#despite very clearly placed title cards

[meimi-haneoka]

Clear Card Trivia 4 ~ The most ancient Magicians of Europe, the Magic Association and their role in Clear Card

Welcome back to my corner focused on eviscerating all the thematics, hidden messages, trivia, aspects of Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card!!

We're at the 4th "episode" of this series (you can find the previous ones under the #clear card trivia hashtag) and this time around the tone of the thematic will change a little bit. We get into a darker corner. Yes, because when it was time to decide for the next thematic I would delve into, I felt it was finally time to address everything concerning The Magic Association and Akiho's clan, the so-called Most Ancient Magicians of Europe.

I've been feeling the need to delve into these two "entities" appearing in Clear Card for long time and for several reasons. One of those is that there are still so many people out there who tend to conflate the two and confuse "who did what". It's time we dot the i's and cross the t's on who's who. And rest assured I made sure to mention every single thing we know (and don't know) about them. For this reason, the post is a bit long, but I wanted to make it as comprehensive as possible.

Moreover, these two groups of people hide a very deep and important role inside Clear Card's story. Despite representing the darkest, most horrible part of this arc (I'd daresay if we have to find a villain in CCS at all costs, we have quite found them), I can see and appreciate a lot the social commentary CLAMP made through them.

If you're curious to know what this social commentary is and read in one place everything we know about these magicians, just follow me under the cut!

The Magic Association of England

Let's start with them. The first mention we have of the "Magic Association of England" (in Japanese イギリスの魔法協会 or they've been called 魔術師協会 - Magicians association - too ) is in volume 4, chapter 15, when Eriol over the phone reveals their existence to Syaoran, and even correctly speculates that Yuna D. Kaito might be one of their members.

Basically, the Magic Association of England is a congregation of powerful magicians (not necessarily related by blood) who associate together for their mutual personal benefit. Their headquarters are, of course, in England.

They are recognizable in the story by their long black robe with purple lining and a headpiece that covers their heads and faces entirely, shaped vaguely like the head of a dragon.

It seems like they are organized according to a hierarchy, for two reasons: some of them wear an additional layer of clothing on their shoulders, as a way to indicate a "higher rank" of magicians (they're probably the oldest ones, or the ones who run the entire thing), but they also assign "titles" to their magicians basing on their level of magic - Kaito is basically the strongest (while not being part of the higher hierarchy, because he doesn't wear the additional piece of clothing) and he's been assigned the title of "D". That's what the "D" in his (fake) name means, nothing else. We can assume there are magicians of rank C, B and A too, in this Association. They even seem to have a collective magic circle, as we can see in more than one scene, but more clearly in chapter 79:

As Eriol implies very early in chapter 15 (and as we will have plenty of opportunities to see with our own eyes), their activities are shady at best and criminal at worst (that's why Eriol replies to an unaware Syaoran "Your clan probably hasn't mentioned them to you yet, because of the plenty bad rumors about them").

It also seems like they constantly try to recruit new members and actively look for powerful magicians to add to their ranks. Like they did with little Kaito, reaching him at the unknown location he was living in (beware, this is often a point of confusion but the men with the caucasian-like headpieces we see in the flashback are not part of the Magic Association. It is just a "circle of people" where little Kaito lived for a period after being separated by his parents.)

Not only that, but in order to achieve their main goal, they also seem to form "alliances" with other influential parties. This is apparently done for the common goal of broadening the Association, their authority and influence in the magic world, as stated by little Kaito himself in volume 13, chapter 60. Although, little Kaito also says that they won't think twice in betraying those alliances when they see fit, and it seems to be customary because the boy says that it's certain to happen.

And "alliance" is the type of relationship that connects them to the next subjects of this post.

The Most Ancient Magicians of Europe

The "Most Ancient Magicians of Europe" (in Japanese 欧州最古の魔術師達) get introduced for the first time in volume 6, chapter 25. Yet, the very first mention of a "clan" Akiho belonged to appears as early as volume 5, chapter 21, when Akiho explains to Kaito she recognized the robe passed down in her clan in the vision she had unwittingly shared with Sakura.

Their ceremonial outfit is composed by a white robe with a light blue cloak hemmed in yellow, just like the removable headpiece covering entirely one's face when pulled up. They also have a collective magic circle identifying the magicians part of the Clan:

As opposed to the Magic Association, this clan is a big family of magicians, all related by blood. They do not seem to have a common last name they go by, like the Li Clan does for example. This gives an inkling about their very broad reach. Although the ones closest to Akiho seem to have their headquarters in England just like the Association, the name suggests that their scope and/or presence might be spanning all over Europe. The family is so big that Lilie basically married one of her distant relatives, part of the same clan.

In this regard, I have to make a very important clarification about a translation mistake in the ENG localization that affects concretely the plot. This mistake made it to the printed volumes.

As you can see here, the ENG translation basically makes a Clan member state that they have the same blood as Clow Reed. We all know that Clow Reed was born from an English father and a Chinese mother and since in this scene the Clan is talking about their rivalry with the Li clan, it is almost automatic to assume that they are the Reed Family.

This is a very egregious translation mistake, as the correct translation is the version that the scanlation group RhapsodyInBlue uploaded back in the day:

A "They are of Clow Reed lineage" (as the Li's indeed are) turned into "For the blood of Clow Reed", giving birth to quite a big misunderstanding.

This clan has never been officially confirmed to have any blood ties with Clow Reed.

Any indication in that sense is pure speculation and fan theories. I know "it's the official English translation that says so!" but unfortunately this is not the first and definitely not even the last translation mistake that affects severely the understanding of the plot.

The only thing we know for certain about the Most Ancient Magicians in Europe (I'll call them "Squid Clan" going forward, cause this is a common nickname I've been using forever in fandom) is that they hold a grudge against Clow for unknown reasons (they wouldn't be the first ones) and consequently they are constantly competing with the Li Clan (blood relatives of Clow) for who is more powerful and influential between their Clans. Although we don't know if it's mutual, this rivalry is nothing recent, as it was already there when Akiho and Syaoran were born, and it's certainly part of the cause that pushed the Squid Clan to turn Akiho into an artifact (to compete with Syaoran of the Li Clan). Syaoran is very well aware of who they are, as he's the one recognizing the robe in Sakura's dream in volume 10, chapter 46.

Another thing that I wish to point out is that, although fandom spaces sometimes call this Clan as "Shinomoto Clan" or even arbitrarily call Lilie as "Lilie Shinomoto", none of this has been hinted at or even confirmed in canon. In fact, the sticker with a phrase from Lilie that is being given out at the CLAMP Exhibition held in this period in Tokyo, indicates her name as just "Lilie", not "Lilie Shinomoto", while all the other characters are fully featured with their first and last name. As it's been revealed in chapter 80, Akiho uses an alias in everyday's life, following a common practice in magic clans. So it's very likely that the entire name "Akiho Shinomoto" is an alias and "Shinomoto" got nothing to do with the Clan Akiho was born in at all.

When they were still alive, Akiho's mother and father were the most powerful magicians in that Clan, with dreamseer Lilie being the top magician. And as we can hear from her own words, the Squid Clan's collective goal is to put their hands on the magic of the entire world and on any means to operate it. That is particularly evident in the purpose for which they have turned Akiho into an artifact. It is also what seemingly steers their interest when it comes to marrying off their members: feelings and happiness of the parties concerned are of no importance, all that matters is how profitable that union will be for the Clan in terms of power. That's why they were thrilled to know Lilie and her husband decided to marry, but then considered it a failure and said they should've never let them meet when they lost their life in an accident and all they left to the Clan was a magicless little Akiho.

Kaito and the Magic Association

Next, let's review how both of these groups affected the other characters.

The Magic Association approached little Kaito in the community he was living in (unknown location) when he was very little, asking him "to help them out". They had certainly sensed his astounding powers for someone so young and saw an opportunity to make their Association grow. Little Kaito didn't particularly want to help them out (or do something for someone else, for that matter), but due to his already problematic growth process and emerging child depression (from what we can see in the flashback, he was seemingly feared and kept at arm's length by the people of that community, so he was already growing up in solitude - I wouldn't exclude they were the ones calling the Association to have him taken away), he didn't even feel strongly against the idea, so he just decided to accept.

What followed were years where Kaito kept growing up in solitude despite being surrounded by so many adults, fending for himself, feeding on anything that was edible enough (Lilie will find him eating a Calorie Mate for lunch), without a shred of love, care or emotional education, simply used as a tool and exploited for his strong magic powers. The boy had the opportunity to train and develop his powers even further, quickly becoming unrivalled in magic battles.

Along the story, Eriol (in a short chapter) came into possession of secret documents about Kaito's life in the Association (the sheets bring the Association mark) and he said that they included his "spectacular war records". What exactly he meant with that term isn't clear, but it's legit to assume that the Association might had young Kaito fight against other magicians (we don't know the extent of the violence of those fights).

Kaito's impressive performances in magic earned him the title of "D" in the Magic Association, the highest title that can be bestowed on a magician in their environment, and he was allowed to attend the Association's meetings with the higher members of the council. During a "character exposition" moment, Eriol reveals that the request that the Association made to Kaito the most was to use time magic for their benefit. This, well knowing the effects that time magic has on the caster. They had a young boy performing that dangerous magic, shaving off his own life span, while they continued undisturbed and unaffected.

Note that in all the flashbacks we saw of Kaito in the Association, we never saw him taking initiatives in their activities, but just merely following passively the orders he received. From his bored behavior we can see in volume 7 chapter 31, he wasn't particularly keen in attending their meetings either. Even the abomination the Association did on Akiho, he never took any part in it, he was merely informed at "fait accompli" (this might be harder to get for how they translated this in the ENG version, but in the flashback in Japanese the Association talks in past tense, as something that had already happened).

From all the hints and scenes we can see of young Kaito in the Association, up to the conversation he had with Lilie and the multiple warnings he gave her about their intentions, my idea is that Kaito wasn't aligning with their wicked morals and felt uncomfortable among them, that's why he strived to be kept alone as much as possible, but being the only adults he could cling to, and with an already crippled self-esteem, he didn't even have enough will to leave that place forever.

Until Akiho came into the picture, that is.

When both Kaito and Akiho were two little children, the Squid Clan requested to the Association to have their most powerful magician to "check up" little Akiho at a distance for any trace of magic power in her body.

This is the incident that basically started everything: Kaito said with honesty that the girl had no powers, "just like a blank book", with the hope that her Clan would expel her and let her live a normal life. Sadly, some years later, that same comment had been taken literally by Akiho's blood relatives and gave birth to a very sick plan for Akiho's purpose in the Clan.

Despite seeking his assistance due to his massive magic powers, the Association was at the same time very wary of Kaito. His unbothered and disinterested behavior might also be the reason why the Association and the Squid Clan didn't trust him and decided to engrave the "Seal of D" on him when he offered himself to escort Akiho in her travels around the world, unknowingly seeking for magic to write on her body (I'll talk about this whole matter in the next paragraph).

