#I’ve met a lot of magicians they’re Like That

[sharoscylla]

Chaste comfortable nudity is allowed right?

Anyway I’m having a lot of trouble still with uhhhh drawin and fine motor skills BUT

I deserve a nice picture of Modern AU Normal People Ripley/Gortash relationship fluff. Ripley’s bedroom deserves a fun tree shaped lamp. Tbh. I think this Ripley is single-handedly keeping a local karaoke/piano bar open, and her cute boyfriend Middle Aged Scene Boy Gortash is a Professional Sleight Of Hand magician, and they’re stupid together.

[greentrickster]

One of the things I find interesting about Maxwell as a character, especially as we find out more about him, is, as someone with a decent background in theatre, how real he seems to me. Not as some great, grand villain, but as a performer who wanted and who got in over his head as a result.

A little explanation: when I say, “I have a background in theatre,” I don’t mean anything big or grand - I’ve only been paid for I think three of the jobs I’ve done, the majority of it was lessons and volunteer work for more niche stuff. Which is important, because that’s the level of stage William seems to have been at originally. I’ve actually met a lot of Williams in the course of my acting experiences - you’d be surprised how many of them there are. And, I cannot stress this enough, they are not bad people.

You’ll hear people say that the performance industry is cut-throat, and it is, but that means it’s also shockingly rough on the performers in it. There’s a lot of performing in school gyms, having to provide pieces of your own costume even if it’s not a school activity or a lesson, hours like you wouldn’t believe in regards to both practice and performance, and pay such that there’s a reason it’s a trope for actors to have side jobs. And that’s once you’re already in, and getting there is hard enough. Moving up is even more work, and often requires you to be skilled in multiple areas. Injuries happen, and you don’t work? You don’t get paid. Heck, I’ve stopped acting, just because I came to the conclusion that I didn’t want it enough to put up with the conditions getting to do it put me through.

Thing is? There are people out there who do want it that much, who’ll go through a performance with a taped-up leg or a head cold that’s making it hard to think. People who heard the phrase ‘the show must go on’ and took it to heart. People who are constantly looking for some new edge, some way to stand out from the crowd of other skilled, talented people they’re in because they want to be the one on the stage, in the spotlight, getting those applause from the crowd. And, as often as not, it’s easy to get an ego on you once you get there, and also to become incredibly jealous of your place in the spotlight, wary of anyone else taking what you’ve worked so hard to gain.

And all of that feels like it applies so well to William Carter. The man who left his home and family to try and make it as a stage magician in another country. Who was working hard to make it in a tough industry but couldn’t quite find that spark he needed to make it. Who finally found the edge that gave him the leg-up he needed to finally step into the spotlight he’d been seeking for so long. Who guarded the edge he’d gotten jealously, for the same reasons all magicians and many performers guard the secrets of their trade so carefully. Who presumably realized a little too late that he’d gotten in over his head, and didn’t know how to stop.

Now, replace the Codex Umbra with drugs, alcohol, medications, or any number of other things, and William’s isn’t a new story at all - it’s one we’ve seen play out over and over in the performance industry, and I’m sure we can all name at least one star we’ve seen rise and fall in our own lifetimes. It’s not new, strange, surprising, or even unusual. It’s just a case of bad luck that the edge William found cost him in such a strange, horrific manner.

And that’s why Maxwell, once William, is so interesting to me. Because he’s turning out not to have been some great, grand figure, a powerful schemer or clever conman. Heck, as Wes’s story showed us, he’s not even that great at getting back at his enemies. He was just a guy, a really average, normal guy, who really wanted to be a performer. Because, no matter what he became as the King, he doesn’t seem to have started out bad, and the worst he seems to have become in the regular world was something of an egomaniac. Which, again, extremely normal in performers. That’s where the thrill comes from. He was a regular, unassuming guy who got handed the key to his dreams... and didn’t realize the true cost until much too late.

Because I’ve seen how much many performers are willing to pay and put up with for that moment in the spotlight, how much more they’re willing to pay and put up with to make that moment last... and I can’t help but wonder how many of them, if offered the same chance, would make the same choices as William, and also not realize it until much too late.

[yayforocs]

Tape #4

Click.

“Alright, how to start this one…? S’pose I should’ve thought of that before I started recording, huh? Hehe.”

“What I wanted to talk about this time was somethin’ that happened a couple weeks back now, I think. I was out walkin’ with Kale and-”

“Oh, I didn’t talk about Kale yet, did I? Should pro’bly do that.”

“So Kale’s been here a few weeks I think. Met him like… three weeks ago? Ish? He’s a li’l bit taller than me, and even though he doesn’t look older, he’s a whole ten years older ‘n me, which caught me entirely off-guard. Not as much a-” There was a pause that was started with a small breath of a laugh that gave way to silence for a couple of seconds. “He’s a magician, like… the kind that does card tricks ‘n stuff. He’s pretty good at it too, and… some of it involves real magic, apparently? Like okay there was one time the other day I was fixing his arm and he put a card out, face-up, and- oh, crap, ah- his arms are- they’re mechanical arms, it’s not- I’m not any sort of nurse or doctor-” A short laugh that sounded slightly nervous. “A-anyways, I was fixing one an’ he put a card down an’ told me to flip it down and back up, so I did, and it was a completely different card. I swear he didn’t touch it, I didn’t feel any sort of difference in the card, it just… it just changed. As I was holding it. And it was the coolest thing. So- yeah, he can use some real magic too, but I’m not sure how much. Anyways, he’s- he’s interesting; I like him. A little protective. …Yeah, yeah, he’s good. I like him.”

“-Ah, right. We were out walking. Well, we ran into Sytri while he was out hunting, and he’d just gotten a deer. So we ended up havin an almost picnic out there in the woods, just as the sun was setting. Kale ‘n I prepared veggies ‘n berries ‘n such that we’d had- some from Sytri and some from me because I’d brought some stuff to snack on, like. Carrots ‘n such. But yeah we had a nice li’l picnic, and the sun was setting, and us sittin’ there with a crackling fire and the smell of meat cooking… it was absolutely great. I didn’t really like where we were though; we were a bit close to Rival territory, but… None of them showed up, so it was alright. We just… talked. About all sorts’a things. Kinda wish we’d had some spices or sauce or somethin’ to put on the meat, though, but. It was an impromptu thing, y’know?” A short laugh. “We couldn’t have exactly prepared for it.”

“It was almost like a camping trip. ‘Cept we didn’t actually camp out. There’s no way I would’ve stayed there overnight.”

“…If it hadn’t been that close, though, it might’ve been kinda fun actually.”

“-Oh yeah! It came up that Kale did magic tricks and Sytri did one for us. He pulled his bird, Anton, outta nowhere. He put his jacket on and Anton came out of it, and then after a second went back in and he took the jacket off again, and the bird was just- gone. I dunno how he did that. Heh, maybe he uses some magic, too. …Prob’ly does, actually.”

“…Y’know… I… probably owe a lot to those two. I haven’t really been able to talk to all that many people since joining the Resistance, so… coming from li’l Willowdale, where everybody was family, suddenly being thrown into a place where I don’t know anybody and everybody’s busy enough to not have much time to talk is a bit… ah… jarring, you know? Just a little bit… I mean, I’ve met a couple others, but… Kale’s really the only one here I could say I’m even close to, and it’s only been a couple weeks, and then there’s Sytri, and I’ve only known him for just as long.”

“But still, without those guys, I… don’t know how well I’d be doing, honestly. I had a bad en- experience not too long after I joined, and… it freaked me out enough that it gave me nightmares for a good while. I still get ‘em every now and then. But… having people to talk to about stuff, it’s… helped a lot. I’ve been able to be more cheerful, and… and closer to my usual self. It’s… I’m really grateful to those guys. And- and I’ve been gettin’ to know someone else, too, her name’s Tab- seems she might become another friend.”

“…I know we’re in a war, but… I can’t help but look forward to the future ‘n gettin’ to know ‘em better.”

“Should make a buncha good memories together.”

Click.

[wherestarsarestillasleep]

second batch of p3p impressions, just met aigis. talk to me abt persona games

-Akihiko is so autism. “hey girl did you know the breaststroke is the most efficient swimming method due to ababaabba” “i have no interest in this information.” autism to autism confrontation

ALSO why is his social link a different arcana than his persona?? Ik in the base game he didn’t have a social link and still had an associated arcana but like, Minato also had a Magician slink and they still gave that to Junpei

also it’s funny that the stat requirement to start his slink has absolutely nothing to do with his own standards

-persona games are so fucking fun and addictive. it’s impressive they’re split into two very different kinds of gameplay and they both manage to be pretty evenly fun and engaging. im way more optimisation brained with this one than 4 and 5 and you can restore your whole partys hp and sp for a fraction of the amount of money you naturally make exploring tartarus and apparently originally if you went to the ground floor tired party members would leave but i guess not in portable so like. It’s just completely viable and optimal to do everything possible in tartarus on one ingame date only in a huge chunk so that’s what i’ve been doing. i was in there so fucking long. the dark "”hour””

-Okay so in persona 5 for the first arc, maybe also the second, you are introduced to ryuji and he fucking rocks. he’s so cool he’s set up to be a really great character i would love a lot and for the duration of kamoshidas palace he is that. also in persona 5 for most of the phantom thieves they have a cool plot focused on them for the dungeon you recruit them and then the writing has little idea what to do with those characters for the rest of the game. the result is ryuji is awesome for one maybe two dungeons and then is replaced by an imposter because his main story focus is over and the priority with his character then becomes making him fit better into the Persona Funny Pervert Bro Character trope which mostly fucking sucks and makes ryuji mostly fucking sucks

Junpei is presumably the character that started that archetype for yosuke and most-of-the-game-ryuji to follow, despite this for the first while he highlights the good parts of that archetype the funny bro who is your friend half and then it got harder and harder to continue liking him as i progressed and then the beach scene was predictably dogshit and added him to the very large pile of persona characters who i have to mentally overwrite significant things about in order to like them

When you first meet him Yukari assumes he’s hitting on you but it seems like no he was genuinely just being nice and concerned about a new transfer student and his social link continues being that he is your bro and he even offers to be your wingman for other dudes with zero jealousy and then his main story dialogue is. not that. And like. I assume he has the same july jealousy arc with the male protag because it is mostly about him generally feeling insecure and directionless but it Really Fucking Looks Worse with femc route when Junpei has more than one case of dialog about how He Should Be The Leader Cause He’s A Strong Man And You Are Girls it looks like THAT’S the main reason he’s so pissy for a while. he does earnestly apologise though. i still want to like him but i hate persona

-YUKARI though yukari is good i like yukari more and more i still haven’t seen as much of her link as some others but she’s thoughtful and outspoken. i dont have as many words to say about her but i like her a lot and that she takes initative on things and called out mitsuru and shuji directly and also apologised for it later as well. also i was very confused for a while why she couldn’t take a single hit when she had the same endurance as Minako that was because she was tired.

