#Anyways!!! victor is so nice and silly and i think people should talk about him more. i need some yummy victor headcanons....

[coolguycore]

a victor!!

ive been drawing an absurd amount of yes mans.. yesmen... so here is a victor i drew a bit ago!!! i always want to draw him tipping his hat like a cowboy does but that is... Not Possible.. so here is my solution to that problem!!!

i love him!!! he is my favoritest ever i think

[groovyzombiellama]

The Golden/Stylish Trio

Title: The Golden/Stylish Trio

Requested? Yes.

Plot: You are an actress and shoot a project with Alex and Bill and the two of them have a crush on you.

Word count: 1617

—***—

Ever since you were a child, you knew that you wanted to be an actress, and it didn’t matter how many people told you that you shouldn’t dream so high and that you were gonna fail, that just made you want to work more just to prove them wrong. You were constantly told that you wouldn’t have enough work, and that being an actress is stressful and difficult. Of course you knew that, in their own way every job is difficult, but you didn’t mind it because you knew that you would have difficult moments, but you were ready for whatever that world had to throw at you, because at least  that way, you would be doing something you love. You had the support of your immediate family, like your parents in the first place, and so you decided to take a chance and start your path towards making your dreams come true.

At first you had it quite difficult, not really being what the casting agent was looking for, both in terms of character and in your lack of experience. You had sleepless nights thinking about how you were supposed to gather experience when nobody wanted to give you a chance to gain any of it. And you expected this, so it wasn’t a surprise to you, and it just motivated you to do better and go to some classes and stuff, but that doesn’t mean getting rejected so many times didn’t hurt you. There were times where you would feel like the people who told you that you wouldn’t be able to make it were right and that you should just give up and go back home. Your family was alright with you coming back and going to college for something else, but just like your friends, they believed that you could do it and that every beginning is hard, but that doesn’t mean that you won’t succeed. And indeed, with patience, it started happening, you started getting cast.

Of course, you wouldn’t be able to get a lead role right off the bat, but you were getting work as eather a background character, or a very minor character that maybe had one or two lines. And even though it was something small and didn’t mean a lot of camera time, you were still extatic and extremly grateful and happy to even be getting any work at all. Your portfolio was growing, your list of work experience was becoming longer and longer, and a lot of casting agents saw your passion and dedication to acting, to the point where you even got cast as a supporting character in a movie, the so called “best friend trope”, and your lines consisted of pep talks and you were honestly just there to lift up the lead character. But it was the longest time you had spent in front of the camera so far and the most speaking lines you had gotten, so to say you were grateful and excited would be understatements.

You had no idea where all of this was gonna take you, but you were so proud of yourself for not giving up on your dreams. You even sent tickets for that movie to your cousins who didn’t believe you could make it and some of the people who bullied you and said you would never amount to nothing. It wasn’t to spite them, not too much anyway, because you never were a person to hold a grudge or feel good if others are feeling down. You just wanted to tell them that hard work will always pay off and that hard work can beat talent if talent doesn’t work hard. You were getting recognized and it was blowing your mind to be walking down the street and hear people talking about you as you pass them, guessing if you were the girl they had seen in that movie. And it made you smile every time. Eventually you ended up getting an e-mail that changed your life in a drastic way. A huge gig, bigger than any you have had before, with actors that you admired.

You had known Bill Skarsgård from his role as Roman Godfrey in Hemlock Groove, and as the iconic clown, Pennywise, in the most recent IT movies. And when your agent told you that he was gonna be one of your costars, you had to sit down, as your legs felt like they were gonna give out. He always seemed like a truly pleasant person to be around and an actor who really cares about the craft. And his good looks were just a bonus to a very amazing person. And that was the case for your other costar who once again gave you that feeling that you were gonna collapse if you keep standing. The Ivar the Boneless from Vikings, Victor from Outsiders, Alex Høgh Andersen. Alex always had the appeal as a literal ray of sunshine to you and it made your head feel dizzy to be working with them at all, and even when you met them, you couldn’t believe it was true.

Both Bill and Alex found you adorable as you tried not to fangirl around them, and be your cool self, or at least what you thought was cool. Bill had known about you as he had watched one of the movies you were in and he admired the way you put everything you had into your character, so he already knew some things about you, but even with that, you had managed to amaze him beyong belief. To Alex. meeting you was completely new territory, but he was enjoying every second of it, seeing the way every part of you contained the character you were supposed to potray. Even your eyes would show the emotion your character was supposed to be feeling that both men were dangerously close to apologising to you the moment they looked into your eyes as you were filming a scene where you were supposed to have a disagreement or fight.

Both Alex and Bill felt like they were learning a lot from you, as much as you were learning from them. And your vibrant personality, combined with that smile of yours were enough for them to develp crushes on you. It amazed them that neither one of them was able to say anything to you, that when it came to you, they would feel nervous or get tongue tied. When the two of them were talking and you came up, the shock on both of their faces, wide eyed expressions were almost comical as they realised the second they started talking about you that they had crushes on you. They didn’t want to make this a rivalry between them and try to win you over from one or the other. They were gonna leave the choice to you if you ever developped feelings for one of them and the other was gonna support you both. But that didn’t stop them from admiring you constantly and gushing about you in interviews and to each other.

As more time passed, the more the three of you started getting closer, so much so that they put up with the silly nicknames that you gave them and even though Billy and Lexie weren’t their favorite, and they honestly prefered some of your more creative nicknames, or standard “love” or “hun” that you loved calling people who were important to you, they cared about you enough to accept you just the way you were, which meant the world to you. Bill’s brother Gustaf was really glad that his costar from Vikings was friends with his brother, because the cast of the show had become like his second family in a way, and now you were a very dear friend to all of them.

Every interview that you did with these boys was a blast, you would always have fun and if they even sensed that you were feeling uncomfortable with a question or something, the both of them would create a diversion, as you woke up in them the feeling to be protective over you, but not too much that you feel suffocated, but just enough for people to know that you were not someone to mess with, both because of you being a strong and independent woman, and also because you had the two of them who had your back as much you had theirs. You three were truly a great trio, and your friendship was one that you were sure was for the books and that it was gonna last.

Regardless of the fact that their crushes were growing by the day and often times they had to stop themselves from spending entire interviews talking about you, they never forced you into anything, or tried to convince you that one of them was better for you than the other. And their biggest pet peeve was when you didn’t believe in yourself and always claimed that “people were just too kind to you” whenever someone complimented you, because they just wanted you to know that to them you were absolutely amazing and to so many people who were fans of you. But they appreciated that you were kinda using that to keep your humble nature, worried that if you started giving yourself that much credit, you would become vain and too self absorbed. They were thankful that they met you and hoped your friendship lasted a long time, even if nothing more developped from it. You were the Golden Trio, named by the entertainement industry, or the Stylish Trio as fans started calling you after Alex’s post, and you were happy with it.

---***---

SURPRISE @walkxthexmoon !! You wanted either one of aus that I do, but you were always sweet to me and kind, that you get all of it, written, gif and social media au :D <3 I truly hope you like it :)

I appreciate all of you guys and thank you all for your follows, likes, reblogs, I’ll never be able to thank you all enough. Every time I get an e-mail telling me someone followed me, it makes my entire week better and keeps me motivated! So thank you to all of you, I love you all so much, and if people are nice to me I do my damnest to be 10x nicer, because you deserve it back, so this fic took a lot longer to make than I thought, and hopefully it’s a good one and you guys like it, and just once again, I appreaciate all of you <3

[redqueen-hypothesis]

misunderstanding ➳ gavin (mlqc)

➳ PAIRING: reader x gavin (mlqc)

➳ WORD COUNT: 6332

➳ GENRE: humour, fluff

➳ SYNOPSIS: you just really want a kiss

➳ REMARKS: for @cheri-translates​‘ late birthday present! i apologise for the disappointing quality-

i. her

It’s late at night when you finish working on your last report, and Gavin insists on walking you home.

“–and so Victor was saying that I have to work doubly hard this month if I want to keep the partnerships with other companies.” You rant to Gavin on the way back to your apartment, joined hands swinging back and forth between the two of you. “I mean, he’s probably right! But he talks as if I haven’t been doing my best already! I wish I could wipe that annoying frown off his face.”

Your boyfriend shakes his head, a slight smile on his lips and his fingers giving yours a reassuring squeeze. “You’ve been working so hard these last few days, I’m sure your boss sees that too.” Gavin says honestly, and you make a face at the thought of Victor even remotely praising you for your work without a snark remark thrown in somewhere. “I’m sure you’ll do great, so don’t worry too much, alright?”

Gavin’s words are earnest and straight from the heart. You smile, feeling more positive than when you had left the company building; no matter how many times Gavin says he doesn’t know how to reassure people, he always come through for you with his honest words. You’re looking up at his side profile, about to thank him, when a night gale sweeps through the empty streets and you shiver. The weather has been cold recently, but you had forgotten your jacket today on way to work due to oversleeping in the morning.

All of a sudden, you feel a slight weight settling around your shoulders and look up in surprise to see Gavin putting his denim jacket on you, leaving him in nothing more than a plain white tee. “Ahh, Gavin! You don’t need to, I’m almost home anyway. What if you catch a cold?” You begin to pull off the jacket, but Gavin’s large hands still yours before you can return it to him.

“I’m used to the cold since I fly around so much.” Gavin tells you simply, adjusting the jacket so that it sits nicely on your shoulders, protecting the bare skin of your arms from the cool night air. “There, all done.”

You flush lightly, tugging the well worn material more tightly around your body. It still retains his delicious body heat and his unique scent is steeped in every thread and stitch of the fabric. Smiling secretly to yourself, you look at Gavin’s concerned face to thank him. “Then I’ll return it to you the second we reach my apartment, alright?”

Gavin coughs lightly, turning away. “I don’t mind if you keep it. It looks good on you.” His short brown locks do little to hide just how the tips of his ears are burning red. You blink down at yourself, realizing then just how big his jacket is on you and flush lightly. “Well, I can’t have you catching a cold too!”

You grab his hand with both of yours and raise it to your lips to blow warm air over it, deciding that you can at least keep one part of him warm if you’re going to steal his jacket. To your surprise, however, Gavin’s body temperature already seems higher than average. He could have a bright future as a personal body warmer if the evol agent thing doesn’t work out, you think to yourself as you lace your fingers with his.

A small laugh leaves Gavin’s lips and he brings your hands down instead, putting your joined hands inside the pocket of the denim jacket. “Is this better?”

You can feel heat dancing along your cheeks, and nod eagerly. “Y-yes!” Your hand has never felt so warm and secure. Gavin smiles at you, a small, tender curve of the lips, but it makes his entire face shine with a contented glow. “Let’s go, then.”

Just like every time Gavin walks you home, the distance between your workplace and your apartment feels far too short - you want to spend more time with him. Unfortunately, you spot the familiar numbers of your apartment block and let out a small sigh, fingers instinctively wrapping around his more tightly. You don’t want to let him go.

“What’s wrong? Your footsteps have slowed.” Gavin asks in concern, and you startle when you realise that he’s looking at you with a worried expression on his face. You hadn’t even realised that you’d been dragging your feet in an attempt to make this walk last longer. Just how much more in love can you fall for one man?

“I-I was just thinking about how much work I have left to do once I head back home.” You say quickly, as the two of you near the lobby of your apartment. Gavin sighs and raises a hand to stroke through your hair gently, fingers combing through the flyaway strands tenderly.

“I don’t like seeing you so stressed.” He says softly, sounding almost pained, and your heart warms in your chest. You take both of his hands in yours, holding them between you as you turn to face him.

Silly man. He’s the one who goes on dangerous missions all the time and comes back injured or exhausted, and here he is worrying about you instead. Gavin looks down at you, amber eyes slightly downcast and a slight furrow between his brows, as if the thought of you being tired hurts him more than any danger he could face.

“I’m a big girl, Gavin. I can take care of myself.” You reassure him softly. Gavin gazes at you for a few moments, before one hand comes up to trace the dark circles underneath your eyes so gently. “I know you can.” He says, sounding a hint resigned. “But not at the expense of your health or your rest, alright?”

His hand shifts to cup your cheek, and you lean into the warmth of his palm with a contented smile. “Okay.”

The two of you stand there for a moment longer, too reluctant to let the other go. It’s only when another gust of cold wind sweeps around you and you let out a small sneeze that Gavin finally takes a step back, running a thumb over your cheek. “I’ll pick you up for a date once you finish your project, alright? Don’t hesitate to call if you need me for something.”

You stare at him a second longer, his amber eyes filled with such tender affection and concern, before compulsion wins out and you’re stepping forward to wrap your arms around his torso. Gavin makes a surprised sound at your actions when your face collides with his chest, arms instinctively coming up to encircle you. “Something wrong?”

“Just wanted to a hug.” You mumble into the thin white fabric of his shirt, glancing up to look at him. Gavin’s expression softens at your muffled words, fingers stroking your cheek gently and his eyes tracing your face with so intently that your breath lodges itself in your chest.

Ever so slowly, his fingers slip down to brush your lips gently, his touch so light it’s barely a breath of wind whispering over your mouth. Lips suddenly dry at his sudden actions, your tongue darts out mindlessly to wet them and the tip flicks over Gavin’s fingers.

Your eyes dart up to meet Gavin’s in shock, heart pounding painfully in your chest. He still hasn’t moved his fingers from your lips, although you can see the bob of his adam’s apple as he swallows, amber eyes darkening a shade as they fixate on your mouth, unable to look away.

You vaguely wonder if you’re still breathing. Is he finally going to-

Gavin leans forward slowly, face coming dangerously close to yours without so much as a warning. You can feel a few stray strands of his hair dancing across your face each time the wind blows, but you’re so fixated on his mouth that you barely bother with the ticklish sensation. His breath, hot with each slow exhale, brushes your lips like a teasing, indirect touch, and at that moment, you find that you really, really want him to kiss you.

Your eyes slip shut, lips tingling in anticipation. Please.

“You have a little bit of lipstick smudged here.” Gavin’s soft voice interrupts you, and your eyes fly open to see him wiping carefully at the corner of your mouth, before showing you a bit of pink staining his fingertips. You stare down at it for a moment, unsure whether you want to scream loudly in disappointment or if you still have some shreds of dignity left to preserve, but before you can do anything regrettable Gavin leans over and presses a quick, chaste kiss to your forehead.

“I’ll see you soon.” He murmurs softly, eyes bright with affection as he smiles down at you, and you almost feel dirty minded for wanting a kiss on the lips of all things. “It’s late and cold, you should get going.”

Unable to say anything in response, you swallow the words trapped on the tip of your tongue before you kiss him softly on the cheek and step back to wave. “See you soon, Gavin.”

You feel his eyes on you until you’ve stepped into the relative warmth and security of the lift lobby, barely remembering to give a wave to the security guard before you enter the lift.

The second the elevator doors slide closed, you put your face in your hands and scream.

ii. a male perspective

“So, how good is my brother in bed?”

Shaw’s unexpected question in the middle of your conversation sends your mouthful of matcha latte going down the wrong passage. You immediately clap both hands over your mouth, trying to prevent the drink from spewing over the entire tabletop. Coughing and spluttering weakly, you reach out for help and Shaw instantly drops a tissue into your hand, a lazy, self satisfied smirk dancing on his lips. As he lounges back on his chair, he looks ridiculously out of place in the quaint cafe with his graffiti-ed leather jacket and skateboard propped up on the chair next to him.

“You don’t just ask about these kind of things!” You whisper to Shaw fiercely, sure that your face must be as bright red as a tomato. You can feel heat burning at your cheeks. Did anyone hear? “Why would you even ask about something like that?”

Shaw’s snicker of laughter is bright, teasing, and so, so annoying. “It’d almost be nice to have some tea about my dear brother. Anyways, what’s embarrassing about it? I could give you a few tips if you want.” He pours a measure of his can of coke into the teacup in front of him, before adding an equal amount of Pepsi and clicking his tongue in satisfaction.

You make a face at the thought of just how much action you’ve gotten as you dab at the corners of your mouth with the paper napkin. “Well...” You hesitate, not quite sure how to put it. Shaw arches a single perfectly groomed eyebrow as he raises his teacup to his lips.

“You mean, you haven’t fucked?” The question falls so easily from his mouth that you almost do a double take, before you’re glaring at him in embarrassment and raising your purse to smack him on the arm. “How far have the two of you gone?”

“...it’d be easier to ask how far we haven’t gone.” Your hesitant mumble has Shaw blinking at you in wide eyed surprise. The rare expression on his face would almost hilarious if it weren’t for the fact that it was so depressing. “He hasn’t even kissed me yet.”

“What?” Shaw says so loudly that a few patrons of the cafe you’re at glance at him with dirty looks. You slap his shoulder again with your purse. “Oi, how long have the two of you been dating already?”

You press your lips together, ticking the dates off on your fingers. “About a month now.”

“He’s gone an entire month without kissing you?” Shaw snorts, setting his teacup back on the table. You stare into his cup, watching the tiny bubbles fizz in his drink and pop at the surface. Who buys soft drinks in a cafe? “Are you sure he knows that the two of you are dating? He’s a bit dense, so he might not have gotten it through his thick skull-”

You give him a flat look. “Don’t insult my boyfriend like that,” you mumble, taking a bite of your strawberry tart. Shaw lets out a snort, resting his chin on his palm as he shakes his head at you.

“Am I wrong, though? The two of you are more hilarious to watch than a romance sitcom.”

You narrow your eyes at him, pointing your fork at him threateningly. “This is not,” you jab the utensil at his face for extra effect, “funny.”

This, of course, only has the opposite effect and sends Shaw into a fit of snickers and chortles. You glare at him, unamused, as he thumps a fist on his skateboard, laughing so hard you can see tears forming in the corners of his eyes. “Shaw! I’m being serious!”

“That’s exactly why-” Shaw wipes his eyes, looking like he’s trying very hard to stop himself from dissolving into laughter, “-it’s so damn funny.”

“I will end you.” You mutter, stabbing the fork into your tart mutinously and wishing it was Shaw’s face instead. Massaging his aching sides, Shaw slides back into his chair bonelessly, the odd chuckle or two still escaping him. “Okay, okay, being serious. Do you want my dear old brother to give you a real kiss?”

The question is so obvious that you shoot him a glare, wondering if he’s making fun of you again. “Of course I do! Every time I think he’s going to kiss me, it just ends up on the forehead or cheek. This area,” you gesture furiously at your lips with your fork, “has gone completely deprived for months! And every single time he doesn’t go for it, I think oh, maybe I should try taking the lead instead, but then he smiles at me with that really cute innocent face of his and I just can’t do it.”

Shaw blinks at you for a moment before he pats you on the back sympathetically. He must have been a little surprised by your emotional ramble. “There there, it’s not good for you to get so worked up over something like this. You’re aging, you should look out for your blood pressure levels-”

You gape at him for a few seconds, before you reach for your purse and immediately start swatting at him furiously like he’s a mosquito that you need to destroy. “I am not old! I’m barely a few years! Older than you! The disrespect, you bastard!”

“Ouch, yeowch! Stop abusing me, woman!” Shaw scrambles out of the chair from under your flailing hands, trying to avoid your hits. You’re not usually so easily agitated, but Shaw just has that effect on you - you want to smack that annoying smirk off his face the second he opens his mouth. “I’ll be serious from now on. Strategies, strategies...”

You sink back into your chair, cheeks flushed slightly from the exertion. “I shouldn’t have said anything.” You bemoan, putting your face in your hands. “You’re of no help at all, Shaw.”

He has the gall to look offended. “Do you have any idea who you’re talking to? If I can get ladies, I’m sure I can help you get one man, even if he’s a little slow on the uptake.”

“I said, stop insulting my boyfriend.” You scold, taking a more careful sip of your latte now, wary in case Shaw decides to say something strange again. “And your ideas are terrible, if they don’t involve something illegal...” your words trail off, and you frown as you think back on all his schemes and plans. “Wow. I just realised that all your plans so far have been illegal.”

“Who cares if they’re illegal or not as long as they work? I have a hundred percent success rate. Guaranteed fucking by the end of the plan.”

You fix him with a dubious look.

“I won’t even charge you for it. Take it as a congratulatory gift or something.” Shaw props his feet on the table, ignoring the dirty glare you throw at him from the side. “So, do you want to hear this plan or not?”

You take one good, long stare at him, before you sigh and down the remainder of your latte. What else do you have to lose?

“Hit me with your worst, I suppose.” You say, defeated, and Shaw grins, pumping a fist in the air.

“Leave it all to me.”

You feel like you already regret saying that.

iii. numero uno

Plan Numero Uno is an absolute disaster.

You’d been at the location of one of your shoots, which happened to be the precinct for your latest police feature documentary, organizing the lighting and curtains for the interview room. After realizing that you would need some cleaning solution in order to wipe down the glass of the interrogation rooms, you decided to find some yourself in the storage room, not wanting to trouble the janitors. Gavin, who’d been at the station, offered to help you out.

