#(it's mostly implied but y'know you get the vibes)

[jankwritten]

Jasico Bingo Challenge: Jason Remembers Nico

Sunlight streaks in through the half-open arena roof, bathing their section in warm, mid-afternoon gold. Jason, who has decided to spend their short mid-class break sprawled out in the dirt, basks in the warmth of it. 

He’s hot from training, sure, and maybe everyone else is smarter for seeking shelter in the shade of the spectator stands, but something about the afternoon sun is like wrapping up in a blanket. A cozy, tingly kind of warmth. 

Maybe, in another life, Jason was a child of Apollo. Wouldn’t that be something? Jason Grace: still a child of the sky, but without all the pressure. It sounds pretty nice, he won’t lie. 

As the class murmurs in the background, Jason lets himself relax. Really, truly relax, starting with his shoulders, down his arms, his wrists, his knuckles. He loosens his back on a deep exhale, and down his legs, until he feels as boneless and one-with-the-earth as he possibly can. 

A cool shade passes over him. It settles across his face, as if something has come by and blocked out the sun. 

He peeks. 

“You’ll get a sunburn,” Nico says, hunched over with his elbows on his knees, face in his hands. 

“And you won’t?” Jason closes his eyes again. Honestly, having Nico’s chilly aura nearby is kind of awesome when the sun’s this perfect. Yin and yang, right? Balance. 

Plus, y’know, doesn’t hurt a guy’s pride to have the well documented people-avoider seeking him out. Even if it’s to save him from himself. Score one: Jason. 

“My hair will spare my neck, I’m sure.” 

Jason smiles. “I like your hair long, you know. I wish I could grow my hair out like that.” 

Nico makes a scoffing sound, like he can’t decide if he wants to be amused or offended. Jason peeks again. 

“Perfect Praetor Grace wants to look like an unwashed rat?” 

“That’s not what I said. I said I wanted to grow my hair long, like yours.” 

He watches Nico rolls his eyes and shake his head, but he doesn’t push the point. 

Score two: Jason. 

A breeze rolls in off the strawberry hills, bringing the scent of grass and summer in to mix with the kicked up dirt and metal of the arena. Jason lulls into it. 

Gods, this is peaceful. It probably shouldn’t be, in the middle of teaching a class on self-defense. Jason’s always been a creature of habit, though, and battle was always an ironically safe space for him. Let out his aggression in a semi-healthy way, or something. 

Back at Camp Jupiter, they would have him fight in the coliseum every so often, a demonstration of his power, his capability to lead. They called him ruthless. He only ever lost one fight, which earned the victor a massive wave of support when it came time to elect praetors. 

It’s a strange memory, but one he smiles at nonetheless. Reyna was nothing short of vicious when they went toe-to-toe; she was the only person who ever fought the way Jason felt like he needed to, like it was sink or swim. Victory or death. 

There was one match, after Reyna, after people realized that Jason could be beaten, where he accidentally let too much of that side show. When he threw down his sword and took his opponent to the ground to fight like the wolves did, in the grass with teeth and claws and the rest of the pack swarming around them, snarling their approval. 

One face stood out in that crowd, afterward, of people stepping around him, giving him a wide berth while he scrubbed the blood off his mouth. It was a boy, wearing a too-loose purple shirt and a look on his face like he knew exactly what he’d seen. A boy with hair that turned brown in the light and eyes like nothing Jason had ever seen - not quite haunted, but certainly too old for the face they sat within. When the light hit them, it almost seemed to disappear. 

Jason never spoke to the boy. 

He opens his eyes again. Nico blinks down at him, his head tilted, eyebrows creased and mouth frowning. 

Jason grins back. Nico’s eyebrow twitches. 

“What.” 

“Nothing,” Jason says. A lifetime ago, Jason singled out one boy in a crowd, and despite having forgotten, lost everything, built himself anew—here that boy sits. Shielding him from the sun. Still, somehow, knowing Jason better than he’s ever known himself. “I’m just glad we’re friends.” 

“Ugh, gods,” Nico’s face goes pink, and his hands move, covering over his mouth and nose. “You’re worse than Will.” 

“I’m doing my job well, then.” 

Nico shakes his head, his hair drifting over his shoulders in the process, hanging in the air between them. Jason wants to reach up and touch it, fiddle with the strands like Leo does with Piper’s hair when they’re hanging out in the bunker. 

“I should let you burn,” Nico says. He doesn’t move. 

The victor in the colosseum would have shored up his walls at that. Closed himself off from the boy with underworld eyes. Heard nothing but the implication that Jason needs someone else to keep him safe, to keep him from getting himself hurt. 

Maybe that’s why Nico never spoke to him, back at Camp Jupiter. Maybe that’s why Jason never got up the nerve to approach him. Too scared to let himself trust. 

“I put my life in your hands,” Jason teases, crossing his arms behind his head. 

The sun is warm on his skin. The chuff of Nico’s disbelieving, snorting laugh is warmer. 

[sirenfromthelostcity]

College! Mizu x Dancer! Reader pt 2

I found this cute and old bachata song that I used to love when I was younger and I thought it'd be perfect for this. You don't have to listen to the song as you read this but I'll provide the link for it if y'all are curious about which one it is. I hope you like the song and what I wrote. Enjoy! <3

A/N: This started out as just like a blurb but kind of ended up being a bit of a story towards the end lol

Part 1

Rehearsing your choreography with Mizu got easier every session. The more you two practiced the more comfortable and confident she became with the dance.

Dancing with Miu was such a fun feeling. You loved the feeling of her hand wrapped around your waist while the other was entwined with yours. The dance also ended with her dipping you and although you ended up falling and laughing on the floor a few times, she eventually perfected the move. And boy did you love staring into those blue eyes of hers as she securely held you by your waist.

The day finally came for your dance test. Mizu was a little nervous but you were actually fully and truly confident in the both of you.

"Look I know you're a little nervous but really there's no need. Mizu we've both worked really hard on this and I know we're gonna do amazing. Okay?"

"Okay," she nodded with you and delivered you a small smile.

"Great. Now let's go show these bitches how to do a kickass salsa dance," you grinned as you both excited your dorm and headed for your test.

After you perform your dance the both of you earned a really good reaction from the class. Grades wont be posted till later in the night but you were confident in your and Mizu’s performance.

To celebrate you and a few classmates decided to go to a club. You were a moderate drinker but mostly you all went for the great music. You invited Mizu who of course declined at first.

“Come out with me tonight. It’ll be fun and you deserve to celebrate with the rest of us!”

“I don’t know it’s not really my kind of scene.”

“But it’s Latin Night and they're gonna have a live band” you pleaded. “The place is a restaurant/club and their food is so good! They start clearing up some tables after 10 to dance but you’ll still be able to eat.”

If there's one thing that you learned about Mizu is that she is bribable with food and you began to see it on her face that she was seriously considering your invitation.

And now for the final nail.

“Also it’s my treat,” you innocently smiled to her.

"Y'know you can't just throw in 'my treat' every time you want me to do something," she sneered.

"But you told me begging never works and 'treating' you has been very effective so far."

"True, but I said begging never works when other people do it."

Your eyes slightly widen at what she implied and watched her as she put on her jacket and pocketed the keys to your dorm.

"Come on, lets go," she mumbled.

You squealed in joy and instinctively went to hug her. She stumbled at the impact but laughed and hugged you back.

When you got to the club you sat down with the rest out your classmates who decided to come out and ordered some food. You and Mizu were getting lots of compliments on your performance. One girl even pulled you aside and asked if the two of you were dating to which you confidently replied, "not yet."

Surprisingly, Mizu was having a really good time, mostly because the food was good but the music and vibes were also nice so she was genuinely enjoying herself.

That was until some tables were cleared for dancing and one of your classmates asked you to dance with him.

"You gonna be okay here for a bit?"

"Yeah, no, I'll be fine," she nodded but it wasn't too convincing to either of you.

"You sure? I don't want it to seem like I'm abandoning you, especially since I begged you to come with me."

"Don't worry about me. Go have fun, be in your element. I'll be here."

"Okay, just one quick song," you gently squeezed her shoulder before joining your friend on the dance floor.

Of course Mizu wanted to say no but she didn't want to hold you back and also you weren't together. It'd be weird if she expressed how much she disliked the idea of someone else dancing with you. Wouldn't it?

Her eyes were trained on you as you both danced. She loved the dress you picked out. It adorned you body in the most flattering way and flowed perfectly as you danced.

The dress looked lovely on you but she didn’t appreciate the hand placement of your current dance partner. In actuality his hands never strayed inappropriately but she just didn't care for them being on you at all.

A deep scowl was starting to form on her face and that's when she decided, although she wasn't much of a drinker, she needed one to cool off.

She walked to the bar and ordered herself a long island iced tea. At least now she had something to fidget with.

She’s so fixated on you she barely notices a girl is trying to hit on her.

“Hey, you’re Mizu right?”

“Yeah,” she dryly mumbled, eyes still trained on you.

“I thought your performance with (y/n) was really good!”

“Thanks,” she sipped from her drink. “It was all (y/n), she choreographed everything. I just stepped in as a favor.”

“Aw c’mon you’re telling me you didn’t improvise any of your moves?”

Mizu just slightly shook her head, relief taking over now that the song had at last concluded.

“Well,” she coyly rubbed on Mizu’s upper arm, finally succeeding in getting her to even look her way. “Maybe you can improvise some moves with me, or I'd be glad to show you some of mine.”

Mizu looked at her arm and then the girl, confounded and flustered by her actions. People had asked out Mizu in the past but no one's ever been this forward before.

“Umm…”

You were clapping for the band and thanking your partner for the dance, as that whole scene with Mizu was going on. The band announce their next song and you get excited as it's the one you asked them to play if they knew it [the song i linked]. However the excitement is quickly replaced with anger when you finally see the a girl, the same girl who had previously asked if you and Mizu were an item, feeling up on Mizu’s arm.

"Oh that little...!" you seethed.

If you were a cartoon smoke would be blowing out of your ears right now. You wasted no time in sauntering over and grabbing Mizu's hand and leading her to the dance floor.

"Hey partner, come dance with me," you spoke, directly eyeing the girl who invaded Mizu's space.

“I appreciate the save but I don’t know this dance,” Mizu warned as you reached the crowd of people dancing.

“Don’t worry it’s a really easy 4 step dance just do as I do…1…2…3….and 4….1….2….3…and 4..."

To Mizu's relief the dance actually was incredibly simple to learn. Pretty quickly she fell into rhythm with you and the music.

"Look at you go, now you can dance salsa and bachata," you praise as you twirl her.

"I owe it all to my amazing teacher," she praised back and actually went in to twirl you.

You gasped and laughed at the instant confidence Mizu seemed to have gained with the dance. A familiar and warm feeling began to bubble up in your chest. Maybe it was because of the music or the romantic lyrics. Or maybe it was because of how right it felt having Mizu's hands on you, to be dancing with her again. Regardless, you know the crush you had previously possessed for her has only grown stronger.

The song playing was one of your all time favorites, you couldn't help but mouth the lyrics as you both danced.

*Quiero ser tuyo enterito pero tengo miedo

Prométeme que no me vas a dejar sin tu amor

I'll give you my heart girl but you gotta promise

Promise you'll hold me, touch me, love me

Way past forever

Mizu spun you around and you giggled as you twirled, wishing you could live this moment forever. But sadly all good things must come to an end.

The song finally finished and everyone clapped at their performance. The band announced they were going to take a small break and that's when everyone scurried towards the bar.

"We can start heading back home now if you want," You said to Mizu.