-Mitsuru is so cool and pretty and epic. that is all. maybe if you were a Genius she might spend time with you. Fuuka is my friend :). Akihiko is my favourite probably.

Currently Yukari is maybe the least useful party member and fell behind a bit but i like the look of her final skills in the end. Junpei for the last 2-3 boss fights has been almost exclusively rotating buffing everyone else also it is great that he can take a hit. Mitsuru is great for big damage and big heals and I like that Akihiko can passably fill any role you want him to be in at any point

It’s so cool that persona has both constant party members in your actual party members and a constantly rotating party in your personas because fusing newer higher level ones is much more likely than levelling your personas quickly enough to keep up. I made Oberon a while ago and he’s mad good, he’s still statistically up to par with higher level personas and with the skills i have on him he can take any role. in 4 and 5 i didnt pay all that much attention to exploring beyond the basic mechanics but taking deeper advantage of all the very many gameplay options they give you is really satisfying because persona games are difficult enough going out of your way to do all that leaves you well equipped without trivialising, at least this early into the game

-been trying to do all elizabeths requests but 1. i just missed exactly one on accident 2. fuck the golden shadows im not doing that ive managed to enter combat with exactly ONE hitting it from behind and then it had advantage and ran away immediately within battle?? 3. the requests where you get her an item from someone on a specific date i thought that was just the FIRST available date so i missed a lot of those... Also it sucks that enemies only drop items for her requests after you accept the request so I had to go back down floors

-odd that pharos main story link is a couple lower than sees main story link

-winning the low bar of least homophobic persona game. ik i just got past the part with the transphobic scene but i guess they removed it from either portable or femc’s route so I haven’t actually seen that

[unikittybigbrightworldau]

Fanmade Frowntown Citizens

Up next, here are my fanmade Frowntown citizens. I’m gonna put short recaps for the characters I’ve already talked about. It’s certain that I will introduce more characters as the series goes on, so I’m gonna update this when I get to that.

Master Cupid is one of the Doom Lords and an antagonistic character in the series. She’s extremely lovesick and pretty clingy, and she’s desperately trying to find herself a boyfriend. She specializes in making people fall in love at the worst possible times, forcing people to fall in love, and causing people to mistake infatuation and red flags for love. In fact, forcing a boy to go on a date with her when he didn’t want it was how Master Doom recognized her. Cupid has all of her mother’s genetics except for her defined lips. She can also teleport like her father, Lord Landlord. She’s somewhat insecure about the way she appears in front of others (especially boys), so she conceals her freckles and completely straightens her hair. Master Cupid isn’t yet aware that she’s capable of living a happy, fulfilling life without a partner, or that she shouldn’t have to change anything about herself for a partner. She has a light and breathy voice; I picture it sounding like Angel from Lilo and Stitch. (As I’ve joked before, she’s called Master Cupid because Master Amatonormativity is too long of a name.)

Imogen’s parents are named May and Samuel. Both of them are professional, skilled magicians. They were childhood friends who decided to spend their lives together after completing Wizard Scouts. They always look out for Imogen and Estelle to make sure they’re safe and living good lives. They met Master Frown and Brock when Imogen did, and they’ve been good friends with her since then. Sam is a fiery and passionate wizard who takes chances, while May is down-to-earth and likes things just so.

Estelle is an enjoyer of both magic and sailing. She's interested in learning hydrokinesis so that her boats will sail smoothly. She's often out and about, getting things done, but she's very loyal to Imogen and will befriend anyone she does. She also makes time for her, since the sisters get together to spend time. Like Imogen received her wand, Estelle received a magic compass that looks like it has little stars sprinkled on it. Imogen and Estelle are twin sisters, and Estelle is the younger twin.

Jane Cupid is Master Cupid’s mom. She is a lab technician for a pharmaceutical company in Frowntown who occasionally delivers for pharmacies. She met Lord Landlord while working her delivery job. Though she’s very close with him and their daughter, she lives separately from them. They live just outside Frowntown while she lives within the city to be closer to work. When Master Cupid goes to live with Jane, she’s much more strict with her than Lord Landlord, and she doesn’t easily let her get away with things. She’s easily annoyed, but she is confident in herself and loves herself.

Melancholia Stormwaters is the mayor of Frowntown. She’s not very emotional and pretty gloomy. She tries to take matters into her own hands, though she’s not always sure if she has everything under control. She popularized the cloak style that some Frowntownians wear. She’s a lot older than she might look. She used to have full control over Frowntown, and nothing catastrophic happened there. They were even on good terms with the Unikingdom. That was until the Doom Lords emerged. Even though Melancholia is still the leader, Master Doom has taken that spot away from her and pit Frowntown against the Unikingdom. Princess Unear and Prince Pericorn came to understand that it wasn’t Melancholia’s fault, so they’re now trying to help her fight back.

[aeoki]

SHINSEKAI - Magicians of ES: Chapter 5

Location: Tohoku Town (SHINSEKAI) Characters: Mika & Shuu

Mademoiselle B: “Dammit, what’re you doing playing around in a place like this!?”

Mademoiselle A: “Hm…?”

Mika: Huh? There are… two Mado-nees…?

(What is this? There are two Mado-nees who look exactly like each other? And they’re floating around me and Oshi-san!)

This means one of the Mado-nees is fake…!

Mademoiselle A: “Well, there’s an equal chance for both of us to be fake, right? You don’t look like you’re that dull, but why do your actions and speech resemble an idiot’s?”

Mika: Ngh~? I am dumb, though?

Mademoiselle A: “No. You’re just innocent like a child, not dumb at all.”

“You’re not ‘wrong’ in thinking that between me and the newcomer, one of us is fake.”

Mademoiselle B: “Watch it. Your real self is showing, Hidaka.”

Mademoiselle A: “Now that there is another character with the same appearance here, I thought it would be better to do something that would make it easier to tell us apart. Well, you can probably tell from the difference in our clothing, though.”

“Besides, I’m sure Mika-kun already has an idea as to who I am as well…”

“I didn’t intend on hiding my identity until the very end, so it’s only a matter of time before you discover who I am.”

Mika: Hidaka from “Trickstar”? No, wait. You’re Seiya Hidaka-san?

Seiya (Mademoiselle A): “That’s right. I’m Seiya Hidaka, Hocchan’s dearest father and also a super idol. It’s been a while since we last saw each other, but have you been doing well, Mika-kun?”

Mika: …………

Seiya (Mademoiselle A): “Ahaha. I see you have your guard up around me. Just like your Oshi-san who you adore, it seems you also dislike being controlled by others.”

“Hmm, I suppose that wasn’t the right behaviour towards someone I’ve just met.”

“Actually, I’m not very good at talking to others in my personal life. Especially when the other party is also an idol, you see.”

“There are a few reasons for this.”

“Unlike me who can control others with power and money, it seems Hocchan will be experiencing a lot of hardship as we have the same characteristics, unfortunately.”

Mika: Umm, what’re you talkin’ about…?

Shuu: Kagehira! What has been happening!? Why are there two Mademoiselles around me…? No, both of them must be fakes!

Two adorable Mademoiselles are floating about in front of me and it’s the last thing I need to see! I think I may turn into an idiot from the stimulation!

Seiya (Mademoiselle A): “Ahaha. An idiot would be an absolutely perfect word to describe your actions after entering ‘SHINSEKAI’.”

“You’re an idol as well, so you should act more like one.”

Shuu: I can’t hear a word you’re saying, but I can tell you’re making a fool out of me!

Seiya (Mademoiselle A): “No one is making a fool out of you. I do think it’s quite unfortunate, though.”

“But losing your ‘unique traits’ is the same as dying, after all. I hope you wallow in your regrets after choosing a doll that’s difficult to control.”

“Someone able to do everything, achieving more than a passing mark in every field.”

“Only idols who are capable of that live the longest, but why is it that everyone chooses to cling to a transient biassed individual characteristic instead?”

Mademoiselle B: “First, there aren’t that many people who are capable of everything, Hidaka. If only it was like the past where all they had to do was line up the ‘capable ones’ and sell them.”

“There are too many idols now.”

Seiya (Mademoiselle A): “That’s because it’s convenient from a business standpoint. By going along to the trends of this era, the system is working hard to become more flexible.”

“We’re now in that transition period, so it seems there are problems cropping up here and there, though.”

“It’s not as though the higher-ups of ES have ill intentions. They’re simply incompetent, is all.”

Mademoiselle B: “Why are you saying that to me?”

Seiya (Mademoiselle A): “Well, anyone would have been fine. I don’t get to criticise the higher-ups every day, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to do so once in a while.”

Shuu: ………?

Mika: Onii-chan, why don’t you unmute them if you wanna hear what they’re sayin’?

Shuu: …I just did. After all, it seems something abnormal has happened.

Mademoiselle B: “Oh, right. There was a malfunction that affects the entire operation just now…”

“It’s about time you lot take a break anyway, so just in case, you should enter your rest time, log out and return to reality.”

Mika: Well, even if you tell us that, we don’t know how to do that, though…?

Mademoiselle B: “There would be a higher chance of you two immediately returning if you were taught how to log out from the very beginning.”

“I bet the admins, ‘Switch’, deliberately chose to not do that to avoid the trouble of you lot leaving ASAP.”

“But that doesn’t trouble me in the least. I’m not interested in you lot at all.”

Shuu: …Judging from the way you speak, you’re the so-called “Gatekeeper”, aren’t you?

“Gatekeeper” (Mademoiselle B): “That’s right but there’s no need for you to remember me. Don’t leave a memory of me in your head.”

“The other idols are the same, anyway. Even if they fight in front of the door, they’re only playing right into my hands.”

“They’re too focused on me, just as I wanted.”

“Idols haven’t changed at all – they’re still a bunch of idiots.”

Seiya (Mademoiselle A): “Now, now. If you bully them so much, they might bear a grudge and hate you for the rest of their life, you know?”

“Gatekeeper” (Mademoiselle B): “Hmph. I’m not an idol so it won’t hurt or bother me.”

“It sure is difficult when one’s occupation is something that requires public support.”

Seiya (Mademoiselle A): “Did you come all this way to say that?”

“Gatekeeper” (Mademoiselle B): “No, I came to fetch you. Talking to ‘Valkyrie’ was something extra.”

“You appear to be quite devoted to these two, but stop with your unnecessary actions for a minute and come with me.”

Seiya (Mademoiselle A): “And if I refuse? I’m not taking part in ‘SS’, so you can’t control me with those ‘orders’.”

