#a ragtag magic troupe

[hotvintagepoll]

I am adoring all of these polls and gif sets and just being fed so many hot vintage people. As someone who really hasn’t watched very many classics, are there any movies you’d recommend for someone just starting to dip their toes in older media but unsure where to start?

Sure! I don't want to sway any voting, but I'll put an incomplete list of favorites that involve hot men not still in the bracket below the cut.

Something to note that applies to most of these old movies—older movies have different pacing than modern movies, so some of these might seem really slow or weird to start. There are also different ways of framing gender and agency, for better and for worse. I've italicized the ones that I think are the best for starting with, but go with whatever genre/aesthetic sounds best.

The Court Jester (Danny Kaye, Basil Rathbone)—a circus performer working for a quasi-Robin Hood infiltrates the royal court. Fun comedy that's incredibly accessible and still so light on its feet. Swordfighting, glamorous medieval costumes, court intrigues, and silly accents.

Singin' in the Rain (Gene Kelly)—fun polyamorous musical comedy. The dancing is incredible, but so is the sense of joy and camaraderie between Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds. Genuinely captures the feeling of hanging out with your best friends. 1920s Hollywood, big movie studios, backstage drama, goofy hijinks.

The Adventures of Robin Hood (Errol Flynn, Basil Rathbone)—classic swashbuckler/romance. It could read a little slow to modern tastes but the action scenes are absolutely killer, as is the sentiment of seeing little guys pull down big capitalists evil monarchs. Swashbuckling, labor activists merry men hanging out in the woods, hot men in tights, social commentary swords, a Maid Marian who really holds her own and falls in love with the socialist

Charade (Cary Grant)—thriller/romantic comedy. Audrey Hepburn's husband dies and leaves her a hidden inheritance, and she's racing some skeevy characters to find it. A little bit scary but mostly charming and gorgeous, and you can find it high quality virtually anywhere because they fucked up the copyright trademark in the opening credits. Romance, murders, Paris, 1960s fashion, chases in the night.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Dick Van Dyke)—this movie is divisive for some reason—I personally like peace, love, and joy, so it makes the list. This is a James Bond movie if James Bond had two kids, lived in a windmill in the south of England, and was into cottagecore inventions more than martinis and racism. This is very much a kids' movie so go in with that expectation, but enjoy the gorgeous production design, the wonderfully silly performances, and Lionel Jeffries pulling out every stop as an insane old man. Dick Van Dyke has excellent DILF energy. Magical cars, big musical vibes, fun inventions, and romantic fantasy.

To Be Or Not To Be (Jack Benny)—comedy/drama. A ragtag Warsaw theatre troupe stands off against the Gestapo after the invasion of Poland. TW for Nazis, obviously, but overall this is a comedy with some heft, and kind of shocking to be this ballsy about fucking hating Hitler's guts in the 1940s. Hambone actors, Shakespeare, spies, 1930s gowns. It's been a minute since I watched it so I don't think there are any TWs here, but go forth with caution.

Witness for the Prosecution (Tyrone Power)—mystery/legal drama based off an Agatha Christie story. The performances are campy fun and the twist would be at home in something like Knives Out. Big dramatics, hambones, lots of talking, a bit of a mindbender.

The Lady Vanishes (Michael Redgrave)—mystery/suspense/romantic comedy. It's a little slow to start but roll with it—once the action moves to the train the pacing really picks up. This gets slotted as a thriller sometimes but it's much funnier and gentler than that. There's some period-typical snarkiness directed at anyone Foreign™ by some of the British characters; the British characters are also made fun of. Trains, British people, international shenanigans, mystery, and humor.

All About Eve (absolutely none of these hot men, lots of hot women though)—a legendary actress fights for her life against the rising star who supplants her. Big drama, big performances, lots of gasp! and dahling! and vicious little quips. New York, theatre pronounced theahhtah, drama queens and plotting.

The Philadelphia Story (James Stewart, Cary Grant)—talk-heavy comedy, lots of quick banter and period transatlantic accent fun. It's a bit shouty and conflict-heavy at times, but I don't think James or Cary have ever been hotter, and Katherine Hepburn is just wow. Very funny dialogue, relatable characters, incredibly hot across the board. There is one instance of a racial slur (not directed at anyone but still there) and one shove. Some people won't like the discussion of Hepburn's character's choices as a daughter and a wife. With all of these movies you'll see a a range of how female characters are presented and treated, and while some period movies fall hard for sexist tropes, I personally think the performances, direction, and subtext of many of these films actually prioritizes the experiences of the female characters and shows them as living, breathing people, even if they're not framed the way they would be today.

[bakertoons]

Week of Feb 02 - 08

Trials and Triumphs

Perseverance, determination, trial and error, even luck. All of these are hallmarks of things we face in life, things that make our triumphs even sweeter.

Autumn Wig and the Crown of Fire - Autumn Wing and the Crown of Fire is about a kind half-angel kid on a grand quest through cruel lands to forge his own halo, proving his worth as an angel and hero. To achieve this, he must win the magical flame of a Sacred Beast.

Court of Roses - Court of Roses is about a ragtag troupe of bards hired to solve a murder mystery! [Court of Roses Webtoon Mirror]

Teague Fagan - Teague Fagan - is about a sea serpent mysteriously exiled to land in human form, while mermaids ruthlessly hunt him down.

[hellspawnmotel]

What’s going on in project sekai. You make it looks so interesting!

oh uhhhh well. before you get your hopes up some of the stuff i drew is just edgy aus i made with a friend theres no blood or magical girl stuff its mostly just teenager drama. but anyway heres the deal

(disclaimer it is a mobile gacha game and those are predatory and addictive etc so yknow uh. use caution. imo though its extremely playable without having to pay any extra money)

project sekai/colorful stage is a vocaloid rhythm game where you unlock visual novel style stories about five different teen music groups who work through various problems and issues.... and also hatsune miku and her friends are there to mentor them. its got tons of vocaloid songs to play through, most with covers by the voice actors of the cast if you so choose, as well as a lot of songs made for the game, and even if you dont read the story stuff its just a really fun rhythm game. i play it basically every day lol

the groups are as follows:

-leo/need is four estranged childhood friends who desperately want to be together again but have to work through their highschool drama first, through starting a rock band

-(i havent actually read through more more jump or vivid bad squad so i cant give a good summary but theyre an idol group and street musicians respectively)

-wonderlandsxshowtime is a ragtag little group of clowns attempting to revive an old themepark stage and become famous as a theater troupe, with lots of goofs and hijinks

(suicide tw incoming)

-nightcord at 25:00 is my favorite group and the one ive done the most art for, theyre the only ones who are already an established band at the beginning of their story and theyre actually doing pretty well in terms of making music and gaining popularity, the issue is theyre all suicidal and have massive psychological problems. the main story focuses mostly on when one of the girls decides to, yknow, "disappear", and the others have to come together to try and save her. as you can probably tell theyre the group with the darkest story by far but also the best in my opinion. theyre so fucked up and i love them. also one of the members is (canonically) transfem nb so thats cool

so if any of that sounds interesting, give it a shot i guess?? i feel weird encouraging my follower base to play a gacha game lol so just be mindful. i started playing it just bc its a vocaloid rhythm game and im not good at project diva and i didnt really expect to get invested in the new characters but here i am. its also introduced me to a lot of voca songs i didnt know before which is always a plus!

[gammaliminal]

Who are we? What are we?

we are gammaliminal, or liminal creatives. we are an account run by two entities, with a shared interest in obscure & mainstream source games and source itself, theory-crafting fan work & concepts as a love-letter of sorts to the work that inspires us, and are indie enthusiasts.

our two members are close. this statement will not be elaborated on.

ΔΘ | she/it - a brief introduction.

i am ΔΘ. i am a therian, neurodivergent and disabled queer game enthusiast with interests in old competitive titles such as classic tetris & melee, casual titles like minecraft & animal crossing, and source titles, including team fortress 2, counter-strike, half life (the source versions), fistful of frags and others. For miscellaneous game interests, i enjoy games such as combat master, celeste, ultrakill, vrchat and any game produced by stress level zero.

i created this blog for me and Ξλ to have a shared space to post about our ideas, and also for us to just casually lurk through tumblr. partially due to account restrictions on post viewing.

notes

- i did not come up with the idea of associating ΔΘ with an indicator of being therian. I am simply using that tag as a self-indicator here due to how significant being therian is to me.

- contrary to Ξλ's notes, it did not bother me for this page. it just kept lightly asking for a lil while because i kept forgetting :3c

- i may accidentally ignore questions, responses or anything of the sort. i forget to respond to those things a lot due to recurring memory problems o-o

Ξλ | it/its - a brief introduction².

i am Ξλ! a self-described "mad artist" who's heavily neurodivergent and very queer with a from-birth enthusiasm with games. examples of favorites include anything source engine related*, rivals of aether, darkwood, most frictional games stuff, deep rock galactic, receiver 1 and receiver 2, world of horror, ftl and into the breach, gloomwood, and alien: isolation.

if you don't know some or any of those, then yeah that's expected >:3c

i bothered ΔΘ for us having a shared space to post and share our weiirrrddd ideas. also, to let us be able to browse tumblr without being accosted, by tumblr.

notes

- Ξλ is a tag i came up with by myself, i have no idea if it means anything beyond as my tag.

- *does not include the cautionary tale of Hunt Down the Freeman.

Current Projects

- Neon Troupe

- heavily inspired by OW and TF2, basically ripping off the feel of playing TF2 since no game has done it before, also will be built in source - we are heavily underqualified - project intro

- Project Theta

- potentially a half-life fangame? currently ironing out things like the campaign, different NPC's and weapons. - meant to be more so a scrappy survival-horror upward battle

- Unnamed TF2C Projects

- team fortress 2 classic mods that add various bits of content! including cut content that will be revived, our own regular custom content ideas, and absolutely outrageous, silly shit.

- Project Strangelove

- inspired by the tone of tf2, this is a spoof on spy thrillers set in an alternate 60s where you are assembling a conspiracy! also may be known later as How to Stop Worrying.

- Project Liminality (finally something relating to liminal spaces /lh)

- a 90s corporate cosmic horror roguelike job survival sim inspired by amnesia: the bunker and alien: isolation.

