#this would require a bit of plotting unless we did a starting point and winged it. u know we can do that too ...

[dangaer]

considering it's going to be 4 years since i started this rp blog this year (insane im in shock) i merely have one question to ask: would you be interested in writing an oto.me route with me? a bit of a, uh, explanation below the cut:

looking at this revelation made me realise that there are a lot of tropes / archetypes / story choices in oto.me games i (and you guys) both really like and hate, and because of that - i got to thinking. what if i made a bunch of oto.me love interest based ocs? (similarly to how katsu.ro is based on an oto.me mc)

the concept i had come to mind is simple: one of those compan.ionship phone lines you can phone up and just talk to someone. they're also available to meet in person (if the characters accepting it) and will go out for dates / events with people (aka fake dating trope ... )

i take some time to create characters based off of the archetypes usually found in an oto.me game. you guys pick the character you either want to go through a love interest route with and we make the endings together through plotting, asks and writing, we can even have more friendship based routes if you're looking for a more platonic route / way out!

[darkmindsotome]

Tempting Thought

Fandom: Tears of Themis 

Pairing: Artem Wing x (non gender specific) MC

Word count: 1,783

Warning: Light angst, pining, lovesick.

Written by: darkmindsotome

Fantasies. Exploring the unknown through the ability to apply imagination to a situation or thought. The children around him growing up certainly had a firm hold on the idea and the ability to put it into practice. It was an ability he envied in a way. When others could escape using nothing but their imagination he could not without the aid of a book.

His mother had encouraged him to try to join in which he did, but found it hard. How were you supposed to play along with someone else’s game if they were the only ones able to see it? Eventually, she gave up and had to agree with his teachers when they said he showed no signs of childhood imagination.

It hampered his ability to bond with others slightly in early years but later on he found it easier to utilise his social skills on children that were older than him. The ones that had passed the age of playing games based solely in realms of non-reality.

Fantasy N. (pl. ies) 1. The faculty of inventing images, esp. extravagant or visionary ones. 2. A fanciful mental image; a daydream 3. A whimsical speculation 4. A fantastic invention or composition; a fantasia…

He was familiar with the term. It had been written in many of the pages he had seen over the years both in his beloved science fiction and in court. The fiction was always something glorified, it was pleasant. The reality of the court had fantasy as a basis for eliminating testimonies and claiming false evidence.

It wasn’t a big thing it certainly didn’t hold him back. So why now was he plagued with fantasy?

He was not oblivious to his attraction. It was something he was more than aware of, just had no experience in how to do anything about it. He thought he could be happy simply being near the object of his desire. Gaining precious minutes alone with them during a case or on a weekend when he finally worked up the nerve to invite them to see a movie.

A wonderful idea… until recently. The close proximity to them alone in the dark did reward him with what he thought he wanted. The chance to be alone with them. But it also gave him something he hadn’t predicted, fantasy.

The fantasy of what it might be like if he had less resolve. If he allowed his instincts to take over. How it would play out if they shared his feelings and allowed him to continue. Would their perfume wrap around him like a blanket and stain him in their scent or would he cover theirs instead?

Would the warmth he felt from them by just sitting next to each other in the dark become a burning fire, melting his moral compass and allowing him to finally show them the full force of his love?

This was something that had become a familiar issue when watching movies together. He frequently had to watch the movie before they even planned their nights in or out. Attempting to do otherwise resulted in a one-sided conversation where he had little to say. His minds focus had scattered far from the plot on the screen leaving him lost for opinion. He didn't want to ruin their private after-party Q&A session.

What started as a small thought developed into what others could call a deviant fantasy. He inwardly winced at the idea that Vyn might latch on to such a thing and make him the focus of some sort of therapy.

The issues on the weekend during private moments alone began seeping into work hours. He had always been aware of them and the little changes during work. How he seemed to be able to tell when it was laundry day by the familiar suit that showed itself once a week. When they changed their shoes because they had grown a half-inch taller.

Now those same things inspired new fantasies. The idea they might hurt their foot and require him to find a new pair of shoes to place on their feet. How when he lowered himself to rest at their feet, he might be the happiest he ever was if he looked up and saw them focused on only him. How that extra bit of height placed their lips at the perfect position for stealing a kiss.

Thoughts of that familiar suit ending up damaged and him coming to their aid supplying a perfectly tailored suit that proved how reliable he was. How he might be called upon to help with a stubborn zipper and be part of a heated office encounter as both their suits are turned into a crumpled heap on the floor.

It was a fantasy he knew to be far fetched as much as it made his heart race imagining it. He felt guilty, even though he would never act on such things without consent. He also knew imagining his work partner in such a way was inappropriate. He was caught between the devil on his shoulder pointing out and threatening to unlock all his hidden attraction and the angel on the other telling him to ignore all that. To focus on the pure feelings behind the fantasy, the desire to want to be with his partner. To be with them and cherish them. Not to continually act on the impulse to give in to carnal acts.

5:45 pm

The firm was only open until five and yet here they both still were. Cooped up in his office pouring over paperwork and details, polishing up their defence for a court hearing in the morning. It was quiet, the only noise in the room was their breathing and the sound of the clicking of keyboards and scratching of pens on paper.

He looked up from his desk and caught the sight of them diligently working. Their hands flipping through and reordering the papers at the workstation in his office. Their meticulous actions were mesmerising as he lost himself in the thought of those hands deftly working the knot of his tie loose. How they could nimbly travel the fabric of his shirt detaching the buttons exposing his skin to the lights in the room…

“Mr Wing was there anything else? … Mr Wing?”

Their question had him flustering and he only hoped his face was not on fire in the same way as the rest of his body. Seriously why develop an imagination now?

“No that is all. I looked at your report and marked a few areas for your attention moving forward.” He kept his voice calm and level even though his mouth was turning dry.

Removing themself from the sofa his partner happily came forward to collect the file. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, they had done this countless times in the past but right now he was acutely aware of every sway from their body. The click of shoes on the floor felt like a hammer in his chest.

“Thank you. I’ll get them corrected now.” Elegant fingers wrapped around the binder for the files plucking it from his desk.

“No. It’s late you should go home.” He didn’t want to see them leave but he wanted even less for them to see him like this. He was struggling to keep himself in check and cursing his own mind for its torturous fantasies.

“Alright… You should go home too. There’s nothing else to be done now, right? Just showing up to court and winning the case.” They tilted their head and their hair slipped away from their neck on one side. A beautifully bare path under thin cotton fabric laid out before his eyes from their ear to their shoulder.

Turning to his computer to avoid the dangerous path his mind was travelling he nodded in agreement. “Yes, I’ll be going after I send some emails.”

Satisfied with this they gave a smile that felt like it had sucked all the air from his lungs. Holding the file close to their chest they issued one last farewell and left. Their voice lingered in his ears as a feeling of loneliness washed over him.

Sighing he realised how laboured his breathing was. The collar of his shirt felt tight causing him to remove his tie and undo the top buttons of the shirt to gain some freedom. He took a mouthful of his now cold coffee. When making it he did so focusing on producing a bitter blend, an idea he had so he could use it to refocus his mind and suppress those troublesome fantasies.

“That’s enough now. No more foolishness.” He muttered to himself as he pushed aside the vivid imaginings that threatened to overwhelm him.

A knock on the door made him jump.

“Yes?”

The head of his partner appeared through the gap as the door opened. A sheepish look on their face as they failed to make complete eye contact.

“Sorry, Artem. Erm… are we still on for watching those old movies this weekend?” Their question was adorable and the uncertainty in their voice only endeared them to him more.

“We are unless you have other plans. Don’t force yourself to attend if-”

“Oh! No, I was just worried you might be too busy and forgotten. I’ll bring some snacks with me this time so you don’t have to cook. Bye!”

The whirlwind that was his love swept through his office and left just as quickly. Their concern that he had lost interest or forgotten their date felt impossible but was so like them. He shook his head and laughed. He really had it bad. To compound the issue and make it worse the one he liked was oblivious to his affection.

He thought about the ingredients sitting in his kitchen at home and how his plans to make something special were once more dashed by his partner’s thoughtfulness.

“One step forward three steps back…” His eyes fell on the book that had become something of a talisman to him since he had been given it. All its insight and helpful steps to acquiring love and making his feelings clear were so easily mapped out in its pages but in reality, it was not so easy. "If only everything could follow the plot of a book." He picked up the self-help guide to love and flipped it open at his bookmark. "Then again... if it were that simple could I really claim they are my chance encounter?" 

He leaned back into his desk chair the leather of it creaking under him as he began to read the next section of the book. How to plan the perfect confession.

---

[arcticfox007]

The Stars Within You

Destiel December Challenge 2020

Day 15: Lights

The conclusion of the main storyline! I do intend on posting an epilogue in a few days to tie up some smaller plot points, but this is the last official prompt. If you haven’t read the rest of the story you can check out my masterlist here or head over to AO3!

Thanks again to everyone who has reblogged, left me comments/likes, given me kudos, and continued to follow this story. I have been blown away by the positive feedback and it has really made my holiday season <3

***

               Castiel lets himself feel all of the emotions that had been let loose from his time as a human. It’s a risk, even with everything that’s happened between him and Dean this past week, Castiel is well aware he could be setting himself up for disappointment. He just doesn’t have it in him anymore to resist the feelings pounding at his grace enforced walls. He wants to feel the joy at Dean making a room for him here in the bunker, for telling Castiel that he belongs here. He wants to feel the bubbly happiness at the absurd bee pillow on his bed, the swooping feeling of loving Dean more than he has loved anything for the entirety of his existence. Maybe he’s diving off a ledge with no ability to fly, but he refuses to stop every glorious feeling permeating his being as he drags Dean back to the Christmas tree. He gazes up at the doll version of himself propped up on top of the tree, takes in the Scooby-doo ornaments he’d brought home to make Dean and Sam smile, wrinkles his nose at the truly awful taste earlier Men of Letters had in décor, and indulges in a goofy grin at the lights he and Dean put up together. He dives towards the handful of presents underneath the tree and picks up two small ones carefully wrapped and garnished with curly ribbon. He pockets the smallest of the two, and turns around to press the larger of them into Dean’s hands.

               Dean fumbles with it for a moment. He staring at Cas the way they often stare at each other. A moment later and Cas sees the corner of Dean’s lip tick upwards, just enough movement for them to come back to themselves. Cas pulls at the sleeves of his pajamas nervously, urging Dean with a motion to open the present. Cas watches Dean’s nose scrunch up in concentration as he tries to pull apart the curly ribbon. Giddy with the rush of uncontained emotions, Cas rolls impatiently on the balls of his feet. Dean looks up in surprise.

               “Dude, are you actually bouncing?” Castiel responds with his trademark stoicism.

               “Of course not, Dean. Hurry up.” Dean rolls his eyes fondly at Cas and skips the ribbon to just tear off the paper. He lets the paper fall to the floor and stares at the small potion bottle as his brow furrows in confusion.

               “You want to tell me what this is, Cas?” Cas smiles, feeling almost giddy, and then looks boldly into Dean’s green eyes as they reflect the Christmas lights.

               “I would like to show you part of my true self. A part you can safely see with the aid of that potion.” Dean’s eyes sparkle, he’s clearly intrigued and Cas’ smile grows more confident. “It will give you partial access to otherworldly sight, similar to what many human psychics can see. With the dosage Sam and I measured out it should last for about a day. It’s somewhat variable dependent on your metabolism. If you decide to take it, I will meet you halfway and manifest a small representation of my true self.”

               “Um, okay. Will I have control over this sight, or am I going to be seeing trippy stuff all day?” Castiel snorts.

               “Yes, you will have control to an extent. If something else were to work at manifesting you may see it, but most of this depends on me meeting you halfway. Born psychics tend to take years to see anything substantial, much less be exposed to visions.” Dean nods seriously.

               “Any other side effects I should worry about?”

               “Unlikely, unless you were to go on a hunt. It would make you slightly more aware of ghosts.”

               “Alright, good enough. When do you want to do this?” Cas is nervous again for a moment, but silently redoubles his commitment to finding out where this will go.

               “Now, but we should go outside to the rooftop. I will require space for this. You may want to get a coat and your boots. I believe it is still snowing.” Dean passes the potion bottle to Cas with an eager grin, and rejoins the angel with his coat and shoes in record time. Cas feels his excitement build as he leads the man he loves to the rooftop where Sam had helped him work on this gift only days before.

               “Hey, look, there are lights up here too!” Dean gestures to the string lights propped up on tall stands around the edges of the rooftop. Castiel knows Sam must have put them up and wonders how Sam knew he’d end up doing this at night. Cas silently thanks his friend for the forethought. Dean follows one of the strands back to its source to find the on switch and suddenly the rooftop is softly lit with tiny imitations of the stars in the sky. Cas silently hands the potion back to Dean. It feels as if words aren’t needed in this moment, and Dean must feel it as well. He acts rather than speaking and throws back the potion as if it were a shot.

               “Close your eyes, it only takes a moment to go into effect.” As Dean shuts his eyes Castiel pulls of his pajama shirt, draping it on one of the light stands. He inhales the sharp, cold, snow filled air and pulls on his grace. He breaths out as he shifts his much healthier wings further into the mortal realm, adjusting them to best fit his vessel’s frame. He turns away from Dean, too anxious to see his reaction right away. He keeps his wings close to his body, wanting to give his very human companion time to adjust slowly. Despite the shrouds and adjustments between him, the wings are still very much part of his true form and may be a bit overwhelming for a human.

               “Can I look? Is it okay? I don’t feel any different.” Dean sounds almost disappointed, perhaps worried that the potion did not work on him.

               “You shouldn’t feel different. You can look now.” Castiel hears a soft gasp behind him. “Tell me what you can see, Dean.”

               “I – wow Cas… I see you. Your wings. They’re fucking beautiful.” Castiel hesitates for a moment, but allows the wondering lilt to Dean’s voice to sooth his doubts. He turns slowly to see Dean looking at him as if he’d never seen anything better in his life. This look, more than anything, undoes the knots of worry in the angel’s chest and he smiles broadly and unfurls his wings a bit, stretching them towards the stars. A rush of joy runs through his body as he takes in the awe on Dean’s face and the way he reaches out for Castiel without trepidation. Cas takes his outstretched hand and gently pulls him closer.

               “I can only make them partially corporeal here. Without the potion they have an impression here, the snow falls on them, I can use them as a shield, but you can’t see them except for a shadow. So, please Dean, tell me what you see. I want to know how much of me you can see.” Cas’ can hear his voice grow smaller with need as he speaks, but he can’t deny how much it means to share this small part of himself with the man he loves.

               “They aren’t just shadows anymore Cas. I can see individual feathers; I can see their color – I think. It changes. It’s uh, it’s hard to describe but they look like every color I’ve ever seen shimmering through the blackness of space,” Dean says breathlessly. He seems startled at his own description and laughs softly. “Damn, Cas, they’re so spectacular they’re making me sound fucking poetic. They’re amazing. You’re amazing.”

               Cas inhales sharply as Dean looks right into his eyes, something intense and warm in the way he seems to see more of the angel’s true self in his blue eyes than in the wings themselves. Before Castiel can define what he’s seeing, Dean’s eyes dart to his wings again. Cas notices his wings curling in towards Dean and halts them with a thought. Dean looks almost disappointed, making Cas grin.

               “You can touch them. If you’d like.” It’s not a question, Cas can tell how much Dean wants to pet his wings. Cas is sure it must seem like an odd impulse to a human, to want to pet what appears to be bird-like wings growing out of an adult man’s back, but Cas wants Dean to touch him. He’s never had a human touch his wings before and he’s curious as to what it will feel like to have Dean’s fingers in his feathers.