The "Seal of D" is a magic of "confinement" that works only on magicians with a title of "D". It's easy to imagine why this thing exists in the first place: magicians with such enormous magic powers are convenient but also pose a threat to the authority of the Association, especially considering how there's no sense of comradery and loyalty in this group of people, and they're ready to betray anyone at any moment. The "Seal of D" works as some kind of "trap" that is triggered by the undesired behavior of the magician (in this case, they had programmed it as "should the magician tamper with the magic artifact in any way, activate the Seal of D on him"). Young Kaito had no qualms in accepting to let them engrave it on himself, because at that time he already had a rampant self-loathing and probably the guilt of what he realized he had caused was already wrecking his mental state. They even had the nerve to ask him "Do you understand what it entails?", as if shaking the responsibility off themselves. Of course he didn't know. He didn't have a complete idea of what he would have to sacrifice, at that time.

Following Kaito's refusal to return Akiho to their abusers (roughly around 1 year prior the events of Clear Card), they excommunicated him officially from the Magic Association and started persecuting both of them. In volume 7, chapter 33, we saw one of those attempts at attacking them to take Akiho back, promptly repelled by Kaito in secret to not let Akiho notice anything. It is easy to guess there had been other attempts in the past. This is also very likely the reason why for Kaito it was absolutely vital to live in Eriol's ex-mansion once they arrived in Japan, as the house was naturally a perfect place to store and protect magic artifacts.

When Kaito exchanged the artifact implanted in Akiho's body with his own pocket watch, the Seal of D and everything that happened afterwards was triggered automatically, sealing Kaito away in a hidden dimension where time was destroyed, stripping him of his humanity and caging him in the form of a dragon, unable to talk, to move or use his magic. Any attempt to free him would trigger an endless stream of magic attacks, like Sakura and Syaoran had the displeasure to realize later.

One peculiar thing that I'd like to remark and that contributes to emphasize even more how despicable those magicians were, is that when Eriol started investigating to understand who Yuna D. Kaito was, with the help of the Li Clan he found out that the "official version" of why Kaito was excommunicated from the Association was that he had "lost" an important taboo artifact that shouldn't have been removed from its premises for no reason. Furthermore, rumors over rumors said he didn't "lose it", he actually ran away with it. All of this is of course a lie spread to make Kaito look like a delinquent who stole the magic artifact (Akiho), when in fact they were the ones willingly sending Akiho away. It is very likely they were the ones spreading this misinformation to both make Kaito look like a criminal but also to not lose face in front of the magic world.

Kaito's permanence in the Magic Association worsened exponentially an already precarious situation with his upbringing, exacerbating his low self-esteem, denying him a childhood where he could know the warmth and comfort of love, exploiting his magic powers at his own expense, while not meeting any resistance from him, reacting to this abuse with a concerning "apathy" as self-defense, for something he could not comprehend entirely yet, and so he could not effectively consent to it. It is a kind of "silent abuse", where they didn't use violence on him (at least not for what it was shown and not till he was still living with them), but still wrecked him on the inside in ways that are not visible to the eye, and it will probably take years and years to heal. Akiho alludes to those scars in volume 6, chapter 29, when she confides to Sakura her fear that Kaito might be suffering in silence from scars "invisible to the eye".

Because of this, his relationship with other people and the way he goes about things might appear particularly troublesome and hard to understand. He definitely doesn't react to things as someone with a healthy upbringing. His abuse and exploitation has been explicitly mentioned by Mokona sensei in a Twitter Space, so even if it's pretty evident once you carefully read the chapters of his backstory, it's confirmed even on the author side.

Akiho and the Most Ancient Magicians of Europe

Cosmos, whom we've known as "Akiho Shinomoto" in the story, was born into the clan of the Most Ancient Magicians of Europe as a result of the love and union between Lilie and her husband, both part of the same clan and respectively first and second strongest magicians in that family. It is immediately horrifying the realization, along the story, that Akiho's abusers are people of her own family, tied to her by blood.

But let's proceed in order.

As soon as the accident that killed Lilie and her husband happened, the Clan took care of their only surviving daughter.

Ever since the first panels of Akiho's backstory, the Clan members are shown having great expectations about what kind of magic she would develop, as everyone else in that family had done till that moment. When they heard about Lilie and her beloved's engagement, they were already fantasizing about what incredible powers their offspring would have. That's all they ever cared about. At the "ripe old age" of about 1-2 years, the baby girl was expected to show some signs of magic as soon as she started walking, but she had none. It is roughly in this period that they had Yuna D. Kaito, from the Magic Association, evaluate her at a distance. Even though the boy declared she had no trace of powers, they seemingly decided to wait and see.

But by the time the girl turned 6/7, when she was old enough to read books, still no fragment of magic appeared in her. That was, for the clan, something unacceptable. And the beginning of Akiho's tribulations.

It was in this moment that they started to compare her to Syaoran, of the Li Clan in Hong Kong, and the concern with her non-existent powers began to look more and more like an obsession. They actually started seeing her as a stain on their Clan's pride. Suddenly, the focus was all on how they could surpass the other rival Clan, and Akiho was isolated, left in the grip of loneliness. A magicless member of the family was a member who didn't even deserve being talked to. An interrogatory, at most. They didn't really care if the little girl wanted to socialize, if she wanted to play, if she was the only young person in that Clan, missing her parents who died so early on. All the questions Akiho stubbornly made them about her parents were sistematically ignored, save for one little detail that she was able to snatch from them, probably out of exhaustion: that both her parents loved mint chocolate. It was an apparently insignificant detail, which for Akiho became everything she knew about her parents, and the only "proof" she had of her connection to them. She was also denied any picture of mom and dad, probably deeming her unworthy of them.

In the short story n. 2, Akiho tells Kaito that her Clan denied her even plushies. Even if she asked for some, they would tell her "if you've got time to play, then you've got time to read". In this sense, it is a miracle that Momo managed to stay, via the guise of a plushie, by Akiho's side throughout her childhood.

The girl grew up, and the situation stayed the same, or rather, it worsened. The members of the Clan became more and more cruel, calling her “worthless”, “useless” in her face, in one scene they even doubted she could really be the daughter of her powerful parents. They kept making all kinds of attempts and experiments to see if she would develop any powers. As Akiho herself told Kaito in volume 13, chapter 60, she remembered how they'd repeat countless times how unfortunate it was that Lilie, a dreamseer, wasn't able to foresee her own demise, and that if all they would leave behind was such a worthless, magicless child, then they should've never let the magician and her husband meet. Basically, declaring in front of Akiho that it would have been better if she had never been born at all.

This was the moment where they completely went out of their mind and remembered Kaito's comment on her: if she was "like a blank book", they would make sure to turn her into one.

With the collaboration of the Magic Association, they executed a magic ritual to turn a human being into a magic artifact, engraving a magic tool inside Akiho's body (the infamous book that we will see in its entirety in volume 16, chapter 79. Note, this is DIFFERENT from the white Book of Time guarded by Momo that Akiho carries with her everywhere). We never saw entirely the scene of the crime, but the few flashbacks CLAMP depicted are horrifying enough: Akiho floated over an altar, seemingly tied to it by a chain made of pearls around her ankle. She was completely surrounded by members of the Clan and the Association, and we could even spot both the Clan's and Association's magic circles hovering over and under her. In a particular scene, we saw Sakura in Akiho's place, and she seemed to be suffering. Probably what Akiho herself went through during the real thing. After the successful completion of the procedure, it seems the magicians burned the book they took this taboo ritual from, as a way to have the exclusitivity of the artifact for themselves.

The ritual didn't come without a price though, even for those who executed it. The magicians discussed the toll that such a taboo ritual would take on them, but since their greed was stronger than anything else, they still considered it worth the loss. When the Association's higher members informed Kaito of the successful experiment (and bragged about how magnificent it was), they also mentioned the price they had to pay: several members of both the Clan and the Association lost some magic spells and rituals forever.

It is to be noted that Akiho doesn't seem to have any recollection of this ritual and what happened during it, nor she's ever aware that she carries a magic artifact in herself, so it's pretty much legit to assume they've put her to sleep throughout it. Or....the trauma caused her some memory loss.

Either way, from that moment onwards, Akiho was just considered "an artifact" created and owned by both the Clan and the Magic Association, for their own consumption. The plan was to make little Akiho travel the world to hoard all the magic she could absorb from several grimoires, as that was less risky (in their sick mind) than bringing all the grimoires to her. And in chapter 80, we saw the amount of grimoires that Akiho had unwittingly engraved on herself along the years.

As if this wasn’t horrifying enough, the spell hoarding all the grimoires progressively tried to crush her soul and conscience, until it would get destroyed completely. So when the artifact reached its limit, it would've been the death of Akiho as a human being. Only a shell of her would remain. And judging by what was said by Kaito in volume 8, chapter 35, they actually hoped for her to lose her consciousness completely, so they could make use of her more easily.

As we all know, that's when Kaito decided to step up and change the course of his and Akiho's lives forever, offering himself to accompany her in the travel they planned for her.

Just like in Kaito's case, rehashing Akiho’s past in the Clan is important to understand her personality and behavior fully. CLAMP, in the Clear Card manga, have portrayed the story of her past in a very peculiar way: it starts as any other fairytale, with light tones and cute designs. But as the story progresses, and the horror ensues, the tone of the tale changes, and so the drawing style too. It becomes serious, darker and “realistic” (as opposed to the initial cutesy style). What started as a possible generic fairytale, turned into a real nightmare.

Mokona sensei described Akiho as having "nerves of steel" in a Clamp Space, and that certainly helped the girl surviving her childhood in her Clan. Yet, certain things will simply wreck you up inside, willing or not. And in the flashback of volume 6, chapter 25, we could see Akiho struggling to comfort herself with the fantasy stories she would read to keep herself company. Despite wanting to enjoy them and smile, tears of loneliness still cut through her eyes. The mental abuse the Clan inflicted on Akiho showed its effects throughout the manga, with various moments where the girl's optimistic and cheerful nature would crack at the memory of what she had to endure while she lived with her relatives. Her apologetic behavior, constantly seeking for validation, is another symptom of that trauma. All of this, ignoring that her abuse didn't stop at mere verbal one. Because what they engraved into her with that ritual crosses any boundary and trespasses into physical abuse too. This is truly the most horrific part of Clear Card and it's no surprise that's been received by the fandom with criticism and concern while the serialization was going on.

Yet, I think the fact CLAMP wanted to introduce and depict the abuse these two magic groups perpetrated *in Cardcaptor Sakura*, of all stories, totally makes sense and in the next paragraph I will hopefully explain why.

How Sakura Was Affected By Them

Now that we have eviscerated both the Magic Association and the Squids Clan in every possible aspect, it's time to look at what CLAMP tried to depict through their presence in the story and what kind of role they have in the journey of self-understanding and growth for the main character Sakura Kinomoto. None of this is possible without taking in consideration all that I've explained above. ☝️

Truthfully, the Association + the Clan touched and affected (or we should say wrecked) Kaito and Akiho the most, directing their dangerous attentions towards Sakura only a couple of times. But they were very important for her growth too, since they represented the first "taste" of what awaits her as one of the most powerful magicians out there, and they led her to make the most important decision she's ever made till that moment.

After all, Eriol said it loud and clear. Powerful magicians are naturally drawn to Sakura, since she is a powerful magician herself. And Sakura was meant to meet all the magicians she encountered throughout her story.