“Gatekeeper” (Mademoiselle B): “A robot should do exactly as they are programmed to. …You know I can round up this case with you being the culprit behind it all, don’t you?”

Seiya (Mademoiselle A): “Now, I wouldn’t want that~ Not that I know what this case is all about.”

“A wise man keeps away from danger. I also do not wish to make my beloved wife and child sad and I intend on living as long as I can.”

“I don’t want to make a mistake like Akehoshi-kun did, after all.”

← Previous Chapter ᠂ ⚘ ˚⊹˚ ⚘ ᠂  Next Chapter →

[minimoefoe]

Little Girl, President’s Wife, Cloister Wars. Which was Missy’s lie?

So in The Magician’s Apprentice, Missy lists off three things to Clara and tells her one of them is a lie.

I thought I would go through them all, explaining which is a lie, partly because it’s fun and I’ll take any opportunity to ramble about DW and partly because I don’t really understand how/why some people come to the conclusions they get to and I want to kind of explain what’s actually the lie. 

Obviously, headcanon what you want but this is coming from the POV of like, what works canonically.

CLARA: Since when do you care about the Doctor? MISSY: Since always. Since the Cloister Wars. Since the night he stole the moon and the President’s wife. Since he was a little girl.

Let’s get the easiest one out of the way first.

Since he was a little girl.

Missy point blank could not and did not know the Doctor as a little girl. The Doctor and Master met during their time at the academy when they were both little boys. Thirteen is the first time during the time the Master has known the Doctor that they’re presenting as female.

Missy also does not know about the Timeless Child because she canonically comes before Dhawan!Master in the Master’s timeline. And even if she did know about the Timeless Child (which she doesn’t) she still wouldn’t have known the Doctor as a little girl, she just would have known that he was one at some point.

Missy is lying about knowing the Doctor as a little girl.

Since the Cloister Wars. 

In Hell Bent Twelve references the Cloister Wars (‘Probably leftover from the Cloister Wars.’) so we know the Wars happened. That reference alone should be enough to make you come to the conclusion that what Missy said was true. There’s nothing to contradict it. 

But if you need more convincing, in terms of when the Wars happened and if the Doctor and Master even knew each other during that time, then it’s on the DW Wiki:

‘According to human historians, [the Cloister Wars] were waged sometime after the Sontaran invasion of Gallifrey, which was the first event to reveal the existence of the Matrix to the wider universe, but long before the Last Great Time War.’

The question now would be if the Doctor and Master were alive during that time. And yes, they were. The DW Wiki says the Doctor and Master both had some involvement in the Sontaran invasion, and we obviously already know that they also had involvement in the Time War. Since the Cloister Wars happened in between those two events, the Doctor and Master would have both been alive and knew each other during it.

So now we know the Cloister Wars were real and the Doctor and Master were alive during it. And since The Doctor and Master have known each other for their whole lives (or at least for the whole of the Doctor’s current regeneration cycle) they would 100% have known and cared about each other during that time.

Missy is telling the truth about the Cloister Wars.

Since he stole the moon and the President’s wife.

With the little girl one, we know the Master never knew the Doctor as a little girl, we didn’t actually need anything in the episode to confirm that it was a lie. And with the Cloister Wars, Twelve straight up references it in Hell Bent, confirming it’s a real thing that happened. This one is kind of different in that we have to connect a dot or two ourselves but like.. it’s really not that confusing at all.

Since we know already which one of the three options is a lie, and Missy said only one of them was a lie, that should mean that this one is true. But in Hell Bent we have this:

TWELVE: The last I heard, he stole the moon and the President’s wife. CLARA: Was she nice, the President’s wife? TWELVE: Ah, well, that was a lie put about by the Shabogans. It was the President’s daughter. I didn’t steal the moon, I lost it…

I’ve seen a lot of people say this confirms that this one is the one lie, because it wasn’t the wife and he didn’t actually steal the moon, and therefore that must somehow mean both of the others are true.

What this really means is that Missy told two lies, it’s just that she didn’t realise she was telling two. When people say that the President's wife and moon option must be the one lie Missy told they always for some reason forget it’s physically impossible for the Master to have known the Doctor as a little girl and they forget the part where the Doctor tells Clara that it was a story that the Shabogans spread about him. 

The obvious conclusion, at least to me, is that the Master heard the rumour the Shabogans were spreading, assumed it to be true and never spoke to the Doctor about it.

Missy is (unknowingly) lying about the moon and the President’s wife.

So, in conclusion...

Missy told Clara she was only telling one lie because she herself believed she was telling one lie (that she knew the Doctor when he was a little girl) but she in fact was unknowingly telling another lie as well (that the Doctor stole the moon and President’s wife).

Like I said at the beginning, headcanon what you want, this isn’t me being like, ‘No, you must think this,’ but this is the only explanation that I think actually works and I have pretty much zero interest other people’s interpretations because I don’t think they work and/or I don’t think they were the intention. I’m also just generally not a headcanon-y person. I find canonical explanations far more interesting.

The couple of other explanations I’ve seen people come up with just aren’t enough for me to be like okay, yeah, that definitely works/was the intention. Like I’ve seen people say, ‘Well, Missy is a known liar so maybe she was just lying about all of them,’ which, is true, she is liar, but I think I’ve explained in the post why each option is/isn’t true can be explained using proper canon instead of being blown off with a, ‘Welp, Missy is a known liar.’ Feels like a cop out explanation to me idk. Like if we’re gonna just start saying ‘Well, this character lies sometimes’ instead of trying to find proper explanations, especially when the proper explanations are right in front of us, I think that’s really dumb.

[cranetreegang]

This is My Home: Part 4 - Valerius x Court Magician/MC

Summary: With your plan starting to fall apart, you confront the Ahesh Court, and with that, finding the fate of your love, Valerius.

Word Count: ~1,800

Warnings: Magic Violence :)

Read Part 3 Here

Arcana Masterlist

A/N: I recommend listening to The Cliff, mainly the last like two minutes of the song. I think it sums up the end perfectly.

-------------------------------------------

The white mage whistled and another mage appeared from the shadows, his magic worn on his sleeve like a badge of honor. He was the total opposite of the white mage and I found him just as unsettling. He was darker than the night, or any shadow. His eyes were a stark white and staring into me much like the white mage was doing. 

His hand hovered over me with a slight frown, “Mhm… how disappointing. I was expecting more.” 

“As was I.” She sniffed my hair. “Maybe she’s not the Magician.” 

“We shall see. They’re waiting for us.” He smirked.

They hooked onto my elbows and they shoved me through the doors into the throne room. 

I could make out Faj by the side of the Duke, who was laying in the throne like it was his. Vehsil was about what I imagined him to be, a fat man adorned in gaudy jewelry and expensive, purple silks. He drank from a golden goblet, letting dark wine spill on his ebony and white goatee. Several of Vehsil’s men were surrounding him with their weapons drawn and at the ready.

The mages shoved me forward at the base of the stairs leading up to the throne. Faj’s beady eyes were gloating and his chest puffed out in pride as he rushed towards me.

“That’s her. That’s the Magician.” I don’t receive much warning before he backhands me, making my head whip to the side with a gasp. I feel blood rip down my cheek from the cuts made by his numerous rings. I bit my tongue, flooding my mouth with the taste of metal, as I met Faj’s eyes once more.

Faj was rather pleased with himself as he exclaimed, “Very well done, Urhi and Ihru.” 

The mages, Urhi and Ihru, climbed the stairs and whispered into the Duke’s ear. 

The Duke let out a bellowing laugh then said, “So, you’re the fearsome Vesuvian Mage I’ve been hearing so much about.” He looks towards the mages as he asks, “Are you sure this is her? She doesn’t seem all that impressive.” 

“I assure you, she’s a lot more trouble than she appears to be.” Faj spat as he stormed back up to his master’s side. 

Vehsil laughed again, “You’ve certainly made an impression on my ambassador, Mage. He hasn’t stopped talking about you since he’s returned from your little soiree.” 

“Pity, for I haven’t given him a second thought.” I spat. “Where are the Courtiers?” 

The Duke exchanged glances with his entourage, amusement being shared amongst each of them. “You were right, Sir Faj, that was her first concern.” 

They all laughed and I kept myself from lashing out. If they weren’t here, then I could enact my plan without worry. But, before I could do anything, Vehsil snapped his fingers and the side door swung open. 

“Why, they’re right here.” He chuckled. 

The Courtiers were shoved through, the first being Valerius. I let myself breathe a sigh of relief when his eyes met mine, but a new dread came over me. If the Duke’s mages have removed the Couriters’ amulets, then I’ve just doomed us all. Their chains dragged on the stone ground as they all shuffled in. They were forced to stand in front of me as if on display. The longer I looked at them, the more I realized the Courtiers had changed.

“What did you do to them?” I let my magic roll over them and sensed the tampering done by magic far greater than the two mages here. All the Courtiers were suffering from various degrees of affliction. Harriet had a snout with pig-like ears shooting out from her wild curls. Edernton had brown feathers sprouting from his skin.  I was baffled when I sensed the affliction seemed to be stemming from the Courtiers’ themselves. 

“We just revealed their true natures.” Urhi, the white mage, spoke up. “Aren’t they beautiful?” 

“It is no surprise the Vesuvian Court suffers from sin.” Ihru spat.

I stood in front of Valerius to take in his altered form. His right hand had grown knife-like claws and gray fur was spreading up his arm. There was the tip of a horn protruding from his hairline on his left side and part of his left cheek was covered in gray fur. His eyes were a solid yellow with a black slit in the middle, which avoided my gaze and instead stared at the floor between us.

“What are you doing here?” He hissed under his breath, his eyes shining with worry as they flickered up for a moment then back to the ground again. 

“I had to see you.” I whispered while taking both of his hands with mine.

He squeezed my hands, “You shouldn’t have. You’re not safe here. The vile things they spoke of. You need to leave.” 

I placed my hand against his furred cheek to bring his gaze to mine. I stroked over the gray fur lining his cheek bone, “I’ve missed you, my love.” 

He closed his eyes as he let out a hurt filled sigh, “Gods, I’ve missed you.” 

I ducked under the chains on his wrists and embraced him, hugging tightly around his neck. I took in his scent, spiced and sweet, while I engraved the way he felt around me into my mind. I broke apart and looked him in his glowing, yellow eyes before kissing him. He gasped, his body stiff, then melded into me. 

My hands went down his chest until I paused at the soft vibration tingling my fingers. I glanced down to see my silver amulet around his chest. I felt the other Courtiers also wearing my amulet and I had to stop myself from smiling. 

“You wore it.” I whispered as I held the piece of silver in my hand. 

“Of course I did. You said it would protect me.” He let out a faint laugh. 

I nodded with a tear slipping down my cheek, “And it will.” 

