#and that aspect of him is very older brother to me. to be the pillar of someone elses goal lol

[prettyboykatsuki]

Ari would you talk a bit more about how Sae can love you like someone born first, like an older brother with examples maybe? Only if you want to of course! You're one of the few people i trust with characterization so it's always a delightful experience to read how you view them!

yes!

its kind of hard for me to verbalize this ajkfdkjsf but i think older brothers tend to put a pressure on themselves to act a certain way even in the instances that their parents aren't putting outside pressure on them to succeed. this is effected by the gender of their younger sibling to an extent but it's just sort of an older sibling instinct.

a lot older brothers in relationships are sort of universally the same in relationships? they're not... nice. like that's not the word i would describe them with usually. kind but not nice. i think where rin can love you in a softer and more vulnerable way - sae is perpetually stone faced and almost a little cold around you to the point you have a hard time understanding his feelings

sae can love you like someone born first as in, he'll always look out for you, always give into you, and always be lenient towards you. he probably won't express any part of himself that openly like it won't show on his face but if you spend any time with him it's a bit obvious.

sae as a character i think values people who have a sense of independence and can accept him where he is - but contrarily i think he needs to be needed and the way he loves you reflects that conflict.

he'll do almost anything for you once he gets to that point in his own feelings but he won't approach you warmly or communicate these things to you at all lol. he has the distant kind of love that makes you feel like there's a wall between you and a debt you can't often repay.

to me that kind of stoicism and kindness feels very familiar to first born kids and big brother in general. this what i can do for you. i can love you practically and give you answer and solutions.

he seems like he needs to loved softly for that reason.

[queers-gambit]

Not a request obviously because they're closed so don't worry 🤍 These are just questions I have had since I started reading your fics and that I have wanted to ask you but feared it would sound too futile. If you don't want to answer them please feel free to ignore this ❤️

What is or what are the Billy Hargrove fic(s) that you wrote and that you love the most and why ? ❤️

What is a thought/headcanon/idea/storyline about him (either with reader or him on his own) that you haven't seen being explored enough in the fandom and that you would love to read ? ❤️

What's your favourite part/aspect of writing him in your fics ? (Examples : The emotional turmoil ? Him recovering some lost childhood innoence ? Describing him being turned on ? Describing his secret feelings for reader ? etc ) ❤️

I'm genuinely curious to know. 🤍

Stay safe ❤️❤️❤️

why would it be futile? i love answering messages! you are always welcome here - no matter the subject or content matter or reason. hear me? always. welcome.

lets get into it -

favorite fic and why?

my favorite Billy fic might be Bobby Flay or Billy Flayed because i'm a sucker for the loyalty plot. you know, the "i can tell something's wrong because you're acting weird and i know you too well" trope.

i was young when my eldest brother was in high school and had this girlfriend that i adored. so i took from that experience / memory to try to skim over the detail that Max is close with Reader / Billy's girl - or at the very least, trusts her enough to seek help. Max is almost coveted in the sense that Reader understands their relationship is fractured, so, she tries to help push them towards reconciliation from the sidelines. Reader is this pillar to Max and i really like that - when younger siblings actually like the significant other. it's a different kind of relationship. younger siblings are like bloodhounds and if something isn't right, they'll fuck you up - so i like the idea that to get the Muse, you have to "unlock" the younger sibling's trust first.

siblings are just cool, my mother always says they're built-in best friends for life. i have two, and while i don't have the best experiences with them, it's fun to write. in a way, it feels cathartic - like i'm healing my own past with writing. i can write the older sibling i deserved when i was a kid. i can write about love and loyalty as i think it should be - not what i've been shown.

what do i want to see more of?

maybe i'll even say that's what i want "explored" more of. when reading, i teeter between wanting something that establishes Max and Billy trying to heal their relationship, and not even mentioning her at all. however, i do like those small tidbits where Max is just a fleeting presence, felt but not seen, like a ghost; it alludes that she and Billy are on better terms. i'm even a sucker for Billy going to Max for advice 'cause she's a girl and he doesn't know what he did to upset Reader. Max is young, yes, but she's going into / starting high school, so she has a foundation of understanding. and Billy's just a dumb boy, he needs guidance. so i like the idea that Max is like "i don't need to know what happened; she's right, you're wrong, go buy her flowers and apologize."

Max and Billy? the unlikely duo we all deserved. the writers fucked us out of what had the potential to be a beautiful relationship and i'm annoyed. but i digress.

i like the idea that Billy protects Max against Neil. like if Neil is losing his shit and Billy manages to get away, he's rounding around the house to tap Max's window. she climbs out and they leave together; maybe going to the arcade where Billy lets Max play while he figures out their next move. did i just give myself a new idea? goddamnit, Cherry, your draft count is in the 30's!

honestly? i don't know what i want "to see" from the fandom. i like almost any story i come across! i like each author's interpretation of Billy and what his character arch should be. he's a bad dude, so we get the "dickhead to everyone but her" trope - which i love. he's a playboy - so we get some good smut; including B being the sub. there's a lot unsaid, so there's room for authors to really fill in gaps, fleshing out who they understand Billy to be / what they want him to be.

HOWEVER - being said, i like internal monologue. so maybe in some fics, if Billy's actively being a dick, a quick little switch in POV to give readers a glimpse into Billy's mind and maybe a look at WHY he's doing / saying / behaving the way he is. like is he even aware of it? is he doing this on purpose? what was his trigger? why is there conflict? is it premeditated? spontaneous? what's the decision making process? where do characters go from here? how does this change them? i think it creates authenticity; by showing internal turmoil, you establish a bond with the audience and how difficult everything is to navigate. that what's "right" isn't always known. that while we might not have the same reason for getting there, we've arrived at the same feeling / destination - which is called empathy. i think that's cool, but that's just me.

favorite aspect writing for Billy?

-> i like the emotional turmoil, yes. Billy is a great guy to write for when i'm writing to cope - to expel emotions. -> i love that he's a known, established bad boy, so he works for my favorite trope, "dick to everybody but her". but also how that isn't always 100% true - i mean, couples still fight, but i love Reader being "that" person for Billy. -> he's fun to write surprises for. you know, a situation that he might react differently to than what's expected. -> i think he's much more empathetic than given credit for and that's a common theme in my writing; like Billy and Reader both have experience with life being shitty. -> Billy's easier for me to relate to - possibly because of the abuse. -> he's very transparent. he's an enigma, yes, but also, once the story is in front of you, he's easy to see through. like he does THIS because of THAT - so as an author, it's fun to play on that. he's like a piece of paper - strong, pristine, useful, and then the moment he's wet, he literally falls apart. -> being said, the way i write Billy's character is literally 75% influenced by semiotics. so, i appreciate that not everything has to be black and white; a slap in the face; be a bright neon banner. a lot of him is "inferred", hence the semiotics. this gives me a lot of room to engage my imagination.

super quick unpopular opinion? i want a main character to die. like die-die, like, ain't no coming back - no resurrection - no nothing, just a dead body. because fuck Stranger Things for giving us fantastic, interesting, deep side characters and fucking killing them all! don't just threaten me, actually hurt me - kill a main!

Bob Newby, Superhero? a gem. Eddie Munson? a sweetheart. Billy Hargrove? complex with space to develop. Alexi? babygirl. at least they gave us Robin - for now.

thank you for writing in, poppet. i love talking to you guys! i hope to have something new out soon, too! i am sending you all my best wishes! and all my love 🖤

[notgonnarememberthis]

Pillars

Surprise!!! I didn't have intention of publishing a oneshot but this popped into my mind a couple of hours ago and it was just too good to ignore. I don't write Ainsley much so it was a lovely change to have her voice in my mind for a change and it was really fun to explore a more vulnerable aspect of her. Especially since her weakness appears to be her family being in danger. It was really fun to write and I hope y'all enjoy this as much as I did

Ainsley wakes up to the sound of a scream. It’s so loud it pierces through the walls. She startles, feeling her heart pounding in her ears. It takes her a few seconds to realize it wasn’t from her dream. The scream is very much real. She’s never heard anything like it, so full of pain and terror. Then she realizes it sounds very familiar.

“Mom.”

The rate at which she’s on her feet and running is dizzying. She almost rips her phone from the wall it’s plugged into with her urgency to move. Her bare feet echo on the floors as she races down the hall. She curses her urgency for privacy from when she moved in almost a year ago, insisting that she’ll need her own space since she’s been used to living alone for so long.

Her mother’s scream still echoing in her head makes her hate every step that she was too far from helping.

Her fingers shake too much as she tries to work her phone. Dialing the number almost absentmindedly from memory as tears stream down her face, panicked breaths too short to fill her lungs. 

She should call 911, there could be an intruder or a fire or. She should call 911.

“Malcolm Bright, leave your name and number and I’ll call you back.”

His voicemail taunts her as she tries to school her panic. She can’t call anyone but him. She needs Malcolm. He’d know what to do. He’d know how to save her. He’d get there faster than any cop would.

Except maybe Gil.

Finally she’s in front of her mother’s door. She doesn’t even bother knocking, instead reaching for and twisting the golden handle. Yet, it doesn’t budge in her grip. She tries again, then once more before the horror truly sets in. Her door is locked and Ainsley can’t hear anything coming from the inside.

Not that she can hear much over her own heartbeat.

“Mom!” She pounds on the door, tears flowing freely imagining everything horrific her mind has to offer. Her mother choking on blood, stabbed in the stomach collapsing just out of reach of the door, a gun trained on her temple if she tries to scream. Ainsley throws her weight against the door but it’s no use, the wood is expensive and she just bounces painfully off it. She ignores the flare of pain resorting to pounding again with her good arm when the door swings open.

She freezes when a very tired and very concerned looking Gil answers. She thought he’d come fast but this is ridiculous.

Her rational mind comes to as her panic ebbs momentarily. Gil had dinner with them last night, she retired for the night before he left. He had a few drinks, there was no way her mother would let him drive and insist that he stay.

“Ainsley? Is everything ok?” She glances over his shoulder not seeing her mother anywhere behind him. She must have slipped into the closet, probably sitting at the vanity. 

“I heard-” She thinks for a moment. Was it all a dream? She could have sworn… It sounded so real. “I heard a scream.”

His shoulders drop, a soft look of understanding passes over the man’s features. “A nightmare.” He assures her.

“No. I know what I heard. I heard-”

“No, Ainsley.” He stops her with a had up. “Your mother had a nightmare.”

She tenses, confusion knotting her brows. She’s no stranger to someone waking up screaming in the night. Hell, she grew up familiar with the sound of Malcolm’s night terrors. A scream, the sound of running, a struggle, and then her mother’s gentle voice coaxing him awake again. 

It was always Malcolm though. Never her.

“I don’t understand.”

“She just had a nightmare. I’ve got her, kid. Don’t worry.”

She almost scoffs at his words. Don’t worry? Not even when she was faced against a literal serial killer did she hear her mother make more than a yell. A challenge against her opponent. She always fought back. Always. How the hell would she be able to stop hearing that scream? She sounded so… helpless.

She’s never known her mother to be helpless.

“I can’t.”

“Ains.” She stops, only Malcolm calls her that but it’s enough to disrupt her thoughts. “She’s safe.”

Her face sinks with realization. “The pills.” Gil’s expression only confirms it. The sad almost guilt that passes over him, and she knows. Her mother had talked to her and Malcolm about it before. How she planned to get clean. No more relying on pills and booze to survive. She didn’t want to miss another moment. Those were her words.

Ainsley has had only a small peek at the bottles before when her mother was sulking over Malcolm’s treatment of her. Ones she expected, having seen from Malcolm were there. Valium, Ativan, Marplan. Yet the one bottle screams in her memory now.

The sleeping pills.

“She never…” Guilt clenches in her chest. “I didn’t know.”

“You couldn’t.” He assures her gently with a sad smile. “She would never have let you or Malcolm know.”

“Is she…”

“At the vanity.” He nods, understanding her question. Sitting at the vanity is almost never good. After moving in Ainsley often found her there, so locked in her own thoughts she didn’t hear or see her come in. She understands why, in a way. It gives her space to think, where the walls never feel too much like him. The closet was always her space. Ainsley remembers it almost looking the exact same as when she’d run in to play makeup with her.

She wonders if the familiarity is a comfort or a punishment.

“You want to see her?” Ainsley chews on her lip, thinking. Would her mother want her to see her like this? Probably not. Yet she had to have heard them talking. She doesn’t hear her protesting either. She would not be shy to request her time alone. She nods. “Come on.” Gil guides her into the room, softly knocking on the door before opening it just a little. “Jess, sweetheart. Someone wants to see you.”

No protest again. Ainsley shuffles forwards, suddenly feeling very much like the shy five year old who came to check on her older brother after he had a nightmare. She always had her favorite stuffed rabbit ready to share to keep away the bad dreams. She wishes she had the bunny right now. To wordlessly pass to her mother without needing the explanation. Without having to say what they both already know.

Her mother turns to her, eyes dark from lack of sleep. Ainsley wonders how long it took her to work up the courage to close her eyes. How long it took for them to fly back open in terror. They’re red rimmed too, from tears, she recognizes. She’s never seen her mother cry. The thought terrifies her.

Yet when her mother sees her, the expression changes. A soft look of guilt and understanding. “Oh baby,” She reaches out a hand and Ainsley goes to her. More tears she didn’t know she had left spilling down her cheeks. She rises from her seat meeting Ainsley in the embrace. She wraps her arms as tight as she can around her mother, her face burying into her shoulder. All the fear and sadness she felt melts out of her at once. The slow stream of tears turning into full body sobbing in the comforting touch. Fingers comb at her tangled blonde curls, separating the knots from her own restless sleep. “I’m so sorry I scared you sweetheart.” She whispers in her ear.

She shakes her head trying to reject the apology. Yet the crashing realization that her mother isn’t this pillar of strength and bravery weighs heavily on her. She wonders if Malcolm even knows. 

Oh god, she’s going to have to explain her crying voicemail to Malcolm.

“Are you ok?” She finally asks when she has the strength to talk.

“Oh my sweet girl.” She breathes, pulling away just to trace her jaw. “I’ve got you right here, I’m more than ok.” She places a kiss on her hairline enveloping her in a hug again. “It was just a nightmare. I’m ok.” Ainsley bites her tongue at the thought of what her nightmares could possibly look like. Malcolm’s were terrifying to hear about and he has suppressed memories.

Her mother knows every face, every name. Every single image.

Gil’s knock interrupted her second wave of panic. “I talked to Malcolm. Figured he might see Ainsley called and panicked when he woke up.” She feels her mother nod in understanding.

“He’s not coming, is he?”

“No. I managed to convince him everything was ok.”

“Good.” She pulls away from the hug, though her fingers still linger on his arms. “Do you want to sleep with me tonight?” Ainsley looks between her and Gil. A selfish part of her wants to nod, curl up next to her mother and keep her safe from the nightmares just like she did for her after the memories of Endicott started resurfacing. 

“It’s ok kid. I’ll sleep in a guest room tonight.”

“Nonsense.” She scoffs. “The bed could easily fit all three of us plus Malcolm. That is, if you’re ok with it.” Ainsley realizes she’s talking to her and nods. Gil had always felt like a father to her, even when his focus was on Malcolm. He always asked if she’d like to tag along to a baseball game or a trip to the planetarium. Anything to make them feel like normal kids.

She still has the stuffed astronaut he bought her.

“Is that ok with you?” Ainsley asks Gil and he smiles, wide and warm. Nothing like Martin’s.