The first point of "contact" with these two groups of criminals happened in volume 6, chapter 27, in the infamous scene of Fujitaka's library. The strong energy present in that place (capable to protect Clow Reed's book and the guardians) triggered the artifact inside Akiho, opening it (almost) completely. It was heartbreaking to watch Akiho push Sakura away with the last crumble of consciousness left in her, seemingly to protect her, before the Clan and the Association took control of her body through the artifact and started commenting on Sakura's powers. Several members of the two groups, both male and female voices, took turns in talking through Akiho, almost as if they possessed her. A scene that, if they'll decide to keep it in the anime adaptation, will be creepy at horror movie levels. Of course this is another one of those details that was completely lost in the English translation, as they didn't keep the difference in fonts that you can see in the Japanese one, hence you don't understand that it's not Akiho speaking, but most importantly there are several people speaking through her. I think what's most disturbing of this depiction is how it conveys perfectly how much they consider Akiho a property. A property they can exploit and literally manipulate and make use of as they please.

As soon as the Clan and the Association realized who Sakura was (till that moment she was very likely shielded by that protective spell that Eriol and Kaho applied on the girl, the same that Momo and Kaito had to see through to find her), they immediately tried to absorb her power into Akiho. That, as I've pointed out earlier on, would've instantly meant the death of Akiho's soul, as her "capacity" was almost full by the time she reached Tomoeda. This attempt will be foiled by Kaito through time rewind at his own expense, but the criminals will try again in volume 7, chapter 34, when Sakura used her magic in stopped time. This triggered Akiho's artifact again, and this time they successfully managed to trap Sakura into the big book that emerged beneath Akiho's feet (the same scene we saw afterwards in chapter 70, once the artifact passed to Kaito). Once she was inside the book implanted in Akiho, thanks to her intuitive powers Sakura was able to see a flashback of the moment when Akiho was turned into a magic artifact, living it (and suffering it) from Akiho's point of view. Even this attempt to absorb Sakura's power was foiled by Kaito once again, with a time rewind.

In chapter 46 Syaoran mentioned the existence of the Clan to Sakura after seeing their robe in her dream. Other than that, Sakura won't come in direct contact with them again till the end of the story (the attacks at the fake moon were triggered automatically and they didn't have a direct intervention from the Squids/Association), but I'm pretty sure that once she regained all the memories of the un-rewritten world (including the memories erased by the time-rewinds, as we can see in some scenes featured in the "film strips"), she had already pretty much connected all the dots, hence why she proposed to Kaito and Akiho to erase their existence from the memories "of those people".

At the moment of the climax in chapter 78/79, Sakura finds herself in a situation where she starts to grasp that behind Akiho, the real Akiho, and this guy she doesn't remember but who's Akiho's most important person, there are people who want to hurt them. She doesn't know much, just what Akiho told her in bits and pieces throughout the story, but that's already enough for her to come to a very important conclusion (and decision).

The conclusion that in front of straight-up cruelty, she can't compromise, she can't keep being the good little girl who tries to be everybody's friend. Cruelty is inexcusable in Sakura's eyes, as it should be. All the more if the ones being hurt are people who are important to her.

Sakura finally learns with her very own eyes that in this world there isn't only the love, protection and comfort she grew up in, but there's wickedness and evil too. That such cruelty isn't a "far away thing" but it can actually hurt people very, very close to her. Of course, CLAMP calibrated on the target audience the depictions of such cruelty and Sakura's involvement with it, never crossing certain lines. The culmination of this realization is Sakura's decision to erase the existence of her friends from their abusers' memories, saying "What I'm about to do is probably not right, but I can't be on everyone's side". I thought that was one of the most powerful, most empowering messages that CLAMP hammered in our brains with Clear Card's finale. Our Sakura isn't a perfect, spotless angel. Within reason, she will stain her moral record a little bit, if it's necessary to protect the people important to her.

And here it's the right moment to introduce the symbology of the Magic Association and the Clan in this story. This is strictly connected to why Sakura made that decision, and why CLAMP decided to not have Sakura confronting the magicians directly.

A Message of Hope Through Social Commentary

Long time ago I had a very interesting discussion with a Japanese CCS fan on Twitter. This fan was wondering why the two groups seemed so important, like the source of all the problems behind this arc, yet they kept being depicted with their cloaks and headpieces pulled up, effectively hiding their identities from the readers' eyes. And the fan had found a very valid reason for it.

One of Ohkawa's private Twitter Spaces pretty much confirmed it for me, later on. Back then the topic was "prejudice" and chatting away, she ended up discussing a bit about CCS and particularly about Kaito's behavior in the chapters that were being serialized at the time. Her message between the lines was clearly "I know you think of him in a certain way right now, but don't let your better judgement be consumed by prejudice. When this story will be over, try to reconsider his behavior". The whole Space was centered on her effort in everyday's life to not let prejudice rule her decisions and assessment of situations.

With Clear Card's story over, I can finally attest that it truly was a story where CLAMP constantly tested our prejudices, time and time again. Not only with Kaito, but with Syaoran and other characters too. And the Japanese fan I was mentioning above explained that in their idea, the reason why CLAMP kept the Squids and Association's faces hidden the whole time was to prevent us from applying a prejudice over them too.

Their appearances don't matter. They can become distracting. This story isn't about them. It doesn't matter what skin color they have, if they're tall or short, if their hair is blonde or dark. We barely know they are located in England, we don't even have a name to call them with. Inside this story, all we need to know about them and focus on are their intentions and actions. Their actions are what define them and what we should be judging them for.

And that's when I realized the "no faces" approach also allowed for CLAMP to turn these two groups of people into a symbolic representation of abusive systems. Thanks to the fact that they're faceless, the readers can literally see in them whatever they can relate to basing on their own experiences: abusive families, exploitative working environments, but also modern society on a larger scale. Never doubt for one moment that CLAMP aren't still doing social commentary in their latest works, even after all these years.

Particularly, in this story Akiho's family is "just" a magic clan, but on a metaphorical level they are the representation of abusive families that burden children with expectations that destroy them psychologically. Think about how strong this metaphor is: "the spell that's been activated on Akiho by her clan will suffocate her soul until it gets destroyed completely, making her easier to manipulate" which is like saying "the family loads the children with lots of expectations, so much that they end up losing their identity, becoming 'puppets' of their family members". Some time ago I've read of a disabled Japanese fan who saw themselves in Akiho's character. Her lack of powers and the way she was treated by her family reminded the fan of their own disability, and what they had to endure everyday due to society's expectations and ableism. They were grateful to CLAMP for introducing a character like Akiho, with a story like hers, and that Sakura and all the Tomoeda kids accepted her and loved her for who she was.

In this way, it becomes clear that the Squids and the Association are representative of systems and concepts that are just too big for a little child to fight against on their own. And that's indeed what happened in this story to Sakura (and Akiho) too. Those magicians are ruthless, organized in big groups and magically very strong. There's no way an eventual fight would've been on equal footing for her, no matter how strong she is. She's just a 13 years old girl, she shouldn't be taking on herself the burden to go against such an overwhelming danger.

Just like in real life, darkness will always accompany light and evil will always exist alongside good. It's unrealistic and unfair to expect that a child could be facing evil all on their own. Even if they are supported by other dear people, it's just impossible and utopian to hope to eliminate evil from existence like Sakura would've eliminated the Squids and the Association in an eventual magic fight. Sakura is the heroine of the story, yes, but she isn't magically nor mentally equipped for such a thing. CLAMP didn't want to lie to us and to their youngest readers. Some battles might be just too overwhelming to fight, and if there's ONE thing they hammered like crazy in this arc is that, no matter what you do, even if you're protecting someone you love, you always have to remember to keep yourself safe at the same time. Reckless heroism doesn't really benefit anyone. That was valid for Syaoran, for Kaito and for Sakura too, in the end.

That's why CLAMP, through Sakura's choice, decided to not let her have a direct confrontation with those two groups of criminals. Besides, let's be honest. There's no way she could've made them convincingly "change their mind" and pressured them to turn suddenly into good people with just a couple of idealistic phrases. It would've honestly looked like a joke and an insult to all the readers who had to endure abuses in their own lives. Oh, how nice, Sakura turned the Big Bad Evils into good people! ...Sure, but what about the pain, neglect and suffering that were inflicted on those who were just little children? Erased by wiping those people's slates clean?

Honestly, the only viable way that wouldn't have insulted the reader's intelligence would've been a straight-up violent fight, and that would've been not only jarring to see in CCS, where violence is certainly not how you solve problems, but also probably resulted in Sakura's death. Which of course, no one wanted to see.

So what do we do when we find ourselves in front of an evil too big to confront, too big to fight on our own? We just give up? We just succumb?

Nope. That's indeed why CLAMP have Sakura deciding to erase the memories as an ultimate, well calculated attempt to free Akiho and Kaito from the grasp of their abusers and at the same time stop the attacks that were threatening to kill all of them. Instead of focusing the resolution of the problem on the abusers, engaging in a fight with them that would've probably worsened the situation, she decided to prioritize the people she loves and ensure their safety first and foremost. I believe CLAMP never wanted to make it all about Sakura vs. Evil Magicians in the finale. That's not the kind of story they wanted to tell. I believe their constant focus and concern in the finale was the marginalized, abused party and how Sakura could help them out from her "privileged" position of a girl blessed with love and protection from all sides. How she could make use of her gifts (both her magic power but also her safety network of people she loves and who love her in return) to do good. Real, effective good.

So, summarizing all the above: by not showing any of the Squids/Association's faces or names, CLAMP successfully conveyed the idea that in the climax Sakura didn't judge and repelled individuals, but rather, the systems they were representing. Sakura didn't oppose "Mark, blue eyes and dark hair" "Elizabeth, green eyes and blonde hair" but actually their systems AND their actions, the atrocities they committed. And what I appreciated is that she didn't need for Akiho to tell her every single thing about her past in order to make her decision, because that's something for Akiho to disclose IF and WHEN she'll feel ready to. She just needed to hear and concretely see that her friends were being literally hunted, and let herself be guided by her affection for Akiho. Sakura did all of this prioritizing her abused friends, the oppressed minority (here it comes out again the topic of minorities so dear and precious to the CCS franchise) while ALSO protecting herself, by not engaging in any dangerous fight with those horrible people.

CLAMP's message for all those children (and even adults) who are suffering for situations that are just too big to defeat on their own, is to first and foremost figure out how to break away from the abusive environment. Run away (like Kaito did), cut ties (like Sakura helped to do), find help so that the poison can't reach you and bring you down again. You have to look for help first and foremost, but also find in yourself the will to be helped.

Akiho and Kaito received help from Sakura, but they also wanted to be helped by her (that's the part where Sakura asked them for their consent on the memory-erasing spell not one, but THREE times). And that's pivotal. The two things are interconnected and salvation isn't possible if you don't genuinely find in yourself the will to be saved.

Once you can break away from the source of abuse, you can start again. You can take control of your life once again, lick your wounds, heal, move on and find happiness again. That's the concept of "we won't go back, we'll go on" that echoed loud and clear in Sakura's words during the finale.

I think the wish that inspired CLAMP while they were writing Clear Card's story is that any of their readers who are stuck in suffering can hopefully find their own support system.

Though the "Clans" or "Magic Associations" will keep existing out there, we don't have to face them alone. Our loved ones can help us getting out of that toxic environment and never look back.

[colie-nne]

mystery solved

pairings: formula 1 grid x fem driver!oc

warnings: none

a/n: hello, this is the first fic of my Valiente series, there's more information about Valentina in my previous posts. Feel free to request or share some ideas, I would gladly do them if it fits.