- Project Spite

- a strategy-horror game based around being a ragtag group of survivors, surviving a S.T.A.L.K.E.R.-style zone of magical shit (TM). - main theme is surviving with your comrades no matter what, subsisting on spite alone if nothing else.

- A Catastrophe, In Hindsight

- a retrofuturistic coop class-based game about surviving the workday hopefully unscathed - Has a social-deduction-style gamemode layered on top of it with most traitors still wanting to get through the day - project intro

[spectrals]

@silksworn sent in.

insight check for nibiloor, please!

While recruitment itself has been smooth, the tracks ahead proved ridden with bumps and arches of deep dips and high humps—anything to make settling difficult and friendships tenuous. Disconcert and distrust wove themselves thickly throughout their troupe’s composition, their whispers lacing the air with their poison.

Nibiloor understood why. The rage against his kin was justified, especially amongst this ragtag concoction of individuals—one of his brethren unleashed a tadpole unto eye or ear or naris, and now it sat about the innards of their skull, squirming and wriggling, begging for that final hurdle: ceremorphosis. Magical stasis served to keep that hurdle from its rapid approach, but it was never quite out of sight. Lingering, ominously, on the twilit horizon.

“Iraestra,” came the name, blooming midst the middle of her ears, veiled away from the rest. Nibiloor approached, the flats of his feet finding mixed emotions with the dirt, the rubble of their camp. So used to levitating about, it was almost repulsive to feel texture unlike their illithid city streets unto skin. He’d since stuffed those emotions away.

“You’ve got an intriguing collection of individuals, here. While my presence certainly elucidates the diversity, many disagree with your decision to allow me aboard. The emotion pulsating within their illithids—the tadpoles—is hard to avert one’s attention from.”

             [ 19. ]

“I think,” though his tone was light and playful, an undertone of curiosity painted the belly of his words, “there’s more here than you’re letting up on.”

[ministarfruit]

take to the skies!

[anthemxix]

I had an angsty interesting idea and thought you’d maybe like to hear it (since you’re a fan of Wars and Time bonding)

Time and Warriors get separated from the group and are fighting a big ol’ horde of monsters when Time gets hit hard. Like, he-needs-a-fairy-NOW hard. And Wars knows he can’t protect Time while fighting off all these monsters, he’s horribly outnumbered without him, he needs help, he needs more power-

Then he remembers the Fierce Diety mask.

anon, thank you for thinking of me!! i do adore these two bonding! <3 hope you enjoy this little thing i wrote~ uwu

The realization that this ragtag monster horde was capable of implementing a coordinated battle plan carries myriad unsettling implications, but Warriors puts all that aside for later consideration. Right now, he’s rather more preoccupied with his other realization: he and Time are kind of fucked.

Separated from the other heroes by the latest portal (and maybe that was all part of the enemies’ strategy, too?), Time and Warriors are severely outnumbered, two to two dozen. The only reason they haven't lost already is because they've managed to stay back-to-back, fighting together fluidly, watching each other's blind spots. Everything they're doing is purely defensive, purely reactionary, and their stamina is quickly getting whittled away by endless waves of brutal attacks.

And maybe their draining stamina is why there's a slip-up. Warriors hopes that's why there's a slip-up, because he can't bear the idea that his carelessness caused whatever just happened behind him to make Time shout in agony.

Warriors whirls around just as Time crumples to his knees. He steps in front of the Old Man in time to block the heavy stroke of a darknut's broadsword. The blunt impact forces him back half a foot. He grits his teeth and smashes his shield into the darknut's helmet as it winds up for another strike. Armor rattling, the monster stumbles back, briefly stunned.

Swinging around, Warriors throws out his shield against the thrust of a lizalfos' spear, but both weapon and shield collide instead with a translucent blue wall that materializes between them. Sapphire-colored and diamond-shaped, the sudden barrier surprises Warriors for a second before he remembers a child casting the same spell on battlefields some years ago.

"Can't hold it for long," Time says, voice strained, as he presses one hand against his side. Warriors drops down next to him, ignoring the sounds of baffled and angry monsters pounding on the barrier encasing them, and pulls Time's hand away to reveal a terribly deep gash.

Time coughs, and a trail of blood mars his chin. Cursing, Warriors carelessly rips a swatch from his scarf and stuffs it into the wound in the hopes of slowing the bleeding.

"Give it to me," he blurts before he knows what he's saying. His conscious mind takes a moment to catch up to his mouth, but then he feels it. Beneath the clean, blessed magic that Time exudes beats the pulse of something darker, something that wormed into Warriors’ mind without him even noticing.

Suddenly, Warriors knows with certainty how this fight is going to end. He reaches for Time's satchel without awaiting an answer. The Old Man clamps a surprisingly firm hand onto Warriors' wrist.

"No," he says, the tremble in his voice belying the sternness of his tone. "I won't allow it."

The magic, which feels like frenzy barely contained, wraps more securely around Warriors' heart. He wonders how it leaked into him without his consent, how it made him its pawn before he even considered using the mask.

"It's our only choice." Warriors drapes his other hand on top of Time's. The barrier around them flickers, disappearing for half an instant.

Time retrieves the mask from his bag without looking, like he knows exactly where it is. In the open, the mask's alluring magic is more potent. It feels like chaos masquerading as calm, like a threat camouflaged as salvation.

"I could do it," Time weakly offers, even as more blood beads on his lips, as more color drains from his wan face, as resignation clouds his eye.

When Warriors' fingers graze the mask's smooth wood, a shock runs along his spine, prickles the hair on his arms and the back of his neck. The faded red and blue lines that mirror Time's remind him that dabbling with something this powerful has irreversible consequences. In an odd moment of detached lucidity, Warriors recognizes that after he puts on this mask, his life is never going to be the same.

But as he takes the cursed object, he looks down at Time's weeping gash, poorly plugged by blood-drenched scraps of scarf, and feels at peace with his decision.

"I'll be fine, Sprite," he says. "Just promise me you'll be fine, too."

As Time's spell withers and the blue diamond barrier shatters, Warriors puts on the mask.

He's dropped into an abyss that somehow feels both bottomless and claustrophobic. He can't see or hear or touch any more, can't feel his body or what he's doing; he's confined to his mind, condemned to an inky, oceanic emptiness that is filling up with poisonous magic. The deity's overwhelming presence invades more and more of Warriors' mental space, grappling for control.

And it hurts. It's agonizing, the way the subjugating magic bleeds into his every crevice, sunders him at his seams. Peels him apart layer by layer. Breaks him down to his basest pieces. Divides. Consumes.

Rational thought disappears; his darkness is lit only by instinct now, and his instinct tells him to fight. So Warriors resists. As puny and piteous a creature as he is compared to the deity's wrath, he resists, struggling to retain a foothold in his own mind.

And just as abruptly as this hellish internal fight begins, it ends. Full consciousness slams back into Warriors with merciless force. The world seems like a hazy mess of colors and light that he can't decipher. His body feels foreign, and he can't distinguish, spatially, where he is, what he's doing. He thinks he's standing--no, he's falling--

Warriors tumbles back into something solid. Someone solid, who secures their arms around his middle and lowers him to the ground. Dizzy and muddled, he squints up at the concerned face hovering above him. Twilight. The Rancher's mouth is moving, but the words are distant and incomprehensible.

Simply holding his head up is a strain, and Warriors lets himself go limp in Twilight's arms. Through blurry vision, he can see the signs of a massacre: the decimated remains of all those monsters, strewn around the battlefield. He vaguely registers Twilight's fingers on his neck, checking for a pulse, and Twilight's hands running along his limbs, his torso, feeling for injuries.

There's a swirl of red and pink in his periphery. Legend, not bothering to conceal his concern, appears on one side of him. He's speaking, too, and though the words sound a bit clearer than before, Warriors still doesn't understand. Exhausted, he doesn't worry about it, and lets his eyes slip closed.

Twilight and Legend's conversation drones over his head as comforting white noise, and the Rancher's steady breaths begin to lull him to sleep. Then something tugs at his hand, and he pries his eyes open, annoyed, to see Legend trying to take the mask from him.

Warriors blinks down at the cursed item, surprised to see it still clasped in his fist, his unyielding fingers coiled through the eye holes.

"Let go of this damn thing, Pretty Boy," Legend says when he sees Warriors' eyes are open. The Captain can't decide if Legend's voice is actually quiet or if it still sounds weirdly far away. Regardless, he loosens his hold and watches Legend take the mask, grimace at it with a mix of revulsion and anger, and artlessly toss it out of view.

"Captain?"

Turning his heavy head, Warriors finds Wind kneeling at his other side. His expression is all unrefined concern, the watery eyes and exaggerated compassion of a child. Warriors wants to comfort him, but he can hardly move at the moment. He supposes speaking is out of the question, too.

"Are you okay?" the Sailor asks, taking up Warriors' hand in both his own.

Getting no reply, Wind glances between Twilight and Legend. "Why isn't he saying anything? He's okay, isn't he?"

"I'm sure he's fine," Twilight replies. It's a stilted, rote response that holds little conviction. Warriors thinks that should bother him, but he's too tired to care.

"What about those?" Wind says, nodding towards Warriors.

On reflex, Twilight brushes his fingers against the Captain's cheek, looking sadly at whatever is there. "The magic imprinted on him, but he wasn't changed for long. The marks will fade."

Marks? Warriors tunes out the rest of the conversation, trying to deduce what marks they're referring to--until he pictures the red and blue lines tattooed onto--

Time. Warriors twitches, wanting to sit up, wanting to ask after the Old Man. Legend puts a steadying hand on his shoulder, instructs him not to move. Still, he swivels his head around, trying to squint through the still-indistinct mass of shapes and lights that make up the world beyond his little sphere.

Finally, he sees, past Wind, the rest of their troupe. As Warriors is with Twilight, Time is reclined against Sky, with Four and Wild on either side of him. Hyrule is bent over him, hands aglow with golden healing magic that surges into the dangerous wound on Time's side.

Warriors tries to focus on the Old Man's face, and his eyes finally adjust enough that he can see Time, grim and weary, looking straight back at him. He looks sad, Warriors thinks. Sympathetic. Pitying.

It's off-putting, and Warriors looks away. He closes his eyes again and sinks back into Twilight, deciding for now that he'll pretend this is a nightmare, and soon, he'll wake up somewhere else with his soul and mind intact. Yes, he thinks, he’ll let himself pretend for a little while.

