#unless! it’s funny. rule of funny > canon. every time

[ssruis]

I can’t trust tsukasa fans who think he’s canonically attractive like he’s mid at best & thats both funny and integral to his character

[aimasup]

Wonder if you seen the new digital circus episode, was really good full of silly stuff and insight into the characters

Caught it the minute it came out babeyyy it was a very pleasant Saturday surprise!

I'll take the chance to combine this ask with watchblogging

TADC EPISODE 5 live notes, spoiler warning, longass post and my personal magnifying glass vision analysis rambles:

Is it just me or is the animation somehow even better. The lighting is gorgeous and the expressions and body language are stellar as always. We should be watching this in theaters and yet it's for free

I kind of miss the uncanny 2000s 3d look but it's not really meant to be a horror show, just character-focused and kind of edgy, so it makes sense!

Opening with Zooble, fantastic start already. Love your new look

I assume they had to be in the ocean for a long period of time, which is good because they can't drown but bad because they can still feel like they're suffocating

Ragatha is still trying to become closer to Pomni! Is it because of Kaufmo's recent abstraction? She's so nice but that's it. Not good not bad just nice and trying. Such a fascinating and realistic character

I wonder what's up with the mannequin, Pomni's noticed it by now

It's not just me right - something is up. Caine's adventures are getting darker and darker.

Love his poses still though. I don't know if I've talked about this but despite everyone in this show being cartoony, the humans don't move like cartoons unless the situation calls for it, but every little gesture of Caine is dramatic and showy and stretchy. the subtle differences are very cool

Tell a good story? Caine I thought this was about making the humans happy 🤨. I know you mentioned your 'craft' in earlier episodes but you can't have both all the time man. Wow his ego is more fragile than we thought - hope he loses it and goes full AI meanie soon

Sex appeal

Caine is. So angry at Zooble. Zooble is literally just sitting there. Amazing that he now sees her as a blight and expresses murderous rage towards her normally only reserved for Bubble lmao. He does not love all his humans equally and he has no idea what he's doing

I feel like the fact that he likes them isn't the only thing holding him back. Might be the circus' systems leashing him as well

Premise of this episode is fun as hell, roller coaster mixed media let's fucking go

Yeah figured Jax would suggest this

Bowling alley screen animation ha

Jax did you make everyone a fursona

Wait do I like Jax now. Is he a charming rascal? Is he a cute bastard? What is happening

Pomni is so underqualified help her

I love how her mind keeps wandering off when distracted and she isn't the best at holding conversations

THEY BROUGHT BACK LUCID KINGER AND MADE AN ORAL JOKE THIS EPISODE RULES

You know what I like Jax now. He's actually fun to watch for some reason here. I like it when bastard characters are stupidly commited to being a bastard, look at Jax doing his funny Australian accent and flailing his arms around and making Zooble go splat. He's invested! What the hell! This is fun!

Yeah they're really nailing how useless Ragatha's cheer comes across now huh. It's rare seeing a show have someone be super nice and not have it be the solution to everything but also not make it a mask for their 'secretly evil real self'.

Anime segment threw me I love this show. I can't wait to browse fanart

Zooble just KNOWING it's Gangle's suggestion

Yeah Kinger you would be a language teacher huh

Yeah Jax you would hate slice of life huh

you know what I'm starting to see the relationship between Jax and Pomni now. Jax talks to her like. A lot. He is constantly trying to gossip with her and she calls him out but keeps her distance emotionally so she can still hold a conversation with him given the chance.

Love the anime figurine being our designated noodle incident

Stargazing is canon :'O they made the stargazing end credits screen canon I'm gonna sob

they're on a fucking picnic. OH. BE STILL MY MUSHY BEATING HEART

Jax is way too chill here. I was as shocked as Pomni when he started getting all sleepover-talk-like. Have all the rapid fire adventures worn him out?

Everyone makes valid points here. I love seeing this!!! No one is the bad guy in this specific conversation they just say and do horrid things that cross the line and their actions just happen to conflict - does that make sense? Arguably Jax is the bad guy - he's a right jerk but he's in the same cage as everyone else and clearly just needs someone to meet him where he's at, not reform him. Crazy. I care about him now, weird

Touchy subject for Jax. Ragatha definitely didn't mean it that way, she just can't stop putting her foot in her mouth

Pomni laughing at Jax's quips. I don't think we've seen her casually chuckle in a conversation before?? Huge stuff

Caine >:( Caineeee you insecure mf

Ooh yeah Jax definitely had a frog friend that abstracted before Kaufmo. The hallway door during the intermission, the confirmation from Gooseworx, the fact that Pomni's design used to be a frog (designs mean things, that's why Jax always talks to Pomni, habit probably)

BARTENDER ZOOBLE BARTENDER ZOOBLE BARTENDER ZOOBLE

Now this is nice and relaxing, love everyone giving their stories here, the dialogue is super fun, just the best, give me two more episodes of just this

Zooble bartender and tattoo artist confirmed. I can see why he's such a good listener. So many things are getting confirmed HOORAAAAY

Oh that makes a lot of sense for Ragatha, both her upbringing and that she actually shares a lot of her trauma even if she doesn't mean to. She is not that great at hiding her emotions! Damn!

Dude Jax and Ragatha are plain fighting over Pomni at this point. I think they do want to connect with Pomni genuinely, but they're sort of using her as a prize in their rivalry, smugly jabbing at each other, trying to knock each other down from their perceived pedestals.

There's a lot of clearly pointed words here, it feels manipulative and I don't mean that in the 'evil!! They're evil and smart and plotting!!' way, I mean that just literally. They're trying to play to their advantage here, the both of them. You can genuinely care about someone and also want to use that relationship to your personal benefit, because good relationships are supposed to help you right. Super unhealthy shit

Jax being afraid of corn is fantastic dude we love seeing him be brought down to earth. But on a serious note I like that there's shots of him being quiet of contemplative. He is clearly not going to open up a lot that easily so we have a collection of him throughout the episodes looking to the side with furrowed brows. That's cool

Yeah Caine is getting really antsy lately huh. He's no longer as jovial, he's SALTY that he isn't the reason they're having fun. Because that might mean he is the reason they're unhappy. That is salt on my screen right there

Evil team is great. Love this entire sports segment and the beginning part from episode 4 was brought back. Was this Ragatha's suggestion? Interesting

Kinger being constantly placed into authority figure roles is so neat. He earns it by seniority alone

Evil Pomni is literally just Pomni if she was careless as hell and super dexterous. That's funny

I adore Evil Ragatha with all my being. I love her so much

Evil Zooble was absolutely Caine's doing. he does not like their perceptive ass

Holy shit maid outfit canon. hell yeah

Zooble and Jax's rivalry brings me so much joy. Her throwing his words back in his face duuuuude

Kinger's collection of the most random knowledge on things continues

Ragatha being so hard on herself is expected, unfortunately. I like how not everything is resolved with one Pomni talk, it's that Pomni reaches out in the first place that changes things at least a little bit

Jax getting along with Evil Pomni makes a lot of sense tbh

My god these bitches fighting. Good for them

Love that Pomni is acknowledging both of them not really thinking about her when fighting with each other. It's not exactly about Pomni, is it you two

Ragatha GO OFF GO OFF

AND she apologised for that out of pocket comment about Jax's friends. This is a change for them, certainly. Jax's eyes dilating are so intriguing ooooh.

Cat Jax

Love small moments like these. Gangle doing great because Ragatha gave her advice, that's so sweet

Zooble just punting the opponent is great. He is so tired of this bs

Kinger is so unconditionally supportive, the way he spun her around and the others came to celebrate her, that felt meaningful somehow. Yeah it's because Caine doesn't know how softball works, and it's kind of awkward because it was kind of anticlimactic, but I feel like Ragatha getting a plain win without doing anything and without having to live up to some huge expectation is pretty significant.....Maybe I'm reading too much into it

Heheheheeee love the vegan joke

Meanwhile Caine's still had that going on for him in the background. Man I love how much more we see multiple characters progress in such a short amount of screentime

Dawg Pomni has a mean streak and Ragatha isn't a fan. Probably because to Ragatha it's reminiscent of being a Jax, the worst possible thing someone could be, since she is terrified of becoming a jerk. ITS SO MESSY. EVERYONE IS STRUGGLING AND PROJECTING. GOOD

Look at Jax here, the way they can communicate what he's thinking without changing how he carries himself is just peak

He had fun with them. That's like a massive deal. I don't even like Jax that much and I found this episode to be so good for his character. This exchange makes me feel warm inside my chest

Unexpected friendships let's go

Ragatha is just the phrase 'people pleaser but no one is pleased' damn

[pluckyredhead]

“I have larger thoughts about how DC has kind of written themselves into a hole with Jason and now he's stuck in this limbo that's unsatisfying to everyone which is why so many Jason fans are mad all the time, but that's for another ask.”

🤓 Do tell…

Okay, let's see if I can do this in less than a thousand words!

So Jason, at his core, represents a challenge to Bruce's ideology, right? Bruce's #1 rule is No Killing, and Jason's basic idea is: "That doesn't work. Some villains are bad enough that they have to be killed for the greater good." (There's something very funny about Jason, famously undead, thinking killing stops ANYONE in the DCU, but we'll leave that aside for now.) This is a really interesting ethical quandary to throw Bruce's way, and by having it voiced by his beloved son, his greatest failure, his second most profound tragedy, it becomes a deeply thorny emotional problem as well as an ethical problem. That's all great.

The problem is, DC can't allow Jason to be right, for two reasons:

Batman must always be right and must always win.