December 21, 2020

Throughout the 2020 season, fans as well as media personnel are unable to comprehend Alfa Romeo’s plans for next year’s season. Rumours have circulated that an upcoming driver will soon join in on the race and would continue to break records as well as the news as long as they are seated. However, after a year of keeping information confidential, a legend in the sport had maybe managed to ruin their plans to surprise the world.

A video posted by Formula 1 themselves— F1 Drivers Look Back On Their 2020 Predictions!— gained massive attention after the statement of the one and only, The Iceman, Kimi Raikkonen set the entirety of the association in flames.

Read more below

“It says that Mercedes will finish in first place,” Kimi had stated, showing the scribble filled card to the camera.

Entertained, the interviewer can only laugh, “Is that what it says?” Kimi who’s clearly just there for the entertainment went along, “ Yeah, it says finish- uhh Mercedes,” pointing at this writing one the paper to emphasize that he in fact predicted that Merceds had indeed won.

“Second is uhh- it’s there cause it will soon happen,” he nonchalantly says, which interested the interviewer to push through, “What does the second one say?”

“It says V’s seat confirmed and then a tick mark,” directly as he looks off to the side. “V? You mean by Vettel? Are you confirming a seat for Sebastian Vettel in Alfa Romeo for the next formula 1 season?” inquiring him, Kimi can only shake his head for a no.

“A-No, Not him. But I was still right, what a surprise!”

The clip not only added fuel to the fire but pictures of an unidentified fellow had also surfaced online. A person was reportedly seen attending to as well as entering Alfa Romeo’s garages and motorhome, they were also seen around the paddock with McLaren’s very own Lando Norris. 

McLaren’s CEO Zak Brown had denied the team's connection with the mystery person. Alfa Romeo's CEO has also chosen to not speak up about the rumours. However, pieces of evidence from the past month can serve as hints that this unknown person would be the new Alfa Romeo driver.

January 2021

Just in! Alfa Romeo confirmed the rumours that have been circulating since the beginning of late last year. The Formula 1 team also released the identity of their upcoming driver as pictures of them had been released at the end of last year.

Valentina Corbyn is known to be the one who won the 2015 European Championship, followed by the world title in 2016 and is the only female in the line-up during that time. Her future despite being unclear when she started her karting career, had flourished throughout the years and had managed to sign a contract with the Alfa Romeo F1 Team and would soon be driving alongside Kimi Raikkonen.

It may be surprising to some but the 18-year-old's contract had been ongoing for two years before her initial signing in early 2020. In signing with Alfa Romeo along with a seat in this year's season, the team has also confirmed that she will be replacing Antonio Giovinazzi, who will be the team's reserve.

In appointing her as the replacement for Giovinazzi, will her dreams lead her and the team to higher places or will it be its downfall?

[mickeys-malarkey]

Pt. 3/3: My BATDR Timeline & Plot Twist Theories!

First, I think both BATIM and BATDR take place sometime between 1978 and 1991. I already suspected BATDR was happening in the ‘80s based on the fact that card readers – which have featured in many of the environment screenshots we've seen – were invented in 1979...

…and Audrey's clothes and hairstyle look very 1980s.

Then they released the images of Audrey's office, where her chair and desk lamps also look very 1980s, and the wallpaper and flooring looks pretty 1970s…

…and @inkdemonapologist pointed out that the type of bankruptcy we see documents for in Joey's apartment didn't exist until 1978…

…and I remembered that Joey's apartment also had a newspaper whose headline took place in the future— Princess Diana's 30th birthday which, as TetraBitGaming on YouTube pointed out, would be in 1991 since Princess Diana was born in 1961. She should be two years old if BATIM were really taking place in 1963!

Maybe, at the time, they didn't mean for these two to be clues, since they seem to have rolled the date backwards a bit from the newspaper one; but at this point it feels pretty clear when BATDR takes place, to me. And I'm even more certain than I already was, after finding out that this image from the JDS website…

…is titled “museum” (good work yoinking it, @halfusek /gen 👍🏻), that we know the ink dimension's new home: Nathan Arch Sr.'s private Joey Drew Studios museum that he mentioned he was curating in TIOL (meaning it's existed since around 1972).

“Over the years, I have collected every single piece of the studio memorabilia I could find to restore it to its former glory, to create, in a sense, a private museum that gleamed with the true vision of Joey Drew…” ~ Nathan Arch, The Illusion of Living, pg. 2

Also, besides the fact the museum image has clearly aged, here's some more evidence that at least a few years have probably passed since Bendy was purchased: it generally takes a fair bit more time (years!!) to make movies/documentaries, as Archgate Pictures seems to have made about Joey, than it does to make shorts.

As for BATIM, I think that time has been moving as normal outside of the loop, we were just seeing a repeat of that significant day in 1963; Henry and Joey have been trapped in the ink dimension for somewhere between twenty and thirty years, and the bankruptcy paperwork and Princess Diana newspaper were pieces of the real world leaking into the memory. This explains how there seems to be evidence of Audrey in BATIM and how BATDR is still supposedly neither sequel nor prequel to BATIM despite all the evidence that it takes place long after 1963! They're happening at the same time!! I wonder if Audrey is the daughter of the little girl we hear at the end of BATIM? So, Henry's (great-)granddaughter or Joey's (great-)great-niece?

Now, onto my big theory: the plot twist.

If they handle it right, it would be really, really cool if “break the cycle” really doesn't just mean “end the time loop” but also “break the cycle of abuse/trauma” and a lot of the huge cast of not-so-innocent characters wind up with the potential to get redemption arcs. I have an idea of exactly how they might be planning on even providing the opportunity for Joey.

Victor McKnight commented this on his Artistic Hallowing music video and pinned it:

Those last two sentences. “Make sure you're watching every second! You don't want to miss any vital information. 😉” Does that not sound to anyone else like he's got insider information? Now, I want y'all to watch these music videos that either Victor himself or his brother Noah were suspiciously involved in all of (and one of which is supposedly a BATDS song but for some reason involves Audrey) and tell me if you notice any patterns.

This one seems to be a duet between Sammy and the Ink Demon, both singing to Audrey. Sammy mostly sings in the default sepiatone, asking us things like “Can you see me? Can you feel me?” (that feels so… sad… and desperate…) and telling us things like “make sense of the consequence we witnessed on that day” (Excuse me, you're telling me that there was a consequence for something on a specific, significant day that we witnessed?? 👀) The demon, on the other hand, mostly sings when the grayscale effect is on, and seems to just be playing a stereotypical villain roll until you notice “be forced to believe what I see” (why would we even give a crap about what you're seeing /srs? How the actual heck would we see what you're seeing /gen? You don't even have eyeballs, bro /j) and “be damned in this evil received” (how do you receive evil that damns you? Maybe by being abused and becoming an abuser in response?).

Two apparently-separate characters singing with the same voice but very different tones and outlooks on the situation, still both singing to Audrey, in this one. One mostly sings in the default sepiatone, again, at first seeming more hopeful, helpful, and friendly until you start noticing ominous comments like “you've made mistakes, accept the change. You will be punished too” (*incoherent noises* 🚨🚨) and “welcome to my dream . . . you still think you are safe in my dream.” The other mostly sings when the grayscale effect is on, again, and seems much more aggressive and seductive until you start noticing comments like “take up your weapons, just leave my friends be” (why is this stereotypically evil-seeming character both telling us to take up weapons, not just letting us have them, and asking us to leave his friends alone with them?).

More hints that the demon who will rise and presumably is most important to the story is linked to grayscale, in this one.

And, in this one, Sammy's asking if the grayscale-linked demon is the one who will set him free (as he claims to be in the first two videos).

Across all four of these first videos, there seems to be an overall “things change when we switch from the default sepiatone to grayscale” and “grayscale is dangerous and seems hopeless but it's important and linked to truth and freedom” theme…

…You're telling me that Sammy and his followers' past (BATIM?) selves were worshipping an imposter demon…? And the truth will be revealed in BATDR…?

Hum, hum, hum… fascinating. I'd noticed the sepiatone vs. grayscale split and imposter vs. true savior thing long before I read the books; for the longest time, I thought it meant we would be dealing with a Henry-Bendy and a Joey-Bendy, as I've been seeing people theorizing. But then I read TIOL, and discovered what I think is evidence that this info is indeed canon and was not left on the cutting room floor while BATDR was in development limbo.

Nathan makes a very strange note on Joey's story about the Sparkle Unicorn speakeasy…

“…I remember this night well. Though I remember it being at the Bee Room, gold and black, not silver as the main design aesthetic. Doesn't really make much of a difference though, I suppose.” ~ Nathan Arch, The Illusion of Living, pg. 44 (emphasis added)

Nathan remembers that night in sepiatone, Joey remembers it in grayscale.

Now, I've seen all kinds of theories all over about how Wilson actually “banished/killed the ink demon…” “Wilson took advantage of some sort of blip in Bendy's existence that happened when Joey died,” “Wilson got rid of him by purifying him and turning him into Dapper Bendy,” “Wilson got rid of him by fusing him with either Henry or Joey,” “Wilson got rid of him by trapping him in Henry's loop,” “he didn't, Wilson's just another liar manipulating everyone,” etc…

What if we're looking at this from the wrong angle? What if the point is that, whatever happened, neither of the BATDR Bendys is the original soulless monster we see in BATIM and the books? What if, whether they share a body or are separate, there are two human souls involved here? What if one of those souls is the “new evil” in the ink dimension, not Wilson, who may have been meddling in ink dimension affairs since 1963?

Going back to the time frame I propose BATDR is happening in… Joey was born in 1901, which means that if Nathan was 18 or 19 when Joey was just turning 16, then he was born in 1899 or 1898. So, in 1978, Nathan would've been 79 or 80, and in 1991 he would've been 92 or 93. Especially considering the clues that point towards Nathan having been a smoker, it wouldn't surprise me if he's straight-up already dead in BATDR. Mayhaps for 211 days? During Loop 414…? Could this be why the BATIM loop is different, with Henry apparently not remembering anything that previous versions of himself could? The now-previous owner of their prison has died of old age and/or lung cancer? And could that be why the JDS museum has fallen into bankruptcy? Has Nathan Jr. taken over and isn't as ruthless a businessman as his father?

Itsjustjord on YouTube pointed this out in his trailer reaction, which when he said it set my Clue Radar off so that I went to the trailer again to get a closer look. And… well… *clears throat*

…Do y'all see this weird effect over Dapper Bendy? Compared to every other character we see in the trailer as well as the environment around him, does it not look as if we're seeing him, specifically, through some sort of cartoony filter? Maybe it'll only be in circumstances like this (far away in weird lighting) that the edges of the illusion will fray in-game, based on the other teaser image we have of him, but it definitely looks off to me.

Especially with what I now suspect Allison and Susie's situations were in relation to Nathan, I think that the ink creatures’ perfection vs. imperfection has nothing to do with how pure/good vs. impure/evil their hearts are as we've been lead to believe/is the conventional surface-level reading, but instead how intact vs. broken their hearts are. I think that the more horrific the ink being's appearance, the more the soul inside was abused while it was alive. Allison isn't a perfect Alice because she's a better person, it's because she obeyed Nathan and wasn't made to suffer as severely as Susie, who Nathan chose to be his next Isabel. So, why is one new Bendy (apparently created after Joey lost everything, I suspect even being made to watch his Shoulder Angel's murder before being murdered himself) so much scarier than the original (created before Joey lost everything) and the other so goshdarn perfect, proportions and all?