“I hate to break this up, but we have matters to attend to. Like discussing what will happen to you and the rest of the vermin here.” Faj let out a chuckle. 

Valerius pushed me closer to him with a silent plea to not leave. I stroked his cheek with a soft smile, “Close your eyes, darling. This is one light show I don’t want you to see.”  

He stared at me with wide eyes filled with questions. I slipped from his loose grasp before he piece together why I was here. Valerius made a sharp noise as he tried to grab me, but I was already too far away. 

“Hold him back, Edernton. We don’t need a scene.” I said in an even tone.

Valerius struggled against Edernton’s hold while I sucked the air in then let out a heavy sigh. I circled around to take in the room. Fifteen of Ahesh’s forces were here. Nadia should be more than capable to deal with the remaining men after. I faced the Duke once more with the dinanar crystal hidden in my palm.

“As you can see, we have the entire Vesuvian Court hostage, with one walking right into our trap. We will get word to the Countess and we will demand your head, amongst other things.” Vehsil explained. “Unless, you would rather have some other form of fitting punishment?” 

“A plaything for us?” Ihru suggested with a flicker in his white eyes. 

“I would love to see what sins your heart possesses. The possibilities.” Urhi giggled. 

Faj and Vehsil seemed pleased with the idea as they all were overjoyed with the set of current events as they understood them. My magic joined with the Silver-Bark without their knowledge and I began to siphon energy from the crystal. 

“Are these the best mages your gold could buy, Duke?” I wondered. 

The Ahesh glanced at one another and Vehsil was the most amused at my question.

“Of course. Can’t you tell?” The Duke sneered. 

“So far, no.” I said, earning me two harsh glares from the mages. I glanced around the room while I continued to build-up. “I assume you searched the Courtiers. But, you didn’t remove their amulets. Why?” 

“They’re defective. An anti-magic ward, but it couldn’t protect them against the simplest of magic. Ironic. So, I left it around their neck while I ripped open their flesh.” Ihru barked out, making the other Ahesh laugh. 

“Nadia must’ve found you on the street, like the rat you are.” Faj seethed. 

“You know,” my voice strained for a moment at the power building within me,“all the Courtiers wear the same amulet. And so does the Countess. Along with any guard designated to protect her. Everyone who has to be in this room.” I shut all the throne room doors with a flick of my wrist. “And if you paid more gold for your mages, Duke, they would’ve known never to let me in here. Especially with this.” 

I openly channeled the magic of the dinanar crystal into me, letting the power crescendo into a crackling roar. Raw, electric current jolted from my body in arching blue sparks which singed my skin as it demanded release. As the magical arcs collided with the stone, pieces of stone and dust shot into the air.

My body was splitting apart from the magic coursing through my blood and the pain was far greater than I could’ve ever imagined it being. I refused to stop though. The two mages' mouths were open in disbelief as their minds caught up with what was happening.

“You wouldn’t! You wouldn’t dare!” Urhi screamed like a banshee as she stared on in horror. “You’ll kill everyone in this room!” 

“What’s happening? What’s she doing?” Vehsil was off the throne and running towards me while Faj was frozen in fear. “Stop her! Get those doors open!” 

The guards were beating against the doors in a vain attempt to open them, but they would be too late. I could sense the magic nearing the power I needed, just a few more moments. Vehsil had reached me and was ready to stab me through until his sword turned to dust from the aura of raw power around me. He stumbled away in shock while trying to shield himself from me.

“The amulets do work. But not for everyone’s magic.” I smirked, “Just mine.” 

“No! You won’t do it! It’ll kill you!” Ihru hissed with wide eyes. “You’ll be dead like the rest of us.” 

I looked over at Valerius, who stared back with pleading desperation as Edernton kept him in place. 

“This is my home. And I will do anything to protect it.” I whisper.

I shut my eyes and the tears falling from me sizzled against my skin. I let the raw magic rip through me, exploding outwards into a vivid display of arcane power. I could hear the screams of the Ahesh before they were silenced, leaving nothing behind. Not even the dust from their bones. The explosion consumed the entire throne room with my wrath, save for the Courtiers who watched the Ahesh disintegrate before their very eyes. 

I awaited my own death as the last of my magic left me and I crumpled to the ground. I wanted my thoughts to be of him. 

I had saved him. 

My home.

[shiningdesignersreflections]

Chapter 2: Where Is Inspiration

Narrated by Momo.

Narrator: I have met many designers besides Nikki. According to my intuition, there are two steps to becoming a designer.

Narrator: First, find a good designer. Second, learn from them.

Narrator: I got Nikki. I’m so lucky!

Choose “Its a method for you.”

You: As long as it’s a method that can work for you.

Narrator: I believe I will succeed!

Momo: [Your Name], come with me to buy some paint and paper. With those materials, I can draw pictures like Nikki.

Narrator: When I get to the stationery store, I find things are not as simple as I thought.

Narrator: There is a dazzling array of paints on the shelf lined up from dark to light. There are so many colors.

Narrator: If I get them all, will Nikki say it’s a waste of money?

??: Oh, Momo and [Your Name]!

Narrator: Behind the shelf are Susan and William. Susan is holding a box of desserts while William is carrying bags for her.

Momo: Candies!

Susan: Shh, they’re magic stones. Magic becomes weak on Halloween, so magicians will go door to door to search for magic stones.

William: Are you guys also buying Halloween decorations?

Momo: No, no, no. We are here to buy paint to draw designs.

Susan: Why isn’t Nikki here?

Momo: Ahem. Because it is me who wants to draw.

Susan: Wow, Momo is going to be a designer!

Momo: But I need your help. I’m going to make designs for Halloween. What color should I buy?

Narrator: Susan picks up the pink and white paints and puts them in my paw.

Susan: Pink is the best!

Momo: [Your Name], is that enough?

Choose either “It may be a great combination” or “Maybe... but not a good choice.”

If “maybe,” ...

You: You can have a try with those. It might be a great combination.

If “not good,” ...

You: Maybe... But it does not seem to be a good choice.

--

William: And take these two colors.

Narrator: William puts the black and orange paints in my other paw. My paws are full, which gives me confidence.

Momo: I’ll buy these ones!

Narrator: Line up the painting tools and stare at the paper and paints, then I’ll be inspired.

Narrator: After an hour...

Choose either “The paper is still blank” or “It doesn’t work.”

If “blank,” ...

You: The paper is still blank.

If “doesn’t work,” ...

You: It doesn’t work.

--

Narrator: Ah, what’s wrong?

Narrator: Is it because I’m not holding my head and frowning like Nikki when she does it?

Momo: That must be it!

Narrator: What else does Nikki do? Ah, eat ice cream!

Narrator: It’s delicious... But why is there still nothing? Have I not thought long enough or was my posture not handsome enough?

Narrator: I’m going to ask Nikki when she comes home.

Momo: Nikki, I’ve sat in front of the desk all afternoon, but the inspiration didn’t appear.

Nikki: Momo, it takes a lot of time to complete a good design. Don’t be discouraged. You will feel happy after completing one.

Nikki: For the sake of your hard work today, let’s have a big meal tonight and look for inspiration with full bellies.

Narrator: When the moon is past the window sill, a mouth-watering aroma comes from the kitchen.

Narrator: Delicious food!

Narrator: Judging by the sizzling and sweet smell, it must be... roasted pumpkin with barbecue!

Narrator: Nikki also sprinkles it with cumin. Woo, it’s super delicious!

Narrator: After filling my belly, I burp on the sofa.

Narrator: I open Moments and upload the picture of our roasted pumpkin with barbecue.

Narrator: “Unexpectedly, the dream of eating roasted pumpkin with barbecue has already come true!”

Choose “Don’t forget the dream!”

You: Don’t forget the dream!

Narrator: I didn’t forget. I’ve decided. In return for the barbecue, I will design a Halloween costume for Nikki!

Narrator: Once Nikki is pleased, maybe she will make more barbecue for me. Hehe.

Chapter 1

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

[welcome-to-soupbowl]

💖💢💪 for any of ur characters? :)

⭐️ - ooh i was hoping someone would ask for 8 and/or 27 hehe

gonna be talking about flynn as usual because they’re the only one here i have posted publicly so far

(💖)i’ve actually had their living preferences thought out for a while!! it also serves as sort of a relationship chart for them and the npcs i guess ,, it goes like this:

loves - brian (guide), they claim he’s the first person they felt they could actually trust since in like a decade ,, of course they’ve met more people they trust since then but they still hold him in very high regard because of that and something else i’ll get to

likes - candy (party girl) and hayley (zoologist), they have a group chat where they talk about cartoons and stuff :] also both flynn and candy are transfem so i imagine candy giving them some insight on that sort of thing, especially since they started their transition later than she did … they’re also fond of emerenta (dryad) because of her wisdom and momo (princess) because … i mean everyone loves the princess lol (also because she was just really nice to them), and their favorite biome is the forest because it’s just where they feel the most comfortable

they dislike the tax collector (haven’t decided on a name for him :[ ) because he reminds them of people from their hometown and the wizard (also haven’t decided on a name for him …) because of this whooole thing that happened not long after the wall of flesh fight

basically because of how highly they thought of brian they were fucking devastated when they found out he died after fighting the wof and just fell into a really depressive and irritable state because of his death (and they didn’t meet up again for at least a couple months because Plot™️) so candy and hayley, not being able to think of a better solution, tried to find them someone new to talk to to cheer them up and thought the wizard would be the perfect for them because they’re a mage the wizard knows magic yadda yadda yadda

so they introduce flynn to the wizard and he shows them some magic techniques he knows and asks flynn why they don’t use them as any experienced mage would and they were like “well i mean brian didn’t teach me any of that” and the wizard was like “well you should only listen to me because he’s not a magician and i am” or something like that and flynn got really angry at that and kindaaa lost their mind at him... violently...

they've made up since then but would still rather not talk that much ...

aaand their least favorite biome is the caverns because the concept of living underground is weird to them

(💢)if they had a boss fight i think they'd kindaaa ... idk be zipping around everywhere and just aimlessly shooting projectiles ... maybe kinda like eol but faster and with less specific patterns or whatever? idk idk lol

(💪)they have 97 mental illnesses and are banned from most public spaces /silly /ref

for real though they've always had it kinda rough like the main reason their whole adventure started in the first place was because they hated living in their hometown so much and ran away one night while barely being prepared ... they seriously feel like they would've died in the middle of the woods on the night they ran away if it weren't for the fact that brian found them the next morning (which is the other reason they hold him in such high regard!)

then there's the whole thing about how poorly they handled brian's death and a lot of things that came after it ... and they didn't recover right away when he came back because that probably wouldn't be that realistic but yk ... they were just really susceptible to being angry and pushed people away often and just kinda continuously pushed people away and shit ...

and during the twins fight they were fighting them but in kind of a brute force-ish way and ended up damaging their vision, which is why the mid-late hard mode version of them wears glasses

while their eyes were recovering they sorta reflected on how they acted those past few months and felt bad and tried to make amends with anyone they've lashed out on and improve their mood and shit, also brian's death wasn't permanent so that helped the process go by a bit quicker than it would have without him i think

they're still not completely immune to anger though ... like they can get frustrated easily if something they're trying to do doesn't work right away or something or if someone says something about brian being the guy that opens doors for monsters at night for the 893523th time (totally not me projecting my frustration with terrar youtube and r/terraria onto them what are you talking about /s)

tl;dr they are doing better by the end of their journey but they've still had it very rough and are still not totally perfect, but that's okay i think because nobody really is ..!