“I’d like that.”

They fit comfortably back in the bed. With Ainsley hugging her mother close to her. She’s more than used to the octopus grip and settles in, manicured fingers scratching her back in smooth lulling patterns. Gil takes place behind her mother, safely cushioning her between the two of them. This way she’s protected from both sides. Ainsley smiles at the image but it does calm her when she sees him offer his arm to lay on to her mother.

They both fall asleep before she does. Neither stir while she listens to the soft noises of the quiet slumber. She hopes, against everything that has happened, that they get to keep this soft moment. After everything that’s happened her mother deserves to be happy. She thinks with him, she could be.

Maybe they all could be.

[euronymous-files]

translated from Norwegian

"He came into my life at a time when I had just started listening to extreme and loud music. I sat at home in Råde and listened to local radio from Oslo. [...]

Frode Øien had a program where he invited the then unknown band Mayhem to visit because they had recorded a new demo tape. They were just incredibly mysterious and used pseudonyms and stuff, and I mean remember they took over the whole radio broadcast. To me, it sounded like Frode was set aside as host and the band took over for a couple of hours. It was absolutely magical. They played their own music, but not least they played lots of other things that were completely unknown, Hellhammer, Bathory, lots of early black metal and other extreme things. They obviously had great insight into what was going on and were by definition the only Norwegian band that existed in all these genres at once. They were the starting point for everything you could call extreme metal. It all starts with Mayhem."

Anders tells of how he became "insanely fascinated". [...] “The following week, a guy who was a competition winner appeared and said he was the brother of someone in the band. His name was Aarseth, and that led to me simply browsing the telephone directory, and I found only one Aarseth family in Ski. I took the chance and called and hit right on Øystein. That conversation must have lasted an hour or two. He met someone who was open to the same things as him, and then he was like a wandering library and very enthusiastic. His fervent commitment was something you felt right away, something he literally lived for. He gave my whole musical approach a kind of passion I had never experienced before.” To the young Anders, four years older Øystein Aarseth appeared as a kind of natural messenger of all the new things that were about to happen, and he swallowed everything he was told. He took in all the tips Øystein shared and received a lot of music that engulfed him, first from Øystein, then also from other bands.

"In the 80's it was not so common to have contact with people in other countries. If it were not unknown, getting to know people abroad was much more difficult than it is today. The only method was letter writing, and this whole underground scene was very much based on that. We wrote to each other and attached leaflets and fanzines and other things. You picked up the things you had on tape and changed the recording. Øystein introduced all this to me. I also went to practice with Mayhem. Back then I was 13 and a half years old, and got a first-hand impression of how the music sounded in your face in the rehearsal room. It made me completely obsessed that I should also start such a band. I had finally found my thing. This was very early in the development of black metal. We who came in right away make up a small but significant group of people. Among those I became acquainted with at that time are or were virtually all members of the most famous and prominent bands. Øystein had an incredibly central role as a source of inspiration and door opener for how to engage with music on the side of the industry, to be independent, in your own world."

Were there other aspects of him than the purely musical that inspired you? The energy, the courage, the talent? "What I took to myself very early was to sacrifice everything for this here. If you wanted to get somewhere with the music, you had to choose it over all other possible leisure activities and side tracks you could end up on, to only care about this music and abandon absolutely everything else. This was something he introduced as an opportunity. Many people did sports and had boyfriend projects and all sorts of things, social things that take a lot of time and resources, but here it was an alternative race to unfold in which I really took to. I had lived in a block and terraced house environment until I was ten years old and moved to a farm. I went from a life where people rang the doorbell all the time to being socially isolated. Now I got a platform that made it possible to break out."

Were you and Øystein friends or is there another way to describe their relationship? "I was a fanboy in the beginning. He got really mad when I copied everything he did. Then he was clear that this is not the way to do it. He was very careful about it. I was very young, and I was looking for band members myself in Fredrikstad and Østfold. When I started Cadaver, there was more mutual respect and a more collegial friendship. Things slipped a bit for him in '92 -'93. In the summer of '93, a few months before he died, he was very much looking for old friends. It was clear that he had been going through a period with a lot of focus on other things, but now he was looking up old friends to play the new Mayhem things that he had been working on for so long. I was with him several times during this time and felt that we had a friendship that was more mature. I had my band, had released an album and been on tour, and now Øystein was finally facing a breakthrough with the album he had talked about releasing for six or seven years. That he was killed became even more sad because of it. He knew he had made something very significant and very good, but never saw it come out."

[...]

"I was in a way close to the events", Anders says. "I also knew Pelle and was several times in the house where they lived in Kråkstad. When such things happen, you are shocked and think about what you could have done differently. But that Øystein did as he did was probably most related to his penchant for myth-making and image-building. He took it too far of course, but his way of thinking about things was that everything could be used for what it is worth in a PR context. I think it would have been perfectly fine if not everything that happened, it would not have made any difference. I remember hearing about him doing it, but not thinking much about it. He probably had an idea that this was so extreme that he had to do something about it. That might say something about how he liked to see things from above. He did not consider himself a direct part of it and did not see that there was anything wrong with it. I think he saw it in a kind of bird's eye view, but it's very difficult to say."

Where do you think Øystein would have been today if he had not been killed? "It's an exciting thing. We who knew him wonder if he had not grown tired of having to move closer to the regular music industry. In a way, he was a bit about to do it himself with his label, and also realized he could not run distribution on his own. I was part of his distribution. It worked so that he sent ten copies of a record to everyone he knew and trusted. All sold nine and sent money to him, and were allowed to keep one themselves. Those records are probably worth 10,000 kroner today. He signed several bands at the end, and the same day he died, Enslaved signed a contract with him. He had other things going on too, so I'm not sure where he ended up." "However, there was a lot going on around him that could have had an unfortunate effect", Anders believes. If he had not been killed by Varg Vikernes, or "The Count", it would probably have been rolled up that he was nearby when Holmenkollen chapel burned. "I do not know if he had been able to sit in jail. He was probably tougher in words than in reality. But what is mainly wrong with the myth of black metal and Øystein was that he created something with knowledge and will to succeed, as it was afterwards. It was rather the opposite. His ideas were to have this as a non-commercial business. You should deserve to hear this music. Being a listener in itself required a number of criteria. If it was up to him, as he told it, the whole scene would be a kind of lodge, and if you were first inside you would hear what others did not hear. But it was going to go away anyway, because it got too big." "Then he did not experience the internet, but it would have been something for him. Because he had so many extreme political ideas, the internet as it has been very much appealed to him. For example, he would be amazed at how widespread conspiracy theories have become. He was interested in extreme political directions, in Pol Pot and communism. I think he too had ended up in a more experimental musical direction. He was an extremist in everything he did and did it full on, and he probably still wanted to hunt for more and more extreme expressions."

[...] What is the best thing Øystein did? " "Freezing Moon". What I find very musically exciting is that it contains so few notes. The atonal and asymmetrical in the arrangement gives an introduction to something completely different than rock. It's the atmospheric, and the movements as we call it, and the riffs that are there. Øystein was concerned with throwing everything away and starting all over again, and it was such a song. It will always be a pillar in the Mayhem catalog and in the development of black metal."

read the full interview (in Norwegian) here

[writing-the-end]

LoL Chapter 36- Addows

(what’s this, a chapter on monday? Yes! Starting today and for the foreseeable future, LoL will now update mondays and fridays! Hopefuly it will gain more attention when it updates more often,,,)

Masterpost

A Wizard Hermits tale (AU, designs, ideas belongs to @theguardiansofredland)

If the hermits hope to enter the most dangerous place in Lairyon, they need to know about the Forest of Memories. Xisuma, Cub, and Joe venture to the haunted city of Addows in search of information.

____________________________________

Mist swirls around Xisuma, his vision obscured by the thick fog of the city. Old, ancient buildings are all around him, once a city of the ancient ones still alive with the people of Lairyon. Massive stone temples, graveyards for heroes and legends, buildings with no known purpose that now house creeds and clairvoyants. 

Addows is a home of ghosts. Ghosts of the past, present in both tomes that the temples and libraries hold, and actual spirits that wander the eternally misty street. No one is spooked by the spooks, just another face in the crowd. 

And it’s the perfect place for the hermits to dig up ancient knowledge. If anywhere would have information on the Forest of Memories, it would be the hallowed halls of Addows. Cub creeps closer to Xisuma, not quite sure if he likes not being able to see more than a few feet in front or behind him. He’s sure there’s some sort of proverb that Joe would spew at him about this and the past or whatever, but right now he doesn’t want to hear it. Joe, meanwhile, is loving this atmosphere. The spooky vibes, the aged buildings and haunting people. He could write entire novels about this place, how much it fits his aesthetic. He may just have to build a new library on Eremita to match this.  Plus, his fuzzy cloak is comfortable and fits in well with the shadowed passersby. 

The three hermits wander the streets, walking through the midday mist, watching as buildings appear from nothing and disappear once again. Joe gets distracted every once in awhile on a witch’s shop, books older than the kingdom, apothecaries with all kinds of rare materials, and about a dozen different colored candles. And lots of rocks. TFC would have a field day. 

But after what feels like both hours and seconds of walking down the twisting streets of the ancient city, they finally arrive where they need to be. A building so old that the rain and forest has weathered it down, and a whole new layer of detritus has turned to dirt, ferns, trees, and vines growing down the massive stone pillars. In the weathered carving, the purpose of the ancient building remains the same. It’s a library, the largest in all the kingdom and filled with the most extensive, the most knowledgeable, and the most ancient of works. In languages long dead and unrevivable, written by ghost writers that now haunt these halls, and recounted by the living and the dead that wander the stacks. 

“And a delightful young adult section with some of my favorite works for young readers.” Joe hums. “Anything, and I mean anything-” He pauses, letting Xisuma and Cub fill in what he means, “can be found in the national library of Addows.” 

“That means if there’s anywhere that will tell us how to handle the Forest of Memories, or what could be hiding in there, it’s here.” Xisuma wanders down the stacks. All three hermits itch to reach out and pull books of their favorite genres or authors. Cub wants to dive into the deep end of the ancient ones history. Xisuma wants to study the great works of the best astronomers. And Joe wants to read the most mind boggling pieces that make absolutely no sense. He loves that feeling of being left confused about what he just read. 

They search the tomes, from geography to history, history to science. They search every section- even the young adult section. Cub resorts to portaling around rather than running the worn stone stairs, but to no avail. In the end, all three of the hermits are sitting in an alcove of ferns and vines, staring out over the thick misted city. 

“It wasn’t in anything. Has no one ever written about the Forest of Memories?” Xisuma grumbles, pulling off his mask. It’s not like there’s any sun, he doesn’t need his brother’s creation. 

“Someone had to. It’s been around for eons and is nestled in the heart of Lairyon. I can think of so many epics that could rely solely upon those two aspects.” Joe speaks with his head on his hands, looking over the library. Where haven’t they checked? “I’m starting to think it’s not even real, just a bunch of folktales.” 

Silence, until Cub’s eyes light up. “Folktales! Where do you put everything that you don’t know or understand?” 

“In the trash bin?” Joe’s dry humor is not lost on Xisuma, but Cub is too excited. 

“The folklore!” Cub summons his magic, a portal opening between the hermits, taking them to the very entrance of the library. The beginning of it all. He jumps through, skidding into a cracked pillar, but the stone is held fast by roots of the forest. Joe and Xisuma follow after, the portal collapsing behind them. 

“Forest….forest...forest…” Cub whispers, running his fingers along books, scrolls, even just tablets of stone. “Forest, Evernight. Nope. Forest, Creation of. No…” 

He stops, fingers coming to rest on a manuscript. Two wood planks pressing fabric pages together. It has no written title, but the front of the book is a tree with it’s branches intertwined like that of a brain. Cub grabs the manuscript, opening it with fervor. “Godsdamnit.” 

“What’s wrong now?” Xisuma sighs, peering over the portal mage’s shoulder. But the symbols scrawled on the fabric are meaningless to them both. Not even Joe, who purveys in ancient and useless knowledge, has no ability to read the book. 

“Ahh, The Journey to the Center of Lairyon’s Mind. A very good work. Quite dense.” All three hermits shriek, echoing in the quiet library as a misty head appears through the bookshelves. They should have been prepared for a ghost, but in the heat of the moment, they forgot they were in the most haunted city in the kingdom.

“H-have you read this? Can you r-read this language?” Joe holds the book out. 

The ghost steps through the shelves, her hand becoming solid enough to hold up the piece. “It’s old kipling. Before they integrated into one oceanic script. Back in the early days, when Lairyon was just a bunch of warring nations. Ah, the oceans were so peaceful in comparison.” 

“What does the author say? What does this mean?” Joe points at the fine print of a page that the kipling opened. 

“It’s the dedication! It’s to me!” She laughs, ghostly fin ruffling with joy. “My wife was such a wonderful author, she is still curious to this day.” 

Xisuma surges up to the ghost, no longer afraid. “The author, she’s still here? Where is she?” 

“Why, I’m sure she’s moping around our gravestone, waiting for me to come back so she can tell me more stories that she picked up from the other ghosts.” The kipling ghost pauses. “Would you like to meet her, or rather just read through this dingy old book? Why not meet the real adventurer Cielle DuNord? Bravest woman ever, only person to enter the heart of the Forest of Memories and come back sane. At least...only recorded person.” 

From the oldest library, the hermits follow the bouncing kipling down the street to the oldest cemetery. Sometimes they lose sight of her in the fog, her ghostly figure becoming a part of the mist and disappearing. But it just takes a laugh and a call from Lady Nellaime, her dress swaying like kelp in the waves, and they’re back on track. The misty glen opens to reveal ancient tombs and stones, but Nellaime waltzes through the historic graveyard as she would saunter through a flower garden. 

Despite the spooky feeling, it’s not scary. The hermtis feel a sense of calm respect among the gates. Rare flowers bloom at the entrances of mausoleums, trees sprouting from burial mounds. Candles provide light along the well cared pathway, and a child runs by, smiling as he trips and hugs an ancestor’s gravestone. 

From the mist, a glowing form appears, hugging the boy back. The ghost settles down in the grass, chatting with the family. Nellie continues past, deeper into the heart of the graveyard, seemingly bigger on the inside. The tombs age the deeper they walk, until Nellie stops at a raised crypt. Carved in the ancient coral stone, two smiling faces rest on their backs, the women’s hands intertwined at the center. Nellie skips onto the tombstone, knocking on the nose of the other kipling. “My sweet Cielle, you have visitors! More fans of yours!”

The eyes blink open, misty blue lashes fluttering. A noncorporeal form drifts from the stone crypt, dress flowing from existing to not, strong arms reaching over and hugging her wife. “You always make friends so fast. Living or dead, you just make people smile. Just like lighting up my life, my little ghost light.” 

“Not in front of guests.” Nellie giggles, her fins fluttering from the sweet kiss. 

“To what do I owe the pleasure of such…” Cielle looks the three up and down. “Unique visitors upon my grave?” 

“Are you really the only person who has made it out of the Forest of Memories alive?” Xisuma wastes no time, which causes both ladies to titter.

“No, though I know Nellie here likes to be hyperbolic. Quite a few people have gone into the Forest without going crazy. But you have to be prepared to enter in.” Cielle leans forward, tugging a ghostly finger through Xisuma’s hair like a mother combing a child’s hair. 

“Prepare? What kind of spells do we need? Weapons?” Cub flips through the pages of the book, but it’s in a completely unknown language to him. 