...I mean, come on. They can't actually publish a story advocating for a traumatized 19-year-old with assault weapons to be the arbiter of who lives and who dies, that's nonsense. I love Jason but really.

The problem with that is, Jason is a major recurring character.

UTRH works great in a vacuum. But if Jason is showing up in a comic every month, or even just a few times a year, this central conflict has to be addressed, and the options for doing that are limited:

Bruce and Jason fight and Jason wins. DC will never let this happen. (And what would "Jason wins" even look like, honestly? He's not going to kill Bruce.)

Bruce and Jason fight and Bruce wins. They've done this a bunch (sometimes with Dick in place of Bruce), but Jason fans don't want to see him repeatedly getting his ass kicked while being lectured, and frankly it doesn't make Bruce look great either.

Bruce allows Jason to kill people. This can't happen either; it would be wildly out of character for Bruce, not to mention literally everyone in the Batfamily. They are all canonically pretty opposed to murder.

Jason continues to operate however he wants, but outside of Bruce's reach/jurisdiction. As wretched as RHATO was, I actually think it was a smart decision to keep most of the action outside of Gotham, because then we can pretend Bruce doesn't know what Jason's up to, just like we pretend Clark couldn't super-hear everything in Gotham and save Bruce's ass every single night without breaking a sweat. The problem here is that it means Jason is unavailable for the kinds of casual team-ups and crossovers that fans of all stripes crave - plus, every time he comes back to Gotham, he and Bruce have to relitigate their entire relationship AGAIN.

Jason compromises and agrees to follow Bruce's rules in order to have a relationship with the Batfamily. This is basically where DC has landed, and I understand why they did, because it's the option that allows them to publish the most comics with Jason in them, which they want to do because he is an immensely popular character who makes them money. However, it leaves him in this awkward position where instead of being a tragic villain/badass antihero, he's just...the sassiest member of the family, while simultaneously always being available to be treated like shit because he's Bad. He gets punished without even the fun of doing the crime anymore.

So what's the solution? I don't know. Theoretically, DC could try to do what Marvel does with the Punisher. People always get mad when I say Jason is DC's Punisher, but he kills pretty much indiscriminately in UTRH and RHATO, for pretty much the same reasons. ("Dudebros think it looks cool.") And Marvel heroes inexplicably let Frank just kill however many people he wants unless they're appearing in a Punisher comic, at which point they go "Frank, you naughty boy, I shall stop you!" and then Frank kicks their ass and makes them look like an idiot. DC is never going to let Jason do that to Bruce, plus it would put a real damper on the Wayne family Thanksgiving dinner.

Alternately, they could make him a Nightwing villain. Dick has spent 40 years fighting inconclusively with Deathstroke; he's much better suited to go endless rounds with Jason without either of them Always Triumphantly Winning than Bruce is. I don't personally want this option because I just don't care that much about Dick, but it could be really interesting, though it would limit Jason to fewer appearances and primarily in Dick's book. (Jason would have made a superb Red Robin villain 15 years ago for similar reasons.)

My vote, I think, would be for a really good (god, if only), really thoughtful Jason series where he has reason to seriously reevaluate his philosophy towards crime - something that reshapes him into a character who can still challenge Bruce's entrenched ideas without being so diametrically opposed to them as to make him a villain. He needs to be close enough to Bruce's rules to appear in crossovers, but far enough and specific enough that he's not just Meaner Nightwing. Jason is a passionate character; DC needs to find a new way to let his passion work for him, because right now he doesn't have anything driving him, and it's satisfying no one.

(900 words, BOOM!)

[sleepingdeath-light]

relationship hcs ; jax

requested by ; anonymous (26/10/23) & anonymous (27/10/23)

fandom(s) ; the amazing digital circus

fandom masterlist(s) ; here

character(s) ; jax

outline ; “i'm so excited you're doing requests for TADC!!!!! do you have any general dating hcs for jax?”

&

“I saw that you now do The Amazing Digital Circus requests!

Soooo how about Jax relationship headcanons?”

note ; characterisation may be shaky as we only have the pilot episode out so far

warning(s) ; canon typical asshole behaviour from jax, mostly fluff!

first and foremost, jax is an asshole and that will not change when the two of you start flirting or when you become an ‘official’ couple — he’s not outright malicious towards you anymore, sure, but he’ll keep on teasing and messing with you at every opportunity (he’s also very unlikely to apologise unless he feels like you’re genuinely upset with him and he can’t sweet talk his way out of it)

pranks and teasing are a big part of your relationship, especially if you’re able to match his mischievousness — whether that’s him leaving things in your room for you to find later that he knows will startle you, using nicknames for you that are more amusing than intimate (e.g. something poking fun at your avatar’s height, an inside joke, or just generally teasing you for something you’ve done in front of him that he refuses to let you live down)

he’s a massive flirt and always finds a way to work around caine’s rules and regulations — he leaves just enough unsaid to get the real message across and absolutely loves watching you process what he’s said and then get flustered or frustrated once you realise what he really means (even if you playfully smack him on the chest or arm because it’s more than worth it for him)

physical affection with jax only really occurs on his terms with very few exceptions — such as when he wraps an arm around your shoulders and pulls you against his side, or (if your avatar has hair) when he messes up your hair right after you’ve finished the introduction song — the main exception to the rule is if you’re really not doing too well and need to be grounded or comforted because of it (i.e. you’re experiencing a mental break due to your circumstances or are starting to get close to the point of abstraction for whatever reason — he might be an ass, but he cares and he doesn’t want to lose you)

during caine’s missions he generally prefers to hang out with you if possible, whether that means going off and doing your own thing, watching the inevitable chaos unfold from a safe distance, or actually participating (usually because you’re bored and he just wants to see funny things happen to people) — but that doesn’t mean you’re safe if he decides he’s bored, and he has on several occasions pushed you straight into the ‘line of fire’ of whatever you’re meant to be fighting just to see what you’ll do

(he wouldn’t do it if you could actually get hurt, mind you, but as you’re all physically safe no matter what you’re facing he’s willing to take the risk and the time in the ‘dog rabbit house’ for a laugh)

you’re just about the only person he’ll listen to if ever you tell him to ‘tone it down’… but only for a short while — yeah he can stop teasing pomni for ten minutes to let the poor jester get her bearings, and sure he’ll lay off the bugs in ragatha’s room for a week, but things always return to normal after that because he’s remarkably stubborn, a bit of an ass, and endlessly amused by the ‘suffering’ of others in the circus

if a new character or npc tries to flirt with you then he’s going to go from sassy and sarcastic to outright malicious — more openly so if it’s an npc (at least until caine gets the hint and decommissions them) but if it’s a new character trying to intrude on your relationship then he’s going to make it explicitly clear that (a) you’re taken, (b) you’re exclusive with him, and (c) he will make their time in the circus even more unpleasant if they continue down that path (especially if it’s actively making you uncomfortable in addition to just being disrespectful)

(he might not be able to cause them any harm, but he has keys to everyone’s room and little regard for the safety of others during ‘missions’ so he’s more than able to make them regret flirting with you if he wants)

[devout-khajiit]

As much as I wish I could reliably and always say "You can worship/work with whoever from pop culture paganism (PCP) or perform pop culture witchcraft (PCW) without knowing their source", knowing their source will help you with your worship/working relationships and your practice.

You can worship Akatosh without knowing anything about The Elder Scrolls. You very well can. It'll go just fine as long as you understand Him. But you'll ultimately be lacking important context on the world He comes from and how that relates into Him and His worship.

It's like... I didn't study HelPol very well when I began worshiping Zeus. I'm still working on rectifying that. But while I could go with information that was easily available about Zeus alone and have a very easy time worshiping Zeus, I ultimately stagnated because I didn't properly understand Zeus within the context of where He comes from and everything else about HelPol like khernips, Hellenic rituals, and all that sorts. I just went "I know about Zeus, so I'll be fine" and it technically was fine, I had (still have) a good, healthy relationship with Zeus, He didn't really complain at or about me, and I didn't come across any problems in our relationship, but the general HelPol part of my faith faltered, struggled, and stagnated, and that did affect my relationship even if I didn't realize it. I couldn't worship Him at His complete fullest.

The same applies to pop culture paganism.

You can worship Akatosh, you can follow His commandments, but with knowing literally nothing or next to nothing about the world, you're going to hit a wall. And yeah, Akatosh might not be the best example, because canonically we don't know much about His worship, comparatively to Zeus where we know so damned much about His worship; but it's still a truth I've found to be true.

I may joke about converting people to Touhou PCP because I think it's funny to joke about (it might not be but humor is subjective), but I wouldn't genuinely say to do it unless you're willing to put in time to at least understand the setting of Touhou, Gensokyo, and how that setting affects their lives. Understanding basics like the Spell Card rules even is a long way.

I'm not saying you need to be an expert in whatever source you wanna do PCP for. If it's a show you don't have to have seen every episode, for a game you don't have to have played every one or 100%ed it. You don't have to study every single page of every wiki that exists. I may be feral about my PCP sources but you don't have to be. But you should at least try to understand their source, their world, and how that can relate into your PCP, or even your PCW, before you really settle in and begin.

I'm also not saying every source has great information sources. Touhou worship for instance is hero worship in most cases of the 180+ characters (there's only 24 "Touhou original" gods, as in not kami taken from actual Shinto lore), and most Touhous appear once in a game then maybe if they're lucky, the print works, but the PC-98s? Like Sariel? Fuck dude there really is nothing. But learn what there IS to learn, y'know?