[fablesfancies]

Holiday Card and Bets

Story, the Magicless Prefect of Ramshackle, settles in for a well-earned Holiday Feast with her Dormmates. Together they eat, puzzle over her mystery friend, and partake in the classic pastime of dissecting Someone’s love life. 

Warnings :Minor Spoilers for Chapter 4. Mostly fluff and silliness.

“Mystery Dude?” Story frowned as she ran a finger over the mysterious Holiday Card. The quality was undeniable, if an odd choice. The front image showed a gothic style castle with the classic kind of font she’d seen used for Ren Faires and anything branded with knights and Fairytales. The inside was nearly too short and basic for her to make anything of, beyond how pretty the handwriting was. And those two little initials, staring her down.

“I really wish I knew the people from Diasomnia better,” She glanced at the ghosts. “Did any of them live here when the Dorm was still used before?”

“Nah.” Biggs, the round ghost shook his head. “That was long ago. They were thinking of keeping the Freshman unsorted and giving them a year of basics for ease of professors.”

“They were a real high strung lot,” Calloway, the thin one cackled. “I tell you, all I had to do was float past and the whole dorm was running out the doors and leaping out the windows.”

“Wild.” Story snorted. “Are all magicians such big babies?”

“Most young ones,” Ashton, the final ghost, nodded sagely. “I was worried when those Leech boys came. They’re…odd…”

“Guess that makes me odd too,” She sighed. “But that doesn’t solve who in Diasomnia would give me a Holiday Card…”

“Is it really that important?” Grim looked up from the can of tuna he’d been devouring. “It’s just a card.”

Well for Grim it was. Story looked back to the swirling script. Someone had taken the time to get her a card–not even her friends had done that much. Granted, Ace and Deuce ran to her side as soon as she called, but still…There was something intensely sentimental about being thought of. Especially being so far away from home…

“Why do you assume it’s a student from Diasomnia anyway?” Biggs asked, biting into a turkey leg.

“Lilia’s the Vicewarden,” She hummed, grateful for the distraction. “While he’s pretty friendly with most people, I get the impression that most dorms steer clear of interacting with them too much. Even Cater steered clear, and he’s pretty sociable.”

“Trey too,” Grim agreed. “But then those guys that came to confront Leona looked really scary.”

“Did they?” 

“You don’t know?” Calloway nudged her. “Your brain must’ve really cracked open after the SpellDrive Tournament.”

“I just didn’t find them scary.” Story laughed. “At least, no more than anyone else around here.”

“Don’t tell me you’re scared of most magicians!” Biggs looked horrified.

“More like it’s the most natural thing in the world to be a bit afraid of someone who has the ability to hurt you.” She leaned back against the couch. “It’s their character that determines how actually afraid of them I am. So far, I’d say the guys I’ve met from that dorm are...a little aloof, but not what I’d call scary. No more than the Leech brothers or Jamil. Probably less.”

“Did either of them have those initials?” Ashton suggested. “Maybe they wanted to thank you for your help! Or maybe one of them likes ya?”

Story scowled at the suggestion. “Nah. Both of them had ‘S’ names. Silver and Seb…something…”

“Drat.” He sighed, swishing his grape juice like wine. 

“Maybe it stands for Magical…Dealer?”

“Azul would just sign his name,” Grim grunted.

“And pick a more ostentatious card.” Story agreed. “I’m not sure who it’s from…”

“Looks like a master of Watercolor.” Ashton observed. “I think it’s handmade.”

“Curiouser and curiouser…” 

“Master of Divination?” Biggs suggested.

“Minister of Druids.” Calloway added a guess.

“Druids don’t have ministers,” Ashton rolled his eyes. “Maybe it stands for My Dear!”

“Stop trying to add in a new party to the bet!” Biggs complained.

“Bet?” Story glanced at Grim.

“We’re betti’n on who you go out with.” The monster offered, digging into the turkey. “Biggs thinks it’s Deuce.”

“Excuse me?” She stared at her dormmates in disbelief.

“Oh-ho!” Calloway crowed brightly. “So Ace then…”

“I’m telling you,” Grim waved a free paw at the ghosts. “Story’s cream of the Crop! Not just anyone can win the heart of a noble Prefect!”

“Who’d he bet on?” Story glanced to Ashton. 

“That Jack Fella.” 

“Right!” The monster nodded. “Now that’s the kinda guy who’d make sure his girlfriend and her dormmates were fed, no matter what. He’s principled like that.”

“Meanwhile Crewel’s thinking it’s a boy called Epel.” Ashton continued. “Presuming it’s a yearmate–otherwise he thinks it’ll be Vil.”

“Wait–the Teachers too?!”

“And the Headmage,” Biggs added. “He thinks you’d go for another Prefect, but he won’t say which one.”

“Isn’t that cheating?” Story squinted.

“As long as it’s not any of the ones the other’s bet on.” Calloway cackled. “I think he means the one from Iginhyde.”

“Right, because we’ve clearly met.” She laughed.

“Vargas thinks it’s gonna be Jamil.” Biggs carried on. “And Trien’s set on Trey.”

“I…” Story shook her head. “Doesn’t anyone have anything better to do?”

“Sam thinks you’ve got a thing for Ruggie,” Grim added, ignoring her protests. “I tried to tell him it was a terrible bet, but if he wants to lose, that means more food for me!”

“Oh!” Biggs brightened. “And Lucifer says Leona.” 

“Oh come on!” Story threw her hands up. “The cat’s betting too?!”

“And Ashton’s going on about how none of us are right.” Calloway glared. “Picked a candidate yet?!”

“A boy from Diasomnia.” Ashton grinned. “I’ll change my answer with Crowley when he returns.”

“I…” She shook her head helplessly. “Sure. Why not? You guys figure out my love life while I keep this campus from falling apart at the seams.”

“Will do!” Calloway laughed. “Don’t you worry, Story. You’ve got all the time in the world to decide.”

“This is worse than Thanksgiving with my great Aunt Carol.” She groaned. “No betting on future kids.”

“About that…” Biggs began.

“Oh, come on!”

[dream-meister-translations]

MAIN STORY : CHAPTER 2 PART 2

━

The geyser collapsed, water pouring down upon us like rain. EMMA : Ugh! We're soaking wet! CROW : Wow, these mage guys are no joke! GRANDFLAIR : More importantly, it would seem they’re still going at it... GUI : ......No! My magical tools.....! KAI : Hah, hah...... What do you think of that! Pretty good, huh? SION : Dammit...... You are the most stubborn person I’ve ever met... But-- KAI & SION : I’m not done yet!!

?? : No, that is indeed quite enough. KAI : Ugh!

SION : What the-- I can't move! ?? : Kai and Sion. I don't mind a little rivalry between my students every now and then. But please stop dragging other people into your squabbles. KAI & SION : Professor Est!!! KAI : What the heck are you doing to us!?

EST : Hmmm? Oh this? It's my new technique. A mix of time sorcery and sealing magic. SION : Unbind us this instant! EST : I will once you’ve had a chance to cool off. I'm terribly sorry for the trouble these two have caused. EMMA : You don’t have to apologize. These two get kind of intense, huh?

EST : Don't worry about them, it happens every time they’re in the same room. Oh! Look at you, you’re soaked from head to toe! Gui, are your tools still working? GUI : I don’t think so~ The magic stone got affected by the water. So instead of drying people off, it’s just gonna shoot more water at them! EST : I see. Okay then. EMMA : Um, sir? EST : I sing the music of the wind, I cry out to the vibrations in the flame, let us mingle, let us resonate, let us be born! EMMA : Whaaaa!?

And just like that a warm breeze swept across the lake, wrapping itself around our wet bodies.

CROW : Ooohhhh~ Ha ha, I feel warmer already! ITSUKI : Feels so good... Kinda makes me sleepy-- GRANDFLAIR : He’s using magic and sorcery at the same time!? EST : Right. That should do it. EMMA : Oh, thank you very much! EST : Yes, I used witchcraft to dry your bodies. A combination of magic and sorcery. EMMA : Magic... And sorcery...? EST : Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Est. I'm a magician of the Magical Arts Guild, Magia Seminar.

EMMA : (Magia Seminar...I've heard that name before...)

*FLASHBACK* Three years ago... Back when I was still training to be a Guild Keeper...

LANNES : Oh, not again... More reports of conflict between the Magic and Sorcery Guilds. EMMA : "They trashed each other's headquarters." That seems really petty... LANNES : Thank God. Things have remained relatively tame so far but if it ever escalates to more serious tensions... Who knows what kind of crisis they could cause. EMMA : Um, Lannes... What's the difference between magic and sorcery? I've looked through every book and paper I can find, but I just can't figure it out. LANNES : Understandable. Sorcery is derived from magic, after all. The difference is in the techniques and philosophies forming each of their foundations. Sorcery excels in the embodiment and control of magic through science and formulas. Magic users do not approve of this. EMMA : Why not? LANNES : They believe magic should not rely on theories or equations, a stance sorcery users believe to be archaic. EMMA : Like a craftsman insisting on using manual labor over more automated machines? LANNES : Yes. Many magicians believe that it is imperative to focus on one's own abilities and qualities, but the continued development of sorcery in recent years, has only deepened the rivalry between the two. LANNES : There have been rumors of a magician hoping to form an academic guild that unites the two schools of magic, but that is quite the challenge in this day and age. Given the chance, I would like to support him wholeheartedly. *END FLASHBACK*

EMMA : You teach both magic and sorcery? EST : Impressive, you know a lot for such a small guild. You guys are-- That's when it happened...

GRANDFLAIR : Everybody get back!!!

Suddenly, more of those black phantoms from earlier were rushing toward us, and Gran leapt forward to block their attacks with his shield.

EMMA : (It’s the Dark Night’s Messengers!)

CROW : These guys again! GUI : Oh, uhh... Umm...! EST : Release! KAI : Whoa!? SION : I can move again!! EST : Gui, take these two and stay back! CROW : They're coming! EMMA : Navi, Evan, Himmel!