“You’re really a lifesaver, Gavin.” You tell your boyfriend softly, as he walks in step beside you. He’s not touching you, maintaining just enough distance between the two of you to remain professional and appropriate, but you notice the way he instinctively leans towards you in some sort of subconscious attempt to stay closer to you. You giggle internally, giving an absentminded nod to a janitor walking past you, lavender hair peeking out from beneath the brim of a dark cap. He’s cute.

“You needed help and I know where the supplies are.” Gavin nods simply as if offering his assistance is nothing more than second nature to him, guiding you to a black, nondescript door labelled ‘cleaning supplies’. “Here, it shouldn’t be locked.”

He opens the door for you, and you switch on the lights as you step into the small, cramped room barely large enough for one person. A single bulb flickers overhead, and you squint in the dim light to read the peeling labels on the bottles. “Detergent... Hydro... Hydrogen peroxide? Ahh, glass cleaner.” You reach on your tiptoes to get it, but unfortunately are still too short to so much as brush the bottom with your fingers. Gavin smiles slightly at your plight, and you shoot a pitiful look at him that says ‘please don’t make fun of me’.

“Let me get that for you.” Gavin suggests, stepping over to the rickety shelves. His firm chest presses against your back as he reaches over your head to get the bottle of cleaning solution, and you freeze, chewing on your bottom lip as you feel him move about behind you. You hope the light isn’t bright enough for him to see the clear blush on your cheeks. His body is very warm.

And also very hard.

“I got it, I can carry it for you.” Gavin says, seemingly oblivious to your plight. You force a smile on your face as you thank him, desperate to get out of here as fast as possible before you pin him to the wall and kiss him senseless yourself. “That’s great! Then let’s get out of here, it’s far too cramped-”

Just as you’re reaching for the door, you hear a click of a lock.

You pause with your hand on the doorknob, before attempting to twist it. The door doesn’t budge in the least. What.

“Gavin, I think the door is jammed.” You say, shaking the doorknob a little more aggressively. There’s no denying it, it’s well and truly locked. It doesn’t budge in the least even when you pull and push with all your might. “Did you do something to it when you came in?”

“I didn’t even shut the door.” Gavin replies, surprise colouring his voice. “Let me see.”

The room was very clearly meant for only one person, because when Gavin squeezes past you to get to the door, you’re sure every inch of his body is brushing against yours. You try your very best not to let out any strange sounds, instead choosing to keep your mouth shut and watch as Gavin inspects the door carefully.

“This door is locked from the outside by the janitor at the end of each day, even though it usually isn’t at this time.” Gavin says seriously, inspecting the lock. “One of them might have made a mistake when they saw the door left open and locked it thoughtlessly.”

Locked in a cleaning supply closet together with Gavin... why does that sound so familiar, you wonder, before the words click in your mind together with a familiar smirk and bleached lavender hair hidden beneath a dark cap.

Shaw! You scream internally in realization. Just a week ago at that cafe he had been talking about the exact same thing, but it had clearly been such an awful plan that you hadn’t bothered shooting it down instantly, thinking that he was just making a joke.

Well, it seems that he has made a joke - only out of you.

Before you can think up a thousand and one ways to kill Shaw in his sleep, Gavin turns around and you instantly purge all murderous intent from your face, directing an awkward smile at him. In the cramped space of the room, the two of you are pressed so close that you can feel the body heat radiating off him. His face is barely inches from yours, and almost helplessly, your eyes flick down to trace the outline of his lips. You can’t help it - everything you’ve wanted for so long is right there, as if you could just reach out and take it-

Gavin calls your name softly, and you look up to see him gazing intently at you. Your breath hitches in your throat, and your lips tingle. Is he going to...

“Stand back.” He says firmly, and you blink in confusion. “I’ll take care of this.”

The next second, Gavin raises up one leg, and lashes out at the door with a single swift, powerful kick. Your yelp of surprise is drowned out by the sound of the door swinging wide open, allowing light from the hallway to flood into the dingy storage room. His show of controlled power has your mouth hanging open in a mixture of shock and wide eyed awe.

The door is open, and you’re more disappointed than you have been in weeks.

Gavin turns around to extend a hand to you, the other hand gripping the bottle of glass cleaner tightly. “Shall we go? They must still be waiting for us.”

With a pained smile at your dear boyfriend’s obliviousness, you take his hand, lips still very much kiss deprived and heart just a little bit heavy.

Plan one, bust.

iv. little black dress

“Shaw, this idea is somehow worse than the first.”

“What do you mean, worse? The last one was an anomaly, this time will definitely work.” Shaw clicks his tongue as he rifles through another rack with a cursory eye. You trail along behind him, trying to cover your face with your purse, cheeks flaming red. “Shaw... Shaw! What exactly are we doing in... in a...”

The words lingerie boutique simply refuse to leave your mouth, your face colouring in mortified crimson until you’re sure it matches the shade of lace underwear barely clinging on to the mannequin’s hips. “I thought you said you were going to help me!”

Shaw lets out an ungraceful snort. “Well, you don’t think I’m here to buy one of these for myself, were you?” He holds up a racy black leather bodysuit up to you, giving you a cursory once over. “Hmm, might fit. Doesn’t seem like your type, though. You’re not bold enough to pull it off.”

“What?” You hiss through clenched teeth, trying to hide behind a rack when the shop assistant glances over at the two of you curiously. “No! I said I want a kiss from Gavin, not all of this,” you gesture wildly at the entire shop, “this risque stuff!”

“Think about it, if the two of you bang, we increase the chances of him kissing you. Truly a big brain moment.” Shaw says very seriously, in the same tone of voice he uses when he’s rehearsing his archaeology project presentations. You stare at him for a moment in horror, wondering for a moment whether he’s being serious or not, before you catch one corner of his mouth quirking up in the telltale signs of a shit eating grin.

“You little bastard-” You begin, swatting at him with your handbag furiously. Shaw simply laughs outright, ducking out of the way of your swings. “What kind of woman do you think I am? I thought you were seriously trying to help me here-”

“I was just joking,” Shaw manages through his laughter as he dodges yet another swing, too quick on his feet for you to actually hit him. “But being totally honest here, I still think he’d like to see you in one of these.” He holds up a sheer white babydoll and you instantly make a face, but inside you’re a little hesitant, a little curious. 

Would Gavin really like... seeing you in something like this?

“Of course, we could always put you in a gift box and deliver you to his apartment.” Shaw hums, inspecting the lacy material a little more carefully. He seems far too familiar with it than you’re comfortable with. “Hmm, maybe something like this is a little too much fabric. Ease of access is priority, you know?”

“Too much fabric?” You squeak, glancing at the lingerie set. It’s more holes than lace, with very convenient slits in the fabric that would do little to cover, well, anything. You’d rather die than be seen dead in it. “What’s enough fabric, then?”

“Enough fabric means no fabric. Convenience is key.” Turning around, Shaw slips the lingerie back onto the rack, completely ignoring your flaming cheeks and the way your mouth is hanging wide open. “Oh, I just had the best idea. We pack you in a nice gift box to my dear old brother’s apartment, and you wear nothing but a bow. Pretty sure he’ll appreciate the view. I’m his brother, after all. We’ve got similar tastes.”

All you manage to let out in response is a mortified, choked noise. The sheer thought of Gavin seeing you like that has your head spinning, heart running at a million miles per hour. “I-I... I-”

“Cat got your tongue?” Shaw snickers at the expression on your face, and you simply let out another strangled sound. “I was just joking about the bow bit. We could always put it on the box instead.”

You gape at him, unable to think straight. “No.”

“You can be naked if you want to,” Shaw continues loudly, over your protests. The shop assistants are starting to stare, and you desperately wish the ground would swallow you in all your entirety. “In fact, wearing nothing would be the best, and you get to save money too- oh, fuck.”

You blink in surprise at the sudden shift in his attitude, before you turn to glance in the same direction that Shaw’s looking in. To your absolute horror, you see Gavin walking through the mall with both hands tucked in the pockets of his windbreaker, eyes focused straight ahead of him. He’s not looking at you, but the sight of him is enough for your heart to go from running a million miles per hour to absolute motionless in a matter of seconds.

For a second, you swear your eyes almost meet.

Just kill me now.

“Goddamn, Shaw, hide!” You whisper scream in desperation, shoving at him with a strength you never knew you had. Caught off guard, he stumbles over a rack of lacy underwear and falls face first into a changing room before you’re diving in after him as quick as your body will allow. You don’t chance a look back before you’re throwing the curtains shut.

“Ow, fuck, you’re stepping on my foot.” Shaw complains from the floor, and you barely spare him a glance, easing the curtain open a crack so that you can peer out of the changing room. “Shaw, if Gavin ever finds out about this, I will end you in your sleep.”

“That’s not really scary coming from you.” Shaw whistles, looking unconcerned. You turn your head back to give him the worst glare you can muster. “I’ll break into your house with the spare key and replace your shampoo with toilet bleach.”

“Fuck, okay, I’ll shut up.” Shaw raises both hands in surrender. He manages approximately five seconds of silence before he’s speaking again. “I’m sure brother dearest wouldn’t mind seeing you in a lingerie shop, though. In fact, he’d probably get pretty excited-”

You squat on the ground next to Shaw, put your hands in your face and let out a tiny cry of despair.

Next to you, Shaw only snickers.

v. the misunderstanding

When you leave work that evening, you see Gavin waiting for you outside your apartment, much to your surprise. He’s still dressed in his uniform, white button up and black slacks paired with fingerless gloves. At the sight of him, your heart flutters in your chest traitorously; you had once mentioned casually to Gavin that you very much enjoyed the sight of him dressed in any sort of uniform, and he’d taken full advantage of your weakness.

You wonder if today is one such situation.

“Gavin, you’re here!” You call excitedly and hurry over to him, before he can so much as turn around your hands are already on his chest, eyes narrowed. “Now, what sort of injury did you get this time? Don’t even try hiding it from me, just because you’re in a uniform doesn’t mean that I’ll let you off-”

Your wrist is suddenly grasped in a firm but gentle grip, and you look up in surprise to see Gavin gazing at you with a sort of melancholy smile. Slightly concerned, you reach up with your other hand to cup his cheek lightly and he leans into your touch, his amber eyes fluttering shut. “Gavin?” You ask, suddenly hesitant. “Is something wrong?”

At your words, Gavin draws backwards and straightens up, before smiling down at you as if nothing is wrong. “I’m alright.” He says, but he sounds a little... off. “There have been reports of a suspicious figure in a black cap loitering around here recently. Come, I’ll walk you home.”

Peering up at him, you want to ask him what’s wrong. While Gavin has never been the type to wear his emotions freely on his sleeve, he’s also never explicitly tried to hide them from you, nor has he ever been very good at doing so. However, he doesn’t seem to be in the mood for talking, so after a minute or so of mindless chatter from you, you fall into a contemplative silence, wondering just what on earth has made your boyfriend mope like this.

As the two of you near your apartment block, you decide that you are unable to stand this awkward silence between you and Gavin. You can’t possibly stand letting him go tonight without figuring out what the problem is. Mentally pumping yourself up, you force your feet to a halt, and turn around to look at Gavin in the eye.

“Gavin, I-”

“I have something that-”

Both of you speak at the exact same time, and you blink at him in surprise. Gavin looks equally perplexed, but opens his mouth to speak again.

“You go first-”

“No, you first!” You insist, suddenly very nervous with his attention all on you. Better later than never, right? Gavin swallows, his eyes darting over your face for a moment, before he suddenly grabs both of your hands and squeezes them tightly in his.

“Am I...” His voice trembles ever so slightly, and you look up at him in alarm. “Am I... not enough for you?”

You stare.

You’re not sure if you heard that right. Gavin? Him? Not enough? For who? You?

Too stunned to reply, you simply gape at him, mouth hanging open uselessly like that of a goldfish on land. Clearly taking your silence to mean something else completely, he starts to ramble in a way you’ve never heard him before, gaze downcast as he speaks. 

“Today... I saw you and my... brother... in a...” He struggles to get the words out, cheeks dusted a dark pink and you immediately cover his mouth with both your palms, completely mortified. You’re not sure your ears (or your dignity) can take hearing Gavin say the words ‘lingerie boutique’. 

So he had seen you in that shop with Shaw after all!

You’re not sure if you want to laugh or scream. Perhaps both. Both is good.

“I... I didn’t know what to think, so I tried to ignore it. I know you probably have your own reasons, and I trust you, but I just couldn’t get it out of my mind. So I... here I am.” He finishes, looking completely embarrassed with himself. “I just... I just couldn’t bear the thought of someone else taking you from me. Because I...”  His voice grows tiny, but his words echo so loud in your heart. “Because I love you very much.”

Unable to stand how hotly your cheeks are burning, you dart forward to wrap your arms around Gavin’s waist, burying your face in his chest. His voice is a warm timbre above you and you feel his breath on the top of your head, soothing and familiar. “What’s the matter?”

“Today!” You shout into his chest, too embarrassed to look him in the eye. “I was with Shaw, because he said that he had an idea for me!”

Gavin’s hand comes up to rest in your hair, his long fingers combing through the strands carefully. “Idea?”

“Yes, an idea!” You can feel your face ready to spontaneously combust, and hope that he can’t feel the heat on your cheeks through the thin fabric of his shirt. “An idea to... to get you to kiss me.”

Gavin’s fingers still in your hair. “Why didn’t you just ask me?”

You pull back to stare at Gavin in the face, stunned. “That’s all it would have taken? All I had to do, was ask?” You repeat after him, incredulous, but apparently Gavin is totally serious, because he nods earnestly in response. “I was waiting for you to be ready because I didn’t want to rush you.” He explains, and you bury your face in your hands, ready to be dive headfirst into the concrete of the sidewalk.

“All that effort, for nothing!” You shout at the bushes lining the road, and Gavin stares at you as if you’ve grown a second head. “I just wanted a kiss, and you tell me now that all I needed to do was to ask? Damn Shaw’s advice to hell! I agonized over this for weeks, I still haven’t gotten my kiss, and now I find out-”

Before you can carry on with your embarrassed and angry tirade, Gavin’s rough hands are cupping the sides of your face. You barely have time to so much as breathe before his lips touch yours gently, the merest brush of his mouth sending your pulse stuttering dangerously in seconds.

Gavin slowly pulls away and you see that his cheeks are stained red. His eyes are fixed very firmly on the spot just behind your shoulder. “Was that... enough of a first kiss for you?”

Your own cheeks flame and you nod, too embarrassed to say anything else, your lips still burning hot. “Come on... let’s go.” You tug at his sleeve. “You haven’t had dinner, right? I’ll cook something for the both of us.”

Gavin beams at you warmly and you try to stop your heart from leaping out of your chest.

When the two of you step into your apartment lobby, the security guard uncle waves you over, much to your surprise. “There’s a package for you.” He informs, passing you a nondescript box wrapped in black paper. “The sender wanted to remain anonymous but said he was a friend of yours. It’s a congratulatory gift, apparently.”

You frown down at the box in your hands, shaking it gently; the sound is muffled, and it doesn’t sound like there are any hard objects inside. Before you can tear the paper off it, however, Gavin covers your hands with his, shaking his head.

“It could be something dangerous.” Gavin says seriously, eyes narrowed as he stares down the package in your hands. “Let me open it.”

You hand the package over to Gavin, and watch him open the package methodically with practiced hands, heart beating in your chest rapidly as the contents are revealed only to finally... stop dead.

Inside the box is a familiar scrap of white lace tied with a big red bow, a clean white card resting on the fabric.

Congratulations on finally face fucking! Now go bang your man! - Lightning Boi

Gavin doesn’t move for a moment, deathly still as he stares at the gift in his arms. Outside, you think you hear the wind howling. One sentence leaves his mouth. “I’ll kill him.”

You’re not going to stop him.

On the sidewalk outside, beneath a lamp post, the wind lifts the cap off a man dressed in black to reveal shocking purple hair and a cheeky grin. 

“Hundred percent success rate.” He hums to himself, pleased.

[blxckbutterfli]

Victor Grantz: Dearest Bunny

Image Credit

Summary: The truth is always hidden between the lines of a letter, but after Victor has been fooled once, how can he trust another letter?

Wordcount: 2.1k

Note: Female reader

Unedited

Hi! Hello!

So… you’re a postman, right Victor? You must walk or bike a lot, you even have a dog! Do you take him to exercise with you? What’s your dog’s name? It’s honestly so cute.

Anyway, I just wanted to write this letter because oooooh mystery person, and I heard that you don’t like social interactions much? I really want to be friends with you so I wanted to start out with something you’re comfortable with.

Good luck with your first match! Don’t get fooled by Michiko’s cute looks.

Victor gripped the letter in his hands until it turned white. Feelings of confusion stirred inside him--should he be happy he received a letter or suspicious of it? It sounded so genuine but he didn’t know if he could believe it anymore. The first letter he received also sounded just as friendly, however, that friendliness and sincerity were just a facade that he fell for. A facade that trapped him inside this horrible cat & mouse game.

He threw the letter in the fireplace with his dog whimpering beside him

.

Greetings,

You’re amazing! I heard it’s only your second match and you already won! I guess you could call it a... VictorY… Yeah, I know, I’m such a comedian.

You have natural talent I tell you, many of us here didn’t get wins until our 5th of 7th match. Also, I found out your dog’s name is Wick, that’s so adorable, it almost sounds like ‘Vick’ which is quite similar to your name.

I used to have a dog when I was little, it was a stupid little pomeranian that’d never stop running in circles, but either way, it was my stupid so I still love him with all my heart.

I look forward to playing matches with you in the future!

I look forward to playing matches with you in the future? That means he hasn’t played with them yet. Victor searched through his memory of who he played with in his first two matches. Andrew… Luca… He sighed in defeat, he didn’t think knowing who his teammates were was this important. 

A soft texture rubbing against his arm brought Victor out of his small misery, Wick rested his tiny body beside Victor’s leg. ‘Wick sounds similar to me, huh’ Victor thought as he gave his dog a small pat.

Victor placed the letter on the fireplace, deciding to burn it away later.

.

Why hello there,

You seem to be in a happier mood these days, I’m glad :D. When you first came to this mansion, I noticed that you looked really excited for some reason, like who would be excited to participate in a dangerous game? But then I found out that you were tricked and now I feel so bad for judging you so quickly. After you found out it was a trick, you were so gloomy all of the sudden so I wanted to cheer you up with these letters.

Is it working?

A big grin dared itself to stretch on Victor’s face but he tried his best to stay calm. This was the third letter sent to him by this person and so far nothing bad has happened. Once in awhile, he’d wake up and would see a letter laying near the door (it was most likely slipped under the door). It was always something positive, never bringing his mood down. Is this person really as bad as he thought they were?

Memories of the ‘sincere’ invitation letter flashed through his mind. No, he couldn’t get fooled again, he won't be an easy and weak-minded person. Victor used to think that conversations were pretentious and filled with lies and that letters were the hidden truth. Now, he doesn’t even know what is true or false anymore

Victor threw the letter, along with the previous one, into the fireplace.

.

Rise and shine because I’m here again!

You know I find it funny how right after I said you looked happier, you go right back to being gloomy. Am I that atrocious to you? Honestly, I can’t really tell if you’re acting gloomy just to spite me or if you’re actually sad. If you are actually sad… What’s wrong? Is there anything I can help with?

You can always send a letter back to me if you want to. Just get another paper, write whatever you want on it, and tape it under the piano. I’ll check there every day at noon to see if you sent something.

How can someone cruel write something as amiable as this? There were so much care and personality written into this one letter that Victor wanted to cry from guilt because of the previous burnt letters. 

The invitation letter he received was carefully crafted but it was also so… formal, no emotions, no feelings. Maybe he was blinded because it was his first-ever letter. The letter that Victor is now holding in his hands, the person behind it can’t be cruel and deceitful, not at all. If they were, they would’ve just continued spreading pretentious positivity and ‘happiness’ and just ignored his feelings.

One chance. Victor will give them just one chance, the moment he senses something bad about the letters is the moment he’ll burn all of them. No point in keeping bad memories alive.

Hello,

Thank you for being concerned about my well-being, I never really meant to bother you with my moods. It’s just that I’ve been… suspicious of these letters. Are they actually genuine or are they trying to trick me? After the invitation letter fooled me, I began having doubts about the truth written inside letters so when you sent those letters, I felt hesitant about them.

But I believe you now, you wanted to be friends? Then we’ll be friends! However, we can’t be friends unless I know stuff about YOU! I don’t know your name, age, or even gender, maybe you can give me some small hints as to who you are?

Was that good? Did he come off as too nosy? Despite delivering so many letters, he had never written one himself. Wick, as if the dog knew Victor’s feelings, barked and jumped like he was cheering on his owner. Victor smiled and made his way to the old piano.

.

Even after almost three months of repeatedly sending letters to each other, Victor only had one clue to what his mysterious friend’s identity was. They were female. Of course, when he read that letter, he started observing every single female inside the manor--he even went as far as observing the hunters much to his fear. No matter how much he observed and talked to them, none of the girls gave any hint of the identity of his sender.