Don't let this stop you from getting into PCP. Or anything for that matter. Just do your best. I believe in you.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

A theory i have is that the reason Malleus isn't able to find the group sometimes when they go to a different dream, is because his dream self doesn't EXIST in the said dream. Don't you find it weird, the whole time MC, Grim and Dia-boys where in Lilia dream, no Malleus appeared BUT when dream baby Malleus is born then POOF here he is ? Take the pomefiore dream for example, no dream Malleus so no IRL Malleus. His dream selves are probably like gps or something to naviguate in Dreams -sarah

That’s… not a theory though 😅 The game essentially confirms that the Malleus is likely not capable of manifesting in a dream unless the circumstances of the dream are something he is reasonably familiar with. This is because magic in Twisted Wonderland is reliant on the limits of one’s imagination.

Because Lilia’s dream largely takes place in a period of time Malleus himself is not informed about, Malleus is not able to imagine it, and thus cannot appear yntil his own egg hatches. With that birth, Malleus now has a presence (ie “an understanding”) that allows him to enter the dream. It should also be noted that Malleus was keeping a close eye on Lilia’s dream in particular, since that’s someone he is close with—so naturally, when Lilia begins to “wake”, Malleus barges in using his new opening (his freshly hatched self) to fix things.

How Malleus’s UM works exactly is really dubious, so we can only guess the details. However, Idia tells us that while the “real” Malleus may be the boss that oversees everything, there also are many dream versions of Malleus that manage each individual dreamer.

Doesn’t that imply that there has to be a Malleus for every dream (and if not all of them, then surely most of them)? We probably just don’t see them in all instances because he isn’t a relevant character for the happiness of most of the NRC students (or, in the case of Vil, Kalim, and Jamil), they’re not at NRC in their dream worlds. There must still be Malleuses lurking around making sure the dreams are okay, and perhaps to serve as a point of entry for the “real” one. (… Still, it’s sort of funny yet sad to think about how many NRC students’ perfectly happy ideal worlds do not involve Malleus in any way, shape, or form.)

There’s a bunch of hoops the wake up squad has to jump through to not alert Malleus of their dream hopping. Ortho has to project holograms of the dreamers to trick the Malleuses overseeing their dreams into believing everything is going smoothly. They have to limit how many students can dream hop at once, because too many bodies could also tip Malleus off. Etc, etc, etc—it’s a lot of contrivances and rules. It’s like tying to tiptoe through a field you know is rigged with tons of booby traps.

I think their strategy seems to be working…? Cuz none of the Malleuses seem to have noticed to the degree where they would alert the real one to come in and stomp out the pests. So to me, Malleus not showing up doesn’t feel like the result of there being no Malleuses in those dream worlds to connect through. It’s more like he never got told in the first place that there’s an issue to be resolved.

Arguably, it should be a easier for Malleus to pull up to these dreams since they mostly take place in the present, a time period he can more easily imagine than 500 years in the past (Lilia’s dream). Some of the dreams (Idia’s, Rook’s, Epel’s, Sebek’s) take place AT Night Raven College too, a location Malleus is very familiar with as a third year student. If you want to count events (even though technically they are not canon to the main story), Malleus has also already visited the Scalding Sands in A Firelit Sky. Thus, he shouldn’t have trouble visiting Jamil’s dream either. Malleus isn’t chasing them because the game reasons that Idia’s “let’s keep Malleus distracted/keep him from noticing us!” plan is working.

bfkwvwiwkw I hope that made sense! Talking about Malleus’s dubiously defined dream magic always makes me get confused since it’s juggling a lot of details 💦

[girl4music]

Yeah, I think that’s the best way to put it with Xena being a completely canon non-canon queer show.

The Xena creators/cast/crew takes the piss with the subtext. They have their laughs with it - absolutely.

But the major striking difference is that they take the piss and have their laughs WITH you and not AT you.

The point is you’re involved. You’re in on the jokes.

They’re total jokes. But they’re not at YOUR expense.

Only actually completely canon queer shows do that. Like ‘Wynonna Earp’ for example. They love their jokes too but those jokes aren’t made BECAUSE they’re queer. They’re made because it’s actually really funny.

And as I keep saying - the intention was very sincere.

If they ever missed the mark and those queer subtext moments were crude, it’s only because their humour was crude in general. Had nothing to do with personal bias or judgment about queerness unlike other shows that did the queer subtext thing with their female leads and every joke they made about any perceived queer romantic implications was maliciously aimed your way as that queer person that you are when you watch it.

The Xena lot were never like that because they were always on your side whenever they did this. Therefore every queer joke they made was just them being the self-referential insane in-solidarity lot that they were.

Those queer jokes were just as much for us as they were for them. We were part of whatever was funny.

We weren’t WHAT was funny. That’s the difference.

And all those queer jokes were absolutely hilarious.

Queer subtext in terms of providing comedy is never ever a bad thing… unless it’s intended to be negative.

Any media literacy skills whatsoever tell you what it is. You should be able to tell the difference between any comedy that’s about you but for you, not against you.

All actually completely canon queer shows have these comedic moments too. But obviously, because it’s a canonically queer show, they’re only ever a positive.

Xena is a unique experience were it was technically both canon and non-canon at the exact same time and that’s because the creators/cast/crew did not agree with the network/studio/censors but they still had to adhere to the rules of whatever those executives said.

It is very “have your cake and eat it too” - as the saying goes - but you can excuse it. It was the first WLW show.

Intentionality is always the key thing to remember here.

What do the creators/cast/crew intend? Figure that out before you put your entire support behind a production.

I have provided more than enough evidence for Xena. The truth is they never started that way,… they never intended it to be queer but they embraced it anyway AGAINST the demands and obligations of the studio.

They gave you a very queer narrative all the while providing extremely paper thin plausible deniability. Other shows that do this (unless they’re meant to be canon from the start) don’t give you queer narratives.

They don’t intend for you to see yourself in their media as anything more than a joke. A caricature. Be careful.

[hestzhyen]

Volume 4 Extras and Da Vinci Interview Yap: Names Edition

Not going to post screen caps since the extras are considered an incentive to buy the volumes. But I will definitely talk a bit about the info we got!

Names!

Braidbro's given name is Enji (円慈). 円 (en) means "circle" or "round" and is also the kanji for the Japanese yen. It's chosen for a baby to convey a sense of being valued, successful, and surrounded by love. Hm. 慈(ji) means love (in a parent-child sense), mercy, or compassion, and is chosen for it's direct meaning. HM. Wonder why he was the one Shiba talked to about honoring Tenri's memory by making sure none of the other kids followed his footsteps... (not). [circle of compassion] perhaps?

Sazasis is Tamaki (珠紀)! 珠 (tama) means "pearl", chosen for purity, beauty, and grace. 紀 (ki) means era or chronicle to remember special moments or events, the family's legacy and history, and/or to follow rules and regulations. [pearl chronicle] is a pretty name!

Birthdays

Kerfluffle over Hakuri being 17 aside, not much stands out. Unless you're into zodiac signs and Western birthstone interpretations I guess- go wild if so.

Well, actually... Sojo being confirmed 30 years old is pretty funny. Dude legit had beef with an 18-year old because of his parasocial relationship to the kid's dead dad. LMAO. He must have been so happy to have been born a day (and like 10 years) after Kunishige too.

If we want to take holidays into account, Chihiro was born on Mountain Day (8/11)! It's a fairly recent holiday that was only enacted in 2014, ostensibly to promote appreciation of the many mountains in Japan. I don't think there's any special meaning to this beyond the trivia value, as it was probably a coincidence if anything.

Hakuri's birthday falls on an unofficial holiday- Sakura Day (3/27). It was created in 1992 by the Cherry Blossom Association to promote interest in the tradition of hanami, or cherry blossom viewing. Probably another coincidence but we take these. It seems to suit him somehow!

Spring and summer, what a wonderful combination~ Don't think too hard about how Kunishige probably had New Year's sex based on Chihiro's birth date though. Don't imagine sexy Kunishige. Don't do it! Stop that!

SoTen?!

There was a little sketch of Soya talking to Tenri (thanks to Hella for the TL!) in the extras. It mentioned that Soya had a slight inferiority complex towards Tenri due to how fast his youngest brother surpassed him, which led him to fixate on Hakuri instead.

SoHaku folks are going a little nuts over this as you'd expect. Can't blame them though since several prominent artists in and outside of that circle had thought this might be the case. To have it confirmed in canon is pretty satisfying for all those who believed in it.

I never gave it much thought from the Tenri perspective, but it makes sense. Soya seems like he was supposed to be That Guy but was found lacking for some reason. He was lurking in the background every time Kyora was talking to Tenri and Hakuri side-by-side, completely unnoticed. And the stuff with his name, of course... So yeah. Hakuri really was Soya's punching bag because Soya felt he wasn't good enough. Thank goodness Soya is dead and definitely never coming back. Clothing Mysteries Revealed

There were also simple sketches of Hakuri and Chihiro's top layers to basically confirm what we already knew thanks to Chapter 45. Chihiro wears a plain long-sleeved black shirt, a track coat, and a trench coat that is a pain for Hokazono-sensei to draw. He might change the trench coat for something else later but wouldn't count on it for now. Hakuri wears a long-sleeved black turtleneck under a dress shirt and a haori that he tucks into his pants (cute!!!). The biggest surprise is that the dress shirt has a breast pocket I guess?