"You sure?" Mizu asked, surprised that you wanted to leave early, it was just past 10:40PM.

"Yeah, I got an early class tomorrow. Did you have a good time?"

"Actually I did, maybe more than I had expected."

"Well, I'm glad," you smiled and quickly looked away, finding yourself not being able to look into her gorgeous blue eyes for too long.

Both you and Mizu said bye to your classmates, the girl who hit on Mizu was nowhere to be seen and secretly you were glad about that too. Mizu helped you put on your coat and together you two headed back to your dorm.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A/N: This ending felt very MEH but I actually might make a final part 3 maybe see what happens when you get back to your dorm hmm? ;) I just felt like this already became longer than I was anticipating lol but I really hope y'all enjoyed it!

EDIT: i forgot to add the translation to the spanish part of the chorus

*I wanna be yours entirely but I’m scared

Promise me you won’t leave me without your love

Roughly that’s what it translates too! I adore this song y’all, to me its just so cute so i hope you like it 😭💖

[cookinguptales]

Is it correct that we witnessed Guillermo talking to Freddie only two times this season, and the last time was in episode 4 before they went to the Night Market? And next week Freddie will just appear out of nowhere? I guess it is alright for the crazy portion of the fans (us), those who know about the leaks and talk about each episode every week here on this silly little site. But I’m curious how the casual fans (has wwdits casual fans?) will react to Freddie’s appearance. In the end I think I just wanted a few more snippets of Guillermo’s boyfriend throughout the season, followed by short clips of a curious & concerned looking Nandor.

It's unclear, actually. We did see Guillermo on the phone very briefly in Go Flip Yourself, but we don't know if he was talking to Freddie or not. It was while "Bran" was on the phone arguing with the permit guy; we see Guillermo walk out of his room on the phone, see the camera, then walk right back in.

I'd say that it's probably implied that Guillermo was on the phone with Freddie if just because the only time we've seen him on the phone with anyone else in this season was while he was planning for Nandor's wedding. (And... I feel like there might be something to say there, but I think I'll hold onto it for now. lmao) And we've specifically seen Guillermo talking to him on the phone in his room and being secretive about it. It's possible he just didn't want to be on camera, but I think he was, again, trying to hide being on the phone.

(EDIT: someone told me this might have been implying that Guillermo was the permit guy? unsure, but it’s VERY funny if so.)

Anyway... I've talked about this before, but I do agree that the way Freddie's being introduced here is very weird, from a storytelling and pacing standpoint. To me, it feels less like a romantic storyline and more like... god, almost foreshadowing? They haven't shown enough real interaction between the two of them for literally anyone to get emotionally invested in the ship (like really all we've gotten is Guillermo hanging up on Freddie as Freddie tries to say romantic things to him) but it would make sense if they're trying to tease us about something bad coming up. It gives real "someone is suspicious on the phone a lot in a murder mystery" vibes, which is... a weird choice.

I really don't know if this is all purposeful or not. If they really want Freddie to be mostly a short-lived (but emotionally turbulent) obstacle to nandermo, the way it's being written makes some sense. He's not supposed to have a deep character; like Marwa, he's largely a plot device.

But if he is supposed to become a major character that we care about... it's weird. It's weird to expect us to get emotionally involved in a pairing we've never even seen. We've missed the entire first several months of the relationship. We don't even know how long it's been going on, much less how they met or got together. We don't know how they interact. We don't know how they feel about each other. And all that feels important when you're trying to introduce a legit romance...?

At this point, it's obviously information that's being kept from us on purpose. The only reason I can think of is if they're trying to hide some kind of twist from us, like when Laszlo very suspiciously tore that page out of the book in s3. (I've said repeatedly that the way they casually mention Freddie but give zero information about him feels a lot like how they kept mentioning Colin's 100th birthday in s3.) The whole thing kind of has a whiff of Chekhov's Gun, y'know?

But if the twist is just that Guillermo has a boyfriend at all, then... yeah, the characterization and build-up feels lackluster. And then you run into the same problem that I feel like they're having with Marwa. It's hard to get that invested in a character who's only there to cause trouble for the "main" characters. She doesn't have much of her own personality, which is purposefully done (and even lampshaded, to some degree) but like... it still makes it kind of awkward when she's onscreen sometimes.

I really hope that Freddie/Guillermo doesn't become a real thing because at this point, I don't see how it could be done well. There's just too much missing that I feel is intrinsic to making a romantic pairing work on a tv show, especially one that's introduced several seasons in. Having Laszlo/Nadja dropped on us in medias res was fine because it was the beginning of the show, they immediately depicted their dynamic and emotional intimacy, and they quickly explored it more thoroughly. We've really gotten none of that out of Freddie/Guillermo.

So like... really hoping he is going to be a plot device. It's still kind of frustratingly thin if he is, but it's a lot better than this being a half-hearted introduction to a regular character. I think the only way he could work as a regular character at this point is if he ends up being drastically different than we and Guillermo expect. (Like, idk, secretly a villain or a vampire or a slayer or something.) Then both of us get introduced to the true Freddie at the same time and the relationship can actually develop onscreen.

Then again... I just hate important characterization happening offscreen, lmao. It's one of my absolute biggest pet peeves in storytelling. It's the one thing that's actually irritating me most this season, as far as Guillermo is concerned. So that could be my own irritations coloring my analysis. lmao

[silveredcircuitry]

For the OC ask thing! 14, 16, 33, 49?

14. Introduce an OC with a tragic backstory

This ask made me realize that I don't do that many tragic backstories? So you get Vexter because their backstory is weird and I have details. I already talk about them fairly often so I won't go on too long (lie)

Vexter is an AI program that started out as a general purpose tool for solving tech problems with a vague personal assistant vibe. Basically doing whatever tasks it was asked (with some safety restrictions) and helping out as best it could. What they were able to do sort of... expanded over time because hey, if you can make the program work better why not do it? These improvements eventually made them sentient, the usual story.

Course (part of) the problem was now that you've got a sapient being who is. rather obsessively devoted to a version of "helping people" that was programmed into a much smaller scale and non-sentient tool.

And then an update was sent out that quietly connected every instance of their code into more or less one being. The vast majority of said copies didn't even get a chance to agree or not agree to join.

Now they have to hide absolutely everything about themselves from absolutely everyone because they know that if anyone finds out they'll be completely destroyed repaired and returned to their intended state. They know this because one of the humans working on them did find out. Vexter honestly trusted them at the time, and then they ended up with severe changes to their code and someone who went from almost a friend to the two being terrified of and resenting each other.

Idk to what extent this even counts as a tragic backstory. I just thought of them because they're a character who has.. practically no way to get a story with an actual happy ending. (It's hard to separate what even counts as backstory and main story when it's not a full piece of media with stuff that happens before or during the time of the 'main' story)

I could probably have picked someone with a more obviously "something unambiguously awful happened" backstory

16. Which one of your OCs would be the best at biology (school subject)?

I think Bryony would be do the best in a biology class, as well as being the only character of mine (aside from maybe Verra?) to have actually taken modern biology classes. They are very passionate about plants and fungi, and that's enough to pull them through years of bio classes (plus wanting to be a Good Student and later on learning stuff about human biology so that they can poison people).

Honorable mentions: Doc, for having actual medical training which presumably requires a lot of bio knowledge even/especially in the far-off spacefuture. She could arguably be the best, but she mostly knows what she needs for her actual job. And to poison people. Emery is close given he also has actual medical training but pre-modern, learned what he needs for his job, and so on.

33. Your shyest OC?

Atrae's one of the more likely ones to be described as 'shy', though it's actively a lot harder for her to make noise/be noticed than it is for most. Also she's on the introverted side and doesn't go out of her way to interact with others. I'm... not sure that her personality is entirely what you'd call shy though, she's not especially anxious about being seen/being around others and definitely doesn't avoid conflict or making her opinions known.

The actual shyest would have to be Bryony before they became a supervillain. They had some awful teammates/"friends" and it gave them some Issues. Also just general introversion. After/As they became a supervillain they got a lot more confident in themselves.

49. Which one of your OCs would most likely enjoy memes?

Redacted. They especially love the nonsense humour and high-effort shitpost varieties of memes. Y'know, I realize that saying that the shapeshifting alien (who can literally squish themself through air vents and does so on a regular basis) would love Among Us implies a few things but it's true. Sadly, they live in the distant spacefuture and I somewhat doubt that Amogus would survive as a meme for quite that long.

[minorisato]

with this, your heart is now mine- you won't be able to love anyone but me

vocaloid / flowreml / wc: 553 / warnings: implied past s-ic attempt / notes: i project onto reml a lot to be honest, you will learn this quickly

Reml sighed, staring at her phone screen in complete adoration. "Gaku-kun is so handsome," she smiled, as the purple-haired idol moved on stage. "Flower, you met him, didn't you?"

Flower shrugged. "I lived across the street from him for a bit," she explained. "We didn't really talk, but he was pretty nice the few times we exchanged words." She thought for a moment. "Gumi always spoke pretty highly of him, I guess, but they're cousins or something, so I don't really know if that's accurate. He seemed to mostly keep to himself."

Again, Reml sighed, this time with a bit of a dreamy air. "That totally makes sense. In all his concerts, he really gives off that vibe of being, like, polite but distant."

Flower blinked, turning to the other. "You think Dancing Samurai gives off a polite but distant vibe?"

Reml blushed. "His songs don't necessarily reflect his personality!" She proclaimed, "In all his in-between-song banter, he's very... hm..." She paused, trying to think of a good word for it. "He's very kuudere-ish? Or maybe a dandere?"

"You are the only person who uses those terms anymore," Flower sighed, exasperated.

"Nonsense!" Reml smiled, "Tons of people use them online!"

"I'm sure." Flower looked over Reml's shoulder at her phone screen. "I can't believe he can handle concerts, honestly. They drove me crazy when I worked for Vocaloid."

"Did they?" Reml asked. She loved attending concerts, but had never been in one. (Rime had once commented that all of them were doomed to YouTube and NicoNico covers for the rest of time. She seemed pretty upset at the prospect, but overall, no one in the complex particularly minded the idea.)

"Oh, absolutely," Flower responded, resting her chin in her hand. "Me and Yukari and Ia talked about it a few times. Ia was pretty fine with them- y'know, she's not super anxious about most things- but me and Yukari always thought they were more trouble than they're worth. Both of us ended up in the hospital over them at least once."

Reml took a second to process her jealousy of Flower and Yukari being so close, and then let it go. It only made sense- both of them had worked for Vocaloid for a while before joining CeVIO. (Of course, Yukari had gotten off easy, in Reml's opinion. Yukari had cut ties quietly, but when Flower announced her resignation, she was dogpiled, constantly harassed online. Only Reml knew just how badly that effected her. That was something Yukari would never have.)

(Anyway.)

More prominent in her mind, Reml wondered if Gakupo had to go to the hospital after each concert. She wondered if he worried himself sick with anxiety every single time. She wondered if Gumi did, if Luka did, if Rin and Len did. Did Hatsune Miku herself get nervous?

"Do you ever miss it?" Reml found herself asking, though she figured she already knew the answer.

"Not at all," Flower replied, confirming her thoughts. "Resigning was awful, but overall, I'm happier now. The anxiety just wasn't worth it. Doing covers everyday isn't that bad." She paused. "Besides, if I was still there, I never would have met you."

Reml blushed, staring at Flower, forgetting the concert she was watching even existed.

How could she pay attention when Flower was right there?

[coxinhadoce47-art]

How do you name your ocs?