This observation time helped Victor get closer to his fellow teammates. His original goal was to find out who his friend was, this involved talking to people and comparing their personalities to the one in the letter. While at first, he had no attachment to the irrelevant teammates, he warmed up to them over time. Of course, he still wasn’t as social as someone like William but it was a start.

Though Victor didn’t know their identity, he at least got to call them a name--Bunny. Bunny actually came up with the idea, it felt weird to be so close to a person yet not know what to call them so she made a list of nicknames and reasons to call her that:

Clown 🤡 because I’m much funnier than you

Buttercup because I just like that flower

Princess because no one can be the queen except for Mary

And Bunny because I’m cute as a bunny haha.

Of course, Victor laughed at all those choices and was even tempted to circle Clown, but Bunny stood out to him. It was cute, simple, and an animal. Victor loved animals!

Bunny… Victor can’t help but want to meet her.

.

Oh god, he’s so thirsty, and he forgot to fill up his water jug last night. Victor reached to his bedside table to feel for his watch. 6:17 the watch showed Victor’s tired eyes. The postman closed his eyes and sighed, why must his thirstiness wake him up so early?

Victor sluggishly got out of bed and weakly grabbed his water jug. At the door, he frowned when he realized Bunny’s letter didn’t arrive yet--Victor’s gotten used to waking up to Bunny’s funny letters every morning the past months.

Opening the door, Victor walked out and made a beeline to the kitchen

Finally, he got some water to quench his undying thirst. With his water jug filled to the brim with liquid, he walked back to his room--slightly more awake than before. His footsteps paused, however, when he turned a corner and noticed a figure standing in front of his door, Victor quickly stepped back and hid behind the corner.

Y/N? What is she doing here?

A grin was plastered on your face as you hummed a joyful tune, your mood always goes up whenever it was time to deliver your letter to the cute postman. You opened your letter one more time and re-read it to check for any silly mistakes. Victor watched in curiosity, from his angle, he couldn’t see what you were holding. Goosebumps rose all over Victor when he finally saw a letter within your hands.

Bunny… is Y/N?

You crouched down and quietly slipped the letter under his door, Victor should be asleep for another hour so it’s no worry if he’ll see you or not. That thought quickly went to vain when you stood up and was out of the blue grabbed by your wrist. Gasping, you instinctively thrashed about until you saw the cute yellow eyes that you’ve stared at every day.

“Oh, Victor! What are you doing here? Isn’t it too early to be awake-”

“Bunny?” Victor cut you off, you quickly shut up. Damn it, I thought I could slowly escape if I rambled enough. His innocent eyes bored deep into you which made you guiltily look away--how could you lie straight to his face? “Bunny? Is that… you?”

You slowly nodded and looked back up to his face which had gone from a small frowned to one of… joy and excitement? You let out a tiny squeak when you were suddenly slammed into Victor’s chest and was encased in a hug. “It’s really you, Bunny” Victor’s whispered into your hair--you smelled so nice, you felt so nice between his arms.

After a small pause, you finally returned his embrace, your arms wrapped around his body, “Yep, it’s me.” You pushed your way out of Victor’s hug--much to his disappointment--and twirled, “so, do I look as cute as a bunny?” You joked.

No, he thought, you were so much cuter than a mere bunny, so much more beautiful than a lonesome rabbit. Not only your appearance but your personality, the way you cared for him these past few months, you were an angel.

“Y/N,” he spoke your real name, “I love you.” He immediately covered his mouth when he let that phrase out. ‘What that heck? Why did I say that? I just met her!’ he scolded himself.

“What?” You gaped at him as he awkwardly distanced from you while scratching his neck. He stammered for words, not sure how to redeem himself after suddenly blurting the phrase out like a madman, one just doesn’t simply confess their love on the first meeting. “Victor, what did you say earlier?”

The cute postman barely responded to your question, you could see his lips barely move as he responded--or rather barely whispered--to your question. Victor’s face was flushed with red, he could barely look at you in the eye--actually, he couldn’t look at you at all. “I… loveyou.” It was quick, but what’s important is that you understood it.

A few seconds of awkward silence passed--which is also a few seconds of Victory dying inside--and you let out a small chortle. “I’m sorry… you just looked so cute when you were saying that,” you explained to him when you saw his perplexed expressions. You placed a hand on his cheek, brought his face down to your level, and kissed his forehead, “Of course, I love you too.”

Victor cried.

He didn’t mean to, but the emotions filling inside him wanted to spill so bad. He’d never felt such joy before, the man didn’t know how to deal with it so he just let it all out.

And so when you were fussing over his tears, Victor embraced you once again and thought of the many firsts he had with you.

His first genuine letter; his first friend; his first crush; and now… his first lover.

[kittymaverick]

Mystery Case Files 21: The Harbinger commentary and review, part 2.

outSpoiler free review first: Holy SHIT GRANDMA studios, talk about knocking the ball out of the park. Not only was that a solid good MCF game to start off with, you’ve now set up the expectation for the next game so high, I’m honestly a little afraid for you. Like... do you know how high the bar is now that you’ve hinted about the content of the next game? Right, coming back to Harbinger for a second. Barring one tiny little slip up which I think was just something that got lost in translation (English is like that), the lore of MCF managed to stay intact, which needs to be applauded. At one point, I almost questioned if there might be almost too many references, especially with that happens to the references in the game itself. (Yes, I, the MCF nerd and fanatic, actually had that thought). I still flip-flop a bit on whether this was a good execution, or a good but shaky execution. For one thing, the way it’s executed... wow, that’s some heavy stuff emotionally. Which is why I’m questioning if that’s “good”, because I suppose there was a line of emotional heaviness I didn’t expect we’ll cross in MCF, but GRANDMA took it there. And so far... part of me is guiltily okay with it, but wow... The studio’s art style does suggest that a detraction from from MCF’s usual Elizabethan English Horror Story with a side of Soul Steampunk and Celtic Druidism would not necessarily be a bad thing. That GRANDMA chose otherwise though, and stuck with a very, very MCF story (albeit more limited to the Celtic legends part), takes guts. What I do wish we’ll get, after the next game, is a story line that’s a GRANDMA original, sort of like Eipex’s the Black Veil, because I think the studio has potential in creating something that’s more them without pulling away too much from MCF. Anyway, that’s the spoiler free review part. Back to my spoiler filled commentary!

Aisling: I know I act suspicious, but I’m just a psychic! MD: I know I’m just a detective, but people keep dying around me, so hey, we’ve got that in common. Aisling: James gave me this cube by the way-- huh? *Emblem of MD appears* ...I’m sorry, that ancient celtic emblem... has a bloody hat. It has a bloody hat. I’m DYING.

Realized I jumped back too far to do this retroactive commentary. Oops.

MD: Okay, well, maybe he isn’t dead yet. We could probably dig him out-- *Nigel turns to bone* MD: ...Never mind. He’s beyond saving. Someone get the coroner!

Six thousand mirrors in the room, and not one shows your face. MD: A technique I have perfected over the two decades of my career. Didn’t save you from getting married to a homicidal madman though. MD: ...I don’t think he picked me because of my looks to begin with.

...Hey MD, I know paper work wasn’t exactly involved and all, but did you actually divorce Charles, or did you just betray him? MD: *DEATH GLARE* You know what, pretend I never asked. MD: You’d better.

MD: Let’s see what skeletons Nigel has in his closet. You know, the last time you found skeletons in a closet, quite literally... MD: Shut up, I was trying not to think about that! (This happened in Key to Ravenhearst. The Skeleton was Charles and Victor.)

Okay, so James was a MCF fanboy, Marge you met on one of your American trips, Nigel was a Fate Carney, John worked on a restored Ravenhearst. I don’t want to say her Majesty might have under exaggerated the number of keywords there were going on here... MD: Oh no, she definitely made it out to be less important than it seemed. She also definitely sent me in because the report she’s going to get out of this is going to be spectacular. The idea that HRM might be the ultimate MCF fan in-universe tickles me with delight. MD: And fills me with utter dread.

Nigel’s shadow puppet theatre: I got fired from the carnival! Boo! MD: Nigel, getting fired from Fate’s Carnival probably saved your ass. Temporarily, until whatever is going on here got you. MD: .................... What? Oh... MD: Yeah. Oh geez I’m looking forward to the case after this now! 8D MD: Why is it that the more I’m tortured, the more gleeful you are?

*Telephone rings* MD: Hello? Marge: HELP ME SOMETHING IS HERE AAAAHHH Well shit. MD: Yeah, she’s done for. Let’s go see the body.

*Gibs collects collectibles before going to body* *I die laughing because that’s my priority too*

MD: Oh no Marge I’m so sorry I couldn’t save you in time... ...Yeah right, says the person who doesn’t want to get their hand on the black stuff. MD: Look, my sorrow doesn’t in anyway override my desire for hygiene, okay? Reminds me of that one time I called some detectives from the last century dandies for refusing to stick their hand into a barrel of rainwater...

MD can I point out how you’re making detailed sketches of MARGE’S BODY in your journal? MD: Look it’s this or pyromania, okay? Don’t judge me. Also, I’m starting to think people that meet you on your cases shouldn’t bother locking their diaries. You always manage to crack them open.

Marge: Oh James is such a darling, I should get him to marry my daughter, then I’ll be such a happy mother-in-law. .............................. MD: ...................... Well, um, I guess Marge was a cougar on the inside, maybe? MD: Yeah, let’s phrase it like that (Restrain desire to make crude NSFW jokes...)

Marge: DAMN THAT GIRL FOR STEALING MY BOY. Marge, seriously, there’s officer Davis. I’m sure he’s just as nice! MD: And not on anyone’s death list. For now. MD: Don’t say that...

Davis: Well, I guess that’s one more evidence against Aisling. HOLD IT! MD: This note here shows clearly that Marge intended to frame Aisling for an attack on her! And the diary entries clearly document how much she hates the suspect. Therefore, the evidence shouldn’t be permissible-- Davis: Yeah, but Marge is dead, and there really isn’t anyone else in town left. *Record scratch* MD: ....It could be... you? Davis: Harhar, look here’s the evidence, go talk to Aisling. MD: Urgh, fine. It’s okay, MD, I was rooting for you there at least!

Aisling: Death, death is all around us! *Flees* MD: Okay, Aisling, that’s really not helping and only making you more suspicious! But since you’re away, I’m going to rifle through your trailer. Um, now who’s suspicious???

Hm, you know, this place would have been great for a holiday spot. MD: I don’t know, given my records with holidays... ...True, you’ll probably end up doing exactly what you are doing now. MD: That said, I think I’ll take a slice of apple pie since no one’s looking. Does the agency pay for your food on your cases? MD: They’d better because I’m giving the recipes to Her Majesty if they don’t...

Aisling: I came here to save John but he’s locked upstairs, please help! MD: Um, if you had let me come with you... maybe some time could have been saved? Aisling: But what if I get killed first then? MD:........ She’s got a point. MD: Dammit, fine...

Hm, so John’s ancestor worked on the original Ravenhearst... We’ll probably need to open up the original game to see if that was the guy that fell from the construction site. (My guess is it’s not, because that carpenter was originally meant to be Rose Summerset’s husband, so it should have been Summerset. Plus Rose’s kids were the twins and Victor.)

Oh damn, a model of Ravenhearst-- MD: Hm, it’s missing a weather vane. ........... MD: Look, just because I burn the place down several times, doesn’t mean I don’t care what it looks like, okay? Can you point out the window that you escaped out of by any chance? 8D MD: *sighs* This one...

Aisling: John, NOOOOOO. MD: Right, gotta cut him down quick! He might still be alive. *Proceed to spend over minutes solving puzzles* MD: I swear, this happened very fast in actuality... Never as fast as the plot demanded though...

*Puts weather vane on model* *Model turns into a raven* MD: ???????????????? Okay, I need to take points off for THAT ridiculous transformation and animation. XD

Aisling: I can’t take this anymore! MD: I know this is hard, Aisling-- Aisling: Here’s the next slab, btw. ....This mood whiplash... I’m dying.

Um, so apparently the banshee wasn’t trying to destroy the world, but was trying to restore herself, which... you disrupted. MD: Look, Allison and her friends needed rescuing okay? I couldn’t just sit idling by. ...If that was disrupted, then how DID Aisling turn human then??? MD: .....Let’s save that mystery for another time because I feel a headache incoming... (Fix edit: It seems to imply that the ritual was only disrupted, not failed, so Aisling did get her skin back, though now she doesn’t remember being a banshee...)

Aisling: I’m a banshee? That’s... That’s impossible. MD: Well, I’ve been through a lot to say most impossible things are actually probable in reality, though if you somehow don’t remember me shoving you back into the cave, um, then I’m grateful. Once you do, please don’t kill me. BTW, your turn on the cube of mystery!

Aisling: Well, if I’m a banshee, I guess I should go back to Dire Grove. We can catch the next ferry. MD: You know that’s a really long trip right? It might take us the better half of a day-- Or a single puzzle’s worth of time. MD: ...Where was THAT kind of fast travel all these years??? I do like how it’s implied that you guys had a huge detour with picking people up and dropping them off though.

Ais: Okay, we’re here in Dire Grove-- AH! MD: Wow, even nature is saying NO to you. Ooooooor it could be a certain immortal druid-- MD: Please don’t. It’s fine! We have a banshee. MD: All she does is predict death! Oh yeah, forgot about that...

*Aisling gets “kidnapped” by green energy* Gibs: That can’t be healthy. MD: That’s honestly pretty normal at this point for us. At least she didn’t get dropped down a tube.

Um, what’s with the Chinese incense in a Druid’s domain? X’D (I’m going to pretend they traded that...)

(I honestly don’t have a lot of stuff to comment on in the section in Dire Grove, because there isn’t much to snark about. Which, I guess, comes to show that 99% of silliness comes from MD dealing with PEOPLE, alive, dead, revived, or otherwise not really a human.)

*Aisling goes back to banshee form* MD: First, no hard feelings about last time, right? Aisling: *stares* MD: Please, thank you, and I’m sorry??? Aisling: You did help me out, so I guess it’s fine. MD: *sigh of relief* BTW, four people technically did DIE though in the process. Aisling: Um, that wasn’t me, if you recall your lore correctly. MD: True enough, but STILL. Just pointing it out. You want her to scream in your ear? She’s still got time for that.

Aisling: BTW, this energy is still floating about. And I think I know why. Will you accept this energy and use it to save the world? MD: Oh hold ON a minute. You want ME to do WHAT? Aisling: Save the world. You heard what I said. MD: Okay, listen. I started this detective job mostly because I thought it was cool... (MD’s going to be at this for a while. Are you going to listen, Aisling? A: To be honest, I’ll probably stop around the part where MD apologized for shoving me back into the cave... By the way, want to hear my part of the story on how I turned back into a banshee? Sure!) *****************************************************************

HOW AISLING BECAME A BANSHEE, AGAIN. Aisling: To make a long story short, there was a lot of puzzles Puzzles which you had to personally solve, without MD’s help? Aisling: It really makes you appreciate how hard MD has had it for the last 21 years...

Did... did you just KILL four people to restore your spirit? Aisling: I just helped their soul cross over! I swear! Aisling, you’re being really SUS right now and I’ve practice how to spot a liar lately! Aisling: I only predict deaths! And then find the souls and tell them where to go. I swear that’s my task. EVERYONE VOTE AISLING AISLING IS THE IMPOSTER

Is one of your abilities literally “summon joyride”???? Aisling: it’s a carriage A carriage can be an awesome joyride if you use it irresponsibly Aisling: How does MD tolerate you? They don’t, they’ve just had worse company and I’m a lesser evil. 8D

Aisling (actually Gibs): *suffers through the last giant super puzzle* ...Yeah, REALLY makes you appreciate what MD goes through. Aisling: Is it always this bad??? Sometimes. I’ve seen worse.

Gibs: THAT CARRIAGE IS BADASS. See, I told you it was a joyride. Aisling: You know, I think I’ll float back to the MD. No joyrides. Awwwwwwwwwwww... Okay, now let’s rewind back to when MD started their rant. **************************************************

Aisling: BTW, this energy is still floating about. And I think I know why. Will you accept this energy and use it to save the world? MD: Oh hold ON a minute. You want ME to do WHAT? Aisling: Save the world. You heard what I said. MD: Okay, listen. I started this detective job mostly because I thought it was cool, and it was for the first couple of cases where all I had to deal with was bust the criminal organization STAIN and recover the Hope diamond for the Queen. But then that’s where all my trouble started because she sent me to this creepy manor which turned out to be a prison to not one, not two, but FOUR ghosts. What’s even worse is the first time I went, I thought I only had to rescue Emma. I was wrong, and for the longest time, I thought Fate Carnival folks were dying from my mistake. Turns out later it was completely personal. This was everything that happened before I met YOU. (Again, really sorry about kicking you back into the cave and getting you stuck in the situation you were in in the last who knows how many years...) Afterwards, I went to the Louisiana which got me on the bad side of a certain ghost pirate, who turned out to be the grandfather of the guy killing the carney folks from his mother’s side. Which was why he was killing them by the way. She sold him to Fate’s Carnival. Anyway, after figuring out that I’ve dun goofed, I went back to Ravenhearst manor, which turned out there was a WHOLE OTHER SECTION I didn’t discover last time, which was somehow a very personalized and twisted marriage proposal that I didn’t notice until too late. I burned THAT down for good measure before taking a break in some place near a lake. But then that guy’s FATHER took up issue with what I did, which I didn’t even started, to be honest. He tried to kill me for whatever grudge it was that he had. I had to stab his horocrux with my badge to get him to stop that time. But then it turns out that father ALSO has some offspring here in Dire Grove, and I had to come back to prevent THAT from going down in flames as well. Thankfully, I think they remained sane. I can’t say the same for the twins, who turned out to be the evil guy’s kids. They most definitely went insane, and REMADE Ravenhearst, which I had to burn down for THE THIRD TIME. All that plus the jump I took landed me in an asylum, which turned out to be the one where both the evil bald guy and his dad was imprisoned once upon a time. Of course, the guy’s father tried to kill me, AGAIN. Took care of that, and also removed the shard that was driving me bonkers. It only gets worse from here though. I got chased around by an woman with a clock for her heart who I had to defenestrate out a clock tower. She didn’t stab me, but then the guy who probably ENGINEERED MY ENTIRE LIFE did, because apparently he wanted to use my soul’s virtue to anchor death to the mortal world or something. I got an immortality feather out of that, I guess, so it wasn’t too bad, but I basically DIED. And then afterwards there was that undead guy who was really hung up about his biker jacket. Next was the evil guy’s ancient youngest son nearly destroying the world (4th wall break: THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT) trying to revive him which thankfully DIDN’T HAPPEN BECAUSE OH GODS I WOULD HAVE DIED FOR REAL ON THE SPOT IF IT DID, FEATHER OR NOT. Then a creepy woman in a mirror had to be locked back into the mirror dimension. And that’s when my agency had a fucking SECURITY BREACH which turned out to have been in the making for YEARS. And then the pirate guy came back and nearly enslaved me. I had to blow up his ship and exorcise him from this world. And AFTER all of that, I was finally sent to Blackmoor, where I met YOU, and also saw a bunch of people marginally related to me die from a cause we still don’t have any answers for. *DEEP INHALE*

Aisling: Okay, so your point is.... MD: My POINT is.... out of ALL the sane and wholesome people in the world who don’t have ANY BAGGAGE whatsoever, why do I, the Master Detective, have to be the one to save the world here-- Charles: Hello. MD: *SCREEEEEEECH*

CHARLES IT’S BEEN FOREVER-- wait, you’re not here to serve the divorce papers are you? Charles: Of course not. I’m asking MD to come back home with me. MD: WHAT?! Charles: Where else would I welcome you back to? *Evil cackle* ......... 8D8D8D8D8D8D8D8D Aisling: ........... :| :| :| :| :| :| :| :| :| MD: .................D:< D:< D:< D:< D:< D:< D:< MD: Aisling, hand that energy over, I’ve a WORLD TO BURN.

I have to point this out... the last time we saw Charles IN THE FLESH in game, was Escape from Ravenhearst, which was NINE YEARS AGO, likely TEN by the time Crossfade comes out. Happy Tenth Anniversary of your wedding, Master Detective? 8D

MD: AS IF.

[atopearth]

Fate/hollow ataraxia Part 1 - Slice of Life for the Emiya Household (Phase 1)

I never realised Fate/stay night has a sequel!! Apparently it’s pretty light hearted? We shall see~ That horror story in the beginning though, loll such a typical one. Ooh, so this is set half a year later~ or not!! I was thinking this is another horror story or something but is this like an alternate Fifth Holy Grail War or something? Not sure how to feel about the new perspective from a Master that comes from the Association alongside with a Servant that lives to kill? Not surprised she misunderstood him since he didn’t clarify that he wasn’t the one who killed the people in that house but hmmm not sure what to think of this match up. On the other hand, these Edelfelt sisters who are Masters of the same coin and thus can have a normal Saber and Saber Alter is really cool!! These alternate Rin and Sakura look so beautiful! Ooh so it was just Shirou’s “dream”? LMAO at Rin wanting to make a mini gem sword in Illya’s castle and then failing and causing a massive explosion that should have killed normal people but she came out totally fine, just extremely poor due to all the money she used to try and make it (to show off to others in London that she’s not a country bumpkin). That was hilarious, especially with the silly faces they had before everything went wrong hahahahah. Anyway, I guess this story is based after an ending that is similar to what happened in Heaven’s Feel without the romance etc? Or maybe it’s just one culminating all the good stuff together since Illya is alive and with Taiga haha. Regardless, I love it. I love seeing everyone in a more casual setting now, and it’s so cute how Rider tried her best to make miso soup, I think I’m really looking forward to seeing all the Servants more haha. Ooh, so Rin’s failure nearly turned this into a world where all the possible outcomes of this town were drawn in, so I guess that’s what Shirou’s dream was about then? How the town is going to become convoluted because of these possibilities?