“You can prepare yourself physically as long as you like, but it won’t do much. You have to prepare yourself mentally.” Cielle taps her head, and giggles. “See, for me, all I had to do was think about my fiancee back in Corelpi. I dunno how, but it was like a walk through a garden.” 

“But there is one place that knows all about the Forest of Memories. Where the most people have entered and returned relatively sane.” Nellaime grins, a few locks of hair falling from her messy bun. Cielle reaches over and fixes the loose locks. “Fielville!” 

“Of course,” Xisuma slaps his hand on his head, leaving a bright red mark on his skin. “Druids, insectia, the oldest traditions from the ancient ones are still practiced there.” 

“The elder there has entered and exited the Forest of Memories more than even I have- but then again, she lives longer than me, which isn’t fair.” Cielle sits back. “But be warned- no matter how prepared you think you are for that wood, it will be nothing compared to the true might of the forest. You will return with whatever trove you are in search of-” She pauses. “Or you will not return at all.”

[carnistcervine]

Sokka and Katara / Zuko and Azula swaps

Okay, I kinda gotta get this off my chest. I really don’t see the whole Sokka and Katara swap with Zuko and Azula in Fire Nation-Water Tribe swap AUs.

Okay, I kind of do. On the surface, it’s perfect! They’re siblings, the same ages(or at least close, Sokka is 15, Zuko is 16/17), Sokka/Zuko is the overlooked older brother, Katara/Azula is the prodigy younger sister. Sokka/Zuko are the weapons masters, Katara/Azula are the master benders. And in a way, they are foils of one another. I get it.

But, every time I see it, the characters have to completely swap personalities. And what’s the point of calling him Sokka if he’s just Zuko in Sokka’s body? What’s the point of calling her Azula if she’s just Katara in Azula’s body? If your just going to completely switch the main characters personalities, why not just have a body-swap fic, or just change their nationalities? Why label them as characters they’re not? And ultimately, the characters do kind of have to drastically change personalities to work like this. (Read my whole thing, I swear I have a good reason to feel like this-)

Let’s take a look at Sokka. He’s intelligent, can think on his feet, a great strategist, a prodigy with weapons, extremely pragmatic, humble, fairly wise in some aspects, and great with plans. Of course, he’s also a very closed book, he’s insecure, he doesn’t like to talk about his feelings. He’s deeply empathetic, but also very slow to open up to others. He’s scared of his own vulnerability and has a strong desire to protect those he cares about. He’s also a clear voice of reason, who occasionally does dumb stuff for comedic effect.(They had to nerf him before he became too powerful)

Now let’s look at Zuko. He’s passionate, an excellent firebender, but not a prodigy, a natural with the sword, VERY dramatic, an open book, opens up to others fairly quickly, but not always. Headstrong, stubborn af. He’s kind of entitled, and rather prideful. He’s compassionate, even if he tries to deny it. He’s also deeply angry and hurt due to abuse and trauma. Deep down he is a good person, even if his attempts at being good or helpful are awkward or poorly thought out. Yeah, Zuko don’t plan shit. He leap befo he look.

While Sokka and Zuko do share parallels, they aren’t very alike. Now, I know that this could be interesting in a swap, but for this kind of swap, they aren’t similar enough to fulfill the other’s role in the story. Not without completely reworking their character.

On the fem side of the coin, let’s take a look at Katara. She’s very passionate, kind, compassionate, highly empathetic, dramatic af(lets be real). The Mom Friend(TM). She’s also self-righteous, headstrong and stubborn as an earthbender. She also has a vicious anger that seethes and boils, dark and troubling like an undertow. But ultimately she’s a very loving and open person. If a bit awkward at times.

Now let’s look at Azula. She’s cold. Not even a closed book, but a freakin’ locked one! She’s highly manipulative, saying whatever it takes or feigning what ever emotions necessary to achieve her ends. Her mask blends into her face, so it makes you wonder if she ever wore one in the first place. She’s highly pragmatic and a great strategist who can think on her feet. Her biggest problem is that she relies too heavily on fear keeping others in line, and her own luck. Also, yeah, she’s super intelligent. Gotta give her a lot of credit there. And finally, she’s very deeply afraid of her own vulnerability. She’s obsessed with perfection, and perceived superiority. She’s too haughty for her own good.

Katara and Azula share even fewer parallels to be honest. While Katara is very warm and open with a hidden venom for only those that genuinely cross the line, Azula doesn’t feel much for anyone. It’s possible that there are people she genuinely loves or cares about, but she never allows herself to be genuine long enough to show it. And no, I’m not saying that Azula couldn’t fufill Katara’s role because she EVILLL!!!1 I feel like good!Azula would be more like a character like Raava or maybe Yang Chen. Where she preforms her duty in a rather detached way. She does things for the greater good of the world, regardless the cost, while not particularly caring about who gets hurt or who’s toes she steps on. Meanwhile, evil!Katara wouldn’t be cold and detached or even care about perfectionism in the slightest. She’d be a calm, but dark simmering anger like an undertow that sucks you down and drowns you. She is not cold or detached, she’s very passionate and angry.

Really, Sokka’s cool nature and reluctance to open up makes him a better parallel for Azula, and Zuko’s hot, passionate, EVERYTHING makes him a better parallel for Katara.

Also, another thing we cannot forget- Azula is one of Zuko’s abusers. Katara. Would. Never. Hurt. Sokka. (And vice versa!!)

So, considering the characters personalities, their roles and themes within the story, I do actually have a swap idea that I think would work better.

Katara swaps with Zuko.

Sokka swaps with-

(drumroll pls)

....

Iroh!

Wait, hear me out! :’D

Azula and Zuko’s dynamic reads very heavily as extremely antagonistic. Azula almost never helps Zuko and spends the majority of the story either actively hunting him down or actively antagonizing him in some way. Even when she’s on his side, she’s antagonistic and rather mean towards him and may or may not be using him a blackmail/a buffer to avoid being in Ozai’s direct line of fire.

After all, it’s easier to be the golden child when the scapegoat is around.

Meanwhile, Sokka and Katara’s dynamic reads as very genuinely familial and platonically affectionate. We get a good sense that these two have a deep love for one another, Katara may be hotheaded and stubborn, and even irrational at times, but Sokka loves her and would do anything to keep her safe. He loves her unconditionally.

Sound familiar? :D Zuko and Iroh function in a fairly similar way, Iroh cares very deeply for Zuko and loves him unconditionally. He ultimately acts as a voice of reason and a pillar of support for his spit-fire nephew.

Now, it’s not a perfect mix. Iroh is way older than Sokka, and Sokka(the level headed one) sees Katara(the hotheaded one) as a parental figure. But over all, I feel like it works better without having to completely change their personalities.

Now, don’t get me wrong, if you are looking to actually swap/change character dynamics, Azula with Katara, and Zuko with Sokka works fine. I just don’t feel like Azula-Katara and Zuko-Sokka work very well as direct role/character swaps(which are the kind I usually see). I simply don’t feel the characters are similar enough to fit in the other’s roles. *shrug*

Wait I’m gonna have to write this huh?

I TAKE IT BACK.

THE SWAP IS FINE.

NO.

BRAIN NO.

fejnfnekjrngjk

*adds to WIP pile while grumbling about fandom being a Sisyphean task*

[underthedekutree]

Young Link might have PTSD - Part 2: Termina is NOT a Parallel World, Technically

This is a continuation of my last post so if you’re seeing this and haven’t read it, go here.

This is the part where I somewhat smoothly segue into Majora’s Mask. Link, lonely and filled with unprocessed trauma, leaves Hyrule in search of Navi. According to most sources (which take from Hyrule Historia probably? don’t quote me on it), Link falls down a hole into Termina, a parallel world to Hyrule, that contains many familiar looking denizens of Hyrule, but playing different roles. And well, if you probably guessed by the title, I have a rather different interpretation.

Okay, so in a nutshell my theory is that Termina is in fact all a dream, kind of like Koholint Island. Except the one dreaming up this world isn’t some deity like the Giants or Skull Kid or the Moon. It’s Link.

(big explainey hoo hah below)

Evidence 1: Link begins the game sleeping. Yes, I know literally every Zelda game begins this way and it’s a whole tradition thing. I am beginning with the weakest points first and working my way up to the strong ones. We’ll get there.

Evidence 2: The reuse of character and environment models from Ocarina of Time. The literal IRL reason for this is of course the game famously being given only one year of production time, which meant that the most practical method was to reuse as much material from MM’s predecessor as possible (eg. Romani Ranch sign is the Kakariko Village sign, and still says Kakariko Village on it). It seems like a rather offhand afterthought for Nintendo to chalk it all up to “oh its just a parallel world like Link to the Past or something. But think of it like this; when we dream, we often see familiar people from throughout our lives put in strange and unexpected situations, like that irritable old farmhand you hated so much is now a depressed circus master for some reason. Dreams don’t make sense. Things you know will mix with other strange inexplicable things, fleeting thoughts in your mind, all roughly tied together by whatever emotions you had been feeling when you went to bed. Malon is split into two people, Romani and Cremia, her older and younger self. This might reflect how Link feels about Malon, that she changed so much in those 7 years that she’s like a different person entirely, that it’s hard for him to process that they are the same, because the change was so shockingly sudden for him.

Evidence 3: Gorons in the snow, Gerudo by the sea. Yes, I know that sounds a lot like good evidence for a parallel world (that’s why the idea is widely accepted in the first place, it has merit), but it also works in as dream world evidence too. As a child, my family was obsessed with skiing. We would go to the same mountain every winter, and we would stay at the same lodge. It almost became like a second home for me. So much so, that one night I dreamed that my house had been replaced by the lodge, so it wasn’t on a snow-capped mountain, but in a bushy Australian suburb. Okay that kinda got off subject but I’m bad at conclusions so in summary Dreams Just Be Like That (tm). You get what I’m saying right? No? Sorry, let’s just move on.

Evidence 4: The Milk Bar. AKA my favourite location in the game! It’s often overlooked as the “haha funny they couldn’t put alcohol in kids game so its kiddy milk hee hee”, but it is actually a strong thematic pillar of Majora’s Mask. As I mentioned in Part 1, if you put a 9 year old in a 16 year old’s body and call him an adult before ripping that all away is probably going to leave the kid with an identity crisis. What is a mature place open at late hours when children are sleeping? A bar. What is a drink associated with the young, being produced for the purpose of helping children grow? Milk. No please don’t go I swear there’s more to this, stay with me. In order to gain access to the bar, Link must prove he is mature enough by wearing a mask, a disguise, like Adult Link is to Young Link. Being adult isn’t earned through years of natural living experience and mental development, it’s a thing you are given by adults to just BE when they deem you worthy, at least from how Link sees it. So that is the amalgamation of dream thoughts that is the Milk Bar. Is it mature? Is it childish? What is the line between the two? Is there one? It’s the culmination of his anxieties and confusions that he doesn’t know how to express. Another, smaller expression of this anxiety is the Clock Town Guards. When Link is a Deku, the guards say they don’t allow children outside the gates. When Link turns back however, the guard goes to stop him because he looks too young, but sees that he has a sword, and lets him pass. Why the sword? Well, in one way this is a callback to Kokiri Forest, where Mido doesn’t let Link see the Deku Tree until he has a sword. But also, what is the item that lets Link travel through time and become an adult in OOT? The Master Sword. Link seems to believe that adulthood is measured by the things you have, physical markers of maturity, which is how lots of children see adulthood. You’re an adult if you can drink, if you’re tall, if you’re married, if you have a house, a car etc. But in reality this isn’t how it works. Heck, I’m technically an adult but I sure as hell don’t feel like one, because I know I still have things to learn about responsibility, patience and all the other things, that can only come with time, which is the moral conclusion of OOT, but clearly Link missed the memo. Don’t get me wrong, there are some indicators to show he’s grown a bit. He can ride Epona, use the bow, do flips like some kind of acrobat etc. But those strange and confused feelings linger, and manifest in the young boy’s dreams.

Evidence 5: The four transformation masks. The four masks represent different aspects of Link’s self, and the way he grew and changed in OOT. Deku Scrub the Innocent, Goron the Confident, Zora the Mature and Fierce Deity the Hero. Link began only knowing the Kokiri Forest, and nothing of the world outside. As he set out on his journey, he grew more confident in his skills and defeated greater foes. When evil took over, he learned from his fatal mistake and worked to right it. And when it was finally time to face the greatest threat, he was ready, with all the heart pieces, bottles full of fairies, Biggoron Sword in hand. At that moment he struck the final blow he probably felt like the strong and unstoppable hero everyone in Hyrule told him he needed to be. And that feeling of pure uncompromising strength, with the whole world behind him, manifested in the Fierce Deity. Fierce Deity is much taller than Adult Link, and packs so much of a punch that he can beat Majora without batting an eye, like some overpowered Super Saiyan. It reminds me a lot of Undertale, with young Asriel becoming what he imagines to be an all-powerful godlike being, like something you’d see as a children’s drawing. Fierce Deity gives off those vibes, like “he has a HUGE SWORD that SHOOTS BEAMS OF LIGHT and he’s 8 FOOT TALL and CAN KILL ENEMIES IN A SINGLE BLOW!!” Before the final battle on the moon, when Majora gives you the mask, he childishly asks if you want to play a game of good guys and bad guys. And the good guy always wins, no matter what. Fierce Deity makes the final boss a cakewalk, but its supposed to.

Evidence 6: Anju and Kafei. Short one, because it falls a lot into everything else I’ve said regarding childhood vs adulthood. Kafei is effectively a switcheroo of what happened to Link in OOT. An adult shrunk back to childhood, uncomfortable in his new body and looking for a way to fix everything. He’s a reflection of how Link now kinda feels like an adult in a child’s body, because he had started to be used to being called an adult.

Evidence 7: The Moon. I haven’t super touched on the main meat of the game yet, so here it is. The moon and the 3 day mechanic is an allegory for constant mounting pressure, that builds and builds, never ceasing, because the world is in danger, and there’s only one person who has been chosen to save it. I’ve always been interested in the Chosen One narrative, and how different media explore the idea of the world’s very existence being pushed onto one person. How at the end of it all, they can never be the same again after all they’ve gone through. When you’re somehow expected to hold up the Moon itself single-handed, and your life and everything you care about suffers because you’re putting everyone else before yourself. That feeling of complete loneliness under a crushing weight, and although other characters may come to help you, in the end its still all down to you, and you never had a choice in any of it, as all the decisions were made by someone else. You must do what they tell you. Believe in yourself, believe...

Evidence 8: Skull Kid. The story goes that long ago in Termina, the Skull Kid and the Giants played together, until one day, the Giants left, leaving the Skull Kid alone and heartbroken, with nobody to turn to. As life moves on, things may change, and people always come and go from your life. Your friend might move overseas, or stop texting you, or you might fall out of friendship after an awkward event from which you could never recover (no, these have totally not all happened to me, shut up i’m fine), or your fairy companion might just disappear without so much as a goodbye after their task is complete. And it feels like you didn’t matter at all. That they never really cared about you, and you’re as easy to drop and move on from as a child’s toy. You might get angry, and want to shut them out, and give them a taste of their own medicine. Majora’s Mask teaches you that this isn’t the case. Life is ever changing, but you will always have the memories of times with your friends, and a chance to make more with new friends, like a sassy talkative fairy sprite and her shy brother or a child made of wood who wants to destroy the world. Friends come from unlikely places, so accept that change will happen and hope that wherever the people you knew are, they’re okay. You’re thinking about them, so they might be thinking about you too. And who knows? Life is unpredictable. They might just come back one day, and it’ll be like they were never gone.