               “Um, I won’t hurt you, right? I know that, er, birds winds can be fragile, I guess. I know you’re not a bird but they kinda look like -”, Cas cuts Dean off before he starts comparing him to a parakeet.

               “You won’t hurt me. Angels are warriors of God, and our wings were built to aid us in battle.” To illustrate this, Castiel raises his wings above his body, snapping them out all at once with a sharp ringing sound.

               “Oh. Right. Yeah.” Dean’s eyes have widened at the intimidating display of the angel’s wings as they tower over him, but Castiel takes pity on him and softens his stance, bringing them back down. He curls them loosely at Dean’s side to give him easier access. Not one to hesitate when invited, Dean reaches out and gently brushes his hands through the feathers closest to him.

               “Cas… they’re so soft, and warm.” Dean begins to dig his fingers in with more confidence and chases the rainbow of lights reflecting off the obsidian black of Castiel’s wings. At Dean’s continued attention, Cas finds himself relaxing as he lets his head fall on top of Dean’s shoulder. Dean laughs happily.

               “I’m glad I could share this with you.” Cas feels strange but happy. He can’t quite describe what the newer emotions are pouring through him, but it is similar to the relief of coming home when you have been away for a very long time. He does manage to catch himself before he literally begins to purr, but he must have made some sort of sound because Dean ceases his exploration of Castiel’s feathers.

               “Does it feel okay?” Cas manages to pull himself away from Dean just enough to see his face.

               “Yes, I’d imagine it’s like grooming.” Dean chuckles.

               “Grooming? That wasn’t what I was expecting you to say.” Cas tilts his head to the side, trying to interpret Dean’s response.

               “Yes, tactile communication for comfort and bonding. The PBS special on primates said it’s called grooming.” At this point Dean is laughing hard enough that he bends over to try and catch his breath.

               “Yeah, hah, grooming. I think most people talk about it like that for the non-human primates though, Cas. But I don’t mind ‘grooming’ with you.” Dean smirks and Castiel is still not sure what is so humorous. Regardless, this is his gift to Dean and he is not done yet.

               “Dean. Can I touch you with my wings?” Dean’s eyes widen just a bit but he nods his head in agreement. Castiel pulls his wings in and up until he is cradling Dean and they are in a shelter created by his plumage. Dean directs his gaze around the impromptu cocoon and runs his hand lightly over more feathers as they minutely shift in color against a background of darkness.

               “Cas, you’re practically a planetarium. It’s like there are whole galaxies in here. I could look forever and never see all there is to see.” As this is one of the better human descriptions of angel true forms, Castiel feels content that he has shown the man he loves much more of what he really is. That Dean shows such quiet wonder at this glimpse of the heart of Castiel makes him feel safe to take another risk, one that means even more. He presses his wings in to bring Dean even closer, until their chests are almost touching. Cas pulls the smaller gift out of his pocket and lays it in Dean’s hand. Dean’s eyes are alight with curiosity as he peels off the paper. He shoves the crumpled paper in his coat pocket and lets the pendant that had been within drop, carefully holding the chain in his fingers. He squints at the pendant, a feather preserved on top of bronze, and then gasps.

               “Cas. Is this – is it yours?” Castiel nervously raises his fingertips to Dean’s jaw and slowly raises his gaze to meet Dean’s eyes.

               “Yes. It does not retain all of its properties once shed, and it’s once of the smaller ones as it wouldn’t have been possible to make any of the larger feathers as conveniently wearable. It is still a part of me though, a part of my grace, of my true self.” Castiel pauses to make sure Dean understands. Dean’s heart is racing but besides that he seems to grasp the depth of this gift, so Castiel continues. “If you accept this, I can find you if it is with you. If you wear it, I can feel your life, hear your heartbeat. And the feather preserved inside the pendant will exists as long as I exist, no matter where I may be. If there is ever a real need it can even be used to locate me, although it will destroy the feather in the process. If you accept this, it will be part of you and no one else will be able to use it. Do you understand?”

               Dean drops Castiel’s gaze to cradle the pendant in his hand, a bit of a dazed look on his face. Cas waits patiently, wanting to make sure this is Dean’s choice.

               “Cas. I need to know something, because I don’t want there to be any miscommunication here.” Castiel waits for several minutes as Dean works to find the words he needs. “You say you’re giving me a part of yourself, that it will become a part of me. That sounds like, well, more than a friendship to me. And I’d like to know if I’m getting that right.”

               While it’s not exactly a question, Cas understands that he needs to put this in more human terms. “Yes, Dean. You would be accepting that what we have is more than just friendship. I love you Dean. I am content with just being by your side, and if you do not love me the same way nothing has to change. However, these past days have allowed me to hope for more. So, I am offering you more. I am offering you me, if you choose to accept me.” Castiel’s hand has moved up to cradle Dean’s face, but he needs Dean to choose what he wants and does not move further.

“Please don’t cry, Cas.” Castiel is surprised to feel tears drip from his face, he hadn’t realized just how much his emotions were spilling over. Dean wipes the tears away with his thumbs and then he leans in and kisses Castiel.

Cas feels a rush of bliss and his grace warms his wings as he feels more feathers push into existence. He leans into the kiss and wraps his free arm around Dean’s neck as the hand cupping Dean’s faces slides up into his hair. Dean opens his mouth and Cas dives in, the sensation of their tongues touching better than anything Cas could have imagined, although Dean’s hands on his bare waist place at a close second. Too quickly, Dean pulls back to breathe and takes a small step back before Cas can drag him back for more.

“Wait. Just a sec, Cas. Here, I want you to put this on me.” Cas’ eyes widen with surprise and joy, and he thinks that the kissing can wait for just a moment. He takes the chain and pulls the pendant over Dean’s head. Dean pulls his layers away from his neck just enough for Cas to drop the pendant below his undershirt to rest close to Dean’s heart.

“I accept you Castiel.” Dean smiles, glorious in his choice, and his voice is saturated with love as a small flare of grace glows where the pendant hangs. Cas sighs as he can feel Dean’s heartbeat through the new connection, and he watches as Dean takes in the small change in feeling as well.

“You can feel me? I wasn’t sure if you’d be able to.” Dean nods slowly as he presses his hand over his chest.

“Yeah, wow. It’s nothing noticeable I guess, just this feeling of warmth. If I focus on it, it seems to get a little bigger, and I can tell it’s you.” Cas decides it’s time to get back to the kissing part as he feels he may actually be on fire with the amazing feelings coursing through him. Dean participates enthusiastically. Eventually though, Castiel notices that Dean is shivering, even with angel wings around him.

“Let’s go back inside. You should sleep for a while, so we can exchange gifts with Sam in the morning.” Dean frowns in response to this suggestion.

“You said the potion would only work for a day. I want to see your wings for as long as I can.” Cas laughs at the pouting expression on Dean’s face as he grabs his pajama top and switches off the lights.

“Well, I didn’t say anything because I wanted an honest choice from you without bribery, but when you wear my feather you should be able to see them anyway, especially since you said you can feel me through it. You may even be able to see them at times when they aren’t manifested in this realm.” Dean’s face is almost giddy at this news and Cas laughs again. Cas grasps Dean’s hand and this time he doesn’t protest as he’d led back into the warmth of the bunker. Cas takes a moment to push his wings away from the physical realm before going back inside. Dean continues to look behind Cas.

“I can still see them, more like shadows the way I’ve seen them before, or outlines of shadows, but maybe that’s just the potion.”

“Only time will tell, but I believe you will retain the connection. I can manifest them inside later, so you can determine the pendants impact; I just have to be careful and keep them pulled inward.” Dean pulls Cas towards him and kisses him again, this time is softer, and almost hesitant.

“Come to my room? I, uh, I’m not asking for anything else tonight, but I was wondering if you’d be willing to just stay with me until I sleep? If that’s okay, I mean.” Dean stumbles over the words but Castiel is already tugging him in the direction of the bunker rooms.

“I will watch over you when you fall asleep Dean, and I would enjoy doing that while sharing your bed. I would also like to try doing this in my new bed at some point. With my bee pillow.” Dean snorts and Cas smiles happily, wondering what he was so afraid of in the first place. When they reach the room, Dean closes the door behind him and strips down to his boxers, looking at Cas questioningly. Cas mirrors Dean’s actions and then joins him under the covers.

“Cas?” Dean mumbles into Castiel’s chest sleepily.

“Yes Dean?”

“I love you too.” Castiel feels as if he’s flying again, damaged wings or not.

***

@galaxycastiel, @jellydeans, @my-favourite-hellatus, @nguyenxtrang

[tonyglowheart]

Trying to semi-organize my thoughts on what exactly I am wanting out of spn fic and hm let's see. If I remember this post in the future, I may update it as I think of/on things and use this for reference so I, also, don't forget lol

Okay so, wants/likes:

Cas prominent. He is my, as I believe the kpop kids say, bias, so he is kind of non-negotiable. Sorry I am just not interested in fics where he is not prominent

Destiel not required but a good plus. Slight preference for intricate courtship rituals over ones where they figure things out ridiculously easy, unless it is established relationship. If the revelation comes too quick and easy then I get taken out of the moment :')

Optional: Angels treating Cas like their baby brother :3 Cas can be somewhat put out by it or not. Actually maybe bonus if he IS, bc they are all angels of the lord and relative by rank and experience, And Yet [whoever] just cannot help but be *points* Baby

canonverse is plus. canon divergence is okay but idk how close to canon I'm looking for, if it's too close to an episode rewrite I may not be into that either

casefics are cool. If it's got that canon-typical vaguely racist sht then pls warn me going in 😔

Found family. Family don't end in blood!!! Spn may forget this but I never will!!!

Any exploration of the whole fucky destiel thematic dichotomies, the whole free will vs destiny shit, stuff like words of prophets are written on subway walls, like.. idk, something that is intricate-rituals-gay and also makes me think of the philosophy of thehuman condition

corollary: slow burns ig?? or like mutual pining? canon typical thinking they are not worthy or that it is something they cannot have? canon typical did not realize until later but even then they have their individual canon-typical reasons for not acting on it, until they do bc it's fic so they can get together for realsies?

trope: Cas and/or Destiel being parents. I read one recently where it was like single dad Cas (to Claire and Jack) and then Dean came (back) into his life recently and I rly liked it

AUs are fine but highly subject to mood so we'll see. I did read a Star Trek-y AU I liked

I'm down for a lot of various other kinds of plot tropes and stuff, tho I want stuff that's more character and plot and less, like, pwp or fuck or die or that kinda thing

trope: curses maybe? I've found a couple curse-focused fics which were interesting

trope: Hurt/Comfort of the Cas whump kind but not necessarily have to be just Cas. But like.. u know when Uriel is beating him up and he looks all bloody and beautiful, or when he flexes his sexy angel powers and transports the Winchesters to the past but then collapses bc he overtaxed himself, or when he had that blanket on when he was suffering from the attack dog spell.... yeah,,,

trope: Anything with like the Winchesters caring about and caring for Cas. I just rly like Cas being taken care of :') pls wrap him in a blanket and pat his shoulder brusque-softly in ur emotionally repressed way Dean

bottom line my emphasis tends to be more on character and plot. I can't do plot without character, the relationships - whether ship or gen - are important to my enjoyment of a fic. I can sit thru a lot if the characters/character dynamics are good and chewy lmao like u can rly sink ur teeth into it

Bonus features:

eldritch horror angels are a bonus. Give me unfathomable trueform angels, I feel like I don't see that enough

wings* but.... caveat I like my spn wings more metaphysical than literal unless they're literal for a point, but this isn't set in stone either. I'm just... slightly tired of the physicality of the wings I guess. Like it's not the physicality that's the issue, ig, but when it's not treated as metaphysical (as well)

wouldn't mind some good endverse fics to chew on altho that might also make me sad

Cas being cute, a la crazy!Cas (who is.... so soft.... his innocence.. *clutches chest*) or like when Cas and Dean went to talk to that police guy and Cas was like you tell them it's angels and demons warring and he will tell you what he knows, or when Cas was like I'm gonna become a hunter :3, or interrogating the cat, or this is his serious face, yes

Powerful af Cas?? I miss season 4/5 Cas, when he was powerful and self-assured and wasn't "mentally deficient puppy" as Metatron meanly put it Cas. I feel like we get less of that as the seasons go on... I miss Cas being powerful and exuding energy that I'm sure is what had ppl assigning him as top energy. Like yes flex ur sexy sexy angel powers pls. There's one ep where my notes just say "ANGEL SMITE ANGEL SMITE / HEAAALING." Season 6 Cas where he is more out of touch with humanity and more brusque was also intriguing even tho he was like that bc of extenuating circumstances. But him flexing his sexy angel powers sure was sexy

Do not wants :(

Endgame human!Cas. Sorry I like short-lived Cassidy am more into feathered Cas than human!Cas. endgame human!Cas just isn't a good solution/happy ending to me, I don't think Cas needs to change to be able to live happily, and also I like to chew on the like philosophical underpinnings of an immortal/mortal pairing if that does get called into question lol

Human AU* but like asterisk bc I will take human AU if the plot is compelling and/or the characterization still manages to capture that je nais se quoi of canonverse. If they are, like, middle age dads being domestic, as an example, tho, then I can probs do that, I just like.. have limited capacity for career-based AUs for the sake of it, if that makes sense... But character/character dynamics trumps all, like I said lmao.. I've sat thru scenarios/setups that lowkey dealt me psychic damage bc of the nature of the set dressing, bc I checked it out out of morbid curiosity but the way they did the characterization ended up working for me

A/B/O - I am not seeking A/B/O at the moment

Hurt no Comfort - it would make me too sad :(

fics that treat angels like literal physical feathered beings. Idk I just like... want the whole angel thing to be treated more metaphysically. They are multidimensional wavelengths of celestial intent in holy corporate/business attire visages but they are still very much multidimensional wavelengths of celestial intent the ballpark size of our Chrysler building. If the wings are treated too literally I find I start getting bored, ironically. This is ironic bc I'm a slut for wingfic. But with spn I find that a conventional kind of wingfic/angel conception where the wings are just limbs with maybe some slight handwaved dimension-shifting stowing is.. slightly passe for my tastes. Unless it's like a forced manifestation or sth. Just like.. get the metaphysics involved, tie it to angelic grace. Something. Make is racy. But not too racy, the whole wings-as-erogenous-zones thing I'm a bit over too, xenobiology to humans would just be biology to these beings, it doesn't make sense to me to be like "oh they have a tail and it's EXTRA sensitive," like are you suggesting your arm/armpit is an extra special species-typical erogenous zone too?

deaging unless it ties to some other kinda plotty deal somehow ig? Like... I got invested in this fandom for them as they are now I'm not too interesting in unseasoned nibling vers

this maybe goes with the human aus tho that's a slight asterisk but hard line no high school aus. pls I cannot take the psychic damage that would deal to me personal

I have no conclusion even tho I feel like I need one. here's wonderwall? ig I can stumble around looking for reclists and see if anything sticks out, trawling thru tags so far has been a mixed bag

Anyway haha lol, stand-up-style-tone I mean I'm not asking for a lot amirite. Just a nebulously specific set of intricate rituals wrapped around a plot and also found family or something, like you know, just a trifling

[nilim]

How would someone start to get into LARPing? I've always thought it sounded interesting but I have no idea where to start.

Oh boy, both a very easy and a very complicated question, because it depends on where you live and what you want. Also I haven’t been to that many different LARPs, so I will keep this mostly general…. This got long, so tips under the cut:

I’m very much a ‘jumped in the deep end without any preparation and see where I end up’ kinda person. I first started LARPing when I was 18. It was a ‘smaller’ LARP and it was at a place where my brother also LARPed at, although I didn’t see him for the entire weekend so I was pretty much alone. It was also an ‘adult’ LARP, so 16+ only. It was also the most I laughed in a 3-day stretch of time and absolutely delightful.