Maybe the banning of everything related to Sammy's demon cult and Henry under Wilson's rule has to do with his decades-old mission to keep the Creators from joining forces, as well as everyone including himself feeling like they're finally free from The Great Puppet Master?

I love Dapper Bendy's design as much as everyone else!! He's positively adorable, and it would also be a nice outcome if the baby boy is exactly what he seems and just a precious lil friend to love forever; but I theorize that Dapper Bendy is the perfectly sane, untraumatized, and truly evil one, that (assuming we actually get choices in BATDR, unlike in BATIM) his route, no matter how things seem in the moment, is the wrong one, that he's Nathan. And I think Freaky Teeth Bendy (that's been my nickname for him since we first saw him and I'm sticking to it lolol) is the damaged as heck but able to be saved one, that his route is the correct one, that he's Joey. I also think that we won't get to see either demon for what they really are – won't be able to get the True, Broken Cycle, “Joey's Redeemed & Nathan Faces Justice” Ending – unless we somehow unlock Grayscale Mode like we could in BATIM and gain the ability to see Joey's truth. Until then, we'll be seeing the demons the way Nathan wants us to see them. Through Nathan's tainted, gaslighting, sepiatone filter.

If I'm right, the fact that they did choose these color palettes is so perfectly poetic~! Sepiatone is what happens when black-and-white images have been chemically altered for preservation purposes; Nathan's altered our perception of himself, Joey, and all the events surrounding them, and his version of events is much more resilient. Meanwhile, Joey's would be more pure and unaltered but easily destroyed— including by himself, with his Illusion of Living coping mechanism… The only thing that could make it more perfect is if not only do we get to see Henry in BATDR, but when we do he's an angelic toon… *Vibrates with excitement*

Please, please, please, JDS, let me be right about where you're going with this!! Cause this would genuinely be so freaking cool…!! 🙏🏻 I hope that we eventually get to “rejoice with our founders,” as Artistic Hallowing says, when they're reunited.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk, rofl. Congratulations on making it through the ramblings of a hyped AuDHD fangirl (though, I guess we already knew you were capable, if you've read TIOL. I could do a whole nother rant on evidence that Joey's basically confirmed canonically ADHD(+?), my freaking gosh). 😝

Read the Rest of the Original Analysis/Theory: Part One • Part Two • Unexpected Part Four

BATDR Analysis/Post-Playthrough Theory Revision: Part One • Part Two • Part Three • Part Four

[oldsargasso]

4 minutes theories as of ep3

a little theorising for 4 Minutes based on the first 3 episodes because this show is itching my brain in the best way. and said brain is actually working a little today (as much as it can) so! mostly just putting this together so I have it all in one place

main theories (mostly things I'm fairly confident of/have strong text support):

Tonkla and Dome are brothers (literally no other reason to introduce Dome otherwise)

Great's visions of the future are actually glimpses of parallel/divergent timelines

You have around ~4 minutes to start CPR to prevent brain injury when someone's heart stops. This is the reason for the 4 minute limit of Great's 'visions': the person coding in hospital at the beginning of ep1 is obviously Great - flatlines at 11.00. he doesn't survive in every timeline (nor does Tyme)

we see Great and Tyme in Timeline 1 (T1). This is the timeline where Great has taken the second option each time - stopped to help the woman he hit, took Dome to the hospital etc.

on-screen Tonkla and the cop are in Timeline 2 (T2). key divergence is Dome's death

the opening ep1 scene of Tyme getting shot is T2 if there's only 2 main timelines

time progresses differently in the different timelines - or we're seeing things non-consecutively

gambling ring server gets hacked in T2, and the scenes of Korn related to that are in T2. but we also see Korn in T1 when he meets up with Great. unsure if the hack happens in T1 as well (where we see Tyme and Nan meet up and she gives him the USB, then Nan gets caught with the safe)

someone close to Tyme died because of the online gambling and that's the reason for his vendetta. Nan is also important to him beyond the access she gives <- going after Korn with a knife in a public area was not a well-thought-out plan.

minor observations & things I need to see more of to get an idea:

Tonkla and the cat he sees during sudden lightning/thunderstorm in ep1. Manee talks about her son with Tyme (and Anne) during a thunderstorm/lightning + Tyme sees Great's name on the card with a lot of significant lightning. ep3 didn't give us lightning but we did get actual rain, same as the beginning of ep1.

Great gets the visions of himself and Tyme the second time he sees him (omg he does get railed on the pool table whew) not the first time he runs into him after fleeing Manee's room

Title's dad is Important (hence the way Title walks around like he's untouchable). he tells Great to let him know if he needs Title's dad to do anything. my assumption is he's one of the crooked cops/shareholders in the gambling.

despite the establishment of the 4 minute rule, Great is clearly seeing himself & Tyme beyond that. also the vision of himself in the gallery with an unknown woman was not 4 minutes away.

strong theme of suicide (Manee's son, Korn's mother). Den is constantly trying to get Tyme to see his patients as people, and warns him against "prolonging the inevitable". we love a little heavy foreshadowing

Very tentative theories based mostly on vibes:

Great drowns, leading to cardiac arrest

Tyme's cup apology to Great is from a/the timeline where he killed Korn

T1-Tonkla is helping work against the gambling ring. Actually rewatching ep1, I thought I remembered his initial scene establishing him as good with computers (potentially the hacker) but all we know is that he'll fix "it". oh well, I'm still guessing this

I haven't looked at anyone else's theories or anything (except for @le-trash-prince's episode posts) so if there's anything that contradicts/supports/etc any of this please let me know! looking forward to the remaining episodes proving me wrong of 90% of this 😌

[charmwasjess]

Speaking of fics in progress for 2024, I haven't forgotten the Milk Run sequel, working title Returning the Sword to the Stone. Synopsis: Master Dooku must attend a formal royal event as a representative of the Jedi Order, and everything completely falls apart from there.

Here's a little chapter 1 snippet of our favorite Seer helping Dooku prep for the event with some tarot cards, hurt feelings, and the phrase "arcane pornography" which is just fun to imagine being said in a Christopher Lee accent:

...

“You know, it’s so strange," Sifo-Dyas gloomed. "...the Council never asks me to go to any fancy dinner events, despite how much fun I am at parties.”

“They do not want to endure your magic card tricks.”  Dooku began to gather up the fortune-telling cards Sifo-Dyas had left strewn across the kitchenette’s counter. 

“Those are important tools of divination, not party tricks.”

Dooku’s frown deepened. They were not. 

Master Sifo-Dyas, Seer of the Force, was the only true oracle in a generation, gifted with the ability to see the glimpses of the future and speak prophecy. He didn't need magic cards, crystal orbs, or palm lines to glance behind the curtain of time and space. He was a true son of the pure Cosmic Force, with all the associated inexplicable and frightening implications of that favor or burden. 

But… he was also Dooku’s oldest childhood friend, a consummate jokester, troublemaker, and a known fool. He thought such fortune-telling talismans were wildly funny, ironic, and so he collected them out of his natural sense of whimsy. 

“Whatever they are, they are a mess. They are all over my quarters. And the art is very disturbing.” Dooku held up a particularly offensive example. “This one appears to feature a man with an erection in place of a head?” He shook it at his friend. “It is lewd, Sifo-Dyas. I'd prefer you to not expose my fifteen-year-old apprentice to your arcane pornography."

“Don’t get excited.” Sifo-Dyas didn’t even look up from his lounging to see what card he was holding. “It’s symbolism. A visual cue pointing to the significance of the card.”

“Yes, I am aware of the meaning of the word symbolism.” Dooku studied the image on the card again, turning it, trying to see how that applied to anything.

“Honestly?” Sifo-Dyas clearly wasn’t finished with the topic of the gala. “I think the last time I wore my dress robes was at your mother’s funeral.” 

“Please don’t remind me of that day.” 

“I’m sorry.” Sifo-Dyas grimaced. “I just meant how long it has been… counting backwards, that was almost twenty years ago…” 

“Speaking of dress robes,” Dooku exhaled through his nose, mechanically changing the topic. “I wonder if I ought to have briefed Jocasta on the dress code as well, or if she will correctly surmise the formality level of the event.” He wasn’t sure on the etiquette of dictating other people’s clothing, and it seemed especially intimidating with Jocasta Nu. 

“Jocasta?” Sifo-Dyas finally did look up from the couch, his dark eyes confused. “Wait, what are you talking about? Why would Jo need formalwear?”

“I told you. I invited her along as my companion for the evening.” Dooku shrugged. He surely had meant to mention it, if he hadn’t. “The invitation specified that I was entitled to bring one additional guest. The whole ordeal seemed like it might be less tiresome with a friend along.” 

"Oh." Sifo-Dyas’s voice grew soft and alarmingly neutral. 

The room’s very alignment seemed to shift. 

It wasn’t really possible, not any true Jedi ability that he knew of, but sometimes, just sometimes, Dooku could have sworn that Sifo-Dyas had the power to stretch time itself when he wanted to create an effect. Now was very much one of those moments. The sudden, awkward silence expanded limitlessly, on and on, in all directions, seeming to permeate Dooku’s very bones. 

“What?” Dooku finally broke, helpless before the technique. 

“Nothing at all.” More of that perfect, neutral voice. Damn him, it was clearly not nothing. 

“If you are seriously complaining about wanting to go, you could trade places with Jocasta and come as my guest instead?” Dooku suggested in a desperate rush.

Sifo-Dyas shoved violently upright and strode to the kitchenette. He collected up his cards to leave, growing terse. “It’s actually considered rather bad manners to exclude someone from something, and then offer them a belated invitation as an afterthought.” 

“I did not exclude you!” Dooku stammered, blocking his exit. He hadn’t done that, had he?

“Get out of my way.”

“Honestly, I did not want to invite either one of you! Neither you nor Jocasta!” 

Even Sifo-Dyas's usual vast grace could not keep the bitter sarcasm out of his voice. "Oh, wonderful! That makes me feel ever so much better! Dare I ask who you actually wanted to bring?”

[moon-goggles]

Generation Loss: The Founders Cut Thoughts

I adore genloss and was there to watch the premiere of the founders cut but one thing I do have a problem with is some of the pacing, and I’ve thought about it a fuck ton believe me but I gotta say some things; I think the cut isn’t perfect but IT IS interesting, it adds a lot to the project as a whole actually despite the cuts and it’s great to introduce to others who are intimidated by the vods who aren’t actively interested in the people playing as these characters BUT, it loses a lot of context for why and how it’s so horrifying as a concept unlike the og material.

I appreciated the pacing of the first episode but it lost some key contexts like GL!Charlie’s grandma and GL!Ranboo generally fucking up his place and other details that really built more onto how they were being controlled which thematically connect to the horrors you experience in episode two.

Episode two was already, quite long in the og vod and frankly not my favourite (hot take I know),,, but it was missing the horror of Charlie? Like what makes that surgery so jarring is how it was presented and it left me sitting there a little disappointed as it’s my favorite part. The episode felt very filler and it once again, takes over a majority of the three episodes due to its content and nothing wrong with that but the pacing felt slow and drawn out after the Candy Room. The pacing and editing could’ve been done differently for the rest of that episode in my op. Especially after the fast pacing and clean editing in the first episode. I don’t think it necessarily should’ve gone fast like the cabin in the woods, because the theming of that episode was about puzzles and such, but I don’t feel the time they used was necessary for the story or idea of everything being a game for the show YKNOW?

