, the fingers he’d been trailing along her cheek to torture her suddenly became a hand that cupped the back of her head, and his lips took hers in an explosion of desire, making her gasp against his mouth, something he took advantage of to slide his tongue between them. She was pliant in his arms, so James pressed his suit further by allowing one of his hands to slide down her back and cup the gentle curve of her derriere.

It was madness, he knew he should stop and he damned well shouldn’t have started, but his body was racing with need and he felt so good he had no intention of letting her go. It was like when he was younger, with no care in the world, and his father was still alive, ready to rule the family and gift him with the chance to mess up without consequences a little more, and at the same time he found she possessed something that suited him like no woman ever had before. Something about her was just right, maybe her smell, or maybe the way she felt in his arms, and he knew that if he stripped off all of her clothes and took her there on the carpet on the floor of his study, she would fit underneath him, around him, just right. A low, triumphant growl emerged from James’ mouth as he moved it to her slender neck and further down, in the expanse of skin usually hidden by the bodice he moved slightly, enough to not expose her right away but still more than decency allowed. With ragged and fast breath, he pinned her to his desk, crazed, frantic, leaving small red marks wherever he sucked, regardless of the consequences.

“Do you still hate me?” he asked, and when she slightly shook her head, he cupped one of her breasts, covering it entirely with his hand. Just as he was plotting the best course back to her lips, he heard the perfectly awful sound of Sirius’ voice outside the door.

“James!” he shouted. “I know you’re here and your mother does too. She needs your assistance and asked me to tell you to stop fucking Miss Rosso.”

Miss Evans, blissfully unaware of how close she’d come to having been pleasured utterly senseless, threw a horrified look to the door.

“One of these days,” James muttered, “I’m going to have to kill him.”

[mrdogface]

A detail I love about Dinah is that she knows pretty much everybody in the superhero world.

She kind of started as a nepobaby, yes, but that gives her these in-roads to the JSA, and she's earned that through succeeding in her training with Theodore "Daddy" Grant / Wildcat -- Wildcat would not have let 'Diana' Lance's baby girl into the field if she couldn't do the job.

She earned her spot on the Justice League and has been around for numerous incarnations thereof. She met dorks from Martian Manhunter to Metamorpho.

She can, 100%, dial up every good-aligned fighter in the DC universe for training. Shit, I feel like even Batman would be down to work with her (although he'd be a huge asshole about it) purely because of her connection to Oracle. I can see Hal Jordan giving her some piloting lessons because he's Oliver's weird conservative cop homie. You can even connect her to more obscure, out of the way DC characters like Richard Dragon: she knows Helena, Helena trained with Richard, bada bing.

I also love that she's absolutely willing to call in favours when she needs to but isn't lame about it. Like, she was raised in a superhero world (a point of connection with Dick you never really see explored, btw) and probably understands every single person in her contact list is living a 24/7 soap opera.

She could, in a way, probably slide into the social networking and superhero coordination aspect of Oracle's gig, all things considered, she just doesn't wanna because she'd rather be roundhouse kicking fools and I respect that.

[hulahoopsoupgroup]

I'll take anything, Canon au, modern au, I need my babies to be happy 😭

well, for starters, i have three vision types i could see clervie getting. i'll probably write a full fic in the near future, but lets start out with some silly little vision headcanons:

(spoilers for my fic utc)

1. anemo. i think we can all see this, with clervies main goal being freedom

lets say that, whenever peruere and clervie are in the arena together, arguing about who should take over the house and all that, once clervie says "the only freedom i truly possess is the freedom to choose to die," shes proven wrong by an anemo vision shooting down from the sky, and when she takes it, a little wind sprite appears on her shoulder, guiding her to safety and obscuring the air around her to hide her from any fatui soldiers that may be lurking nearby

arle goes and kills crucabena like normal and takes over the house, and before assuming her duties as a harbinger, she and clervie take a long time to travel around teyvat like they dreamed of doing when they were kids