I'm happy for all the fan artists out there who will find the references useful, but... THE STRAPS? HELLO??? WHY THE STRAPS ON THE PANTS?! I insist this insignificant detail gets elaborated on. I require it. Is it his own fashion sense? If so, he didn't have them the day Ice Lady died despite the half boots, pants, and haori-undershirt combo remaining intact. At least a day passed (maybe) between her death and him being kicked out- he has a different style of dress shirt on the second layer compared to when we see him in the present day. So Hakuri had time to change but why add the straps? Where did they come from??? I cannot let this go. HELP.

Da Vinci Magazine Interview

Hokazono-sensei provided a long interview to the magazine that was published to help promote Volume 4's release. Brasilbro posted a lightly edited Machine TL of it, which has caused some buzz (my soul withers at the prospect of trying to do it myself...). As expected there's a lot of love given to Naruto, John Wick, and depicting blood splatters. He also references JJK and CSM as other manga that tell a faster story than previous shounen series. I've seen a lot of manga in recent years try to emulate Fujimoto-sensei's style, but I think Hokazono-sensei's done it the best because he's also a film buff. You can tell he loves action movies and has a movie director's PoV when he's composing the scenes (and especially the fights). Not that other styles are bad- I love me some more traditional shounen like Wind Breaker and HxH too. It's just if you're going to try and copy the feel of a Fujimoto manga, you need to be as insanely in love with movies as he is.

That's why the pacing in Kagurabachi is so fast, too- he doesn't want to lose reader engagement by slowing things down and having longer arcs with a few "dead" chapters here and there. He acknowledges that this makes the manga a very dense read at least. And I'm fine with it. I wish it was a smidge slower, but I still wouldn't change the pacing. I just hope it doesn't go any faster than this because every week is like a whirlwind already.

Kind of interested, kind of worried that he's using up all his prepared ideas as fast as he can to try and create new ones. Won't call it arrogant but maybe... idealistic? Creation is hard, man. Especially working at the brutal pace of a weekly serialization. I just hope he can keep up without compromising his health like so many other mangaka are forced to do. He mentions in the next paragraph that he's starting to feel the pressure. Not surprising in the least with all the extra art he's had to make for cover and color pages, volume bonuses, and re-draws.

I'm also really, really glad that I can put my worries of a sudden introduction of yokai or mythical beings as enemies to rest. He confirmed that he wanted Kagurabachi to be about people versus people. Yay! I wouldn't drop the manga if we changed course into fighting a supernatural threat, but I could get that pretty much anywhere. I'm invested in Kagurabachi for the storytelling about the human vs. human conflicts more than anything else. Keeping the cast and foes entirely (or mostly) human helps sell the extremely personal nature of Chihiro's revenge mission IMO.

Then there's this...

You wanted Hakuri to add some cuteness, huh?! Oh boy did you nail that one, Hokazono-sensei. These two are going to be fruity as heck to the end I can tell. But I'm also reassured as a HakuHiro shipper that Hokazono actually wanted Hakuri there and likes the character (he also mentioned that he likes drawing him in the Vol. 4 extras). I didn't believe the bad-faith accusations of Hakuri being the result of executive meddling for one second- don't sell me that short. I've read all of Hokazono-sensei's oneshots so I know he loves his color-coded SasuNaru expy duos. But sometimes I feel the relationship he's written between Hakuri and Chihiro is too good to be real. If he REALLY wanted them to come across that sus, though? Okay then! I won't worry about the wellspring drying up any time soon.

In general it seems like Hokazono-sensei's pretty put-together (for a memelord) and happy to be drawing Kagurabachi. I'm really, really glad for him and It's exciting to see his series finally get the recognition it deserves. Kagurabachi's on the big come-up now with all the extra promotion since winning the Tsugimanga award. Become the future of WSJ!

It's late. I've yapped too much today. If you read this- thanks. Say something nice to yourself, alright? And take care.

[a-kinda-boring-writer]

For the ask game! Hollyleaf and

21. If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?

I mean, making her a cannibal for that St. Valentine one-shot was pretty fun! 😊

No, but seriously, this is the probably the hardest question you could've asked me lmao and I've been thinking about it for hours. I do know the answer, I'm not sure if I'll be able to properly explain it. This is going to be a long and barely cohesive ramble, methinks.

I love writing Hollyleaf with her contradictions included (however unintentional they might be in canon). I scoff at the idea of "fixing" her character. There's nothing to fix imo. I think it's better to embrace every aspect of what makes her her, positive and negative, and just improve all of them and make them coalesce better. That's what I try to do (whether or not I succeed, you'll have to ask someone else).

[The ONE thing that does need to change 100%, and this is hardly something original from my part, many have voiced the same thought... is the conclusion of her arc. Post-Tunnels Hollyleaf doubling down on her code-loving is kinda trash. She should have a more drastic change, either for the better or the worse, but not that status-quo-maintaining BS]

Hollyleaf is a sticker for the rules, at the same time she's a rule-breaker whenever it suits her. The warrior code is everything, unless it limits her. She's kind and wants to see others succeed, at the same time she can be cruel and thinks she's better than anyone else. She can be motherly, while also firmly rejecting the idea of motherhood. She respects authority, unless what they say is too far from what she wants to hear. She asks for advice from other cats, but in the end she thinks she knows better. She is humble, but she's ambitious. She can be smart and cold-blooded, while also sometimes being irrational and way too passionate.

And going much more in HC territory, while I do universally depict her as a girl-kisser (and she does get with a few during the RiverAU lol), I write her as someone tragically incapable of having a happy, healthy love life. While she craves that kind of affection and devotion from other girls, and she's quite the girl magnet, she's not capable of giving back a comparable amount of what she asks from her gfs, and so despite her efforts, none of her relationships last long.

I do joke about Hollyleaf being a girlboss and all... but I don't believe she is. Superficially, I like making her look like one, tho. But I love depicting Hollyleaf as, ultimately, a fucking mess. She means well and loves her littermates, but she's a hypocrite and prone to act in ways not too beneficial for them or even just herself. It is important, again, that she actually, genuinely does mean well in the end! I feel like people focus waaaaay to much on the Post-Fire Scene Hollyleaf, and I get it. That's where she's in her most unhinged state. It's funny. I just find the process of getting to that point more interesting.

Now, what I don't like?

This will be my scalding hot take, but writing Hollyleaf as an outright villain is, to me, objectively a complete downgrade from even the less charitable readings of her canon writing. That's why I've never done it, that's why I never will. And if I'm allowed to be really fucking mean to the fandom for just a sentence (and understanding very well this is coming from a subjective and very bias perspective. duh), I think people who write her like that are chronically incurious and creatively impaired at best.

<3

[socra-time]

Socra’s Naruto Liveblog, Ep. 162-167

(aka the Cursed Warrior mission)

Ep 162:

-what in the Scooby Doo is this shit

-idk why im just now thinking about this but the ninja are highkey just paid mercenaries

-Naruto treating Chishima to ramen was so nice of him, he’s so good-hearted<3

-andddd naturally this arc has the mandatory Naruto and Tsunade beef that comes with every new mission

-I do love seeing Naruto with other teams but I wish we got more random combos from across different teams instead of sticking with established teammate combos: at this point there’ve been multiple missions with Hinata/Kiba and with Neji/Tenten. I wanna see unexpected pairings like Naruto/Ino/Hinata or Naruto/Lee/Choji (and so on)

-again, this “ghost warrior” stuff is very much giving Scooby Doo

-Naruto’s voice actor is kinda popping off with his scared shrieking lol

Ep 163:

-the way Neji scolds Naruto for being rude makes him sound like his dad or something

-it’s so funny to imagine a troubled village sending someone to Konoha to hire ninjas for help and then they just come back with three 12-13 year olds

-Naruto is such a goober lmao. Also I love how excited he always gets about food

-Neji has such an interesting voice and way of talking. I actually can’t think of another “calm, cool” type of character who really sounds like him

-I do like that we get to see Tenten fighting in the filler arcs she’s in. Every time I see her do something I’m just like “yes pop off girl”

-anyways I just thought about the fact that with the amount of blood-activated scrolls Tenten uses, her fingers would always just be cut up

-this is SOOOOOO FUCKING SCOOBY DOO CODED!!! And look I’ve seen enough Scooby Doo in my life to know that the villain is NEVER the person everyone suspects

Ep 164:

-Neji needs a child leash for Naruto or something

-I actually hate Gamatatsu. The way he talks irritates me soooo goddamn much (Gamakichi is also annoying but he’s alright in comparison)

-one thing I like about this show is that compared to a lot of other shonen, it doesn’t shy away from showing blood

-oh my god they put Naruto in a fucking straitjacket???? I mean I guess it does stop him from doing hand signs but that’s kinda messed up

-damn Neji can see whether something is poisonous??? Idk if that’s a canon ability of the Byakugan, but if it is then that’s nuts

-bruh what the actual fuck is Kakashi doing here

-Neji wanting to go save Naruto and then his distressed face when Kakashi shuts him down were good indicators of his development

Ep 165:

-lmaooo not the monkey substitutions-

-I just realized that Moso being the villain actually kinda follows the Scooby Doo rule where the person the protagonists meet first is usually the villain

-does Kakashi have a different voice actor now? It might just be my imagination, but he sounds different

-my mind was just going “SECRET TUNNELLLLLL” the whole time Tenten, Neji, and Komei were following the Warrior in the tunnels

-okay Naruto being the one in the Warrior outfit was an unexpected reveal but they definitely made him look taller before the reveal in order to throw off the audience

-whaaaaat is going on

-okay this random ass dude Kakashi is fighting is way too OP. You’re telling me that this random ninja can use other people’s jutsus (including Gaara’s fucking sand coffin jutsu) when that’s LITERALLY KAKASHI’S ENTIRE THING?????