KAI & SION & GUI : !!? NAVI : What is it~, Master? EMMA : We're being attacked! NAVI : Yes, I can see that~ Are you ordering us to protect you? EMMA : The orders are-- ITSUKI : This is no time for chatting! CROW : Woah! You came outta nowhere! Don't scare me like that! GRANDLFAIR : If their messengers are here, does that mean those shady Dark Night guys are here, too?

EMMA : We can’t let them get away this time! NAVI : Well, we're going back inside the key. EMMA : Ah, wait a minute! ITSUKI : What happened to Navi? KAI : Hey, what the hell was that? SION : A monster? EMMA : (They can see the Black Fairies? So they must be Meisters, too?) EST : What were those three demons... And that key...? EMMA : Well, this is-- EST : No, not here. For now, please come to our home and let me apologize for the trouble we have caused...

[ajoytobeheld]

Mega, depressive, all tomorrow's party post

May 8th, 2009

Today, we should be at ATP. BY RIGHTS!! The next three days promise to be a stream of torturous reminders that we’re not.

So, to celebrate the fact that I’m gonna be miserable this weekend while my friends tweet and facebook and blog about how they’re having an incredible time, as I sit LONELY at msn, ABANDONED, here are some stream of consciousness, non-proof read reminisces about the four ATPs that myself and other members of LC! have attended. Plenty of name-dropping because I’m depressed, alright?

MAY 2006 The United Sounds Of ATP. Our first ATP. Phil Elverum with Herman Dune as backing band. Neil and Tom paid for tickets. I got the other…five of our pals “press passes” due to me being a BIG PLAYER in student media at the time. We slept the seven of us in and around a single double bed. John slept with his head in a bin and wore a dress for the weekend, got recognised by Huw Stephens while hitching up his skirt in the . Tom and Neil got their picture taken with Bill Callahan. Immediately accidentally deleted it. Cried. Beth Ditto called me “the cutest thing I’ve ever seen”. Met a really awesome girl, wrote a song about it. Did a conga line whilst watching the Shins. Shared a chalet with a Sheffield Wednesday fan, he was very tall. Two litre bottles of Strongbow. Vodka and slush puppies. Might have met Josie Long. Dancing with Sleater-Kinney to ‘Hot Topic’ by Le Tigre, WHILST WEARING a Bikini Kill t-shirt. 33 at 45. Mascis playing guitar with BSS, and forgetting to mute his pedals whilst tuning up, LOL. Absolutely OWNING the dancefllor for the entire weekend.I kind of peaked here. Pretty certain this was the happiest weekend of my life.

MAY 2007 ATP VS THE FANS The moment, watching Architecture In Helsinki, that, all at once, about 25 blokes in the crowd noticed a bit of one of their songs sounded like the BBC Cricket coverage theme tune, massive grins. Starting the weekend off with The Thermals, meeting loads of people off Drowned In Sound in the front row. Somebody told me Daniel Johnston had missed his flight. I drunkenly announced it to loads of people. Daniel Johnston hadn’t missed his flight. I’m still very sorry. The Notwist being amazing. Got a verse out of this one too. Yoni Wolf and Dose One performing part of Physics Of A Unicycle together. Incredible. Missed Shellac because we watched the frankly FUCKING AWFUL Chelsea v Utd FA Cup final. Asked to do a Los Campesinos! v Mogwai 5-a-side football match. Too scared.

CAN’T FIND ANY PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE OF THIS ONE!!

MAY 2008 ATP VS PITCHFORK We played this one. Esiotrot/4 or 5 Magicians/Los Campesinos! 5-a-side. Lot of fun. Maybe shouldn’t go to ATP with a girlfriend, makes it a bit rubbisher. Also, don’t jump off the drum kit during your set and sprain your ankle and subsequently have to spend the rest of the weekend on crutches. Except, ATP only had one pair of crutches, and somebody had already taken. In extreme pain for the rest of the weekend. But playing was probably the proudest I’ve ever been. I CROWDSURFED!! Last day of the Premiership season, United win it at Wigan. Found a disposable barbecue with a human turd on it. Times New Viking dedicating a song to us, and hanging out with them all weekend, gettin’ waaaaaaasted man. Saw the guy, who had the crutches, CARRYING THEM, WALKING FINE!!! BASTARD!! Was offered a Zimmer frame.

DECEMBER 2008 NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS: MIKE PATTON/THE MELVINS Didn’t go until Saturday afternoon, because I had a football match Saturday morning. Watched about 3 bands. All very good, thank you very much. Watched about 5 football matches. Everton v Aston Villa was a hell of a game. United beat Fulham. Kept asking for beers with the stress on the wrong cyllables, hilarious. Got drunk and tried to go swimming. It was closed. Got tricked at ‘gay chicken’. Lots of Dance Dance Revolution. Me and Gui started our new band KrabIsland (news on that, never). I could be Teenage Jesus’ drummer.

I’ve been reasonably restrained here. Might add some more in a bit. We’ll be lucky if I don’t bust out crying…

No apologies made.

[alyjojo]

Love Reading 🧿 - March 2023 - Aries

Singles:

Overall energy: The Magician

How you will meet: 6 Pentacles & 7 Cups

How they will treat you: The Star

Long-term Potential: Knight of Wands

You’ve got a fkboy/girl on your hands, and you’ve already gone through this with them before. They could’ve been something casual, The Lovers & 7 Cups show this as something that was never really committed to on either side, you could have had some fun and went your separate ways, if that. This person is smooth af, that’s probably how they got you interested, but you’re not dumb either. It’s more like they piqued your interest but never fooled you. So you were talking, flirting, maybe went out a couple times, and this person just never took it anywhere. Knight of Pentacles & 2 Wands show them taking forever to decide what they want, or they never really do. So communication stopped, and now they’re coming back full force.

They’re treating you like you’re everything to them, they want you, you’re the one they’ve always wanted, etc etc baby don’t leave me type of energy here. It’s convincing, if not for the last row, long term potential, which shows Knight of Wands rushing in for some passion and excitement and then The Hermit. NADA. Nothing. Being Wands, that could also be you just leaving this person on ghost 👻 maybe they don’t float your boat. Death here could also be you responding with a hell no, whatever they’re up to is not what you’re looking for. It’s good for a short time not a long time, that was always someone’s intention. Yours? Maybe both.

Messages -

Their side:

- I just want to be alone.

- I love the way you look at me.

- Mind Games 🤯

Your side:

- Similar Values

- Unrealistic Expectations

- My heart wasn’t truly in this.

Signs you may be dealing with:

Gemini, Aquarius, Scorpio, Virgo & Pisces

Couples:

Overall energy: 6 Swords

Current: The Sun

Challenge: 7 Wands

Potential: 4 Pentacles rev & Ace of Wands

This could affect both of you and I’m not sure where the King of Cups fits, it seems to be more about you on a psychological level. You’ve been through pain, abandonment, possibly debt, a lot of heavy emotions and struggles to get where you are. Together even. You’re mentally in a place where you’re letting all of that go, you’ve recognized the truth of the situation, it may have taken a long time, but you’re consciously choosing to be happy. The challenge is either your own defensiveness or someone else’s over how things are changing, possibly how you’re changing. This King of Cups could be some 3rd party outside of the relationship, a family member or friend, there is defensiveness that hides sadness, they’re disappointed at what they’ve lost with you, how things are changing. If you’re choosing to abandon a situation or this person, they’re very upset, and do love you.

The potential is happiness, releasing this heavy bs you’ve been carrying for awhile in favor of passion, joy, inspiration, getting your fire and zest for life back. This excited desire for a new start affects your relationship positively, you’ve got The Sun here, and you all are happier with the clarity that you’ve gained from this situation, The Moon rev. You may just be bringing to light emotions you’ve held back, or someone else is, and there is a freedom that comes with this…it’s like whew, finally. 2 Cups following can show releasing love you’ve been holding back too, the love got tangled in with the defensiveness so you were just holding everything back. With letting go of whatever it is that makes you so guarded, consciously leaving it behind, you’re ending up much happier, spending more time with family, showing your love, being more romantic. It’s like one person is hurting but it’s necessary for the benefit of everyone, for them to open up about this. I’m not sure what other circumstances this entails but it seems like whatever you’re doing is the right thing 💙

Messages -

Their side:

- I’ve never met anyone like you.

- Sports Fanatic! 🏈

Your side:

- Loving Parent

- Short Hair

- Facial Hair

Oracles -

Their side: Ask God to remove any negativity from you, even something that may have happened in a past life that is affecting this life.

Your side: You can be a caregiver and rescuer, but be sure you’re your own caregiver first.

Signs you may be dealing with:

Leo, Scorpio, Virgo & Pisces

[sandbees]

A few about the Great Seven interacting with Twisted Wonderland characters VIA Yuu. 👀 I only have one word summary; Chaos.

Who would meet the Great Seven first? Obviously the first years (along with Ortho and Grim). They’re Yuu’s best friends after all.

Actually, it was Friday, the last day of the week. And coincidentally, that night would be a special night at the House of Mouse. Ariel and her sisters would be performing that night.

Mickey told Yuu that that they could invite anyone to watch the performance. So Yuu went to get special permission to take their friends along with them.

After kidnapping Ortho After Yuu gathers everyone, they explain that they’re going out to see a special performance at their workplace.

Keep in mind that no one knows exactly what Yuu’s new job was except Grim and Crowley. So naturally everyone was in on it and curious. (Only Grim knows about Yuu meeting the Great Seven though)

Ace: So where do you work at?

Yuu: I work at a club.

Epel: ...As in a strip club or a book club?

Yuu: Wtf Epel? It’s like a club but no alcohol. It’s technically a restaurant but they have live shows and put on a lot of performances so-

Deuce: Oh! That’s cool, we get to see it together!

Yuu: Actually I’m not going to be with you guys. I’m on duty that day so I’ll be waiting tables. But I’ll join during break.

Ace: Really? Bummer.

Ortho: Aw, I wanted to hang out with you too! But it will be fun nonetheless. :D

Yuu tells them to wait downstairs as they go upstairs to get everything ready.

They are low-key nervous, because the House of Mouse isn’t...exactly normal by Twisted Wonderland standards.

Meanwhile, Grim was telling the first years about Yuu’s experiences there.

Grim: You know, the House of Mouse is really popular, I’ve heard about a lot of customers Yuu has met.

Deuce: This job must have been hard...I’m glad Yuu got it though!

Grim: Yeah, they pay them 5,000 madol! Isn’t that great?!

Sebek: 5,000 madol?! That’s a lot more than being a waiter.

Ace: In a week? I mean having a salary of 5,000 is pretty impressive.

Grim: Hehe, it’s actually 5,000 a day.