Basically, anyone can get into LARPing, you just have to keep an open mind when going into these things. Here’s a disclaimer though: I’m an easy person, I don’t have any disabilities, was in a mentally healthy state and I’m very used to camping outdoors, so I could put up with a lot - there was nothing that really ‘scared’ me about going except the whole ‘oh no strangers’ and mild social anxiety thing. Therefore, I didn’t do a lot of research beforehand about which LARP I wanted to attend - I attended my first LARP because it was relatively close to where my parents lived and I knew my brother LARPed there. That’s it.

However, that was more than 10 years ago and I’ve since grown a little more socially anxious and also a little more socially aware, so I would advise you to scout out different LARPs in your area. Almost all LARP events I know of have an online presence, through twitter or facebook groups, websites, etc. Just have a look what players are saying on those pages - you can usually judge the general feel of a LARP by the type of discussions players are having. 

Also, ask questions if you’re unsure about something. In general I’ve found that LARPers are very eager to bring people into their hobby, and are very helpful and honest when answering questions. Check whether there is a code of conduct. Check whether there are confidential counselors present if anything were to happen. Check whether there are rules about harassment etc. If you’re unsure about something, ask the players on those social media pages what their experiences have been. Usually they will be honest, because they are ‘customers’ of the LARP much like you will be. Treat it like you’re shopping around for a hotel or holiday! Weigh the pros and cons.

As for the LARPs themselves, there are many different kinds of LARPs. I’ve only done high fantasy LARPs so far, and pretty large ones as well. Conquest of Mythodea is the largest LARP in the world, and it can be overwhelming for some people. But I also find them very calming in a way? When there’s so many people around there is almost no direct pressure on me to do anything. The story will continue regardless of what I do. With small LARPS or ‘parlor’ LARPs, which usually consist of a very limited group in a much smaller area, there can be more pressure on you to ‘perform’ your role. However, the upside of these LARPs is that you get some very deep RP and your character is important to the story. The game leaders will make sure to focus on you, and that can be very exciting! 

I’ve also only attended LARPs where I would stay overnight. My first LARP lasted 3 days (Friday-Sunday), and Conquest of Mythodea lasts 5 (Wednesday -Sunday night). If you’re unsure about immediately going for such a commitment, maybe try out shorter or smaller LARPs first to see if you like it? Also, almost all LARPs have out-of-character areas, so if things get too overwhelming you can retreat from the game and just chill. Usually there are dedicated areas in the game, as well as your personal areas (e.g. people’s personal tents are completely off limits in Conquest, and nobody may enter them except for you. They may also not demand that you come out, etc). 

Once you’ve settled on a LARP you want to attend, but don’t want to do it alone, you can ask around to see if there are any groups that might interest you in joining. Most LARPs have many different factions that you could join, and a lot of larger LARPs also have newbie groups that are specifically designed to teach you the ropes of the game. We joined the banner of explorers in Conquest of Mythodea and people were very friendly with explaining rules and such to us. However, they also usually let you go off and do your own thing if you’re not interested in participating or being forced into performing faction-related things. It was real nice. Again, ask around, see which groups of people can take you under their wing - usually there’s a lot of people willing to help you! A lot of this asking around you can do online before you even attend the LARP.

Once you’ve chosen a LARP and/or even a faction, make sure to read up on the rules of the LARP. Sometimes there’s a lot. Nobody is expecting you to know everything by heart, but it’s appreciated to take a little bit of effort so you know the general rules, especially around OOC vs IC gameplay, and the concept to roleplay with other people. LARPing is very much a “Yes and…” kind of experience, much like D&D. Prevent shutting down other people’s RP moments just because you want to do something cooler. (Note: Absolutely shut down somebody’s RP moment if it is making you uncomfortable. You are more important than RP!). Read up on combat rules, if you’re planning on taking part in combat. Make sure never to just hit people on the head, never carry sharp objects on you, make sure to know the rules about touching and grabbing other people, some LARPs don’t allow it.

Now you just need a character. Many LARPs have you build a character much in the same way like you would build a D&D character; you have a number of skill points that you can assign to different skills, such as thievery, magic or hitpoints. Read up on the rules and do whatever you think would be fun. In my general experience, these skill points are way less important than you think. 99% of LARP is just hanging around and talking to people, and you don’t need skill points for that. Additionally, realize that nobody actually knows your character (unless you’re playing a small parlor LARP), so you can usually tweak your character while you’re playing. So far I’ve always tried to play shady thief characters or dumb fighter characters, but I always instantly get sucked in when there’s puzzles and mysteries to solve, so I often let the ‘stoic person who doesn’t care about books’ thing go as soon as the game presents me with secret puzzles and coded texts. And that’s fine. Just make sure that once you’ve settled as a character after some time IC, and people know you as that character, you roleplay somewhat consistently or otherwise it gets confusing.

As for preparation for going to an actual LARP: There’s a lot of good resources out there on the internet! Just google things like ‘essential items for a LARP’ or ‘packing list LARP’, especially if you’re planning on camping. There’s also a huge amount of online stores that cater to LARP outfits, LARP weapons, and adjacent fantasy setting camping items. If you’re on a budget, don’t worry about it - nobody is going to be snobby about your outfit if you don’t look as cool as the next guy. However, please do try to keep it setting-compliant. Don’t show up in jeans and a t-shirt to a fantasy LARP. Even on a budget, it’s relatively easy to find some second-hand clothes at a thrift store or flea market (that’s where I get half my LARP clothes). Much like many hobbies, this one too requires a little bit of investment on your part before you go. Please don’t splurge on equipment before you’ve even attended a LARP though – maybe you won’t like it, and then you’ve invested all that effort already. Just take it easy and test out the waters a little bit.

And in-game? What if you’re unsure about how to get into the game? First you have to realize that everything is game. Even just sitting around the campfire enjoying some bard songs is game. There’s no right or wrong way to play in a LARP. But if you want to get into more plot-related stuff: Talk to others. Ask questions, about everything. During our 5 days at Mythodea this summer we did literally nothing but walk up to random places or events, tapping random people on the shoulder and going ‘what’s happening here?’. And people will do it a lot with you too, we’ve had so many people asking us who someone was, or what was going on, even though we didn’t know. Be not afraid to ask questions. It’s the quickest way to make new connections and get new friends and to get involved in the plot. Usually there’s NPCs around that you can ask for quests. Try to find out where stuff is happening. Or make your own quests, if you enjoy making that kind of character. It can be a lot of fun to send out other players to do things for you. Player characters come in all kinds of flavours. Maybe you just want a character that hangs out in the camp and cooks for people. That’s fine too! Like I said before, there’s no right or wrong to play. 

If you want to fight undead and smash people with a foam sword, there’s LARPs for that. If you want to solve a murder mystery in a haunted mansion, there’s LARPs for that. If you want to be a wizard and attend magic school, there’s LARPs for that. If you want to sneak around and steal people’s valuables, there’s LARPs for that. It’s great! Just look around and see what kind of LARP and what kind of character suits your style. And it’s also fine to have your first LARP be a run-of-the-mill fantasy setting where you just walk around and observe other people and don’t get involved in the plot at all, which is mostly what I did during my first LARP. 

Anyway, this got very long, sorry. But I hope these tips help you out!

[d-ama-ien]

“They’re Cheesy for a Reason”

Written for the  First Visitation Day Gift Exchange run by @yancy-support-group

Gift for @breadstickksss , Prompt: soft

Yancy x Reader

Word count: 2626 (I may have gotten a bit excited…)

It's been months since the incident that got me sent to Happy Trails Penitentiary. Sure, adjusting to prison life was a bit rough at first, and I still don't love when the guards are in a bad mood and beat us around, but the kindness of the other prisoners quickly made me realize it wasn't that bad to be in prison. And I was a model prisoner, so I didn't fall victim to the guard's bad moods very often. 

Of all the prisoners, I had quickly grown closest to Yancy. He was the head of the family, in a way, so he often took the new prisoners under his wing until they got their feet under them. My feet have been under me for months, to the point where I can even help out new prisoners myself, but Yancy still spent most of his free time with me. It's not like I'm going to protest, I love spending time with him. Anything from mealtime to lifting weights in the yard was a pleasure; it was a surprise just how cute he could be, especially since I had heard from one of the others what exactly had gone down that led to him being sent here.

But, despite all his issues, Yancy was kind to the other prisoners, he valued the family he had built here above everything, he loved singing show tunes, even making and choreographing his own songs. When Yancy found out I was a musical fan as well, he had ranted about the shows he had seen for an hour before realizing how long he had been talking and apologizing. I found it adorable though, loving his enthusiasm, so we continued to talk about that for hours until the guards had to physically separate us for curfew. 

I don't see Yancy every day, he has to keep the family in shape, I have my own things to do, my own friends to hang out with, but on those days that Yancy is off with a new prisoner, I can't help but feel a bit moody. Each day, spent with or without Yancy, I'm becoming painfully aware that the feelings I have for him are more than platonic. It gets to the point where I have trouble reciprocating his friendly touches, finding myself daydreaming that instead of a platonic squeeze on my shoulder, he would lace his fingers with mine and squeeze our hands together instead. 

Yancy doesn't seem to be interested though, so I keep content with our friendship, enjoying the opportunity to know him any capacity. Sometimes, he makes it difficult for me to remain on the friendly side of things.

It happens while talking about first dates or first meetings in musicals. We were talking about romantic duets from our favorite shows, and the topic shifted to things like the start of the romance versus the big romantic finale when the characters will kiss and live happily ever after.

"I mean, is there anything cuter than I'll Cover You? Angel and Collins are absolutely perfect," I say, sighing as I remember the scene from Rent.

"Yeah, yeah, it's real cute until you remember the reprise that Collins sings after Angel dies," Yancy points out.

"It's still romantic! Depressing and awful, but those two have a love like nothing else, so even the reprise is romantic," I don't bring up how I cry like a baby almost every time I listen to the reprise. I mean, Angel's death and then the funeral and then all the breakups immediately afterward, it's a series of painful scenes.

"What about something cute and not depressing, maybe that Prom show you were talking about?" Yancy was pretty behind on Broadway shows, makes sense since he's been here so long, but I had been doing my best to tell him about the ones I knew.

"The Prom ends cute, but that main relationship goes through some serious problems too. I mean, the one girl's mom is a homophobe and purposefully ruins the main character's prom night, leading the girls to break up. They make up, but you know I cried in the theater because of that moment," Yancy sighs when I explain more about the central relationship I had told him about.

"Is every relationship depressing in musicals, or am I just not thinking of the right type of show?"

"I mean, if the relationships went well right off the bat, then it wouldn't be much of a plot," I point out.

"These musical characters got it all wrong, they just gotta do something simple. I think show writers underestimate the power of something cheesy like a picnic under the stars," Yancy throws his hands behind his head, leaning back casually while speaking.

"Aww, who knew you were an old school romantic," I tease, earning a scoff.

"Stuff like that's only considered cheesy because it works! Youse would agree if anyone did something like that for you," I'm almost offended at the insinuation that no one had ever done something cheesy for me. Still, none of my partners had set up a starlit picnic for me, so he was technically right.

"You got me there, I've never had anyone set up a picnic under the stars for me. But I think a normal coffee date would be the most realistic thing to portray in a show, I don't think picnics are super common anymore,"

"Do ya know what? I'll set up a starlight picnic for youse sometime, then you'll get what I'm talkin' bout," I laugh at what Yancy says, ignoring the stirring of emotions in my chest at the idea of Yancy doing something like that for me.

"Sure, Yancy, we'll see if that changes my mind," I agree.

"But, really, there's gotta be a relationship that goes well for an entire show," Yancy returns to the original train of conversation, and we spend the next hour of our free time trying to spitball shows with a straightforward and completely happy relationship.

After a week, that conversation is basically out of my mind. We have a lot of discussions, after all, and my brain space isn't only dedicated to Yancy, other things are going on around the prison to think about.

One evening I return to my empty cell, my cellmate had gotten parole a few days ago and hadn't been replaced yet. I turn on the small TV, it'll hopefully keep me entertained until lights out at least. The channels are minimal, I end up with some soap opera droning in the background while I take some time to read. They spoil us here at the penitentiary, but we're all about rehabilitation and rewards. Unless you get punished because when they give out punishments, you really suffer. That's why I keep on my best behavior, that's how I get these privileges. I'm just getting invested in a new chapter when the guard on duty stops by my cell.

"It's time for lights out, shut your TV off and get to bed," I oblige quickly, the guard walking away once I put the remote and book down by the, now off, TV. I slide under the covers of the bottom bunk, settling in for another good night of rest.

When I wake up, the cell is dim, I know it's still night, but I heard an unusual sound. I open my eyes slowly, blinking to adjust to the near non-existent lighting, and then I nearly jump out of my skin and have to muffle a scream.

Yancy has stuffed himself between the bunk and the mattress, grinning down at me. I cover my face for a moment, taking deep breaths to recover from the scare, before rolling out of bed to wait for Yancy to come out from under the mattress.

"What are you doing here? You nearly gave me a heart attack," I whisper my complaint, not wanting to draw the attention of the night shift guards.

"Just put ya shoes on, we got a picnic to get to,"

I blink in confusion as Yancy hands me my shoes, not sure I processed his sentence correctly. "A picnic?"

"You thought I was kidding?" Yancy laughs a bit as I slide my shoes on, "I really meant it when I said I'd take you out on a starlight picnic one of these nights," I suddenly recall our conversation from earlier this week, but I had seriously thought he was joking about that. 

"Wait, we're in prison. How are we supposed to have a picnic?" It's the middle of the night, I don't know how to wrap my brain around this.

"We're gonna break out," My mouth drops open in shock, I'm about to loudly demand an explanation when he rapidly waves his hands, "Temporarily! We'll come back, we ain't leavin' forever. Just for the picnic,"

I sigh in relief, I was almost sure for a second that this was Yancy's evil twin or an alien imposter and I was going to have to kill him. The Yancy I knew did not want to leave here anytime soon.

"Come on, if youse keep stalling, we ain't gonna have time for the picnic," Yancy nags as I finish lacing up my shoes. "But, before we go, youse gotta promise that you ain't gonna tell anyone the way out, and promise that youse won't go out for no reason,"

"I promise," I intend to finish out my sentence honestly, and while I like the other prisoners, I wouldn't want any of them out in society, so I definitely won't be telling any of them the way.

"Good, we'll skip the blindfold then," Yancy says with a grin, turning to move some of the decorations, revealing a small hole in the wall. He hooks a finger into the hole, apparently the wall here is just a panel that can be dragged open. We go through the tunnels, dodging some insanely heavy security measures that require very odd counting to get through, swim through a sewage pipe, which is as awful as it sounds, go through a series of increasingly complex instructions that I barely follow. Suddenly we're outside the prison gates. Yancy grabs my hand, pulling me along until we're clear of the building's light, walking along the edge of a nearby forest.

I gasp when we come upon the picnic Yancy had set up, a collection of candles surrounding a large blanket, a basket sitting in the center. Yancy smiles at my reaction, dragging me over to the blanket and encouraging me to sit on the blanket while he pulls supplies out of the basket. 

"Yancy, where did you get all of this?" I ask, totally delighted as he hands me a glass and pours me some sort of sparkling drink. He pulls out a plate of small sandwiches next, offering it to me before he pours himself a drink. 

"Cucumber sandwiches, really?" He even cut them into tiny triangles.

"You just gotta know where the guards keep their personal stash, they got all sorts of fancy stuff there. They won't miss any of this stuff, so we might as well use it," he explains, leaning back to support himself on his arm, watching me with a small smile.