-okay I appreciate the explanation of what was going on but unless I missed something, I’m still not sure what was going on with the first Cursed Warrior the kids encountered that didn’t have a body inside the armor

Ep 166:

-the animation is looking really wonky in this episode

-okay so I guess the random ass jutsu-copying dude isn’t actually legitimately OP, he’s just like Temu Kakashi

-idk why but Naruto calling Sagi an “ingrate” was hilarious to me

-the reveal that Sagi is actually Toki was incredibly obvious from the scene multiple episodes ago of Naruto seeing a purple-haired woman bathing at the palace (and I had even guessed at it before that) so I’m honestly just surprised they held back on the reveal for so long

-also the reveal makes the fact that Tenten said “Sagi” was a “cutie” and totally her type retroactively kinda gay lmao

-the idea of “wandering ninja” is somewhat interesting actually. I wanna see a nomadic ninja clan now

-I still think it’s funny that Kakashi has just kinda intercepted this arc

-oooh okay I like that we’re seeing more genjutsu being used

Ep 167:

-damn Naruto straight up stabbed a bitch lmao

-I don’t like that Toki is a damsel in distress now. The Naruto writers realllllly aren’t beating the “horrible at writing women” allegations

-oh shit Chishima actually fucking died? I didn’t think they’d go there but they did

-I feel like they really can’t decide how strong Moso actually is (and yes I know Moso isn’t his real name but I’m just gonna call him that). Like all of his attacks in the last episode were cheap tricks but now he’s suddenly kinda a threat?

-Naruto told Toki “you gotta make the Land of Birds great again” and I was just sitting there like 😬

-andddddd nevermind Chishima is alive. That fakeout death was some bullshit.

-this arc would have been so much better if Moso called the squad “meddling kids”

-oh good they FINALLY acknowledged the empty armor with no one inside lmao (even if it was just to be like “haha actually ghosts are real”)

-also I don’t usually comment on the openings and endings but this ending song with Naruto, Pakkun, and Akamaru is so fucking random

[blackholesun321]

New One Piece AU dropped focusing around Zoro and Mihawk! You shall be subjected to it.

TW: Long Ask

Okay, so basically, this au has a long title but I dubbed it Child of the Sword. It started off with Zoro being able to see the spirits of the swords since in One Piece, swords are sentient and are possessed in a way. Only Zoro can see these spirits and talks to them all the time. At first, he didn't realize others couldn't see them. My friend and I played around with this a lot, and now's it's developed into a whole thing.

When Kuina died, Zoro's anger and grief erupted and Zoro discovered he was the incarnation of the Ancient Weapon: Ares. Created by the war god Asura. The sensei makes Zoro swear to never use his power in public unless it was life or death. Zoro goes on to see Kuina's spirit tied to Wado Ichimonji. During the shells town arc, Morgan is extra cruel bc he is Morgan, and when Zoro is tied in the courtyard he has the swordsman whipped on the back, marring and littering Zoro's back with scars. Zoro's honor is in shambles when Luffy shows up and helps him. During Baratie, Zoro fights Mihawk and loses, ending up with the scar on his chest. After Zoro promises to never fail, he whipsers "Finally a worthy scar" and Mihawk overhears. Mihawk almost noted how Zoro always seemed to be looking at things that aren't there.

So naturally, the warlord decides to kidnap Zoro instead of Luffy (yes I am mashing up OPLA and the anime, fight me). The Straw hats go on the free Nami from Arlong then make plans to get Zoro back from Mihawk. Zoro is less than pleased to be kidnapped by the strongest swordsman. Mihawk brings Zoro with him to meet with Shanks about Luffy's bounty poster and Shanks convinces Mihawk to give Zoro back to the Straw Hats, but before that happens, Mihawk and Zoro end up talking about Zoro's special abilities. Mihawk comes to the realization of what Zoro is and keeps it to himself.

During the two year time skip, Zoro reunites with Mihawk (even though he never stopped talking with the warlord after being dropped off ((begrudgingly)) at lougetown). Mihawk trains Zoro in the way of the sword AND helps him to realize his full potential.

This is all I have for now, but I have ideas for Dressrosa and Wano. :D

FUCK YEAH ASKS AGAIN! I’ve been ignoring the rest of my wings au ask gotta go finish those up lol just kinda sitting in my drafts. Anyways.

Oh fuck yeah again! I love the guy can see spirits no one else can mixed with reincarnation trope my little Bleach nerd heart is swooning.

But yesss constantly talking to air and technically he doesn’t need to but the swords haven’t told him that because it’s funny. And he’s just this ball of angst plus weirdo probably crazy guy who talks to his swords— so he’d be even more ostracized then in canon yeah the mentality Ill are stigmatized and treated poorly in all universes. Expect he not mentally ill I mean if we don’t count the Kuina trauma ™️ probably which is what gives Ironjaw the gaul and to whip him as well as tie him up to suffer dehydration and probably heat stroke so fun.

Maybe Kuina tags along in the form of wado-ichumongi? Maybe he can talk to her sometimes? Idk I just want him to be constantly fighting and loosing to a preteen girl that lives in his sword, I think that would be funny.

Mihawk please! Mihawk that’s kidnapping! Mihawk you’ve kidnapped a child. Because of course he has and did because Zoro=interesting equals if I leave him alone he could die and with the looks of his crew probably will die. Ugh guess I have to steal him.

You know he shows up at that beach eyeliner on, lip gloss applied and cunting it up to shore and with Zoro trying to stab him every other step. Shanks is very worried and weirded out. But also laughs his ass off because of course this is how Mihawk acquires a kid. But also he’s like Mihawk seriously no bad we don’t kidnap… Whitebeards the exception not the rule!

[ask-guidinglight]

◇ One of the Three Architects Marked by Celestials Assists You. ◇

"You'd like an introduction? Very well then."

You call me the Guiding Light. I'll help you through the endless maze that is the Hotel. Look out for my blue lights, as they will guide you."

Well, good luck out there. I believe in you!"

//read below cut for newcomers! Last update: July 09, 2025

TEXT GUIDE -◇-

Narration

"dialogue"

(thoughts)

// OOC

Death Divider (above) signals a death message—like when an ask is presumably set during one or when a visitor dies mid-dialogue.

ABOUT -◇- RULES

guiding light ask blog. need I say more

blog contains canon-typical violence

Because of the lack of canon information about the muse, this blog may be headcanon heavy at times. The mun will try to be as canon as possible otherwise.

Guiding Light lore here is mostly vague. As vague as I can be, anyways.

Answers will (usually) be answered form oldest to newest :)

Blog runs on queue!

《◇》《◇》

01 - please avoid sexual topics! Jokes are fine. (eg. straight up ERP is forbidden. stuff like 'lol i'd hit' is fine, discussions of SA are iffy but I'd prefer if you don't bring that up often)

02 - The mun will answer every ask sent, however they reserve the right to delete an ask for whatever reasons there may be. (I'll try to avoid deleting asks.)

03 - M!As, dupes (pun intended), ocs, and fandom crossovers are always welcome :3 ESPECIALLY from the gang™ (doors, rooms, pressure, sjsm, and other adjacent games :333)

04 - shipping is fine, but please be informed that I wont take it seriously. (NEITHER IS THIS THE PLACE FOR DISCOURSE. Ship some toxic yuri or whatever, I don't care unless you cross the line. Discourse goes literally anywhere but the funni robux guide ask bog.)

05 - Violence of any kind is NOT off the table! though probably won't do much most times because incorporeal being and yadda yadda but i mean psychological violence is RIGHT THERE guys

06 - Generally just don't be a jerk :þ

07 - Please don't DM me just to remind me to answer an ask or to continue a reblog chain! I am well aware, just please be patient. I have a life. I'd rather not roleplay in DMs either.

Guiding Light here goes by any and all pronouns, they don't mind :)

They are a singular entity—in consciousness, their physical form is incorporeal and scattered—watching over the Hotel and beyond, residing in the boundless ocean surrounding it. They don't remember much.

The entities view them in a negative light, although Guiding Light doesn't hold anything against them. They're neutral with Curious Light, and on a negative note against the Red Light.

'The Hotel' collectively refers to all floors to make things easier :)

OOC STUFF -◇-

SOME RP experience, and it's super fun! Really looking forward to this blog :3

heya there! I'm the mun, aff0_, also known as nonexistent-tales over here on tumblr Interests are listed over there. Geometyrfym Dgags wrrhrgrh of the gosfsd

ask box open 24/7, no particular schedule

Imd good at SPaG and writfhn when I'm notntyping at midngiht actually dom-t worry aout tha solely bcause of this section sorry.q

shoutout to my friend neraqii and their peakest ideas for the banner. pfp and death divider by me

I don't... really have a DNI or a Please Interact section uh feel free to interact whoever you are as long as you follow the rules! main thing i'll immediately block are bot accounts and mainly nsfw accounts (minor weewoo)

tags -

//favs - me like

//ooc - ooc stuff!! mainly announcements

//ask - asks, what else :3

//reblog - reblogs, what else :3

//icpost - in-character posts, what else :3

//[XX] anon - established anons!!

//user : [XXXX] - non-anons :3

//[fandom] - fandom interactions :D

//non canon - non canon stuff :P

//super hard mode!! - for when the forbidden mode is activated.

//admin panel - WHATVRE YOU DOING STOPNSTOP WHY ARE THERE SO MANY OF TH

//ranked mode - help.