Episode three of course, my favorite beloved, not much had to be changed or cut as the pacing was already mostly planned well and efficiently from it being pre-recorded toward the end for cinematic feels, I don’t really have any complaints toward it except for the fact that it’s prior episodes lost the impact or context needed to bring you to the conclusion as an ultimate horror realization. GL!Ranboo saying thank you was such an added moment and HETCH actually being colder and directive toward them was good chilling touches but once again I feel that thank you isn’t as holy shit without some of the context you get from the og material cuz it was cut.

The ending was DEFINITELY worth the wait it left me intrigued and excited because it connected and set off the premise of smth beyond generation 1 and I’m pretty excited for what’s to come—

But overall the whole project, I knew it would be cut and edited as seen fit as states “THE FOUNDERS CUT” and that there was possibility for tidbits of lore that added on. I got exactly what was expected and was told we were going to get I just feel it leaves a bit lacking for the reasons stated earlier. This honestly could be somewhat of an intention because it is the FOUNDER’s cut, and what the FOUNDER wants shown despite the screen card for episode three about it not being something you’re supposed to see.

The whole premise of generation loss’ title losing some of its media and context for the cut and the way its perceived as a whole is honestly really smart and cool if you know the og material and I’m still stuck on if that was intentional by any means or not besides the obvious decisions for the audience to see where GL!Ranboo repeats himself over and over, the surgery’s horror being skewed, and HETCH acting as somebody being worth trusted as he did in the og, and etc. Because clearly, it was intentional but I’m not sure it was presented in the best way possible.

The additions tho once again I quite appreciated, getting to see that the food in episode one was horrific for a split second and GL!Ranboo’s past for those split seconds as well, very nice. Also the Showfall Media Mascot, Squiggles, having his very own animation was neat too tho his chat box almost never going up because of the cuts made it feel strange when it did show up in my op. And of course the new voiceover additions and tape at the end added so much tonal wise and made me rethink and evaluate what I assume as the consumer of this world’s lore, which I quite enjoy and appreciate!

[arthurdrakoni]

Seen and Not Heard is an audio drama that makes the bold choice to depict the experience of deafness in an audio medium. And it does so quite well. This is my review.

Audio drama, and audio fiction in general, is the last place you’d expect to find people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Despite this, there are a surprising number of such individuals involved in the world of audio drama. And it isn’t just fans. In fact, @seenandnotheardpod is an audio drama created by a deaf individual. 

Seen and Not Heard follows a young woman named Bet Kline. She has recently lost most of her hearing as a result of an unspecified illness. The series follows a few weeks in Bet’s life as she tries to navigate her now mostly soundless new life. She has to deal with her rather insensitive mother. She meets a nice young man named David, who might be more than he appears. More than anything, Bet has to decide what she wants out of her new life. 

I first become aware of Seen and Not Heard when it got recommended to me on that “You Might Also Like” section of the Apple Podcast app. The first thing that stood out to me was the title card. You see a circle of hands using sign language. That, plus the title, clearly indicated that this would be something involving deafness. A non-fiction podcast about deafness would certainly be odd, but not necessarily out of the question. But this was recommended based on my recent listening. Surly, it couldn’t be an audio drama about deafness, could it? I tapped the cover art, and sure enough, that’s exactly what it was. 

I admit that this show had a certain dancing bear element to it. It’s not everyday that you find an audio drama where the main character is deaf. Oh, but that’s not the only unusual feature about Seen and Not Heard. You see, it is also created by a deaf individual. Series creator @saucymincks, who uses they/them pronouns, is legally deaf. They describe themselves as being exactly halfway between fully hearing and fully deaf. So, they have some hearing, but it is less than optimal. They often get help from their friends to make sure that the audio from their podcasts is correct and up to snuff. And yes, that’s podcasts plural. Caroline Mincks has made several other podcasts besides just Seen and Not Heard. They have also worked on several other audio dramas, and have helped make transcripts for several shows. Speaking of which, transcripts are available on the Seen and Not Heard Twitter account. 

And Caroline isn’t alone. As it turns out, there are a surprisingly high number of deaf and/or hard of hearing individuals who enjoy audio dramas. They come because the shows all seem interesting, and they want to take partake in them. Just the same as hearing people do. This is why it is important to include transcripts with your audio dramas. Without them, it is very difficult for deaf and hard of hearing individuals to enjoy audio dramas. Also, transcripts are very handy for people who write reviews of audio dramas. 

Now, prior to listening to Seen and Not Heard, I’d had a less than stellar experience with depictions of deafness in audio dramas. The only other time I’d seen deafness in audio dramas was in The AM Archies; which is season six of The Bright Sessions. There’s a scene between a hearing character and a deaf character. The deaf character communicates using sign language, which is conveyed by a series of barely audible wind rushing noises. I actually had to rewind multiple times to just to figure out what the hell I was listening to. It didn’t help that Lauren Shippen bragged about how groundbreaking the scene was on Twitter. She came across less as someone who wanted to sincerely depict deafness, and more like she was cynically trying to virtue signal. It also didn’t help that the characters only appeared in that one scene, and had no impact on the plot.  

I went into Seen and Not Heard with an open mind, but I was fully prepared for it to be terrible. Much to my surprise, Seen and Not Heard proved to be quite well-written, and took great care to execute it premise in an entirely audio medium. There is strong feeling of sincerity and genuine care being put forward. This is clearly a very intimate subject for Caroline Mincks, and they wanted to do the topic of deafness proper justice in an audio medium. I alway give points to those who act with sincerity and genuine conviction.

We get a few scenes where we actually get to hear what things are like from Bet’s perspective. It sounds like she has her head underwater. I could kind of make out a couple words and phrases, but I was fairly lost during those scenes. Of course, that’s the point of those scenes. We’re suppose to sympathize and empathize with Bet’s struggles. Bet communicates verbally both in interactions with other characters and her internal monologue. Bet was not born deaf, so presumably she remembers the mechanics of talking. It is also mentioned that she can lip read, and can somewhat better understand people if she’s facing them. She does enroll in a sign language class. She’s the only actual deaf person in the class. Pretty much everyone else has family of significant others who are deaf or hard of hearing. 

I do wonder how much of Seen and Not Heard is autobiographical. It didn’t escape my notice that Bet and Caroline Mincks share a number of similarities. They are both Jews from northern Virginia. Many of the foods that Bet cooks and eats are also ones I’ve seen Caroline mentioning cooking on Twitter. They also seem to be fairly similar in terms of personality. There’s also the obvious similarity that they are both deaf to the same degree. 

There’s a bonus episode where Caroline Mincks gives advice on how do write deaf characters, as well as a bit about what it is like to be a deaf audio drama creator. They said it is considered rude to ask deaf people how they became deaf. Be that as it may, given all of the other similarities between Bet and Caroline, I can’t help but wonder. I also wonder how much of the plot draws from Caroline’s own life. There are some differences, like how Caroline identifies as non-binary, while Bet identifies as female. However, I also don’t know how Caroline identified when Seen and Not Heard was made. 

I should also mention that, in addition to being the series creator, Caroline as provides the voice for Bet. Caroline gives a very earnest and heartfelt performance. It was quite clear, as with everything else, that this was a very personal subject for Caroline. Caroline also assembled a team of very talented voice actors to help bring the other characters to life.

Caroline has hinted that we might be getting a season 2 of Seen and Not Heard at some point.  I’m certainly on-board if that does come to pass.

Have you listened to Seen and Not Heard?  If so, what did you think?

Link to the full review on my blog: https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-audio-file-seen-and-not-heard.html?m=1

[bigfootsboytoy]

Partly inspired by This Post, but here is my vision for the start of OFMD season 2. 

We open with Stede trying to sqeeze the crew of the revenge onto his tiny little rowboat, our first title card spelled out in rocks on the shore of the tiny island they were marooned on They make their way to try and find the revenge, while the crew fill Stede in on Eds descent into heartbroken madness. Meanwhile, back on the revenge, Izzy has managed to convince Ed that they should find the toughest pirate ship around and wage war. He needs to assert dominance and reclaim his place as the most fearsome pirate out there. Jim and Frenchie are forced to watch and assist as they plan what is surely a suicide mission. The rest of the episode is a comedy of errors, where the crew finally reach the revenge in the middle of a grand battle. People reunite, some hilarious battles go down, and yet Stede and Ed keep barely missing eachother, never quite coming face to face. 

At the height of the battle, the mast of the revenge has been hit by canon-fire and is going down. Just before it crashes to the deck, right onto Ed, Stede pushes him out of the way. They made eye contact as they’re sprawled on the deck, chaos around them, and we cut to credits.* 

Then, episode 2 opens with Ed and Stede together in bed. Discarded clothes are all around the captains cabin, and they’re clearly very naked and very satisfied. Izzy opens the door only to back away slowly when he catches sight of him. The titlecard is spelled out on Stedes discarded robe. 

The rest of the episode is told in a backwards format, showing the reuinion between Ed and Stede, as well as the crew of the revenge trying to fix the mast of the ship so that they can sail again. The ship can’t sail without a working mast, and the crew can’t function without captains who are happy together again. During this time we watch Izzy losing himself to his rage, and Jim finding Lucius who had locked himself in the same trunk that Jim locked him in before.    Ed and Stede talk, finally admitting their feelings fully and explaining what happened while the other was gone. There’s bumps in the road, of course. Stede isn’t happy that Ed threw Lucius overboard and marooned his crew. Ed is still reeling from beliveing he had been abandoned. Luckily Lucius is able to provide some group therapy. 

The final scene shows that the mast has been repaired, and this whole backwards story has been Lucius relaying the events to Frenchie, who was knocked unconcious when the mast fell. When asked why the story is out of order Lucius says he mixed up the pages, but “I prefer the drama of telling it backwards, so I just left them like that.” 

We see our co-captains, happily watching the crew while they sit around the new mast. It's a little messy, kinda lopsided, but it works again. Doesn't have to be perfect to sail the ship.                                                                                        Stede has his head leaned on Ed's shoulder but then he pauses.                    "Oh, wait. There's one more thing I think we have to talk about."                    "And what would that be mate?"                                                                              "The way you decided to throw out perfectly beautiful fabric like this. I'm a little mad to be honest. Furious even."                                                                      Except despite claiming anger, he's smiling at Ed when he pulls out the red cloth.                                                                                                                      "You found it."                                                                                                  "Blew right in my face while I was trying to find you. Might have some blood on it now but it blends right in, can't even see it."                                                        And he puts it back into his pocket. Then Ed gives him a sly littke grin.                  "Waste of time. You're just gonna pull it out again when you tear my clothes off." "I will NOT I gave you those clothes!" And they walk inside together, bickering about clothes, feeling at peace for the first time in a very long time. 

The final shot of the episode is the red cloth, now flying alongside the flag of the revenge.

*My partner @raspberryjerry is of the opinion that in this moment, when they lock eyes, the song that should be playing is Brandy (You’re A Fine Girl) by Looking Glass. So please feel free to envision that song specifically with this scene 

[da-floof]

Cross wands-a generically titled comedy/somewhat creepy Hogwarts legacy romance.