2. hydro. i thought of this while writing the fic. clervie seems like she felt very strongly about getting justice for the kids at the house, and getting justice for what crucabena did to them. at first, she thought justice looked like getting crucabena put in prison and letting someone else take over the house, but then it changed to killing crucabena and having arlecchino take over the house. she always followed her gut on what justice looked like

so what if, one day when shes taking one of her coded notes out to the guardes in the forest one day, a hydro vision appears in front of her eyes, and she takes it, a look of wonder in her eyes, then looks around to make sure none of the fatui hiding around saw it and holds the vision out to the guardes and says "officers, i think i saw someone walk through here and drop this vision. can i go to the guardes station and report what he looked like so you guys can find him?" and nudges them so that they take her back to the court of fontaine, where she files a report against crucabena for child abuse and neglect, and shes tried at the opera epiclese and exposed and humiliated by so many testimonies from the kids

neuvillette himself congratulates clervie and makes sure every child under the house is protected until a new leader is chosen, or until clervie comes of age and can legally assume the position of mother of the house

the fortress of meropide makes sure that crucabenas (life) sentence is extra miserable, and makes sure to treat her the same way she treated her kids. she never got any visits from them

3. dendro. i thought about this a couple days ago and i thought it was kind of interesting. i saw somewhere (cant remember where but it was probably a reddit thread) about the different characteristics that characters of each element shared, and for dendro, it was a fascination/love for something (like for nahida, its humans, for tighnari, its plants, for kaveh, its architecture, etc)

i think for clervie, it would be something similar to nahida, a love for humanity, a love for the kids at the hearth. shes the mother that they never had.

lets say that during that last "showdown" at the arena, clervie talks about how much she loves the kids at the hearth and doesnt want to see them suffer, and how she wants someone to be there to guide them and teach them, and how she doesnt think shes worthy to do that, but then a dendro vision comes flashing down in front of her, and she looks at peruere with wide eyes.

lets say peruere somehow convinces clervie to go to that other building that crucabena kept the younger members of the house whenever she made all the teens kill each other, and make sure theyre all safe in one place while peruere goes to kill crucabena

while thats happening, clervie entertains the kids by filling pots with dirt and using her vision to sprout pretty flowers out of thin air. she loves seeing them smile, and she wants nothing more than to be there to teach the kids and make sure they grow up strong and happy

while theyre on their little teyvat world tour, arle and clervie buy several books and other academic supplies for the kids back home

[with-my-murder-flute]

Obscure Cemeteries of Amalo theory

About who Tura Olura's lover is.

Spoilers for The Witness to the Dead

What if it's Ema Dravenezh?

Iäna says the Marquis Parzhadel "seems the last person who would support an opera company, especially when he can’t attend himself." Meanwhile, Ema Dravenezh is an attendee every single night

Except for the period following Tura's death, when after the theatre was repaired, he "missed so many performances [Iäna] thought he'd been fired"

Iäna also comments on how he's always the only one in the box. That can look like a weary solitude... but if you are, perhaps, secretly connected to one of the people most frequently onstage, you can feel a lot less alone

Arveneän met and blackmailed Tura when she'd scheduled an appointment to visit the Marquis

If it became a public scandal, it could be argued that Mer Dravenezh persuaded the Marquis to fund the Vermillion Opera, so the fallout would hit not just him and Tura alone, but potentially the entire company and enterprise, which is the kind of secret that's honestly kinda worth murdering over. Arts funding before hoes, etc.

Imagine him sitting there after Tura's death, where it's such an enormous reminder of him, but probably also, what else will he do with his nights? Despite the pain, there are benefits to familiarity, and this collection of people he's supporting.

[adarkrainbow]

I will complete my trilogy of Hansel and Gretel stage adaptations of fascinating visuals with this piece. I made several posts about the Royal New Zealand Ballet's adaptation and its homages to Germanic cinema (and obscure carnival traditions). I reblogged something about the Hänsel and Gretel concert of Lindemann-Tägtren and its disturbing, horrifying but also darkly clownesque visuals... And now I bring you the San Diego Opera adaptation of the famed Hansel and Gretel opera, with quite impressive puppetry!

I will copy-paste here the content of an article by Beth Accomando, which can be read in its original form here.

It’s not every day that an opera singer gets to bring a cannibalistic witch to life.

"I lure children into the forest and I cook them into gingerbread cakes and then I eat them. It's delightful," said tenor Joel Sorensen.

But what’s not so delightful is having to wear a big puppetry rig to create a larger-than-life witch onstage.

"I am a puppet," Sorensen explained. "The witch is a puppet, a very large puppet. And I have a colleague, Iain [Gunn], behind me. He bears the bulk of the weight on his back. So I'm basically working with a puppet while trying to sing and convey a character. It's a real challenge."

The challenge for director Brenna Corner in bringing Engelbert Humperdinck's "Hansel and Gretel" to the San Diego Opera stage was how do you bring a fairy tale to life?

"One of the things that I think is really tricky about 'Hansel and Gretel' is size. How do you make two grown-ups look like they're kids and two other grown-ups look like they're adults? And then someone else looks sort of even bigger and more powerful. And quite frankly, the best way I could figure out how to do that was puppets," Corner said.