LOL at Shirou’s “subtle” way of asking Caster whether she’s been feeling the same instinct as Rider and Saber on wanting to attack other Servants (since the Holy Grail War seems to have restarted?), he legit just asked if she’s going back to acting as crazy as she used to be hahahah. Honestly though, Caster without her hood is so beautiful, I’m so glad we get to see more of that here! It’s kinda cool how Shirou was the victor of the war by forcing everyone to kinda stop fighting rather than killing them all. But yeah, seeing Caster enjoying a peaceful tranquil life with the person she loves is nice, since that’s all she really wanted anyway. Makidera Kaede seems like an interesting character, she’s a bit like Taiga in how reckless she is, but Taiga is much cuter haha. I loved how Rider changed the channel to news when Taiga was watching anime hahaha, Rider’s like an unintentional bully haha. LOLLL, is Makidera a fan of Rin as well? Hahaahha,I loved how she asked Shirou where she could get the same pendant, and when she realised it was like a gift from Rin she hit him and said he doesn’t deserve her lmao. Really though, the events and ! stuff is quite confusing lol, I thought you could do all the events before going forward with the story but it seems that you can’t….guess I’ll just roll with it using a random walkthrough and see how it goes lol. LMAO at Kaede’s teaching directions at track and field, she legit just told the runners that are falling behind to knock down the ones in front of them hahahah. Himuro seems like the mysterious mystic type that can read minds tbh hahaha. I’m surprised she’s in the high jumping team. Yukika seems like the nice manager of the team~ Oh dang, Assassin is still guarding the gate to Ryuudou Temple? At least he sees ghosts passing by all the time so I guess he’s not bored?🤣 I’m not sure who the white haired girl is, but it’s interesting to see that Fuyuki ends up getting destroyed by these “beasts” that want Shirou to grant their wishes if he doesn’t do things properly??

I find it hilarious that when Shinji tries to get Shirou to skip fifth period, Shirou seriously considers it because Shinji (the picky eater) said he found a place with amazing pasta, so he really wants to try it hahahah, you’re so cute, Shirou! HAHAHA, when Shirou chose to eat lunch with Issei instead of Shinji, that was funny hahaha. Now that Shinji doesn’t have his killing tendencies etc, he’s so much more bearable. I loved it when Shinji ran away half crying and half laughing lmao. I loved his revenge against Shirou and Issei by showing off the amount of girls willing to feed him. Issei and Shinji with their childish fights is hilarious. Seeing Saber so happily talk about her past/hometown fondly rather than as regrets really makes me happy, especially that smile she has!! Now that Sakura and Shirou are reminiscing about how quiet Shirou’s place used to be (in terms of people living there) compared to now where Rider and Saber are there, Sakura lives here on the weekends, Rin occupies a room too, and Taiga comes along with Illya for meals, it really is so lively haha. Aww it was so cute when Sakura said she missed the times they could be alone together~ Honestly, I think the Sakura with no baggage is really cute now haha. HAHAHA, I honestly didn’t expect Lancer to like fishing!! He’s so chill about it too with his snacks lmao, he’s totally fitting in hahaha. Omgg he supplies the fish for the Emiya residence and Shirou didn’t even know!! I can so imagine Taiga stealing all his hard work at the end of the day lmao. Is Kotomine really dead? That’s kinda saddening if he doesn’t appear, I mean, if Zouken gets to stay alive, Kotomine should get screen time tooo~ Lmaoo at Caster complaining about Assassin not wanting to sweep the staircase so she has to do it hahaha. Assassin’s logic is right though!! It’s a waste of her magical energy to make him materialise and do it hahahaa. It’s pretty funny how much Assassin causes trouble for Caster though, I think I’m loving all the slice of life tbh, FSN imo really lacked in developing and putting more time into showing the Servants’ personalities, so I’m glad we get to see this here.

Hmmm I wonder why Archer snipes Shirou and kills him when he’s trying to pass the bridge to Shinto?🤔 OMG Lancer in casual clothes (not the fisherman one LOL) is so cool!!! Like dang, I knew he’d look great but wow! I hope Archer looks just as good~~ Anyway, that’s the end of Phase 1? Not sure what to think right now since most of it was just slice of life. Not saying it’s bad though! I actually really enjoyed the slice of life more than I thought I would haha, I think the interactions between the characters are really fun and interesting, and it really gives more time for the Servants to shine imo.

[katzuyas]

so here it is, my friends, the collab with the amazing @ichiiichka for @viktuurifluffbang! make sure to check out the fic AND the art, and spread the love! ❤️

He arrives in a barrage of rose petals that whip around the wings of the dragon that span overhead much like rose petals themselves: rounded and layered, and rose hued. Victor has to close his eyes and lift his arms to protect his face from the slashing attack of what's supposed to be a symbol of love, and almost falls on his butt when the ground trembles as the dragon lands heavily a little ways from him.

Only when the shaking stops and the blizzard of petals slows down to gentle caress against his skin, does he look up into an unfamiliar face: that of an adult Stoneheart Dragon, who looks at him like he's a far more curious thing than the new surroundings must be. Victor, a lover of all breeds, looks back without fear, since he knows that however imposing Aura dragons might look, they will never harm another being. There are dragons who could pose danger to humans even now when they have learned to live together, but Aura dragons are farthest of such disposition. They are sweet, loving and the most friendly of the dragons known to wizard folk. Even the Stoneheart, Ire, and Scorn dragons, whose names bring nothing but negative impressions, in truth are just as lovely as the rest of them.

So, content in his safety, Victor rakes his appreciative gaze over the beautiful snout of the dragon, before taking him in wholly: it's long, bent horns, the massive body touched by stonescale, and finally the short, supple tail, which languidly swings here and fro, bringing red with it wherever it lingers. It truly is a magnificent beast, Victor has to admit.

Amidst it all, though, one thing catches him off guard. The red of the fire pouches at the sides of the dragon's jaws and over its chest is so vivid that Victor needs to blink for a moment to get used to the colour. In fact, all the red on the dragon's body is that same vibrant red: possibly the red from the potions that the old wizard Mort accidentally fed to the first dragon of this kind. The colour is bright, almost blinding in a way, but the true beauty hides within those cheeks: red, flaming, so ready to burst with fire. They look like rubies under direct sunlight, and they're stunning.

Victor's hand itches to touch one of them, and he is sure they'll be warm. Hot even, maybe. Yet the glare of the dragon's eyes stays on him so attentively that he hesitates to move. Before he can decide on whether or not to approach it, he becomes distracted again. This time not by any dragon, which is unusual in and of itself, but by Katsuki Yuri, who effortlessly slides off the back of his Stoneheart and hops down the powerful leg all the way to the ground.

They should look silly and clumsy, those little hops he takes, but there is something in the way Katsuki Yuri moves that instantly captures Victor's attention. It demands it, in truth. And Victor, Victor gives it before he even truly knows it.

Now, Victor has never been too interested in people. He has long since preferred dragons over those of his own kind, but within seconds of catching a glimpse of Katsuki Yuri, he's unequivocally charmed by him. Even more so, when he finally sees the face of the man who seems to possess more grace in his body than the whole of Yubileyny put together – and oh, what a face it is!

"Hello," Katsuki Yuri says on an exhale that makes his cheeks delightfully puffy. There are rose petals in his dark hair, too, Victor takes notice, and his heart does as well: it trembles oddly in his chest as he stands there, mute. "My name is Yuuri, Yuuri Katsuki. Mrs. Baranovskaya should be expecting us? We're here for a co-op breeding for this event?"

It is hard to look away from the lips that speak these words, but Victor does. And then he ends up staring again, because above them are those soft, plush cheeks touched by a blush from the harsh winds of the ride, and further above those – once Victor startles himself out of his reverence – are the loveliest eyes Victor has ever seen: brown and warm, and bewitching him with sweetness.

It's as he gets lost in them that Victor absolutely gives up all pretence of normalcy.

"Hello, Yuuri!" he greets with a smile, mindful to pronounce the name exactly the way Yuuri did.

Even if his heart is beating out of his chest at his own boldness, he reaches for Yuuri's hand and bows over it to leave a fleeting kiss to his knuckles. The blush that has been adoring Yuuri's face is far darker once Victor looks up and, truly, Victor can tell that his own face must also be stained with his excitement. But that, that matters little as long as he gets to bask in Yuuri's beauty.

"Welcome to Yubileyny! I'm Victor Nikiforov, and I've been tasked with guiding you around. We're delighted to have you here," Victor says. He peers over Yuuri at the Stoneheart dragon, to whom he nods as well. "Both of you."

"Thanks," Yuuri squeaks and pulls back his hand. Victor mourns the loss, but it seems that Yuuri hasn't taken any offence in his actions, when he asks: "If it's no trouble we would like to have a day to settle in before we start breeding. Raths has come a long way, so I think the odds will be against us if we try to force it when he's tired."

Victor nods eagerly, because isn't that just the perfect excuse for him to stay with Yuuri longer?

"Good thinking," he says. "How about I show you both to the habitat for... Raths, was it?  And then I will take you to the inn, so you can rest as well. Travelling on dragonback can't be too comfortable for such a long time."

"That would be nice. Thank you."  

Yuuri's voice is as pleasant to listen to as his face is to look at, and Victor wouldn't mind hearing more of it. Yuuri, however, doesn't seem too generous with his words. He falls silent after that, but that is more than alright. Victor suddenly has a lot to say, and so he fills the silence with endless chatter in hopes of eliciting another reply from Yuuri's sweet lips.

"Your Stoneheart looks really impressive. Lilia really knows how to choose the best, I'll give her that." He smiles when Yuuri's face scrunches up like he wants to protest. "Don't be modest. You can't deny your skill when they are as obvious as a level eight Stoneheart dragon in the first week of the event."

"It was just luck," Yuuri insists, battling a flush that Victor wishes he could capture and keep close to his heart forever.

"And don't they say that luck is a part of your skill set for this job?" Victor winks. "I know a great breeder when I see one, Yuuri. Trust me, if you can't trust yourself."

Yuuri says nothing to that, but the way his eyes flutter shut at the praise… oh.

Victor doesn't remember ever feeling this way. Something so strange has happened to him the moment he saw this man, he can't even explain it. It's impossible to put in words, and it's impossible to define in feelings either. It's just…

Victor has had his fair share of flings here and there, fleeting romances that never lasted longer than a few months. He knows the signs of attraction by now. This, however, is nothing like that at all. This, this feels like… oddly enough, this feels like he's smitten already, and it's ridiculous, no? They've only just met.

And yet, as Victor leads Yuuri down the pathways of the Aura island and rose petals float around them, he can tell that this meeting and the time they will spend together is special.

"We have a few habitats around here that can take Raths, but do you have any preference?" he asks, just to have something to talk about. "We can put him with other Auras, or we can put him alone, depending on how he behaves with other dragons."

"I think he'd like to be with others," Yuuri says, looking back at the dragon, who has been patiently padding behind them. The small, fond smile that lights up Yuuri's face renders Victor absolutely awed. "We are quite unlike each other in that department."

"Ah," Victor clears his throat and offers a smile of his own. "Not a people's person, are you? I can relate. I'm much more a dragon's person, if you know what I mean."

Yuuri laughs, a sweet little sound that makes Victor's skin tingle all over.

"I do know what you mean, and I agree. Dragons are so much easier to be around."

Smiling, Victor looks at Yuuri, and finds his eyes already on him. Yuuri's cheeks colour at having been caught, but after briefly looking away, he turns his gaze back on Victor as if he is just as drawn to him as Victor has found himself charmed in return.

"I have a feeling we'll get along quite well, don't you think?" Victor says, heart full of this strange lightness that only warms over further when Yuuri offers a tiny: "I have a feeling you might be right."

And, truly, Victor doesn't know what is the name of the thing he feels, but he feels it anyway – and it's soft like the rose petals he brushes from Yuuri's hair with a dazzling smile.

read more on ao3

[cepmurphy]

“Never even heard of Moomanbeans.”– The Ghost Monument

The Thirteenth Doctor Era opened with a confident, original story that set out how it saw the show working. Does the second episode match up? Er, not quite.

This does work much the same as The Woman Who Fell To Earth. Once again, we’re dealing with something low-key, grounded, and grimy: Angstrom and Epzo’s spaceships are lived-in junkpiles long out of date, something out of Red Dwarf, with the blast shields raised by levers and pulleys, and the space racers fighting an endurance test simply for cash. When we see Ryan being brought around, it’s in alienating flashes of weird science rather than anything comforting. Sorting out the blast shield, getting the boat to work, figuring out the way to neutralise the Murder Bandages with gas, all of this is dirty-hands practical work.

And in amongst this, there’s collaboration and people working things out as a group. The defeat of those Murder Bandages with acetylene gas and a spark isn’t the Doctor just being well-clever on her own: she relies on the others to work out what she’s up to and play their part when in a dangerous situation.

Problem is the plot lacks enough menace for this to work.

Epzo would clearly have shot Angstrom and left them if he could, but he’s been prevented from doing so by the rules – the Doctor rapidly neutralising his attempted threat to do it anyway, seeing through his bluster, is a nice scene but it still means he’s only ever just grumpy. The water is poisonous but there’s never any sign of thirst, despite everyone being in a desert with no supplies (and autumn clothes!). The sniperbots would have left them alone if Epzo hadn’t shot one, which is a nice touch in general – violence backfiring is very Doctor Who – but means nothing would have attacked them until the last ten minutes.

The first half of the story works better than the second because up until the boat sets off, there’s a sense that something could happen – and with them stuck on in space and one of the ships crashing, did happen. Other racers have died trying to reach Desolation and something has clearly killed the planet. It’s been “made cruel”, we’re told. Epzo only saved the Doctor and Yaz because he thought they were “bonuses”, he’d have clearly abandoned them otherwise. Something monstrous is happening on Angstrom’s impoverished homeworld, her part in the race is out of sheer necessity.

In the first half, we’re in a hostile, unkind place and our heroes have no resources.

And then it’s just riding a boat and walking around a bit and fighting some bandages. It just doesn’t live up to the first half. There’s little sense of peril.

The bandages actually work as a monster the first time we see them, when they’re suffocating a man. It’s nasty. It’s a clear threat. But when they’re flying around talking… yeah, no. Talking flying bandages are too silly, especially in an episode that’s had an aesthetic of lived-in grimy junk and harsh sand.

Another problem that sticks out is the obligatory lesson about non-violence. Ryan and Graham both thinking they should shoot back at the robots is a perfectly sound idea, and so is proving that this won’t work in the world of Doctor Who. The scene where Ryan goes Call of Duty, with the badass rock music that kicks in and then cuts out while he runs screaming that he doesn’t know how to reload, is funny stuff. But for this to fully work, the Doctor needs to have some great clever non-violent idea… and she built an electromagnetic pulse.

She built a bomb for robots. It even has a detonation wave! Utterly wrecks the moment for me.

Wrecking it further, how does Epzo ensure he and Angstrom are given joint prize? He threatens violence. So that’s good now? (The punchline, where race organiser Ilim scoffs “no!” when told to take the others offworld too and abandons them to die, is quite good. Who saw that coming?)

There’s also two abortive subplots, the Stenza and “the Timeless Child”. The Timeless Child gets a mention here and then is dropped, and frankly it’s such a boring nothing slogan that I’m glad it’s dropped, long may it stay so! As for the Stenza, the discovery they’re butchering worlds feels like it’s leading somewhere – annoyingly, it will not. Rather than the return of Tim Shaw, this should have led to a run-in with the species. Alternatively, and I’ve argued this, it’d be good if either Epzo or Angstrom were themselves a Stenza; the second half would have more tension if you can’t be sure if the supporting cast might turn on our cast, because surely that’s what one of Tim Shaw’s guys would do.

A note here: who might turn on our cast? Epzo or Angstrom, who look human (I do like that, Farscape style again, they dunno what a human is), and it’s Ilim who does shaft them at the end. The sniperbots are just robots following a programme, they’re not monsters. There’s something in this that we’ll be coming back to in later reviews. 

While the plot is a curate’s egg, the character work for our leads is still strong (less so for Yaz). The Doctor continues to be a practical improviser, someone who examines holograms mid-exposition and makes gadgets out of old robots and won’t stop trying to figure out why the planet is dead – and she won’t stop doing that out of concern someone, somewhere could be in trouble as a result. When Yaz wakes up, the Doctor is mid-argument with Epzo and while he protests, she’s successfully won him around to her plan for a safe landing.

Graham is still reaching out to Ryan, still concerned when he’s in trouble, and still backing him up. When Ryan wants to fire on the robots, who has his back and is arguing it makes sense? Graham. A crucial scene for the two comes when Graham tries to get Ryan to open up on the boat and Ryan’s too much of an angry young man to do it: “I’m not a kid.” Soon after, he tells Graham, “You talk about this stuff way too much.” Ryan doesn’t want to talk about the things that bother him, even as he clearly should and Graham knows he should.

And what’s keeping them together and talking? Being on Desolation and being with the Doctor. Their argument soon changes into cooperation to get the boat working, after Ryan figures out it has a battery and not an engine, and this is solvable by (again in the series) practical work. The guy we met last episode who thought he couldn’t do things is doing them. Over the course of the series, Ryan will open up more and more and become more confident.

In the end, the theme of the episode: this is stated in an argument between Graham and Epzo.

“We all need other people, mate.”  

“We’re all alone. That’s how we start and end and it’s the natural state of all points in between.”

By the end of the episode, everyone is alive, and everyone won because they worked together; the Doctor has Angstrom and Epzo agreeing to be joint victors, the Doctor is saved from despair by the companions believing there must be a solution. This is quite nice and mostly works. It’s another running thing in S11.

What’s S11 so far? Regular people working together and fixing things.

[longroadstonowhere]

okay y’all, is my birthday and i have to spend a majority of it at work, so i’m gonna drop this new chapter of wild child on y’all this morning

it’s a bit short, but as i’ve mentioned before, the rest of the story has been rough drafted, so i should be publishing it all within the next month or so (as evidenced by how there’s actually a set number of chapters for the fic now) - the only reason it might take a bit longer is cuz i like when numbers match up so i might spring for some kind of significant date, haha

(1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 ao3)

"This place is huuuge!" John said, his words distorted a little by the window he was currently smashing his face against. It was still early enough in the evening that he could see how the roads leading up to the airport's parking garages twisted around each other, making complicated loops that had to run around the whole complex. He could almost pretend they were on the edge of an epic car chase, one that would have his dad swerving between lanes, taking supersharp turns to throw off their pursuers until the only course left... was straight onto the tarmac!

Distracted by trying to compose the perfect high-octane music score, John didn't realize his dad was saying something to him until he was almost done talking. "... Thankfully we'll be able to park fairly close to our terminal, since getting from one end of the airport to the other can be quite the journey, It wouldn't do to miss our light due to such a silly thing as that."

"Uh, yeah, sure, that would probably be real bad... So hey! What kind of plane are we flying on, anyway? Is it one of those super cool double-decker ones? It'd be so awesome to climb a flight of stairs when you're actually flying waaaay above the clouds!"

His dad chuckled. "Sorry John, but I'm afraid those kinds of plans are usually reserved for international flights, not domestic ones."

"Oh." There went another possibility to reenact some cool movie moments. "Well, whatever kind of plane it is, it'll still be really cool to really be flying. Do the tops of clouds look different from the bottoms? I mean, they look kinda different in the movies, but movies make a lot of stuff look different."

"It depends on the kind of cloud," Jade piped up from the backseat. She and Bec were sprawled out together, soaking up every minute they could before they had to get on the plane separately - Bec was way too big for any airline to let him ride with the passengers, sadly. "I got to see a few different formations on our trip from the island, and the cumulus clouds looked pretty much the same from above and below, but the stratus clouds will look way different cuz the sun hits them in different ways."

John twisted around in his seat as he said, "That's right, I totally forgot you've been in a plane before, Jade! That's so cool!" Then he frowned. "Wait, that means you got the chance to fly before I did. That's lame."

Jade laughed and stuck her tongue out at him. She showed a little too much of her teeth when she did, so it looked kinda weird, but John was almost impressed she'd picked up such a classic childish expression, Of course, he had to shower her how the pros did it.

John's masterful expression provoked Jade into making another face back at him, and soon the two were embroiled in a contest to see who could make the most unhumanly ridiculous face possible. By the time Dad parked the car, no victor had been declared, but John was in physical pain from all the laughing.