[bunny-hoodlum]

NaruHina Fic Concepts IDK when I'll ever get to:

Age Difference one-shots

20yo!Naruto/31yo!Hinata (leaning towards Hinata being a Landlady. Maybe Naruto is a college student that just moved in. Or maybe he's a squatter that catches her by surprise when she's doing a showing of the apartment, and then suddenly cancels, to the annoyance of her prospective tenants. And so as to not get him in trouble with police, she makes an arrangement with him and helps him get his life together. So one standard romance route and one that's pretty much genderbent Higehiro lol).

My "Jealousy" story expanded

A "during the timeskip" short stories series (only 2 good ones so far)

14yo!Hinata gets isekai'd into a Modern AU and Naruto is 20yos. They go on a road trip to try and get her back home. She plays off his assumption that she is a runaway who regrets leaving home in order to spend more time with him than she deserves, all because she was missing her own Naruto so badly. (I had a fic like this from Naruto's perspective but then deleted it twice and wrote Powerless in its place, because it wasn't working. Probably better to write it from her POV instead. Still thought if Hinata had enough chakra to perform ninjutsu in front of a normal Naruto that it would freak him out and be really interesting, but alas. Also she needs to conserve her chakra or she can't return home. Idk if in such a situation her chakra would fail to naturally resupply or not, but the obvs the stakes would be even higher if she couldn't.)

KonoGakuenDen!Hinata's love letter travels between dimensions and lands at 15yo Naruto's feet while he's still training with Jiraiya. (Has this been written? I just thought of this one).

Modern AU: Hinata's family runs a seaside inn and Naruto is a regular patron. She assumes his female friends are his girlfriends and that she has no business wanting to be wanted by him. (Loosely and indirectly inspired by "Goodbye Tsugumi" by Banana Yoshimoto)

Genderbent AUs

This is an oldie from 2010? Modern AU, RTN!Hinata is disowned from her family after trying to protect Hanabi from RTN!Neji. She sleeps around with other women who provide her a place to stay, eventually falling in love with Naruko who is also equally promiscuous. The next day Naruko is nowhere to be found, but there's a male lookalike cooking breakfast in the kitchen. Naruko never told her she had a male twin and Hinata's acquired hatred/distrust of men causes a lot of conflict between the two of them. (NaruHina = enemies to friends to lovers. I would make it NaruHinaNaruko but maybe that's actually weird, idk haha).

Another one I did a huge sketchdump on back in 2010: Modern AU, everyone canon but Naruko. Didn't even have a plot for this. Just wanted to write about a soft butch!Naruko chasing after the seemingly unattainable Hyuga Hinata. 😆

Secret Lovers AUs

Story No Longer Available: Okay, I originally wanted to write my own separate version of my Foster Sibling AU to be where they actually try dating in secret during High School, but I'm letting that idea go and hoping another excuse-- I mean premise comes to me. I'm still trying to write the Foster Sibling AU in adherence to the incomplete Secret Santa plot, so that version is still going to be a thing.

I guess this counts as Fake Dating as well, and I may have written a post about this last year already: Modern AU, Sakura, Ino and Hinata are on Summer break from college in the capital and roadtripping to visit Sasuke and Naruto in a coastal city. Naruto still likes Sakura, Hinata is still faintly interested in Naruto, etc. Sakura catches a cold during the trip and the 4 of them go have fun in another city without her. A regular daytrip concludes rauceously with drunken karaoke and a round of Punishment Games (aka Betting and the loser has to do this or that). When Hinata loses and has to make-out with Sasuke, the context somehow gets rewritten in Naruto's inebriated head and he thinks they have the hots for each other. All of a sudden he stops caring about getting with Sakura, and adopts a dogma to protect Hinata's virtue. The only way he decides he can do that is if he is the one dating her.

High Fantasy AU

Naruto is the half-blood son of The Captain of the Royal Guard and a Pagan Witch (the isle of Uzushio was obtained through conquest, their people assimmilated and seemingly tolerated by the Court, but otherwise distrusted by the common folk. An Uzushio Resistance Army hides in secret and are wanted by the Kingdom). The Uchiha are Wood Elves who used to serve the Kingdom but were betrayed and exiled. They only roam at night to trade with the Dwarves of Iron Kingdom. Sakura is a human travelling with her Venture-motivated Father and henpecking Mother. They settle in with the Dwarves in an Outpost town where her father has accepted a job. Sakura, being bookish and brainy, has no chance of fitting in with the brawny Dwarves. She eventually abandons her true self to prove her mettle, and when she shows off strength in the only way Dwarves care about, she's heartily accepted. Back at the Leaf Kingdom, Naruto's Knighthood training has only been going downhill since he began. When his flaring temper unleashes powerful magic and injures one of the boys harassing him, he's banished. Minato asks Kakashi to accompany his son into the wilderness, where his journey brings him to Sakura and then Sasuke. The Hyuga are High Elves and their first born Hinata is approaching her Coming of Age Ceremony. Royalty from all realms have been invited to attend. Naruto and his companions have by now fashioned themselves into a ragtag group of mercenaries. Knowing that his parents will be at the ceremony, Naruto worms his way into a bodyguarding job for an Acting Troupe that will perform in front of Royalty. He falls for the beautiful High Elf Hinata and attempts to visit her in her chambers. (I have 2 ideas for which way the plot could go. Ugh. Either she is married off to Toneri, or she has to devote the rest of her life to praying in front of the tree that seals away Kaguya. Either way, Naruto chooses to convince her to say 'fuck that' to her obligations, and when she gives in, a dark prophecy is fulfilled. And yadda yadda yadda, Hero's Journey and stuff).

That feels like everything I ever thought of. 😅 I can't be sure if I'm missing another Secret Lovers/Fake Dating concept, but oh well. I feel pretty satisfied with this list.

[firebirdsdaughter]

Well…

… The lamplighter song is absolutely not bad, but it pales significantly as a follow up to Step in Time, lacking a certain energy it’s predecessor had. The only potential explanation I can give is that it’s too staged and polished. Obviously the realism of twenty sum chimney sweeps leaping out of chimneys that size is… Limited, and the probability of them having a tap dance party on a random rooftop is slim, but… Outside of how they get to the rooftop being incredibly fantastical… It’s balanced by a lack of magic effects in everything else? aside from popping out of chimneys in illogical ways, they’re just a bunch of regular guys tap dancing on a roof top. It’s one of the sequences that relies the least on the magical aspects. Goofy accents aside, the simplicity was what made it an effective and powerful moment that felt like it actually showcased the camaraderie of the Sweeps.

The sequel’s version lacks that simple charm. The dancing is far to choreographed, everything feels polished and staged, and they lose that realism of Step in Time when they go down a lamp elevator to the sewers where there’s a random bunch of lamps apparently there for the sole purpose of the dance number. The lighters come across less as a bunch of buds who are happy just to have met up and are dancing for the sake of dancing, and more of a dance troupe set to perform for the kids. It loses a roughness that gave the first one a personal, realistic feel.

I’m more inclined to blame Disney and films’ more recent leans towards grand spectacle over other things. As a showcase, it’s fine, but that’s just it, it feels like a showcase. It’s a planned performance, not a ragtag bunch of chimney sweeps dancing together for the fun of it and to make some children laugh.

Honestly, everything I’ve seen about the sequel gives me this same vibe, and is why I’m not able to sit through it. It feels too Disney movie in a way the first one didn’t (and I’m aware they were both Disney). Some people may not see that or not feel like it’s a bad thing, but for me it relies to much on the grandeur, the spectacle, magic, and the polish than the first one, and overall, suffers for it.

[circle-bircle]

12 Days of Whumpmas (Day 1): Given as a Gift

I misread the prompt and thought it said “given a gift” so... it’s just final fantasy 9 stuff, kuja & zidane. 

mild cw for not-very-nice-things-happening-to-kuja? memories, specifically. and also weird descriptions of being burnt and frostbitten 

ok :) here’s the ao3 version if you like that more

Though his magic was limited through the gratuitous use of Silence and other trinkets to lower his potential, Kuja still seemed to frighten the guards as he was led through endless corridors of the grand castle. 

And I can’t even decimate the lot, Kuja thinks bitterly, glaring at the ground in lieu of glancing around at the guards and soldiers posted for duty. Not that they need the duty, of course - what with Queen Garnet seemingly perfect at maintaining peace in the city. The thought puts a bitter taste in Kuja’s mouth. 

Along he’s led to what seems to be the throne room. Kuja’s surprised he doesn’t see Queen Garnet’s faithful knight anywhere, nor any of the ragtag family she has made for herself. Though, I suppose they have their own battles to fight. Kuja understands, somewhat. He doesn’t think about it any longer. 

The guard that Kuja did not like - he spoke in a babyish voice to the genome, which only made him want to char his silly helmet - opens the door, but seems to know his presence is not needed within the room. Disregarding him entirely, Kuja enters through the door and has little time to look around before he’s thrown to the ground from a bone-crushing hug. 

“You came!” Zidane exclaims, squeezing Kuja so tight that it’s nearly suffocating. “Man- I was so worried that you wouldn’t have gotten the letter. Honestly, I kinda expected you not to come, but look at you!” 

“I haven’t changed, Zidane. You can get off of me.” Kuja tries not to make it snippy, but his tone is so sharp Zidane ends up helping the two of them to a proper standing position. 

Zidane… hasn’t changed, either. He’s still shorter than Kuja, still with the blonde hair all genomes after him have had, still with the goofy smile and the harum-scarum aura wavering over him. 

Still him. It’s weird to think about. 

And Kuja knows he hasn’t changed, not inwardly. Zidane doesn’t seem to notice the clouds, turning back around. 

“Well, I know you didn’t have it on Terra, or anything, but here we have a thing called Christmas, and so, uhhh-” 

“-I know what Christmas is, Zidane.” 

“Eheh… I guess you do, huh?” 

Zidane begins to walk back to the grand doors of the throne room - for being a throne room, there really is little purpose for the existence of it. At least, nothing now. Kuja follows Zidane when he is beckoned, and re-treads the familiar hallways of the castle. At least he’s with company that is slightly more pleasant than anyone he’s been forced to interact with, but ‘slightly’ is an overstatement. 

“Well, anyway. I wanted to give you a gift! Well, several gifts. Dag’ helped me with some of them, but I figured - hey, you’ve never really celebrated Christmas with family before, so I thought it’d be fun!” 