First Years: WHAT?!

Jack: To be able to pay that much...the owner must be wealthy.

Epel: Yuu lucked out!

When Yuu comes down, the first years are asking a billion questions.

How did you find a job with such a high pay??? Is the work good?? Is your boss nice to you?? Explain everything-

Yuu assured them that their job is just waiting a bunch of tables, and that they’re payed well because the place is very popular.

Anyways, Yuu tells them that they’re going now and leads them upstairs.

“Shouldn’t we be going to the hall of mirrors-?” “It won’t work.”

The group kind of loses their mind as Yuu casually pushes Ace into their mirror, Grim follows behind.

“Come on, or do I have to push you through the mirror like I did with Ace?”

Safe to say is that they go through the mirror and are greeted with a very lavish dressing room.

“Wait woah this isn’t Mickey’s dressing room.”

Yuu finds a note and read it out loud. Apparently Mickey moved the mirror to a new room so they could have privacy. Anything in the room is for their use.

“I’m going to cry. He’s so nICE I DON’T DESERVE THIS-“

Yuu is pretty happy with this arrangement, actually. They also begin to explain the club’s shtick to their friends.

“So this is basically a club for entertainment with live shows and also cartoons on the screen. Oh, and sometimes a cat named Pete tries to sabotage the show so he can kick everyone out and make this his club.” “Isn’t that illegal-“ “Not if there’s no police.”

So anyways Yuu leads them outside and they run into Goofy.

Sebek: Is that-?

Yuu: Hi Goofy, I’m bringing my friends to a table for the show-

Goofy: Yuu! There you are! You’re needed at table 14.

Yuu: What? But my shift hasn’t started-

Goofy: Reservations from Hades himself.

Yuu: Oh shit, ok yeah I’ll be there as soon as possible-

Ortho: Hades? As in the God of the Underworld?

Yuu: Yes, I’ll explain later, more importantly let’s go find you a table.

Ace: I think not telling us you actually met one of the GREAT SEVEN!

Yuu: I did tell you; and you didn’t believe me.

Everyone is vibrating in nervousness and excitement. Especially Ortho. I mean, this is the GREAT SEVEN we’re talking about!

Yuu decides to introduce them to Hades. But surprise surprise, it’s all of the Great Seven!

Yuu’s first year friends are going to pass out from shock. Oof.

With some inquiry, Yuu explains to the Great Seven that the friends they brought were from Twisted Wonderland.

Let’s just say that the First Years got invited to sit at their table. (Sebek is quaking at the idea of sitting with the Witch of Thorns)

So while Yuu leaves to start work (not after taking all of their orders first, of course), the Great Seven begin asking the first years + Grim questions.

The first years are expectantly tense, but they loosen up.

Ursula and Jafar are a little disappointed that no one from their dorm is present, but they seem to easily forget that after Yuu tells them that they know people from their respective dorms anyways.

Yuu also gives them a little more information they found about their respective dorms, so that they don’t feel...left out? (Satisfied is a better word for it)

Ursula pets Grim and Jafar feeds him crackers. Grim does not complain, he’s fine. He becomes more compliant as his tuna arrives.

And some of the other’s thoughts? Well...

The Queen of Hearts almost blew up in anger at Ace and Deuce. They are idiots that do nOT KNOW THE PROPER WAY TO SPEAK TO THEIR SUPERIORS AND THEY HAVE BROKEN AT LEAST 359 RULES ALREADY-

But somehow, the Queen of Hearts warms up to the idiotic duo. She sees them as...annoying children she has to babysit but they’re also really adorable that she can’t stay mad at them forever. Plus, Deuce is trying and Ace has these wonderful card tricks that would make her Jester cry.

So at first, she does not approve, but as the night progresses she does. 8/10 would meet the ADeuce combo again.

Scar and Jack...hm. Well, I don’t think they’d get along of Scar’s sense of morality and justice of the past was brought up. However, the villains all agreed to not bring up their villainous past because they didn’t want to scare away Yuu/make them wary and distrustful of them. Same goes for the first years.

Anyways, Scar is impressed at how buff Jack is. He isn’t surprised though - he expected residents of his dorm to be powerful. Scar lays down some well deserved praise and Jack eats it up with a tail wag. Jack also talks about his dorm and what the dorm represents. Scar’s ego rises 100x and Scar becomes somewhat...egotistical. Well, maybe not like in a “I’m shoving my ego in your face” type of ego but in a “This pleases me and I will treat you kinder” ego.

Basically, Scar opens up a little more to Jack as the night progresses. Like a mentor/student bond.

The Evil Queen and Epel...well, the Evil Queen was quite picky with how Epel was acting. Yes, he had the proper posture but really, he was using the wrong forks to eat that particular kind of food. She expected better from someone who came from her dorm. So she ended up chastising him and scolding him for being “improper”. Like Vil.

She was shocked to say when Epel accidentally snapped back at her, before returning to his more “princely” persona. Ah, so the child had more than meets the eye. She tried a different approach, as in trying to ease Epel into talking to her. Certainly, Epel was much more headstrong and willful than that naive Snow White.

So, the Evil Queen and Epel have a rocky start, but by the end of the show.

Hades and Ortho...well, that’s a combo you never see everyday. But I think Hades would basically adopt Ortho. As in suddenly he gets father vibes from the kid. He’s also particularly interested in his own dorm, and asks Ortho about it. Ortho’s pretty chatty with Hades, and is happy to tell Hades about his dorm! He also asks a few questions himself; which Hades happily obliged to.

...and then it turns into Ortho talking about Idia and how wonderful he is. And Hades is like, “damn, this kid has a wonderful big brother. How come my younger siblings act like shit to me-“

So Hades silently swore to the River of Styx to keep this child safe, and Ortho had a fun time interacting with Hades!

Sebek and Maleficent...well, it could have been worse.

Poor Sebek was tense and tight lipped for most of the night. He really wanted to make a good impression on Malleus’ grandmother. (I don’t think Sebek has met Maleficent yet so-)

Maleficent was patient, however. She knew Fae kind were raised to think of Maleficent as a high authority figure that should be treated with upmost respect. Unlike the other kingdoms; the Valley of Thorns praised Maleficent like a goddess. She didn’t blame Sebek for acting like he was.

So she started with baby steps. Talking about how wonderful it was to meet her grandson’s bodyguard, how Malleus must have grown to be a strong magician, how she wished she had stayed to know more about her grandson.

Actually, the breaking point between the tense atmosphere between the two was Malleus. Sebek opens up a little more as he continues to talk to Maleficent.

At the end of the night, they’ve only talked about Malleus, but Maleficent was content with that. After all, keeping up with what her grandson was doing was more than enough.

By the end of the night, the First Years enjoyed the special performance and their time with the Great Seven. Things went well especially when Yuu came to join during their break.

So when it was time to go, everyone had happily said their goodbyes as they were ready to return.

“Oh, before I forget...Yuu, I have almost completed the portals for the others so do expect one of us to pop in soon.” “Oh, ok!” “...THEY MIGHT VISIT US?!”

Everyone is low key excited to meet again though.

So, the first years go through the mirror and stay at Ramshackle, chatting away at their time at the House of Mouse.

_=_

Yeah, this was a looonngg write, I’m actually going to do the rest of the TW cast in another post. I hope you enjoyed this one! :)

[sagurus]

Regarding a Common Misconception of Hakuba Saguru

Lately I've been doing some reflecting on Saguru & the various ways I've seen him portrayed, as well as the ways I've portrayed him in the past. And then I was rereading some MK manga, and had some realizations. I've been feeling like rambling about them! So here I go, rambling.

[Disclaimer: I'm not personally taking issue with anyone's interpretation or impression of Saguru - just sharing my own impressions! This is just for fun <3 ]

Misconception: Saguru is constantly accusing Kaito of being KID

It’s a generally accepted fact in a lot of fics I’ve read (and honestly, maybe some fics I’ve written -- I used to hold this belief too!) that Saguru just unendingly insinuates that Kaito is KID--alone, in front of other people, always.

I won’t cite any here, but I’ve seen nods in fanwork to Aoko feeling a little stressed/frustrated about the fact that Saguru thinks Kaito is KID and makes it known. I’ve also seen fanwork where Saguru explicitly calls Kaito KID, presses Kaito for information, or otherwise makes his beliefs clear, even when others are around.

There are only five scenes in the Magic Kaito manga where Saguru makes direct indication toward his knowledge of KID’s identity.

First, of course, we’ve got chapter 17 - the first chapter where Saguru puts together that Kaito is KID.

For a long time, when I’d consumed more fic than MK canon, I recall an image born in my head of Saguru singling Kaito out in class and making the claim that Kaito is KID in front of everybody. I don’t know if I ever read any such allusion in a fic, or if it’s just an assumption I drew based on portrayals I read, but imagine my surprise when he does nothing of the sort.

Now, to be fair, Saguru is A LOT in this chapter. MK is still heavily in gag manga territory, so his behavior is extra extra played up. But if we take away the visuals, the dialogue between Saguru and Kaito can be summed up thusly:

[First scene where Saguru makes direct indications as to KID’s identity]

Kaito: You look so tired. Haven’t gotten enough sleep after chasing KID for three nights In a row, huh?

Saguru: Hmph. Aren’t you tired as well?

And then, a few beats later in the conversation:

Saguru: I’d like to invite you to the Ochima Art Museum tonight, where KID’s declared his next target. Kaito: Eh? Saguru: Then, you’ll understand why I’m so tired. Or, do you have other plans tonight? Kaito: Okay, I accept your invitation. It’ll be great to see your work in action!

And that’s it, that’s the big class confrontation. Aoko is present for it, but she’s more interested in joining in on the fun, and while I do think Aoko pieces together that Kaito is KID, she prefers to live in willful ignorance of it until it becomes impossible for her to ignore. She’s bright enough to pick up what Saguru’s implying, but because he never brings it past implication, there’s no reason for her to look at it too hard. Anyway, I digress. That’s conjecture and headcanon talking. My point is that Saguru never makes any explicit claims, just invites Kaito along to the heist.

Another neat thing about this scene is that--while certainly not motivated by mercy in this case, Saguru does give Kaito an out: “Or, do you have an excuse not to go tonight?” Of course, if Kaito took it, it would be rather damning, but I do think it would have been enough confirmation for Saguru. I don’t think there would have been any arm-twisting to get Kaito to agree.

But Kaito and Saguru are competitive bastards, so here we are.

Let’s move on to the heist!

Once again, the manga certainly plays up the whole ordeal. Saguru is intense and waiting for his moment, and Kaito’s being, well, Kaito.

At the heist, there are a few points where Saguru has opportunities to make allusions to Kaito being KID in a way others would pick up on, or otherwise make his suspicions known, but he doesn’t.