//super hard mode?? - event where it's super hard mode!! but also (my interpretation of) Dreadmania's Guiding Light was there too:3

//dreadmania - anythign w/ DM!Guide :D

//the haunt 2024 - sppokky scary skeletons send a shiver down yuor

woa thsi isnt the hotel...

//rooms

//outdoor

//backdoor

If you would like something tagged—for example, an implied ship or mentions of certain topics—don't be afraid to ask! More than happy to organize and hopefully make your experience be a little bit better.

Currently, there are no warning tags.

graphics credits to: @/saradika @/saradika-graphics and @/strangergraphics @/strangergraphics-archive

masterpost and format inspired by @/z-v06instance, any other resemblance is a coincidence

[dr-spencer-reids-queen]

Pleasure Is My Business: Part One

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~2.1k

Summary: You’re brought back to your high school days with this case. You put that behind you when you graduated, but life has a funny way of bringing you closer to the person who made your life miserable back then.

Warnings: canon violence, canon language, canon talk of death, methods of kill

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Criminal Minds. All credit goes to their respective owners. If there are any warnings that exceed the normal death/kills from the show, I will list them. If you’ve seen the show, then it’s the same level of angst unless otherwise stated

x

"The prostitute is not, as feminists claim, the victim of men, but rather their conqueror, an outlaw, who controls the sexual channels between nature and culture." - Camille Paglia

Before you leave for work, you grab the coffee you premade as soon as you wake up. The coffee is right next to your high school reunion invitation. The opened card stares at you whenever you pass by it, begging you to acknowledge it. High school was one of the worst years of your life because not only did kids bully you, but you felt their own pain as your own.

It wasn't fun.

This reunion is in a few days but you're still in Quantico. Looks like you won't get to go, and honestly, you're kind of relieved. Spencer wants you to go and prove to everyone you're this hotshot FBI agent (which you are), but you don't feel like proving to a bunch of people who never gave a fuck about you in the first place.

"Are you gonna go?" Spencer says from behind you.

"We'll, seeing how it's in a few days and we're not in Dallas, I don't think so. It's so stupid because instead of a night, they made it a whole weekend getaway. As if I want to spend more time with them than I have to."

"Maybe you can go to the other one."

All you can do is shrug. You really don't want to get into this right now, plus, you have to get ready for a case Hothc pulled together. Hotch got called to Dallas early in the morning to do a briefing on a case sent by Patrick Jackson, the attorney general.

Hoyt Ashford, a hedge fund manager for a major bank, has turned up dead in a hotel room. Hoyt didn't do too well in the public eye after going on talk shows and talking about how the real estate crisis wasn't a real thing. He posted an apology video about the issue, but once word got out that he died, his lawyers classified it as a suicide.

If you know any better, then that's not true.

According to Hotch, there was Viagra near Hoyt's body. Considering that his wife was at home with the kids, it's safe to assume the prostitute he was with killed him. Something that's confidential and not to be mentioned in any reports is that Hoyt took $10,000 out of a fund in cash. No one saw the prostitute he was with, which isn't surprising since they know how to be discreet. According to Patrick, this is the second murder in Dallas.

You might be able to attend your reunion after all.

"Female serial killers are a fascinating field," Spencer says once everyone is in the air. "We don't have much information on them, but what we do know involves throwing the rules completely out the window. Take the signature, for instance. They don't torture or take trophies because there is no sexual gratification when a woman kills. Murder is the goal. They don't have to do anything extra."

"So, basically, women are more efficient at killing," you half-joke.

"Historically, they have had body counts in the hundreds."

"Assuming that the job is the stressor, what are some of the reasons prostitutes kill their customers?" Hotch asks over the phone.

"Money, drugs, and PTSD. At some point, every call girl, no matter how well paid, gets coerced into an activity she didn't consent to. Aileen Wuornos used to purposefully stage paid sexual encounters as an excuse to murder men she thought would rape her," you explain.

"Wuornos was psychotic and disorganized. I think this girl is poisoning them before she has sex with them."

"She's using Tetramethylenedisulfotetramine. It's a popular rat poison in China which can be easily soluble in alcohol," Spencer explains after reading the files Hotch sent over.

"Poison is the perfect MO. It's quiet, quick, and the victims never see it coming because they think they're getting lucky." Hotch makes an uncertain noise. "Does that mean something to you?"

"These men are paying $10,000 a night for discretion as well as sex. She has a history with them. She didn't decide to kill them at the moment. She walks in with the intent to kill them, and she's doing it before she sleeps with them. She's not just organized, she's also methodical. She decides early which one of her clients is worth killing," Hotch says.

"Maybe the victims all share the same fetish. Both victims were in their fifties, highly visible, and careful of their image. If they were kinky in the same way, they'd go to great lengths to hide it."

"We're facing a corporate culture that'll do everything it can to keep us out."

"Actually, I had some luck there. Hoyt's wife isn't too happy with how he died. She agreed to talk to us but because every silver lining has a dark cloud, the hedge fund released a statement." JJ pulls out her phone to read the statement that was sent to her. "Ashford died peacefully in his home, according to lawyer David Madison.' They're already trying to close ranks."

"Does that language sound familiar to anyone else?" Spencer asks.

"What do you mean?"

"It's the same thing as the murder of the first victim. 'According to the company lawyer, Stanton died peacefully in his home'."

"Y/N and Morgan, start with the wife and see if you can get her to open up. JJ, call the lawyers and tell them I want to meet with both of them."

"You want to play them off each other?"

"I think one of them wrote both press releases. Let's see which one calls us back."

Once you land, you and Derek head over to the Ashford home where Yvonne Ashford is eagerly waiting for you.

"Mrs. Ashford, we're very sorry about your husband," you say.

"I've been getting nothing but condolences all day. I feel like a hypocrite for accepting them, knowing how he died."

"We think your husband might have been targeted because of something sexual he did with this call girl. I know this is hard, but is there anything you can tell us about what he liked?"

"In bed? I can sum it up in one word. Younger."

"How much younger?"

"Twenty-five. That was when I first met him."

"So, your age difference was part of the attraction?"

"Are you kidding? It was the whole relationship."

"Mrs. Ashford, no offense, but your husband spent a lot of money on this woman. Was there anything else at all that he liked from a younger woman besides the ego boost?" Derek asks.

"There's a certain kind of man, Agent, for whom the only kind of sex that matters is the ego boost. In a marriage like ours, you have to work at it or in my husband's case, pay for it."

Your phone rings and you step off to the side when you see Hotch is calling.

"Yeah, Hotch?"

"We got a meeting with a madame that sets meetings up like the one Ashford was in. Spencer is heading over to meet with her. I want you to go with him."

"Sure." You hang up and walk over to Derek. "I got to go. See what else you can find out about Hoyt."

"Yeah."

The madame, Lauren, is hosting an open house where she is able to meet clients discreetly. It's actually pretty smart since people might think they're there for the open house instead of something else entirely.

"This is actually pretty smart," you say when you meet up with Spencer. "Properties like this are safe and an inspection-free investment for large sums of cash."

An older woman walks out of the house with a big smile on her face.

"Well, hello, you two!"

"Are you the--"

"Isn't this neighborhood just fabulous? You're gonna love this house," she cuts your boyfriend off. She escorts you two inside the house for more privacy. "You two need lessons in faking it. I teach a class."

"So, you arrange dates for escorts?" you ask.

"All I arrange are meetings. What happens between two consenting adults when that meeting is over is something I'm not liable for. Now, who wants a scone?" she offers from a platter.

"Listen, we're looking for someone who is a high-end prostitute who takes fees up to ten thousand dollars. She has the intent of killing her clients before having sex with them."

"Oh, yes. We all know about this woman. She's terrible for business."

"I guess there's only so many men that can afford the service you provide, right?"

"Yes, but with the way she's behaving, she's only hurting herself. An escort's client list is the most important investment she has. It's her daily income and her retirement package when she sells the list."

"She's not working with a service then. No madam would allow an escort to kill off the clientele."

"What about the type of work your employees do?" Spencer asks nervously. "We're sort of operating under the assumption that this escort is killing men who make her perform a specific sexual act."

"What did you have in mind, sweetie?" she smirks.

"I... I don't even... I don't know."

"Don't mind him," you giggle. "It's his first time."

"If I may, I think you're looking at this all wrong. Start with this question: why would a man pay a woman five figures?"

"It's not just for sex, is it?"

"Of course, you've got to be good in bed to be successful, but that's the easy part. What men want more than the no strings attached sex is a therapist. Someone who will absorb the worst parts of their personalities."

"They're looking for someone to tell their fears and insecurities to. Everything they can't take home to their wife."

"That's what I groom my girls to do--how to talk to these men and how to listen. Don't get me wrong, deviancy comes with the territory. I can't tell you how many men need to be submissive as an outlet from their extremely stressful jobs. I can tell you that if the sex was the reason she was killing these men, she would have broken long before she charged $10,000."

"It isn't how these men act in bed, it's how they act out of it," Spencer says.

This unsub isn't killing at a specific time because it's whenever her client wants to meet with her. While you've been talking to Lauren, another murder has taken place. You and Spencer leave the open house and immediately head over to an office firm.

Joseph Fielding is found dead inside the elevator, tied to an office chair with X's marked in lipstick on his eyes, and clear tape wrapped around all over his mouth.

"The victim is Joseph Fielding. He was the CFO here," Rossi says when you two get there.

"Was he poisoned?"

"Yes, and staged. She killed him in his office and then rolled him out here to be found."

You walk over to the victim but pause when you see the energy left behind by the unsub. It's blue because the unsub is a female, but you recognize this energy. There are eight billion people in this world with eight billion different base energies. Every single person you've met has their own energy signatures, and you're familiar with this one. Not only have you seen this energy before, you know the person attached to it.