“You haven’t celebrated Christmas with your family before, either,” Kuja points out. 

Zidane laughs, waving his hand. “No, not my blood family, I guess! But still a family, so that’s gotta count.” 

Kuja doesn’t say anything, but he notices the jealous feeling he receives from Zidane’s words. Of course he’s had a family - that theatre troupe, wasn’t it? And they loved each other like a family. It was more of a family than he had, certainly. 

Speaking of his family, where is his faithful wife? 

“And Garnet, she is…?” 

Zidane looks at Kuja strangely for a moment, but answers the question nonetheless. “Oh, she’s busy. She’s the Queen and all, gotta keep people happy, doin’ good stuff for families… things like that.” 

Because she doesn’t want to talk to her kidnapper remains unsaid. Kuja doesn’t blame him. 

They reach a kitschy little room with a table and a bed and a dresser; clearly a guest room. Kuja wasn’t planning to stay for very long - he’s a very busy man, and by that, he means that he should not be mingling too much - but if Zidane wants him to stay so badly, he suppose he can bite his tongue and pretend he wants to stay. 

Upon the table are a small amount of gifts, and Zidane presents them with a flourish and a small, “Ta-da! I bet you’ll like at least one of them.” 

“At least one,” Kuja says. There are three on the table, so perhaps one-in-three is not terrible. He can’t remember the last time someone had given him a gift out of pure, good deeds. He often got gifts while in Treno, but those were falsified niceties to move up in the sleepless city. And, they were useless trinkets he often sold at the auction house, blowing them up to be something big when they were more worthless than the dirt he walked on. 

“Yep! Go ahead and open ‘em now.” Zidane walks over to the bed and leaps up onto the mattress, swinging his legs against it in a childish fashion that Kuja struggles not to roll his eyes at. 

Kuja goes to the package that is more tall-than-wide out of the three presents. He tears open the packaging to see a lovely bottle, cream-colored with no name attached to the package. He looks up to Zidane, who is fidgeting where he sits. 

“Well, I know that black magic is kinda hard on your hands. So I figured that you might want to have more lotion? I mean, I bet you already do, I bet you’re planned for that kind of stuff, but. Just in case. Or you can toss it or something, I really don’t care, haha…” 

Kuja looks down at the bottle, trying not to cringe as he thinks about the blistering sensation of Ultima. How his hands were burnt and did not heal for weeks, how he was bedbound from the heat and the stress and the blood, the scent of burning flesh will always stay with him.

“I’ll use it,” Kuja says lightly, setting it to the side. He doesn’t say anything about not using magic like that anymore. 

He doesn’t miss the smile Zidane gives him when he knows at least one present has been a success. Kuja picks up the box that is more wide than tall, and studies it for a moment before tearing open the package. He doesn’t miss the flicker of Zidane’s tail, nor the big grin when Kuja pulls out… a box. 

Kuja isn’t going to tell Zidane he has an array of jewellery boxes. This is ornate and rustic, but it doesn’t seem to do anything different than any other jewellery box he might have acquired - or any different from the ones in the desert palace. 

“Open it,” Zidane goads.

Kuja does, and peers inside the box. A single ring is laid within the nest of fabric to keep it safe - it’s pretty, yes, but he knows there is some underlying magic attached to it. He wishes he could tap into the hidden incantations, see what exactly the benefits of this ring are, but the Silence spell hasn’t worn off yet - despite Kuja’s melodramatic voice. 

“It’s pretty,” he muses. “Where did you find this?” 

“Oh, on our travels.” Zidane waves a hand dismissively. “I thought you might like it ‘cause it’s a relic-sorta thing, see? And even if you don’t like it, I bet you could sell it or something.” 

The iridescent red-orange hue of the gem makes Kuja think about fire spells, and the blistering heat of a snapping Firaga, the one-and-only time Kuja attempted to show Garland something he was proud of before most of his body was singed from a poorly-judged Flare. It had been days before that had healed, and even longer for Garland to stop his ceaseless complaints. 

“I think it’s pretty. I don’t own anything that might go well with it, but perhaps I might.” Kuja makes a show of admiring the ring in the light filtering through the guestroom. “What do you think, Zidane? Do you think a burgundy might work best with this? Or perhaps a deep charcoal-” 

“-I think it’ll look great on you no matter what color you wear,” Zidane assures, though his tone is clearly unknowing. 

Kuja sets his hand down, and puts the jewellery box next to the lotion. He reaches over to pick up the last present, something that is in a box - or, some dilapidated box. The wrapping doesn’t seem to stick, and when Kuja looks up at Zidane he is flicking his tail and curling it and smiling, too happy-go-lucky for his taste. 

He decides not to comment on the poor wrapping skills. Tearing open the package, he knows Zidane’s eyes are carefully trained on his face and his movement and what will he think of it? Probably not highly, if Kuja notices how bothersome his brother is being. Prying open the box, Kuja balks when he finds a scarf as the sole content within. 

“Ta-da!” Zidane says, voice an octave higher - bordering on nervousness. “Well, I know it’s kind of cold, and… well, I dunno, whenever I look at you I feel cold! So I knitted you a scarf. Well, Dagger helped me. And Freya helped me, too. She’s actually surprisingly good at this stuff…” 

As Zidane rambles and rambles, Kuja stares at the mishmash color of wine-red wool that was improperly dyed and the wool is teased in some areas and in others it’s a little lopsided, but it’s a scarf nonetheless. It’s used to keep you warm, he thinks, and he tries not to think about Garland, and Terra and the hostile cold that always seems to plague the rocky land, and how if you hurt yourself on the land in the nameless winter-summer season it would feel as if the wound froze over. And he tries not to think about how he was all chattering teeth and shaking limbs when he attempted to tell Garland something, anything, because he was always cold and it wasn’t just a temperature cold, but a distasteful cold that made Kuja want to relive Trancing over and over and over--

“Thank you, Zidane. I love it.” 

When Kuja looks up, Zidane seems startled for a moment - but his friendly smile comes back. “No problem!” he exclaims. “It might not go with anything in your closet, but maybe one day you’ll need it…?” 

“Oh, no, I can find plenty of ways to incorporate a scarf into my wardrobe, darling.” Kuja smirks, setting down the scarf and the box. “Perhaps you’d like some pointers? You hardly wear more than five outfits a week.” 

“Hey, I-” Zidane huffs, “I like these pants!” 

“Yes, yes, and I adore your present, so don’t worry about trying to pretend it wasn’t ‘big.’ I still appreciate it, you know.” Kuja tuts, but before he can stop Zidane he’s thrown into another bone-crushing hug. 

Zidane squeezes the life out of him, but when Kuja wraps his own arms around his dear brother, he feels more alive than ever. 

[sunjaesol]

Review of WORK IT, starring Sabrina Carpenter, Jordan Fisher and Liza Koshy

When Quinn Ackerman's admission to the college of her dreams depends on her performance at a dance competition, she forms a ragtag group of dancers to take on the best squad in school... now she just needs to learn how to dance. (imdb)

So I was really excited for this movie. For one, I’m a dancer myself and therefore am permitted to watch every single dance movie out there. Secondly, it starred Jordan Fisher and I am a sucker for anything Jordan Fisher. 

Overall, it was a cute movie. 

What this movie is suffering of, is very tired tropes. Which is unfortunate, because the actors are quite good. 

Sabrina Carpenter plays Quinn, the quintessential Netflix coming-of-age protagonist that will do anything to get into the college of their dreams but falls flat since they don’t have that “spark” those colleges are looking for. We saw it in Sierra Burgess, The Perfect Date, and probably countless others I’m forgetting.

Her best friend is Jas (Liza Koshy) who is on the famous school dance team The Thunderbirds. Jas is loud, opinionated, unapologetically herself and would do anything for Quinn, somehow placing herself second for most of the movie despite the fact that she is outspoken and a talented dancer. Jas is just the typical friend character we’ve seen countless times before and I wished she was more, that she wanted more. It also didn’t make sense how she got into a dance program in NYC when she only showcased hiphop at the final dance competition, when literally every university-level dance program prefers contemporary and ballet. Hiphop is an elective, not the thing that gets you in. 

(I’m not degrading hiphop, it just doesn’t make sense that this was the style that got her accepted.) 

Isaiah (Keiynan Lonsdale) even said it: Juilliard didn’t accept him because of his style of dance, which is commerical. Speaking of Keiynan, he was amazing as the overdramatic, nearly caricatural depiction of an ambitious dancer/Ru Paul wannabe. I wish we saw more of him though, a little depth would’ve done him well. 

Jordan Fisher was a joy to watch. He basically played himself under the name of Jake Taylor. He was the starlet of the dance community until he tore his ACL (also a classic) and now teaches dance to children at a studio. Jordan and Sabrina have great chemistry and amazing dance sequences together. I wonder if it was a nod to Baby and Johnny from Dirty Dancing, as he taught her to dance and some of the moves he was teaching her were sometimes a bit provocative. While their chemistry is great, I did have some concerns about the ages? He should be about 21 years, whereas she is 17 or 18. If she’s 18: fine, but I did find it concerning how they never mentioned his age. He’s at least 21, could be older.

The movie kind of meandered in the middle, not really going anywhere and just developing the relationship between Quinn and Jake. While that was cute, the entire dance team they created (TBD) is underdeveloped. You have the Goth Girl, Indian Girl, a DJ hiphopper, Nerdy Kid and Jock. If I forgot someone, that means they were that insignificant. I wasn’t surprised they were stereotypes, as this is typical for a dance troupe movie, but even movies like Step Up gave them some flavour. Jas, meanwhile, was being horny for a matress shop worker. There were a few other edgy jokes sprinkled in that were... interesting (boner jokes), but the delivery of said jokes were mostly good, so it’s okay.

I was very peeved by the final dance (because of many technicalities and that they just shoud not have won) but we’re going to gloss over that and just call it “movie magic”. Sure. 

It sounds like I didn’t like the movie, but I did! The tragical third act moment where it all falls apart is well-done and logical for our characters and Jas had every right to be mad. I’m surprised she came back in the end! I love how they showcased and highlighted how amazing disabled dancers were! I love Quinn and Jas’ friendship, Jas’ quips and jabs, and all the dance montages Jake got to have. I enjoyed the cinematography and lighting (!!), the soundtrack, Michelle Buteau gracing us with her presense, and I respect how Sabrina had to pretend she didn’t know how to dance. 