Security lines were boring. And slow. No wonder movie heroes always skip them, John thought as he waited for his dad to finish collecting all the stuff he'd had to take out of his pockets. He'd let Jade and John go first, which was probably the gentlemanly thing to do, but it also meant they had to wait when all John wanted to do was run around and look at all the neat airport shops. He bounced in place until, finally, his dad had tied his shoelaces into the perfect knot. "Our gate is A5," he said, with a gesture of his hand, which clearly meant 'go ahead'.

John didn't ask twice - he was off like a shot, tearing past the other people in the hall on the way to their gate. He didn't get very far, though - as he turned a corner, he stopped short, in awe of the sight before him.

He'd entered what looked like the main hub for all the branches of the airport, a two-story open room with tables and chairs scattered around, a few of them taken up by travelers getting in a quick bite. The truly spectacular thing, however, was that the entire outer wall was made of glass, letting him see the airplanes as they trucked around between gates. The sun was almost done setting, but it still scattered a few golden beams across the sky. It was one of the most beautiful things John had ever seen in real life.

Staring out the window, John didn't notice his dad catching up to him until his hand came down on his shoulder. He looked up into his dad's face, who smiled and said, "Exciting, isn't it?" John just nodded, words failing him for once. "We'd best make our way to the gate, then. Wouldn't want to miss our flight, after all."

Paul leaned back in his seat and rolled his shoulders, taking a break from reading his novel. Checking his watch, it looked like they were about two thirds through their flight. He'd taken a small nap earlier, but he'd never been able to sleep well outside of a bed.

He glanced at John on his left, who was leaning against the wall of the plane, completely unconscious. It even looked like he was drooling a little. Paul grinned and took out his Blackberry to get a quick photo. These doohickies are certainly more convenient than carrying a proper camera around, even if the pictures aren't quite as good, he mused. It looked like John was taking his first flight well, though.

On his other side, Jade also seemed to be sleeping, though it was hard to tell if she was truly out or just keeping very still. She had adapted to life in this country extraordinarily well so far, but she still held many unconscious habits from her time living alone.

Paul sighed to himself. Uncle Harley, some of the decisions you made... I just can't understand them. His mother had never gone into much detail about why Uncle Harley never visited, she'd just said he needed a lot of space. He'd sent a couple letters filled with tales of his adventures, which his mother had used as bedtime stories, but they never had much in the way of personal sentiments, and he couldn't recall his mother sending any back. He'd never questioned that distance growing up - that's just how family was sometimes.

Now, though, he couldn't help but wonder how his mother had really felt about Uncle Harley's long absence from her life. Did he even know about me? Paul suddenly thought. He'd never met the man, after all, and he'd started his adventurous lifestyle long before Mother adopted him. As far as Uncle Harley knew, his sister had spent the rest of her life alone.

Paul shook his head, forcing the morose thoughts away. That's in the past now, for better or worse. He had to focus on taking care of Jade, not musing on what had led Uncle Harley to keep her isolated on that island. It was hard to think of the future, though, knowing what the most likely outcome of this trip was.

He looked at Jade's still face and took a deep breath. I have to do what's best for Jade. No matter what. With that resolve in his heart, he leaned back and closed his eyes, hoping for a little more rest before their trip together ended.

Jade stared out the car's window, watching the landscape race by. Bec was draped halfway across her body, making up for the time together they'd lost because of that airline's policies on traveling with dogs. The pilot on her flight off the island had been much more reasonable.

Then again, that had probably been considered "special circumstances". It still would've been nice to fly with him again.

Next to her, John was still chattering excitedly about their trip thus far. He'd been pretty groggy when they got off the plane, but all his usual energy had come back in a flash when he'd noticed the professional driver waiting for them with a sign that said "Egbert". Apparently he'd been sent by the woman they were here to visit, Doctor Lalonde. John had just been excited to have such a "celebrity moment" happen to him, as he'd repeated several times during the car ride thus far.

Mr. Egbert was listening to John from his position in the front seat, so Jade didn't feel too bad about keeping her attention on the world outside their car. It definitely seemed more... wild than the area around John's house. Not the same as her island, of course, but the only real sign of people was the road they were traveling on. Otherwise, it was all trees and rocks as far as she could tell. It would be nice to spend time here.

After some time, the car pulled around a curve and revealed a majestic, sprawling house nestled into a large clearing. Jade pressed against the window, trying to catch as many details as possible. "... Is that a river running through that place?" she asked, unable to trust her own eyes.

"Seriously??" John stretched toward her side of the car, trying to look out her window, but the car turned to drive toward the house before he could get a good view. "That sounds super awesome! Like a supervillain's lair! Hey, wait, she's not really a supervillain, right?" John turned towards his dad again. "Dad, we're not visiting a supervillain, right?"

Mr. Egbert chuckled. "Son, Dr. Lalonde is a kind and generous woman. She was the one who paid for our flight here, you know, and arranged for the excellent service of our chauffeur here." He nodded respectfully to the driver, who murmured "Thank you kindly" in response.

As the car pulled up to the house, John kept talking. "I dunno, supervillains can be really charming, and this could all be some kind of trap. Paying for the hero's transportation is a total villain move."

Now Mr. Egbert frowned. "John, your imagination is a powerful tool, but while we are Dr. Lalonde's guests, I trust that you'll treat her with respect. Understood?"

John slumped back in his seat. "Fiiiiiiiine." Quieter, he said, "That's way less cool, though."

When the car stopped, Jade let Bec out first so he could get some of the kinks out of his legs. He'd had to stay in that traveling container for a really long time. For her part, Jade got out and looked up at the house again. It was a pretty ridiculous house, really - it looked way bigger than any person really needed, and building your house on top of a river just seemed unnecessarily dangerous. There was something about the place that felt... weirdly familiar, though...

Jade's attempts at placing that feeling were interrupted by a loud voice from the house. "Oh! My! GOSH! You're here! You're all here!" A woman with short blonde hair wearing some kind of labcoat dress was rushing down the path towards them. "Please, please, let Noah take care of your luggage, you've had a long trip and I'm sure you're all completely exhausted!" She came closer showing all her teeth in a wide grin, and Jade had to suppress the urge to run up a tree. She'd gotten better with figuring out when people were just being friendly, but...

Fortunately the woman seemed to be focused on Mr. Egbert for now - they were talking about how the trip went, which seemed useless to her, but whatever kept the doctor's attention off her for now would work. She watched as Bec poked around the landscape, staying within a fairly close distance in case he was needed. It was good she was able to bring hi, She'd have to thank Dr. Lalonde for that, right? Mr. Egbert would probably expect that of her.

"Oh, what am I doing, blabbing your ears off out here! Come in, please, we'll all have plenty of time to get to know each other." She gestured toward the front door and they all slowly made their way into the house.

[sin-like-me]

My Dearest Reader,

Isn't it funny when and where inspiration can strike? Those moments which catch us by surprise are always pleasant and fleeting.

The plot for this particular fic was one such moment. One line in a song was all it took, and the following was born. It is absolutely silly and was quite a bit of fun to write.

Be forewarned: In my daily life I wield curses like an art form, thus this particular work is a bit on the heavier side of four letter words. /laugh. Also, all mistakes are mine alone.

So what are you waiting for? Dive in, read on, get lost.. have an adventure.

Yours Always, C. Horizons

https://archiveofourown.org/works/15682656

Disillusionment

“You’ll find it if you follow me… Oh the Bliss, Oh the Bliss…”

Click.

“Man, I told you none of that Peggie shit.”

You laugh and toss a look over your shoulder, “Every single time we liberate one of these damned cultist’s vehicles all the radio spews is ‘Peggie shit.’ You do realized that I have zero control over that?” Arching an eyebrow, arm resting on the steering wheel, you turn back and face the darkness consideringly. “Besides, the Bliss one is not so bad really… hell, even Set Those Sinners Free and Oh John are catchy come to think of it. Where is your objectivity Shark?”

Flicking on the truck’s headlights, a grin tugs blithely at the corners of your mouth. It seems as if prodding a response from Charlemagne was fast becoming one of your favorite distractions. Behind you the sound of a slight shift on polyester was all the warning provided before you felt a gentle smack on the back of your head.

“Those fucks have no taste in the finer musical types available for consumption.”

“Like disco?” you shoot back, turning the truck towards Drubman’s Marina with a smirk. The look of warning you caught in the rearview was just enough to have you gracefully back off.. for the moment. “Alright, fair enough. I get where you’re coming from Sharky. I mean, what I wouldn’t give for some metal or hell, even real blues. Wanna place bets that Daddy Broseph forbade anything with a serious beat? It’s all acoustic guitars, twangs, and dull rhythms.. You can just picture them singing by fires, high as kites, and holding hands.”

Sharky snorted a guffaw, “Kum-fuckin’-baya. No shit.. With their very own Mary Jane to head it all. Free drugs yo.”

You giggled and rounded a turn with precision, velocity held at a steady 60 MPH. Speed limits? Please. You are the law.

A strangled gasp reached your ears from the backseat. “Ya know Andretti, if I didn’t trust you I wouldn’t let you drive. You scare the shit outta me.”

“Mmm, yes, but have you died Shark?” Your pointed gaze met his in the mirror.

“Not yet…

“Exactly.”

“... though a heart attack seems likely.”

You chose to ignore that little barb, “Anyway, begging backseat drivers can’t be choosy now can they?”

Whatever response he would have tossed your way was cut short.

“FUCK CHICA!! LOOK OUT!!!”

Your foot stomped the brakes, the immediate cessation of movement kicking dust and gravel behind you as the bed of the truck skidded for purchase. Going from the artful navigation of a mountain pass to fishtailing abruptly had not been on your list of things to do tonight, if ever. As a matter of fact that particular stunt would have fallen almost at the top of a do not fucking do this list, right under the commandment: do NOT sleep with any of the Seeds. (Why you even needed a list to remind you not to do that should have been alarming on its own.)

Heartbeat faltering to an almost complete stop, you turn in our seat to check on your best friend.

“Shark!! You okay?!”

He nodded, a bit dazed, and you turned to search the rearview for what caused his panic. Nothing.. Nada… zero. No animal, no pothole, no Peggie.. Nothing. You unbuckled, climbing down from the truck with Sharky right behind you. Maybe you hit something? No, even that seemed off to you considering that you were pretty damn sure hitting something would have caused one hell of a thump. You glanced quizzically at a decidedly confused pyro, eyebrow quirked.

“Man.. I know I saw Faith standing in the road. Right, fucking, there…” he pointed to the side of the lane where the curve dropped down to a steep slope.

Nothing seemed to have been disturbed, the tall grass waving eerily in the illumination from the headlights.

“Mhm. Did you happen to spend too much time in a field of those flowers?”

It was a valid question. Two vast Bliss fields had surrounded the entrance to a random prepper’s stash Sharky had managed to catch wind of. Working to gain entry was not the easiest of tasks and it had taken longer than you would have liked. Unfortunately, those damn things were potent to most people.

You stooped to check all tires, leaving Charlamagne to stare in confusion and a little embarrassment.

“Nah man, you know I ain’t into that shit.”

Trying to lighten the mood you offer a genuine smile and a warm tone, “Right Mr. “higher than a giraffe in Jamaica.”

The change in your voice and demeanor seemed to work. Sharky’s face lost its pinched look and his shoulders dropped back into their relaxed position. His eyes met yours, and you winked reassuringly as you stood up.

Everything as a-okay.

Heart rate back to its normal tread you turned on a booted heel, breeze caressing your skin, when an unexpected cloud of powder stung your eyes and made you cough. You waved your hand frantically in front of your face in hopes of clearing your vision, annoyance thrumming through your body.

‘Every.Single.Time!!!’

“Welcome to the Bliss,” a saccharin voice lilted, giggling musically.

Well fuck. Everything had been going so well too.

‘Sharky!’

This was the first thing you thought once your vision cleared and you were able to suck in a breath of fresh air. Once more you were in a field of Bliss, but this time Faith did not have the advantage. As luck would have it she chose a particular field that was close to your original destination: Drubman’s. Now you just needed to find Sharky and get the hell out of here.

‘Faith is in for a little bit of a surprise.’

“Charlemagne…. Victor….Boshaw!!!”

Your voice was clear, steady, and loud. It was dark, the white flowers seeming to glow in the moonlight, and all around you was silence.. Frozen, ears straining to catch the slightest of sounds, you finally heard a small shuffle to your right. It had to be him.

‘Where was a flashlight when you needed one?’

Crouching low, you slowly made you way to where the sound originated.

“You have to have Faith….” breathy and trying for innocent, Faith’s voice echoed around you coming from nowhere and everywhere all at once. Her obvious facade set your teeth on edge, grating like nails on a chalkboard.

You didn’t have time for this bullshit.

Hitting a small clearing amidst the seemingly endless fields of cloying flowers, you almost fell right on top of Sharky. He was sprawled out on his back, making… a fucking Bliss angel while giggling?!

“Chica! There you are. Man this shit is good! I had no idea.”

“Right, well, you know, that’s the concentrated powder for you. Tinkerbell has her own special stash. Pure I’m sure.”

Sharky sat up laughing so hard tears were rolling down his cheeks, “Tinkerbell. I like that. Think this shit will make me fly if I believe hard enough?”

You hooked your arm through one of his, tugging up none too gently. “Nooooo… No I do not and if you start singing John’s praises I will leave you here.”

He gracelessly rose to his feet, swaying unsteadily. “ Oh John! BOLD AND BRAVE!”

“I mean it Shark. I will leave you here.”

He snickered and sneezed, stumbling into your side, “Man no fun. Don’t kill the buzz or Tinkerbell will be one pissed off pixie. Speakin’ of… where is she?”

“Ever heard the saying speak of the devil and he doth appear? Yeah, don’t do that.” you muttered close to his ear, eyes darting around expectantly.

Of course it was too little too late.

A ghostly titter announced her presence before she stepped out from a nearby patch of flowers. Walking was much less impressive than when she grew wings and flew. Either Faith was falling down on the job, or this was your new reaction to the Bliss: disillusionment. By now you knew your role and what was expected of you, so you shrugged into the performance like it was an old jacket.

‘And, ACTION!’

Your eyes widened and took on a dream like quality as you turned to face Faith, staring in wonder.

“Woah man.. She’s like… glowing and …kinda hot.”

You blinked slowly, fighting the urge to elbow Sharky in the ribs. Oh, how you wanted to try to wake him from his fascination with Cocaine Jane here.

Faith smiled benevolently, yet it never quite reached her eyes. “I know you have heard stories about me. That I am a Liar… a manipulator..”

Sharky jumped to attention, “No way man. No way! You’re too nice to be any of that shit.”

You had to fight the urge to roll your eyes.

Faith’s smile altered, the edges becoming hardened and sharp. No longer were her lips inviting others to share in a moment of affected friendship. It seemed as if she did not like her little speech being interrupted. To her credit she kept up the act, reaching out and taking Sharky’s hands.

“Thank you Charlemagne.” she breathed.

It was as if the sun had come out and the Heavens had opened based on his facial expression. You tamped down the hostility and strove for blazed as best you could.

“Hey, Shark, you know, there is something I have always wondered…Faith, how do you keep in touch with the Seeds? I mean, you never carry a radio…’

Sharky blinked, then cracked that smirk you were familiar with. His curiosity was piqued.

‘Come on man, focus Shark…’

“Got a point there Dep.” he conceded as he cocked his head to the side, studying the Herald, “How DO you talk to them?”

Faith, thrown by the turn in conversation, skipped back dropping her hold on Sharky.

“E...excuse me?”

Taking a step towards her, you reach out a hand and gently tug at the hair framing her face.

‘Time to lay it on thick..’

“Is it ESP? Or are you able to send a signal like a radio?”

She leaned her head back, hair falling from your grasp.

“I don’t see…”

You almost laughed at the role reversal. Faith had become the skittish prey.

Leaning in you raised your voice mockingly, its lilt covering the small distance, “John are you there???... Jacob??....”

Sharky piped in, “Jingleheimer Schmidt?!”

‘Yes! There he was!’

You busted into a genuinely surprised laugh, before recovering your focus.

“Can they hear me Faith? If they can’t, think you could pass on a message? You know, Jacob is pretty fucking stunning. I would love a little of his time… well, that is, if you could arrange it.”

Faith took another bare-footed step backwards. This was not at all what she was expecting.

“Jacob?!” she spluttered in fear and incomprehension.

Sharky cut her off again, “Are you fuckin’ serious chica? JACOB?!”

You giggled, “What? He’s interesting. I mean if you prefer, John is also rather sexy.”

Shark was starting to look a bit green around the gills and Faith was gaping now. “Dep, have you finally lost it?! I mean damn, how high are you?”

You almost laughed as Faith nodded in agreement.

“You mean you’ve never noticed Faith?”

You took another step towards her, backing her up even further… good. Almost to the edge of the Bliss field.

To be honest, you were rather surprised that she had not caught on to your act. You didn’t feel like a particularly good stage performer so every action, every word, seemed rather transparent and exaggerated. You studied the woman-child before you.

That Faith was close to panicking was evident in her every facial tick and what would prey do once cornered? Whatever it had to. Thus, once you saw her reach into a hidden pocket of her dress you knew what was coming: more of her special powder. Murmuring a quick prayer of thanks to whichever deity made sure she was not being particularly observant, you grinned.

“Looking for this?”

Her eyes darted to your outstretched hand only to find your fingers clasped around a small, muslin bag. HER bag to be exact.

Sharky was finally starting to sober up. Each step further from the Bliss diminished its hold and that damned powder was wearing off. In your friend’s favor, he managed to put two and two together rather quickly.

“Fuck this shit. Punch that bitch.”

You smirked as you hefted the bags weight in your palm, looking down at it as if in deep consideration.

‘Fuck it.’

Slipping your thumb and pointer finger into the bag, you pushed the drawstring apart. Debating exactly how much to use, you shrugged and threw the whole damn thing into Faith’s face. Her reaction was instantaneous and hilarious. If you had had the time, you would have deeply appreciated the irony as she gasped in shock. Her coughing fit coupled with the desperation to clear her field of vision was delicious. Alas, these opportunities to play the badass so rarely presented themselves. You were not about to waste it.

With every last ounce of rancor you could muster, you stepped forward once again. Absently noting how the green powder had settled onto the front of that ridiculous white dress, you stooped down to her ear, making sure to enunciate every single word...

“Welcome to the Bliss… bitch.”

You drew back your fist and landed a very satisfying punch to the bridge of her nose. That simple 7 to 9 pounds of pressure completely demolished the cartilage. Faith fell to her knees, a small keen escaping her throat and you wasted no time. Grabbing Sharky’s forearm you dashed into the nearby shelter of darkened trees.

“Holy shit! You actually did it!! You punched Faith… in the face…”

You smirked, still dragging him step for step behind you. The more distance between the two of you and the Bliss Queen, the better.

You had no choice but to stop short as Sharky fell to his knees. Gut-wrenching snorts of amusement wracked his whole body and he seemed unable to breathe.

“Then you actually said “Welcome to the Bliss, Bitch..” like we were in one of those films! Tango and Cash man! I told you!!!! Kickin’ ass….”

“And slayin’ puss.” you finished the quote for him. Hell, if it made him happy, who were you to argue? So, you shrugged and kept picking your way through the fern covered ground, hoping he would keep up.

He did.

“Wait… wait..”

You stopped and turned to raise a brow in curiosity.

“You aren’t high are you??!! That shit didn’t fuck you up! You were able to do too much shit, notice too many details…”

His look of shock morphed into admiration.

“I don’t know why so don’t ask. All I can tell you is that whatever Bliss is, it has never hit me like it has others. Could be it’s as simple as developing some kind of resistance or maybe I was born with some type of immunity. Morphine has never worked either. Hospitals have to give me some astronomical amount simply to take an edge off of pain.”

Shark blinked, “That was either real brave or real stupid.”

“I would venture both.”

He nodded and seemed content to ponder the situation further as the two of you hiked on to Drubman’s Marina. Thirty minutes passed in relative silence when you felt his hand close around your bicep. This time there was no gentle stop, he jerked you into a panicked halt.

“Wait a damn minute! If you weren’t all wigged on the Bliss…  does that mean you actually think that shit about Jacob fucking Seed?!”

Alas, there was only so much that could go your way in one night. It seemed as if hoping he would have forgotten that little bit of information was asking too much. Did you lie behind sarcasm, tell the truth, or simply provide no conclusion and allow him his own? Your mind stumbled over itself in a blind panic and you knew it was time to act on instinct.

Smiling and standing on the tips of your booted toes, you reached up and cupped Sharky’s jaw. It was now or never. Swallowing quickly, you placed your lips against his. It was no more than a moment, a brief press of lips, and you quickly stepped back, dropping your hand back to your side.

‘Fuck.’

That was.. ugh...Well, you didn’t KNOW what that was, but you had no time to reflect.

‘Keep in character!’’

A quick wink into his stunned face, and you turned once more fighting the urge to run. Catching the sound of small waves lapping against a dock, you knew salvation lay ahead.