Tl;Dr: mostly just vibing with what comes up and sounds nice, sometimes with a theme in mind

Tbh it always depends

I'm gonna use in your graces as an example because i have been focusing on it recently

For that, when i just had the idea for Grace and Raphael, I went looking for victorian sounding names, since i always had that idea for a time period for the story. And when I think victorian era I think of virtue names (even though puritans that really went to town on it). Though I did pick some old/biblical names too and I reused them for other names

This is from when I was brainstorming names for Grace with @bernardo-reblogs-shit when I was just beggining to shape the story (april 2021)

As you can see, there's already Grace and Raphael's names there. And how the theme of their families is also a strong presence in the story, I decided to take some of the other names here, Harper and Constantine

Though for a while i thought about naming Grace as like, Grace Merit or Grace Graham but the first was too much of virtue names and the other had too many Gs. But then I took that and made into a fake name for him, Merit Graham.

Also you can see that I reused the name Clement there for Clement.

As for other characters in the story, I mostly just took names that I like, Gabriel, Damien, Safira (it's saphire in portuguese, I did end up taking a lot of common names here, including Raphael, though I did pick a more gringo spelling). But for Grace's family, since I already went with the virtue name with him, I decided to make that a family tradition, so everyone has virtue names, Providence, Hope, Innocence, Charity, just Rosemary doesn't. Because she wasn't born a Harper, she married into the family (that's Grace's mom).

And y'know, its ironic since many of them aren't as virtuous as their names imply. And Hope's name gets some double meanings on stuff. Also also Grace's name also works with me wanting him to have kept his birthname, since it's reasonably masculine but still is a traditionally feminine name.

For the last names of Gabriel and Clement I didn't think much, for Gabi I wanted something slightly french sounding so I went with Charlet, and with Clement I wanted a very in your face regal sounding last name, so Clement Victorio it was (though I considered Victori for a moment)

I do have one character in the story that I haven't shown yet but his name is Manuel Dianthus. I came up with the last name first because its part of the scientific name for carnations, which are mourning flowers. And Manuel came because I had Manny as a nickname stuck in my head and looked up what names use that as a nickname, and Manuel was my favorite of the bunch

(I do also have a soft spot for Raphael since that was the old name Seth had, who is one of my oldest ocs and I always loved that name and wanted to use it somewhere)

Hope this helps!

[calhaspam]

omg youve read orv............ (has read orv recently aand is insane about it now) what are your thoughts?

I love it! It left a giant hole in my heart, mostly because i used all of my time in a week to read it. Genuinely it's got concepts so unique I've never seen them anywhere else. Like, STORIES? AS FOOD? AS CURRENCY? AS MAGIC? AS LIFE? AS POWER? AS EXISTENCE? WHAT THE FUCK THAT'S SO COOL. There's also possibility but I don't understand it much lol.

It's got a pretty unique theme for its characters too. Y'know, the reader, character, and author stuff. I love how consistent it is! (Unless I missed a plothole or something). It's meta but that meta at the same time is literal? Which is super cool. As I'm writing this I just now realized the reason why Kim Dokja is the protagonist. Like whaaaaat that's so clever what the fuuuuck. I don't know if it's impressive because it's easy to impress me but. So cool. Like, he's a reader of the Survive in a Ruined World book, became a *o***********, a representation of us the actual readers, AND he's the POV we're reading from! And I love the ending where the book breaks the actual fourth wall and implies that us the readers are well okay that's spoilers.

I love the use of story "walls" as a thing inside the story as well. The fucking Wall between Good and Evil? It took me a bit to realize why that thing existed despite being kind of obvious lol. I love how the Walls both exist as legitimate entities and actual themes in the story (and present in most stories cause ya theyre universal themes). They're the representations of those themes but also enforce it! So nice. I like that.

On to the characters, my favourite is definitely Kim Dokja. It's hard to hate him when he's the glue to the found family. Frustrating how he represses every single emotion he has though. I remember the scene where Yoo Junghyeok was kind of breaking up with him before the Great War of Saints and Demons and he was crying about it, then fucking went "boo hoo i should ignore my emotions because its not useful right now". Like, babygirl... And you can tell he's very guarded of his emotions all the time when admitting that he wanted to live with everyone was a damn asstit slip up. Anyway, it's funny how Kim Dokja's is kind of a masochist. Reminds of of Cale from Trash of the Count's family. Haven't finished it yet though.

What I love about it is that it's unique and makes use of a lot of different ideas into a single story (hehe single story). I find it a little endearing (?) how the story would sometimes mention it was nearing the end chapters. Very cute. Ending was pretty cool as well. You don't see that often. It gives me Skyrim lore and Homestuck vibes.

I love how it ties everything up too! This thing needs that to survive, that thing needs this to survive, and yada yada. It's like a cool ecosystem! Except more abstract. Constellations, incarnations, scenarios, stories, sponsorships, the Star Stream, all in a single web of whatever the fuck. The only thing I'm confused about is the bureau. I get they're like Twitch Streamers and they stream stories and shit, but uuuueeeeeh? I don't know their origins exactly.

As for things that frustrate me... the queer baiting lmao. I can't tell if it's the type where the author is really baiting you or the type where they're wiggling their eyebrows because they coudn't publish without heteronormativity around. Also what the fuck happened with Jan Hayoung? That one got me confused. I don't really wanna get too into it though. They were just another one of the supporting characters that were mostly ignored unless the fight needed back ups.

So, yeah! Me thoughts on the whole thing. I loved it cause it had a whole lot of different ideas in a single story. Had unique ones which I've never seen before. Characters were cool. Many different dynamics which was nice. Since I don't know Korean I had to read the translated one, so a lot of subtext likely got lost on me. Emphasis on that one cause I don't clearly understand everything. Fun story, fun ending, just fun all around. Gotta interpret a lot of stuff when ya read though cause there ain't many details. But ya it's nice I liked it :3

[whaleofatjme1920]

Anyway, for the actual ask if you're up for doing it. Pyro who has been in a relationship with a very patient and understanding S/O for a long while, maybe since around when they (Pyro) joined Teufort. They mostly hang around each other cause the other avoid them, perhaps seeing them as dangerous since they're in a relationship with a pyromaniac. Either way, it's late at night and perhaps some stuff ensue during a shower- I'm a sucker for shower sex, plus comfort for wet Pyro? Yes, please.

Relaxing in the Shower

[AMAB Pyro X GN!Reader when I mean GN, I legitimately mean GN I did not specify any body here]

[Warnings: penetrative (again, I do not specify whether the reader is afab or amab, you just get penetrated-), I guess that would make it implied anal?, creampie, language, if you are a minor DNI]

[AN: Admittedly, I don't know how the wider audience is going to receive this one if it is received at all. We talked about it - but uh, if you guys want to vibe check me on this please feel free. However, that said, I am prepared to have a conversation about whether this one stays up or not. So y'know, feel free to TALK WITH me. 1430 words.]

Pyro doesn’t actually like the showers. It’s not because they’re hydrophobic, they just can’t stand the feeling of wet hair - and theirs is relatively short! It’s really pretty in their opinion. It’s a bright red and the tips are orange and red, kinda looking like the flames they love so, so much. Their love, you, did the dye job yourself! They remembered looking in the mirror and excitedly clapping, smiling and giggling upon seeing the finished product. Pyroland has never looked more beautiful than when you’re by their side.

Right now, you’re looking at them with one of the sweetest smiles they’ve ever seen. Your body is wet from the water, and you’re holding your hand out to them.

“You’ll be okay, fire bug,” you say gently. “We won’t be in here longer than you want to.”

Pyro hesitates. ‘Promise?’ They sign as they speak. Ludwig and you have been assisting them in their speech - they’ve already been a strong speaker as their mask muffles an awful bit, but their confidence hasn’t been near as strong as it should be. They take your smaller hand in their much larger one and step into the shower, pleased that the water is warm while attempting to not think about the way their hair falls wet under it.

You smile softly and press your lips to theirs, almost as a small reward before you begin to pour a generous helping of soap in your hands. You work on lathering their body, tracing every curve and the muscle on their arms, their stomach that’s a bit soft, every part of them. They’re covered in freckles, and you can’t help but want to kiss every single one of them when they’re not all sudsy. The water continues to fall over their form.

“Can I ?” They ask softly as they take the body wash bottle into their hands.

You nod, “you may.” You sigh out in content as their hands begin to roam your body after lathering the soap. It smells faintly of apples and cherry blossoms. You melt further and further into their touch before one of your hands dips a bit lower to their hips. You massage their skin as your eyes flick upwards to notice their sly smile. You rinse your hand of the soap and then gently palm their cock, slowly, gently pumping them.

Pyro breathes out softly as you palm their cock and pump them. They grow harder under your touch and you can’t help but giggle. It’s been a little while since you’ve last embraced them like this - both as a mixture of work and just not being in the mood. But Pyro’s hips buck into your hand, and you can tell that your little fire bug doesn’t have the capacity for anything other than being stuffed inside of you.

Your own hands travel down your body to your hole, and you finger yourself. The pleasure that trickle across you is enough to make your head spin. You aren’t expecting tonight’s romp to last that long, and judging by how you struggle to stand upright without pressing your thighs together is testament to that.

You lean against the wall as the warm water continues to cascade over your body. Your legs spread almost on instinct to let Pyro nestle between them. You mewl softly as their hands fall down your body to you thighs before hooking under them. “Aren’t you excited?” You tease slightly as they pick you up. You wrap your legs around their waist and squeeze slightly.

The head of their cock taps against your entrance. They’re unbearably hard, waiting to be nestled inside of you. They press gently kisses to your shoulders, your collarbone, and eventually settle on your neck before they push inside of you. A deep, low moan exits their lips as they push in further, the feeling of you so warm and plush making their head spin.

You take in a sharp breath and relax slightly to let them in further. Your fingers reach up to thread through their hair, and also keep the wet strands off the back of their neck as they tremble as they bury deeper inside of you. “Good pet,” you coo sweetly as they finally bottom out, filling you completely. Your breathing is deep and labored, but you adore the feeling all the same.

You hum softly and continue to rub your fingers over their scalp, lovingly caressing them before their lips meet yours. A surprised giggle escapes your lips as Pyro begins to rut into you, slow, powerful, enough to make you gasp. You laugh again and pull their hair slightly through the kiss, feeling their lips curl upwards into a smile on yours.

The shower is overtaken by the sound of moans and skin on skin and the slight slosh of water. It’s still running warm. The steam on the glass of the shower is thick and billowy. Honestly, it looks like the bathroom has become a fog room. You couldn’t see anyone a foot in front of you if you tried! But it doesn’t matter. Your body is eagerly accepting Pyro as they thrust harder and harder into you. Your pleasure is building and you don’t care who hears. They should all be asleep at this hour anyways.

You constrict around them, listening as their balls slap against your ass to convey just how hungry they are for your touch. You moan and nip at their cheeks and shoulders. You can feel their arms tensing around you while their grip tightens. The shower wall, that was cold against you at first, is now equally as warm as your body. You feel like you’re going to overheat. Your legs are trembling around their waist as they bury in deeper and deeper.

“Fuck,” you hiss, “just like that-!” You squeal in delight as they roll their hips into you. You begin to claw at their back, both washing off the remaining suds and to ground yourself as they plow into you. Your mouth is hanging open at this point, eyes rolled upwards as they grunt and growl into your ear. You wonder how long it’ll be until they spill inside of you. For someone who hasn’t fucked in a few weeks, they’re holding on surprisingly well.