First of all, is this exchange:

Nakamori: Why are you guys here? Aoko: Hakuba-kun invited us! Nakamori: What’s the meaning of this, Hakuba-kun? Saguru: I thought she might like to see if KID is arrested tonight. Nakamori: You’ll fail if you’re too cocky! Saguru: We’re well-prepared. Besides, who knows… KID may already be here.

Saguru does imply KID could be present, but he makes no indication that he means Kaito. His next opportunity to hint at Kaito being KID or otherwise make accusations is when Nakamori asks him to consult as a magician.

Nakamori: Kaito, since you’re here, do you want to use your magic against KID? Kaito: [laughing sheepishly] Saguru: Oh, I want to see that fight, too. If you really can do it.

Needling, yes. Saguru knows what he’s saying and so does Kaito. Accusations, no. This is well within the realm of something Saguru would have said even if he didn’t suspect Kaito, considering their dynamic up until this point.

And then, the most explicit Saguru ever gets in terms of literally calling Kaito out as being KID, beginning when Kaito excuses himself to go to the bathroom right before the heist:

[Second scene where Saguru makes direct indications as to KID’s identity]

Saguru: [handcuffs himself to Kaito] Kaito: Huh? Saguru: I won’t let you do that, Kuroba. Kaito: What do you think you’re doing?! Saguru: I got the report back from the lab. The hair I got from KID indicated that he’s a high school student. After I compared KID’s data with other high school students’ data in the database… Kuroba Kaito came up in the final list. Kaito: That’s a coincidence. Saguru: Really? We’ll see soon enough. Let’s wait until the time KID is stated to come. [Some heist hubbub occurs as officers get into position even though KID hasn’t arrived at the heist time] Aoko: What? KID’s not coming? Saguru: Ha! It looks like I win! You’d better confess who you really are.

And from there, of course, ‘KID’ (Akako in disguise) swoops in and takes care of the heist. That more or less wraps up chapter 17, the first chapter where Saguru understands that Kaito is KID. And I would argue this is the most aggressive Saguru ever is. In fact, rather than persist in trying to accuse/capture/implicate Kaito as KID, he straight up vanishes from the narrative for several chapters.

Saguru doesn’t show up again until the Chat Noir heist, in chapter 25, when he calls from France.

It’s also important to note that at this point, Magic Kaito’s narrative has experienced a slight tonal shift. At the very least, while still often comedic, it reads less like a gag manga. Between the last time we saw Saguru and now, we’ve learned the apparent motivation behind Toichi’s murder, we’ve met Snake (an albeit rather incompetent villain) and Kaito has faced down gunfire and the danger posed by Snake and his men.

The way Saguru is portrayed has also shifted to reflect the shift too. Instead of a hulking antagonist-like character in a Holmes cosplay, he’s dressed primly and presents more as a cheeky but polite character. He’s also more effectively emulating the charm that the story tried to imply he had early on (“Hakuba Saguru, at your service!”, the girls in class fawning over him, the newspaper calling him out as a famous detective making a long-awaited return to Japan).

The interaction is entirely less antagonistic, too. For reference, I’ll paste the exchange (sans Saguru’s massive info dump) below.

[Third scene where Saguru makes direct indications as to KID’s identity]

[At the heist for the golden eye] Kaito: [Hiding in a bathroom stall while putting on a disguise] [His phone starts ringing] Hello…? Saguru: Hi, it’s been a while. Are you still alive? Kaito: [Thinking] This sugary yet obnoxious tone of voice is... Hakuba?! Saguru: You’ve made quite the stir in Paris. They’re all talking about how France’s Chat Noir is going to go up against you in Japan. Kaito: Idiot! It’s not me. It’s Kaitou KID! Saguru: Ha… it doesn’t really matter. I’ll share some information that I gathered over here. [Info dump cut from dialogue] Well! That’s about all I have to say. Do your best. I don’t want to see you lose to anyone until I capture you myself. Kaito: Like I’ve been saying, I’m not KID! Saguru: Oops, it’s almost time for the Paris Fashion Week. See you! Kaito: H-hey…

The only part of this conversation that I could consider to fall into the territory of antagonistic is when Saguru says “I don’t want to see you lose to anyone until I capture you myself.” And more than anything, I think this is less reflective of a real desire to capture Kaito, and more reflective of his competitive nature. Not to mention, within the context of the conversation, it feels much more like teasing than anything.

Saguru’s motivation for making the call is clear: He doesn’t want Kaito to lose, and he wants to help ensure Kaito’s success.

And most interestingly (although I’d like to see the raw manga to confirm this, or otherwise a more literal translation) he never explicitly calls Kaito KID either. Outside of alluding to KID’s actions, Saguru doesn’t explicitly say Kaito is KID or mention KID at all. It’s Kaito who does that.

When Kaito points out that he is not, in fact, KID, Saguru doesn’t argue. He simply brushes off the denial and shares the information he’s collected.

So, to summarize what we’ve covered so far: after Saguru failed to arrest Kaito during chapter 17, he stopped troubling Kaito so thoroughly that the next time he features in the story isn’t until he’s calling from overseas to try to lend Kaito some helpful information. He’s not even playing a part in trying to capture this thief he allegedly wants to catch.

And then, Saguru dips back out of the narrative, although for a shorter period this time. The next arc he appears in is a few chapters later--the Nightmare Heist which he arrives in the middle of. But, there’s not any interaction between him and Kaito, nor any allusions made by Saguru about KID’s identity, so we’ll move on.

The fourth time Saguru makes any indication that Kaito is KID is during the Corbeau arc, when KID is being challenged by a clad-in-black KID lookalike.

Before jumping into that specific scene, though, there’s another interaction I’d like to call attention to--between Saguru and Nakamori. Not because of something Saguru says, but because of what he doesn’t say.

Nakamori: Hahaha! Looks like you let your guard down because you thought I was at home with a cold! Saguru: Our plan succeeded, it seems. Nakamori: But I only told Aoko I had a cold, so how does KID know…? Saguru: Hm...

If Saguru were wanting to make some kind of accusation, even a non-explicit one, he would have made some remark. Instead, he doesn’t say anything at all, which continues to speak to the fact that he isn’t really interested in implicating Kaito.

Anyway, the next time Saguru makes any sort of implication that Kaito is KID he is, once again, trying to help. Last time it was over the phone, so the conversation was private. This time, the conversation is in a classroom, although based on the panels, it seems like Saguru and Kaito are alone at the beginning--or at least, no attention is being paid to them.

[Fourth scene where Saguru makes direct indications as to KID’s identity]

Kaito: [Talking to himself] It must be the case, there’s no other way. There must have been some trick with the case.

Saguru: [Eavesdropping, apparently alone in the room with him] The case didn’t contain any hidden mechanisms. Kaito: Eh? Saguru: No hidden doors or things like that, as are often used in magic tricks. Kaito: W-what on earth are you talking about? Saguru: A new notice from Corbeau arrived this morning. ‘I’ll come and take the real Midnight Crow tonight.’ My name is Hakuba--so I don’t want a ‘white’ person to lose to some ominous black crow. [From here, Akako and then Aoko jump into the conversation.]

Surely a classroom is a risky place to have a conversation about KID, but the nice thing is that Saguru--once again--doesn’t bring up KID at all beyond saying that he doesn’t want the ‘white[-clad] person’ to lose to the black crow. From the outside looking in, all he’s doing is sharing information about the case with Kaito. It may also seem unwarranted from that perspective, but not at all implicating.

Also, another thing I’d like to call attention to is that when Akako joins the conversation (and seemingly blindsides Saguru, as if he wasn’t expecting anyone else to join), Saguru stops talking. He continues to be quiet when Aoko chimes in, and he doesn’t have any relevant dialogue for the rest of the scene.

Once again, Saguru’s clearly motivated to share information in the interest of helping Kaito. He has to share with Kaito’s civilian identity, since he can’t exactly arrange a conversation with KID, and this is likely the easiest way for him to do it. He makes no accusations, and this time he doesn’t even imply he wants KID caught.

So--Saguru is a part of the narrative again, but since rejoining the narrative he seems less interested in actually catching KID and far more interested in helping Kaito. And no accusations or incriminating allusions have been made since chapter 17, before Saguru’s first hiatus from the story.

The final time Saguru nods to Kaito being KID is from the Sun Halo arc. This is probably the interaction that’s closest to what fanon tends to depict when it comes to Saguru making subtle accusations that Kaito is KID. And even then, I tend to take this arc with a grain of salt if only because it felt less like Gosho was trying to add to the story and more like he was just trying to make a Magic Kaito addition that hit various fan expectations while still being wildly disappointing, lmao.

[Fifth scene where Saguru makes direct indications as to KID’s identity]

Saguru: [approaching and commenting on Kaito’s motorcycle] I see, a Suzuki GSX 250R. Akako: Ah, Hakuba-kun… Saguru: You’ve shown me something interesting. Perhaps this might help the police tonight. And could it be that you’ve forgotten… that the only motorised bikes we’re allowed to ride to school are scooters? Kaito: Eh?! For real?!

Once again, Saguru doesn’t explicitly mention KID at all--and segues from his mention of the police to pointing out that Kaito is breaking the rules right now, actually, which helps blend this teasing comment into the conversation.

Yes, later in the chapter Saguru does show up with a team of motorcycle experts. But that also means there’s more disguise opportunities for KID and more factors to account for, thus complicating things for, well, everyone--not just KID.

Also, I tend to dismiss that as Gosho throwing in some comedy, and as less to do with Saguru’s character. Call it cherrypicking if you like :P

To recount--there are five times where Saguru implies Kaito is KID.

The first two are in chapter 17, when Saguru first puts it together, and it is during this chapter that he gets the most explicit about calling Kaito out as KID, as well as the most aggressively he behaves about it. And he backs off so hard after that doesn’t work, that we don’t see him for several chapters.

The next two times he implies Kaito is KID are both in order to help him. No aggression or accusations, just the sharing of information. Even when teasing or suggesting he’s interested in catching KID, he’s good-natured about it, and when he realizes there are potentially people witnessing the conversation, he stops participating.

The final time he implies Kaito is KID is a tiny comment about finding something Kaito has shown him ‘interesting’ and ‘helpful for the police’ before smoothing into gently teasing Kaito for bringing an illegal vehicle to school.

In conclusion, Saguru may start off apparently aggressive in part thanks to early Magic Kaito’s overall tone, but rather than persevering in trying to catch Kaito after cornering him in chapter 17, he actually seems to back off. Once he’s playing a part in the narrative again, when he interacts with Kaito it’s almost exclusively to help him. Yes, he is on the task force and participating at heists, but where it matters, he’s less interested in catching the thief and far more interested in those the thief is opposing (excluding the police force).