Like I said: it was a cute movie. It’s a mindless watch without any deeper meaning other than to let yourself go every once in a while and to go to the beat of your own drum. I wish coming-of-age dance movies would find the balance between generic dance movie with -insert trendy actors- and the overly pretentious John Green-esque movies. I’d suggest talking to dancers and observing an actual dancer’s life. I'm also wondering if this film would’ve been better set in college or a dance club outside of high school, but I’ll have to think about that more. 

Will it go down in dance movie history like Step Up, Dirty Dancing or Footloose? To Be Determined. 

3/5 

[draggingthedregs]

as i said earlier, it is an ungodly length but i hope you can enjoy my late night, book-drunk opinions anyway!

***

guess who just finished “ruin and rising”?

i’m seriously not okay. someone send help. i got lots of thoughts, none of which you are obligated to read but this seems like the best place to share.

oh and spoilers, duh.

for starters. woah.

i can’t say it was what i expected but i had known that what my heart really wanted was kinda far out of reach. the ending felt real and feasible, complete with love and loss.

in terms of “ruin and rising” alone, i think it was possibly the strongest of the three books. the pacing was good, nothing felt like it dragged on too long or went too fast for its own good. i think that was really important as well, considering the fact that there was always something going on. literally,, always. no one ever got a damn break.

mal’s “death” hurt me more then i had expected. which honestly leads back to one of my main gripes with this story. the love square (which i elaborate on later in this post, just hold on a bit). i’m not going to lie. i hated mal. through the middle of “siege and storm” up to page 168 of “ruin and rising” (and even then it was a long road from hate to crying over him). he was an ass, i think we can all admit that. for awhile there, i even jumped on the “fuck mal” train and had no plans to stop at any station anytime soon. for the longest time, the relationship with alina felt so fragile and forced, like the only reason it existed was because leigh had written it into existence. though, as i read on, i saw why it was so strained and saw the eventual resolution, which i will admit i was happy with. mal and alina, however annoying and troupe filled their personalities were, did develop as characters. and their relationship made some semblance of sense in the grand scheme of things. does that mean i forgive the “on-again-off-again”, “cold-shoulder”, “we-cant-be-together-in-this-lifetime” bullshit? no. does that mean i suddenly love mal? also, no. does that mean i ship them? ugh slightly. does that mean in a magical dream world where i got to chose what happened, they’d still end up together? impossible to say. BUT i can say, that they deserved each other. and i am happy that they got their peace together like they both always wanted (no matter how out of place it felt at any point), especially considering the fact that she literally had to kill him.

my dear dear darkling... i knew what fate awaited you and yet, when the time came... it hurt just the same.

okay,, that was a bit dramatic. but come on. leigh wrote a damn good villain with aleksander morozova. i meAN, thE lAYERS. he was a horrible person and yet, so many of us still love him. he killed for fun, manipulated no matter the cost, preyed upon the weak because he could, literally blinded his own mother and still! i can’t help but love him. there was so much human woven into his darkness. the moments of simple longing, of exhaustion, of loneliness. in all honesty, if there had been a way to humanize him, to erase or explain away his atrocities and have him just be aleksander again, i feel like i would do it. but, in the context of the story i do understand why it wasn’t possible. redemption for the darkling was off the table, no matter how much humanity still remained. but that’s what makes him such a good character. you want him to be different because you can see the good and all the potential for things to change, for them to rule ravka side by side, but at the same time, he’s the same man who is still actively creating more shadow demon creatures to eat whoever he wishes. you can’t resist him and that’s why he’s so wonderful, yet horrifying at the exact same time. (though don’t worry i am still a trash can and the darklina ship is still superior in the love square. again, i promise i will get there).

i feel like i have to talk about how much i loved the “secondary characters” (i struggle to call them that because they actually run this shit). i will say, at first, i hated zoya. i am not a big fan of the “mean girl” troupe or the “i’m-prettier-than-you-and-i-know-it” thing but... she really grew on me. i looked forward to zoyas comments and constant bitchiness, as did the characters in the books. and when she left the note and the blue kefta with alina in the epilogue,, oh god my heart. and the ragtag crew of grisha making up the remainder of the second army were amazing. their banter and dialogue were some of my favorite scenes to read in “ruin and rising” and i want books just filled with them and only them. david and genya deserve the damn world, adrik was so great, nadia and tamar are so precious, and i will miss harshaw’s weird ass more then you’ll ever know. don’t even get me started on misha and oncat. they are the true stars of this series, you cannot convince me otherwise. god i love them all so much, what a brilliant cast of characters. except the apparat. fuck the stupid ass apparat.

i know what you’re thinking. “you forgot nikolai.” no. i promise you, i most certainly did not. i just love him so much he gets his own chunk.

i mean, how could he not? he’s one of those rare, genuinely perfect characters that are impossible to not love. and i don’t mean perfect because he has no flaws or he’s written unnaturally, i mean perfect because of all of his flaws. he is arrogant and calculating, brash and unapologetic in his ways, but he’s also kind and caring, witty and charming and way too clever for his own good. i rooted for him more then i have ever rooted for someone in my entire life. he made everything ten times better. you can always count on his ass to pop up in a flying ship with a shiny pair of boots, a witty remark, a new plan, and too many ideas.

now, the important business... the ominous love square.

i think the words i used were “one of my main gripes with the story” which is true, but i think leads to a bigger issue with some of the characterization in the story. the “love square” was a term i thought of in relation to the many overlapping and confusing ships that center around alina (obviously being mal, the darkling, and nikolai). all of the ships were so entertwined and written over top of one another that there was no other way for me to describe it and the square seemed like a nice enough analogy. it just felt like way too much on everybody’s plates.

i love nikolai and alinas friendship. i mean, LOVED it. because i loved it so much, i found the little nods to a ship odd and unnecessary. their story line was very focused on the fact that ravka would need a king and queen, hence the scene where he gives her the emerald and all but proposes right then and there. however, that scene would have made scene and carried the same weight had there not been the splashes of romance both before and after. now, i understand why people ship them. and honestly, if under different circumstances, i probably could’ve and would’ve shipped them myself. they would have had one of the best marriages in a society where you didn’t get to marry for love. but it just made everything more complicated. people would’ve speculated on a ship had there been no kisses or pining, soley based on the possibility of a marriage and because of their close friendship so, why was the canon addition of it necessary? i just couldn’t get behind it when i loved their platonic relationship so much and when there were two stronger and more developed ships, waging war in the background.

now, my final bone to be picked... let’s be real for a second, alina in “shadow and bone” sucked. she was annoying and had no personality beyond being a sad, lonely, orphan in the darklings sparkly new grisha world. though i will say, in the later two books, i grew to like her. her character development did its job and i actually think she grew to be a pretty good protagonist. she did her best with the cards she was dealt and i think she did really well. however, her inability to pick a boy constantly bothered me. after being in love with her best friend for literal years, she is really ready to be be the first lady of the second army. and yes. sure you could justify it. she wasn’t getting letters in return, she’d been away for months, she was adapting to her new life, the darkling made her feel seen and wanted which is all a very new feeling to her. but then she goes right back to mal after he makes a confession that he didn’t realize he loved or needed her until she was gone for months (this was one of my biggest problems with mal. my problem only grew when he spent the entirety of “siege and storm” being a dick. but like i said,, we have reconcilied. we are fine now). there were times throughout the series where i genuinely didn’t understand why they were together, why i liked them together, or why i even wanted them to end the series together. alina even asks mal at the end of “ruin and rising” if there entire relationship was based solely on the fact that mal was the last amplifier and the fact that she even had to ask really says something. was their entire romance because of the amplifier? was it because of the “we-are-just-meant-to-be-together” thing? or was there actual chemistry? i really couldn’t tell sometimes. and the darklina ship was even more twisty and winding. he went from telling her deep dark secrets because he wanted to hear the girl he loved say his name to literally threatening everyone she loves because he wants her weak and all to himself. like,, whAt? (again,, layers) and don’t even get me started on the darkling and alina apparition interactions. those were a wild fucking ride. i felt like i was getting manipulated along with the both of them in those. but maybe that was the point of the darkling and alinas relationship. it was supposed to be so horrible yet so electric that you couldn’t pull away. but i doubt the same was meant to be said for mal and alina.

now i feel like i may be coming off in the wrong way. i loved more about this series then i didn’t. but me gushing about every fine detail and conversation that made my heart melt wouldn’t make for the most interesting read, if it was even coherent. all in all, i think it’s safe to say the grisha trilogy is great. does that mean it doesn’t have flaws? of course not. does that mean the flaws outweigh the good and the actual point of the story? absolutely not. my small complaints about a few things really do not take always from the fact that i love this series. i would love anything written by leigh bardugo, especially in the grishaverse.

if you’ve made it this far, that’s commitment. thank you brave soldier. don’t take anything i’ve said with anything more than a grain of salt. seriously. if this is your favorite series, don’t let my lil complaints ruin your day. because really, the good outweighs the bad here tenfold. i’m just a girl with a lot of opinions and a platform to share them at four am... it’s a dangerous game.

but, goodbye grisha trilogy. you have served me well and i will return to reread you soon. but for now i will do a lot of writing (i already have so many fic ideas brewing) and read all the fan fiction and tumblr posts i’ve been avoiding for fear of spoilers.

[tonystarkbingo]

3 Prompt Summaries

Ransom Note, Royalty and Lending a Hand - suggested by @polizwrites

@rebelmeg - what do you get when you combine elite royalty, a mob boss with a reputation for being ruthless, and a ransom note that tells them both that their child is being held hostage? well... nothing good, that's for sure, because this team-up is going to be the stuff of legends.

@deehellcat - Prince Tony is promised in marriage to King Obadiah of a neighboring realm so their lands can be merged, but marrying that creepy old man is the last thing he wants to do. he confides in his best friend and bodyguard Sir James Rhodes who pledges to lend him a hand, Rhodey pens a fake ransom note that the prince has been kidnapped then helps him sneak out of the castle in disguise.

@somesortofitalianroast - Prince Steven of Brooklyn should have known it was a bad idea when he decided to tour Philadelphia by himself. At night. By the Schuylkill. Yeah, it wasn’t his best idea. He also should have known that the Family that still [still!] ran Philadelphia would send a ransom note to his family. And he should have known that the Duchy of Brooklyn had an inside man who was happy to lend a hand.