Hopefully a certain pyro would let all matters drop. His crush on Aunt Adelaide tended to make him forget everything else.

‘Would wonders never cease? Saved by a crass nympho.’

Your musings were cut short when a sudden chirp sounded from your belt. Jumping, you glanced down in surprise. Somehow you had managed to completely forgot about the radio you carried. Its sudden resurrection after hours of silence put you on edge.

“Ohhhhh dep-u-ty… our dearest little sister passed along some rather interesting information. I must say I am rather...flattered.”

Your instincts proved right. This was bad… very bad. John’s honeyed voice dripped down your spine, pooling heavily in your stomach. He was oozing satisfaction and confidence beyond his normal bounds. This did not bode well.

‘That little bitch couldn’t wait to blab!’

Then another, deeper voice cut through the brief silence, “Pup, if you wanted to come home, all you had to do was ask.”

You couldn’t stop the shiver in response to his velvet laced tone, goosebumps breaking out on your arms.

“I’m waiting….”

Jacob… knew. There was no other reasonable assumption.. yet, what was even more screwed up is the simple fact you were tempted. Was it a logical response? No, of course not. The whole idea was absolutely insane.

‘Damn it!! It all came back to bite me in the ass a hell of a lot quicker than I imagined it would.’

“Rook? That you? What’s going on?”

‘Whitehorse?!’

“Guuurrrll what did you say? Tell Adie!!”

Your hand floated above the two-way, debating an answer. Naturally, it was an open channel.

‘Damn, karma is a bitch.’

Sighing you stepped out of the woods and onto the banks of the lake. Sharky was still too caught up in the change in events to do more than stumble towards the marina. Hey, you would take your breaks where you could get ‘em. Looking out over the water you tried to roll the tension out of your shoulders.

This had turned into one gigantic clusterfuck of a day. Was it too late to throw your hands up, tell all and sundry to fuck off and walk away?

A purr kicked the radio on once again and you gaped incredulously at the offending object.

‘Nah, no way that was… Peaches?!’

That was it, the proverbial straw.

“Fuck this shit,” you muttered, unclipping the radio from your belt.

You didn’t spare the damned plastic another look as you wound back and threw it as far as you could. It sank into the depths with a resounding plunk. Far from satisfied, you dove into the cold waters of the lake, swam the short distance to a nearby boatercycle, climbed aboard and took off.

‘Not today you fucks.’

The small blinking light, now settling in at the bottom of the lake, was the only evidence of your little outburst. Over time, that familiar shape would cover with silt, its light fading, burying your secret tantrum with it.

If you couldn’t drown your problems, you would at least outrun them for a day.

[allonsysilvertongue]

Wiping History

“What will happen when we get to your arena?” she demanded. “I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.“ 75 arenas and one colossal task for Effie Trinket. Hayffie. Post-MJ. Previously. 

14. Settling

Effie blew lightly over the steaming mug of her morning coffee, a silly smile still etched on her face. She must have replayed the scene in the park about a hundred times by now. The shower this morning was spent in a daze as she remembered what it was like to have him kiss her.

It was unbecoming, truly. She was not a teenager anymore and having Haymitch Abernathy kiss her shouldn’t make her like she was walking on clouds but it did.

It was a relief to finally be able to let it all go; to finally look in the mirror and know that the person staring back at her was no longer full of anger and resentment. It felt whole to be able to forgive the one person who mattered the most to her and knew that even through her cold treatment of him, he stood steadfast by her. He truly was a gem, not that she would tell him in case it gets to his head, but he was a good man, and at times, she felt underserving of him.  

The knock on her door startled her. She placed the mug carefully on a coaster before making her way to the door.

Haymitch, she noted happily when she saw his back through the peephole.

They did not make plans for him to drop by her place this morning after they parted ways the night before and she had simply assumed that they would meet at the Parliament as was their usual practice.

“Haymitch,” she beamed.

Her good mood was so apparent that he looked on at her with amusement.

“Did I make your morning?” he teased.

“Perhaps… Perhaps… Or it could be that my coffee beans were roasted perfectly this morning,” she looked at him over her shoulder as she sashayed back into the kitchen, all the while aware that he was staring at her ass.

“I – uh – I know I don’t usually come over before we fly off to the arena but I spent the night… I was thinking about…” he exhaled. “I just wanted to see you. Before we head off to work…”

Likely to catch her alone, she mused.

She turned, resting her hands on the back of a chair, smiling indulgently at him. He slowed down at the kitchen entrance, watching her before coming around to where she was only to kiss her hard.

Effie reciprocated without missing a beat, tangling her fingers in his hair just as he took a step forward until her back hit the kitchen table. He lifted her up easily enough.

It had been so long and yet they moved as if the time apart from each other was just a minor inconvenience to what should always have been.

“I came for this,” he drew back just enough to tell her that before kissing the side of her neck.

“I deduced as much,” she told him.

They took their time kissing and neither Haymitch nor Effie tried to take it any further than just mindless touching and patting.

“You’re beautiful,” he murmured as he swept her hair behind her shoulder.

Raising her head to meet his gaze, Effie ran a finger down his stubble cheek. His grey eyes were bright under the morning light and his gaze was intense.

“What are you thinking about?”

“There are four more arenas,” he answered, “and it’s not over fast enough. I want to get you out of here, take you home like I told you I would. Can you imagine the look on the kids’ faces when they see you walkin’ down the pathway in the Village with your suitcase in tow to my house…”

They would be surprised but they would welcome her. They were a family which meant she would always have a place in Twelve and in their lives but the others…

“We’re not getting ahead of ourselves, are we, Haymitch?” she bit on her bottom lip worriedly.

Effie had tried to picture herself in District Twelve him, and while she knew she would be safe in Victor’s Village with Katniss, Peeta and Haymitch, keeping herself secluded in there forever was hardly an option. Hiding was not living but the thought of the reaction from the locals had her stomach in knots.

Would they ever be able to accept her? Would they be able to look beyond her past and understand that like them, she was just trying to find somewhere to begin her life again?

“What do you mean?” his face scrunched. “You want this, yeah? You havin’ second thoughts, sweetheart?”

“No, no,” she was quick to placate. “I am just… uncertain if my presence would be welcomed. I – I was an escort and that is not a fact that I could run away from.”

He relaxed just slightly knowing that it was not him she had a problem with.

“Not everyone will be welcoming… But they won’t do anything to you. Not with me, Katniss and Peeta there. No one will dare but being accepted… It’ll still take time, sweetheart, but you’ve got to start first, yeah? They’ll see that you ain’t that bad. It’s already public knowledge that you aided Katniss and Peeta every way you can during the Games and the Rebellion, that you were imprisoned for that … People know ‘bout you and Jo and Annie, you know? People know you make trips to Four to visit Finn, and if you’re all bad, you’re the last person Jo would let near the baby. The smart ones will understand. The ones with half a brain and can think for themselves… You don’t be a victor’s friend after the war, especially if you were from the Capitol, if there’s nothin’ about you we like,” he chuckled. He ran a thumb across her cheekbone comfortingly. “Beside, when this program is broadcasted and people get to see that you’re the one in-charge of getting the arena destroyed… Well, that won’t hurt your case either.”

Effie nodded and embraced him, comforted by his word and his warmth.

“We deserve this, sweetheart,” he muttered gruffly in her ear. “Just this one thing – you and me together – no more Games, no more Rebellion, no more Snow or Coin telling us what to do, where to go, when to see each other….”

“Yes,” she agreed, running her finger up and down the back of his neck. “We do.”

“Anything else that’s worrying you?” he asked to which she shook her head. “Good. I’m starving. What’d you have?”

All she had was toasts and jam which seemed to satisfy him. They spent breakfast discussing the remaining arena and the memorial to be built with the names of the fallen tribute in its place. When they finally left her apartment to the Parliament to meet Katniss and Peeta, Effie’s good mood from that morning had double.

She greeted the man by the newspaper stand and smiled at strangers passing by her.

Once in a while, she would glance his way, noting the ease in her heart and the calm in her mind knowing that despite all the anger and rage, they had made it this far. For the first time since the war ended, Effie felt at peace and she felt hopeful, as if the new beginnings everyone was talking about after President Snow fell was suddenly meant for her too.

As they crossed the road, Effie slipped her hand in his.

She felt him tense a little.

“Is this okay?” Effie asked, quite aware that they were in public and that he might not be comfortable with it at all.

“Yeah,” he muttered. She felt his fingers flexed before his grip tightened. “Yeah, of course, sweetheart.”

By all accounts, this was not something new. They had held hands before but it was never like this. It was never without reasons. They had never held hands simply because they wanted to.

It was always out of desperation like when Katniss and Peeta nearly at the berries or when Peeta’s heart had stopped beating after he hit the force field or out of the need to seek comfort like he had done after destroying Chaff’s arena.

This felt nice, simply because.

Effie held on to his hand again as they watched Katniss wandered into the cave where she and Peeta had hid during the 74th Games. The girl came out, jaws clenched.

“Let’s go,” Katniss commanded.

“What’s in there?” Haymitch asked as they walked behind the kids.

“Countless of Capitol proposals… It was thought to be romantic,” Effie explained. “Katniss fed him and cared for him. It was a kind of intimacy most people in the Capitol hardly knew. It didn’t help that it was there that…. they first had their kiss after all.”

Haymitch snorted. His own note, ‘you call that a kiss? – H’ had been an exhibit in the cave.

The arena was destroyed the same way the 75th had been. Katniss torched the place. They departed on the hovercraft even as the flames were still ferociously roaring within the contained arena.

Sending Katniss and Peeta off was easier than Effie thought it would be, largely because she knew she would seem them again soon. Neither Haymitch nor Effie had even alluded to the fact that at the end of this, Effie would be coming to Twelve. Not that she believed in such a thing, but she would rather not jinx it.

The 71st to the 73rd Games was quickly dealt with without much affair. By that point, Haymitch wanted to see it end. Since she was the person in-charge, Effie released him from his role as the representative of the victors and from his duties which meant, he was free to leave.

As they lay sprawled on the sofa in her apartment, she promised that she would see him in District Twelve once she had seen through the rest of her tasks.

“Don’t see why I need to go,” he hummed, running his fingers through her hair with his chin propped on the top of her head. “I can stay until all this is over. Nothin’ much to do in Twelve anyway. I haven’t been around in Twelve for a while, what’s a couple more weeks? We’ll leave together.”

The thought of having him with her for a few more weeks made her snuggle a little closer to him.

Two weeks after they first kissed in the park, they had their first argument. Effie came home from the office to see him lounging on the armchair, feet on the table and whiskey in one hand. The dirty dishes from their breakfast that morning which she had asked him to help her with after he kept her in the bedroom longer than necessary were still in the sink. The bed was still unmade and his dirty clothes were still on the floor of her bedroom.

She had nagged until he became annoyed with her it and shouted at her, at which point she had screamed back before leaving the apartment with a loud slam of her door.

Haymitch found her at the stairwell, smoking and staring into nothing.

She glared at him when she saw him approached.

“Don’t want me around…?” he asked, lowering himself on one of the steps.

“Don’t be silly,” she exhaled, flicking the ashes off. “I had a really long day, Haymitch, and the last thing I needed was to come back to a dumpster.”

“I know,” he nodded, rubbing the back of his neck guiltily. “You wanna talk about it?”

He plucked the cigarette out of her fingers which only made her glare at him harder and crushed it under his boots before patting the empty space next to him. Ten years ago, if someone had said she would be sitting next to Haymitch Abernathy at dimly lit stairwell talking, she would have questioned their sanity.

“How does Katniss manage?” she asked, resting her head on his shoulder. “With her book…”

“The memorial, yeah? It’s getting to you…”

“Yes. It’s just… there were so many tributes, Haymitch. Thousands of children….”

He brought his arm around her shoulder, squeezing it gently to provide whatever comfort he could give.

“When I had to help her with it, I got through a session with a hell of a lot of whiskey. That ain’t you, is it?” he chuckled.

Instead of answering, she lifted her pack of cigarettes.

“That won’t do either,” he frowned. “Look, sweetheart, one day at a time, alright? If it gets too much, then what you got to do is to stagger the years. You shouldn’t do too many years in one day. What’s the rush?”

“The faster this is over the faster we – “

“I know,” he cut her off before kissing her head. “You want it to be over and you want to leave but don’t put this pressure on yourself. You’re the one setting the deadline which means you can move it up ahead if you need it. I ain’t leaving till you’re leaving so…” he shrugged. “One day at a time.”

Knowing that he was right, she nodded and stood up, offering a helping hand to him. The moment they entered her apartment, he quickly jostled her in the direction of the bedroom before she could see the mess in the kitchen and get annoyed once more.

Effie fell asleep the moment her head touched the pillow. It felt like she had only dozed off when the noises and clanking in the kitchen woke her up. Pushing herself out of bed, the first thing she noticed was the lack of dirty clothes on the floor. They were all in the laundry basket. Bleary eyed, Effie moved silently to the kitchen.

She saw him there quietly washing the dishes. Effie watched him with such fondness in her eyes.

“Hey,” he greeted over his shoulder. “Thought you were asleep... Came to make sure I didn’t break your plates, huh?”

“You were noisy…” she pouted. “What are you doing? It’s in the middle of the night.”

“You had enough stress at work, I don’t need to be another one of your problems,” he answered nonchalantly. “As much as I enjoy arguing with you and finding ways to make it up to you, seeing you all worked up ain’t my favourite thing.”

Laughing, she approached him and wrapped her arms around him. She kissed the spot between his shoulder blades.

“This was unexpected and sweet. You know, I think I can get use to do this sight… You washing and drying dishes. It’s very domestic.”

He snorted.

“Just wondering…” he started, drying his hands as he turned around to face her. “I wore you down, yeah?”

He sounded so smug. At first, she didn’t understand his question until she remembered the night she came to Twelve with news about the arena and the conversation they had.

“You did not,” she returned. “I came to my senses.”

~ Fin.

That’s it! I promised you I would finish the fic and I did. I’m proud of myself and I hope you’ve had a fun time reading Wiping History. Please leave me your reviews for the last time for this story and let me know yours thoughts on it :) 

[sambart93]

2017.09.18 Oushitsu Kyoushi Haine Review!

I was able to go to the Live Viewing of this stage! Which I am thankful for because tickets were impossible! I watched the anime when it first came out and loved the anime and fell in love with Haine and the fact that it's UeChan and Haine himself is adorable just made it all the more 'I must watch this!'

If you want more details about the overall story and plot of this stage then you can go to this blog post I just found here.

Official Website here Official Twitter here Press Coverage 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 Video Coverage 1, 2, 3 PreOrder DVD/BR here, and here

However, my expectations for this musical did drop somewhat when on the Friday, I was outside the theatre (waiting for a trade) when I noticed, everyone that walked out were deadly silent and not smiling or speaking really. I’ve never seen that happen with a stage before! So it really worried me; did people not like it? Was it bad? What went wrong? Did something happen on stage? Did an actor get hurt? All these things went through my mind and ultimately it really pulled down my expectations for it. And then my friend went and was also like ‘before I went in for the night show, none of the afternoon audience were very waiwai (hyper, happy, fangirling) when they left.. and then I saw it; I understand why they weren’t waiwai but I think I’m not waiwai for different reasons’ so then I really had like minus expectations going into this. Which is a shame because thy anime is a amazing, the cast for this is solid, it has a lot of potential and room to grow and have fun and be a really enjoyable stage. But from what me and my friend had seen... it wasn’t promising =/

Anyway lets get down to it:

CAST and CHARACTERS

Ueda Keisuke as Haine Hirose Daisuke as Leonhart/Leonhard Asato Yuya as Kai Aoi Shouta as Rihito / Richi Adachi Yuto as Bruno Tatsuma Hoshi as Maximilian Udagawa Tsukasa as Lugwig Kimisawa Yuki as Rosenberg Nobuo Kyo as Victor Ensemble

NON SPOILER REVIEW Overall: This is going to be really stupid, and I know it, BUT... there was too much singing. I felt like 70% of this is just song after song after song (according to one press release, this musical has over 40 songs) with no plot or scenes of dialogue. Especially the beginning. The first 30 minutes are absolute torture of song after song and I got very agitated and bored of it very easily and felt like ‘get to the story already!’. Luckily the singing simmers down once we get past Leonhart’s arc and get into Kai and Rihito’s story; there’s definitely less singing and actual acting and scenes once that beginning is over. Asato Yuya as Kai was absolute perfection; he couldn’t have done a better job. Rihito’s arc in the stage is VERY good and very enjoyable. I absolutely adored Aoi’s performance  as Rihito in this part of the stage and his song in the climax of the arc actually made me cry pretty hard. Kimisawa really surprised me with his singing; his singing is absolutely amazing. I was so impressed! But after a while, what with apparently there being 40 songs in this stage, all his song started to sound the same and repetitive. But his voice is gold. I really enjoyed Nobuo Kyo’s performance and thought he fit Victor pretty well. UeChan was obviously a great Haine and his performance always fascinated and entices me. Although I will say; this musical version of Haine lacked in comedy and lightheartedness which is a shame because they could’ve done so many cute and adorable moments with UeChan as Haine but they didn’t do it so much; only now and again would there be cute Haine moments which I'm sad about. And because of the lack of comedy and lightheartedness, the musical feels very down and dark and it’s actually tiring to watch after about the first 110minutes. I noticed the audience around me in the cinema started to get really fidgety and restless after about 100 minutes, and I started to lose it after the 130 minute mark. I think that’s why so much of the audience is/was so neutral after coming out of the show. Finally, the show ran a bit too long; if they’d cut out some of the musical numbers, this play could’ve been shorter but also much more enjoyable in my opinion. I appreciated the ending change (from the anime to the stage) though - the rest of the stage is a carbon copy of the anime. Although it kind of ends suddenly without any real... climax song.... which also leads to the audience being very ‘ah okay... *walks home*’. The best part of the stage was, in all honesty, the curtain call. Seeing the cast interact with one another and having this massive laugh and fun together as themselves in front of the audience was so much fun xD Rating: 6/10

Now to the nittygritty.

SPOILER REVIEW

To reiterate the non-spoiler section: The first part of this play is just not good. I got very bored straight away because it was just song after song after song and it really bogged me down and I was just like 'hurry up and get to the story already!'. I know it's stupid to complain because this IS a musical but.... there really are TOO many songs in this - 40!... so many songs would've been better as just scenes of dialogue. I really don’t like when a song is put in just for performances sake rather than to help the plot along and I feel this happened a lot. For example, you don’t need to sing to me how many fucking points the princes got on their test; just fucking tell me! What a waste of time. So they really irked me. Also there was one female singer who was just a note too high for my liking in almost every song and it really made me cringe. If you wanna sing that high, go do fucking opera! It really took you out of the story with quite a few of the songs in my opinion. It also felt like it was trying to be ‘west end’ with all the ensemble dancing and the singing and such. It was too much for me. There’s a reason why I hate and avoid west end musicals, and Haine unfortunately was somewhat reminiscent of those musicals so I did not enjoy it. The overall balance in the group singing though was really nice and I fell like almost everyone balanced and bounced off each other well in the singing parts. I get it's a musical so there should be lots of songs, but it just feel the balance between music numbers and scenes with dialogue and actual acting, especially in the beginning, was way off.

This musical is REALLY long too! I think we got about 60% through and people were really starting to shuffle or going to the bathroom without really caring. And at about 80% through, I started to feel 'if we go to the council scene right now I'm gunna fucking scream! I am ready for this to be done', but luckily they changed the ending which made it so much more bearable and worked much better for stage rather than it would've in the anime but I'll get to that later.

It wasn't until we got to Kai's arc that it started to be less about the songs and actually whole scenes of dialogue and acting that I started to enjoy it. Unfortunately this means that I pretty much blocked out Leonhart’s arc because that too was just song after song in my opinion. They even cut out the scene of Haine reading his diary! I love that scene! And we didn’t have any ridiculous Haine chasing Leonhart on a horse while standing ON the horse! I was hoping for some Touken Ranbu Stage horse ridiculousness for that one scene but they cut it out completely =[ Apparently the ensemble in this one are too professional to do something that silly - seriously, I hated the ensemble (most likely the directors fault though), but I just hated them. I feel like all their constant singing and dancing didn’t add anything to the stage either. Just be normal ensemble and do your roles! BUT I will say, their costumes were very, very creative and I liked them xD

As expected, Kai's arc was adorable! Especially as soon as he grabbed UeChan's hand and was like 'funi funi.... your hand... is funi funi...... suki / I like you' and Haine freaked like 'it's still a little too early for that?!-- oh, you mean my hand because it’s soft,' which was so funny! Especially because during that moment Haine was brought to his knees from Kai really locking in on his hand and playing with it >_< Asato was just perfection as Kai; he was absolutely perfect. Seeing him completely switch back to himself at the curtain call was just a great transformation to witness. His acting was so good as Kai! He had some golden moments during Rihito’s arc too.