AUTHOR NOTE:

First off I don’t own the Harry Potter series this is merely fan work and I don’t own Hogwarts legacy as a franchise OR AS A GAME. No I don’t own the game, no one makes money off of me writing anything so don’t @ me complaining.

“No…”

The pearlescent sheen of Amortentia shudders with your own shaking view, your hands gripping the desk become sweaty.

“No, it can’t be…” you desperately bargain against fate, despite knowing the cards are already well in place.

They’ve been so for many months.

However only now can you admit it.

Your shaking gets worse, you swallow loudly, glancing over at one of the large glass containers-only to see Sebastian standing right behind you in the reflection, silent but clearly unnerved by your flustered demeanour. After all, you can’t remember a time when you felt so powerless, a time when a single emotion had you pressed like a pin into a cork board.

“Hey…you ok?” Sebastian asks after he realises that your looking at him via the reflection.

You merely lower your head and let out a shuddering breath.

No, no I am not.

Sebastian starts to speak, no doubt some useless ‘I’ve got your back buddy, lets talk about it while I teach you illegal curses.’ Spiel.

Pathetic.

How can you even think about such frivolous time wasting when he needs you.

Luckily the moment Sebastian begins to talk, Professor Sharps voice cuts through the room announcing the end of class.

You make a large arcing wand movement, so utterly dramatic that it does the intended job and scares Sebastian back several feet as your potions equipment flings round you in a deterring makeshift shield before shrinking down as it dives back into your bag. With Sebastian stunned you take your chance and leave.

—————————————

“Hey-Hey wait!”

But you won’t.

Sebastian continues to call as you shove through the crowd without mercy.

Imelda squawks as she’s shouldered into the wall, Natty is shoved forward and crashes into Garreth who is almost backhanded out the way when he stops to turn and see what’s happened.

The path clear, you run.

He needs you.

——————————————

Sebastian had gotten through the crowd and was back on your tail.

You aren’t sure how but one thing is for certain, he will not stop you, he is merely the hopeful dog that must be lost as it attempts to follow a stranger for food.

Luckily your galavanting into cave systems and following the keepers trails has kept you very fit, fit enough that you turn sharply at a corridor and make a beeline up to the Astronomy tower.

——————————————————————

Your breaths are becoming ragged.

You knew the steps to the Astronomy tower, had done them several times.

But you’d never flat out run up them.

It doesn’t matter, you’re nearly there, the blue and gold theming coming into view as you round the top of the final staircase, almost dizzy from following the spiralling staircase for so long.

You dart past the classroom, a place you’d usually love to stop and marvel at but not today.

Proffesor Shah barely has time to look up from her desk before your passed her and continuing up the last set of rickety wooden stairs. The wooden slats are passing you by so fast, you feel like you’re ur about to faint-

No, I must get to him!

Finally you reach the Astronomy deck, almost tripping over yourself as the vertical stairs become flat wood. You stagger to the side, letting out a donkey like wheeze before dragging your exhausted body to the railing separating you from a perilous drop. Wincing at your screaming thighs you shakily get both feet on the top railing, strangely well balanced despite the the narrow metal ledge. For a minute you stop to catch your breath, appreciate the wind blowing against your non-standard uniform, tousling your hair.

The view, it’s fantastic, he would love it.

“For fucks sake man will you stop!” You startle, almost losing your balance before unsteadily turning round to face an exhausted Sebastian as he shakily climbs the last few stairs, one hand grasping at a stitch in his abdomen the other pulling himself up on the railing like it’s the hardest thing he’s ever had to do.

“Please!” He begs, pink faced, drool dripping from his mouth as he openly pants like an energised dog.

Gross.

Well, kind of hot but the only one you want to see drooling is still a fair distance away.

“What in Merlin’s name is going on up-oh my heavens!” Proffesor Shah shrieks as she almost trips back down the stairs she’s hurried up, seeing you standing on the ledge.

Before the Indian women can gather herself, you fling out your hands and fall back, letting gravity drag you down.

“Noooo!!” Sebastian wails in heartbreaking despair, his single word ending a sob while Professor Shah lets out her own agonised cry at seeing a student fling themself off the Astronomy tower.

You close your eyes as you drop, knowing that despite the pain they will undoubtedly recover.

Especially since you whip out you broom and mount it in one fluid motion, returning high enough for both others to see you as you speed towards your destination.

Realising what you’ve done, Sebastian let’s out a furious, horse bellow of ‘YOU LITTLE CUNT!!’ While Professor Shah sounds like she’s having a heart attack from your sudden re-emergence.

You swing off your broom as soon as you reach the front entrance to the clock tower and immediately regret stalling for so long as a practise round of crossed wands has started. It seems several students from potions had come straight here. Natty and Eric are duelling Hector and Charlotte.

With a furious cry you storm in, drawing all attention before sending a Depulso that sends Charlotte flying across the room, Levioso Hector straight up into the swinging pendulum with a reverberating clang. You sprint at Eric who’s face screws up in terror before morphing to pain as you drive your fist across his face then shoulder him into Natty sending the girl falling with a shriek.

There!-finally he’s right in front of you!

You can’t help but let out a low raspy gasp as you stagger towards him.

He’s frozen in either confusion or fear and oh god he smells like smoke, the resulting smoke of magic crashing into brick and stone mixed with leather from the quidditch gear he wears when flying.

And rubber from that damn rubber ball he bounces with such skill it-oh Merlin his confidence is so hot.

“…Can I help you.” He finally manages to squeak out, rubber ball rolling across the floor while he stares paralysed at you.

You’re rather paralysed yourself. The clean pale face, curly black hair, kind brown eyes-he’s so damn cute.

“I-I know your still setting up the next round of crossed wands but…I’d like to suggest a matchup?” You manage to say, stumbling over your words as you gaze into those deep eyes.

He nods dumbly, soft lips parted.

Cute.

Swallowing your fear you step towards him, you tower over him by nearly an entire foot but he isn’t scared, house of the brave and it suits him. Slowly you raise your hand and clasp his smaller one in it.

“I was thinking…me and you? Maybe at Hogsmeade sometime?” You say, desperately trying not to let your voice shake.

There’s a brief moment as he glances at your combined hands before he slowly closes his fingers around yours. Then he smiles at you.

“I’d like that.” He says softly.

Slowly, with small movements your heads come together until you’re inches away from a kiss-

“WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK ARE YOU DOING!?!?”

Unfortunately your tender moment with Lucan distracted you from hearing Sebastian catch up with you once more and you turn around straight into a stupefy.

You get a weeks detention. Sebastian ends up with a total of four weeks. A week for every time he attacks you in the hallways over the following week. However it isn’t the only thing that happens continually that week.

Natty ‘accidentally’ uses her Animagus form and slams her back hooves into you with enough force to send you into the black lake While your standing on the boardwalk. Imelda curses your broom. Charlotte jinx’s you in charms, Hector sends you dirty looks and Garreth tries to poison you but stops at the last minute before you drink your ‘pumpkin juice’ because you comment that you like his hair.

He says he thinks what you did was mean through his sobs but is willing to forgive you because he’s never received such validation.

Sad.

Regardless, as you stare into Lucans warm brown eyes while you share a smoothie in a little cafe in Hogsmeade, you think it was worth it.

Of course you can’t go much further then a snog because Professor Weasley kindly informed you that ‘He’s twelve and if it goes further then kissing I’ll rip your balls off and feed them to the Kneazles’ all while managing that gentle smile of hers.

But hey, you’ve promised him at some point you’ll cross wands.

[bakerstreetbabble]

Granada TV Series Review: "The Sign of Four"

Finally, here it is! My review of the 1987 Granada TV adaptation of The Sign of Four...enjoy!

First of all, one could give this installment in the series a two-word review: mostly faithful. That is, the adaptation follows very closely all the main plot points of its source material, with a few little tweaks here and there. I shall mention some of the most obvious changes as I go along. It may be best to begin with the title: Arthur Conan Doyle's novella was originally published in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine as The Sign of the Four (1890), but many subsequent editions omitted the second definite article and were released as The Sign of Four. Granada chose to go with the latter. In the novella, of course, Jonathan Small's calling card reads, "the sign of the four." 

As I said, the adaptation is nothing if not faithful to its source. This can be a bit problematic, as it means the last twenty minutes or so of the film are told in flashback by Jonathan Small, which strikes me as a bit anticlimactic for the flow of the story. However, if one were to place the past events told in flashback at the beginning of the film, one would be faced with a Sherlock Holmes story in which the detective doesn't show up until well into the story. Either way, it's a difficult problem for the writers. Overall, I think they did a very good job, despite some of the inherent problem of somewhat slow pacing.

Jeremy Brett is in excellent form throughout the film, despite the fact that he was beginning to struggle with his bipolar disorder around this same time. Perhaps this explains the unusual decision towards the beginning of the film, in which Holmes displays some rather unusual behavior as Mary Morstan tells her story. He complains of the messiness of the flat at 221B and begins to brush lint from his suit as she talks. His reaction ends up coming off as boorish and eccentric. Holmes in the book shows no such odd behavior. Still, Brett is mostly excellent in the adaptation, and Edward Hardwicke had clearly become quite comfortable in the role by this time, so the chemistry between Holmes and Watson works quite well.

I'm afraid Jenny Seagrove's portrayal of Mary Morstan struck me as a bit bland and uninteresting. I was at a loss to understand exactly why Watson seemed so charmed by her (apart from the fact that it's a fairly major subplot point in the book). She's adequate in the role, but I found her quite unimpressive. In contrast, I thought Ronald Lacey (better known as the creepy Toht in Raiders of the Lost Ark) was delightful as Thaddeus and Bartholomew Sholto. He's eccentric, funny, and just a bit unsettling at times. Really, an almost perfect portrayal of the unusual character. Emrys James as Inspector Athelney Jones was also quite entertaining, serving as a pompous, comical foil to Holmes's far more intelligent investigation. Brett and James do a fabulous job in the scene in which Jones is presenting his theory of the murder of Bartholomew Sholto, with Holmes wryly responding, "On which the dead man very considerately got up and locked the door on the inside." (A marvelous line, straight from the original novella.)

As often happens in some of the Granada adaptations, the director makes several unusual visual choices, displaying a fondness for shots that show Holmes in mirrors or shots that are obscured by objects in the foreground. A few of those choices work fairly well, though. A couple that I thought were interesting: shortly after Holmes climbs down from the roof of Pondicherry Lodge, there's a brief segment of dialogue in which the camera focuses on the characters' shadows on the brick wall; a particularly effective shot is when Holmes is reading about "the aborigines of the Andaman Islands," and the camera slowly zooms in on him as he smokes, surrounded by stacks of books. Less successful were several shots during the river chase scene, where the view of the steamboats was obscured by various objects in the foreground. Very odd.

Of course, what would a Sherlock Holmes adaptation be without at least one scene where Holmes remains in disguise just to mess with Watson? Jeremy Brett always seemed to take a special delight in such scenes, as displayed in this film, when he shows up at 221B dressed as an old mariner and completely fools both Watson and Inspector Jones. It does require a bit of suspension of disbelief to accept that neither man would see through such an obvious disguise. Still, it's quite entertaining.