"I can't believe you really set this up," I lean back as well, craning my neck to look up at the stars. They're beautiful out here; there's no light pollution out here, so the night sky is clearer than I've ever seen it.

"I'm a man of my word, and I said I'd set up a starlight picnic for youse. Do youse doubt my word?" I can tell Yancy is teasing, he nudges my shoulder how he usually does when poking fun, but I decide to answer anyways.

"I thought you were joking, honestly. I mean, why would you put in the work of setting all this up just for me?" Yancy's brows furrow at that.

"What do ya mean by that? Of course I'd do stuff like this for youse." Yancy ducks his head, rubbing the back of his neck shyly, "I care about youse, dummy,"

I wait for the joke or laughter to follow, but it never comes. My heart is nearly beating out of my chest, my cheeks burning red even if I'm sure he meant he cared as a friend.

"I care about you too, I really value your friendship," I reply, managing to smile at him. I swear his lips twitch into a frown for a moment, but it must be a flicker of the candlelight. I shiver a bit from a sudden breeze, Yancy immediately activates his "head of the family" instincts and starts rummaging through the basket.

"I thought it might get a bit chilly," he comments as he pulls out a fuzzy blanket, it's even my favorite color. I accept the blanket gratefully, wrapping myself up in the soft material. I stare up at the stars, trying to pick out constellations that I could remember, and I hear Yancy softly sigh from next to me.

"Hey, Yancy, I've got a question," I glance towards him, waiting for his nod before continuing, "Do you ever… do you ever regret getting sent here?"

It's a sensitive question, one I don't think I would ever ask while in the walls of the prison, but Yancy does not react at first.

"I…. I honestly can't say that I regret it. I didn't mean for things to go the way they did, but this life is better than anything I ever had on the outside. I got a real family here, and… I got youse," I twist my hands in the soft material of the blanket, quietly contemplating his answer.

"What about youse? Any regrets?"

"I miss my family, I guess, but otherwise, I can't say that I regret much. If I weren't here, I wouldn't have met you, and you're probably one of the best things to happen to me," I admit it, at least partially, getting those feelings into the open air under the stars.

"Come here," Yancy mutters, pulling me closer to him until I'm pressed against his side, resting my head on his shoulder. We sit in comfortable silence, relaxing under the stars.

"I think you were right about these picnics," I mumble, sleep starting to take over. I feel Yancy's low chuckle more than I hear it, followed shortly by the press of his lips against my forehead. I doze off, comforted by the warmth of his body and the blanket surrounding me.

The next day I wake up in my usual bunk, half wondering if I dreamed up that whole picnic. That escape situation was ridiculous after all, and I can't imagine anyone, even a guy as strong as Yancy, being able to carry someone through all those security measures. And it's not like I can ask about it- if it did happen, that means we literally broke out of here last night. I shake off the thoughts, deciding to just go to breakfast and worry about it later.

"Hey, youse!" Yancy greets as I walk into the dining hall, "I saved youse a seat," he points out the chair in question, going over to talk to one of the other prisoners while I go and grab a tray of food and take my seat.  

"How'd ya sleep?" Yancy questions, winking when I raise my eyebrow at him. His hand finds mine under the table, intertwining our fingers and squeezing when I smile at him.

"I slept great, and you know after last night I just had this strange inclination that you had a point about those cheesy first dates,"

"I told youse, it's cheesy for a reason.”

[zuka-themed-username]

Impressions: Spreading Golden Wings / Music Revolution! (yukigumi 2019 tour)

This has been a long time coming, apologies! As I didn’t write any notes at intermission this will be a shorter, more generalized opinion of the Monday, Oct. 14th performance in Kawasaki. It was two days after the ‘worst storm in Japan in 60 years’ according English news, and ‘violent typhoon no. 19′ in Japanese, which, they weren’t wrong. It was terrifying and exhausting, and I cannot imagine having to put on a brave face and perform like everything is totally fine just a day later. Both sections of Snow Troupe did however, and I will be forever impressed. It does not however, make me inclined to enjoy Spreading Golden Wings any more than I am able to, though this may be the first time I buy a blu-ray for the revue. More thoughts below the cut! 

I’ll be popping back into my bullet point format from here. 

This is the Revue’s first performance in カルッツかわさき (Culttz Kawasaki, honestly love the name). It’s beautiful, and reminds me of many new performance spaces - bright woods, streamlined design, open lobby and a ton of stairs. The seat I had is still considered S seki, and was pretty nice, though I’m glad I had my opera glasses.

The program is a nice light blue with just Nozomi Fuuto (Daimon) posing in her primary Music Revolution costume (black & silver w/ huge white gems and metal circles). I wish they had a Maaya Kiho (Kiho) variant or a cover with them together, but that’s totally fine.

I did write some notes on the train ride back to Tokyo, so I’ll be using those as a jumping off point. Note that the day before I had seen Star Troupe’s GOD OF STARS, so many of the notes are phrased comparatively. Spoiler-free until the [s]

Spreading Golden Wings

‘limited set’ 

It’s a touring show, and frankly I’m glad they don’t have to take a lot with them, as they may run into damaged roads on their tour south, but I was still surprised at the sparseness. It didn’t help that the aesthetic was medieval European, which made it look a bit like a televised Shakespeare production. However! This allowed you to focus on the scene without worrying about missing something. Unlike Grand Theater / Tokyo runs where people see a show several times, I would hope tours are designed to be seen once. Thus I’m glad I didn’t leave thinking, ‘oh next time I’ll look at opposite side of the stage, I missed xyz’. 

‘single scenes, no additional side scenes’

This is something that made GOD OF STARS simultaneously amazing and terrible, as there were always 45 people on stage doing something elaborate. Spreading Golden Wings was the complete opposite. It felt old-school, to be sure, but I cannot recall a single scene where something was happening outside of the range of what my opera glasses could see. People could be spaced out across the stage of course, but they were all participating in the same moment. It really highlighted acting choices, especially considering a surprising lack of underscoring allowing you to hear every footstep and breath. The recording of this will flawlessly capture what yukigumi was aiming to project, which will be great to see again.

‘Daimon cackles into and out of a scene’

I will briefly break down the plot and characters in a bit, but there is an early scene where the villainous Vittorio, played by Daimon, enters the room where he is holding Clarice, played by Kiho, captive, and her laugh as she enters was identical to the laugh she gave as she left two minutes later. I thought it was fantastically over the top and well within the aesthetic of the work.

‘Kiho is ... befuddled / confused / flabbergasted -> meta for her character?’

I had a hard time with Clarice in this show, let’s be real. Kiho used her huge eyes to her advantage, looking woefully overwhelmed for the first 80% of the show, and confidently winging it (and therefore vaguely panicked) the last 20%. I would love to hear Kiho’s thoughts on the character, which may be in a Kageki somewhere if someone has the most recent issue.

‘Asami Jun just obsessed w/ Daimon’

I can’t speak for Asami but her character, Falco, gets one of the few solos to solely sing about how everything he does is for Vittorio. If you want to memorize the ‘ために’ grammar pattern do I have the song for you. It felt very St-Just 2.0 but it was still super engaging and later provided some shock value. 

‘few interstitial chorus scenes’

I completely forgot this half of yukigumi had ~40 people in it until they would do a dance to establish the scene. The show starts with quite a long prologue, but I still forgot them completely until they would all pop up again to either establish a new location, tone, or event. It is very reminiscent of hoshigumi’s Elbe from earlier this year. This show  does not require more than a dozen people for the plot, so when everyone shows up in roles clearly not meant to directly impact the story it was quite a surprise. 

‘purposefully better sword work’

There are a few fight scenes / sword training scenes in the show, and the choreography for them becomes increasingly complicated as the show progresses, which was a nice touch. 

[s] Kiho especially makes a dramatic improvement as the show progresses, which makes sense thematically, but by the end she’s legitimately holding her own against otokoyaku who have generally had more fight training (unless she did for Mibugishiden, which I have not seen)

[s] ‘clearly a repro of the 85 show’ / ‘tbh can’t tell what has changed’

Alrighty so it’s time to dive into the core of the interest around this production - the fact that it was originally a taidan / tour back in 1985, and that when this show was announced it was immediately followed up with, ‘we’re rewriting some things to make it fresh for modern audiences’. It was not relabeled in the same way as Elbe was with ‘Once Upon a Time in Takarazuka’, but there was a significant amount of notice paid to the fact that some things would be different. My question though as we went into intermission was, what changed? Reading through the plot on takawiki, the beats are the same. Full disclosure, I am not fluent in Japanese. There is a great chance that it is simply a nuance of language that perhaps makes the motivations behind actions more gray, but it does not change the fact that the scenes still play out with the same result. I believe there is an additional love song at the end between Daimon and Kiho because they sound ~amazing~ and can emote ~so well~ but that was perhaps the only thing that felt fresh to me. Everyone that betrays someone still betrays that person, questionable scenes of consent still look quite questionable, the interesting shift from lady to page boy was still fun to see. But I believe they were the same as before, and I don’t consider acting choices within scenes to allow for ambiguity to be rewrites. That’s just the benefit of restaging a production. Perhaps the chorus scenes were fleshed out, but I was expecting shifts in plot, character arcs, or concrete visual differences in motivation. I would love for a full breakdown of this show once the recording is released at the end of January. 

[s] ‘some spicy scenes, audience was caught up’ / ‘whip scene? :o’

Here’s a brief breakdown of the core plot after me talking around it for 10 minutes 

Daimon plays Vittorio, the lord of an Italian city state of Lago that is always feuding with the nearby city state of Bolzano. He kills the lord of Bolzano, and takes his daughter, Clarice (played by Kiho) prisoner. She of course is not on board with this. When she meets him, however, she is shaken up by his attractiveness, and he declares that she belongs to him now, no questions please. He attempts to force his point, she clumsily whips out a dagger that she loses immediately (sigh), and he is now charmed and attracted, and decides to teach her the basics of sword-fighting which will definitely not be needed later. Meanwhile Vittorio’s old bff/prime minister/secret admirer Falco (Asami Jun) is Not Having It. After clearly demonstrating to the audience his, honestly no other way to phrase it, love of Vittorio, we see that he will do whatever it takes to ensure Vittorio does not become weak in his love for Clarice. 

Various plot things happen that put Clarice in danger and Vittorio saving her / demonstrating his passion for her, and eventually the prime minister of Bolzano (Clarice’s father’s old city state) Guillermo (Kujou Asu), catches on. This results in Vittorio and Clarice being captured, with Vittorio chained, whipped (by Falco!) and leaving without an eye. 

Sometime later, Clarice, now dressed in disguise as a page boy and seemingly willingly with Vittorio, delivers a message to Guillermo from Vittorio, challenging him to a duel.

Vittorio (+1 sexy eyepatch) and Gulliermo (-1 for losing his cool and planning to use poison to win) duel. It is sanctioned by the Pope, who should be busy doing holy things but here we are. Several people jump into the fray after the attempted poison, Clarice shows off her sword skills like a boss, the Golden Wings of Vittorio’s city state arrive, and all is well. There’s a brief bit at the end where Vittorio and Clarice declare their love for each other, and curtain. 

I definitely left out some side plots and characters because I wanted to get to my thoughts on a few main scenes I saw and wish I saw. 

bed scene - early on in the show Vittorio forces himself onto Clarice. Daimon being Daimon leaves a bit of space as she looms over Kiho, but Kiho squeaked, there is no other way to describe it, and I wanted to gasp with surprise. Everyone and their mother had stopped breathing and stared through their opera glasses, collectively releasing it when Kiho went for the knife (after quite a hold - it was clear she had the release point on the scene and leaned into it) 

whip scene - I was like, ‘oh this is scandy what’s going to happen’. It’s not as dramatic/musicalized as 1789, but I was still surprised. The only thing that pulled me out of it was the lack of cuffs on the wall XD. Daimon just held her arms up, shout out to that arm strength. Anytime someone gets whipped it’s pretty intense, and Daimon is great at pulling out strong emotions from pain. The yells, ooooof.

the scenes between the escape and the duel challenge - I really want to chalk this up to my lack of language, but I wanted more scenes between Vittorio and Clarice after their escape and before the duel, as it’s quite clear Clarice isn’t going anywhere. (Even back to her own home city state that she must not be welcome in anymore) I think that would have been a great place to add some softer moments, not just grand displays of affection due to a traumatic circumstance or misdirected force. Doesn’t have to be a coffee shop scene or even a wound-tending scene, but perhaps Clarice working with Vitorrio to account for his new lack of depth perception? Or another sword-fight training scene? I just wanted more Daimon and Kiho but not at the dramatic extremes of this Shakespearean-esque drama. 

All in all, looking back on Spreading Golden Wings I had a better time than I originally thought. I never doubted for a second that yukigumi: top star edition wouldn’t put it’s all into this smaller scale production. Every scene oozed with intention, strong acting choices, and when it allowed for it, beautiful songs and choreography. I only wish the source material was a bit more... nuanced? Though there is charm in it’s clear presentation and design. As I type I waffle back and forth, so I will simply move on to Music Revolution. Once the recording comes out however, I’d love to hear other folk’s thoughts. 

Music Revolution

I f*king loved this revue, and I did not see it coming. I had assumed a scaled down GT/TT revue would feel sparse but I was shut right the hell up immediately. First things first my journal’s incredibly vague bullet points.

‘got more and more fun’

This is so basic yet so true. Usually there’s a slump in a revue for me somewhere, a slower ballad or dance section, but I only got more hype as the revue went on. Spreading Golden Wings felt short due to the generally straightforward plot, but if you told me Music Revolution was 2 hours I would say sure, and I loved every minute.

‘’Music is My Life’ is so damn fun’

Thanks for the detail, past me. But truly, hearing crisp English, incredibly strong and beautiful yukigumi voices, sharp choreography... it was a dream. I was charmed to no end by how clearly Daimon loved that song. This feels like it could be a main theme for her moving forward, or one that comes back quite a bit for yukigumi or zuka as a whole. One of my favorite moments.

‘Lots of dancing, Daimon’s voice almost too strong?!’

This no doubt was bolstered by seeing hoshigumi right before (sorry not sorry) but it felt like yukigumi was dancing so hard all the time. Clearly the folks not in Spreading Golden Wings just went twice as hard for the revue as a result. And Daimon was in the thick of it, matching beat for beat to only then belt some amazing notes. After spending the previous week in hoshi taidan sadness / cheer it was so refreshingly perfect. Her couple of solo moments were mesmerizing, and I’m so glad I can sink back into my yuki love while waiting for hoshi to ramp back up. 

‘amazing music, classical remixes so fun, trumpet and sax go home’

does the orchestra travel with them?? because if so, the f*king brass section went berserk during the jazz dance section and I nearly had a heart attack. It was so off the walls that they have to had recorded it in advance - it was way too hardcore to repeat every show. I wanted to applaud for the solo like you would in a standard jazz concert but alas. 

similarly, this revue has the highest proportion of my favorite thing in revues - classical music remixes. Idk if they are popular but I love hearing the orchestration choices and genres they throw at classical melodies, and what bonkers choreo they toss in there as well. 

‘adlib sections were stronger, lots of space’

While there were not extended sections to adlib an entire scene, there were some spots where the troupe or Daimon run into the audience. As it’s a tour, there is a bit of space in the song for the folks to navigate different sized halls. For this performance, Kiho was singing for Daimon as she jogged through the first floor, and as she made it back up to the stage she went to regard the folks in the first row before realizing she didn’t have time. ‘Ah shoot I have to be back up there the song’s almost done’ she remarked with a laugh as she hopped back on stage to regard a smirking Kiho. It was pretty fun, and it was nice to see her not panicked about it. Kiho had the song covered, there was still underscoring for her to make it back, and she had a charming way of commenting on it. Yay adlib improvement! There are some other places during full troupe dances where they can shout out the city / prefecture they are in, which Daimon and co. were quite inclined to do as she is from Yokohama, the capital of the Kanagawa prefecture where the show was happening. 