You've met and gotten to know this person before.

"I know this unsub," you say.

"You do?" Hotch asks.

"Yeah, but I can't put a name to it yet. I've definitely seen it sometime in my life."

Hotch gives you time to put a name to the unsub, but for right now, he focuses on what he can see physically.

"The lipstick is new."

"It was done postmortem. Reid said female serial killers don't leave a signature. I think she did that just for us. She's already exposed him at his most vulnerable. Now she wants to be noticed."

There is commotion by the barrier formed by local police by a man trying to get through, which he does eventually.

"Which one of you is Aaron Hotchner?"

"Me."

"I'm Larry Bartlett. I represent Mr. Fielding in Webster Industries."

"This is a closed crime scene, Mr. Bartlett."

"I know. I spoke to Ellen Daniels, and she said you're a very reasonable man."

"Escort him out, please," Hotch says to one of the officers.

"No, wait. Please." The officer tries to grab him, but he doesn't leave right away. "The press is outside and they can smell blood. Is there any way we can handle this discreetly?"

"We're not about to lie for you," Derek says.

"You don't have to lie. Just don't comment."

"Excuse us."

Hotch takes the team off to the side to talk about the benefits of not commenting on the murder. "Is there any reason to go public yet?"

"Validating her is exactly what she wants. If we hold back, she's more likely to make a mistake," you say quietly.

"He doesn't need to know that. We need everything you have on Fielding like bank accounts, tax records, and emails."

"Everything?" Larry asks in uncertainty.

"Everything."

"I'll gather everything and send it in the morning."

x

Follow my library blog @aqueenslibrary​​​​​​​​​​​ where I reblog all my stories, so you can put notifications on there without the extra stuff :)

[iamnmbr3]

Ranking game anon: Sirius wins again! Love that for him, think I might just have him for every gane to see what happens 😀

This time I'm gonna ask you to rank from worst to best who would do a better job as Headmaster/Headmistress of Hogwarts

Hermione Granger

Molly Weasley

Sirius Black

Severus Snape (I know he was technically the headmaster in canon but I don't think he was really trying his best there so imagine he puts in a bit more effort this time)

Luna Lovegood

Luna Lovegood: Listen. I love Luna. I really do. But you just know if she were in charge of Hogwarts she'd change the curriculum to have them all start learning insane conspiracy theories instead of actual facts. Like the Hogwarts curriculum isn't great but she'd make it so much worse. It'd be really funny though.

Sirius Black: The Gryffindors have done nothing wrong in their lives ever and if they did then that was their emotional support bullying and probably that Slytherin deserved it. He projects liek crazy so if you remind him of someone he liked then congratulations - you can do no wrong. Otherwise? Well. At best he doesn't care or finds you boring. At worst, you're in for some rough years. If you break the rules creatively enough he will give you extra points and get you out of detention. He is actually pretty good at hiring competent teachers though so at least the students learn.

Severus Snape: Is he nice? Not really. Is he biased? Yeah kinda. Does he set a reasonable curriculum and also have anti bullying policies? Also yes actually. I mean. Sure he's unlikely to believe that a Slytherin started a fight (even when they totally did) but at least in principle he thinks that fighting shouldn't be allowed. He also sets a good curriculum.

Molly Weasley: She knows how to manage children, does not project her childhood traumas on them and has a reasonable understanding of what it takes to set a good curriculum. So already she's beating most of the competition. Plus, she invents new recipes and sends them to the kitchens when she thinks everyone deserves a special treat.

Hermione Granger: Her time in the muggle world exposed her to modern thinking on schooling and curriculums leading her to implement some badly needed reforms. She also requires everyone to take muggle studies unless they can place out which over time vastly reduces the number of times the Statute of Secrecy gets violated because some wizard has no idea how to blend in and also reduces anti-muggle extremism. She also implements common sense rules like 'no detentions in the forbidden forest' and 'no classes with creatures that can kill young students.' She is also, and I cannot stress enough how important this is, AGAINST SLAVERY.

[house-of-tykayl]

Is there a mandate in Teen Titans Go where they say Robin and Starfire are never allowed to be an actual couple in the show?

I don't understand why they don't want them to be together they make Starfire reject Robin.

I don't think it would cause any problem if they become a thing, they can still make comedy jokes in the show while being in a relationship at the same time.

i think TTG is a low effort parody show, so to change something fundamental to the original concept (having TTG robin chase TTG starfire) would take too much effort. the show would have to replace the conflict of unrequited(?) love with another conflict funny enough to move an episodic story forward for an infinite number of seasons.

so yeah, there probably is a mandate/rule (in the show bible or something) to prevent TTG robstar from becoming "official"

(also if you dont find the idea of TTG robstar being unrequited funny, then tbh i feel like TTG's kind of humor and even the original concept of TTG just isnt for u... it's not the 2003 cartoon v2, it's a parody and always was. by this point i feel like it (TTG's parody elements at least) are such a specific kind of humor that 89% of people won't enjoy it, and thats fine)

anyway there's also how TTG had more sincerity in season 1 when it was more like a really weird sitcom, where the titans' relationships (while still subversions of the 2003 cartoon) were mostly genuine bonds even if they acted like lobotomy patients sometimes. the comedy had limits and the characters had empathy. so if TTG robstar would ever have a chance at becoming anything near canon, it would have been back in s1, though still unlikely

but later seasons of TTG can be very mean spirited, overly cynical and deconstructive, depending on who is writing the episode (assuming the episode is even character focused at all, which became less common over time). the show went from a parody of the 2003 cartoon to a parody of everything besides the 2003 cartoon lol. sometimes i feel like post season 1 some of TTGs writers took the mob hate to heart and let negativity poison the original sitcom premise before slowly selling out

so i dont think genuine relationships between the TTG titans can happen anymore, some of the writers hate the characters enough to have broken up their friendships (someone even messed with cyborg & BB once omg), let alone the romantic relationships. except maybe that doesn't matter either because TTG resets most of its continuity every episode?? ironically TTG could still turn the ship around in terms of the series' tone and direction, though i doubt they will if the current direction makes more money

weirdly enough whenever TTG shits out another AU thing, like the big 2018 movie or the night begins to shine universe, suddenly theres unironic robstar shipping/hints in it that are soooooooo cute. besides being shipper bait this is probably because those TTG AUs feel removed from the main TTG series, so their stories feel more free like they're allowed to be sincere again, like the main show's original season 1.

unless the romance is supposed to be a joke, it needs sincerity in order to work. and its impossible to write sincerely when youre a contractual writer buried under 300 layers of irony and cynicism who doesn't even like the show youre writing for... and thats what i feel happened to the main TTG show ,compared to some of its AU stuff

tl;dr i just cope and pretend like TTG is still the goofy sitcom it used to be, partially coz season 1 TTG robstar had the (admittedly very low) potential to be real, and even if it didnt happen at least their friendship was consistently sincere. and very cute

[royalvelvette]

and love will bring us freedom

Read on Ao3 (or reread part 1 on tumblr)

Rating: M

Characters: Charlie Morningstar, Vaggie, Angel Dust, Alastor, Mammon, Fizzarolli, Niffty, Asmodeus, Beelzebub, Husk, Cherri Bomb Mentioned: Glitz, Glam, Loona, Vortex, Lucifer Morningstar, Sir Pentious

Warnings: Canon Typical Language, Minor Violence (not on purpose), Mammon's Canon Treatment of Fizzarolli, Not Beta Read or Edited

Word Count: 2222

The robo-fizz advertisements passed in something of a blur. Charlie distracted herself by explaining more about the pageant itself – anything to not pay attention to the way Mammon was currently talking about how you could fuck the Fizzbots. Vaggie’s hand was a familiar weight on her knee, keeping her from growling at the tv or accidentally hitting Cherri with a too-emphatic gesture.

“-so they show off some clown skills first – stuff like juggling and balloon animals, y’know? And then there’ll be an intermission for us when the in person meet and greet is happening, then there’s some more... general performing. Singing, dancing, acting – really anything-”

Vaggie squeezed her thigh, and Charlie took a breath. “It’s cool,” she finishes lamely. “Fizz always does a big musical number, you’ll love it.”

Angel tilted his head up to look at her. “You sure you ain’t just sayin’ that ‘cause you like singin’ and dancin’?”

“Watch it,” Vaggie snapped.

“It’s okay,” Charlie said. “I mean, Fizz has won the last ten years running, so it isn’t just me, but you’re probably... not wrong that I’m biased.”

Alastor half-tuned out the conversation happening beside him. He was watching the picture show intently – more specifically, he was watching the Mammon and Fizzarolli now on screen. The distasteful advertisements were almost at an end, for certain, as these two iterations seemed more recent.

“There’s a Fizzy for every occasion!” Mammon shouted, gesturing widely. “All thanks to my old brand, Fizzy!”

Fizzarolli was dragged against Mammon’s side. He covered his discomfort remarkably well, but the subtle wince – something Alastor was intimately familiar with, whenever somebody touched him – belied his true feelings. His antlers were beginning to hurt.

“That’s me, folks!” Fizzarolli said, better at keeping the discomfort from his voice than his body. “And the Fizzies’ll keep coming, unless you think you can beat me-

“At Mammon’s Annual Clown Pageant!” Mammon cut in at the same time as Fizzarolli.

Alastor lifted his lip. Perhaps now, it wasn’t quite so shocking for Charlie to be unable to hide her dislike of Mammon. Alastor had no idea who Fizzarolli was, until this day, and yet... something about Mammon’s treatment of the jester set every nerve on edge. The manhandling, especially.