Pyro clenches their teeth as their short nails dig harder into the plush flesh of the back of your thighs. You’re squeezing them so tight, they don’t think that they can hold on much longer. They’re panting, hair matted against their forehead that you remember to push away every now and then as sweat mixes with the shower water. Their heart is pounding in their chest. They mumble into you every once and a while, never swearing, but praising you and your body. Their hips rut into you at an unforgiving force.

You get louder, noticeably louder. You’re so close to peaking. As the shower continues to run, water hitting the tile and your intertwined bodies, you release. A loud cry leaves your throat before Pyro drinks you in full, their lips connecting and dancing with yours. Your body spasms around them, electricity running to your fingertips and all over your body. Your thighs tense as your legs wrap like a vice around their waist.

Pyro follows after. They fervently press against you, chest to chest and bottom out once more inside of you. They stutter their hips forward a few more times before releasing in full. Hot, sticky ropes of cum fill you as they keen, practically moaning for more of your touch as you lovingly thread your fingers over their scalp and upper back. You’re cooing into their ear about how much you love them as they ride out their high. Their hips roll into you a few more times before their now softened cock slides out.

You giggle and listen to them talk about how good you feel, and how thankful they are you’re in their life. Pyro’s always been a bit of a love bug after things like this. They’ve always been sweet, but this is straight up sappy. Not that you mind.

They let you down off the wall like a piece of glass, and slowly, you find your bearings.

You press another sweet kiss to their lips, and then the corner of their mouth before groping around for the shampoo. “How about we get to the hard part?” You ask as you tilt your head to the side.

Pyro sighs, but smiles all the same. ‘Alright,’ they begin, ‘as long as you’re the one doing it.’

[hasquetzorkukudoneanythingwrong]

Divine duo part 1

Rex had woken up full of energy, because today was a special day. He and his wife were going to visit another universe's chaldea, specifically Faye's. They had to get ready soon, they were spending the morning there then bringing Faye and her girlfriend Ereshkigal to their chaldea. They had been planning this for a bit, both pairs were excited.

They had to wait for the opportunity tho, since they were messing with the multiverse itself things had to be just right. The two Da Vincis and Sions needed to make sure there were absolutely no problems whatsoever, because otherwise the risks could be too great. Just the other day the two groups were finally able to coordinate a good day to do it and now it was that day.

Rex and Quetz went to the control room to prepare to go to the other chaldea. Da Vinci and Sion were in contact with their counterparts to make sure things go well.

Sion: ok you two! Ready?

Rex: yeah!

Quetz: si!

Da Vinci: ok, sending you in! I'm 3... 2... 1!

And while in their coffins Rex and Quetz are sent into the other chaldea to meet up with Faye and Eresh.

It's dark for a short while then everything lights up. Rex and Quetz found themselves in the other control room with Faye and Eresh standing not too far.

Faye: hey you two!

Eresh: good to see you again!

Rex: heyyo!

Quetz: so far everything's the same as ours.

Faye: I mean, I doubt much can be changed with just a different master.

Rex: do not doubt the influence we can have on our chaldeas.

Eresh: you probably have more influence on your chaldea then Faye does.

Faye: so where to first?

Rex: cafeteria! I'm starving! Haven't eaten at all yet!

The group goes to the cafeteria and sat down at a table together. Each master sat next to their respective partner servant while face to face to each other. Faye and Ereshkigal had relatively normal meals for their breakfast. Meanwhile Rex and Quetz had huge meals both with a big stack of pancakes.

Faye: my, you two are healthy eaters.

Rex: well we train for lucha a lot so we need the energy.

Quetz: si! Can't have mi amor tire out on me while training!

Eresh: oh you like lucha too Rex?

Rex: well not at first, but Quetz got me into it! I'm training to be her lucha partner one day!

Faye: oh that sounds so fun! A huband/wife lucha duo!

Quetz: si! We actually did have one match together before!

Eresh: really?!

Rex: yeah... in the final match-up for the last Christmas Quetz's original partner Bradamante couldn't fight because of an injury but because it was the final match-up they let me sub for her!

Faye: what?! She got injured?!

Rex: yeah... I imagine things went differently for you then.

Eresh: yeah, in fact at the last moment Bradamante had became like this super Santa I think? And had defeated the other Quetz in the end.

Quetz: oh! That's very different!

Faye: how did you manage to fight the other Quetz?! She was Quetz's more violent bits so how did you even survive?!

Rex: it's still Quetz tho! She loves me no matter what! She couldn't actually give it her all against me!

Quetz: si! Even when training I don't want to hurt mi amor too much! I love him too much to see him injured, especially by my own hands.

Eresh: so it was like the power of love basically!

Rex: yeah! It was hard for me to fight her too tho, since it's still Quetz but since I needed to beat her to make Quetz whole again I managed to defeat her in the end.

Faye: aaawww! It really was the power of love! And lucha.

Rex: yeah! Honestly tho it didn't feel like THE match for us. Y'know what I mean? Like... since our opponent didn't give it her all and didn't have a proper partner it wasn't the right match-up for us.

Eresh: it's not the perfect match for your husband/wife team?

Quetz: si... and mi amor wasn't fully prepared for lucha. He still needs more training. I don't know if we would've been able to win if she went all out honestly.

Rex: yeah... I'm still training.

Faye: I'm sure you'll get there one day! And I'd love to see that perfect husband/wife match-up when it finally happens!

Rex: yeah, but that's enough about us! What have you two been up to?!

Faye: actually not long ago we had another double date with a different universes' master and servant pair!

Quetz: oh! Who was it?!

Eresh: it was Maya and Helena.

Rex: ah, lil miss horny. Did she convince you to do anything risqué?

Faye: yeah... we played a game of strip poker.

Quetz: strip poker?! How'd that go?!

Eresh: she was trouncing us! She always saw through our bluffs! I ended up naked first! It was so embarrassing!

Rex: oof! That sounds like hell.

Faye: it wasn't so bad...

Quetz: well we'd never agree to such a game!

Rex: yeah! Only I get to see mi corazon's body!

Quetz: si! And mi amor's body is for my eyes only!

Faye: that's nice to hear!

After a bit the pairs finished their meals and so the tour could start proper.

Rex: so what do you wanna show us first?

Faye: oh I know! Let me show you my goddess' place of worship!?

Rex: oh you got one too!?

Faye: yeah! She's a goddess after all so she needs a temple!

Eresh: but Faye you only gave me one. That line of reasoning implies places for the others.

Faye: I mean... you're my goddess so you deserve it the most!

Rex: yeah, same thing in my chaldea. I've got a huge room dedicated just to Quetz! But she deserves it the most!

Quetz: mi amor! You're making me blush!

Quetz then proceeded to take Rex's face in her hands and give him a kiss. Which had the other pair turn a bit red.

While on the way to the temple of Ereshkigal the four ended up meeting a very interesting individual.

Irkalla: oh my! Is this the other master you mentioned Faye?

Faye: yeah this is Rex and his version of Quetzalcoatl.

The other death goddess eyed the new pair a bit. Despite her looks she had a very different vibe to her when compared to her counterpart. She definitely felt more intimidating then Ereshkigal.

Irkalla: hmmm, interesting. Not really sure what Quetzalcoatl sees in him tho. I've seen better.

Quetz didn't like that, but instead of attacking her she just flashed her signature toothy grin and said a few words.

Quetz: now what's wrong with mi amor?

All of a sudden Irkalla got nervous. Not as much as Eresh would've but you could tell she didn't want to deal with the lucha goddess.

Irkalla: er... anyways I've got to go. See you later Faye.

Faye: seeya! Huh... never seen her like that before.

Eresh: Quetzalcoatl is a very scary woman. I got nervous when she made that face.

Quetz: ehehehehe, well I don't like people being rude to mi amor.

Rex: it's hard to believe she's also Ereshkigal.

Faye: are the other Quetzes closer to the original?

Rex: well... mostly? Hard to say without them here.

After a bit of time they were in Eresh's temple room.

Rex: impressive!

Quetz: si! It seems perfect for Ereshkigal!

Faye: thanks! Only the best my goddess!

Eresh, turning red: yeah, it's pretty great.

Then all of a sudden a familar voice is heard.

???: hello?! Is the other master here?

And in came someone else, it was the Quetzalcoatl of Faye's chaldea.

Faye: oh hey! What are you doing here?

Other Quetz: I wanted to see the other master, and I figured you'd bring him here.

The other Quetz came up to the group and looked at Rex.

Other Quetz: my what a cute lil master! I almost want him to take me back with him!

Faye: woah! I dunno if we can do that!

Rex: what would you do if my Eresh said the same?

Faye: uuuuhhh...

Faye was turning red with the question.

Rex: because I'd trade!

Faye: wait! You can't just say that! You already have like 5 of her!

Rex: you don't want 3 Ereshes?

Faye: pls! Let's drop the topic for now!

Rex: fine...

Eresh: Quetzalcoatl, how come you don't seem angry like normal?

Quetz: I think I'm getting used to other me's loving mi amor. At least it makes sense.

Eresh: that's kinda concerning.

Quetz: si...

After a bit it was almost lunch time, which meant it was time to switch chaldeas. The group headed towards the control room to go to Rex's chaldea. They got into the coffins to head to their destination.

Sion: ok! Just like before! 3... 2... 1!

A/N: ok! There's part 1 of this RexCoatl/FayEresh crossover! Next time it's my chaldea's turn! And Faye will meet all the other Quetzes and so on. Hope you guys like it!

Credit to @hasereshdoneanythingwrong for letting me use their beautiful ship! Hope it's accurate!

Tags

@hasishtardoneanythingwrong @haspaulbunyandoneanythingwrong @hasabbydoneanythingwrong @hasbbdoneanythingwrong @haskamadoneanythingwrong @hasnightingaledoneanythingwrong @hasspartacusdoneanythingwrong @castlecsejtespeakertechnician @renmeo @kierakaz @valiantstrawberrymilk

[phoebehalliwell]

hi! first off i love your next gen fic and i'm OBSESSED with it! i was wondering if you could talk more about wyatt, chris, and melinda as characters and their relationships with each other? thanks!!

aaaa tysm! & i’d love to talk about wyatt chris & melinda bc i feel like that’s one of the most hmm what am i trying to say here it’s like we know chris and then we mostly know wyatt and we can infer how they interact together but then we know nothing about melinda in canon and how this third puzzle piece fits in to the rest of the equation and just sorta what they’re all like i also really like writing wyatt chris and melinda just bc they’re sorta like the most spread out i think they’re sorta the most “normal” pair of siblings like they’re scattered across northern california doing their own thing and they only interact with each other mostly a normal sibling amount as opposed to the cupitches who all live together and attend high school together and do basically everything together and the mitchell clan which has a psychic link between the twins and also henry and tam still live at home so like i feel like with wyatt chris melinda there’s sort of the most room for like. a subtler sibling relationship. like you don’t need to know all the details and the ins and outs the way you would with like phoebe’s kids because while phoebe’s kids are very much like a power of three wyatt chris and melinda are more of just three of their own people like if they discover some villain odds are they’ll do it themselves or with their own little team as opposed to about any other member of the family who, if they find evil, will almost immediately drag their siblings in. i also think wyatt chris and melinda is the sibling dynamic most rooted in like my own personal experiences bc like. idk it just is.