I wish I had more concrete notes for this, like I do GOD OF STARS, but I hope this provides a bit of context when you get a chance to see it for youself. It’s not my favorite yuki show by any stretch, it’s honestly probably near the bottom, but it’s not from lack of effort or enthusiasm. It serves a unique role and no doubt checks off some square on Daimon’s ‘how to conquer Takarazuka’ bingo card so for that I’m glad. The revue on the other hand, is one of my favorites. I’ve never had such a stark contrast in my opinion on two ‘acts’ before, which in and of itself is fun to reflect on. I really like where yuki is at right now, and cannot wait to see Once Upon a Time in America. 

Stay tuned for the most overlong and overdue look at GOD OF STARS this side of the Pacific. 

[secretsolenoid]

Earn Their Trust

A gift for @deformed-car! Sorry for the delay on this gift. One of your prompts was for Soundwave and the cassettes, so I went with Soundwave (and Ravage & Laserbeak) meeting Frenzy and Rumble in IDW. Hope you enjoy it!

“Soundwave, report.”

Standing in Senator Ratbat’s private office, Soundwave had to resist the urge to turn off his visor to deal with the throbbing in his helm. Instead, he fixed his gaze on a point just over Ratbat’s shoulder and started to review his mental notes of the day’s Senate session.

“Senate, gridlocked,” he said. “Factions, currently divided into four. Today’s debates, pointless, senate members remain unconvinced by new arguments. Senator Dai Atlas, maintains minimal support. Senators Decimus, Proteus, aim to consolidate their own bases of power.”

The sour taste of their plotting, orange and bitter, still coated the back of his glossa. It wasn’t helped by the way Ratbat was watching him smugly, sure in his victory with his secret weapon at his side. Soundwave suppressed the urge to swallow, knowing that the action wouldn’t remove the lingering sensation, and might make Ratbat suspicious of him.

“Yes, that much was obvious from the day’s debates. What are they planning to do about it? They can’t be planning to steal Dai Atlas’s support, that’s too little to make a difference with three major groups.” Ratback leaned back in his chair, humming thoughtfully. “Blackmail? They certainly would have enough on Crosscut, perhaps, or Concinus…”

His thoughts stuck like tar. Soundwave cut him off before he could mire himself too far in them. “Both Senators, considering you,” he said. “Their mining holdings, in direct competition. They will not form an alliance.”

This had Ratbat’s optics lightening considerably. He laced his fingers together in front of his face, but even if Soundwave had not felt the swell of sickly-sweet triumph in the Senator, the smile would have been obvious.

“Well, that is something to consider,” Ratbat said, slowly pleased. “I shall have to do some… networking, before tomorrow’s session.”

Soundwave nodded stiffly. “My services, required?” he asked. He could only hope that Ratbat released him from his duties sometime soon. If he was forced to follow the Senator through his attempts to curry favor with either Decimus or Proteus—or, more likely, to play both sides—then his helmache would only grow worse, and he’d start off tomorrow’s session already nursing a throbbing in his processor.

But Ratbat only waved him away. “No, no,” he said. “I have other tasks for you. You must make your way to the arena and work on our… special project.”

--

The gladiatorial arenas induced no less a helmache in Soundwave, but at least in this case, the complexity was replaced by pure bloodlust, and he was not obligated to stand in the middle of it. Still, he found himself focusing on Laserbeak’s comforting weight on his shoulder, and the solid, familiar presence of Ravage in his tape deck as he walked the winding corridors of the gladiatorial barracks toward the room Megatron had claimed for himself. Laserbeak leaned delicately against his helm, and surely would have started preening him if they weren’t in public, while Ravage started up the soothing rumble of a purr. Soundwave focused on the familiar comfort of their processors and their feelings of concern as he walked.

It did not reduce the pain in his helm, but it made it easier to push back the feeling of the match that had to be going on in the arena above. Maybe Megatron’s presence would do the same. Something about that mech’s purpose… it was so easy to fall into and forget the world beyond. It might be enough to make him forget the way every light felt like a dagger shearing through his visor right into his processor.

Only, when Soundwave finally reached the rooms and slipped inside, there was no Megatron to be found. Instead, Soundwave found himself exchanging surprised stares with a pair of mechs about a third of his height.

“Hey!” One of them shouted, pointing at him. Belatedly, Soundwave recognized them as being some of Megatron’s hangers-on, his fellow escaped miners. Rumble and Frenzy, he thought they were called, “What are you doing here?”

“Soundwave, searching for Megatron,” he said.

The other mech—that one was Frenzy, Soundwave thought—gave a snorting laugh. “Yeah, well, he ain’t here,” he said. “He’s up top beating the slag out of Roadrust or some other poor fragger. So what’re you going to do?”

They were both watching him suspiciously, though they had not allowed themselves to pull away. Soundwave could feel the citrus tang of nerves-curiosity-apprehension flickering through them as their visors darted between his faceplates, Laserbeak, and his chest compartment.

“With your permission,” Soundwave said calmly, “Wait.”

The two exchanged glances. “Guess not,” said the first one, Rumble. He jumped up onto the berth and adopted an aggressively lounging pose. Frenzy didn’t bother, he just crossed his arms and glowered in Soundwave’s direction.

Soundwave didn’t take his attention off of the two, but he let Laserbeak butting up against his cheek distract him a little, and he raised a hand to gently trace his fingers along the bird-cassette’s wings. He felt an enquiring ping from Ravage, and let his chest fold away to allow the other cassette to emerge. Ravage did so immediately, leaping out to prowl the room curiously, giving Rumble and Frenzy a generous radius.

Soundwave let it happen. Ravage would not be satisfied with Soundwave staying in an unexplored room, especially when his abilities were leaving him so tired today. And certainly not when there were two potentially hostile presences for Soundwave to keep track of.

Soundwave would not do anything to them unless provoked, of course—they were Megatron’s allies, and Soundwave would not upset the tenuous balance of his own position with Megatron, particularly not when the initial meeting had been at Ratbat’s request. He still had to prove that his interest in Megatron’s cause was due to more than the whims of his current master.

“Hey.”

Soundwave looked away from Ravage, who was very thoroughly investigating a floor-level vent, to find both minis staring at him with oddly intent expressions. Soundwave tilted his head toward them, and they both shuffled, nervous, but did not take their visors off him.

“You’re one of those hosts, right?” Rumble asked, pointing directly at Soundwave’s chest. When Soundwave nodded, Frenzy piped up as well.

“So you don’t, like. Steal them to make them your slaves, or something like that?”

Soundwave frowned. “Negative,” he said, firmly. The thought of forcing Ravage or Laserbeak to serve him, when they’d saved his spark in so many ways…

Neither cassette had Soundwave’s ability to sense thoughts, but they did not need it to read him, by now. Laserbeak settled down against his shoulder with a shrill cry, and Ravage circled back around to him, weaving between Soundwave’s legs before sitting pointedly at his side. Soundwave petted them both, then looked back to Frenzy and Rumble. “Cassettes, willing partners.”

He could still sense the complicated mix of emotions behind their intense visors. “Frenzy, Rumble, curious?” he asked.

“No!” “No way!” They shouted together, scoffing and turning away from Soundwave determinedly. “We just wanted to know if we’d need to beat you up.”

“Beating, not required,” Soundwave told them, shaking his helm. Reaching a decision, he settled down into a kneel, careful not to disturb Laserbeak as he did so. Ravage settled in against his side, chassis beginning to rumble once again with a purr. “Soundwave, will not do anything Rumble and Frenzy do not agree to.”

“Yeah, well, we don’t agree to that.” Rumble sniffed, and Frenzy nodded, but there was less vehemence to the statements than Soundwave had received when he first arrived, and the glances the two were throwing at him now were just a bit more curious than suspicious, now.

Things lapsed into silence for a little while, as Soundwave paid attention to Ravage and Laserbeak and tried to relax and let the knotted pounding in his processor lessen. It even lessened somewhat, though it would take a true shutdown away from others to set him fully to rights.

“Do you just do beastformers?” Frenzy asked, leaning toward him to break the silence. He was looking now between Laserbeak and Ravage, who were eying him back with what Soundwave could feel was just as much wary interest.

“And how do you do it?” Rumble asked, optics narrowing. “You don’t have to steal their sparks or anything, do you?”

“Partners, not selected by frametype,” Soundwave said, shaking his helm. “And partnering process, not permanent.”

“That doesn’t mean it doesn’t steal their sparks,” Rumble grumbled, but they both seemed further mollified.

“Don’t think we’ll trust you so easily!” Frenzy echoed him, as both crossed their arms and retreated once more.

“Soundwave, would not assume.”

Assumptions would get him killed in the grim underworld of the gladiator arenas. So would letting his guard down, even to a pair of minibots such as these two. And yet…

Soundwave’s spark felt buoyed up. It was not the same effect as Megatron had on him, but they soothed his spark nevertheless, these two spiky bundles of emotion. It was not unlike the effect Ravage and Laserbeak already had on him. Clearly, they felt it too—or at least they felt something. The pink-yellow starbursts of their interest were a precious beginning, one that Soundwave refused to squander.

He would prove himself worthy of their trust, just as he would Megatron’s. He let this conviction slip into his visor as he raised his helm to them, meeting each of theirs in turn. “Becoming cassettes, will be your choice. Soundwave, promises so.”

They scoffed, and laughed, and withdrew into wary observation until Megatron finally arrived, but Soundwave let them be. This was only the first step, after all. He would earn his place in time.

[sanoiro]

Lucifer 3x22 - Meta Post A: On Doubt, Fear and Expectations.

Before I begin I would like to mention my viewing experience of the episode. I knew that this episode would be a very unconventional one hence why the S&S post was so difficult.  It was not a great episode for sure but it gave us some information we needed.  What it also did was to raise a sandstorm in order to blind and confuse us with only two more episodes remaining in S3. 

Questions were raised such as, Is Marcus really mortal and in love with Chloe? I sincerely doubt he truly is. If this episode told us anything, it was about how fears act out and how we tend to beautify an idea and then turn it into an expectation. 

So let’s begin slowly here... 

Part 1: Doubt 

Let’s assume for a moment that Lucifer’s vulnerability and Marcus’ Mark loss are caused by two very different causes. Not love. I still believe that Lucifer’s vulnerability is caused by Chloe’s feelings but I have come to suspect that perhaps Marcus Mark loss is not. 

Why? Because I see a connection between the wings and the mark. 

I have mentioned it before but I never gave it enough importance.  What if Chloe in 2x18 was the reason Lucifer’s wings returned? The reason would be in this case that she trusted him and forgave him at the end of the episode. 

What if Marcus Mark is gone because Chloe trusts him and yes once again she acted as a redeemer. That can also be extended to Amenadie or/and Charlotte if we think about it but we will know for sure in 3x23. 

Therefore the fact that Chloe has doubts in 3x22 does not affect Marcus Mark in my opinion her trust and forgiveness does. Additionally, I would also like to add that something smells fishy here. Who would give so much money for a tattoo if that’s what it was in the envelope and not the ring? Again we will know for sure soon... In this part I leave you the exchange between Marcus and Maze: 

Maze: If Decker loves you then the Mark should be gone unless she is having second thoughts about you.

Marcus: Well that’s not ent- (Entirely what? Wrong? Yep!)

Part 2: Fear

Let’s talk about fear. As Linda said in 3x21, what are you so afraid of? Lucifer seems to always retract his realisations after an episode because he seems to be afraid of the answers. Funny how he actually nudged Dan to finally admit his feelings for Charlotte but himself took a step back in 3x22. 

In 3x22 - All Hands On Decker, we see a Lucifer going through Chloe’s mind but he focuses only on the details that her job has pushed forward and nothing else. We do know that Lucifer can and has seen beyond that in 2x11. But the problem here is that Lucifer in this episode projects his issue on identity and the loss of it on Chloe. 

What is also important to connect in this episode is the Driver’s everything, Chloe’s and of course what Lucifer believes it is... As he says to Fredrick in the beginning while trying to imitate Chloe, 

 Lucifer: Not yet, but my job means everything to me.

Lucifer has not yet grasped what everything is in someone’s life. 

Near the end of the episode, Dan reveals why Lucifer calls Chloe, Detective. Dan accuses Lucifer of seeing Chloe only as her job and nothing else while Lucifer contradicts him with the fact that he thinks that calling her Detective is endearing... 

Indeed it is because of Lucifer that title carries a noble meaning of justice and rightness. He sees Chloe as the ultimate definition of the word so for him it is endearing but at the same time we learn something more and he does as well. 

Your profession does not define your whole identity. Okay, so several if not all industrial sociologists would oppose that thought but in Lucifer’s case, that’s a vital understanding. 

His lack of Devil Face and his wings were the sign of his loss of identity. In S2 when Mum asks him why he works with the LAPD he comes to a conclusion that he doesn’t necessarily like punishing people but he is good at it.  He sees being the Devil as his job and his job is irreversibly tied to who he is, meaning his identity. 

Considering all the above Lucifer comes to a realisation which is that Chloe is not only her job hence why he probably calls her Chloe in 3x24 (perhaps as part of an experiment?). It is also why I believe that in 3x24 he will accept his wings because, in a very interesting move from the writers, no matter of your work or body parts your identity is you and only you can define it (see 3x01).

So an identity cannot be imposed and that is what leads us to Chloe’s part. That of the expectations. 

Part 3: Expectations

Chloe in this episode seems for the most part of it uncomfortable with the idea of marriage. Or at least how quickly everything moves. What we also learn is that Chloe married Dan at the courthouse and was back at work after the ceremony. 

An anon on Monday asked me more or less if the 2x05 Dan admission he had skipped the wedding plans in order to watch the Body Bag movie was a plot hole. To answer you, no I don’t believe it was. Courthouse weddings also require some planning, minimal but they are still there. 

-Interlude-

1) What interests me more though in this episode and which will get us in this section, a bit further away from Chloe, is Marcus’ insistence to marry her... Why did Marcus wanted to marry her? I have a mini-theory which basically goes like this: 

Chloe never wed Dan in a church or had the divine blessing so we can assume that for God that marriage was void. Same can be said about Lucifer’s wedding with Candy. Lucifer’s and Candy’s wedding certificate says in join in lawful wedlock, not a holy one which would have been the case if they had been married by a minister and not an officiant (see 3x07). Still, Lucifer seems a bit too conscious about the meaning of wedlock. So I wonder if a religious wedding holds a deeper meaning in this story. 

2) What I cannot stop thinking about as well is Lucifer’s 54th wait no... 55th reason of Chloe saying yes. Drugs or as Lucifer explained, she was under the influence. And what if she was EUI aka Engaged Under the Influence?

Now I plead you to not forget what happened in 3x02. That brainwashing act was not a random thing. Moreover, Trixie was at a sleepover date that night and Marcus went to check on her??? Seriously now? 

What kind of child - Trixie in particular- would ever want to leave a sleepover. Not to mention that the sleepover was in the next house. So was Trixie manipulated somehow? I wouldn’t be surprised if she was or just found herself at her house the next morning without ny memory of what had happened if she was conscious of course to remember... 

3) Finally, Lucifer was really good at delivering the problem with desires:

Lucifer: Well, maybe it's what she thinks she wants, but does she know what she truly desires? 'Cause few do unless I help them. And unfortunately, I can't do that with her.

Chloe cannot be affected by Lucifer’s mojo but Marcus was. Marcus was supposed to be at least a difficult case but it took Lucifer only a second or so although the willingness of the participant might have something to do with that. But what if Marcus was immune to the mojo as well but he can affect Chloe with his powers if he has any that is? We know that Amenadiel was able to make her freeze in time so Marcus’ manipulation might be running deeper than we think. 