@27dragons - Barnes doesn't generally work kidnappings -- he's a homicide detective, so if they're calling him in on a kidnapping, it's because something went terribly wrong. But when Prince Tony is kidnapped off the street in broad daylight by a crew leaving no clues whatsoever other than an encoded ransom note, Chief Fury told him to get over there and lend a hand. The problem is, the note seems to suggest that the kidnapper... is Barnes himself.

@celtic7irish - We have your prince. Four words on a ransom note with no ransom demands. James sighed. The royalty around here caused him no end of grief. He turned to his best friend and Captain of the Guard. “It’s him again. Want to lend me a hand on this one?” Steve grinned, fierce and proud. “When do we start?”

@polizwrites - When Tony disappears leaving only a couple of face cards from his favorite deck laid out on his desk, Jim thinks it’s a joke - that is until Mr. Stark gets a ransom note. And as much as he despises Tony’s dad - Jim knows he has to help.

@Magicadraconia16 - When he complained to his Captain of the Guard that he really needed a break from his princely duties - and Howard - he wasn't expecting to end up staring at a random note . . . for himself.

@rise-up-ting-ting-like-glitter - Ransom Note, Royalty, Lending a hand In sickness and in health. That was the promise. Tony hadn't meant to break it. He certainly hadn't meant to wish Bucky away. Now he's got a ransom note sent by some 'Goblin King' and ragtag troupe of labyrynth dwellers willing to lend their hands...and sometimes paws.

@jacarandabanyan - Royalty AU, Prince Anthony Stark is kidnapped! His parents are searching the realm for him, and offering high prizes to anyone who can return him to them safely. The only clue they have is a ransom note written in Tony's own handwriting, and a claim from a servant that the Prince was seen approaching a rough dubious-looking man with one arm with a request that the man 'lend him a hand' getting out of a marriage contract…

Keep reading for more!

Sunflowers, Starlight and Lollipops - suggested by @magicadraconia16

@polizwrites - Morgan was never quite sure whether her father had made up that lullaby, or if it was something that someone had sung to him as a child, but it was a tune she still hummed to herself whenever she was feeling sad or lonely.

@celtic7irish - Tony had no idea where he was, trapped on an alien planet and lost in some sort of flower field, but with no flowers he’d ever seen before. He was pretty sure those were sunflowers, but they were sparkling in the starlight, making the whole field light up like it was coated in fireflies. Checking around in his pockets, Tony sighed as he pulled out one of Morgan’s lollipops and popped it into his mouth. “Great. Let’s go find the fairies and see if they can get me back home,” he muttered, striding off across the field.

@rebelmeg - art summary - stark family lying out under the stars in a field, sunflowers bobbing over their heads, and probably holding big colorful carnival lollipops because i've got no better idea + @newnewyorker93 - that, but daytime and they're looking at clouds, one of them is definitively lollipop-shaped

@somesortofitalianroast - It was the weirdest offering Tony had ever seen on his desk. A bouquet of sunflowers, a copy of Muse’s Starlight, and a bag of Dum Dum lollipops. There wasn’t even a card to explain who it was from, or who it was too. Huh. Maybe Pepper had put the items there and forgotten about them…

@27dragons - It's late by the time Tony gets home from work -- so late it's early -- and he's exhausted beyond belief. He navigates the house by the starlight coming through the windows and hopes desperately he won't wake anyone. He just wants to sneak into bed and curl up against his spouse for whatever few hours remain of the night. But he has to stop when he gets to the living room, where a lamp has been left on, shining on a carefully-arranged bouquet of sunflowers, Tony's favorite. Stuck in between the flowers are a handful of lollipops, proving that more than one person had a hand in this. The note says, "Cleared it with Pepper, you have tomorrow off. Come to bed." Tony's family is the best. [There, managed to write it so it can be whatever ship you want.]

@jacarandabanyan - One of Tony's less-publicized hobbies is funding off-the-wall science proposals made in jest at scientific conferences. The more outrageous the project, the more willing he is to pitch in money, supplies, networking help, etc. This time, he's even agreed to do the research himself. Which is how he found himself up on the moon of an unfamiliar planet in an unfamiliar galaxy, studying botany papers and trying to find what happens when you grow sunflowers by the light of a different star than Earth's sun. As ways to avoid the press and the Board go, it's original at least. Two months into his experiment, two little girls claiming to be "daughters of Thanos" pay him a rather menacing visit. He offers them a lollipop.

@rise-up-ting-ting-like-glitter - Once a decade, under the light of the full moon, and across the three dark nights of the winter solstice, the Starlight games are hosted. Sunflower has won the last four games running, but that was before Lollipop had Bucky fighting for them. This round they're out for nectar and Bucky intends to be MVP. Of course, the prize this year was extra sweet: a kiss from Starlight prince Tony-and a chance to win his hand.

@deehellcat - the last thing Morgan remembers is her mommy screaming as the car careened off the road and crashed. she sits up and looks around but she isn't in the city anymore, instead in a grassy field. a man comes toward her, a man she recognizes, and she runs into his arms yelling DADDY. they go for a walk thru a field of tall sunflowers (he says they're his favorite) and up a hill, they lie in the grass sucking on lollipops and looking at the stars. then he kisses her & tells her to give her mommy his love, before the world around her fades and she finds herself waking up in a hospital with Pepper hovering over her.

@summerpipedream - "What's this?" The book was frayed at the edges, but had a beautiful sunflower on the cover, a lolipop sticker on the edge. "Ana's cookbook," said Jarvis. "With all your favourite recipes as a child. " Now that omega Tony is expecting, and forced into bedrest by the doctor and his worried mate Steve, Tony vows to learn how to cook, one recipe at a time.

Hallmark, magic, and brunch - @somesortofitalianroast

@somesortofitalianroast - It’s not like Tony was expecting his Sunday brunch to be something out of a Hallmark movie, but he could have done without his fairy godmother showing up and telling him that he was the sole heir to a magical kingdom and it was time for him to claim his throne.

@polizwrites - Tony knows how to conjure up exquisite dishes with the wave of a wand; but to prove he truly loves his partners, he makes them a meal from scratch. It’s not his fault he really, really likes cinnamon…

@summerpipedream - "Nat, how the hell are pancakes supposed to solve anything?" Natasha rolled her eyes and tapped on the sign behind the counter. "Pancakes solve everything." Bucky glared. "You literally just put that up." Natasha waved her wand with a flourish. "And if I did? Eat up Barnes. Your destiny is about to walk through that door." Bucky was about to complain, but then the bell to the diner rang. Tony Stark walked through the door.

@27dragons - This isn't some sappy Hallmark movie. Bucky knows that. He's not expecting some magical force to make Tony fall in love with him, really. But he's going to try, anyway. Starting with brunch.

@rebelmeg - "tony... these are the most flawless eggs i've ever seen. how did you do that?" he grinned to himself as he slid the two perfect sunny-side-up eggs onto the waiting plate. "just magic." rhodey was watching from the table, a smirk on his face. "yeah, that or the hallmark movie you watched last week that made you cry." rhodey kind figured he deserved the piece of toast that tony threw at him.

@newnewyorker93 - Unfortunately for Stephen Strange there isn't a Hallmark card that quite covers apologizing for ruining brunch with Tony when a chaotic interdimensional beastie follows him through his portal (next time he'll take the subway)

@celtic7irish - Stephen glared at the man standing next to him. “What makes you think I can just I this away?” he demanded sarcastically. Tony shrugged, trying to hide a shiver. He wasn't dressed for this weather. “I don’t know. I mean, we were just supposed to be having brunch, and now we’re in some sort of freaking Hallmark Christmas thing, and I’m pretty sure that magic caused it. Because it definitely isn’t science.” He grimaced; Tony hated admitting that things like magic even existed, but when one had the Sorcerer Supreme for a boyfriend, one learned to accept that magic was probably real. Stephen sighed, summoning a portal to the Mirror Dimension. “Well, at least our first anniversary date isn’t boring.” Tony glared.

candlelight, window, vampire - suggested by @rebelmeg

@celtic7irish - The slender figure standing in the window, his profile lit only by the flickering candlelight, turned to look at him, and James shivered. So this was Anthony, rumored vampire and lord of the castle. And James' new patron.

@somesortofitalianroast - They’d all heard the rumors: an honest-to-god Vampire had set up in a moldering castle in Transylvania and was passing himself off as Dracula. After several sets of negotiations, Steve was chosen to go and check out the rumors. He was expecting… Well, he wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but he certainly wasn’t expecting to see the most beautiful man he’d ever seen through the window, shaving by candlelight.

@27dragons - Bucky was starting to get a handle on this whole vampire gig. He'd figured out the best ways to hide from the sun, how to hide the death-pallor of his skin with candlelight, how to mask the scent of blood on his breath with wine. What he hadn't figured out was what to do about the stunningly beautiful man who was currently climbing through his window.

@rebelmeg - it had practically been a challenge, and Tony never backed down from a challenge.  The whole world at large had managed to make vampires unsexy for pepper, but danged if he wouldn’t manage it before the night was through.  The candles by the window had been placed strategically, putting a soft golden glow over the two of them as they looked at their reflections in the glass.  

“Okay, tip your head back on my shoulder.  A little more.  Just like that.  Now look.”  tony saw it on her face when she saw them, framed in the window, his hand resting delicately on her jaw as he lowered his mouth to her throat.

“You win,” she said around a bit of a gasp, her pupils dilating as her heartbeat skyrocketed. “You as a vampire would definitely be sexy.”

With a pleased hum, tony gave her a playful nip.  Just a little one.

@summerpipedream - You have 3 new messages. Press one to playback. 

"Hey Tony, it's Steve. I'm sorry to interrupt your honeymoon with Bucky, but uh- do you remember Count Dracula lookalike last month? The guy who tried to take over the city? Well he's sent some sort of wedding gift to the tower. It's uh- hanging out the window. Hold on-" 

"Hey Tony. It's Steve again. Uh any chance you know where the spare candles are? That's stupid why would the tower have candles- never mind." 