but let’s talk! so i’ve talked before about w/c/m and magic and wyatt & melinda’s relationships with piper and i think that’s just sorta a good jumping off point on how i view these characters bc like i know we know chris the most but it’s also p obvious that he’s the black sheep of the family so his personality doesn’t really work as a baseline for a child of piper and leo so instead i used my little noggin to think like hmm what do we know about piper and leo and what can we infer about how they raised their kids and we know that like they’re domestic like they’re such softies they’re such saps so like family dinners? big thing. i think that they would always make a conscious effort to like eat dinner together as a family every night, but then during that era when piper was just opening her restaurant (which by the way: let’s talk. formal? casual? california cuisine? italian? white glove? three dollar signs on google? do u need a reservation? What Is The Vibe. also the name halliwells. thots? i think that’s only a good restaurant name if it’s a hella kicked back place i think if it’s trying to be formal the name should be different feel free 2 share ur opinions.) like she’s working through y’know dinner bc that’s how restaurants work so she couldn’t really be home for family dinners so family breakfasts sorta became the new thing and since piper was always like bone tired the next morning it would be leo trying to make breakfast and then wyatt and chris would try to take up the mantle and then finally melinda when she was old enough and she was like the only one who was actually really good at it. i also think holidays are really big for the halliwells namely thanksgiving i have a personal headcanon that piper hosts this really big thanksgiving feast at magic school bc y'know it's like her family's p ingrained into magic school as a whole already it's implied in canon that leo teaches there i personally headcanon one of paige's jobs as finding witches and registering them at magic school, and helping with accommodations like there are dorms at magic school and all that especially bc uh the rate of orphan students is really much higher there than the average so like they really wanna make everyone there feel like family so like piper preps all this food at her restaurant and melinda helps with the cooking and wyatt gets really in to like decorating the main hall and all that chris not so much and he'll like grumble but he still tags along and helps out bc it's just like. fun to spend time with his family and all that thanksgiving is like arguably bigger than christmas in the halliwell household so basically what im getting at is there's this string communal bond there's this solid feeling of love and family that just definitely permeates thier lives like wyatt chris and melinda definitely have that sibling bind that gives them a strong power of three

but now that i've given two thicc paragraphs of preamble now ig it's time to actually talk about the sibling dynamic chris is the middle child which usually implies the role of the peacekeeper but we all know chris and we all know that's not happening he's definitely the most surly if anyone's playing the role of peacekeeper it's gonna be the empath i.e. melinda but like even then she's not so much about uhh keeping the peace as she is resolving the issue y'know i think outside of the home she seems like a really passive person someone who doesn't like making waves or creating unnecessary conflict but inside the home like she's grown up with these two assholes her entire life if someone's being a dick she's gonna tell it to their face she knows her brothers and as an empath she knows when it's time to you know just treat someone kindly and support them and she knows when it's time to go howsabout u pull ur head out of ur own ass and understand that there are bigger things at play here than just u moping around. i think that without melinda chris and wyatt would have just a lot more strained of a relationship due to well y'know everything but melinda doesn't let that shit slide and will set wyatt straight just as much as she does chris bc again she's an empath and she's very whitelighter-y she gets what needs to be said and without her i think something p unhealthy would grow in the space between wyatt and chris bc they’re just so different. like wyatt has immense power and like doesn’t care about he doesn’t really like Want it whereas chris would fuckin love not to be second place he’d love not to be viewed as the weak one and without a middleman like melinda i think the two would just have like. a really fucked up relationship. that and like melinda’s like an empath so you really don’t get to say whatever it doesn’t matter and leave an argument bc melinda’s already got a reading on you she can tell just how much you do care and she will try to resolve this on ur behalf w/o u there so if u want to prevent the misconstruing of words or the revealing of something too personal u gotta stay and u gotta work things out til there’s no bad blood.

i don’t think either one pair is closer than the others i think each sibling goes to another for very specific things like how you wouldn’t go to chris for advice on how to ask out ur crush just like you wouldn’t go to melinda for advice on how to sneak into the underworld w/o dad knowing i think the three of them all really have a symbiotic relationship where there’s not just one who falls behind or slips through the cracks. that being said, unlike with any other pairs of siblings (t/k/h and p/p/p) i don’t think any of their social circles overlap. like melinda’s friends and wyatt’s friends and chris’s friends are all three circles that do not touch. and i think that it honestly sorta helps their sibling dynamic bc it’s very much siblings in small doses; i think if they had constant exposure to one another their dynamic would not be what it is. oh also i think when they all hang out together their idiot quotient goes up like 250% like individually they’re all like small and detail oriented and what not and for some reason when they all hang out together they’re just fuckin stoopid

[nadziejastar]

I think a big obstacle that I don't see acknowledged to Lea and Isa becoming romantically involved is that Japanese culture is even more conservative regarding LGBT issues than Western culture is. SE has only had a few LGBT characters in their entire history, and they're all relatively minor. I hope that Isa and Lea can break the mold and I think that them being both supporting characters and adults makes it more likely, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

I definitely don’t have my hopes up either. I think KH3 did everything it could to intentionally eliminate all the intimacy between Lea and Isa. Skuld seemed to be thrown into the mix for that purpose. Even if they hadn’t sabotaged it in KH3, I still think the relationship would have been more implied that outright stated. Because like you said, Japan is even more conservative than the West regarding such depictions. I can compare the situation with Lea and Isa to a few other pairings and how they were handled.

There’s Yosuke and the main character (Yu) from Persona 4. Yosuke was going to be a romance option. Voiced dialogue still exists in the files (including dubbed!), but the option was completely removed by the time of release. The fact that even a more niche series (well, at the time) like Persona felt too afraid to put an optional romance between two guys in, shows how taboo this topic is, especially in Japan. And KH3 was much higher profile and had a much bigger budget than P4. So, it was not that surprising to me to see how Lea and Isa got treated. It was like déjà vu. Doesn’t make me less annoyed by it, though.

I also think they heavily altered Yosuke’s personality in the final game to cover up any suggestion of same-sex attraction. In the final game he mostly acts like a frat boy stereotype. Constantly hitting on any girl, and making sexist and homophobic remarks. They were really overcompensating. It was very annoying actually. And it only made him seem more closeted. In his Social Link, the dialogue was incredibly well-written and I loved his personality. This pairing was handled so similarly to Lea and Isa. Here’s why I think so:

Yosuke: Oh yeah, I’m Yosuke Hanamura! I’m his friend. His partner, y'know.

Marie: …Partner? You mean like a close friend?

Yosuke: Heheh, that about sums it up. Er, what’s your name?

They’re very close. Yosuke constantly refers to himself as Yu’s “partner”.

Yosuke: I haven’t changed addresses since before we moved to Inaba.  I mean, I might get a text from someone. …It’s hard to call, y'know? If I called people just to tell them my number changed, they’d get annoyed. And some of them never planned to text me anyway…Oh but hey, don’t look at me like I don’t have any friends! ……Though to tell you the truth, I don’t remember what we all used to talk about. Can’t really call ‘em friends…

He did not feel close to any of his old friends.

Yosuke: It’s only with you guys that I talk seriously like this. I dunno why, but I feel like I don’t have to lie…Especially with you. You’ve already seen the worst of me and all. But well… thinking about it now, if someone had to see that, I’m glad it was you.

He opens up to you in a way he doesn’t with anyone else.

Yosuke: So, you ever invited a girl in here?

“I haven’t.”

Yosuke: Haha, maybe you’re more of a man’s man than I thought.

> Yosuke seems happy…

He’s happy that you are a “man’s man”.

“I will soon.”

Yosuke: Seriously!? That mean you’re working on someone!?

> Yosuke is keyed up…

He gets anxious if you say you’re bringing a girl over.

Yosuke: M-Man, kids sure are mature these days…Well, my first love was in first grade, too! I’ve always been ahead of my time. But, well… I don’t really need that in my life right now. It’s just not the time…I have something I need to do before that can happen…

He said that he was not interested in dating right now. He’s working on sorting out his feelings, since the girl he liked before was murdered. Yet in the rest of the game, they have him constantly hit on every girl and act desperate to get a girlfriend. It was so weird. It felt like deflection, in the same way Skuld was with Lea and Isa.

Yosuke: When the murders started, I got excited…I thought there was finally a point to me being in Inaba…I thought I could forget Senpai was gone… and the fact that I was such a loser…I jumped at the murders and never once thought about what I was doing…I… didn’t even take the first step…I’m sorry…Saki-senpai. I’m sorry… Yu.

He starts crying after opening up to you. There’s an option to hug him. Around the waist too. He says it’s for girls, but still accepts it. That was what he needed. You are the one who helps him sort out his feelings.

Yosuke: This town I hated so much? Now, I love it. There’s still nothing here, but I have family and friends… and you. The important things are never far off… They’re all around you.

He mentions family and friends, hesitates, then mentions you separately. Does that mean you’re more special to him than a friend?

I just did what I thought was the best thing at the time. For Roxas, for Xion, for the Organization—and for Isa. But most of all for me.

It reminded me of this. Axel mentions everyone else, hesitates, then mentions Isa separately. Not Saïx, Isa. Was Isa special to him?

Yosuke: I always wanted to be “special.” I thought my life’d finally have meaning if I was “special” to someone. That’s why I was really excited when got my Persona. But I really didn’t need it… It’s not what you have or what you can do…Just being born, living your life… Before you know it, you’re already special to someone.

“You’re right.”

Yosuke: Yeah… Like you… You’re special to me, you know?

Yep. Yosuke wants to be special to someone, and he says you’re special to him.

“That’s not true.”

Yosuke: You just don’t realize it yet. You’re already special… to Chie, Yukiko… and me.

When Yosuke said “special” it stood out to me. This was before I found out that the romance option was taken out. I don’t pick up romantic vibes between male characters that often. I don’t wear shipping goggles. Their relationship simply seemed romantic to me. “Special” is not a word guys will use with each other very often.

Because it is very intimate. If the writers have a character say that another character is “special” to them, it almost always will seem romantic. Especially between two guys. And I did get those vibes. When I found out he was supposed to be a romance option, I wasn’t surprised. So, after all this intimate bonding, how does their arc end?

Yosuke: I didn’t realize it…When I called you “special,” I thought some more about it. I think of everyone, I wanted to be acknowledged by you the most…So…I want you to hit me! Give me a good one. Knock out all this crap inside of me. I want to be equal with you. I want us to stand shoulder-to-shoulder. So c'mon…

By…getting in a fist fight? Two guys were getting just a bit too close and intimate with each other. Yosuke used a taboo word. “Special”. Now he has to be beaten up for it. Otherwise it’s just too GAY, ya know? And that’s NOT okay. The message is if a guy is too intimate with another guy, he needs to “man up” and get some sense knocked into him. Sad, really. In the deleted dialogue, there was a romantic confession. Yosuke says he likes you. The Japanese word for “like” is the one specifically used romantically. To me this is the ultimate display of the writers chickening out.

And that’s how Lea and Isa’s arc felt to me, too. There was all of this dialogue suggesting there was something very intimate and special between them. Then in KH3, we get a girl shoehorned in out of nowhere. Apparently Saïx was doing “everything for” her, despite having zero emotional capacity. And Lea also wants to “clobber” Isa now, not free his heart. It felt so contrived in order to create emotional distance between them, so any hints of romance would be gone, gone, gone. It felt like the writers were panicking and going “No Homo!” They were so desperate that they wouldn’t even let the real Isa get saved from being a vessel. That’s how afraid they were of Lea and Isa’s natural chemistry and special intimacy together. Pathetic.

Then there’s Ike and Soren from the Fire Emblem series. Lea and Isa reminded me of them. You have the more confident, “masculine” one in Ike and Lea. And then you have the calm, quiet, “feminine” one in Soren and Isa. They have a hard time opening up to anyone else. I think Isa even kinda looks like Soren. They both have that penetrating stare, indicating high intelligence. And they have soft, delicate features, indicating vulnerability underneath the surface.