Evidence 9 (the final one, I promise): The Song of Healing. At the end of all things, after losing ones you love, connections to family and friends, memories of things long past... you need time to heal. Link’s journey through Termina is a constant gauntlet of running into his own past traumas, forced to relive them again, and again, and again. But sometimes you should take a deep breath, gather your thoughts, and take time to heal. Although it can be important to confront your fears and learn to surpass them, it is exhausting, and you can end up more emotionally broken than when you started. The three masks all had regrets of powerlessness; unable to protect your community, your loved ones, or even yourself. Troubles you’ve gone through that keep plaguing your mind, and you’re wondering if you’ve done enough, seeking answers where none can be found. And the best thing you can do... is accept and move on. Be kind to yourself, and give yourself time to heal. Link’s way of processing his grief and trauma is to create an entire hellscape world in his own head, but not everyone processes it the same way. Sometimes you feel like you need to busy yourself, or listen to soothing music, or talk to people you trust, or spend copious amounts of money, or make some angst art, or cuddle your plush toys until their stuffing squeezes out. Sometimes life hits you in the face and you want to blame yourself for standing in the firing line, but it’s not your fault. It’s okay to feel however you feel, whether you’re drenched in a pool of tears or you just feel numb, it’s okay and natural. You’re okay. You’re here.

Okay so it got kinda personal at the end there but I hope it was informative, and made you think a little bit differently about Majora’s Mask and Ocarina of Time. You probably want to go back and play them now. Me too.

So was this all just an excuse for me to gush about how cool Majora’s Mask is? Hell fucking yes it was. Congratulations for making it through my monstrous ramblings, you get the secret prize of looking at my weird art on my DA. Here you go. Have a nice day, Zelda Nerds.

[kaibutsushidousha]

What do you mean by ridiculous names ? Is there puns or the name very unusual with fancy kanji/unusual readings for them ?

All of the above. Using older kanji makes sense since the story is set in Taishou, but most names are either unsubtle puns or relatively direct descriptors of the characters, like Gyokko meaning “jade vase”. Unusual readings don’t often all that often, but a great example is 不死川 being spelled as Shinazugawa instead of the more obvious Fujigawa (same kanji as Killer Killer’s Fujigawa btw). 

Not only that, but there also a few examples of names that are straight up regular words with no twist to them whatsoever: Muzan (cruelty), Giyuu (heroism) and Agatsuma (my wife).

Kamado means “furnace gate”, because the Kamado family sells charcoal. It’s an outdated kanji for furnace (竃) to keep that Taishou flavor. Now, Tanjirou is a much more competent and interesting name, one of my favorites in the manga. Depending on whether you interpret its 治 as the 治 in 治す or the 治 in 退治, the meaning of his name could be either “healing son of charcoal” or “demon-slaying son of charcoal”, fitting perfectly with how Tanjirou’s goals involve both killing demons and getting a cure for his sister’s predicament. Not mention a lot of Heian mythology associating slaying oni with curing illness. And the charcoal part is because Tanjirou, of the Furnace family who sells charcoal, sells charcoal. By the did I mention Tanjirou sells charcoal? But anyways, there’s even another layer to this name and which it’s why it’s one of my favorites: it can be sort of a namefication of the verb 歎じる(tanjiru), which means to mourn, reflect Tanjirou’s main trait of sparing sympathy for pretty much every demon he kills.

Nezuko means “shrine bean girl”. Specifically Heian era shrines, so it’s maybe this kanji is too old even for the Taishou era (so old that a lot of people on the internet don’t know to type it or don’t bother the conversion takes too long). But it fits the character since Heian is when we got most of the oni related mythology this series is mostly about. The “bean girl” part is probably there only to sound cute.

Agatsuma, as mentioned earlier, means “my wife”. I already considered one of the funniest I’ve ever seen before I even started the manga and it only better after actually seeing Zen’itsu’s character. Zen’itsu has a cool double meaning like Tanjirou, with 逸 potentially being from 逸する or 逸物, so his name means either “goodness missed” or “goodness at its best”, which fits how Zen’itsu is normally an absolutely terrible person in every aspect but shows himself to be ultimately caring and competent when pushes come to the shove (even if through the power of stress napping most of the time).

Hashibira means “beak flattened”. A rare name I have no idea how it connects to the character. Inosuke’s kanji mean “helper of the elegant” but the intent is clearly a pun on inoshishi (boar). Besides, looking at the meaning feels like a moot point because everyone is “the elegant” compared to Inosuke.

Both Kanawo’s names are antiquated as heck, mainly there for the series Taishou era flavor. Tsuyuri is one of Japan’s most notoriously unusual ateji names (yeah, there are only 3 instances of the manga using real people names and one of them is the name known for being weird), with it’s kanji meaning “chestnut flower falling” and the kana means “rainy season starting”, because chestnut flowers fall in early May, signaling the start of the rainy season. Kanawo’s “birthday” is in May btw. Anyways, the name was probably chosen for her specifically because of flower kanji in the middle and her Breath of Flowers. Kanawo is a katakana name, so no proper meaning, but it overall feels very old because it’s a name that uses “wo” instead of “o”. Taishou flavor, as I mentioned.

I’m skipping Gen’ya to his brother’s section because their names are matching.

Ubuyashiki means “childbirth grounds”. Kagaya had 5 children so it checks. Besides, with their family curse, pretty much all the Ubuyashikis can do is give birth to the next generation as much as they can before they kick the bucket. Kagaya means “radiant!”. Yes, the exclamation mark is part of the name’s meaning. I’m sure it’s a name all pillar agree with.

Tomioka means “wealth hill” it’s a rare instance of a real people name in this series, so I assume it must a reference to some one, but I have no idea who. Giyuu, as already mentioned, is just the regular word for heroism. Military volunteers are actually called “giyuu soldiers” in Japanese even.

Similarly, Kochou is the regular word for butterfly (although not the most commonly used). Shinobu is a hiragana name, so no proper meaning (much like Kanae and Kanawo’s katakana names), but name Shinobu is normally written with 忍 (the shinobi kanji) or 偲 (remembering, but most often in the context of remembering a dead person). The latter has obvious meaning in Shinobu’s relationship with Kanae, but the former might also have an interesting meaning behind it. The shinobi kanji is made with the heart kanji under the blade kanji (insert Monogatari reference here), so a huge cliche in ninja-themed literature is the saying “a shinobi without a heart is just a blade” (surprisingly never mentioned once in Naruto, as far as I can remember). I believe this thematically connects to Shinobu’s central character trait of wanting to have Kanae’s kindness but not being able to bring herself to be that empathetic to demons. She tries to be Shinobu but can’t force herself to retain the heart she lost, so she ends up just being a blade.

Rengoku is the regular word for purgatory, as you probably know from it being also the name of his ninth kata. Kyoujurou means “congratulating son of apricorns”, with father Shinjurou being “congratulating son of yew plum pine” and his brother Senjurou being “congratulating son of thousand”. The pun here is probably with 享受(kyouju; happily accepting something) vs 信受 (shinju; accepting a fact, in a somewhat resignated way). Another possibility less related to the conflicted with his character is 教授(kyouju; professor) since he’s a mentor character.

Uzui means “roof marrow”, but real pun is with uzu uzu, the gitaigo for impatience, a character trait fitting for a character completely centered around rejecting shinobi philosophies. Also reflects how his very first sympathetic moment was him honestly admiting that his impatience to save his wives caused him to make a few bad moves. Tengen is the Japanese reading for Tianyuan, which is the heaven’s energy which composes everything according to some ancient Chinese traditions. You may have heard of it as the “celestial unknown” or the “heavenly element”. Don’t know what it has to do with Tengen’s character though.

Kanroji means “nectar temple” and Mitsuri means “honey lazuli”. The “temple” and “lazuli” part are kanji commonly used in names, so that’s a pretty much just thrown in there to make her name sound more like a name. The real keywords here nectar and honey, since those are two words that can be used as horny words in a very subtle way, but suddenly look a lot less subtle when they are about the Love Pillar.

Himejima means “scream island”, but specifically the sad, crying kind of scream, matching with how Himejima is pretty much always crying out of compassion for others. Also, archaic kanji for “island” because Taishou. Gyoumei means “carita afterlife”. Carita is an umbrella term for all forms of spiritual training in Buddhism. It includes a lot of things we see associated with him in the manga, like sitting under waterfalls, reciting chants, etc.

Tokitou means “time transparent”. Possibly a clever amnesia reference (in the sense of how his past time was invisible to him)? Muichirou means “first son of no”, in a ridiculous match with his twin Yuichirou (”first son of yes”). Yuichirou references that multiple times in his backstory, saying it’s supposed to mean “no worth” or “no point”, only to then say it’s supposed to mean “no limits” in the climax of the flashback.

Iguro means “elegant black”. It’s an obvious anagram on guroi (gorey). Now, Obanai is easily the most incomprehensible name in the series. It means “small banana inside”, which is nonsensical enough for me to know for sure there’s a hidden pun involved, but I can’t find it for the life of me. The closest I can get is a pun with the English word “overnight” (OBAaNAIto), but I still don’t know Iguro’s character enough to know what “overnight” has to do with him.

不死川 would mean “immortal river“ as Fujigawa, but due to ateji it be comes more like “river of not dying“. Like with Kanroji’s names, the river kanji is only there to make the name look more like a real name (note: it’s not working) and the “not dying“ part is what really matters. Sanemi is introduced showing off his chest covered in scars and having Kanroji commenting on how he’s got a new scar in his last mission, immediately conveying to the audience that he’s a dude that’s not dying despite injuring himself a lot. Now Sanemi is a much more complicated name because 実 has dozens of meanings and I had no way of knowing which one is supposed to apply to him until Gen’ya finally came into play. Looking at them as paired names, Sanemi means “more reality“ and Gen’ya means “more illusion“. Can’t say why Sanemi is supposed to represent truth or Gen’ya is supposed represent lies, though. Could be something about how Sanemi knows the truth about how he felt about his brother while was fed Sanemi’s lies in their reencounter, could be about how Sanemi is a true breath user while Gen’ya is a fraud who needs to rely on Breath of Gun or going Kirby on the demons to fight, who knows. On a semi-related note, all of their other siblings had generic unrelated names. I guess their parents didn’t think of going with “more half-truth“ or “more ommision“ names before dropping the naming pattern.

Kyougai means “echoing fanfare”. Two sound related words for the drum guy. Pretty basic.

Rui is a regular word for bad influence, fitting of how he forced others into his abusive family play. It’s written with the radical for thread, so I that’s one of the ones I find more clever than ridiculous.

Enmu, on the other hand, means “nightmare dream”. And if that wasn’t redundant enough, it’s also an anagram for nemu(sleep).

Kaigaku means “sly peaks”. The peaks part is common surname kanji, so only the “sly” part matters. Obvious traitor name, which must be why he was unnamed in Zen’itsu’s first flashback. 

Nakime means “sounding woman”. Very self-explanatory, she’s a woman who plays a biwa.

Daki means “fallen princess”, which is already meaningful enough for her character, but more importantly, it sounds very close to Dakki, the Japanese for the Daji, a famous Chinese monster disguised as an imperial courtesan. Giyuutarou is a name used for courtesan assistants, as already explained in the manga itself. Daki’s human name Ume is plum.

Gyokko means “jade vase”, as I said in the intro paragraph. Competing hard with Nakime for the title of most to-the-poing name in the series.

Hantengu means “half tengu”, because his ability is to split in halves and the tengu is the youkai species he’s themed after. Kinda weird how all oni in Kimetsu are themed after classic Japanese monster but only Daki, Hantengu and Douma get to be named after the ones they represent, I wish that was done more often. Anyways, his emotion bodies all have the kanji for their respective emotion in their names.

Akaza has my favorite name in the series, which makes sense considering everything else about him is also great. His human name is Hakuji, meaning “lion-dog healer” (yes, same ji in Tanjirou, but “demon-slaying” can’t be considered as a possibility for him for obvious reasons). As explained during his backstory, he’s named after lion-dog statues often seen guarding temple entrances. He’s someone who is supposed to be there to protect others. The healer part of his name also fits with how his spent half of his human life nursing his loved ones. And then Muzan turned him into Akaza. Due to its outdated kanji, even Japanese fans find his name a bit hard to interpret, but Akaza is generally agreed to mean “castrated dog sitting on a pit”. Delightfully humialiating name with delicious irony. In the chapter “The Useless Lion-dog”, Muzan turns the lion-dog who failed to guard its two families into a castrated dog sitting on a pit. All his nobility was neutered and he was left sitting still in a pit as he has no home to guard. Before this becomes a full Akaza meta on how he’s a full anti-thesis of what Hakuji swore to be, let’s get back to talk about names. His wife Koyuki’s name mean “love snow”. The love part represents how she’s a love interest of Hakuji and the snow part reflects she always a snowflakes hairpin and how Akaza projects the image of a snowflake on the floor when he activates his compass ability.

Douma means “child exhausted”, fitting his childish nature, especially in how he’s portrayed as a child who still hasn’t developed empathy at the age of 20, and with how his backstory is all about him being exhausted by human emotions after listening to hours of worshippers narrating their own tragedies. But most importantly, he named after Doumahoushi aka Ashiya Douman, the mythological villain he’s themed after. I like how he’s the only oni themed after a human villain rather than an actual oni or youkai like all the rest, but he might be the one oni who understands humans the least.

Kokushibou means “black death pupils”. Pupils as in eye pupil, not students, of course. He has no students, but he sure has a lot of pupils. Also eyes are often used as symbol for envy, which is the main theme of his backstory. Lastly, his name is a pun on kokushibyou aka the black plague, the disease that killed the most people in the world, just like he’s the oni who killed the most people. The 3 Upper Moons all have pretty unironically good names, all things considered. His human family name means “successor country”, probably in reference to how his brother passed down his hinomaru (symbol of Japan, the country) earrings to his next generation all the way down to Tanjirou. His name Michikatsu means “rock winner”. The winner part is obvious but I don’t know the (outdated) rock kanji was picked. His brother is Yoriichi meaning “fated one”, which probably on feeds Kokushibou’s complex harder.

Lastly and most ridiculously, Muzan Kibutsuji. Kibutsuji means “demon dance road”. Yes, the oni kanji is right there on his name, same demon kanji as the demons everyone faces. And as mentioned in the opener, the name Muzan is literally just the regular word cruelty. I’m commenting stuff with a friend as I read and we semi-consistently refer to Muzan as Meanie Demonbroadway because that’s just how stupid his name is. I really love it. Thank you anon for this opportunity to talk about Meanie Demonbroadway in a public space.

[duck-writer]

Aphrodite’s Broken Heart

“What is that?” Huey asked as he and his brothers plus Webby approached the artifact. 

It was encased into the walls perfectly. It would seem hard to pluck it without proper tools. But even as Louie tried to reach for it, Scrooge tapped his hand away with his cane. 

“The Heart of Aphrodite...don’t touch. This is not one treasure we can take.” Scrooge said solemnly.

“Why not?” Louie asked with a pout. Followed up by, “Isn’t that the point of our adventuring?”

“Normally, yes. But not this time. See...there’s another aspect of adventuring you wee ones need to learn.” Scrooge answered. 

“Is it the posing? Because we’ve actually been practicing and mine’s the best.” Dewey offered.