-End of Interlude-

Now back to Chloe. 

In 3x22 we see that Chloe can be open and have fun when she feels safe like she did in 2x04, 2x12 and 3x06. Throughout the episode, she took advantage of the bachelorette party in order to let loose and was shown as a more carefree person but the talk with the bus driver shows us the bittersweet truth.

First, the driver was an excellent addition to the episode and acted obviously as a Deus ex machina which was brilliant as none of the characters had to spill the beans. We have time for that, meaning other characters telling Chloe their observations like Ella did with Marcus to Maze, 

We are at this point of the story that the most important thing for me it was that Chloe reached the decision to split from Marcus on her own. No persuasion or manipulation just her and her thoughts something that had to be done in order for the audience but also for Chloe herself to realise that she makes her own decisions in this life/series. 

Now about Chloe’s words on the bus.

Well, it just it all happened so fast, and everyone's wondering why I said yes, and I-I'm wondering the same thing myself.

As we said sometimes decisions are not logical and as Lucifer said to Dan sometimes what we truly desire is not apparent to us from the very start. 

I don't know, m-maybe I thought that marrying a a safe, steady guy would somehow change me into a different person,

This episode reminded me a lot of 3x08 but in reverse.

 Chloe was trying to be something more and yet she believed that by marrying a guy who was stable like her father was, she would probably become the fun one in the relationship. Deep inside her, Chloe is not her work and she knows it but that’s how she is treated. As the boring, strict Detective and perhaps, just perhaps she wanted to free herself from that assumption that even Lucifer carried for the most part. 

Yet we see in 3x22 that although Lucifer and Chloe are the exact opposites on how they live their daily lives they are also carrying a very important piece of sobriety (Lucifer) and spontaneousness (Chloe) on different levels which might not always be obvious to the other person but it acts like the glue they need. 

In 3x22 Lucifer realised that he can be like Chloe and understood what that meant.

 It meant that he was basically insufferable as a partner but that he also carried something in him that was very much alike to Chloe. At the same time, Chloe having her night of fun understands that being wild is not based on the comparison you get to have with your life partner or how you will define your life through them as the strict or fun type in the relationship. You are just yourself and let the relationship balance these qualities. Much like she has done in her partnership with Lucifer. 

That’s what happens at the very end of the episode. 

Lucifer sees that Chloe is not wearing a ring anymore so he backs off on telling her what he realised about himself, herself and their partnership but I’m sure it will come out soon enough. 

Why though?

Because he knows as she does now that no matter how absurd this partnership is for some reason it works. Their differences make them stronger and no, they do not drive them apart but closer. He can be more considerate but at the end of the day, his aloofness is her strength while her seriousness is his. They hold just enough of each other’s qualities to come close and rotate perfectly around each other but have enough differences in order to not collide.  

Her last line though was the most confusing one: 

that-that maybe this new, spontaneous me would-would somehow inspire the the person that I still am. 

I can translate this as I needed a change to make me feel more like myself again. The problem with that though is that there was no balance. As the driver says she has been married for 17 years and 

 He's my everything. Hopefully, your guy is, too.

At this point, we see Chloe sigh and shake her head. 

The problem with Chloe and her relationships both with Dan and Marcus was that she was seeking the steady guy who could make her happy. Unfortunately, there was nothing to challenge her anymore in both cases. 

Dan had his job so when she decided to go on with the divorce it hurt her as you remember in 2x01 but also gave her space to feel free and move on again. Dan and Chloe were meant to be friends and parents and thankfully he was a good guy. Marcus once again has the same vibe. Sturdy, responsible, a man who can help me walk but the problem is that Chloe needs to fly. 

Remember that she left her house with her child because her husband was not there and she could not trust him after S1. 

She leaves Marcus because regardless of what we saw in 3x20 it was herself that was wounded and the idea that she wasn’t worth it. I have come to believe that her breaking down in 3x20 it was mostly because of what Lucifer did in 2x14 than what Marcus said and did in 3x20. 

When Marcus in 3x22 tells her that this is about him and her, Chloe stops him and says that is why he cannot marry him. Why? Because it’s about her and Lucifer. Marcus was a rebound a pleasant and honest mistake but after the bus she knows there is not her and him. There is only her and Lucifer on every imaginable level. 

Lucifer as we have seen always had an ability to leave an echo lingering behind for her no matter what he did, where he disappeared to. So no matter the drugs, the women, the absurd unreliable self he showed her in S2 and S3 she fell for him. 

Not just that but as we see in 3x22 her gut is correct. Lucifer deep down, he cares, he can solve a case, he can be responsible and he deserves her trust so when the driver of the bus tells her she hopes that Chloe’s fiance is also everything for her, Chloe realises that’s not true. Her everything is Lucifer and as @isk12-blog said noticed the next scene from the bus? Lucifer...

The only person she has followed through Hell and back again is Lucifer and she knows he has done the same thing for her no matter his immaturity. In 3x23 I believe we will see their relationship taking a turn because both know they have gone too far. And finally this... The last scene of 3x22. 

Chloe plays with her ringless finger. There are no tears but an afterthought of the decision she has made. She has not broken down over losing Marcus as she did in 3x20 because as I’ve said, before the incident in 3x20 and as it is explained by Chloe to Ella in 3x21, corresponds directly with Lucifer’s actions in the past, not Marcus’ harsh words.

So we have Chloe at her desk and Lucifer comes to tell her most probably that he has learned that he has not been a good partner but the fact that she no longer has her ring changes everything. It’s not that she is unattached again it’s the fact that Lucifer understands that there is also something more into their partnership than what he saw in his mock-staged one with Dan. 

Like with Linda and the discussion, after  Reese shot Lucifer in 3x07, Chloe in 3x22 shows Lucifer instead that she is with him because he showed her who he really is. Yes, he can be more considerate and I believe that he will be in the next episodes but something in his true character has Chloe trust him even more. 

You see when you are somebody’s everything it’s not about the good qualities and the immaculate manners nor how adorable someone is because he scratches off the burned side of his toast. 

Everything means that for some reason the good and the bad make a person lovable. What you know and you don't know as well and so you take the risk to love everything about that person and that happens unwittingly! With Marcus, Chloe can’t see or feel that everything and so she has her answer. 

It’s not about eternity or stability anymore, it’s about loving the unexpected as much as the expected. The greatest achievements and the greatest mistakes so yes, if 3x24 gives us the reveal then Chloe needed this episode to realise that everything about Lucifer and her feelings, was all about.

As we draw closer to the end of this post, did you notice how she invites him as her partner again? Or how she is so open in their partnership? 

Sometimes everything is not attainable but something out of it might be so Chloe once again gets back at Lucifer’s side knowing that he might never be perfect or ready for a relationship. When she says “right” that’s when she decides to just go with the flow once more and that word weights as much as her words in 3x20, “We both know that’s not true!”

 Finally, I loved how she decided to start stealing the small moments once again with Lucifer... The romantic drives...

Lucifer: Shall we take my car? Chloe: Yes.  Lucifer: That’s what I’m talking about!

I hope you enjoyed this meta... I fell in love with the characters once more while writing it. Have a nice week and forgive any moodiness. I cannot be perfect, never claimed to be. 

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S1 Ep 40 PART 1/2: So Much Random Stuff Happens That It Requires Two Parts

Most of the time, Yugioh’s plot is delivered in nice, bizarre, bite-sized segments, offset by duels that I skip. But then, in this episode they decided “Hey, we should drop some plot. Like a lot of REALLY WACKY plot.”

And thus we have an episode with over 80 caps. So, this’ll be a two-parter! The other part will show up later. Like...when we finish it.

Also, despite the fact that this is probably one of the more important episodes of the season, it has quite some damage on the recording on Netflix. You’ll see that it isn’t really cropped right on the sides, and in some parts it’s got motion blur I couldn’t avoid. One day, Yugioh will get it’s Sailor Moon remaster, but this is not the day. Also, if they redubbed Yugioh, it would be an absolute tragedy, but that’s a different story.

TL;DR Forgive the massive amount of text in the upcoming recaps. There’s just so much they did and I uh...didn’t want this to end up being over 100 caps this episode alone.

So, lets get into it: The Yugi crew is looking for Pegasus.

For some reason, Tea suddenly remembers what went down the night before and decides “I bet Pegasus is hiding in that spooky tower we don’t actually know how to get into because we climbed it with a grappling hook.”

(Sometimes I get used to Yugi’s eyeliner and then they throw a shot like this at me and it’s like DAMN, Yugi, when did you have time to apply that stiletto heel to your face? Like most of the time I’m just put off by the awful hair and then the rest of the time I’m just really jealous of this emo boy’s wings.)

With that they suddenly remembered...the other stuff.

(read more under the cut)

I like how Joey is just so incredibly fed up with magic at this point. Out of all of them, he seems to hate magic the very most although his best friend is a walking dark magic portal. Joey is just completely done, but unfortunately for Joey it turns out all the magic up to this point hasn’t even remotely been the amount of magic that this show is going to throw at us, because this entire episode is a bunch of wizards just screwing with each other.

I’ve mentioned before that it feels like the power players of Yugioh are kinda like Greek Gods where they just really can’t be bothered about 95% of the time--but when they are FINALLY bothered enough to move their own ass, they just kinda sweep the floor clean and leave me utterly baffled.

Anyways, Pegasus actually is in the spooky tower, to my disbelief, at this non-euclidean desk that doesn’t seem to exist in time and space.

And then Kaiba wakes up in a cabbage-patch lookin jail cell. I would love to see more of his reaction to that but alas, this episode is not about Seto Kaiba.

Pegasus decided to make good on his word, mostly because Yugi is a cursed Pharaoh and he doesn’t want to see what happens if he doesn’t make his end of the bargain. To be quite honest, getting your mind scrambled would have probably been better than what did eventually happen to him in this episode.

Seriously, did this guy ever sell a painting that wasn’t a card? His portfolio would just be one person. And they do say that you shouldn’t make your portfolio too many styles but, damn, you can’t just do one person, unless your going to work for one specific type of video game, in which case sure just draw that one space punk chick over and over it seems to work for you.

Bakura decides to show up, and he’s very Bakura about it, introducing a new Bakura mechanic that I didn’t at all predict would ever be a thing.

Bless this storyboarder.

After showing off his weird tarot ability for no other good reason than to mess with Pegasus for a little bit, he decides to make me regret ever saying this necklace looked like it has five dicks.

I am so sorry, I had no idea! I had no idea it would be shooting lasers! What the hell, show?? What genre am I even watching anymore??

Also this whole concept that at any point these items can just shoot anime lasers and start a...whatever this trope is called, is so bizarre to me. They CAN do this...but they prefer to use cards.

They CAN do this, at any point, but they prefer to trap the souls of you and your friends in a card so you must play even more cards.

Or they can shoot you with a laser and solve their problems that way.

But why would they? They can like...play cards and do tarot and read minds and make card monsters real so who would ever want to shoot freakin lasers!

I do appreciate that Pegasus’ laser is pink like the salmon I chose for his font.

My bro argues that Pegasus probably sees just fine with the golden eyeball, but I feel like it can’t be the same, like a Spike Spiegal situation. It’s not like they ever tell us, anyway.

Him being alive for centuries is just never brought up for the rest of the episode. It comes up here and then Bakura’s like “Woopsie! Change the subject!”

Kid’s show!

As a kid an episode of the Rugrats freaked me the hell out--you know the one where Reptar becomes alive? I couldn’t take that one, it was terrifying. So maybe I’m not one to judge, because I was not a normal kid when it came to anxiety (in fact a legit phobia of dogs gave me pretty severe panic attacks on a weekly basis) but, it seems like Yugioh is a lot like brother’s Grimm because they are SO READY to cut off body parts, revive corpses, and overall gross me out, just to make a point.

Is it necessary? Eh.

But is it bizarre body horror we can stuff in this kid’s story? YES LETS DO IT.

With the way they set this up it looked as if they were just going to have them show up in the nick of time or something, but instead the show was like “lol, these kids? You’re kidding, right?”

He’s literally missing an eye and Croquet’s exact line was something like “he’s fallen ill.”

Also, I’m glad we got a cameo from Double-Spike Mohawk Mullet Man in this episode, giving Pegasus a fireman carry like a trooper.

So, because they can’t not, and because Pegasus’ security is only effective at random times of the day (they must have a lot of smoke breaks or something) the four decide to raid Pegasus’ bedroom. Why would you ever want to do this to the guy who was ritually sacrificing people the night before!?

Joey’s weird crushes on blondes that are...not in High School. Joey. Stop this. You are a child.

Anyways, Tea goes straight for the juicy stuff, because if there’s anything in this world that I would never ever want to read is a grown man’s journal filled with all his unfiltered thoughts.

Then we’re welcomed into a Pegasus Flashback, because why not make a tragic past even more tragic? Anyways, it’s OK because anime food lives here.

Bro called them gravity melons. I want to point out the party cups drawn from the side sitting on the round table we see from the top. Love it. Also realllllly love that guy with the mustache and glasses in the bottom right corner. There’s some good stuff here in this vaguely 80′s flashback.

Anyway, she totally dies. The flashback goes through things we’ve been over before--they get married, she gets sick, she turns into a rose and then becomes a grave in a really poorly kept graveyard.

And so Pegasus turns to religion. Yes, you read that right, He decides, he wants to find a religion that will explain afterlife to him, and he’s like I might as well start with the oldest and work up, so he goes to Egypt.

Uh...OK. I mean if you’re just looking for a religion with an afterlife you could have chosen...almost any of them. You could have stayed in America and like gone to...anywhere but, the guy was like “Mummies, youknow?” and went to Egypt although Cecelia is already dead and buried so it’s not like he can do the mummy trick to her now. It’s a little LATE?

My brother and I were so entranced by this bizarre hat, that we wanted to see if it’s ever been made real. AND IT HAS.

MARVEL AT IT:

IT IS VERY EXPENSIVE.

LOOK AT THAT DUMB HAT!

We checked Amazon for cheaper listings, but only found trucker hats with the Square Mason symbol on it, and Illuminati trucker hats like this one.

My brother wrote this note to them. I hope they read it and take it to heart.

Anyways, our newly found joy, held aloft by the discovery of perfect square brimmed hats was quickly sullied.

His hat is a transformer. But a round to square kind.

So in walks this guy. His name is Shadi. I’m telling you that right now because I want you to pay attention to how long it takes before we find out his name is Shadi. He is going to tell us his name at some point, and it’s very weird when it happens.

Pegasus doesn’t seem to realize it is not at all normal for a guy in modern Egypt to be walking around with this massive ankh on his chest (eh...you can’t see it in these pictures, but there’s a HUGE ankh just hanging around his neck) with earrings and pharaoh makeup. Pegasus is just that type of sheltered American. He’s like...well you look like someone from a movie so it must be legit. And that is how Pegasus decides to follow a guy who is clearly an ancient spooky wizard into an ancient death dungeon crypt.

I feel like Pegasus could have easily avoided this whole situation he got himself into.

Shadi has a whole speech about how the eyeball has a lot of power, and that he’s got to protect it all yada yada--but at the same time Shadi is like “BUT I gotta make sure some people use it so a lot of terrible things happen. You’d think I’d just...leave this stuff in this crypt so it’ll never be a problem and the world will never be cursed with terrible dark magic that was sealed away for thousands of years, but...I’m gonna make it happen anyway...and it’s not my fault...”

How many times has Shadi done this? It’s suggested that Pegasus is not the first.

It’s pretty gross, and while it’s done in shadow (which was a nice visual allusion to Shadow Magic), it’s still pretty gruesome for a kids show. To happen twice in one episode of this kid’s show, haha.