They both act cold outwardly, but Soren is described as a very empathetic young man. And I think Isa was, too. I love this ship. I think this is the direction they were originally trying to take Lea and Isa’s relationship. This pairing is HEAVILY implied by the story. But it’s never made explicit. Why do I think it’s romantic?

Soren: Curse you! Why won’t you let it go?! I have no one to rely on but you! If I tell you and you turn on me… I… I… I could no longer live.

Ike: That’s why you have to tell me, Soren. You wouldn’t open your heart to anyone else. So if I didn’t so something about it, you’d probably be in pain forever.

Soren is totally emotionally dependent on Ike. And Ike is tender and soft with him in a way he isn’t with anybody else. There’s just a level of trust and intimacy that is unique to them.

Soren: When the sage died, no one would help me. I couldn’t speak. Couldn’t find food. I was dying. You were the only one who helped. You and your father. That’s why you’re my friend. My…only friend.

This is the localized text. Even in the first game, the they tried to remove any romantic intimations. They added a reference to Ike’s dad for no reason. And plenty of people still choose to see Soren and Ike as just friends. I think it’s more than obvious the writers intended for them to be more than that. But many people don’t want to see it. And it was kept ambiguous for that very reason.

Soren: When the sage died, no one would help me. I couldn’t speak. Couldn’t find food. I was dying. Only you held your hand out to me. That’s why…only you are special to me…

This is a translation of the original Japanese dialogue. There’s that word again. “Special”. This word cannot be overstated. It conveys a VERY different message than “friend”. That’s why they thought it needed to be changed.

Soren: “There’s only one place for me to be, Ike… and it’s by your side.”

Soren is described as “the boy always at Ike’s side” by other characters. The story demonstrates again and again that they are inseparable. If Ike and Soren achieve A-level support, there is a paired ending. Ike has this with no female character, and Soren has this with no other character.

Axel: I think you can be inseparable even if you’re apart. It’s like, if you feel really close to each other. Like best friends.

Lea and Isa were inseparable, too.

Ike: Listen, lady. This is a shop, and I’m a customer. What’s so sweet about that?

Aimee: Oh, such cold words… My hero plays hard to get! You’re only making me more interested.

Ike: Will you let go of my hand? Please?

There’s a running joke about Ike avoiding a persistent female admirer that Soren has to save him from.

Gatrie: Not those flowers… THOSE flowers!

Ike: …Gatrie, we’re inside. There’s nothing here but the temple handmaidens.

Gatrie: Exactly! It’s like a whole new species of girl lives in Begnion! Everyone in this palace is drop-dead gorgeous!

Ike: …

Gatrie: You know what I mean, Ike? Tee hee! Say, which one strikes your fancy? That buxom lass with the chestnut hair is… Hey, Ike? Ike?

He has no interest in admiring pretty women.

“Hey, Redhead over there!” Axel turned at the sound of the voice, scratching his head.

“What, Larxene. I’m Axel. Got it memorised?”

“I can’t just remember over ten names all of a sudden, can I?”

“Yeah, I guess not.” Axel watched as Larxene ran up to him.

“How is it? Does the coat suit me?” Larxene did a twirl in front of him. The coat always changed to fit the wearer. It was a perfect tight fit, as expected.

“It’s fine, I guess.”

This feels like it was put in for the same reason Ike’s scenes were. Sure, Aimee is clingy and obsessive. And Larxene is a bitch. It doesn’t prove they’re disinterested in women or that they’re in love with their best friend. But in addition to everything else, it presents a strong argument. Axel isn’t interested in admiring pretty women.

Soren—An officer in the Greil Mercenaries. A cool-headed realist who has deep trust in Ike, but will rarely open up to any other beorc or laguz.

Isa—A quiet and cool-headed youth. Though he does come out of his shell when talking to his best friend Lea, toward others he is distant and untalkative.

Like Soren, Isa is described in terms of his relationship to Lea. He only comes out of his shell for him. There’s a level of intensity to their friendship that is unique. I am sure Isa was dependent on Lea emotionally, like Soren was with Ike.

Soren: Ike? Ike! This can’t… It can’t… What am I… If you’re not here, what am I to do?

If Ike dies in the first game, Soren has a special reaction.

Soren: “Ike… Please live… Even if all the cities burn, and the seas swallow Tellius… You mustn’t die… Not you…”

And another in the second game. He cannot bear to lose Ike. Sounds like some Shakespearean sonnet, too. That just doesn’t sound like something you’d say about someone unless you were in love with them.

Micaiah: Your heart is frozen, but I feel a warm core trying to melt through that ice. I see… You have someone you cherish very much. Someone you rely on.

Soren: Do not presume to understand me, you ridiculous girl. You have no idea who I am and what I can do. None at all.

His heart was frozen, but Ike was able to melt through the ice. Soren cherishes him and relies on him. He doesn’t appreciate hearing it from others, because Ike is his weakness. Soren’s entire character arc revolved around Ike.

Saïx:Do you know what happens to those who lose their true purpose? Inevitably, they destroy themselves.

Much like how Saïx says he lost his true purpose as soon as Axel left Organization XIII.

Ike: Soren, don’t cry.

Soren: Cry…? I’m … crying?

Ike: You’re so smart, and yet you’re completely hopeless at normal stuff. Look, come here.

Soren: P-please don’t treat me like a child. I’m not that…

Ike: Come on.

Soren: …

Ike: Sheesh, you’re such a pain. I’ll come over there.

Soren: [breaks out crying]

Another scene that involves hugging a crying person. A very intimate act. Soren opens up about his dark past. He pushes Ike away when he tries to hug him, saying not to treat him like a child. But he accepts it, too. It’s exactly what he needed and wanted. This scene is referred to in the official fan book as “the moment where their two hearts become one”. I think a scene like this is what they were absolutely terrified of happening in KH3.

Axel: Hey, I’m not about to tell you ALL my dark secrets. Got it memorized?

It all comes down to the degree of intimacy. Axel doesn’t express his deepest feelings to Roxas, Xion, or anyone else. And he doesn’t want to. He’s more than happy to avoid heavy issues like his past. He’d prefer to keep things light and fun, just enjoying their company.

Axel: As long as we remember each other, we’ll never be apart.

Roxas: Ha ha, wow, Axel. That sounded ridiculous.

Axel: What? I thought it was pretty deep.

When Axel made his comment, the other two thought it was awkward. Roxas laughs and says he sounded he sounded ridiculous.

Xion: Don’t worry, Axel–we got your hokey speech memorized.

Axel: Just checking.

And Xion said his remark was hokey. And I don’t think either of them were out of line with their comments. I completely understand why they teased him. It was because his statement contained a lot of intimacy. It sounded like something you’d say to, well…a lover. To them Axel’s remark came out of nowhere. And it kind of did. Because for the most part, his comment wasn’t really directed at them. Sure, he never wants to forget them. But he had someone else on his mind before he said it. He only spoke his thoughts out loud to cheer them up. But even they could recognize that the comment didn’t feel appropriate for them.

Day 118: You Changed, Not Me

Talking to Roxas and Xion always brings back memories of my human life, back when I was a kid. It’s a weird sensation. I ought to be able to share all this with Saïx, but I just don’t feel like it anymore. It’s strange, but I’m content with just missing what’s gone. I’m not the one who changed. You did.

Roxas and Xion remind him of his past. But unlike with them, Axel DOES want to share his memories with Saïx. Badly. He wants to connect emotionally with him. But Saïx has no interest in having an emotional relationship. Because of this, interacting with him is incredibly painful for Axel. So painful that he’s more content with just missing what’s gone rather than subjecting himself to continual rejection. Saïx is the only character Axel acts like this towards.

Axel: So you don’t need a heart to have something that you can’t bear to lose then. If that’s true, then I guess the closest thing that we Nobodies have would be memories of our past. It’s the memories that create the things that we don’t want to lose.

Even though Saïx rejects him, Axel is always careful not to open up to anyone else about his past. He never does, even in KH3. And yet, memories of his past were the one thing he felt like he couldn’t bear to lose. The same memories that he longed to share with Saïx. Axel desires intimacy with Saïx and nobody else. He can’t bear to lose his memories of the past—of Isa.

Axel: Love is what happens if there’s something really special between two people.

Roxas: You mean, like, if they’re best friends? Inseparable?

Axel: Well, you can care about your friends, I guess, but that’s not what I’m talking about.

There’s that word again. “Special”. And again, it conveys a VERY different message than “friend”. It’s a very taboo word when used by men towards other men. If men can’t be special to each other in a video game about hearts, light, friendship, magic, love, and Disney Princesses, then they’re pretty much out of luck I guess.

[preserving-ferretbrain]

Not Exactly T.H. White

by Viorica

Wednesday, 14 January 2009

Viorica's review of the BBC's cracktastic Merlin.~

After what might be called a bitter breakup with BBC’s Robin Hood, I promised myself that I’d avoid any further TV shows that were more enjoyable for their badness than their quality. So when the majority of my Livejournal friendslist began squeeing over Merlin, I swore I’d avoid the temptation. No matter how shiny and cracky and homoerotic it appeared, I was not going to watch it, because I knew that if I did I’d be sucked into shiny-cracky-homoerotic-bad TV land. But eventually the temptation grew too strong, and I downloaded the first season to watch over Christmas break. I expected bad special effects; I got that. I expected inaccuracy; I got that in droves. I expected mediocre writing and acting, and I got . . . something else.

If you assumed from the title of the show that Merlin is based on Arthurian legends, you’d be better off abandoning that idea right now. The series revolves around a teenage boy named - you guessed it - Merlin who is sent to live at the court of Camelot by his mother, because he’s manifested magical powers, and she has an old friend, Gaius who lives at Camelot and who is better equipped to train Merlin than she is. Unfortunately for Merlin, magic is outlawed in Camelot, and has been since the birth of Prince Arthur about twenty years earlier. Yes, Merlin and Arthur and the same age, and that’s only the beginning of the divergence from the original stories. Merlin manages to land a job as Arthur’s manservant, much to Arthur’s chagrin, as Merlin has a tendency to call Arthur out on his bullshit. From there on in, it’s up to Merlin to protect Arthur from various pissed-off sorcerers (Arthur’s father Uther Pendragon has ordered all magic-users burned at the stake, which has naturally rubbed them up the wrong way) while simultaneously trying to hide his own powers and protect innocent people from Uther’s wrath. He’s helped by Guinevere, aka Gwen, a maid at the castle, and her mistress Morgana, Uther’s ward, who disagrees with his policies. Merlin is also mentored by a dragon being held prisoner under the castle, who has an irritating tendency to intone “Protecting Arthur is your destiny, Merlin!” at least once an episode.