So anything that was not human became a puppet. Like the witch.

"It's different in that it's not my physicality. So, because I'm manipulating her hands, her arms, and I'm working in tandem with [Gunn] so I can't move as quickly as I might normally or as sharply but facially and vocally, I'm trying to do the same things that I would do if I were performing it without a puppet," Sorensen said.

Now if you are thinking of puppets as something you put on your hand, think again. Imagine actors completely enveloped in layers of fabric with a large sculpted head or face high above their shoulders and an arm span that exceeds 10 feet.

"We had to really kind of blow up the notion of what a puppet is in order to successfully encompass the fusion of opera and puppetry," said Judd Palmer of Old Trout Puppet Workshop in Calgary. "Our inspiration was classic 19th century children's book illustrators like Arthur Rackham or N.C. Wyeth. We wanted the whole thing to feel like it comes out of a book and it becomes the illustrations coming to life like a pop up book."

Palmer designed the puppets for a production in Canada and Iain Gunn of Animal Cracker Conspiracy here in San Diego is now the puppeteer working with Sorensen to play the Witch onstage.

"I get to live inside this character that I'm helping to bring alive," Gunn said. "But she has her own voice standing right in front of me. I don't know how to describe it, but I feel like I am transported inside this imagination. It's like I'm in the 'Time Bandits' or something like that where … we're doing something magical and it's a magical character and the only reason it's alive is because we're in there giving it our all. So it's pretty cool."

The puppets engage the audience in a unique way.

"It's this agreement that the audience makes with the performers," Corner explains. "That we agree not to see the person who's obviously a person and instead we agree to look at what is fabric and some PVC pipe and a plaster-like face, right? But we agree to do that. So what's extraordinary to me about puppetry is that as an audience, we're continually investing our imagination in seeing the thing that the performers want us to see and then as the performers keep investing in that then all of a sudden they go away. They don't exist there anymore and it becomes something else kind of magical."

By not trying to fool the audience and instead asking them to play along in this game of make-believe, the audience becomes a co-conspirator.

Palmer pointed out, "You can see the puppeteer right there in a ridiculous outfit. They're sweating and panting from having to run across the stage and they're waving the puppet around. It lets us all in on the joke in a way but also in the kind of the dream. It makes it evident to everybody in the audience that they are going to have to invest imaginatively in this in the same way as the people on stage are."

It's recommended that you bring a child-like sense of imagination to this show.

"That joy that you had when you were a kid," Corner said. "And you could imagine what would happen if a stick was suddenly a giant scary monster. I think that's what you want to bring to this production because that's what this production creates is the sense of wonder and joy and mystery that's inherent in being a kid."

And inherent in a story that begins with the magical possibilities of once upon a time…

San Diego Opera’s production of Engelbert Humperdick’s "Hansel and Gretel" opens Saturday and will have three additional performances through Feb. 16 at San Diego Civic Theatre.

[penultimate-step]

brief thoughts about onk 148

specifically not calling this a reaction because I don't have enough to say to really warrant deeper analysis but I do want to put my off the cuff thoughts somewhere

1st point: hello Gotanda my friend Gotanda. I don't think I've ever had the chance to talk about this but despite having a pretty minor role comparatively I like him a lot, he's probably like. my fifth favorite character or so? So whenever he shows up I'm happy.

2nd point: Speaking of favorite characters, Akane is here, it's really nice seeing her interact with Aqua again, their dynamic is one I really like seeing. I notice that the narrative is still intentionally obscuring what Aqua is thinking - in their conversation, she's the one that gets the thought bubbles clarifying her intentions, while he spends most of it silent, continuing the trend of Aqua being a bit of a mystery to the audience in this arc, and especially since 143. I'm sure the eventual payoff will be spectacular though.

3rd point: Hmm. While the first half of this chapter was breather/fluff that I didn't have deeper thoughts on, and the Aqua Akane discussion was interesting continuation of character threads, I'm feeling less joyful about the last handful of pages. I do feel a bit hypocritical saying this, as someone who has written multiple metas about oshi no ko ship comparisons, but I do think the series is better when it's not directly focusing on that. Kana's request to Akane felt to me like it came out of nowhere and was almost soap opera-y? Like, I have nothing against romance series or love triangles or any of that right, there are many series I enjoy with those elements, but it doesn't feel like OnK was a series that dealt with that very often - the fandom does, certainly, but I felt like the series itself was usually a bit detached from that kind of thing. Maybe this is just a me personal thing but the last couple pages felt like a rapid shift into a different genre that I wasn't prepared for. But as usual, I will sit and see how this pans out and how the author will handle it.