“No.” Scrooge said dismissively as he looked at the cracked gem with a deep frown. “There are some adventures you learn a bit more about the place you’re exploring. What makes it up and sometimes how it fits into the grand scheme of things. When you’re young, you may not care much about it and more about the quest or treasure at the end-”

“I mean obviously, what’s the point of these things if not for the treasure?” Louie asked and Dewey nodded.

“I hear a ‘but’ coming though.” Huey said as he noticed his uncle’s tone. 

“But!” Scrooge emphasized. “What we only value at it’s surface, some things were created to maintain a balance. Lock away evil not capable to be destroyed, or simply pillars that help maintain life here on earth, as we know it.” 

“And the Heart of Aphrodite is one of those pillars?” Webby asked as she stepped up to get a better look at it, “It’s cracked...”

“Aphrodite...Storkules mentioned her! Something about asking her for help with Uncle Donald....” Dewey commented with a bit of confusion in his voice. Other than that reference, he wasn’t really sure about her. 

“She’s the Greek goddess of-” Webby began but then gasped as the bright red gem that was glowing on and off got another crack in it. “Are we...talking too loud?”

“No...it’s breaking.” Scrooge said solemnly. 

“That’s not good...right?” Louie asked.

“Considering the Trojan War happened as a result of her being chosen as the fairest, I can’t imagine her heart getting broken would be anything good.” Huey supplied. 

“But this isn’t actually her heart right? What is it, Uncle Scrooge?” Louie asked. 

“Nay, it’s not her actual heart but it is important. It was gifted to her by Ares as an anniversary present.” Scrooge began. 

“Wasn’t she married to Hephaestus?” Huey asked.

“Yes!” Webby answered. 

“Sounds like a soap opera.” Dewey said.

“Are you going to let me finish!?”

There was a chorus of ‘Sorry, Uncle Scrooge!’.

“This gem is what allows love to be felt and given to everyone on earth. If it breaks...there will be no love.” 

“That’s gonna be a bummer for Valentines day.” Louie said. 

“Man, if they cancel Valentines day then we’ll have no sweets giving holiday in February! No 75% off of chocolate February 15th!” Dewey cried. 

“It’s not just romantic love, you knuckleheads! ALL sorts of love! Romantic, platonic...familial.” Scrooge said the last one quietly.

The triplets and Webby shared a look. Love was an concept. They weren’t interested in romantic love, yet, and it was the sort of love one thinks about the most when hearing the word. But they all understood that some of the most epic moments of their adventures, their most heroic feats, were acts of love for each other and want to keep each other safe. 

“What does that mean for us if it breaks?” Huey asked. 

“An entire world full of indifference.” Scrooge answered. 

“That doesn’t sound...too bad.” Louie said, though he didn’t sound too convinced. 

“But it won’t come to that! Right Uncle Scrooge?” Webby asked. 

“Fix a goddess broken heart? Let me Dewey-it!” Dewey exclaimed as he walked up towards the gem. Only to be yanked back by Scooge.

“Careful, laddie! We came here to see how bad the damage is. The cure is sadly...a sacrifice.” Scrooge answered. 

“Sacrifice? What sort of sacrifice?” Louie demanded, already eyeing the gem warily and taking a step back from it. 

“Someone with very powerful love. Love so strong it’ll move mountains, give hope to the hopeless, make you believe everything will be alright despite it being not alright. It’s rare and asking someone to give it up for the world isn’t easy...” Scrooge explained. 

“Does someone like that even exist?” Dewey asked with a head tilt. 

“Aye. But anyway, we’ve come what we came for. Let’s head back and make a proper plan.” Scrooge said and was met with grumbling, but they all headed back towards the aeroplane. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“It was a gift from Ares to Aphrodite...” Xandra began as she looked at the cracking gem rather than her valiant hero. “The saying ‘all’s fair in love and war’ stems from their relationship. Love can be dangerous. The things one is willing to do for it...” She closed her eyes and sighed deeply. “I know it’s not fair to ask this of you. And I can already hear the angry tirades of the other two, but there is no one I can think of who fits the criteria better. Someone who is so angry at the world...but loves just as intensely.”

“If I don’t do this...bad things will happen, won’t they?” Donald asked, though he already knew the answer. At Xandra’s nod, he sighed but forced a smile anyway. “What do I do?”

She reaches for his amulet and places it in his hands. “Think about all that you love.”

He does. He doesn’t have to think too hard because the answer is easy. His kids. Huey, Dewey, Louie, and Webby. Others popped in too. Panchito and Jose, Xandra too. Daisy, May, June, and April. Ari, Launchpad, Scrooge, Mrs. B...he had a lot of love and respect that fueled him. And now it would have to fuel the world for a couple of centuries. 