She calls him by his full name “Maxamillion” which made me realize he’s probably never shortened his name to “Max” in his entire life.

I’m glad Pegasus making out with a ghost happened on screen. This is now the most romance we’ve seen in all of Yugioh. Good.

So did Pegasus actually write the part where he made out with a vision, though?

I’m curious about how that process works. But, I don’t think we’ll ever find out.

Anyways, next time, on this very same episode of Yugioh:

Will Bakura stick this eyeball in he own eye or will he back out last minute and just hang it from his necklace and pretend it was there the whole time? Will Tea next read Pegasus’ food diary only to discover, in horror, that he drank upwards 60 liters of grape juice and far exceeded his daily calorie intake? Will security even realize these children have been snooping in all of Pegasus’ personal stuff for the past 30 minutes?

[firedragon1321]

Hero Training- What it Is and Why It Sucks

This is the sequel to this rant nobody cares about- http://firedragon1321.tumblr.com/post/158868041331/so-it-is-time-for-me-to-rant. I recommend you read that one first, though I will summarize the short version in this rant.

The short version of the above rant will include a definition of Hero Training, which I think is necessary before I start-

“I never liked having my favorites taken down a peg by “awesome” characters who called them weak or whatever- ever since I was young. Is it favoritism? Yes. But also because they didn’t deserve the negative treatment half the time. In a lot of shonen anime, this often leads right into training arcs with painful/impossible/emotionally draining training that makes the character stronger somehow. Often it makes them a bit of a Stu too (since this normally happens to male characters). I call this phenomenon Hero Training.”- Me, 2017, not that anyone gives a crap

Now, the short version of the other rant is “Hero Training is bad, the only good example was in Digimon Adventure with Piximon because it was required for the target character to get his shit together and the half-example in Pokemon’s Battle Frontier (aka- the King of Pokelantis episode) was just piss-poor writing and had no business being there.”

Now that we’re all caught up, it’s time for Rant 2.0. The Uber-Rant. The rant to end them all.

Okay, not really. But it still is a long-ass post, so I hope you’re ready for a read.

Hero Training is the fast and easy way to power up a character, especially when stronger characters are over the horizon. It usually occurs after the main character loses a battle, but it can just pop up whenever it wants. Of course, by “fast and easy”, I mean “every shonen anime does it at least once in some form”, so it’s a stock cliche. Hell, it has a TVtrope. The TVtropes pages even links to sister tropes that make Hero Training what it is (aka- annoying).

So why exactly does this trope grind my gears to the point that I’d write two rants about it? Let’s break it down.

Annoyance 1- Usually, the protagonist did nothing to “trigger” the training (i.e.- new, stronger foes are coming or some other event outside of the protagonist’s control). If they did, it was due to a character flaw they had from Day One. For example, Character XYZ felt like being reckless that day- but he’s always reckless. Not saying that said recklessness can never be grown out of- just that it was always there and a silly reason to “trigger” additional training unless it caused something big (like powers going out of control accidentally destroying a town, but in shonen anime, these are rare cases). Or Character ABC was lacking certain skills that almost no-one else used up until this point (Nen in Hunter x Hunter is an example).

Annoyance 2- So the protagonist loses in battle or encounters some other difficulty due to lacking skill or their character flaws. How does the writer fix this? They either introduce a new character or an existing one fulfills this role (it’s usually the former, but it was sort of the latter in my Marchen Awakens Romance example in the other rant). Sometimes, they even defeated the hero themselves. The problem is, this character is 99.9% of the time an asshole. Okay, maybe they’re just strict. Maybe I’m over-reacting. But come on- it’s ALMOST EVERY TIME.

Annoyance 3- Now that the characters are in place, it’s time for some shaming! Because not having the right knowledge/skill/personality wasn’t bad enough, the new character (let’s just call him “the mentor”) has to list every reason why the hero is weak/stupid/has XYZ character flaw and is therefore weak and stupid. I don’t know about you, but that would make me feel really badly about myself. If the hero wasn’t a flat character from the start, it’s easy to imagine that they’d feel bad about themselves, too. Perhaps this is what leads to...

Annoyance 4- ...the actual Hero Training itself. Low self-confidence combined with a possible looming threat of fifty foot whatevers trying to kill everyone leads the protagonist to accept the mentor’s offer of training. Here’s where shit gets real. The training methods in shonen anime are often extreme and unrealistic. For example (and this is a real one from our friends at TVtropes, from Katekyo Hitman Reborn- “being set on fire...thrown off a cliff with a whirlpool beneath it and made to stand one-legged on a rock in the middle of a mine field”). If any real human tried to copy many of these training regimens, they would die. Sometimes, it’s all too easy to imagine the trainee dying too.

Annoyance 5- If the hero doesn’t die from any of the above (and they usually don’t), then there is a high chance of writing’s worst scourge moving in- Gary Stu. It can be Mary Sue, but this rant will use Gary Stu since this trope mostly affects male characters. Let’s go all the way back to Annoyance 1 and our friend Character XYZ. He landed in this pot of hot water (perhaps figuratively, perhaps literally) because he was reckless. Instead of gradually growing out of his recklessness like most characters would, the trait is suddenly erased after training. If that was XYZ’s only personality flaw, well, guess what, buttercup? He now has no flaws at all. I have three rules to detect a Stu or Sue- the world revolves around them, they face no difficulties and (most importantly) they are everything the author/reader wants to be but “more”, which means no character flaws like real humans have. If XYZ now has his single flaw erased, he is a third of the way to being a Stu. The mentor’s training might have strengthened his body, but (from a writing standpoint), his mind is now weak.

These five annoyances are also the five steps of the typical Hero Training method. They might be repeated over and over through the course of long animes like Bleach. If that happens, the hero is bound to fall into the Gary Stu trap eventually. If the first round of training didn’t do it, maybe the second will. Or the third. Granted, the Gary Stu step doesn’t always happen, but this trope still frustrates me beyond belief (come on I wrote two rants about it).

Oh look, here comes another bullet-pointed list, this time on why, exactly, we need to abandon this trope (not counting the risk of Gary Stu-ism).

It’s a cheap way to get character development done: This is probably the biggest one. I’m dragging out Character XYZ again. Perhaps he has more than recklessness as character flaws, but that’s the one that causes the most trouble over the course of the story. Training it away is the easiest way to get rid of it (other than pretending it never existed in the first place, which most readers or watchers will easily notice...). Therefore, Hero Training is sometimes used in place of real character development. 

It introduces unlikable characters, characters that don’t have any use in the plot other than to Hero Train, or both: Of course, not every character has to be likable, but some characters are only in the story to serve as Hero Trainers, then they exit stage right. (This is basically Wing from Hunter x Hunter, who only had small appearances after the Heaven’s Arena arc where he trained Gon and Killua- fortunately, neither Gon or Killua ended up as a Stu). A subversion would be Izumi from Fullmetal Alchemist, who has an actual role in the plot beyond being a Hero Trainer and development of her own.

It makes the protagonist overpowered: This is related to being a Gary Stu, but Stu-ism is not just being overpowered. Being overpowered is a part of Stu-ism. Not all rectangles are squares and all that. The issue with being OP by itself is it makes the story less fun to read. I mean, in a shonen, a character will slowly get stronger in XYZ and beat stronger opponents. That’s kind of the formula. I’m talking about blowing away every single opponent without the slightest of struggles. A character may have average ability at the start, but Hero Training is a quick and dirty way to get them to max power in a few chapters or episodes.

It makes me worried: This is a stupid, selfish point, but I wanted to say it. A lot of the impossible training is harmful physically or mentally to the characters. There comes a point where we stop cheering them on to succeed. At that point, we worry if they’ll even make it out alive. If they do survive- realistically- they have a high chance of being traumatized. Since Hero Training often serves as a shortcut to do other things, however, we never see that trauma- just Gary Stu. Again, Fullmetal Alchemist is the exception as both Ed and Al are afraid to meet with Izumi again. Another subversion is in Boku no Hero Academia, where All Might became concerned when Izuku pushed himself too hard during his training- he was trying to prevent excessive physical and/or mental strain.

I’m not saying protagonists should get the easy road (that leads to Stu-ism also). It is possible to have everyone hate the hero for his or her actions and not deal with Hero Training, such as in the video game Tales of the Abyss. It’s also possible to do Hero Training right like in my Digimon example in the other rant, but that requires a certain type of character and mental state for both the mentor and the trainee.

But Hero Training itself is all too often used as a cheap way to get from Point A to Point B, and it’s the hero themselves who suffers the most.

tl;dr- Hero Training is an over-used plot point that makes me worry for the protagonist’s safety while also serving as a quick and cheap way to develop a character when real, gradual character development is more intriguing to watch and read.

[idle-flower]

dear yuletide author

Thank you for your time and attention, and I hope your wishes are granted this holiday!

General:

I prefer plot and angst and adventure to fluff, though a nice warm fluffy scene can make a good dessert at the end of the pain and suffering. I lean more to f/f and m/f than m/m. I enjoy forbidden relationships. I really love exploring the 'what if' spinoffs of a small change and seeing how that ripples through the canon and makes other changes happen automatically. I have a weakness for detailed object/costume descriptions. I swoon for lovers who take dramatic risks to protect their loved ones.

Dislikes - Please avoid sweeping tropey AUs like 'what if noir' or 'what if everyone was in high school'. I'm REALLY picky about comedy so it's probably not a good idea to go for wacky funny stuff. No excited rambling about pregnancy or babies. (Older kids are okay.) While I am okay with pretty dark stuff, please don't gorily torture characters to death on screen. If people gotta die, limit the details! I am generally not keen on crossovers. I dislike PWP unless it is exceedingly hot smut with an emotional twist to it, in which case the emotional impact can make up for the lack of plot.

Smut:

I don't require it, but I do read a good bit of filthy porn and I am OKAY with you deciding to fill my requests in an explicit manner if that's where your mind is going.

Kinks I find interesting: mild bdsm, pain mixed with pleasure, dubcon, sibling or cousin incest, strap-ons, futanari and other magical appendages, teasing, teenagers, drugs/magic with interesting effects, people making terrible decisions due to being emotionally overwrought or really really horny

PLEASE NO: rape or painful sex that one party is not enjoying at all, inserting anything edible (licking off boobs is okay), aggressive face-fucking, choking, degradation, scat/watersports, bukkake, parental incest, anyone younger than teen, emphasis on 'virgin blood' (some writers make it a huge deal with tearing pain and fountains of blood, please don't).

Mysterious Cities of Gold

Esteban, Tao, Zia

Please base your story solely on the original 1982 season and nothing to do with the 2013+ stuff. Inventing your own what-happened-next after that season is okay, but mostly I'd just like some more adventure with the kids finding strange secrets and mechanisms and solving puzzles. In particular, the Solaris was kind of wasted in the show. We found this huge ship full of weird rooms (was that a holodeck in there? Where did those chairs come from?) and probably all KINDS of neat secrets, but we barely even got to look around it before it blew up. What if they'd kept the ship longer, or it had been able to convert into a land/flying form? Or what if we just spend a few more days opening doors and finding hidden treasures and playing with them? They're kids, let them have some fun!

Alternately, what if after moving from the ship to the condor, at the end of the series they get hold of a SPACESHIP? Plenty of story possibility in trying to figure out how to use that!

IF YOU WANTED TO SMUT THIS: they're a bit young for serious smut, although finding Ancient Empire Of Hiva sex toys and having no clue what they are would at least be funny (and less dangerous than when Tao first found the Spaniards’ pistols!). Bump them up to young teenagers and I'll be okay with Esteban+Zia kissing, fooling around, and possibly getting carried away while having no idea what they're doing. Blue lagoon innocent sex, fine. No kinky stuff here though, and no threesomes, though Tao might overhear and be jealous.

The Velvet Room - Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Gwen McCurdy, Robin Williams

Please let my girls fall in love.

There’s no fanfic of this at all, so I’ll take friendship if I must, but I would love to see something more develop between these two. Could be sweet and fluffy, could be a new source of angst as their relationship is threatened by the morals of the time, could even go dark in an AU where Robin’s family does leave her behind to become Gwen’s playmate and circumstances force her into submissiveness. Could have a happy end, could end in tears, I do enjoy poignant.

I would be thrilled if they got together and then started falling into more mysteries in classic Girl Detective fashion. 

IF YOU WANTED TO SMUT THIS: mutual body exploration and curiosity, sweet romantic first time, OR slave/maid/toy Robin serving her mistresses whims

Exiles Saga

Felice Landry

Poor broken Felice... Give me a story where things don't turn out so badly for her! Let her meet someone who can both love and challenge her (a hybrid Tanu woman, perhaps? NOT Katy. But someone.) Let her come to operancy through the emotional trauma of a mature relationship, rather than being tortured into insanity! (But then, of course, what happens to everyone else if Felice doesn't pop the cork and flood the plain? Or would she do it for other reasons?)

Doesn't have to be amazingly happy for everybody, a lot of people are likely going to die in any conflict in this setting. I don't care who else dies, just LET FELICE HAVE A HAPPY AU. SOMEBODY PLEASE LOVE HER.

IF YOU WANTED TO SMUT THIS: I'd rather not - with everything she goes through in canon I feel weird about focusing on sex with her. But if you really wanted a love scene, as long as it was the sweetest happiest fluffiest I-never-knew-it-could-feel-so-good thing imaginable, that's okay. Felice’s life sucked and I just want to make everything better, just once. 

Shoujo Kakumei Utena

Kaoru Kozue

Okay, perhaps I have a weakness for damaged girls who will never give in. Kozue is a very confusing character, but one thing she's not is weak. Where can you go with Kozue as protagonist? As decidedly-non-innocent hero? Shameless. Fearless. A little cruel. Promiscuous, uses sex as a weapon and as pleasure. Ruthless enough to kill, sympathetic enough to protect the weak that are otherwise beneath notice... I've enjoyed a lot of very different takes on her.

A few vague ideas:

What would happen to this fairytale world if the story tried to make Kozue into the next Witch? How might Akio draw her into his schemes? How might the duels change, with Miki as the ghost of an innocent prince? (Murder is an acceptable outcome.)

For an even darker story, a violent confrontation between Kozue and Nanami. Nanami is very resistant to the sexuality and knowledge that Kozue embraces; they are both obsessed with their very different brothers. What if Kozue tries to enforce her version of right and wrong on her counterpart? What if the twins were also adopted, and Kozue knows it though Miki does not, and that's part of why she's so untrusting of adults as a source of security, while so driven to attract and control them? Pouring out her contempt for Nanami's own struggles with her family identity, raging against Nanami's innocence and reluctance to take what she apparently desires, and somehow in the process hurting herself just as much... Basically I'm up for an encounter between them going into some very bad places. Discussion of child abuse and rape is okay within this context.

Or on a lighter note, what if Kozue decides that the best way to deal with her brother is to find him the perfect sweet little girlfriend for him to be sickeningly happy with - someone who is, of course, completely under Kozue's control, so that she isn't really losing him at all? And thus she goes shopping among the "nice" girls of Ohtori, trying to find someone sweet and submissive that she can take under her wing...

Or perhaps somehow Kozue and Shiori become comrades-in-arms, wielding the power of being the girls that others despise, and tear the story apart from the inside.  Bonus points if you can somehow get Kozue back into her Black Rose outfit and let her stab people.

IF YOU WANTED TO SMUT THIS: All sorts of things are fine, but preferred pairings Kozue/Anthy, Kozue/Nanami (possibly nonconsensual), Kozue/Keiko, Kozue/Akio. DO NOT WANT: Saionji, Touga, or Miki.