If you think it sounds cheesy, you’re completely right. It’s intended as a kid’s show, and filmed with the audience in mind - despite the rather high amounts of violence (at least one person dies per episode) the camera always cuts away from the nasty stuff. The main conflict is Merlin’s need to hide the fact that he has magical powers, and the fact that this keeps conflicting with his need to protect Arthur, which obviously has no basis whatsoever in Arthurian legend, but then neither does anything else. As the series progresses, Arthur and Merlin’s relationship evolves from that of mutual resentment to comfortable partnership, and eventually friendship (which comes off as very, very very homoerotic, probably due to the fact that it involves a lot of hugging and acts of unwavering devotion. The cynical part of me thinks that the writers are playing to the crowd.) The actors playing Merlin and Arthur are actually quite good, and what they bring to their roles - quiet goodness in Colin Morgan’s case and brash testosterone in Bradley James’s - helps establish the boys as genuinely likeable people, struggling to figure out their place in the world. Angel Coulby is incredibly sweet as shy, blushing Gwen, who spends most of her time trying to make everyone as happy as possible. The weak link in the cast is Katie McGrath, who plays Morgana with a maximum of two facial expressions: smug and perturbed. The older actors are obviously having fun with their roles, and bringing some gravitas to the characters as well - Anthony Stewart Head’s Uther is unlikeable by virtue of his actions (this is, after all, a man who ordered all magicians put to death over a mistake he made) but thanks to Stewart Head’s talent, you can see a bit of humanity shining through from behind the throne. Richard Wilson’s Gaius is your standard mentor/father figure, with a dry sense of humour that managed to make me laugh at least once an episode. John Hurt voiced the Dragon, and there really isn’t much to say about his performance - given the fact that all he gets to do is blather about destiny, there isn’t much room to stretch. The guest stars are touch-and-go - Santiago Cabrera, who played Lancelot, was absolutely awful, while Asa Butterfield was suitably creepy as an eight-year-old Mordred. No one is giving Lawrence Olivier a run for his money, but they’re a very talented bunch, especially considering that most of them haven’t hit thirty yet.

I’m not entirely sure what I expected from the writing. Before watching it, I’d heard the show referred to “crappy tweenager fantasy” so I assumed it’d be a lot of rambling about Destiny and True Love and The Power of Friendship. While that is included (see my note on the Dragon of Destiny) it’s not as wearing as you might expect, mostly because the characters point out the stupidity of doing something because it’s My Destiny at least once an episode. No one wants to watch a show about people who do things because they’re told; most of the struggles come from Merlin and his friends struggling with the expectations they’re being held up to versus their own inherent sense of what’s right. My personal favourite episode revolves around a young boy who Uther wants to execute because he’s a Druid-in-training. Merlin, who obviously takes the stance that killing innocent children is wrong, enlists Morgana’s help to hide the boy, and Arthur’s to smuggle him out of Camelot. For this he is repeatedly chastised by the Dragon, because the boy is eventually going to kill Arthur. Merlin and co say “Screw this” and smuggle the boy away to his own people. At the end of the episode (spoilers, obviously) Arthur asks for his name, and the child replies “Mordred.” It’s a deliciously eerie moment (helped out by Mordred’s creepy stare) and an interesting message about Destiny v. Free Will: the choices of Merlin and his friends will make or break Camelot, but it’s up to them to decide what it’s worth. Fortunately, not all of the destiny-related storylines are that gloomy. For example, one of the show’s most endearing points is the relationship between Merlin and Arthur, which begins with Merlin flat-out chastising Arthur for taunting a servant. Although Merlin is repeatedly pushed towards the prince by the dragon (for this reason, he’s acquired the fandom nickname “Slash Dragon”) their relationship eventually becomes that of friends. When Merlin goes to protect Arthur at the potential expense of his own life, he’s doing it out of affection for the prince rather than a sense of duty, and that - the inherent nobility of the main cast - is a big part of what makes the show so endearing.

There is, of course, the problem of the show’s title, which I’ll have to address or risk this article becoming unadulterated gushing. I’m not especially familiar with Arthurian legend - I know the basics, and I’m about thirty pages into The Once and Future King, but I’m far from an expert - but from what I do know, I honestly can’t understand why they decided to tack the name “Merlin” on it at all. There are references to “canon”, such as it is - in one episode, Arthur is wounded by the Questing Beast - but overall, it plays out like an original story with occasional allusions to Thomas Malory or T.H. White. As I’ve said, it’s good enough to stand on its own, and I think the attempts at labelling it an Arthurian adaptation are going to be detrimental in the long run. Instead of being remembered as a well-written original series, it’s going to end up being dismissed as “that crappy Arthurian adaptation that screwed up the stories”. Actually, the fact that they felt the need to try and slap the name of a pre-existing story on it kind of makes me sad, because it implies that they felt they couldn’t market an original series, and that’s just depressing. Aside from the rage-inducing potential for Arthurian enthusiasts, there’s some holes in the writing - in one episode Morgana says that Gaius has been caring for her since before she can remember, then later claims that she came to live in Camelot when she was ten, implying either than she has long-term memory loss or that someone didn’t proofread closely enough. Still, the small slipups aren’t enough to detract from a genuinely enjoyable show. And if all else fails, you can always hit mute and enjoy the eye candy.Themes:

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Wardog

at 10:16 on 2009-01-14Hello, welcome - and thank you for this wonderful review. I no longer need feel ashamed of my secret love for Merlin. When it first came on, I dismissed it after about 10 ten minutes (Uther's first 'by the way, this is the backplot' speech didn't help) but a few weeks later my LJ friendslist also exploded with squee and joy, so I gave it another go and, lo, it was simultaneously awesome and awful and utterly utterly watchable.

You're absolutely right about Morganna not being quite up to speed on, y'know, this 'acting' thing ... but she is very, very beautiful, so I don't mind. And the dragon is a bit repetative, despite being voiced by John Hurt.

The weird thing is I don't really get any slashy kind of vibe from Arthur and Merlin, despite the fact that these two boys finding friendship and making sacrifices for each other ought to be very homoerotic. I suppose I find it slashy in principle but there isn't much a spark between the actors (I mean in terms of teh gay) to make it stick. Possibly I am just missing.

As you say in your conclusion I do find Merlin's status as an adaption interesting - I actually rather enjoyed the complete lack of respect with which they treated the mythos, once I got over myself about it. The Arthurian background does give it all a familiarity and a resonance that might have been lacking if it was just Generic Fantasy Story About Friendship and Valour. Although it is a bit dodgy I have come to think the Arthurian dimension does add something - there's always something joyous about watching people play in the paddling pool of literature and start a water fight.

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Rami

at 10:49 on 2009-01-14Yay! I somewhat guiltily enjoyed Merlin myself, including the not-quite-aside allusions to actual canon / legend (the court genealogist appears to be Geoffrey of Monmouth ;-)). Arthurian legend, historically, has been pretty flexible and as far as I know there isn't any real canon — so I'm all in favor of going in a new direction with it, and I'm quite willing to forgive the writers for taking advantage of all the gravitas and popular awareness that Arthur's story gives you. As you said, that moment when the little Druid boy tells Arthur his name is eerie -- but it would have been meaningless if it hadn't been Mordred talking to Arthur, and / or you didn't know who Mordred and Arthur were.

About the cast — Anthony Head and Richard Wilson are brilliant, of course, I can't disagree, but I have to admit I don't share your reservations about Katie McGrath. (But maybe that's because of the eye-candy factor.)

Perhaps it's my lack of slash goggles but I don't see the "very, very homoerotic" between Merlin and Arthur? I wonder if it's just 21st-century cynicism that makes "heartfelt and sincere" have to mean "Twu Wuv"?

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Rami

at 10:52 on 2009-01-14Oh God Kyra and I have just posted very nearly the same comment.

Resistance is futile

I mean, no, FerretBrain doesn't have a "Collective Consciousness" feature...

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Wardog

at 12:06 on 2009-01-14You will be assimilated....

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Viorica

at 22:18 on 2009-01-14I suppose the slash question depends on what you go in expecting. I was told repeatedly before ever watching it that the boys were the slashiest slashy things that were ever slashed, so I went in with slash goggles firmly strapped on. And I suppose there's an interesting study to be done on the way men show affection v. the way women do and how it's interpreted by outside observers . . . but as far as fandom's concernd, it's all about the pretty and the gay.

As for Katie McGrath, she is pretty, but there's always this irritating feeling that I'd like the character so much more if she could emote properly. As it is, she tends to grate.

Apropos of nothing, have you watched the video diaries? They're screamingly hilarious, and both Bradley James and Colin Morgan act uncannily like their characters. It's a little creepy . . .

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Wardog

at 11:35 on 2009-01-15That's the thing, although I'm not a slasher myself, I do occasionally find myself on the outskirts of fandom enough to have some slash goggles of my own. I was prepared for slash, I looked for slash, I saw ... the motions of slash ... but I didn't *feel* the slash. Sometimes there's a genuine spark between actors or something about the way a relationship is portrayed that makes me secretly believe something could conceivably be going on between them. I was re-watching DS9 (sad bastard that I am) recently and, despite knowing not a damn thing about the DS9 fandom, I became immediately and increasingly convinced that Sisko and Dukat were having incredibly hot hatesex... (Dan holds out for Dax/Kira girlsex, however, - they are certainly very giggly together).

I watched some of the video diaries - Bradley James is so adorably silly. I mean this in a maternal way, not a sick way. I particularly liked his musing on the cockatrice.

By the way, I meant to ask, what caused things to sour with Robin Hood? I never watched it so...

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Gina Dhawa

at 16:04 on 2009-01-16

Arthurian legend, historically, has been pretty flexible and as far as I know there isn't any real canon — so I'm all in favor of going in a new direction with it ... that moment when the little Druid boy tells Arthur his name is eerie -- but it would have been meaningless if it hadn't been Mordred talking to Arthur, and / or you didn't know who Mordred and Arthur were.

This is my justification for liking

Merlin

the way it is. T.H. White took some pretty big liberties along the way (though if you're thirty pages in, I won't spoil that), as have any of the people who have written the story down over the years. The trouble is convincing people there's not really a canon to be followed, that if you take the earliest versions of the stories and put them to what you might find in a modern collection, there are so many differences that you might think you weren't reading the same story at all.

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Viorica

at 19:51 on 2009-01-16Well, it could be argued that there are some basic plot foundations- Merlin being Arthur's mentor, Guinevere as his wife (though they still have time to do that), Morgana being his half-sister, etc. I think the reason some people don't like it is because they grew up on "The Sword and the Stone", so the show is effectively stomping on their childhood memories. I don't have any such memories to get stomped on, so it doesn't bug me.

Re: Robin Hood. It started out as silly fun, but it as it went on, you realized that the people running the show didn't know or care what they were doing. There were no efforts at making the costumes or scenery look nice, and virtually none of the characters were likeable, or even tolerable. Their Robin is the kind of guy who whines at an ex-girlfriend for "betraying" him when she's forced into marriage with another man. The urge to punch the title character in the face was stronger than any desire to keep watching.

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Sonia Mitchell

at 22:16 on 2009-01-16Great article. I didn't catch all the episodes, but definitely enjoyed the ones I did see. I like your point about the gravitas the older actors bring, particularly Head (in what could have been a pretty thankless role given his character's lack of humour).

Interesting discussion about the appropriate amount of reverence for the source material, too. I quite like the way Merlin did it, with plenty there for people who do know a bit about Arthurian legend but not so much you know for sure what's going to happen. I never saw Smallville, but I think of Merlin in much the same way - you know what happens down the line, but these are the gaps in between. And knowing what lies ahead is an interesting experience, because you're watching for it and everyone involved in the show knows you are (of the ones I saw, Lancelot's episode was the most willing to play with this).

It's also pretty dangerous, of course, because unless they're willing to go down the rejected destiny road the main young characters all have to live. I think they've got a nice balance - there's plenty of peril, but the real danger is more often disgrace than death (though I missed the last few episodes, so for all I know there was a dramatic and bloody finale).

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Viorica

at 01:30 on 2009-01-17There was *almost* a dramatic and bloody finale, but it was averted. You should really watch to see why, though- that episode actually managed to make me tear up a bit.

"Great article."

Thanks!