Oh yeah which brings me to point 3.5 - not really a point but while I appreciated what the chapter was doing on it's own merits it did kind of feel like we dropped some threads in the jump between 147 and this, that I am still waiting to be picked up. Only time will tell but I'm not sure this was a great place for a breather chapter, rather than doubling down on the tension. But again, impossible to say until we see future developments.

[the-au-collector]

I've got to ask, what is the unusual/unique (in a good way) au you've come across (or cooked up yourself)?

Thanks for the ask!

I realize now you asked for one fic but uh--I kinda compiled a list of some of my favorite AUs instead. I've read a lot of fics, but to save your sanity I'll stick with my 3 main fandoms: Linked Universe, Kingdom Hearts, and Tales of the Abyss. I'll tag authors where I can, but some I just couldn't find anywhere 😭

This definitely isn't all of them but if I tried to compile every single AU I've loved, we'll be here all day.

Kingdom Hearts:

Familiars by @kutikue @letoasai- all the characters are witches and/or familiars. I've just started reading it but it seems good so far! Definitely one of a kind!

Runaway Wind by Pred1059 - Ven wakes up early. It gets very off the rails very quickly.

Vulpes to Dandelions by YumeTakato (deviantart profile)- An Ava is Sora's Mom AU as well as a Master of Master's Arc speculation series. This one also goes into alternate universes and other things that make it unique.

Linked Universe:

Links Assemble by @vicmillen (Victor_Millen on AO3)- Marvel fusion AU featuring Warriors as Captain America. It's in-the-works so seriously, go over to Vic's blog and check it out!

Townhouse AU by st0rmy - a really fun AU where all the Links end up living in the same townhouse together. Chaos ensues. Time is tired.

Tales of Courage from Across the Galaxy by @wizard-finix (CubanCracker62 on AO3) - Star Wars fusion. I'm currently reading it, but it's good so far! There's also some art for it too!

Linked Nexus AU by @zarvasace- Space AU. I've just started reading it but I can't wait to see where it goes.

Wing Bois AU by @breannasfluff - probbaly one of the most unique AUs in the fandom. The Links have wings and bird traits. It's also very fluffy!

Hero's Aspect AU by @tashacee - Wild gets stuck in the Hero's Aspect outfit. I'm currently trying to catch up on all 45 parts, but it's definitely one of the biggest AUs for Linked Universe.

Opera House AU by @bokettochild (FlamingIdiot on AO3) - modern AU but all the Links work in an opera house. It a very different and interesting setting for a modern AU. I also can't reccomend Ketto's fics enough to be honest.

Fierce Hero 9 by @crazylittlejester (Can_Opener on AO3)- Big Hero 6 but it's Linked Universe. It loosely follows the plot of the movie, but there are some huge, interesting differences between this and the movie.

Tales of the Abyss:

Bladework by @starcrossed-sky - probably the best "Asch joins the group" series out there. Lots of political intrigue. The characters are so well-written and the 2nd person POV is so unique! Definitely made me obsessed with 2nd person POV lol. Follows the plot of the game initially

Reflections by @darkangelmya - an AU where Asch decides to return to the manor instead of running away with Van. Asch is an overprotective brother and it's awesome! Also follows the plot of the game, probably the most religiously of all my other fic recs for this game

Troth by @daily-rayless (Rayless_Night on AO3) - A post-game Asch comes back too AU focused on Asch and Natalia's relationship. Very beautiful, Rayless is an amazing author!

As for stuff I've written... I have to say the more unique ones boil down to [obscure media I read when I was 13] fused with either Linked Universe or Kingdom Hearts 😅 So like, my Lockwood and Co Fusion or the Stravaganza fusion I'm thinking of making lol. I also have a lot of unfinished Kingdom Hearts fics from years ago, like a "Eraqus gets brought back to life but he's 16 again and has amnesia" fic and a "Brain ends up in the time of Days and changes things" fic.

As for serious fics... I can't not plug my passion projects, the Reconnect the Chain AU and Relinked AU. They're both Linked Universe fics where the Links reunite (though I'm planning Relinked to be a comic). They're AUs of each other, with Reconnect the Chain being an AU that boils down to "what if Relinked happend 10 years earlier minus all the kidnapping?" (AKA, it's my fluff outlet lol).

I yet again managed to write an essay but uh--enjoy the fic recs!