[paubari]

A SCALE OF FREEDOM [ONGOING]: CHAPTER 1: A REBELLION WORTH MILLIONS (PART 2 OF 2)

"I forgot to pack our belongings sister. I should be doing that now." Hasira says as she starts to rush towards our quarters. Nyskira runs up in front of her and raises both her arms as she blocks her path telling her "No need, sister. Once our plan has commenced we shall take over this manor and make it the base of our operations."

"Assuming it goes well that is," I say to her.

I have this terrible feeling in my gut, and it's not our poorly made dinner this time. It's as if it's trying to tell me something. My heart starts racing at the thought of Dragonborn storming the manor and killing the Master. I'm not going to lie, something flared up inside me. A spark of sorts that made me paranoid and frightful, but hopeful at the same time.

"You've little faith Ver--" Nyskira began saying before she was interrupted.

Our chattering was disturbed by a large groaning of metal and a thunderous booming voice. The very walls of the room were shaking as a Dragon came flying out of the now open metal door. It's tremendous weight and stature seemingly testing the very foundations of the place. Its scales shining like glass yet at the same time looked as pale as snow. The flapping of its wings rocked the heavy iron chandelier back and forth as it flew past the large balcony landing just below the grand staircase.

"Hush your murmuring, I am trying to concentrate" a low rumbling voice bellowed.

Our current master, a white dragon, is the current Master of Slaves. A fairly high rank in the Claw Congregation, the organization in charge of the multiple atrocities done to our people. It'd be obvious why he is such a high-value target if you were to stage a rebellion.

We all straightened up where we're standing, chills running down our spines as our joints seem to have been locked in place. Doarvah the Quiet as they call him. A Dragon of few words yet his actions weighed more than he plays on. Multiple rumors have been spreading about him. From experimenting on the slaves who he deems weak to torturing them just for fun.

"The only reason you four are still alive and inside my abode for that matter is your usefulness. I don't recall hand-picking you all because of your indecent chatter. Begone from my sight and finish your duties. You are disturbing my projects unless you are willing participants and choose to replace those within my chambers." Doarvah growled as white smoke began rising from his maw.

We all started heading towards the different directions and hallways of the manor when suddenly Doarvah started spreading his wings and reached for Caudicius. He tried ducking under the large claws but he wasn't quick enough. With a smug grin, Doarvah started lifting him up to his face. We stood there frozen in fear, not knowing what to do. Pure terror masked Caudicius's face as beads of sweat started forming around his forehead. The silence was eerie and cold, akin to the feeling when witnessing an accident or rather before it happens. The white Dragon started sniffing him seemingly trying to find something. With every breath, Caudicius's robes flapped with an intensity of a strong gust of wind hitting them. His mouth hanging agape for a few moments before he seemingly composed himself and swallowed hard before speaking:

"W-w-what is it that you r-require M-master?" Teeth chattering as he spoke.

I turned to Hasira who was beside me. She had a worried look on her face but she seemed to be looking somewhere else. I started tracing where her eyes were staring at and I was shocked at what I saw, Nyskira was gone. Seemingly to have disappeared I scanned the room desperately looking for her, silently hoping she doesn't do anything out of line.

"You smell different. As if you smell of odd perfumes. I did not take you for a man who uses oiled scents. Quite curious. I remember when I saw you by the auction block. You seemed different. Is it because you are human among Dragonborn or something else." Doarvah said in a deep growling tone.

"I-I don't t-think I f-follow Master?" Caudicius said stammering all the while.

"Do you take me for a fool, human? Do you think I wouldn't be able to see through your veil? No matter how many robes you wear, a wolf will always stand out amongst sheep." He said with a low growl waiting for a response.

My eyes started darting around the room frantically now. I tried my best not to be obvious as I kept looking for Nyskira. I stiffened as my gaze met her slender form bounding up the grand staircase. She was taking huge leaps yet she didn't seem to be making much noise. As she reached the top she mouthed something towards me, I tried my best to understand but all I got was "Act. Drop."

Doarvah continued "and what of your friends? Do they know your true intentions? Do you think they would approve of your plots? I smell the scent of--" He stops as his head straightens up and slowly turns sideways. Half facing Nyskira and half towards us with a sly grin forming on either side. "I knew a Dragonborn would try to act out of instinct if you threaten its friend. Incompetent species, predictable as always. A pox on you and your honor."

He drops Caudicius, landing on the floor with a large thud. Hasira is still in shock and doesn't move a muscle but I start lunging forward. I wasn't able to catch him but I was able to land close enough that I start dragging Caudicius' still shaking form away.

I look up in time to see Doarvah slowly turning to face Nyskira as she's frantically trying to cut the rope holding the chandelier in place. Doarvah slowly looks up and laughs in the most mocking and menacing tone I have ever heard then he speaks

"You think I would not know of your intentions? Do you think I would not prepare extra precautions for this specific week? You take me to have the same intelligence as your kind. How pitiful, I had those wires replaced with tougher material. So tough that no flimsy toothpick can cut it in half."

He raises his hand and slams it down onto Nyskira who narrowly escapes it ash she tumbles sideways. "Grrah! You would think I would not notice you prowling the grounds at night? I have many eyes within this town, far more than any member of the Claw Congregation or you pathetic rebellion." Doarovah bellows as he tries to catch her with his claws.

As I continue dragging Caudicius away I glanced towards Hasira who seemed to be standing still but has now lost the fear in her face. Her expression was replaced with a steely resolve and her eyes were filled with murderous intent. Her form seemed to glow as small sparks of blue light are now starting to coat her exposed scales. Yet her expression changes to worry when a loud shriek pierces the air.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!"

I turned around and saw Nyskira, her lower body frozen. She was frantically swinging her dagger around trying to slice at Doarvah. He merely chuckled then a large whump sound followed by a crashing sound like glass breaking. His massive paw swinging down full force at Nyskira's frail form, shattering her ice-encased legs. As he raised his paw underneath lay a now bleeding form of Nyskira unconscious and in grave danger. Hasira started rushing at him screaming

"You'll pay for what you did!"

she stretches out both of her arms out, blue arcane energy coalescing around it then shoots off toward Doarvah. Out of instinct, he dodges the majority of the strike but a little bit still grazes his neck. He whips around and starts snapping at Hasira with his large jaw. Caudicius coughs a few seconds then speaks

"We can't defeat him, we have to disable him and I know how," he says in between coughs. "The wire is sturdy, steel and iron tools or weapons cannot break it but I think Ice can. I think Doarovah thought he was the only one who can break it but he forgot, you have the blood of a white dragon as well."

"What are you trying to say?" I ask him confusedly.

"Breathe ice onto the wire then try to smash the ice. It will most likely weaken it." He answers me in a hoarse voice.

"What if it doesn't work? What if--" I start asking him.

"We have to try. Do it... for... them" he whispers and weakly points towards Hasira and Nysira's direction before passing out.

"You egotistical maniac! Die!" Hasira shouts as she shoots another round of blue arcane energy from her arms. This time finding its target and hitting Doarvah on the chest.

"Aaagh graah!" he recoils in pain for a moment then start swiping his claws at Hasira's direction.

I start hugging the wall avoiding getting between the middle of them as much as possible as I run towards the bottom steps of the grand staircase. I rush up the stairs and try my best to focus on doing what I have to do. Beyond my heavy breathing, I can hear wailing and moaning, cries for help, clanging of metal bars coming from the room where Doarvah came from. I averted my gaze not only in that direction but also in the direction of my friend as well. I knew that if I look at her I would hesitate and hesitation can kill all of us. As I reached for the wire that was holding the grand chandelier in place I can hear Hasira shouting. I quickly turn and I can see her clenching her fists crossing them on her chest.

"This is for all the Dragonborn you torture! The Dragonborn YOU maim and play with!" she shouts then focuses for a moment. Before one of Doaravah's claws can slam onto her, small yellow sparks start to flicker around her then a loud thunderous force sweeps out of her from all directions knocking Doarvah a few feet away.

"She's buying us some time but she won't last long. I have to do this, now!" I say to myself as I firmly grasp the wire then start concentrating on my breathing. As I exhale slowly a strong gust of white wind accompanied with small dots of frost spewed outward from my mouth. It enveloped the wire firmly encasing it in ice. From the outside I can see the wire weakening from the ice seemingly becoming brittle, now I need to figure out how to break it.

(end of part 2)

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[bertievi]

Verses

Main

Post War

1945-1952 The war is over, Albert is an elder King and while there is still plenty happening within the Empire and indeed politically he is a much more carefree man, knowing he has earned the respect of his subjects. Though it is a quieter part of his life in compariosn to the war years, he is rather unwell from 1947 onwards. Interacting with him at certain points will have certain ailments hovering around in the narritive. This verse is open to all.  

WWII

1939-1945

1939-1945 Albert as King is commander and chief of the British armed forces and while he and his wife visit bombsites, hospitals, training camps, air fields, naval bases and army camps, Albert is still very aware of what is happening on the continent. He is very mistrusting of people who could gain from betraying him and he is worried for his country. However it is in this time where Albert has become most dutiful, that he cares so much about the morale of his people and always aknowledges the sacrifices that they are making. He gets most upset about signing documents that he knows will be sending people to their deaths for the sake of gaining such little territory from Germany.

I am willing for Albert to discuss actual events in the war with your muse, if they are in a position for him to talk about them. If this at all makes you uncofortable actual war events are tagged as 'war2' any other thread that is based in this timed verse are tagged 'wartime'.

Ascension

The King's Speech

1934-1939 Albert deals with the death of his father, the news that his brother intends to marry Wallis and that the crown could very likely pass to him. This is a verse which I have looked over in a little too much detail and boy! Albert was difficult in this time period. Though he is dutiful and understands that the monarchy has to change to survive, he is very, very upset and even scared of becoming King because he himself does not believe he is fit for the role.

There is plenty to explore in this verse as it covers the troubles and worries over David, Albert's time with Louge and his speech therapy. There's his becoming king, the preperation for his corronation and indeed the looming war. He's much less open about his opinions and is so, so prone to huge temper tantrums.

Dukedom

Duke of York

1918-1934 After finishing his duties in the Great War, he continues to serve as a wing commander and later group captain in the RAF. Before long though Albert returns to the Palace and takes up more duties as Prince, his tradition ruled life is considerably boring to him after his naval and air force career and he is near constantly seeking excuses to leave the confines of Buckingham Palace.

Later in this verse, he meets and eventually marries Elizabeth and becomes a father. He settles down into his role and through some persuasion from his wife, he begins to seek professional help for his stammer. Very much the quieter prince, Albert gets to take something of a back step from royal life though he works hard to maintain charities, workplaces and both hosts and teaches at a boys camp that brings the classes together.

He is happiest in the middle of this verse where he has an active role without having to have the limelight, leaving that to his elder brother and father. Albert is very much the family man in this verse. By the end, his nerves begin to show around his brother's ambitions.

The Great War

WWI

1914-1918 Albert climbs the naval ranks on HMS Collingwood, seeing war in the Battle of Juttland eventually becoming Lieutenant 'Johnson' while in the Navy, Albert is a carefree, strong headed and quick thinking leader. His confidence is so evident that his stammer is barely present while aboard Collingwood and he is a little too up for mischief and games. Nearing the end of this verse, Albert falls very ill and has to be removed from the ship and later the navy altogether, which he remains very bitter about.

Determined to continue serving and fighting, Albert's naval rank is given equal position in the newly established RAF where he serves as Captain and trains new pilots with a seemingly strict hand, though in asking him of his methods and decisions, one might be surprised at his answers. Albert has a full piloting license and is fully qualified to fly a plane, though he is meant to be forbidden from flying solo, he does tend to vanish with a plane every now and again without asking.

Albert will always consider himself a naval man and is part of the foundations of the discipline expected within the RAF. Depending on where your muse interacts with him, he may be their equal or their superior depending on your own muse too.

A Prince of Wales

Childhood

1895-1914 in his youth, Albert was a considerable handful, standing up to things he did not agree with, arguing and throwing huge tantrums. His stammer was at its worse in his younger years but it didn't stop him from misbehaving. He is very likely to try and pull a prank on your muse or even get them involved in one once he trusts them enough.

It requires a great deal of patience for whomever is talking to him, Albert may not talk at all to your muse if his shyness gets the better of him. This verse covers a fair bit with regards to his upbringing and while this verse is Albert at his most free, it may also hold considerable triggers that you will be warned of if a thread draws close to them, after all, Albert didn't always stammer.

My own starters or suggestions for this verse will have come from the biographers of Bertie himself or his brother the Duke of Windsor.

SS-GB Divergent

Historical AU

SS-GB is the 'what if' Nazis had succeeded in the invasion of Britain. Albert has sent his family away and went peacefully with his arrest into the Tower of London. The longer he is there, the more bitter he becomes. Various drabble posts will show how and why but threads may be triggering. A spin off verse is Albert at his worst in SSGB2 which is open to those willing to discuss it.

Albert will never stop fighting the Nazis, those who visit him will be met with some snark or hostility and if given the chance, he is very likely to attack your muse if they get too close. He draws on his military training in this verse and while he's not a master, underestimating him may end up harming your muse- though I will warn you of course! This verse is open to all but we must plot.

But why the flippity-flop is he still alive in this verse? Click here.

TMIHC

Historical AU

Britain has fallen, occupied by perhaps their greatest enemy. With some considerable reluctance and very little choice, King George had to flee with his family. But the storm was following on behind him and he knew it, a War on the Atlantic verse is available to explore what happened in that retreat and is open to all. Arriving in the USA, Convincing Garner and then Bricker was a mammoth task and Albert was simply ill prepared. When the bomb dropped, the King looked to the resistance but when they were quashed, he seemingly vanished with them in 1947.

As the years passed King George became just ‘Arthur’ to protect himself and his family. However, his dutiful outlook never ceased, his people were still suffering, those he had sworn to protect were still in danger and by the old constitution, it was still his job to set things right again especially at the fall of his Government. ‘Arthur’ kept his eye out for any opportunity, any potential to turn the tides once more and it was not until he was an old man did the smallest of whispers come within earshot, a small trace of something new and the glimmer of hope returned did he start to take tentative action once more.

But why the flippity-flop is he still alive in this verse? Click here.

Sudden Ascension

WWI AU History

1916+ Albert having fought in Jutland is informed on their trip back to shore that his father and elder brother have both perished in an ambush on the Western Front and that now, he is King and Emperor of the British Empire in the middle of the greatest war the world had ever seen. His adjustment from soldier to King means a great deal of work but so much is open to alteration within this verse as Albert learns how to rule at barely 21. He's unmarried, head of the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha family, ruler of 458million people and commander and chief of the forces of the Empire.

Wizarding AU

The Ministry is a part of Government

The Royal Family has known about the wizarding world for generations. Though they don't need to actually be consulted about most things beyond their control, anything significant including the appointment of a new Minister of Magic, someone needs to inform them. This is a selective verse given that not any witch or wizard will be allowed to pop into the palace when they want. I'd like to think that there are charms in place to protect against apparitions and the floo network is not connected to any of the Windsor homes. This verse can fall in any part of the timeline.

Timetravel

Torchwood included

Sci-fi is fine with me, so long as there is some respect for the nature of the royal family, aka, no, they are not aliens etc. After the events of Tooth and Claw with the establishment of Torchwood during Queen Victoria's reign, the information of the department and subsequent findings or events is reported in 'the red box'. The family is aware of the Doctor and the nature of the relationship of the Time Lord and Earth but unless otherwise discussed Albert/King George VI won't know the Doctor's face(s). Prince Albert can't offer much more than his father would allow, but as King George, so long as there is no reason for him to feel threatened (especially after the War), he would be most welcoming to the Time Lord and his companions. Any stage of his life is available in this verse. Though I will maintain some level of selectivity on plot suggestions..