Rihito's arc was probably the best part in terms of acting and performance. Also it had a hilarious adlib in it! Kai comes in from a side door and into the crowd and is like 'I have to be able to give greetings just like Sensei said... *faces camera, but there’s no spotlight so it’s just this black silhouette of him facing the camera, so we all cracked up laughing* are you my father?! I'll do my best!' And then he tries to talk to a girl but fails so he's like 'I wonder what Haine would do in my situation', and UeChan is just in his seat trying not to crack up. So Kai repeats himself 'I WONDER WHAT HAINE WOULD DO IN MY SITUATION,' so UeChan gave in because the crowd clapped for him to join in. He 'jumped' through the 4th wall and approached a girl 'good evening... your kimono is beautiful.... who do you like in Haine? Oh me? Thank you! ... excluding me who do you like? .... she said only me'. Then he went back on stage and 'jumped' back into the Haine world. So Kai tries 'good evening! Who do you like in Haine? ...... LEOHARTO..... WHO’S NEXT? Me? Oh thank you!' And the adlib scene ends. When Rihito came back into that scene, he's like 'Haine you disappeared for a moment' xD

I really, really loved Rihito's arc. I think Aoi did absolutely amazing in his acting and performance. Especially the music number towards the end of his story where he's crying and he's like 'father doesn't care! He never did!' then his father accepts him and he's crying and breaking down like 'you really do care! And I didn't notice because I was just a stupid kid'. I legit couldn't stop my tears! The performance was amazing and I was so impressed with this part of the stage. Also there's a part where Rihito smacks the cafe owner in the face with the metal serving plate and I burst out into laughter. I thought it was hilarious!

OH! The girl next to me was SO funny! Everytime there was a close up of Aoi or DaiChan, she would smack her hand over her nose and mouth because she’d just cry xD she was adorable and kept me entertained during the less interesting parts of the play.

Then we got to Bruno’s arc. I feel like this one was probably the shortest and most simple to get through. I don’t really remember anything note worthy or different to the anime for this arc. Bruno’s actor is probably the weakest singer. You could tell he was trying but he didn’t have much of a range; it definitely seemed like his voice was going to crack at some points due to being strained. The actor himself is cute though, and I feel like I preferred stage Bruno over anime Bruno.

OH! There was one point! When he decides to call Haine ‘Shisou’ and he starts flailing and shaking his arms around, then Leonhart comes in and joins in on the flailing; that part was funny.

Which reminds me; a lot of the comedy and jokes that should’ve hit and made the audience laugh just didn’t; either the timing was off or they just didn’t express it as a comical moment but it totally should’ve been. Like THIS scene where he decides to call Haine ‘Shisou’ -- it’s hilarious in the anime -- but in the stage he’s just like ‘Ah! I will call you Shisou’ and Haine just walks away ‘I’d appreciate it if you didn’t.’ It SHOULD’VE a funny scene! We should’ve had a funny moment of Haine reacting to being called Shisou like ‘ararara?! Shisou?! *cough* I’d appreciate it if you didn’t.’ but nothing! I think A LOT of my problems for this stage musical from the LACK of comedy in it. There were some hilarious parts don’t get me wrong! Such as the adlib with Kai -- but it’s an adlib, not a planned comedy scene --- and we had some cute Haine moments.

Planned Comedy moments we had:

1. Haine being lifted up when he was captured 2. Maximilian giving Haine brides lift so he can’t enter the kingdom at the beginning. 3. Haine  rolling around the floor at and onto Rihito’s feet going ‘goro goro goro’ 4. Haine pulling pufferfish faces and pouting when a Prince is being childish. 5. Rihito smacking the cafe owner in the face with a silver serving plate. 6. Victor joining the cafe and having his butt smacked by the owner after doing a good job. 7. Haine jumping to his knees when he gets called a child. 8. Girls pretending to fall off their chair in the cafe so Rihito can help them up but he ignores them. 9. Haine curled up on the sofa and rocking side to side as he waits for his moment to talk.

But a LOT of this is just ‘story story, oh this prince has troubles, oh now they’re fixed, music number three billion times, story arc done, begin next arc’ without any comedy in it at all! This is HAINE!! The anime was hilarious (AND ADORABLE!)! The manga looks very funny too! But this musical just didn’t have it. Touken Ranbu is MORE funny than this stage! WTF?! That doesn’t add up does it?!

Now that I’ve gone down the road of negatives, I may as well carry on:

I did not like the 'Young Haine' and 'Young Victor' roles. It worked when the two actresses were just acting the scene out while the spotlights were mainly on Victor and Haine. BUT the LV cameraman kept the close ups on the two actresses, and I was like 'you're ruining the magic here!!! Keep the camera on Uechan or Nobuo OR stick to the wide shot you had going on with all 4 of them in shot because that looked FINE!' I did not like the close ups of the Young roles because they weren't even lip-syncing to what UeChan and Nobuo were saying so it just looked stupid in the cinema. Swear to god, these close ups are on the DVD and I'm gunna flip my shit. It just did not work. Continuing my ensemble hate; I HATED the fact that they used the SAME guy to play all the 'Young (insert the prince's name here)' every time,and they didn't even bother to put a wig on him to make him look more like the prince he was supposed to be at the time. Ugh..... that really got on my shit.

Final bad point: I feel like this stage ends really weird... I feel like the climax song was about 3 songs before the actual final song and it’s like ‘Haine please come back!’ and he goes ‘hello I’m your new teacher’ and it just ends, and they suddenly start bowing and I just think it’s really weird and abrupt how the stage ends. Why didn’t they end with like the boys running over to him ‘hey Haine I’m so glad you’re bad! Lets go do this! Let’s try this! Lets--’ and Haine going ‘wait! It’s time for class to start!’ and them all raising their hands and going ‘okay!!’ and then either happy clappy music starts blasting out, or lights cutting out to black before the clapping and bowing starts. That would’ve been a better ending.

BACK to the positives!

UeChan really is the cutest thing to walk this Earth xD whenever he did the little pouty faces or whenever he did something to make himself smaller was just so adorable! I was super surprised to hear that he can actually sing and that he sings so softly compared to his normal, very powerful voice! It's so adorable!! He also made me cry; it was during the Victor and Haine flashback scene and when it got to the Haine going on a fighting rampage, the Young role jumped out of the way and it was UeChan that did all the action and the fighting when he attacked the royal guards and my heart just hurt so much for Haine at that point <3 UeChan’s action choreography and movements were great! I was surprised how high he could kick his leg and everything! I also loved that they did the iconic gun scene when he and Kai are captured and the ‘bang’ sign comes out of the gun rather than a bullet xD UeChan’s action in that scene is good too!

To say it was Tatsuma’s first play, I thought he did great! His Maximilian was adorable! But, I think he needs to eat more; those pants and large jackets weren’t hide the tiny body he obviously has.

Just to reiterate the Non-spoiler section again: Kimisawa really surprised me with his singing; his singing is absolutely amazing. I was so impressed! I also thought he did a great job as Rosenberg and was happy with his performance. I think he made Rosenberg more mischievous. I really liked the scene where he throws the papers on the streets of the town so everyone can hear about Kai’s past. It was a nice moment. But like I said his songs started to sound the same and repetitive after a while. But his voice is gold and was amazing to listen to. AND I really enjoyed Nobuo Kyo’s performance and thought he fit Victor pretty well. Especially the cafe scene where he tries to act cute and does all these cute poses and then gets his butt slapped by the cafe owner and he feels and looks so violated xD I thought he and UeChan bounced off each other very well.

I'm glad they changed the ending. It was getting towards the end, I was getting agitated and thought 'if they go into the council scene, it's gunna be another 20 or 30 minutes, and I am so ready to be done!' But they changed it in that Rosenberg and Haine go back to Haine's old teaching church and Rosenberg tempts him to do something (I didn't catch what) but just before he accepts, the boys turn up and tell him 'you taught us that everyone has a few scars... you taught us we should do what we want' etc and in the end he decides to stay as their teacher. In the anime, the whole council scene works but for Stage I think the council scene would've been too much and I'm glad they changed it to make it all this more simpler and more 'just about Haine and his boys' rather than in the anime where 'the kingdom gets to decide and the boys have to prove their mature enough' etc. I am thankful for this change!

AFTERSHOW

The curtain call was adorable. Everyone did their greetings and UeChan asked them all to hurry up but didn't explain until later that it's because they might get cut off in the LV of they go to long xD Bruno's actor was adorable! He was like 'playing Bruno and a Professor it was so--- wait what did I just say?' And then everyone had a go at him and he was like 'I'm okay' in like the cutest way ever and I absolutely died of laughter. During DaiChan's turn he said nothing mean about Aoi and Aoi ran for him but Bruno held him back while DaiChan just laughed his ass off and UeChan like 'behave!!' XD Nobuo was adorable too; ‘I'm not a father in real life buy I think I now know how fathers feel... look at my sons! I’m so proud of them!’. UeChan's parents were there tonight and he was like 'don't search for them! 探さないで！' to the audience >.<

EDIT: also during the second curtain call Ueda was like ‘thank you all for standing up, but we’re all going to say something so *switches to English* sit down please’ and it was such good pronunciation <3

*

I’m kinda regretting the fact that I preordered the BluRay (especially because you had to pay 1000yen at the venue just to preorder it) because of how much I ended up not enjoying the musical BUT hopefully on the BluRay they’ll be good backstage stuff which’ll make it worth it, plus it comes with a possible DVD release event ticket so if I hit for that then it’ll make the purchase worth it. If not, I’ll just sell it off to someone. Any takers? xD

*

GOODS

I’m defo buying his randoms from this stage in the near future; last week they were super cheap at KBooks.

*

And that’s all! Sorry it wasn’t all happy and smiles like you were probably expecting.. but to be honest; I LOVE complaining, when do I never not complain about a stage?

[jinlian]

I’ve joked a lot about how YOI made me gayer, and like, in lighthearted terms, it really did. And I think a lot of people still don’t quite understand why the show resonated with a lot of LGBT fans, and not just because there were two men who fell in love on screen. 

To put it in more serious terms, there was -- is -- something incredibly relatable about Yuuri’s Eros arc that made me, a bisexual woman still very much coming to terms with her newly-discovered identity, just feel... reassured. I’m twenty-five years old now: twenty-four when YOI was airing, and twenty-two when I realized that my attraction to women was not purely platonic. That’s twenty-two years of telling myself over and over that I’m definitely straight, definitely wouldn’t want to do anything sexual with women, definitely wouldn’t ever, ever have to confront that fear. And in the year that I did actually start coming to terms with “bi” being an identity that felt right, I was on an unfamiliar campus, in an unfamiliar environment, and unable to turn to my best friends from undergrad with whom I could discuss the worries and fears I had regarding my own identity. (I’m a really private person. Even if they’d been here with me I don’t know if I would have opened up about it.)

I spent a lot of time questioning myself. I knew I was still attracted to men--kept telling myself I still preferred them, like a quick escape route to continue avoiding actually confronting my genuine confusion. When I came out to my mother I decided to emphasize that, downplay my feelings for women, just to make sure she didn’t make a “big deal” out of it. I was definitely bi. But I’d also never been with a woman--so maybe I was faking it, maybe I wasn’t a “real” bisexual, maybe I’d just made myself believe it. I’d never actually be with a woman. I wouldn’t have to deal with what the sexuality part of my sexuality meant.

(Worth noting that I also have sex-related trauma, but that’s not for this post. Point being: coming to terms with actually being sexual with “my gender” was not easy, and I was often self-conscious and uncertain.)

So you can see where this starts to relate to Eros.

I’ve also talked a lot about how I relate to YOI from an athlete’s perspective, and yeah, being in-season and drooling exhaustedly over your meal is such a mood. Extremely relatable from that alone that Yuuri would decide on impulse that katsudon is his eros -- y’all have never seen me in the dining hall after dinner on a doubles day of swim practice. 

It’s pretty clear to me as a viewer that Yuuri’s got a big huge fucking celebrity crush on Victor from day one, and whether or not Victor actually intended to parade his chiseled dripping wet nude body to Yuuri on day one doesn’t change the fact that he did. Yuuri’s nervous around him, blushes when Victor comes too close, feels his heart pounding, lies awake in happiness at nighttime, jerks back when he comes too close. Yuuri’s attracted to him, and not just out of admiration. 

Of fucking course he didn’t shout that Victor was his eros.

First, speaking as someone with sexual experience, sometimes you just wanna kick back with a nice big bowl of ice cream anyway. I think it may have been Kubo who talked about how the katsudon-is-Eros idea came out of a conversation she had once about teaching young, inexperienced dancers to express sensuality by pretending you were tasting honey on your hands. Second, if you’re not wholly comfortable with your sexuality--a very very common experience for people who are LGBP--you’re not gonna scream it from the rooftops. And even if you’re straight you’re not likely to scream to your own childhood crush that he’s your Eros, either.

Katsudon is delicious. Katsudon is safe.

Katsudon lasts for about one and a half performances.

Victor is patient and understanding with Yuuri’s metaphors from the very beginning, but just as much as he rolls with using katsudon to get the performance he wants out of Yuuri, he also doesn’t hold back from being clear about what’s happening, either. He does this patiently, encouragingly: “Dance like you’re trying to seduce me. If you can charm me, you can charm anyone.” (Okay Victor “touch-starved” Nikiforov)

Yuuri is already dropping the metaphor in episode three.

He’s still using it, but he’s stopped thinking in it--that moment he hugs Victor, and Victor is solid and warm and comforting. “Who am I dancing for? I know who. I’m better than any woman out there... you know why?”

He’s easing back a little bit but he’s still playing it safe. In Japanese Yuuri is using more feminine speech in his internal monologue, playing a part. And god is that relatable. It isn’t just that he feels comfortable with more feminine movements, which is a whole other wonderful unexpected moment in itself. He admits that, but he’s still making that sexuality safe, making it straight in his mind, making it something he doesn’t have to confront about himself, admit to the world as himself--

And then there’s the Cup of China.

Between episodes three and six we watch Yuuri’s and Victor’s relationship grow open. Yuuri secludes himself away from Victor when he starts to feel vulnerable, and it’s even a little bit ambiguous why. As a skater, definitely. But personally as well, and that’s addressed tentatively, carefully, in that conversation on the beach. Yuuri talks about letting people in, about comfort, about trust, and god, god, you don’t know how scary it is to talk about your sexuality when it’s something that you don’t understand yourself either. You need to trust people--and even when you do, you can feel so hideously silly and immature.

“It’s time to stop picturing pork cutlet bowls and women,” Victor tells Yuuri. “Seduce me as yourself.”

“The world already hates me for stealing Victor,” Yuuri thinks, “and they won’t be satisfied with the old me, either.”

Phichit posts that picture of naked Victor draping over Yuuri the night before the men’s short. 

“Don’t ever take your eyes off me,” Yuuri tells Victor.

And there are no metaphors, no feminized speech patterns, no katsudon, just Yuuri skating for Victor’s love, a decision that fuck it, who he is and what he wants is more important than what the world thinks of him. It’s brave. And it’s scary!! It’s really scary to go out and tell the whole goddamn world that you’re not straight, it takes courage to confront something you haven’t often let yourself confront before. He grows into that. And in episode eight, that comfort with who he is, with his love and the love he has with Victor, makes Yuuri his strongest.

It’s sexual. It’s encouraging. And for me it was practically overwhelming.

Being physically intimate with someone is nerve-wracking. You’re exposed, you’re on the spot, you often feel vulnerable. Not that you should, but you do, especially when you’re uncertain about yourself in the first place. I joke that YOI made me gayer because I saw Yuuri becoming happier and confident and stronger for that confrontation with his sexuality, and I began to do it, too. It was scary for him; it’s still scary for me. But I’ve gone from half believing I never even wanted to deal with something that was a part of me from wanting everyone to know it (even if it’s still scary sometimes and makes my heart pound and my mouth dry when I have a chance to admit what I am in public) to wanting to be with women, with specific women, with accepting my fear but opening up to it anyway and finding myself happy. It’s not even a joke that YOI led to my first ~actually gay~ experience, lol. I’m still coming to terms with it--but god it’s relatable. Not just romantic attraction but the sexuality in Eros, the feeling of physically wanting someone next to you, feeling nervous, feeling strange, uncertain how this could even be right and yet it is.

Eros is physical. Yuri on Ice deals with the more emotional side of the romance as a performance, but watching a gay man blossom as he comes to term with his sexuality in a sweet and loving sports anime was a unique experience for me, and it came just at a time when I needed it.

[fanficgalore]

Viktuuri #63

That boy has my heart in a silver cage [Fluff/Angst] When Victor Nikiforov is asked to make nice to the heir of the Katsuki Hospitality Group, he has no idea what he's getting into. The thing is? He doesn't care.

Once you go greek [Fluff/Angst] Here are three things Viktor Nikiforov's learned as a brother of Mu Sigma Delta:

1) Go for what you want. 2) Make use of what you have. 3) Everyone in Alpha Kappa Omega is an asshole.

And then he meets Yuuri Katsuki. The more he gets to know Yuuri, the more Viktor finds that he's no longer sure what he wants anymore and that might make him lose the best thing he's ever had.

Or: A fraternity fic wherein Yuuri and Viktor are in rival frats, but they fall in love anyway.

Nothing Subtle About This [Fluff] The plane got ready for takeoff then, Yuuri sneaking glances during the safety instructions and announcements about the weather in Tokyo. And he felt guilty about it every time. Why wouldn't he? Here he was being a full-on perv over a guy who was so far out of his league that he was probably in a special invitation-only league. Yuuri got tongue-tied talking to just regular attractive people, never mind Mr. International Male Model.

darling, so it goes: some things were meant to be [Fluff] The stewardess comes around asking if they need anything in advance before the first round of refreshments are served, and Victor bites his tongue to avoid asking for her help to get Cute Guy’s number. Instead, he pulls out his tablet, blessed by the in-flight wifi, and searches up the least cheesy ways to ask someone out while on an airplane.

Luckily, he doesn't have to use any of wikiHow's terrible pick-up lines, because it turns out he's not the only one interested.

It’s a sign [Fluff] Five times Victor and Yuuri escalate the Silly Signs Held Up At Airport Arrival Terminals War, and one time Victor wins without using a sign at all.

Sunshine on the street [Fluff] Yuuri is a college student who work part time as newspaper delivery boy. Every morning he passed through from house to houses to deliver them, but the last house in his delivery route has certain lovely poodle and a handsome CEO who strangely always there to greet him every morning.

Faking in secret [Fluff/Angst] It gets kind of difficult when you’re simultaneously fake dating and dating in secret at the same time.

Yuuri and Viktor make it work—until they don’t.

The second prince [Fluff] Yuuri of Hasetsu, the First Prince of the Kingdom and Second Heir to the Throne, is involved in an affair.

Into you [Fluff/Angst] Viktor wanted nothing more than to show off how much he loved Yuuri Katsuki. But no matter how famous, popular, or wealthy he got, he couldn't have that. He could have everything but that.

I’m a fool for you love [Fluff] tumblr asks and drabbles.

1. oblivious heartbreaker katsuki yuuri never gets a parking ticket

You were too much (then all at once you were just enough) [Fluff] You Barged Into My Dorm Room At 4 AM Drunk Off Your Ass And Begged Me To Sleep On The Floor Because You Couldn't Remember Where Is Your Room!AU

until another heart whispers back [Fluff] As a general rule, Yuuri doesn’t really like touching people. That’s why Viktor comes as a surprise.

Driving Mr. Katsuki [Fluff/Angst] Yuuri Katsuki gets into Victor Nikiforov's car, mistaking it for his Uber ride...and Victor doesn't correct him.

Night is Young and the Music's High [Humour] "Best press conference ever," the Japanese Nationals silver medalist says when asked. “Ten out of ten, would medal again.”

"I would die for Katsuki-kun," Minami declares, with terrifying sincerity.

Story of my life [Fluff] There are 3,140,000 results on Google Search for why you should meet your idol. Meeting your idol could allow you to tell them personally how much they mean to you and can inspire you to be more like your idol.

However, there are 20,300,000 reasons why you shouldn't meet your idol.

Or; AU where Victor is a famous author and Yuuri is his biggest fan.

Adagio of the ice [Fluff/Angst] Destiny was a funny thing. It could come with the face of small and grumpy child, which would make you reconsider how your life had been until then. It could also come with the face of an ice skating instructor that would give you back the passion for the ice you thought was long lost.

Blood is thicker than [Angst/Fluff] “You might be Yuri’s biological parent, Mr. Nikiforov. But I’m his father. If Yuri wants to go with you, that’s one thing,” Yuuri Katsuki’s voice flows quiet and dangerous into the room “but if he doesn’t, don’t think that you’re taking my child away from home,”

Or: Victor Nikiforov finds out he has a son. He wants full custody. Katsuki Yuuri isn't going to give up his child that easily.

Or: Victor and Yuuri fight a custody battle for Yurio. Shit happens.

Or: Yuri Plisetsky starts with one parent, and ends up with two.

[avillainousmagician]

I kinda wish there was like a specific tag for like ‘girly’ autistics.

Not to pure divide the community, there would still be the overarching actuallyautistic community. But I’d like a wee specifically ‘girly’ type autistic things too.