"NEVER MIND. IT'S BAD. WE"RE RUNNING. DON'T COME BACK TO THE TOWER-" 

End of new messages

@gavilansblog - Tony stared at the candle on the windowsill. Or rather, squinted. "What were you thinking?" He demanded, slurring around his fake vampire teeth. "How is this supposed to look like a haunted house when the lights are making it bright as day in here?" Bucky winced. "How was I supposed to know they even made 1000 watt candle shaped bulbs?" (Brought to you by the conversation I was having just now with a friend whose brother made this mistake)

@Magicadraconia16 - "Leave a candle in the window," they said. A load of superstitious old nonsense, if you asked Tony. As if he's really going to leave an old-fashioned burning candle in the window where Dum-E could knock it over (although, that would give him an opportunity to use his brand new fire extinguisher...) It was just a shame that nobody mentioned that the candles weren't to scare the vampire off - they were to feed the light-vampire, and without it... well, the next nearest source in Tony's house just so happens to be his arc reactor.

@polizwrites - As a creature of the night the warm glow of the candle on the windowsill was a bittersweet reminder of the world he’d never see again. “I’m sorry, my love.” James reached out as if to snuff the flame, but Anthony stayed his hand. “No need to apologize, dear one.”

Cats, Sandwich, Chaos - suggested by @celtic7irish

@somesortofitalianroast - Very little had changed since Steve had brought Bucky in from the cold. Except the lunch meat disappeared from the fridge at a rate that not even JARVIS could explain. And that Bucky brought a cat with him. It was a small, white thing that loved Tony’s workshop and loved the bots. It caused more chaos than something that only weight five pounds should have been able to cause, and it loved his sandwiches.

@celtic7irish - Tony stared at the chaos in his living room; overturned tables, toppled lamps, and were those claw marks on his drapes? “What the-?” Tony trailed off, his voice faint, sandwich halfway to his mouth. “Daddy!” Morgan squealed, her eyes wide and face innocent as she held a squirming, wriggling bundle in her arms. A moment later, a small kitten stuck its head out of the blanket, meowing pitifully. “Can we keep her?”

@27dragons - Tony likes to think he takes a lot of weird things in stride, as an Avenger. Magic? Sure. Random visitations from a god of chaos? Old hat, these days. Insane robots and/or aliens trying to take over the city? No problem. But he had to admit, even he was having trouble maintaining his calm in the face of a trio of superheroes sitting at the kitchen table, eating sandwiches and sporting cat ears. Real ones. Oh, and tails. Yeah, he's... going back to bed.

@rebelmeg - “BUCKY!”

“What?”

“Your cat stole my sandwich again!”

Bucky watched as alpine skidded around the corner and dove under the couch, tony’s beloved 3-bacon sandwich clamped tight in his jaws.

“Yup.  he sure did.  Why do you keep leaving it out?”

“IT WAS IN MY HAND!”

Just another tuesday...

[recentanimenews]

FEATURE: Where Are They Now? How Far Our Favorite Long-Running Anime Characters Have Come

                                      This article written by Carlos Cadorniga was originally published on December 30, 2020.

  In many of our favorite long-running anime series, the main protagonists go through some immense change. Whether they’re driven by their lofty ambitions or a never-ending quest, they’ve each had their own humble beginnings and have since come so far on their own journeys. We’re continually inspired by these heroes, whether their stories are concluded, ongoing, or simply timeless. 

  In honor of some classic anime heroes, we’re taking a look back on their illustrious careers as ninja, pirates, Hunters, and Z-fighters alike. Let’s see just how far our favorite anime characters have come.  

  Naruto Uzumaki (Naruto)

    Where they started: As a social outcast and the host of a powerful beast, Naruto Uzumaki long dreamt of being the Hokage. His penchant for mischief masked a deep-seated longing for companionship, but he was stalwart in his dreams and was on his way to forming many strong friendships. What he lacked in knowledge and experience he made up for with plenty of grit and attitude as he learned and mastered advanced-level Jutsu at a young age. But even with one or two elite techniques under his belt, his journey to becoming Hokage would be far from easy.

    Where they are now: After burying the hatchet with his closest friend and rival and saving the whole world, Naruto has long since achieved his dream, having become the seventh Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village. He’s now married to Hinata Hyuuga with two children, a daughter named Himawari and a son named Boruto, who sets off on his own ninja adventures. He’s even reconciled with the demon living within him, who often joins Naruto in his fights to protect his village and his family. Though the focus has shifted toward his son, Naruto’s story still continues long after becoming Hokage.

   Son Goku (Dragon Ball series)

  Image via Funimation

    Where they started: After the death of his loving adoptive grandpa, Goku lived on his own for some time with a special charm to remember him by, a Four-Star Dragon Ball. Upon learning from his new friend Bulma that his grandpa’s keepsake is part of a set of seven artifacts that can grant any wish when collected, Goku heads out on a globe-spanning journey to retrieve them all. Along the way, he meets new friends, becomes more powerful, and comes closer to the truth of his mysterious origins.

  Where they are now: Among every candidate on this list, few have a history quite as large as Goku’s. While he’s still a loveable oaf who loves fighting as much as eating, he’s become a true savior after defeating incredible foes like Frieza and Kid Buu and continues to grow stronger as a fighter. From a Super Saiyan to Ultra Instinct, his increasing power level knows no bounds. As of the interdimensional Tournament of Power in Dragon Ball Super, he’s currently one of the strongest fighters in 12 dimensions. And to this day, he’s always looking to become even stronger than he was yesterday.

  Monkey D. Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates (One Piece)

    Where they started: As the Great Pirate Era kicked off, the rubbery pirate Monkey D. Luffy embarks on his ambitious dream of becoming the next Pirate King, following in the footsteps of Red-Haired Shanks, a renowned pirate in his own right. The first time we meet Luffy is when he emerges from a barrel stowing away on an enemy ship while trying to set sail himself. With little to his name but a simple boat and a tiny ragtag pirate crew, they each enter into a brave new world of untold dangers in order to fulfill their own dreams. Luffy met each of his crewmates in dire straits, but each of their ambitions led them toward each other to form something great.

    Where they are now: As of today, the Straw Hats' quest to find the One Piece and achieve their goals still rages on. But so much has changed since then. The ship is bigger, the crew is stronger, and their captain’s power over Haki and mastery over his rubbery body has propelled him and the Straw Hats to infamy. The bounty on Luffy’s head alone is one of the largest in the world, and wherever the crew goes, revolutions and overthrown dictatorships follow. Currently, they find themselves on the Feudal Japanese island of Wano. Having recently broken out of prison, Luffy is gathering up his splintered crew to face off against Kaido, one of the Four Pirate Emperors residing over the isolated nation as a tyrant.  

  Gon Freecss (Hunter x Hunter) 

    Where they started: As an aspiring Hunter, Gon is unlike many of his fellow applicants in the treacherous and life-threatening Hunter’s Exam. When he begins his journey, he doesn’t aspire to be a noble hero for hire or to acquire riches, but he simply seeks to understand how being a Hunter is so fascinating that his own father would leave him for it. Having grown up on an island, his physical prowess and senses are well above average, and the Hunter’s Exam was the perfect place to put them to the test.

  Where they are now: As of the final episode of the anime, Gon was able to meet up with his father. By the time he finally caught up with Ging, he'd undergone rigorous Nen training and faced all sorts of arduous and terrible trials. From the Phantom Troupe to the game world of Greed Island and the horror of the Chimera Ants, Gon experienced what it was like to be a Hunter from several different perspectives. Having overcome severe hardships and strife, he was able to hear directly from his father what being a Hunter meant to him, and why he was willing to sacrifice so much in order to do it.  

  Ichigo Kurosaki (Bleach)

    Where they started: An infamous high school delinquent, Ichigo was born with the power to see the ghosts that frequently haunt his town. When his strange ability allows him to encounter Soul Reaper Rukia Kuchiki, he learned of the existence of Hollows — malevolent spirits who attack the living and the dead alike. After Rukia was wounded defending Ichigo from one such monster, she transferred her powers over to him and made him into a Substitute Soul Reaper. Using his newfound and considerably immense power, he was charged with fighting Hollows in Rukia’s stead.

    Where they are now: Ichigo’s reputation throughout Bleach stretches far and wide. He rescued Rukia from execution, uncovered Sosuke Aizen’s conspiracy, became a Vizard in order to defeat the Arrancars, and even went so far as to sacrifice all of his Soul Reaper abilities in order to defeat Aizen. 

When last we left him, Ichigo took on Xcution, a group of human outcasts with the spiritual power of Fullbring. Through these newfound abilities, Ichigo regained his Soul Reaper powers and was able to continue his work as a Substitute Soul Reaper. With the final arc of the manga receiving an adaptation in the future, the true conclusion to Ichigo’s story is nearly in sight. In the meantime, the world of Bleach continues in its spiritual successor, Burn the Witch, further expanding the universe of Soul Society.

  Whether they've achieved their dreams, are still going strong, or their adventures are neverending, there's no doubt that so much has changed about our favorite anime heroes! Some changes have been for the better while others have resulted in life-altering traumas. Nevertheless, they've each gotten stronger and wiser after all these years. We'll certainly never stop cheering for them!

  Which classic anime are you still keeping up with? Are there any series you've always wanted to pick up? Let us know in the comments below!

      Carlos (aka Callie) is a freelance features writer for Crunchyroll. Their favorite genres range from magical girls to over-the-top robot action, yet their favorite characters are always the obscure ones. Check out some of their pop culture editorials on Popdust as well as their satirical work on The Hard Times.