Niffty began to wiggle on her perch beside his head when the prices finally faded from the screen, overtaken what was presumably a live broadcast directly from the Greed ring. Mammon, of course, was front and centre. How... distasteful.

Niffty knew she was going to be in trouble later, swinging her legs and rocking so close to Alastor – it was just so hard to sit still when there was such a delectable bad boy right in front of her! An actual bad boy, too, one even Miss Charlie didn’t like! One who wasn’t secretly lame, like the snake guy or Lucifer, either!

(Lucifer being so... like that had been the only unpleasant discovery ever since he moved in. He was the king of hell! He should have been the ultimate bad boy! Instead, he was even lamer than Pentious had been. Almost as pathetic as that stupid TV head guy who used to follow Alastor around like a puppy, urgh, saved only by the fact he was leagues more powerful.)

Though... Mammon did violate one of the rules Alastor had given her, when he first brought her to the hotel. Upsetting Charlie was a no-no, no matter how many funny colours she turned or how spiky Vaggie got. It was really the only new rule she had gotten, so it had to be extra important. Did that mean Mammon was off limits?

Niffty pouted, legs stilling. Of course, the only real bad boy in the entire place, and he was somewhere Niffty couldn’t even go and not someone Alastor would approve of. Ugh.

One thing Mammon had always been good at, for as long as Charlie had known him, was showmanship. He’d used it to great effect when she was young, enchanting her with simple magic tricks and silly songs and dances, announcing everything with so much aplomb that Charlie had been practically begging to eat all the vegetables on her plate at family dinners.

That very same showmanship was on full display as Mammon introduced the contestants for this years pageant. The first four, even with Mammon hyping them up (he always did this, always, like any of them actually had a shot against Fizz – none of them did and he knew it, because he was the one who trained Fizz) passed her by quickly – though she did hear Cherri snort when Pierrot was introduced.

It was the duo, introduced just before Fizzarolli, that made Charlie nervous. There was a sort of... easy confidence to them, and they definitely had the whole ‘please step on me’ vibe down – that would definitely get them past the first few rounds with pretty high scores, and that’s if they didn’t perform well. If they were any good at clowning – or even just performing in general – there was a pretty high chance they’d make it to the finale with Fizz.

(Part of Charlie hoped that they did – the further they got in the competition, the longer Charlie could oogle – possessors were just always so pretty – but part of Charlie hoped they didn’t, with the way Fizz was constantly looking at them out of the corner of his eye.)

Angel winced when Charlie’s cousin fumbled the juggling act. As a performer himself, there was nothing worse than fucking up on the very first take. Even though he was the only one to mess up the first trick, he still shot up to second place – just behind the pair of sisters up on the wire, while the imp in full clown getup was given the boot. Brand recognition did a lot, something else Angel was intimately familiar with.

(He couldn’t help but wonder if Fizzarolli dealt with the same sorts of creepy-ass fans, despite being in a different sort of gig. He did work at some sort of sex club for the sin of lust, so... probably.

Was it weird, to relate to someone he didn’t even know existed until today? It was probably weird.)

Fizzarolli recovered nicely in the second act, at least. And his balloon figure – Mammon, presumably – was impressive. Angel could twist himself into all sorts of fun shapes, but balloons? Fuck no. That shit would pop on him so fast. Sucks that it didn’t give Fizzarolli the lead, especially because the sisters just added to his instead of making their own fucking thing, though at least it was tied up.

Charlie frowned as the curtains opened for the final performances. It hadn’t been Fizz first, like she was expecting, like it had been for the last ten years – instead Glitz and Glam took the stage. It made Charlie... nervous. Mammon always did Fizz’s act first, always showed off his biggest asset when he did anything – something was wrong.

She let go off Vaggie’s hand to get her phone out of her pocket, shooting off a quick text to Uncle Oz. She would text Fizz himself, but if he was prepping for his show – she wouldn’t distract him. Not when something was already wrong. She tried to settle herself, taking Vaggie’s hand back and watching the sisters perform.

They were good. Like, good enough to be actual competition. The song was catchy, and they definitely knew how to work their attractiveness to their advantage. She gripped Vaggie’s hand tighter. Fizz wouldn’t lost – couldn’t lose, this was his thing – but actually fighting for the win... shit, he was probably having a panic attack. All Charlie could do, though, separated by several rings as they were, was hope that Oz was with him, somehow.

Then something exploded into blue smoke behind Mammon – who had been stammering as Fizz failed to appear – and Charlie settled. Ozzie was there. Fizz would be okay.

Charlie’s nails – not quite her claws, not yet – were painfully sharp where they dug into Vaggie’s thigh. She was leaning forward, eyes fixed on the television – the same position she had been in ever since Fizz had come onto the stage. Admittedly, Vaggie was more concerned with keeping Charlie from leaning forward enough to faceplant off the couch than paying attention to what, exactly, Fizz was singing about as he bounced and swung around, but even she noticed the finale.

“-Mammon you sad sack of shit, fuck youuu-ouuu-ouuu, you bitch! Yeah!”

Vaggie jumped as Angel started clapping with all three sets of arms. Cherri whooped loudly, and even Husk was smiling – wider than she had ever seen. It almost distracted her from the pain as Charlie’s claws sliced her skin when Charlie leapt to her feet.

It did not, however, distract from the way Charlie’s tail was whipping nervously behind her as she watched the screen.

“Babe,” Vaggie started.

“Mammon’s not going to take that well,” Charlie said.

“What’s he gonna do?” Cherri asked, cackling. “The crowd loved it!”

Charlie’s stomach twisted the longer Fizz talked. She knew what was coming even before Fizz finished his farewell speech – and she knew, more than anything, that Mammon would flip. At least he would have replacement talent ready to go, with Glitz and Glam – and the sisters were good! But Fizz had been his brand for ten, nearly eleven years. There was no universe Mammon would take him quitting well.

(Pride burned hot in her chest despite her unease. Fizz was finally quitting. Mammon’s prime moneymaker was leaving. Good, something in her purred. Let his cruelty burn his empire to ash.)

And then, the grand finale – not the one Mammon had been hoping for – came. Fizzarolli looked up, directly at Mammon (yes, that same voice hissed, yes) and said,

“I quit!”

“Yes!” she whisper-shouted, punching the air, even as she kept her eyes fixed on the screen, even as every nerve-ending in her body practically sang with be careful Fizz.

It only got louder as Mammon jabbed his staff at Fizz. Her horns were out and she was growling at the TV – someone was saying something behind her, but she was too furious-anxious-furious to pay attention to the words. Fizz’s words were tinny and faint through Mammon’s microphone, but there was no mistaking the second ‘I quit’ or what came after.

Then the mic exploded and green smoke filled the arena.

Vaggie was moving even before Charlie screamed. Her wings were flared, protecting Cherri, Husk, and Angel from the blast of heat that shot out from her girlfriend – Alastor had managed to bring up one of his shadows to cover him and Niffty.

“Jesus Christ!” Husk shouted. “Why is she hulking out?!”

Vaggie didn’t answer, couldn’t answer – the air itself was pressing down on her, forcing her down-down-down to her knees as Charlie grew, snarling and growling at the television.

“Babe-” she gasped. “Charlie-”

Charlie whipped around to face her, nearly taking her head off with her tail. Her eyes were bright and gleaming red, redder than Vaggie had ever seen, but clear. She looked at Vaggie silently for one beat-two-

Then Charlie started to shrink back down. Her horns remained, as did her tail, but she returned to a more normal size and the pressure she had been emanating receded, allowing Vaggie’s lungs to expand fully. She coughed once, weakly.

Charlie rushed to her side immediately. “Ohmysatan, I’m so fucking sorry-” she babbled, holding Vaggie’s face in her hands. “Are you okay?! I didn’t hurt you, did I? Is everyone okay?”

Vaggie’s answer was cut off by Asmodeus appearing on screen.

The shame was going to eat her alive, Charlie knew, but her self-recrimination was derailed when she heard her uncle shout,

“What? That I love him? Well, I do!”

The rest of the confrontation passed in a blur after those words. Her horns and tail receded slowly – Ozzie would protect Fizz. Ozzie could handle Mammon. Fizz was safe, he was loved, he was free. She let go of Vaggie’s face to wrap her arms around her shoulders instead, burying her face in her girlfriend’s neck as all of her nervous energy and anger drained away. It was over.

Fizz was free.

She stayed like that, holding Vaggie, trying not to cry, until her phone rang. She was pretty sure someone had been trying to get her attention before then – or at least, the others had been moving around them, dispersing (thank fuck, she hadn’t hurt them, she hadn’t wrecked everything) but it was only the ringtone she had set for Bee that snapped her out of it.

Charlie let go of Vaggie, answering on autopilot. “Hello?”

Bee squealed. “Charlie!!! Babe, did you see- did you see?” she shouted, flying around her chandelier.

“I saw!” Charlie said, strained.

“We need to celebrate!” Bee said. “You should come down-”

Charlie laughed. “I can’t, I can’t, remember? I got the hotel now-”

“Then I’ll come up! Ooh, ooh! I’ll bring Tex and Loona – you’ll love her, she’s great! - and you should ring Oz- I can meet your friends! Oooh, this is going to be great!”

Charlie laughed again, the earlier strain gone from her voice as she responded, “Give me like, an hour tops to get things ready, okay?”

“Okay!! See you then!!”

Bee hung up, immediately dialing Loona. “Hey, hey, you remember me talking about Charlie...”