Xandra watched with a sad expression as the love manifested itself into a whirlwind of stardust that swirled from Donald and into the blue amulet. After it was done, she caught Donald as such a task drained him of...a lot, and gently placed him against the wall. With tears in her eyes she replaced Ares’ cracking heart with Donald’s intact one. 

~~~~~~~~~

Scrooge let the kids wonder off after some time helping. He had plenty of work to do atop of trying to figure out how to cure Aphrodite’s heart. 

There was a swoosh sound and he grabbed his cane and pushed back his chair to stand as a bright whirlwind appeared. When it manifested into a creature of some sort he wasn’t too phased, but when he noticed who it was holding, his grip on his cane tightened, “Put. Him. Down. Gently!”

The goddess does, resting Donald on the couch near the wall before she turned to look at Scrooge with a saddened expression. “Scrooge McDuck...”

“Aye...and who are you? More importantly, what have you done to my nephew?”

“My name is Xandra. I am the goddess of adventure.” Unlike before, when she would have exclaimed her title with mirth and excitement, it was a mere introduction she knew would hold Scrooge’s interest. 

The older duck gasped and muttered, “Bless me bagpipes...” But he couldn’t be as thrilled as he would have been under normal circumstances. He looked over to Donald with a concerned look. “What happened?” 

“You’re aware of the condition of the Heart of Aphrodite?” Xandra asked. 

Scrooge nodded and gestured to his desk, “I’ve been looking into possible answers.”

“...there’s no longer a need. It’s been resolved.” She said sadly. 

Scrooge narrowed his eyes. “How?”

He followed her gaze over to Doland’s form and his eyes widened and he rushed to his nephew to inspect his vitals. As he did, Xandra continued to explain. “The heart was far too broken. There’s no way to cure or fix it. It needed to be replaced. I need not remind you the vital role the heart plays on Earth...nor of the sacrifices done for the sake of love.” 

Scrooge’s grip on Donald was like a vice, “He’s not waking up...why isn’t he waking up?”

“I placed him in a slumber.” Xandra answered. She didn’t flinch when Scrooge snapped his head at her and demanded the reason for it. “It was his request. He didn’t want the boys to see him without love...the love for them was the only thing that kept him going for over a decade. And now, that same love will keep the earth alive.”

[kurtty-drabbles]

The Wrong Nightcrawler 2/3

N/A: Did you think that I forget this fic? Yes, I did and inspiration hit me because...because.

@djinmer4 @bamfoftheundead @dannybagpipesarecalling @everykurt @muninandhugin

"You think this was a good idea?" Rogue asked not quite closer of the other woman- letting her hands hold on the staircase pillar and glaring at the view in display- as her tone is neutral and her green eyes are locked- no one can see what Rogue doesn´t want to show and this is one of the moments where she and her younger brother could be considered almost twins. Almost- and Ariel exhales not bothering to turn back.

"I would have preferred if he didn´t go there...but, speaking of Apocalypse...nothing is too much to prevent him to wake up again" now Ariel turns to see Rogue- the name of Apocalypse didn´t make her flinch- and since there´s no one in this area, for now, Ariel feels confident to speak this line. "Do you still remember what Apocalypse told...to us?" her tone is sotto voce and her eyes are narrowing as her lips twist into a frown. "He´ll come back and he´ll want a wife..."

Rogue´s lips turned into thin lines- no one better than Rogue and Ariel to understand the horror of the words "Apocaplypse´s wife" really entails- and she tries again. "Ah would have favored if he stayed here...but, there´s no other option and you´re right, we can´t be too careful about Apocalypse" she concedes and Ariel can hug herself now-claiming it was the cold and Rogue is not prying - "you´ll be here  waiting for him?"

Ariel wants to lie and say no, she has other business to do, yet, Rogue knows her too well. "yes...I finished my route today, the community is thriving" a ghost of a smile plays on her lips. "people are thinking Kurt Darkholme is some sort of angel of God!" and Rogue chortle at the image of someone making a statue of her little brother as an angel of God. "Oh, he´ll love it...I can feel it" she shakes her head in a positive mood now. "I´ll go, Magnus wants me to help with the school, you know, the teaching part," people sometimes forget this is a school, and Ariel raises an eyebrow at this. "When I come back you better not be here still waiting"

Ariel makes a salute-much to Rogue´s chagrin and somewhat amusement- and watches as Rogue is no more in the view. Ariel can´t wait, she can, but, not here even less in such weather. When someone else pops in.

"Heyo, Ariel" Jubilee greets in her trademark way- chipper and showing her new gloves- making the older woman throw a salutation to Jubilee in honor of her new gloves- and still in her good mood, a question is made. "Missing the blue?" and Ariel cracks a smile and nods. "Yeah, we´re all missing him...even if he can be a bit of an asshole"

"Is part of his charm...are you ok, Jubilee?" and the Chinese American woman nods softly. "Yeah, just trying to understand interdimensional travel and all that..." Jubilee states looking at the view. The image below of a small community growing under their eyes is far better than what they witness a few years ago.

"Are you afraid something will stop him to come back?"

"I trust in his skills...but if he does get into trouble I´ll go and save him"

"Not Mystique?"

"I call dibs this" and this makes the woman tag along with Jubilee-who confessed to needing help with her task in a non-subtle way- and the scar on her right shoulder is visible- yet, no one makes eye contact with such scar- another day in this universe, another day rebuilding things.

Jubilee halts for a moment and makes another question. "Between us, was true that ...Jean..." she trails off and is not sure why after all, is not like Jubilee and Jean were ever good friends, at most, they were teammates, but, still feels as if Jubilee should show more tact in asking this question.

"Power-hungry and ready to be the next Apocalypse? Yes, that´s why ..." Ariel sighs in defeat. "I phased her heart out...the X-men have bad ideas, stupid ideas, and dumber ideas...Jean decided to do a combination of all those types in one suicidal plan" Ariel´s tone is dry and Jubilee makes no more questions about Jean Grey.

Why question those who are dead?

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Kurt Darkholme can admire, if nothing else, the dark humor life can have sometimes-arriving in this dimension was no easy feat and pretend to be this version of Kurt takes some of his nerves. Thanks to the Oracle and a bit of magic of computers and real ones Kurt is doing great pretending to be a Kurt- and is attuned to a few pieces of information people daily throw at him.  And right now, Kurt Darkholme is more than amused looking at Logan Howlett practically worship a statue of Jean Grey...and not being married to her.

In his universe, they were married, sure, but while Kurt Darkholme can say some aspects of his previous marriage aren´t normal- He did strangely meet Linda, he can admit that and did avenger her death with as much style. And can even admit he meet Ariel in a non-conventional way too- at least his relationships are healthy than whatever Logan used to delude himself.

(AoA Logan was married to Jean Grey. Jean Grey cheats on him daily. And it is so ironic she cheats on him with Scott ...of all people. And in this universe, she was married to him and...die for his sake. Kurt Darkholme could offer some sympathize for 616 Logan if it wasn´t obvious this Jean never even like him ...it makes only fair for Kurt Darkholme to make fun of the old man)

Aren´t you an old man as well, Mr. Darkholme

The Jean Grey´s school for higher learning is very different from his school- Kurt only flinches and inwardly curse himself and the other people for being so touchy feel with his person. What type of person was Kurt Wagner?- and right now, as Kurt is mentally mocking Logan for crying for a woman who never loved him and telling this to one of her kids someone clears her throat to get his attention.

Kitty Pryde using a pretty smile and is a tad bit uncanny to see someone with Ariel´s face smiling like that- not that the woman never smiled before, but, never like this...it feels like a funhouse of sorts- and Kurt can force a good and serene smile on his face. "Katzchen" and the woman nods in agreement looking at Logan for a moment.

"He´s been like this since he found out Jean give a goodbye kiss to Scott, pathetic isn´t it?" Kitty crossed her arms and shakes her head in disgust - a grow old man behaving worse than a teenage girl who got rejected is something else- now looking at his golden eyes waiting for his reply.

Kurt Darkholme remembers how Ariel felt a sort of debt for AoA Logan but even she thought it was pathetic he would mooning over a woman who couldn´t care less about him)

"Really pathetic" Kurt agrees and Kitty turns to him with her eyes full with furry and is summoning her soulsword- and the magical sword is aimed at his neck. "Who are you? The real Kurt wouldn´t ever call Logan pathetic...at least not out loud"

Oh...

[emeraldtawny]

Why I Love The 7 of Hearts

...I said I would do it. And now that it has officially been one month since his route release, the official banner for spoilers is now lifted! That being said, I’ll put a disclaimer now: I will be talking about key aspects and spoilers from Kyle’s route. Be warned.

Alright, now onto my thesis. Title: Why Kyle Ash Is My Favourite Otome Husband To Date - An Incredibly Biased Review, by Tawny ^w^

Part 1: Before his route

Before we talk about the actual route itself, let me explain to you guys why this man already had my heart before even getting to date him. I’ll be honest; when the game first came out, he was already in my top 3 but he was not the best boi (that went to Fenrir and stayed like that for a bit). That is, until I played through Lancelot’s route. Being able to get more interactions with Kyle gave me more insight into the kind of person he is, and I honestly liked what I saw. He condemned Lancelot for throwing his life away needlessly without concern for his safety (important note to come back to) and made it clear that his affiliation with the Red Army didn’t mean anything when there are lives on the line (another impotant point to revisit). I honestly respected that about him and sure enough, he snuck his way into top spot and has stayed there since. And if I’m being real, his route has completely solidified that. He ain’t moving. Ever.

Personal Rambling #1

Okay, now comes the fun part hehehe >:3

With the question “did you enjoy Kyle’s route?”, is there an option for “everything” and also “yes yes yes, holy shit yes”? Because, Kyle’s route is a big fat YES out of 10 for me, and I say that as unbiasedly as possible. I noticed that there didn’t seem to be any dev notes released before Kyle’s route dropped (my poor boi getting shafted :c), so allow me to give you my own variation:

Kyle

Recommended if you like: Yukimura (brusque yet sweet, kind of an idiot but means well) and Mitsunari (oblivious genius)

Sexy…7

Drama…7

Romance…9

Dev Notes: For a man so smart, he’s awfully clueless when it comes to you. This weirdly approachable doctor may lack tact, but that doesn’t stop the blood pressures rising and the hearts racing - both yours and his. Get ready for an angst road bump at part 20 (as well as his Dramatic Ending), but rest assured that the doctor is here to see you now.

When I say he’s a combo of Yuki and Mitsunari, I’m not kidding. He’s basically Yuki without the full-on tsun tendencies (he has a few, but you could call it more embarrassment and awkwardness compared to being a tsundere) and then a touch of Mitsunari’s infuriating obliviousness and bam, you got Kyle!

I won’t give a synopsis of the route, since you’ve all likely read it or know most of the story (why on earth are you reading this far in otherwise?) so allow me to share with you, my personal favourite chapters/parts of his route!

Chapter 7 - the first (and definitely not last) instance of a blushing Kyle in his natural habitat. Bonus for glasses uwu

Chapter 14 - the introduction of Goo, the new best pet in Cradle (sorry Chutney). Legit, I recorded that entire section where Kyle and MC are naming Goo and I was just squeeing like a deranged lunatic because I loved it so much like bdjxbgdkfnxfkd

Chapter 24 (His POV) - DRUNK KYLE POV. Of course, he’s still cognitive to have proper thoughts, it wasn’t Masamune levels of drunkenness. But...jealous Kyle. That right there is a rarity but WOW, it’s a treat ;3

Towards the end of the route when MC finds Kyle’s confession written on his freaking hand (Kyle you doof) and just...him burying his amused smile into the crook of his elbow when she says she likes someone…..HNNNNNGGGGGGG yes

Part 2: Character Development

This man has such strong convictions to his profession that it’s honestly admirable. He may only have one pillar to stand on, but that pillar is strong and immovable. I’m of course talking about this line: “I absolutely despise people who are ready to throw away their lives”. Sound familiar at all? Remind you of...a certain Red King? Honestly though, this commitment to his work as a doctor when he seems to do nothing else except drink himself into a stupor most nights (if not every night) is awe-inspiring, and I’m not the only one who thinks so.

The MC in Kyle’s route is my new favourite. I love how the romance she develops for Kyle starts off as simple admiration, just her wanting to follow in his footsteps and prove useful to people without provoking the war occurring around her. She’s grounded and has a clear purpose, which is refreshing compared to other iterations of her being more meek and more better categorised as a “damsel in distress”. Don’t get me wrong, I”m not criticising those types of MCs. It’s just nice to see a driven MC with a clear goal and a motive for why she wants to do the things she does, enough for her to stay longer than the allotted month (something NONE OF THE OTHER ROUTES DO, HELL YEAH KYLE!). She actively chose to stay in Cradle - even when her ticket home was right in front of her - because she wanted to help Kyle save lives. It’s refreshing. And it makes for some great interactions between her and Kyle, especially later in the route when they’re more comfortable with each other. Which leads me onto my next point…

It felt like a real relationship. The slow growth and blooming of feelings, the cute interactions they’d share (every time Kyle stroked her hair or bopped her on the head, my heart exploded into confetti), and how awkward they both were with each other. God, if you guys could have seen me reading his route with my dumb dopey grin and squeaking like a lovesick children’s toy every 10 seconds...I was a mess gielkdsnglkd.

I love how they let us see into Kyle’s world. It may be a simple outlook on life, but you can’t fault the man. His strong conviction to save as many lives as he can because he feels it’s what he was made to do, and his importance on smiling and presenting a calm, friendly image of himself as he treats his patients (remember the line “People are like mirrors.”. It’s important.). He’s a very “my pace” kind of person, and it was fun to just kind of...relax a bit. Sure, war preparations were happening but wait one moment, please. I need to educate Jonah on what is needed for a balanced nutritious breakfast. It was refreshing to see a route that was surprisingly chill for most of it until the ending crescendo, and I welcomed it.

Alright….angst time. All of the little hints we were getting, like his role of the 7 of Hearts not being “set in stone”, had me squinting at the screen like “boi, what you hiding?”. When we got to drinking with Kyle, Oliver and Blanc and the conversation of Kyle having a brother came up, I was like “....oh. This is gonna be baaad.”. And this wasn’t even including Colin (because when a character gets named, you know they’re important.). But…..Chapter 20. It actually came out of left field, sucker-punched me in the kidney, cracked my heart and left me crying as I’m just reading this whole thing unfolding. Colin’s heartbroken cries, Kyle’s unmoving unresponsive form as he lets Colin punch him, the symbolism and connection of both Kyle and Colin having lost an older brother because of the war. I’m….. ;~; aaaaaa. And then in the Avatar Challenge following the angst, MC throws the “people are like mirrors” line back at him to get him to break down a bit, to let some emotion out, and I was just a blubbering mess at this point. The route is generous enough to give you a floof and mild spice break, but then if you choose the Dramatic Ending…..you…..you visit...his brother’s grave...and the waterworks begin again.

Continuing on from the point above, this means Kyle also has connections with The Day That Went Dark, along with Fenrir and more importantly, Ray. From the way it was described in Kyle’s route, he himself doesn’t know for certain if Ray used magic or not. He only knows that Ray was there when shit went down. So even after his brother passed from the tragedy, Kyle held no animosity or desire for revenge against Ray; very fitting for his character. This route made me realise just how similar Kyle and Ray are: they’re both very determined in their ways to keep the peace and they both hold strong to their views of freedom and honesty (Ray and Kyle respectively). And you can tell that Kyle doesn’t hold it against Ray for whatever happened on The Day That Went Dark.

I would honestly love to see a scenario of the two of them sitting down together in a room and just awkwardly yet honestly expressing all of their pent-up emotions about that whole ordeal (angst writers, if you’re reading this...only if you want to ofc ^w^).

Personal Rambling #2: Gushing Edition

So those were my structured notes, but now let me indulge you on my messy bullet points that I made throughout reading his route. A lot of these are pointless to character building and things I just thought were cute and needed attention drawn to sooo….ye ^w^

Like the rest of the Red Army, Kyle was born into a family that carries the mantle of 7 of hearts. All of them doctors.

Cute theme of beds??? (his bday story and them sleeping in the same room)

“When he wasn’t talking, he’s actually quite attractive.” (wow, r00d)

His palm notes are work and other things related (and he doesn’t always remember why he wrote it down bgrkdgn)

Not a sweet tooth (dammit Kyle, that’s your only downfall :c)

Easily embarrassed despite his earnest and straightforward mannerisms

Doesn’t dote on MC and teaches her what he can

His importance on smiling and presenting a calm, friendly image of himself as he treats his patients (“People are like mirrors.” - ch 8)

Head pats. Lots of head pats

Awkward sweet love (kill me it’s too adorable)

Edgar’s silent envy yet sweet support of their romance (this boi istg…)

Super proactive MC (she’s my new fave, seriously I love her)

Lots of touching (head pats, forehead bonks), he doesn’t know what personal space is (and I love it)

His pig is the cutest thing in the entire world, I need 20

Really good with kids…...yes.

“I absolutely despise people who are ready to throw away their lives” (incredibly strong convictions - doesn’t have many, but the ones he does have he is incredibly dedicated to)

Stays longer than the allotted month (FUCK YES)

His brother’s death strengthened his convictions to be able to handle being an army doctor (direct and honest, no bs about sacrificing your life etc etc)

The “People are like mirrors” line is tearing my fucking heart apart (makes sense in chapter 20 avatar challenge)

The angst…..his brother...and Colin….I’m rdfkgndkjfnxclk ;-;

His realisation of love….and his confession….lord, IM DROWNING IN UWUS

Saving Amon despite him murdering many innocent people, a big decision that could have changed the tide for the future, but he stuck with his beliefs

MC’s insistence that Kyle doesn’t like her that way, and Kyle’s inability to realise it’s love (help me it’s so fucking cute I’m dying)

Whether intentional or not, he’s good at diverting the attention away from him when he wants it off him (maybe MC just assumes he’s an idiot?? lmao)

So his glasses are for sentimental reasons (but does he need them???) and his alcohol drinking habits are from his father (not a coping mechanism)

Incredibly kind...but not good at showing it (helping MC distract herself by giving her work(?))

MC’s obsession with Kyle’s eyes and collarbone (same sis, SAME) and Kyle’s obsession with her hair (fsekfbksfnjweksdgn kd,nAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA)

Conclusion

Overall, Kyle’s route is very solid. It may not add much to the overarching lore of Cradle (aside from another victim in The Day That Went Dark), but the route was still adorable, enjoyable and incredibly sweet. I had no moments where I felt bored throughout his route (then again, that’s likely the bias talking) and the balance between cute floof, tear-jerking angst and then hot hot spice (that he FULLY deserves, mind you) came together into a wonderful experience that left my heart full and sad when it all ended.

My final message to you all: Kyle Ash is the sweetest, most adorkable nerd that has ever graced my presence and I hope that even a tiny portion of my love for him rubs off on you, just so you can see how amazing this boi is. Thank you for your time and for listening to my ramblings gesgnsk ^^;;

Bonus: my two favourite screenshots from his route

[turkeyned]

Dead Poets Society (1989) Analysis:

Written by Tom Schulman and directed by Peter Weir, the 1989 classic 'Dead Poets Society' is a drama based at the fictional Welton academy and follows the transformation of a group of students through the inspiration of a new teacher at the school, Mr. John Keating. 

 Genre: 

At its core, DPS is a drama. Of course, like ninety-nine percent of great films, there is a variety of genre shown throughout. The two that stand out to me the most are 'coming of age', as well as comedy. It’s blatant that the combined themes of conflict, tragedy and "the dangers of conformity", as mentioned by Mr. Keating, create an emotionally dramatic narrative (I will further discuss the themes in more depth in the next section). The drama within the narrative is used to shine light on the message of the film, which I perceive to be that everyone should be able to excel at their own talents and interests, even if doing so goes against 'tradition' and what is expected of someone by their elders and peers. 