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

  By: Guest Author

[a-story-teller]

one-line description tag

I was tagged by @bell-flower to describe my current writing projects in one line; I have a lot of stories, but here are the most structured ones:

Spirit Street: Three young people try to put to rest the dangerous spirits brought about by irresponsible seances in a wild, historically inaccurate Victorian setting. Historical Fiction. The Unlit Taper: After an attempted murder by his girlfriend, a disabled young noble travels with a ragtag group to find answers - and gets more than he wanted.   Middle-Eastern Fantasy. Offrymau: A man struggling with the growing demands of life aims to reconnect by moving to a small country town with his family; but the townsfolk are quiet, and when he sees a dark figure on the edge of the wood, he finds himself at the center of a bargain he never struck. Folk Horror. The Tale of Westra: When her prosperous country is threatened by a powerful mage, a princess, her bodyguard, and the captain of the guard track him in the hopes of cutting the head off the snake and avoiding all-out war. Fantasy. A Time of Justice (ToW prequel): A stubborn girl defies her noble parents and joins the Guard to protect her country, a goal which is complicated when she falls for her squad leader; but when she discovers a murderous plot, she has to step up to the plate lest the worst happen. Fantasy. The Songbird trilogy: An amateur bard finds herself accruing a following,  but not for her music; over the course of two years, she and her band of misfits face seers, royals, nomads, ghosts of the past, dragons, and intrigue as they are woven into a story a thousand years in the making. Fantasy. Those Watching: Fires rage through the countryside in the wake of an active genocide, and a farmer's daughter is sent to her sister's house for her own safety - but when strange things begin to happen, she can't help but wonder: is she really any safer here?  Historical Fiction / Horror. Kindling: After earth became unlivable, the surviving people created a new society with a worldwide moral creed, and it is perfect - until the illegal bombs start falling, and two teens are thrown into chaos the likes of which they've never seen.  Sci-Fi. A Gentleman’s Agreement: A rich, elegant divorcee hounds a taciturn detective to make him take her case, eventually leading them both - and occasionally his put-upon secretary - into seedy bars, life-threatening schemes, awkward conversations, and something a bit like love. Noir. Panchadasha: Two sisters stumble across an abandoned greenhouse and unwittingly wake an ancient God - but he's not the only one, and there is a price to be paid for trespassing.  Gothic(?) Fantasy. Prophet, Killer, Coward: A girl raised in the criminal underbelly of a market town has managed to get out of its clutches, only to be brought back into a conflict between gangs when her childhood friend tries to leave the life behind; throw in a little girl believed to be magic, a dance troupe, and a serial killer, and things just got a lot more complicated for her. Asian Historical Fiction / Fantasy. Firebrand: A revolutionary orphan and a hermit with a dark past meet by chance in a teeming market, and as tensions in their city rise, nothing will stop them from being together - or reshaping the world. I Literally Have No Idea What Genre This Is, But Maybe Fantasy / Sci-Fi. In Color Dim: When his fiancee dies, a desperate man seeks out a true medium to help him retrieve her soul from the spirit world.  Historical Fiction. Bolthole: Whites are a minority in the old world, and they have been commodities in powerful empires for nearing a hundred years - but how despite this an arms dealer, a wealthy widow, a freed slave, and two small boys came to work together is difficult to know. Alternate History. The Crooked House: A preteen girl finds herself in the hands of five witches, and while with them learns a great deal about the nature of magic, caution, cruelty, and her own history. Low Fantasy.

[sunevial]

How Vir and Miriah met :3

Lightly shoed feet crunched through the freshly fallen snow, wind blowing softly around Virashtai’s legs and tugging playfully at her cloak. With swift yet careful fingers, she adjusted the broach at her neck and pulled up her hood, further muffling her hearing in such a quiet land. She turned once, then twice, eyes searching for something to land on other than endless expanses of white and the little town in the distance. 

They found nothing.

Each footstep rattled in her eardrums, every mile passed with barely a chittering squirrel or chirping bird. After a lifetime of communal living, first surrounded by family and then the ever rotating lineup of performing troupes and traveling carnivals and ragtag adventuring groups, she was utterly and entirely alone. 

Well. ‘Alone’. No kalashtar ever is truly by their lonesome. 

Even so, to not have a single living soul around was…unsettling? Unpleasant? Uncomfortable?

Putting words to feelings was still such a curious concept.

Flat land and well traveled roads made for good time, but even easy travels did not stop bone-chilling temperatures or the early evenings that come with cold weather. Suppressing shivers, the monk pulled her cloak tighter as the sounds of civilization floated past her ears: merchants hawking wares from windows, a handful of children playing in snowbanks, the steady beat of a blacksmith’s hammer. The town was nothing particularly out of place for the region, small enough to walk across in no time at all but large enough to sport a tavern or two. 

Finding one such establishment dubbed The Red Leopard, Virashtai dusted off her snow-covered clothes and stepped inside. The room was lit with a number of candles and oil lanterns, bathing wooden tables and rickety stools in a soft orange glow. Something was roasting over the fire in the back, lamb or pork from the smell, waiting for people to come in from a long day’s work and get a hot meal. Patrons were scattered between the tables, nursing drinks and chatting in low voices.

“Evening, miss,” came a voice from the other side of the counter. A man in his fifties, tall, broad-shouldered, and a beard to match a deep voice. “What brings you to this sleepy little town?”

“If I’m being truthful, it was the first place to really stop on this road,” Virashtai said with a small smile, pulling down her hood and shaking out curls. 

“Sounds about right,” the man replied with a snort, wiping down a mug with a rag. “You looking for a meal and a room, I’m guessing?”

“Well…yes, though I was actually hoping for a little work too,” she replied, pulling aside her cloak to reveal a beautifully carved zither. “If you don’t mind, that is.”

That got an eyebrow raise. “You a bard or something?”

“No bard, but I am a performer.”

The man slowly nodded, then pointed towards a small stage. Following his hand, Virashtai’s eyes landed on a young man setting up a number of instruments. “Well, we’ve already got one of our own playing tonight, but I don’t think he’d turn down a partner,” he said, cracking a small smile of his own. “Draw a large enough crowd and the first drink is on me.”

“That’s very generous of you, sir.” Bowing slightly, she wandered over to the stage, taking another scan of the patrons. For the most part, they drew from the crowd that wouldn’t still be working so close to dinner, mainly a handful of scholarly types and those too old to be working field or steel. One stood out, though: a woman in her late thirties, dressed in a far more intricate outfit than the people around her, a light purple top revealing detailed turquoise tattoos working their way along her arms. A mug in hand, her gaze hadn’t faltered from Virashtai and the bartender the entire conversation.

Rather used to stares from strangers, it was common knowledge that kalashtar were perceived by others as unusually attractive, Virashtai flashed the woman a friendly smile. That done, she sat down on the small wooden platform, giving her introductions to the musician. As suspected by the barkeep, the young man was more than happy to have another voice join him on stage, and the two of them quickly exchanged words on which songs they knew, which tunes would be best suited, and what other performances the two could pull off with practically no time at all.

It took a song or two for them to synch up their playing, but before long, harmonies started to overlap and jaunty dancing tunes filled the air. People filtered into the tavern at a steady pace, ears following the lively music and eyes landing on the strange woman who had wandered into town with little more than a zither and a walking stick. Some danced along, some listened, and still, the strange woman kept her attention on her.

Well. If she was going to stare, Virashtai would give her something to stare at.

“Zaren? Do you know ‘Night’s Grace’?” Virashtai asked as yet another song came to a close, glancing over to the young musician who could swap between drums and viol with hardly a second thought. 

“I do, why?” he said, tuning one of the strings.

“I happen to…know a dance to it,” she replied, smiling and setting down her zither. “And I was thinking that we needed to liven things up before everyone goes home for the night.”

The young man blinked a couple of times, each one resulting in his smile growing wider and the gears in his head turning. “I like the way you think, Vir. Why not, let’s try it out. Worst thing that happens is that you make a fool of yourself and people pay us out of pity.”

“That’s the idea,” she replied with a wink, standing up as the music started and the beat sank into her body. Her feet tapped, her body swayed, and when she could feel the music in every limb, she took a step and let her movements fly free. Arms twirled, hands curled, hips swayed, legs circled, and feet flew as the movements flowed through her, a combination of deep muscle control and performance fluidity. Chatter died down until all eyes turned to her, watching almost spellbound as she leaped and spun, smiling all the while and occasionally clapping her hands to the beat.

The woman simply watched, eyes shining and gaze almost spellbound. 

A simple flourish and the song ended, the tavern erupting into applause and cheers for another. Breathless, Vir took a bow and said her thanks, flopping back down into her chair and tossing out her little collection bowl. One by one, people passed her by, tossing in little bits of coin here and there, reasonably generous for such a small town. 

The woman waited until the crowd had thinned before approaching, pushing a bit of light brown hair out of her face. “That was quite the show there.”

“Why thank you,” Virashtai said with a small bow. “You certainly seemed invested.”

“It’s not every day someone as interesting as you wanders into town,” she replied, looking at the collection bowl thoughtfully before turning her gaze back. “I find it very hard to believe that you’re not a bard after seeing that.”

She shrugged. “I’ve never really been one for magic.”

“Then what do you do besides put on a show if you’re not a bard, miss…?” the woman said, raising an eyebrow.

“Don’t you think that’s a bit much to be asking, seeing as I still haven’t gotten your name or why you would care?” Virashtai asked, cocking her head to the side and smiling.

Raising an eyebrow, her face twisted into the slightest of smirks. “Aren’t you a bold one? Well, I’m Miriah, and call it an…insurance in case there’s any strange reports when the sun comes up.”

“You’re part of the town guard, then?”

“I suppose you could say that,” she said, eyes twinkling ever so slightly.

“Fair enough,” Virashtai said, stretching out her arms before bowing again. “Vir, daughter of Kor, martial artist, acrobat, and musician, and currently between performing troupes.”

“See, that wasn’t so hard,” Miriah said with a teasing smile. “And I suppose you don’t have much in the way of coin if you are in between jobs at the moment?”

She picked up her little bowl and poured a now much smaller pile of coins into her belt pouch, earnings already split in half due to the other musician taking his cut to the bar. “That is…a safe assumption to make.”

Smoothing down her skirt, Miriah smiled ever so slightly. “Well, then perhaps I can alleviate one of your current problems. I happen to have plenty of space at my house if you were looking for a place to spend the night without having to pay.”

Well. That certainly explained the staring. 

Not that she was about to complain. 

“That’s very kind of you, Miss Miriah,” Virashtai responded after a small pause, grabbing her staff and jumping off the stage. “Though I would hate to intrude on another’s house.”

“That’s far too formal for my liking, please just call me Miriah.” Her smile softened a touch, though still with a touch of playfulness and the earlier curiosity. “And don’t worry, there’s very little to intrude upon when it’s just me.”

She smiled in return, securing her cloak for another adventure out into the cold. “Then, if you wouldn’t mind leading the way?”

Miriah smiled, pulling a shawl over her own shoulders and opening the tavern door. Cold air rushed past, catching the loose fabric and fluttering it in the sudden burst of wind. Some patron one too many drinks in complained about the temperature change, telling her to either stay in or head out.

Strangely enough, Virashtai didn’t really notice the cold.