‘Girly’ is in inverted commas because I don’t really mean it, I sort of mean 'feminine’ but this would include people of any gender expression. Plus, even 'girly’ autistics aren’t very girly.

When I was figuring out my gender identity around the age of 12 (a way waaay back before the days of tumblr, back in 2004 when that kind of discussion wasn’t something people my age at the time tended to stumble upon online) I decided I was 'feminine on the outside but androgynous on the inside’. That was my 12 year old way of figuring out why I was different from other girls but didn’t fit in with the boys either. I had friends from both groups but things like 'boys and girls’ always made me uncomfortable. I have never really changed my gender identity since then and looking back now it seems really tied to my being autistic. It’s just easiest for me to go by she/her as I generally present myself as feminine (though I looove suits n waistcoats n stuff too) and like long hair and make up.

But yeah, despite the fact that I like my long hair (stimmy goodness), find skirts and dresses to be the most comfortable and practical items of clothing and like wearing make up I don’t do all the following celebrities, watching soaps, being good with children, going to the hairdresser, having a skincare routine, keeping myself pristine, going on Big Girls Nights Out and whatever else classic girly things are. Sorry for the stereotyping there, I know all women aren’t remotely like that but it’s as good as I can be at comparing myself to other women.

But I’d just like to have a specific space for other people on the spectrum who are really into clothes and shoes and like make up (they don’t have to be good at it - I am SHITE at it, but I like it) and like, I dunno, soft toys and stuff. And maybe sitcoms? I dunno. Art and story making too? Although that is pretty neutral.

Like I also love true crime (although come to think of it that always seems to be a very female dominated interest) and horror films and science fiction and dressing up in skirts and make up specifically to go exploring and climbing in the woods and being right in to my drinking and drugs which is what I’m meaning by 'girly’ autistics still not being very 'girly’. But for the more so called 'girly’-esque interests I think a wee community around that would be nice.

Like on the other hand, loads of spectrum folk are dead into sports and that’s seen more as a 'guy’ type of interest. And it completely disintrests me but I think people who would like to info dump about things like sports and maybe computers and space (this, again, is going by guys I know) would like a space to talk about that together. And that wouldn’t just be people who identify as male, obvs. Gender and autism is a grey as fuck area.

I should probably add that in a VERY sad and pathetic way, part of this is on behalf of my main OC because he is quite effeminate and is all about clothes and music and wears make up and REALLY doesn’t fit in with usual guys. His wife is hyper-femme but can be more 'manly’ than him in many, many ways. And he feels like he doesn’t Fit In in the same way I sometimes feel like I don’t in that Victor and I are both too 'girly’. But still not 'girly’ enough and it’s a weird area to float around in.

Anyway, sorry if any of this is really silly, it was just a thought I had when I was doing some OC development (When am I not doing that?) and I’m a bit out of it on painkillers for my foot hence the ramble. And I’m not brilliant at getting my point across anyway, no matter how much my mum and Dylan say to me I’m brilliant at articulating and explaining things.

And if this sort of thing already exists, just ignore me.

[atopearth]

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Part 4 - Trials and Tribulations (3rd game)

Turnabout Memories Omggg! I can’t believe we get to see Phoenix and Mia’s first meeting! I’ve always liked Mia so this is great! It’s so cute to see a younger Phoenix that is so cute and careless haha. Didn’t expect him to be the defendant for Mia’s second case ever though, but I guess it is a Phoenix Wright game, they gotta put him in the spotlight somehow, so if he’s not the defence, he’ll have to be a suspect hahaha. It’s so adorable when Phoenix cries lmao, but wow Dahlia is so cute and pretty, she’s an angel! Those butterflies hovering around her though lmao. The bottle necklace was really cool.

Wow, I really liked how this case turned out, it definitely feels more in line with the cases in the first game that I liked the most, mainly because it’s simple, it’s straightforward and it rounds up all the evidence and people mentioned nicely. I didn’t expect Phoenix to be so smitten with Dahlia though lol, but yeah, she’s really evil, not that we get to know what her motives for killing that attorney were, but dang was she evil to give the bottle that hid the poison to Phoenix so the police wouldn’t find it. I find it kinda funny that it ended up backfiring on her because Phoenix refused to return it to her later on so she had to keep dating him to try and get it back loll. Gotta feel sorry for the ex though, he noticed that she was dodgy and had stolen poison from his labs and was nice enough to warn Phoenix, but that instead led to his death, sigh, so terrible. Considering Dahlia’s last words, I guess we’ll be seeing her again… But yeah, I really liked this case especially with Mia being the lawyer, you can see how great she was even when she was a newbie. Lmao at Mr Payne losing his hair and screaming when he lost loll. Gotta love all the exaggeration, it really makes the game haha.

The Stolen Turnabout It’s nice to see Andrews living a better life now than when she was a manager. Lmaoo that no one noticed the urn being weird with the name spelt wrong since Pearl glued it back in the wrong places. Shocking that the village is famous enough that their “treasures” are being exhibited though lol. Otherwise, Atmey the ace detective doesn’t seem very interesting of a guy lol. I have to say, I miss Larry and his ability to complicate everything so it’s nice to see him again! Can’t believe he and Phoenix didn’t talk to each other for two years though! But, I guess considering the type of happy go lucky guy he is, Larry following a woman to Japan and then getting dumped is believable loll. I wonder if he makes all the girls he dates famous or something loll. Anyway, I don’t know why, but I feel like Atmey looks like and feels like Mask DeMasque. Okay, I love Godot’s look, he looks cool!! HAHAHA, I love him already, he’s never won or lost a case before because he’s a beginner hahahaha. He’s such an eccentric but it’s so cute, it was so funny and slack when he wanted to call his next witness, but Gumshoe said he hadn’t proven anything yet, and Godot says he already proved his incompetence LOL. And I love how Godot said the safest place to keep evidence is by him pocketing them hahahah. Gotta love everyone’s confidence here, Atmey especially, he didn’t even get to see the culprit’s face and was knocked out by him but he’s still so full of himself lolll. Gotta love how lenient the judge is with all the dodgy people, but I guess that’s expected since he’s not the best himself hahaha. LMAO when Godot said objection and threw his coffee at Phoenix (Godot Blend #102 hahaha) and you see the cup on his head whilst it’s dripping coffee hahahaha.

Anyway, what is wrong with Ron? Why is he so insistent on being Mask DeMasque and being pronounced guilty? Ohh wow, didn’t expect the CEO that was apparently blackmailing Ron to die, and to think that Phoenix proving him to be at the CEO office at the time of the theft saved him from the current case but now has caused him to be arrested for murdering the CEO. Aside from that, I love how when Godot is losing to Phoenix, steam comes out of his head or he just says random things about coffee to express his feelings lmao. Hahaahha Wendy Oldbag is Larry’s superior and partner in KB Security? Loll, they both sound so dodgy, I’m worried for this building. I wonder if Mask DeMasque is like two people or something lol. Hmm so Ron was the thief but someone gave him the plans and what to steal~ HAHAHA, lmao when Godot said “you did it, didn’t you?” to Ron when he was about to start testifying and Ron with a serious face says “yes” and then realises what he just said yes to and starts saying noooo LOL. Like the judge said, it really could have been the shortest trial ever hahahaha. Gotta love Gadot’s variety of reactions, it was so hilarious whenever he spat his coffee out at Phoenix uncovering things that were unexpected to him hahaha. Anyway, I really liked how things went on in this part of the trial! Even though it was obvious Detective Atmey was the culprit, it was interesting to see how he made everyone fall into the trap of thinking he was actually Mask DeMasque in order to get himself a guilty verdict of larceny as his alibi to protect him from actually being accused of murdering the CEO. That felt really clever and interesting imo. Well, glad to know Desiree really loves Ron as much as he loves her, so it’s a nice ending for them haha.

Overall, although Atmey was a boring culprit when considering his motives etc, I found the flow of the case really fun and interesting. The case started off pretty funny and amusing by introducing the broken urn from the previous game again and making it seem like a theft case, when really it interrelated with the idea of someone trying to use the double jeopardy rule (can’t be tried for the same charges twice when some sort of verdict has been made already) to get themselves out of the more serious crime. I liked the idea and the execution of it quite a bit and enjoyed how everything turned out~

Recipe for Turnabout A fake Nick?! Isn’t it a bit crazy that no one in court or anything knew it was a fake though?? Not sure if I like the sound of this case already… The fake also kinda tarnished his reputation for losing and getting a guilty verdict too! Well, I didn’t expect to see Maggey again, bad luck follows her everywhere, huh? Even when she’s been fired as a police officer and is now a waitress… Yahh, Armstrong is certainly an eccentric character… Well, uh, aside from the disgusting food, overly pungent flower smell in the restaurant and those weird dodgy aromatherapy oils he’s giving out, is there anything good about this guy or restaurant?! Omgg lace curtains in a kitchen, I am dreading the possibility of a fire already… Lmao when Maya in that maid/waitress outfit couldn’t entice Victor to talk and so she had to turn into Mia lolll.

Honestly though, Godot makes me want to drink coffee allll the time hahaha. Lmaooo at Gumshoe trying so hard to get Phoenix to doubt his testimony and evidence so that Maggey can be freed hahahah. Awww so cute how Gumshoe made a lunchbox for Maggey since she seemed to have lost weight from the stress of the case! Lmao that it’s just a bunch of weenies/sausages with rice though hahahah. I’m surprised no one cares or thinks the chef is suspicious especially since Maggey fainted when the guy got poisoned, like ummm okay?? I’d say that the idea of the Victor seeing a fake crime scene with a fake victim was interesting, but at the same time, it felt really implausible? Especially with how easily it was renounced by Phoenix because of the radio lottery announcement that occurs at 1:30pm every time? Lmao at everyone (even the judge hahaha) getting scared of Tigre’s dominating presence and shouting so they hide under the table lolll. Gotta love how calm Godot remains.

And yeah…the way they tricked him into telling the whole court what the bottle of potassium cyanide actually looked like etc was just..so, how do I say it? Unsatisfying??? Well, technically I felt like the whole story of this case and how it happened and why it happened was pretty bland already, but even the way they got him was just so uncharacteristically satisfying. I feel like what I enjoy most about the game is when they give you the evidence and the testimonies and that leads you to solving the case with clear cut evidence etc to show that “this person” did it. It just feels rather cheap when they deviate from that since it doesn’t feel like the reader themselves really did their part to show why this person is guilty, instead you’re reliant on Phoenix doing something random and dodgy to succeed. On another note, I found Maggey blaming Gumshoe and hating on him really annoying especially when she was a policewoman before and so she should understand that he had to give the facts, like seriously, you can’t blame him for telling the truth, especially when he ran around everywhere trying to help find evidence to prove her innocence. Not only was she not grateful for any of it, she KEEPS blaming him even after the trial ends! Like girl, he has no obligation (other than his job) to help her to such an extent that he’s even making lunchboxes etc for her, I was so annoyed with her, and do not want to see her again honestly, but I doubt it’s the last time we see her zzz. Considering how annoying she was about it all, I’m surprised she still ate the lunchbox in the end, Gumshoe is wasted on her. But yeah, basically, not a fan of this case in terms of story or the characters/witnesses. Victor was okay because he was a silly guy, but Tigre was so boring, even more boring than I initially thought.

Turnabout Beginnings I’m glad we get to see Mia’s first case! I was scared they might put it in the next game or something haha. Is Diego (another attorney in the same law firm as Mia) Godot’s father or something? Or is it actually Godot himself? Or am I just thinking too much haha. Omgggg I can’t believe Edgeworth is the prosecutor!! Young him is so cute though lol. Nah, Diego has the statement coffee cup, he’s gotta be related to Godot, it must run in the family!! Loll. Awww Gumshoe and Edgeworth go way back! So, is Melissa Dahlia? Did she change her name?? Honestly though, I’m not really interested in the case haha, doesn’t help how biased the judge is and how tricky Edgeworth is lol. Okay, that was unexpected, Valerie, Fawles and Dahlia were in on this “kidnapping” to get some cash out of it, but Valerie betrayed them and caused her sister, the little girl “Dahlia” to fall to her death on the bridge? Ohh okay, that turned out more interesting than I thought. I can see why Mia was quite traumatised with her first case, she was so close to revealing Dahlia to be the one that jumped off the bridge herself to keep that 2 million diamond for herself, and how she killed her sister and pinned it on Terry to stop the truth from getting out, and yet…Terry was so obsessed and taken with Dahlia that he chose to commit suicide instead, and it was by drinking poison from that bottle Phoenix had in the beginning of the first case in this game… That was honestly pretty saddening.

Bridge to the Turnabout Okay, initially, I was sceptical about this with the Iris seeming to be Dahlia thing and the temple stuff etc, but now that Phoenix is hurt and Larry wants Edgeworth to defend Iris, this seems like it’ll be a fun case! Like, sure, the court was dodgy enough to accept a paper attorney badge last time and not even recognise Phoenix’s imposter, but everyone knows Edgeworth is a prosecutor! How are they going to get around that? Loll. Swapping the judge out is a good idea to get around it, but I like the judge!! Well, the judges are brothers so I guess that’s cool hahaha. But yeah, I love the usual judge, he’s so silly, it’s hilarious! Anyway, lmao that the “blackmail letter” to Iris was actually Larry’s love letter hahahaha, he ended up scaring her away instead lollll.

Omggg Franziska vs Edgeworth?? I prefer Godot but I guess this match will be interesting. Hahahaha at the judge thinking Edgeworth looks familiar (since he’s the same judge that was in the Mia vs Edgeworth case back in the day) and Franziska insisting there’s no such weakling in the prosecutor’s office lolll. And then I love how the judge tries to get rid of Franziska’s whip but Edgeworth says she should be allowed to keep it since he doesn’t care lolll, what about the judge’s wishes?! Lmaoo at Sister Bikini (what a name btw LOL) being so short (because of her bad back) at the witness podium, you just see her eyes blinking hahahaha, and then they had to get milk crates for her ahahaha. Awwww Edgeworth is so cute to say he now understands why Phoenix feels so happy when he exposes contradictions in testimonies hahaha. Larry is hilarious, I can’t believe he was literally sketching for 15 minutes when the bridge was burning down instead of getting help LOL. It’s normal for Edgeworth and Franziska to insult Larry’s intelligence but lmao at even the judge saying he was surprised Larry actually witnessed an actual event loll. Gotta love how Larry makes every case he’s in more complicated haha.

Hmmm is Godot the guy that was poisoned by Dahlia?🧐 Is Elise Maya’s mother? She is!! Iris is Pearls’ sister??? Do they even know about each other?? Oh wait, now Iris is a twin?? Well, I was thinking that was the only logical explanation to the people sighting her everywhere and the extra psyche locks on the Sacred Cavern (where Maya is trapped) but I’m still surprised that they’re all actually Morgan’s (Misty’s sister, so Maya and Mia’s aunt) daughters! Ummm, if Iris’ father is a jeweller and he left Kurain village with the twin daughters after knowing that Morgan could never be the master, and if he gave Iris up to the temple and kept the other daughter… Does that mean Dahlia is the other sister and that’s why she really wanted that jewel in that case? Oh wow, Iris was a part of the fake kidnapping as well but somehow betrayed Dahlia causing her “killing spree”. Hmm if they stole the jewel as “revenge” on their father for how he treated Morgan (dumping her since she was useless to him), what was their plan exactly?

Hahaha gotta love that the trial has barely started and it’s already killing Phoenix since Iris just confessed she’s actually an accomplice to the murder! Well, the pendulum swinging the body back was pretty much what I expected even though it still kinda sounds rather far fetched… And I was wondering why Iris was weird, she’s actually Dahlia! I’m kinda confused at the idea of them being able to materialise Dahlia without actually having her body like possess someone? Since it’s implied initially that Misty was the one channeling her, but now that she’s dead, she’s still materialised?? I’ve been thinking about this for a while, but wouldn’t it be most likely that the one channeling Dahlia is actually Maya? And yep it was! I was thinking it was impossible for Pearl to have been the one channeling her since she already since she didn’t and couldn’t do it, so I was so confused haha. It’s good that Maya was smart enough to consult Mia and that’s how they were able to plan and get Maya to protect herself from Dahlia by being the one channeling her so that she wouldn’t be able to know that the one she actually needed to hurt was herself. That thing Dahlia kinda became when she was disappeared was pretty menacing, I feel like she would be back in a future game just because of how vengeful she is tbh.

Omg, the defence attorney Dahlia poisoned was Armando, the guy who was helping Mia out in that trial with Dahlia. Both Mia and him were still suspicious of Dahlia after that case so she killed him…. I knew it was coming, but to think that Diego Armando is really Godot… Like, don’t get me wrong, I love Godot’s looks, but I’m sure having to wear that visor to see things etc already kinda depicts how terrible his life must had become after the incident with Dahlia. Oh wow, Godot was in a coma for 5 years due to the poison… I never expected Godot to have loved Mia so much that he hated Phoenix for not being able to protect her whilst he was asleep. And I didn’t expect him to care so much that he made protecting Maya one of his reasons for living, since he knew that she was the most important person to Mia. It’s so tragic yet sweet… I didn’t think Misty, Iris and Godot all cooperated trying to foil Morgan’s plan though… Honestly, it broke my heart to see Godot trying to guide Phoenix to the end of the trial by himself instead of always relying on Mia. It’s true that he hated Phoenix for not protecting Mia, but Godot also hated himself for missing out on everything that happened as well, he felt like he failed as well. So having to see Phoenix point out that Godot was the murderer was so tough and terrible to witness, mainly because they all did what they did to protect Maya. Misty channeled Dahlia’s soul to prevent Pearl from doing it, but that meant it was up to Godot to stop her, and there was no other way to stop her than for Godot to have stabbed her at that moment. Although Godot doubts whether he did it for Maya or for himself (for revenge on Dahlia poisoning him), I think there’s no need to even think about it, even though he had his own sort of pride (for not telling Phoenix about the plan), in his own way, he did what he could to protect what was precious to Mia. And that honestly breaks my heart.

The other most surprising thing to come out of this was that in reality, Dahlia and Phoenix only met each other twice (when she used him to hide the poison and when she tried to poison him in the end), all the other times they met and dated and had a relationship, it was actually Iris trying her best to get the bottle back from him so that Dahlia wouldn’t kill him. Although, she obviously failed and that caused Dahlia to hatch her plan and not tell Iris about it because she knew Iris had fallen in love with Phoenix. Honestly though, I really wanted Phoenix and Iris to get together this whole time, so knowing that they used to be together was really nice. If only it was possible in the future too… I thought it was really cool and bittersweet how Phoenix and Godot shared a cup of coffee with each other at the end of the trial. I guess in a sense, he’s finally free since the case is resolved, but at the same time I can’t help but feel so sad about it all. Maya and Pearl are really strong for being able to keep up their smiles.

Honestly, I found the last case to be rather convoluted and boring because of the fact that I’ve never really been a fan of the supernatural element of the game with the Kurain channelling technique. The only times I liked them using it was to bring back Mia, but not really in an actual case, so that detracted points for me, and I guess also because Dahlia wasn’t a very interesting villain either. Dahlia is just like this ball of pure hatred for everything and everyone for betraying her and treating her like crap, and although it’s understandable, aside from her looks, there was nothing I liked about her lol. However, the last case definitely hit me in the feels the best out of all the cases in this trilogy, I legit wanted to cry because of Godot’s/Armando’s story and motivations, he was really relatable and I couldn’t help but really empathise with his hatred, his sadness and his forced acceptance of reality in the present. It was painful to witness because of how much it broke my heart. He is definitely my favourite character for this whole franchise. Larry and Mia being close seconds haha.

Overall, although I found the Maggey case and the Godot one lacking in terms of the case itself, most of this third game was great! I enjoyed most of it and really felt like it had the gist of what I loved in the first game so it was great to play through it! The psyche locks are still something I don’t like, but oh well. Honestly, I really wanted to play as Edgeworth a bit more but I guess I can play that other game with him as the MC? It’s on Android so I guess I can play it on that haha. I think my favourite part was being able to play as Mia, I really enjoyed getting to see more of her personality and how she worked her way through her cases and how much of an impact that first case had on her. She should get spin offs too! Tbh, my favourite case was hers with Edgeworth because just as it had an impact on them with the suicide at the end, I also found it very interesting and engaging with how the case flowed and how it ended up all going downhill at the last moment. I feel like it was a really refreshing take amongst the usual cases. All in all, I would definitely recommend the trilogy because it really is so much fun! I’m so sad that it’s over tbh, I hope they port the other games, I want to see more!! A lot of the things are silly especially with introducing evidence out of nowhere and all that, but it just makes the whole story so much more entertaining, so I think if you’re not crazy strict about how courts should be like and just want some law drama fun, this is probably the epitome of it, because I have to admit, it’s so satisfying to hear Phoenix and them shout “objection!” all the time haha. The dialogue is so witty, cool and fun that it really makes the game such a highlight with how the prosecutor and defence attorney interact, and you just gotta love the silly judge adding his random comments hahaha. I miss it already😭