The 'coming of age' genre is a key part of this film and without it would be a massively different experience for viewers. The whole film revolves around a group of students growing up and transforming, thanks to the help of Mr. Keating, the dead poets society, and the experiences that unfold within the story such as Neil Perry being inspired by Mr. Keating's teaching of the term 'carpe diem', meaning seize the day, and so having his confidence boosted to the point where he is able to 'seize' his passion for acting. 

After finishing the film, it is quite clear that the comedy aspect of it is less for creating humour and more for relieving any tension of the conflict at the beginning, such as Neil's conflict with his father and Todd's inner conflict. I believe this is done so that the film is kept light hearted while the students' confidence is building up to a point where they believe in themselves and are happy to venture into their interests, such as reforming the dead poets society. I also believe the comedy is used to create even more emotion for when the narrative becomes incredibly sorrowful towards the end of the film. 

Themes Within the Narrative: 

The first theme presented to the audience, conformity, begins to appear at the very start of the film. There is a ceremony to be held at the academy for the start of the school semester and the first words spoken by people are very commanding and aren’t met with any defiance whatsoever, indicating the parents and the school are quite strict and the students and faculty are used to conforming to the positions they’ve been led to take by their authoritarian superiors. This is shown when the mother is telling her child to keep their shoulders, the photographer then telling the two boys to put their arms around each other, as well as the teacher reminding the man what he is supposed to do during the ceremony. Furthermore, when the students are told to raise the banners they read TRADITION, HONOR, DISCIPLINE, EXCELLENCE. These words are the ‘four pillars’ of the academy and are essentially what every student at Welton is required to pursue to be seen as a success by the teachers there. They are asked what the four pillars are at the ceremony and when answering they even stand in a conformist like way. Todd’s parents tell him to stand like everyone else when he’s unsure of what to do, making the point even clearer to the audience. This continues throughout the film with Neil’s father forcing his son to drop his extracurricular activities to pursue being a doctor, which in his eyes is a success due to the financial stability that comes with the career. The reasoning for this is to show how dangerous and awful conformity can be for society as Neil Perry is forced to conform by his father and is expected to conform for the rest of his life, but instead refuses and ends up committing suicide to avoid having to become a doctor when he in fact wants to pursue his passion of acting.

The second theme I want to address is life and death. One of the main premises of the film is that you should pursue your aspirations and live life to its full extent. Potentially the most important scene within DPS is when John Keating teaches the meaning of ‘carpe diem’ (meaning seize the day). He shows pictures of former Welton students who have passed on and reminds his current students that someday they will die and before that happens they should try to live their lives to the fullest. This sparks a change in the main characters of the story and they then go on to reform the dead poets society so that they can be expressive in such a strict, conformist academy. They take a risk doing this but the realisation that life is actually short motivates them to do what they actually want to do. While the film mostly supports the idea of ‘carpe diem’, it does show the audience what happens when people take this idea too far or misconstrue it. This shows when Neil is prevented from pursuing acting so he believes that if he can’t live the way he wants to, he may as well be dead and so commits suicide. As well as the ‘carpe diem’ side of this theme, the film also literally shows life and death with Neil committing suicide near the end and showing the consequences and feeling the come from this. Firstly, the school’s headmaster Nolan searches for a scapegoat to blame for Neil’s death so that there won’t be a scandal surrounding the school. This is because the headmaster needs the financial success he is gaining from Welton and values that more than the students educational and emotional needs. Other consequences are the sorrow the is shown through Todd, Dalton and the other DPS members after one of their closest friends has died. They also feel hopeless and so when asked to sign a letter saying that Keating is responsible for Neil’s death, everyone but Dalton (who is expelled for not signing) compromises so that they aren’t expelled from Welton. Although by the very end of the film Todd risks his place at Welton by standing up to Nolan, figuratively and literally, to let Keating know he was forced to sign the letter, seizing the day by doing what he thought was truly right.

 Addressing the Audience:

I think there are three target audiences that DPS was created for; these are young adults/teenagers, parents, and teachers. The first, young adults, are influenced by the film to think for themselves and not conform as this can be dangerous for what you yourself aspire to be. This is addressed by the students of Welton being inspired by their teacher Mr. Keating and therefore begin living by ‘carpe diem’. Although leading to Neil Perry’s tragic suicide and Dalton’s expulsion (which are of course examples of when ‘carpe diem’ can lead young people into making bad decisions), this message is very positive in the way that it leads to Todd’s inner conflict being resolved when he makes friends at Welton as well as standing up for Keating when faced with the threat of expulsion. The overall message to this particular audience is to not mindlessly conform because even though following the ‘rules’ is sometimes necessary to sustain life, there is no real livelihood without the enjoyment that comes from personal pursuits, such as poetry.

Secondly there are parents, which the film shows that not everything that you think is best for your child is in fact best. This is conveyed through Neil Perry’s relationship with his father. Throughout the film Neil’s father is incredibly strict and forceful with his son, forbidding him from doing any extracurricular activities at the beginning, then telling him he can’t perform in the play, and after Neil defies him he says that he’s going to put him into military school and that he is going to be doctor whether he wants to or not. Neil’s father is trying to be a good father but he believes that making sure his son is financially stable is the equivalent of the best thing for him when in fact Neil only wants his father to support his passion of acting. This point is emphasised when Neil commits suicide to avoid having the rest of his life planned out for him after being told he’s being put into military school.

Similar to the message to parents, teachers who watch this are told that they should take better care of individual children that they teach. Students spend so much time with teachers as their guardians and so being emotionally neglectful can have such an awful impact on young people. As well as this, people who get into teaching as a career and encourage conformity are so ridiculous; so when seeing this conformist culture at Welton academy and understanding what it does to its students, it should remind current teachers that individuality matters because not everyone learns the same way. So the message to the teachers of the world is to be a bit more like Mr. Keating and his ‘carpe diem’ approach instead of leaning towards the Welton method of teaching, which relies on tradition and conformity.

 Structure:

The way the film is constructed is very straightforward and follows the traditional exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution approach to the narrative, which is organised by plot as opposed to time sequence (although the film does take place over a year, showing the seasons throughout. But this isn’t really too relevant to the way the story is told.), and the plot falls very nicely into this structure.

The exposition shows the setting, Welton academy, and the etiquette of the teachers, students and parents there. It then goes on to show the way teaching is done at Welton and how this differs to the teaching of Mr. Keating. The mannerisms of the main characters are also shown with Neil Perry being a promising student and popular with his friends at the academy, Todd being expected to live up to the standards of his older brother (who also attended Welton) whilst he is unsure of himself and is new to the school, Dalton being laid back and very confident in himself etc.

The rising action has the students reforming the dead poets society (risking getting into trouble with the academy), Neil trying for the main role in the play and getting the part when his father clearly wouldn’t want him to be doing so, Knox beginning a relationship with Chris, who is a girl that he falls in love with, and Todd beginning to gain confidence through Mr. Keating’s lessons as well as the dead poets society meetings.

The climax sees Neil performing the Shakespearean play against his fathers will (something that is only found out at the end of play when he unexpectedly arrives and practically drags Neil to the car), Knox being able to convince Chris to go to the play with him and they hold hands during, and when Neil arrives home his father tells him he is being sent to military school and to forget about pursuing acting which then leads to Neil Perry’s suicide.

The falling action is filled with sorrow and hopelessness as the students mourn the death of Neil Perry, who was their close friend. However, the students aren’t allowed time to grieve for their dead friend for too long as the headmaster discovers the dead poets society from Cameron and forces all of the members to sign saying that Mr. Keating is responsible for the death of Neil with the threat of expulsion for anyone refusing to comply.

The resolution is the very last scene, where Todd shows ‘carpe diem’ by standing up for Mr. Keating even when there’s a risk of expulsion. He lets Mr. Keating know that he was forced to sign the letter saying that he was the reason for Neil’s death and so Todd’s and the other brave students’ consciences are cleared, therefore the story is resolved.

 Cinematography:

The technical elements used for the cinematography in DPS are very subtle but extremely meaningful. There are a few scenes in particular that capture my attention as a viewer as well as someone who really appreciates the craft of filmmaking.

The first scene I’d like to talk about is where Keating introduces his students to the term ‘carpe diem’. After Keating leads the students out of the classroom, the scene opens with a high angle shot which shows the setting of the scene, a trophy room. Whilst Keating is communicating with the students there are a few close-ups of their faces and when the camera is on Keating the it’s close-up and is following him as he moves ever so slightly while talking to the boys. I think this signifies the focus that the students and the viewers should have on Keating as he is teaching this important lesson. There are then extreme close-ups on the photographs of the former students as Keating tells his class the meaning of seizing the day as well as more close-ups of the boys faces as they reflect upon life and death.

Another scene that I really think is done amazingly is when Neil commits suicide. It begins with Neil getting ready for bed until there is a shot of the crown he had worn in the play, with Neil’s hand coming into frame to stroke the inside of it. There is then a shot outside of a window as Neil walks up to up, opens the window, and then places the crown on his head again. The camera then slowly zooms into Neil before the shot changes to a close-up of Neil, showing the seriousness in his facial expression, before he hangs his head down and closes his eyes. Along with the eerie audio in the background, this shows quite a sorrowful, melancholy change in Neil which foreshadows what is to come. There are then a few close-ups and a shot of the staircase, showing Neil making his way downstairs to what can be assumed to be his father’s study. There is also a shot of Neil’s father soundly asleep, which I perceive to signify his ignorance when it comes to his son because he literally and figuratively doesn’t know what’s going on in his son’s life and his son’s mind. Neil is then shown taking a wrapped item out of his father’s drawer and placing it on the table, it is quite visible to the audience that this is a firearm as the barrel is slightly out of the wrapping; the camera then pans out, showing Neil staring down at the weapon, clearly contemplating something. The scene then follows Neil’s father after he hears a sound that wakes him. He finds that Neil isn’t in his room and finally gets to his study after searching the house. The camera tracks his movement as he enters the room and then there is wide angle shot of the study with smoke rising from behind the desk. The camera the zooms into Mr. Perry’s face is his facial expression shows the realisation that something is wrong. The frame then becomes Mr. Perry’s point of view as he steps to the side and the pistol and his son’s hand come into view. There is then a slow motion shot of Mr. Perry running towards the camera, showing him rushing to his son’s aid. The eerie audio then cuts out and a shot from the door into the study shows Mr. and Mrs. Perry in agony kneeling behind the desk. Neil isn’t in the frame but it’s quite clear that he has committed suicide by the way his parents are acting, Mr. Perry crying out “my poor son!” and Mrs. Perry in denial repeatedly saying “he’s alright, he’s alright.”

Haven’t really got a conclusion. Pretty darn good 10/10

[writeanapocalae]

Nano 2019 Day 21 writing

The house was the massive sprawling altar to capitalism and American values, regardless of the inhabitants Korean decent. All white with pillars in the front, it was a cross between colonial and Greek revival, topped off with a large green lawn and a spattering of trees. Anyone coming upon the house would have a hard time not getting caught, though there were a few hiding places here and there.

Anson stepped out of his Toyota Camry, locking his Sig Sauer inside. He had debated bringing it inside with him, his employers always expected him to have a weapon on him and he would be searched, and sometimes him being prepared was more in line with what they wanted. He did have his 92dd Delta Dart hidden in the breast pocket of his jacket so, in case this was a trap, he would be ready. He highly doubted that it was a trap though, after extensive research on the Hyo family he knew that they were old money and businessmen, though the youngest of them, Rim, seemed to have some odd hobbies. There was no history of violence among them and he was certain that this was the first time they had hired someone like him.

There were two men, a woman, and one more person waiting for him by the door. He could tell that they were all bodyguards for the family, it was obvious from their black suits, gun harnesses, and ear pieces, but they were bland and easy to see. There must have been more then, hidden inside, within the shadows. He glances up, seeing a shadow in a window on the upper story, the glint of the sun on the end of a scope in the nearest tree. Even though he had been invited here they were still nervous. He wondered if someone else had made an attempt on the Hyo family.

He held his arms out and stood still as the guard approached him. The woman patted him down while one of the men waved a wand over him, not catching the knife that he carried due to its being made of fiberglass and plastic instead of metal. The woman caught it instead but only pulled it out enough to see the sheath, which was identical to a fairly nice pen. The wand did notice Anson’s mask, made of tin and painted to look like the unmarred side of his face, but he was not asked to remove it.

The other two guards stood watch, most likely because they all had guns and he could easily take the guns from the holsters of those checking him. Backups for backups. The Hyo’s were afraid of something.

One of the guards took off their sunglasses, folding them sharply and slipping them into the pocket of their jacket, which was designed for a pocket square. They were younger than the rest and every aspect of them, from the corner of their eyes to the edge of their nails, was sharp and precise. They were shorter than Anson, yet they still looked at him like they were looking down him.

“So, you’re the apparent answer to our problems. I’d like to see that,” they said in such a tone it was a breadth from being a snarl. “I’m Rim, I’ll be your translator for the evening.” Of course they were the youngest child of the Hyo family and that put Anson on edge. There was no reason for them to be parading around as one of the guards. The disdain that they had in their gaze and their voice threw him off as well, they were against Anson being there. “Come on, I will introduce you to Father.”

They turned and the other three guards took position around Anson, so he was bracketed on either side by the men and the woman was behind him. They went through the doors, took a left, a right, went up two flights of stairs, and right, past 4 doors in the wide hallway. The décor was elegant and conventional, all of it open and revealing. There were no curtains on the many windows, though there were more guards patrolling the length of the hall or standing at them, looking down into the courtyard. There were portraits and photographs on the walls, making up the majority of the interior design. Anson wondered if this was how it always was or if it was just for his visit that they’d removed furniture and places to hide.

The door on the left opened up to a parlor. There were two more guards within, one by the door and the other by the window. The guards accompanying Anson filtered into the room, the men sitting on the love seat, one on either side of him, while the woman stood behind him. It was all very secure. It was all very paranoid.

There was the door that they had entered through and a door on the opposite wall from it, that he didn’t know where it lead. There was a fireplace, which was currently inert and the flu was closed, there was no breeze coming from it. If there was a reason for him to fight his way out he could do it, but the size of the room would be his greatest aid. There were a few chairs, the couch, a table with a fine tea set on it, and an alcohol cabinet on one wall. There were more portraits, these of ancestors, and there were shelves of books in here, some of the titles in English but the majority of them in Korean.

He was greatly outnumbered but, if he had to fight, they would at least be jammed with the tight spacing and unable to aim their guns as well.

Rim went and stood by their father, hands behind their back, as much a guard as the rest. “This is my father, Sobong Hyo, my sister, Jessia, and my brother, Richard.”

Anson took the family in with a quick discerning look. Sobong was the most important one for him to focus on and while he was only a few years older than Anson was he held that age much more noticeably. He didn’t look much like Rim in the least, his face and body a series of lumps and lines. There was a tremor in his hands and many rings that held matte finished stones. He was completely unarmed and he sat in the tallest chair in the room, even though he wasn’t tall himself, so that he could keep an eye on everything. Sitting beside him was Jessica, who had a thin hand on his knee. She looked more like Rim but was still softer, her long black hair covering the harder angles of her jaw. She wore contact lenses and a thigh holster, a small knife hidden under her long flowing skirt. It would be awkward for her to get that free. On Sobong’s other side was Richard, who had the round features of his father, along with a broad chest and similar fashion, but he still had the sharp look in his eyes and the stance that matched Rim’s. They stood like they were fighters, waiting for an excuse. The stance wasn’t needed by businessmen.

Rim waved a hand towards Anson, displaying him to their family. They introduced him in Korean, getting a nod from Sobong.

Sobong started to speak to him, his voice clipped and steady, though there was a weakness in it, the urge to cough, just behind it. He was trying to hide it, make a good impression. He was the head of the family, he had to be strong.

“Thank you for making your way out here,” Rim translated, “I hope the journey treated you well. I’m sure you’ve noticed the added security to my home, this is both to protect us from you and from your target.”

Anson cocked his head. That answered a lot.

“The journey was fine. You have an elegant home, very traditional. If it is any consolation, I have not been contracted for any other jobs in a while and have no interest in taking one out on you or your family at the moment. Before Rim contacted me for the job, I had only heard of the Hyo family in passing.”

Another nod. That was good. What was better was seeing the long sigh in Sobong’s chest as he finally relaxed somewhat. He was still trembling, but that was medical, not a panic response.

[pasttorn]

URL RESPONSES ! ⟡ NOT ACCEPTING !

@yeonban​ said: My url ♡