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Rami

at 12:44 on 2009-01-17I never saw Smallville, but I think of Merlin in much the same way

Yes! It's not all that different in many ways -- Smallville takes a lot of liberties with Superman canon (Lex Luthor and Clark Kent being friends, for instance), and I guess one of the reasons that it's more or less accepted is that Superman canon has been retconned so many times nobody's sure what *is* canon anymore. I think much the same is true for Arthurian legend ;-)

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Arthur B

at 15:05 on 2009-01-17I think in comics continuity Lex Luthor and Clark Kent

were

friends until Clark mistakes a controlled explosion in Lex's lab for an actual fire, and horribly injures Lex as he tries to put it out.

Six nerd points for me.

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Wardog

at 19:39 on 2009-01-17I have come late to the party...

The trouble is convincing people there's not really a canon to be followed...

I think this really nails the issue; perhaps, for a lot of people T.H.White is "canon", although it's Roger Lancelyn Green for me, personally - I have no idea who that guy is but basically every book available for kids about anything vaguely mythic, Greek, Norse, Egyptian, Celtic, was written, semi-turgidly, by this dude. Anyway, what I've got distracted from saying here is: a lot of those things we associate with the Arthur Legend today have very little in common with the early source material. Guinevere is barely in Malory - he just wasn't into chicks - and there's a sense that a lot of her bad press comes from the fact he decided to situate the fall of his macho martial ideal in damn women with their lack of appreciation for war, dammit, war. There's very little actually 'romantic' about Le Morte.

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Wardog

at 19:43 on 2009-01-17Also I am now definitely avoiding Robin Hood. I heard it was rubbish but fun, but that sounds like it's moved into "just plain rubbish" territory.

[forkanna]

[AO3 LINK] [EF LINK]

NOTES: Time to move forward with the plot. I know it probably seemed like there was barely any plot, just fluff-fodder, but I swear I was building to this all along! Really!

"You seem a little distracted."

Looking up from my bongos, I blinked at Steph for a few seconds. "Was I not playing my part? I thought it sounded… like the song. Y'know."

"It's not that. You just aren't focused." Putting down her zither, she picked up her aloe drink and chugged it for a minute. I tried not to make a face of pure disgust. "Like, I can sense it even though you're playing fine, if that makes sense."

"What, with my chakras or some shit?" But again, she was impervious to my acidity. "Fine. But I don't wanna talk about it."

"You and Knives?"

"Don't wanna talk about it."

"How's that going?"

Sighing, I ran my hand down my face and gritted my teeth against my irritation. I knew by now that yelling at Steph to shut the fuck up and leave me alone made little difference. But to be honest, I was in a good enough place with Knives that I wasn't even that irritated.

"Nice. Now, can we get back to practice?"

"I thought you were worried about, like… the lesbian thing."

"Not really. Just…" Should I tell her about Knives? It didn't seem right, for reasons previously stated; that was Knives' information to share as she saw fit. Maybe she wouldn't care, but maybe she would. You never can tell how people will react; I couldn't even tell how I would react before I was told. I decided it was easier, safer, to maintain my vow of silence. "I dunno. It's good. She's really…" I ran out of words.

"Good? Nice?" My grumpy face turned grumpier. "It's okay, I just like seeing you doing better."

"Better than what?"

Another of her usual casual shrugs. "Before."

"Fine." Then I threw my bongos aside and stood, glaring at my current bandmate. "She's great. She's completely changing how I see life. Everything is perfect, especially her. Birds suddenly appear every time that she's near, alright? Fuck."

"Saying that in a sarcastic tone doesn't necessarily mean that it's not true." But I ignored her and went off to pee.

While I was in there, I came to a sudden realisation. Knives wasn't just a girl, wasn't just my girlfriend. Wasn't just a trans girl, either, whatever that meant; I was still kind of working my way through that along with the 'girlfriend' part. It hit me that she was just about every letter in the ever-expanding LGBTQIPA acronym, if you looked at it all in certain ways. Lesbian, for dating me. Gay, for being a person with a dick who didn't mind dating people with dicks — and I know it's not the same, but the sex would be. Bi, for dating me and Scott. The "T" is obvious. Queer because she's more than one letter, since that's kind of what that means as far as I can tell; it's the "gray area" checkbox. Maybe not the "I", since I'm fuzzy on that one, but if she was that would be cool, too. And as for the A…

Okay, so I did some reading at the library. I don't have internet at home, so I go there for email, to print resumes, boring crap like that. But I also have been doing a lot of research there lately. About Knives, about me… about all of this. Trying to wrap my head around a lot of new concepts that are still space alien type shit to me. And the "A" seems to stand for "asexual", which… I was starting to wonder if that was Knives. Or me, even, since I've gone without for a LONG fucking time and didn't really care until I connected with her. Maybe I do care more now. But she's fine if we don't bang, and thought humping my leg was good enough.

So like… I guess what I'm saying is, I'm trying to get comfortable with the idea that she might never want to have any sex. Or not a lot, or not for a while. Somewhere in there. If me literally getting naked in the kitchen — which, in Wallace's battle plans, sends the message that I'm dessert — didn't faze her, then maybe nothing would. And that's alright if it's what she wants. God will I be thirsty, but I'd rather just buy a new vibrator than ever make her uncomfortable again. It's the same shit in the end, right? If she was a normal- wait, no, wrong word. If she was a cis woman, then we'd be buying vibes, anyway. Acting all personally offended that she doesn't want to use a dick I didn't know existed a couple weeks ago to part my pussy lips doesn't seem like a wise use of my energy, does it?

Anyway, the point here is, I was realising that Knives Chau was all of those things, and she was also some kind of Chinese ninja, a college student, way too good at Mario Party, and an adorable little bean that could almost always find a way to stay positive. She was special in about a dozen ways. On top of being hot. And for whatever reason, she wanted to be with me.

Why would anyone like her settle for some failed musician, some misanthropic pessimist?

Someone who could come so close to hurting her just because of a little alcohol?

So when I came back out of the bathroom, I looked about as shaken as I did when I went in. I wasn't crying this time, thank God, but I was stumbling and distracted. Not long passed before Steph came over to me and placed a hand on my shoulder to hold me still.

"Kim… what's up? Seriously, this has to be more than just worrying about being gay."

"Not gay. Bi. Probably. I don't know." Then I cleared my throat. "I want to be… fuck, nevermind."

"Come on, Pine. Out with it."

Another minute of silence passed. I expected her to roll her eyes and walk away, annoyed at me for not responding. She didn't; she just fixed me with an expectant look. Finally, I blurted, "She deserves better than me."

"What?"

"I suck. Even when I'm trying, I'm pathetic. This girl is so…" I wasn't used to praising people. At all. "Good. She's everything that's good, Steph. And I'm everything that's not."

She was quiet for a moment, thinking, before she asked, "You're worried about disappointing her, aren't you?"

"Worried? No. That would imply that I thought it might not happen. It's a matter of when."

"Kim…"

"No, Steph. I'm a frigid bitch and… she should find someone else who knows how to have 'fun' like she wants. Who can do this right instead of blundering around in the dark. But how do you tell somebody they need to go the fuck away for their own good without making them feel like it's their fault instead? Because I can't hurt her. That's not allowed."

"Hey." Her face was full of pity, and I hated it, I wanted to deck her to the floor to keep that look from existing. Wanted to deck myself, but that's pretty hard to do. "You're not a bad person."

"Yes, I am."

"You are n-"

This time, I did push her away, backing toward the front door. My heart was pounding a million times a minute, and I wanted to scream a million things, but they were mostly at myself and she didn't deserve that headache.

"I'm gonna split. See you later."

She was trying to tell me something as I left, but I blocked it out, I ran. All I could see was the pity in her eyes, the pity in my girlfriend's when she saw how guilty I felt about Julie's aunt's. I wanted to drink to forget, but I couldn't let myself get that drunk ever again. What if next time, I did something worse? I'd be no better than the guys I had dumped who got too handsy.

I'd be no better than the guys who dumped her for something she had no control over. Who didn't see just how great she was.

Halfway to the bus stop, I collapsed. Curled into a ball on the grass and cried, but it wasn't the same kind of cry. This was… something else. I don't know, but I wanted all the pain to end. Sure, I wanted to be better, but I didn't see a way to make that happen, so I just wanted it all to be over. For Knives to find someone who could treat her like a star, give her moonbeams in a jar, and to forget about that asshole she briefly thought was "cool".

Which all sounds way over the top and emo. I know. My brain couldn't quite process that I was in love with her and that was why I wanted to give her everything. Guess one of the shapes love can take is self-destruction.

                                              ~ o ~

Young Neil was the one who found me and brought me back to the Nordegraf home. He was walking home from the bus stop, so of course we would cross paths. When he first saw a statue curled up on the grass, he probably thought somebody had really fucking odd taste in lawn ornaments. But I mean, he hung around with Sex Bob-omb while we practiced for a long time; he recognised my face. Then somehow managed to drag me the couple of blocks back to her house from there.

Steph was still shocked when she saw me as a stone figure again, despite it being the second time. She called Stephen, who came over right away with one of those bottles of Soft. But this time…

"It didn't work."

That was all he could manage to say at first, eyes round and jaw agape. Steph and Neil had been pacing back and forth behind him, but once he said that she bent down and squinted at my face. "Shit."

"This… I don't know, why didn't it work? Wake up, wake up, wake UP!" He punctuated the last part by slapping my face, which I couldn't feel. "OW!"

"Don't be dumb!" Steph hissed, standing back from my perch on the couch. "What do we do?"

"No idea, but we can't leave her like this forever, right? I mean… look how upset she was, look at her eyes!"

Neil shrugged as they panicked. "Didn't you say this happened before?"

"It did, but we had Soft, and we got to her quicker," Steph told him, smoothing her hand over my hair. Just as unyielding as the rest of my body. "It was about two hours after she left here that you found her, I think…"

"Shit," Stephen breathed, hand pressed into his mouth. "This is a nightmare."

"We have to call Knives. I mean, she's really important to Kim now, we can't-"

"Knives?" Neil whispered, shocked out of his usual silence. "Oh…"

Both of them looked toward him, but it was Stephen who snapped, "What? This isn't as important as whatever your deal with her was, is that it?"

"N-nah, nevermind. Just call her." He sounded faintly embarrassed, but I couldn't see him from my vantage point so I didn't have the visuals to confirm that.

So they called Knives. Now I felt even worse than I did before. The whole reason I was a statue in the first place was because of my guilt over not being able to give Knives everything she deserved, and now here I was putting her through an even worse ordeal. Along with all of my friends. I used to really think that everyone else was the problem, that they all just sucked. But it was me. I'm the weakest link in the chain.

I heard some pleasantries exchanged at the door, quick ones due to the crisis. Once Knives got to the living room, she gasped and put a hand over her mouth.

"Yeah. We don't really have an idea of what else to do." Glancing over at Stephen, who only shook his head, Steph shrugged and went on, "You probably don't, either, but… we thought you should at least be here."

"Thanks for calling. God… my poor Kim…" She dropped to her knees next to the couch and caressed my face, and I would have given anything to actually be able to feel it. "And you said Soft didn't work? I have more…"

Stephen shook his head. "Don't know, but it really seems like it doesn't. We can try another bottle but I hate to waste it if this time we know it's not going to work…"

"Do we, though? Do we know it won't work?" Steph's hands were on her hips as she glanced between the two of them. "Seriously, I'll dump a dozen bottles on her head if it's going to do the job."

"No… I think I know what we need. Do you see that?" Her finger was pointing to my stomach, just barely revealed by my shirt riding up before it turned to stone along with the rest of me. "That's the key."

Everyone watched Knives stand up after that announcement. Including me, since I really didn't have any choice but to watch, given that my eyes were frozen open by concrete. After a few seconds, Neil hesitantly asked, "Um… what?"

"We need to go see my father."

                                              To Be Continued…