DO I FOLLOW THEM ? WHY ? -  absolutely ! ! ! i remember meeting chris while i was on my bleach multi ? we were talking about black clover & he shared his multi so i just, instantly followed bc the array of muses was just ! ! ! magnificent. i still follow them now for mostly the same reasons but w/ how much our muses list has changed since then ? there’s much more room for interaction than before ! DO WE WRITE / DO I WANT TO WRITE WITH THEM ? - yes ! ! yes ! ! i absolutely am & i absolutely do ! ! ! we have a couple threads & we send each other asks whenever we reblog memes so iT’S A SHAME I’VE BEEN SO BAD AT PLOTTING / CHATTING WITH HIM BECAUSE THERE’S SO ! ! MUCH POTENTIAL ! ! I WOULD BE YELLING AT YOUR DISCORD EVERY DAY BUT ! ! I SWEAR for the life of me i can’t come up w/ a good thread idea or plot for ryusui & ukyo even though i wanna write them out more ? like i thought about ryusui asking ukyo for advice on how to build the ship / what changes he thought would be a good idea, since he’d hold ukyo’s thoughts / words in a high regard but otherwise ? i haven’t been able to come up with much else whoops. given the chance i’d be very glad to start up more threads with him, or even just plotting stuff up from asks or headcanons is just perfect too ( because that might be more effective than just writing up a bunch of different threads, given how slow i am, whoops ) !  AN AU IDEA FOR OUR MUSES - i’ve said this before & i’ll say it again-- modern au for our kny muses would be so fun ! ! toshiro & akaza & hakuji being friends / graduates of the same year & hanging out even if they aren’t in the same class ? absolutely, i’d be down for that ! yui & sen would be in different years, but the idea of them hanging out in a modern verse is fun too. there’s also the pillar verse for akaza where he hangs out with toshiro ? at that point his life is such a mess that he’d absolutely need someone like toshiro around to stop him from just, Decomposing ( as difficult the process may be ). a modern au for ukyo & ryusui would be fun too-- like, in a world where the petrification never happened & they eventually met up somehow ( which i’m sure would happen / we could make happen ! it’s a very easy thing to do when ukyo has pretty good sonar / hearing skills & ryusui has enough money to take him anywhere he wants in the world in search for talet ) A SONG FOR OUR MUSES - i’m bad at songs so i’m using ones i know Best but just ! even if it hurts by sam tinnesz would be good for sen & yuichiro ? ignoring all the shippy like aspects it’s mostly the words " i'm not giving up / not gonna run / i'll be there when you need me / even if it hurts “ that sell me on it because ! ! the thought of sen spending time with yui & helping him through stuff & supporting him even when yui gets mean or strict with him is so soft ? it’s kind of sad since sen is used to dealing with someone who speaks down on him ( a blame that absolutely falls on shinjurou ) but he still wants to be friends with yui because he’s aware yui only means the best & can be nice / gentle in his own yui kind of way so just ! ! yeah that’s for them. as for ukyo & ryusui, i’d think everything good by ashes remain would be pretty good for them ! idk about ukyo’s perspective of things but ryusui really values his opinions ( along with senku’s & the rest but you get what i mean ! it’s slightly higher for ukyo since they’re more similar in age & in occupations though ). ryusui has a lot of confidence in himself & what he does, but he very much appreciates any input ukyo & the rest have on everything & anything he does-- though he usually doesn’t show it, even he has moments where he feels like he’s lost, so that’s why the words “ you are gravity /when I’m upside down / you help me find my way back to the ground / [ ... ] / you are my eyes / when I can’t see “ hit home so much for him ! DO I SHIP OUR MUSES ? - i’m ? a shipping trash, honestly. at this point we’ve been interacting with each other enough that  i’d be down to shipping romantically any of my muses with yours ( as long as they’re Good ships & not dumb ones like sen & an adult muse bc that’s Trash ) so ! ! that’s completely up to you if you wanna plot anything on that ! otherwise ? i’d die for the sibling-like friendship between toshiro & senjurou, as well assenjurou & yuichirou because they both ? support him so much ? we haven’t talked much about sen & yui yet but we’ve talked Enough to make me emotional about how yui tries to get him to speak up more & how sen kind of looks up to him as a role model ( as Weird a choice it may be for a role model iunsjdcx ) & ! ! ! toshiro reminds him so much of his kyou, sen would absolutely mess up at least once & call him aniue / elder brother by mistake-- & not just bc he reminds him of kyou but just, he’s That much of an older brother figure / part of his family for him. he’d 100 % instantly apologise & be mortified by how embarrassed he was of letting that slip though ngl WHAT DO I THINK ABOUT THE MUN ? - i care chris with my entire heart ! ! i’d be talking with you lots more if i wasn’t such an awkward bean because as you can probably tell i sound so Awkward & formal during out discord talks bc i still don’t quite know what to talk / chat about that’ll let us chat in a daily-ish basis ( i say daily-ish bc i can be slow & it’s fine to not talk every day lmao ) but ! ! ! it always brightens my day to see you on the dash & to see posts you make be them ooc or otherwise & to read your writing because you’re an absolute sweetheart what the fuck ! ! ! it shouldn’t be allowed. OVERALL OPINION - one of these days im gonna add kanzaki & you bet everything i’m going to try to get as many people into the beel//zebub rpc as i can.  but it should be pretty obvious by now that if you’re not following chris you’re largely missing out on so many things so ! ! ! go follow him right now it’s totally worth it ♡ BLOG RATE - 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

[sideofwritingsandramblings]

A little salt, A lot of Sheith Meta

Alright... So there’s just a lot of things that have been on my mind since the big reveal. (Updated with even more meta!)

Beware there are some s7 spoilers under the cut. (And since I wrote this instead of the prompt for sheith month today I’ll use this as my entry instead @sheithmonth​ if it is considered appropriate / next)

So as probably most everyone in this fandom knows by now, Shiro has been confirmed gay with the release of the first episode of season seven. As I explained in a previous post, Shiro being confirmed queer has made me beyond excited, simply on the basis of what incredible representation this is. 

However, once again I have heard a bunch of people (honestly... probably not actual sheith shippers) yelling “Sheith is dead” because of Shiro’s ex-boyfriend. Well, first of all, it is an ex-boyfriend according to the vld staff. And, while I will admit I have not seen the full episode nor will I seek out any more spoilers, I can still say with full confidence that Sheith is not dead. Which, honestly, I think most Sheith shippers would agree.

(Also, side point: a ship cannot even “die” like... the point of shipping is looking at two characters and thinking they would be interesting together regardless of canon.)

Anyways, I’m just going to go ahead and break down exactly why I actually believe Sheith to be closer to canon than ever before.

I usually never have hope for a canonically queer ship, mostly because I’ve learned to not expect it. Voltron, however, has amazingly made me hope again. And I even dare to hope that the canonically queer ship will also be my otp.

However, my bias aside, there is plenty of evidence pointing to canon sheith. Starting with the entirety of season 6.

Like, don’t get me wrong, I was shipping Sheith from seasons 1-5 too. Keith’s very first scene in the show is his rescuing Shiro, followed by tenderly touching his face while saying his first word of the show: “Shiro?” Following this scene we see how Shiro and Keith have the deepest bond of the group and are consistently looking out for each other. In season two we have Shiro trusting Keith to succeed him as leader and the Blade of Mamora trials with the famous “Your friend desperately wants to see you.” Since then we’ve gotten hugs, tender looks, and promises of: I’ll save you “As many times as it takes.”

Despite all of this I still doubted they would become canon, but then season 6 came along. 

First of all this post which is not mine but goes in to all of this a lot, talks about how many of the romantic scenes expected for other ships happened for Sheith instead. Things like: Sheith’s bond being the focus of the season, Keith’s mom picking out Shiro because Keith told her so much about him, backstory, sacrificing themselves for one another, and even an emotional confession of “I love you.” Honestly, if we were looking at any sort of heterosexual ship, they would already be considered a couple by now.

Additionally we have seen some incredible parallels for Sheith as well. Both with Sheith and Keith’s parents and with Zaggar. On one hand we have the very similarly animated rescue scene between Keith’s dad and Krolia vs Keith rescuing Shiro in episode one. On the other hand, we have the very telling jaw-dropped reaction of Shiro with Keith and Zarkon with Honerva.

And now, with the new information from season 7, it adds a whole other layer to Shiro’s reaction. We were joking about his stuttering and complete focus on Keith during that scene was him being a gay disaster. But the truth is he is a confirmed gay disaster. Literally, how else do you explain that scene? Plus, while I know the 2 year jump wasn’t some move by the showrunners to address the “too big of an age gap” claims, I still think it’s an important moment for Shiro. Shiro has never treated Keith like a kid in the series, and they have been shown to be best friends and reliant on each other since the beginning. But I genuinely believe that this moment was when Shiro realized that Keith really has gotten older/more mature/(hotter). “You really have changed,” Shiro said. 

And, if we take the parallels a step further (and while some people may call it a stretch, I personally really enjoy this one). We all know how Lauren and Joaquim also worked on Legend of Korra, another show that pushed for lgbt rep and that ended with canon Korrasami  The ending scene of which had a very visually similar theme repeated in Voltron. A pillar of light between the two queer characters.

But, regardless of all the observed parallels and incredibly heartfelt moments, we now have an interesting problem(?) on our hands: the introduction of Shiro’s ex-boyfriend Adam. I will reiterate that I have not actually seen the new episode in full (and correct me if I’m wrong), but a lot of the episode’s focus is on pre-Kerberos backstory.

Within this backstory we meet Adam, someone Shiro loves and cares for deeply, to the point that they were practically (if not actually?) fiances. However, as Shiro deals with a chronic illness and pursues his dream of piloting in space anyways, Adam leaves Shiro and tells Shiro that he will not wait for him.

Now, from this information alone I immediately believe that Adam is meant to foil Keith. Where Adam (for whatever reasons, good or bad) could not stand by Shiro through everything, Keith has repeatedly proven he will do anything to protect Shiro and stay by his side.

Additionally, from a narrative standpoint, it really wouldn’t make sense to make Shadam endgame. Now it is true that anything is possible in 26 episodes. It could turn out that Shiro will have his reconciliation with Adam on Earth and they will get back together. In the event that this happens, (and if it happens in a way that is healthy and is good for Shiro), I hope everyone will support the relationship regardless of ships. Because that will still be amazing representation!

However, I doubt that would happen. Simply because we have never heard of Adam before. If the vld staff was shooting for this big queer couple for a while, why only mention him in the last 26 episodes? Especially since a majority of the episodes of season 7 (I assume) will be them just trying to get to Earth, leaving very few to flesh out a Shiro/Adam story. From a story-telling standpoint Shiro should have been talking about or mentioning Adam from the start to more easily introduce this couple to the audience. However, Adam only gets brought up when Shiro has to face the reality that he is making it back to Earth and there is a chance he will see Adam again.

[Edit: Plus, just think of how much has changed since Shiro left. He has been imprisoned for a year by the Galra and forced to fight, had his arm replaced with a robotic prosthetic, been experimented on, has become part of a universe-defending team fighting in an intergalactic war, literally died, spent who knows how long as just a consciousness in a giant robot space cat, and then revived and given the memories of a cloned version of himself. He’s been through a lot. And who knows what Shiro’s gone through better than Keith?

Adam, on the other hand, has most likely had no idea what happened. If I assume this correctly, for this entire time Shiro’s been gone, Adam has believed Shiro to not only be dead, but responsible for the Kerberos mission’s failure. I would assume when the mission was called Pilot Error, Adam would have had his fears confirmed: by taking the Kerberos mission despite being ill, Shiro put his life and the crew’s lives in danger. I honestly cannot even imagine how Adam must have reacted when he heard the news. I honestly can’t wait to see how he reacts to Shiro being alive. 

After everything they’ve gone through, will they really be able to rekindle that old flame so easily?]

Additionally, we can argue that season 6 was one of the biggest Sheith seasons of the series. We got that two year age jump with Keith that has Shiro reacting like the disaster gay he is. Plus, Shiro’s reaction to Keith saying “I love you” (while not reacting to the “you’re my brother” line) still sticks with me, along with Keith refusing to let go and accepting to fall to his death with Shiro. We got Keith astral projecting himself by screaming Shiro’s name and then cradling Shiro in his arms in the last five minutes of the season. And to now immediately follow up that season (that was so focused on Shiro and Keith’s bond) with a confirmation that Shiro is gay? I really don’t think that’s a coincidence.

[Edit: Not to mention how I’ve seen multiple posts going around talking about the different dubs. One being the German dub’s ich liebe dich, which is apparently for a stronger/more profound love than ich habe dich lieb. And of course, the Japanese dub’s aishiteru which is also much deeper than the more commonly used daisuki. Like, if you’ve ever watched subbed anime, confession scenes will almost never use aishiteru. Aishiteru is rarely used because it denotes a deeper love akin to saying “I am in love with you from the bottom of my heart.” It is almost exclusively used between romantic partners, and rarely (if ever!) used between family/friends. The choice of aishiteru over suki/daisuki is honestly incredible.]

[Edit: Also, something I wanted to add before but couldn’t find a source at first: I found this article by DenofGeek from this past February very intriguing. It said that quote: 

“Montgomery adds, ‘When we set out to make this show we wanted to make one where no one character was solely defined by being in a relationship.’ She’s quick to clarify that the Avatar and Korra characters were of course incredible and fully formed characters themselves but, ‘when we really looked at what was at stake with this show (Voltron) the relationship or romance aspect of it just didn’t feel as important as the work that they were doing to save their universe.’ Both showrunners don’t rule out the possibility of it happening down the line, but only if it happens naturally within the story. ‘We’re not going to try to just put it in there for the sake of needing romance in the story,’ Montgomery explains.”

The parts I bolded were what stood out to me from this article/interview. The showrunners have never wanted the focus to be just on relationships. The focus has, and always will be, on these characters defending the universe together. However, they will include romance if it happens naturally within the story. I really believe that if we were looking for a naturally developing relationship in the show it would be Sheith, and not between Shiro and some brand new guy (or at least new to the audience). In order to truly convince us Shadam is a good ship, the showrunners would have to focus on it a lot in the remaining two seasons. Why go through that effort when they could instead develop the relationship Keith and Shiro already have in the show?]

Not to mention, despite the introduction of Adam in the episode, the episode’s main focus was still on Shiro and Keith. The new episode has yet another Sheith hug, Keith worrying over Shiro in a pod, and many pre-Kerberos scenes (without Adam) that feature Keith and Shiro’s history. (Oh and I just got spoiled this next screenshot, there is apparently a rainbow above Keith and Shiro in one scene?! Also, it’s yet another example of a sunset as a romantic backdrop between them.) In other words, I really believe that Shiro will ultimately have his reconciliation with Adam, but they won’t get back together. Shiro will probably end up having feelings for Keith instead. 

Although, I can’t know that for sure and anything could happen. But then, I can’t help but go to stuff outside of the show as well. 

The staff have repeatedly shown support for Sheith or at least the bond between them. We have the famous “Shiro Loves you Baby #he’s looking at Keith” from Chris Palmer:

Art supervising director Kihyun Ryu drew this miracle:

And Eugene Lee’s recent Keith he drew on Chris Palmer’s Shiro’s chest like some kind of romance novel:

[Edit: And I almost forgot these two gems (which, while I know voice actor’s don’t have much control of the show’s story, they’re still great): The fact that Josh Keaton (Shiro) at the very beginning of Voltron coined the ship name “Sheith” and Bex Taylor-Klaus’ (Pidge) famous snapchat and quote:]

The staff’s support of the ship, in both fanart and interviews has been incredible. This post has an entire masterlist of the support the staff has given Sheith or their strong bond.

But, anyways. Overall, regardless of where the story heads I will always ship Sheith. If the staff decides that Shadam is the way to go for positive representation I’ll happily take it, but it doesn’t end my love for Sheith.

Honestly though, I think Sheith’s chances of becoming canon are better than ever before and I’m so excited to see how these last two seasons play out.

[purghhappenings]

Related to a previous ask before, what was it about each poly!strawhat the others found extremely attractive/a turn on after the time skip?

Yes heylo!

So I think you meant like physical aspect but I’m gonna include both cause I like emotional shit thank you very much

1. Monkey D. Luffy: Emotional: he’s a flame and everyone else is moths, it’s impossible to not love this kid like, have you seen him??? Everyone liked how accepting he was and how driven as a person he is as well. Physical: his smile is the fucking sun. Also he’s made of rubber?? Everyone is always interested in that.

2. Zoro: Emotional: they liked how confident Zoro was. In the way he fought, he was even confident in losing, Zoro was and is confident and it draws people close to him, even people as strong as Luffy. Physical: Have you seen Zoro, all of him. Just all of Him.

2. Nami: Emotional: She was really smart, smart like Sabo. She was fast on her feet, a quick thinker, Luffy knew he needed her to succeed just like he thought he needed Sabo and Ace i’m gonna die now kaye Physical: Have you ever seen the sunrise with that burnt orange glow that makes the sky look like it’s on fire and you just feel happy. That’s what Nami does to people. She’s fucking beautiful.

Usopp: Emotional: he’s so fucking resilient? Even through panic attacks and depressive episodes he’s saved some serious ass and that is the most attractive thing to the Strawhats. He’s ready to square up whenever. Physical: he was a lanky little shit before so you’d think ??? what about him?? his muscles are just a bonus kiddos, his smile could also destroy free will. 

Sanji: Emotional: Sanji is 100% a pillar who doesn’t ask why he needs to pick up your slack, he will just do it. He takes care of those around him and they all fall in love with that side of him. Physical: his fucking calves are to die for and tell me I’m lying. Boy can kick through fucking walls and steel, he has calves for DAYS.

Tony Tony Chopper: Emotional: he will hype you to the max because he thinks everyone is so cool and you eventually love that about him. The Poly!Hats sometimes think it may be too much but then he looks so cute and who can deny him. Physical: he’s a fluffy reindeer, figure it out guys.

Nico Robin: Emotional: She was older and sturdy for them. She too knew a lot, more than Nami and most of the guys know they’re not too smart and it doesn’t hurt to have incredible capable women around you. She was also terrifying and that is a powerful aphrodisiac. Physical: Nico Robin is fucking beautiful and strong. 

Cyborg Franky: Emotional: he could make things lighthearted and he is so sympathetic. He also listens, really well. He is kind of like the big brother of the crew. Physical: he’s a cyborg and they’ve all got kinks they need to work out. Sorry not sorry He’s also SUUUUPPPPEEEERRRRRR strong and BEEFY.

Soul King Brook: Emotional: he also knows how to keep things light but he also has lived a long time and is emotional available for most, and stability is the one thing all of them haven’t had. Chopper is about the closest with Kureha but his early life wasn’t too great. Physical: they all wanna bone. Get it. Cause he’s a skeleton. Ha ha…. I’m gonna be over here. 

Trafalgar D. Water Law: Emotional: Do you need a salt mate? Someone to hate things with you, stay up late, make bad decisions, get matching tattoos, piercings and just have a general zest for death? Law’s your guy. The others fell in love with his quick wit, goofy faces, and persona in general. The dude oozes sex. Physical: Tattoos. Piercings. Dark circles under the eye “No that isn’t makeup, it’s too natural” -Nami. Everything pirates are into.

Nefertari Vivi: Emotional: she’s down to earth. She only thought of saving her people and then pirates, and this is when they first got into the grand line, in a lot of ways she was most of their first loves.(Not Zoro’s gay ass). Physical: just look up a picture of her smiling. She’s drop dead gorgeous.

Carrot: Emotional: she’s like a therapy animal, only is prone to biting , stealing your food, not being well behaved… She’s more like a pet than Chopper and they all fell in love with her wild side. Physical: have you ever hated a bunny??? I rest my case.

Jimbei: Emotional: he’s just so?? Soft?? Supportive?? Sweet?? Jimbei is the supportive BF they all needed cause while he’s strict, he is also down to fight anyone and everyone. Physical: again, I’m gonna say unresolved kinks that just haven’t fully set in yet. He’s also really fucking strong and muscular. 

Marco the Phoenix: Emotional: when they all met up, he still needed emotional healing and well, the poly!Hats at that point are all for it. Marco was also like a flame, and Luffy especially wanted flames in his life. Physical: Marco the phoenix is a hot mf for being old. Jimbei’s gay, Zoro’s gay, Nami’s never been more pan in her life. He’s got the confidence of a man that could get anyone into bed, and he’s got the looks.

Okay I am so sorry but I realized 9 Poly!Hats in that you wanted post time skip and I didn’t wanna go back and redo everything so I’m so sorry!!!! If you want them redone I am totes fine with doing that! Thanks so much for the ask and being patient!!!!! I hope you like them!