One unpleasant detail that I can't help finding cringe-inducing is, of course, the portrayal of Tonga. There's really no way to get around the inherent racism of Doyle's portrayal of other races, which was not at all unusual for the late 19th century English culture. But it is particularly uncomfortable in this day and age to see the obvious blackface makeup applied to actor Kiran Shah, who would later do quite notable work in The Lord of the Rings and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. And the prosthetic teeth are just badly done. It also doesn't help that, right towards the end of the film, we're given a really tacky shot of Tonga sinking into the Thames as gold coins splash around him (another Jonathan Small flashback, telling how he disposed of the Agra treasure).

A good decision made by the writers was the decision to move the revelation of the empty treasure box to occur after Jonathan Small's story has been told. I've always been confused by Doyle's decision to have that moment (as well as Watson's profession of love to Mary) happen before Small is allowed to recount his entire story. I still find myself wondering, however, how no one who lugged that treasure chest all the way across town (to Mary's employer's house in the book, and to 221B in the film) could tell that it was empty! I imagine many viewers have been disappointed that Watson's declaration of love and his subsequent proposal to Mary have been omitted. I can only guess that the writers for the Granada series were not interested in having Mary become a recurring character, and that they preferred to keep Watson and Holmes a couple of bachelors. Thus, we are only given a few longing looks from Watson as Mary goes her merry way. (See what I did there?)

I mustn't forget one of the most enjoyable moments in the film: the appearance of the famous Baker Street Irregulars. Although these little ragamuffins don't appear all that often in the canon, they certainly have earned the affection of Sherlock Holmes fans that probably ranks right up there with Sherlockians' fascination with Irene Adler (another fairly minor character who has achieved great fame). The scene where the Irregulars arrive at 221B, much to Mrs. Hudson's consternation, is done perfectly, and Jeremy Brett seems to be having a lot of fun at this point.

I have to say, overall, I enjoyed this particular adaptation of The Sign of Four. I found it engaging, despite just a bit of slow pacing here and there. Faithful to its source material, the film is a credit to its production team and cast. Brett and Hardwicke were quite comfortable in their roles, and the level of production value was still quite high at this point in the Granada series. As their first attempt at more long-form storytelling, it seems to have been a success, one that was not repeated with their adaptation of the most popular Holmes tale, The Hound of the Baskervilles. Ah, but that's a story for another time...

[starry-blue-echoes]

Alright, you seem to like people sharing their own OCs/AUs, so I figured I’d share mine. 

For the purposes of context/connection, this is the AU/OC universe is where my “JoJos intros/outros as stands” characters are going to be from.

The tentative title for this story is “JeJe’s Odd Experiences”.

Despite the name, the intention is for the story to be rather serious (or as serious as any JoJo’s bizarre adventure spinoff can get, at least).

The story follow’s the Jemoon family, starting with Jean Jemoon, a very, very distant cousin of Jonathan Joestar, who ends up going on a bizarre adventure of his own, and setting a trend for all of his (? I haven’t given any of my protagonists definitive genders yet) descendants to follow. 

The plan would be to have one part to mirror each JoJo part, sharing roughly the same time period and location, as well as a few events that would tie it into actual “canon” without directly interfering with it.

Part 1 would be about a small village in the English countryside, that comes under attack by a slightly more intelligent than normal zombie that escaped WindKnight’s Lot before the Hamon users arrived. It is up to the brave Jean Jemoon and a band of brave villagers to put a stop to this undead menace once and for all!

Part 2 would be about an archeology team in Central America that is sponsored by the Speedwagon foundation. Their official mission is to “learn about the ancient cultures”, with a secret unstated mission of finding and destroying as many Stone Masks as possible. 

This leads them into conflict of a rival archeology team of German occultists and cyborgs, who want to use the masks for their own purposes.

Part 3 has a less well-defined start, but for one reason or another the users of [Sono Chi No Sadame], [Bloody Stream], and [Stand Proud] end up on a globe-trotting adventure. 

They will face stands based on the “Deck of Many Things” (a magic deck of cards from D&D, with each card having a different magic effect. Its the closest thing I could think of for a tarot deck stand-in).

The users of [Roundabout], [Walk like and Egyptian] and [Last Train Home] will also be present but more as rivals or temporary allies than outright enemies. 

The yet to be clearly defined reason for their journey eventually takes them to Greece, where they face off against 12 more stand users, each one with a stand based on one of the Greek Gods. 

Part 4 takes place in a small, peaceful town in Japan, somewhat close to Morioh. However, after discovering the existence of [Crazy Noisy Bizarre Town], the users of [Great Days], [Chase], and [I want you] realize their supposedly peaceful town has a lot of secrets, some of them being particularly gruesome…

Part 5 would be about a group of Stand-using vigilantes, the users of [Fighting Gold]  [Traitor’s Requiem] [Freek’n You] and [Modern Crusaders]. They come to the conclusion that the lthe law and government is corrupt, they must take justice into their own hands, and decide to take it upon themselves to take down the local Passione group.

Part 6 has an unclear plot. It will either take place in Green Dolphin prison, or some other prison in Florida. And the initial plot would involve prison gang activates, involving the users of [Stone Ocean], [Heaven’s Falling Down], and [Distant Dreamer]. But past that, the course the story will take is unclear. I don’t know how directly I want to involve, or not involve, the plan to achieve Heaven and the universe reset. Another difficulty is that as the last part within this story, I need to wrap up the overarching story and theme of the parts, but I can’t really do that when I don’t have the overarching story or theme written yet.

Since I have mostly just making up stands, parts 3, 4, and 5 are the most developed of the parts.

This is what I meant by me having a lot of stand/OC ideas. 

What started as me trying to think of stand abilities for a few songs spiralled all the way out of control into whatever this is. Having actually taken the time to type this all out, I have just now come to the realization of how big this AU/OC project is.

However, what this massive project currently consists of is a lot of stand ideas, some character ideas, a few cool story beats, some vague ideas for character design and names, and the barest amount of an actual story worked out.

Sorry(?) for yet another long ask, I apparently can’t right anything shorter than a page-long essay when I’m writing about JoJo.

If you want to know more about the other stand ideas, the characters or even more story specifics, I would be happy to do so (I had a lot of fun just writing this).

XHDFJBDGJVDGVRD JEJE'S ODD EXPERIENCES I'M-

but also OOOOOOOOOO THAT SOUNDS SO NEAT

also, no need to apologise at all, really long asks Spark So Much Joy because it gives me so much to think about and work with, so I really love it and would love to hear more if you'd like to share :>

[cinephile-inc]

Session 9 Review (07/04/23-07/05/23)

⚠️This review will contain spoilers!⚠️

I'll start off by saying that Session 9 (2001) is indeed an underrated horror flick, and genuinely scary, too! The tension just goes up and up from the beginning without much relief from it once weird shit starts happening.

It is very obviously influenced by The Shining (1980), with particular references being the wife of the main character being named Wendy and a title card for each day that passes. (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc) There's even a sort of pseudo Kubrick Stare scene thrown in there. However, despite these glaringly obvious references, I think Session 9 still does a good job of standing on it's own two feet...

Except for the fact that I dislike the ending/twist. I think they were going for something supernatural, but it's not obvious enough for me to make a conclusive decision. Assuming they were going for a possession story, at least one of my initial thoughts was confirmed.

Synopsis:

Session 9 concerns an asbestos removal team being tasked with cleaning up an abandoned mental institution that was shut down in the 1980s. The leader of the crew and the main character, Gordon, promises that his team can get the place cleaned up in a week, which grants them all bonus pay if they get it done in time. It is clear from the beginning that Gordon has overbid himself with this task, as he is a new father struggling to adjust to a baby in the house. Tensions only rise when one of the crew members goes missing, presumed to have won the lottery and run off for Miami.

Meanwhile, another crew member has been digging through some of the old records; particularly, the files and recorded interviews with patient #444, a woman known as Mary Hobbes. Mary Hobbes was a patient with DID, with the host being Mary and her two alters being Princess, who appears to be a young girl, and Billy, who appears to be a young boy, though slightly older and more mature than Princess. There is also Simon, who we'll get into later.

Sometime later, Gordon confesses to one of his coworkers that he unintentionally hit his wife. When he had come home one night and went to greet her in the kitchen, she accidentally knocked over a pot of scalding water that had been on the stove and consequently burned his leg. Gordon is genuinely remorseful and doesn't know why he did it, as it was clearly an accident on Wendy's part, but he doesn't want the rest of the team members to know because it will hurt their salary. Unfortunately, his trust in this coworker almost immediately falls through as he quickly tells one of the other workers of this incident.

More is revealed about Mary throughout: something happened in her childhood that she has deeply repressed, though it resulted in deep and obvious cuts on her chest. While Mary does not remember the incident nor does she want to talk about it, Princess does remember... most of it. What she does not remember is Simon, and what Simon did. Billy remembers Simon, and Billy very much does not want to talk about Simon in an effort to protect Mary and Princess. It is clear Billy is very afraid of Simon.

Later, the seemingly disappeared coworker reappears and is seen by Gordon's nephew, Jeff, who is also part of his crew, who immediately alerts the others as the coworker is acting strangely. When the others follow Jeff to check up on the seemingly impossible reappearance of their coworker, he is nowhere to be found. This prompts the group to split up in an effort to find him. Gordon however is following something different, a deep, dark voice that he's been hearing since he first entered the building.

The final reveal in Mary's storyline is that Simon "offered to help her" after her older brother, Peter, scared her, causing her to fall down on a brand new china doll she had gotten for Christmas. The doll shattered under her weight, causing the scars in her chest. Simon urged Mary to "cut up" Peter like he cut up her, and this is where my theory that Simon is not actually an alter but a demon comes into play. With this reading, Simon possesses Mary and kills not only her brother, but her mother and father as well so "they won't get angry" that "she" killed Peter. Simon is the voice Gordon has been hearing throughout his days at the abandoned institution. Simon is cruel and condescending, and it hates people who are "naughty," like Peter, who hurt Mary despite Mary being so good and nice.

The final twist/reveal in Gordon's story is that Simon had possessed him as well and had attacked all the rest of his coworkers, even taking on the form of one of them to trick him into realizing what he had done. It is also implied that Gordon killed Wendy as well, but he could not bring himself to kill his baby daughter. The ending leaves Gordon, alone, in one of the rooms of the abandoned institution, speaking his remorse into a broken phone. He begs Wendy for forgiveness and laments that he wants to go home, and that he wants to hold his wife and daughter again. The movie ends with another snippet from the interview with Mary/Simon. Doctor: And where do you live, Simon? SImon: I live in the weak and the wounded, doc. (Context: Billy tells the doctor "Princess lives in the tongue, because she's always talking, sir," and that he "lives in the eyes, because I see everything, sir.")

To be truthful, I think the ending was good, it's just not how I would've ended it. Jeff and Gordon were my favourite characters throughout the film so it was annoying that Gordon was revealed as the killer when the red herring we got would've been so much better to be actually confirmed, and sad that Jeff was amongst the murdered.

With most of the evidence pointing toward Simon being a demon or other supernatural entity, I suppose one could say Session 9 at least tried to subvert the "villain with DID" trope (especially because Mary really didn't have anything to do with what was happening to Gordon and his coworkers, it was all Simon), which I think is pretty off the beaten path for a movie from 2001. However, I don't have DID and I can still be educated, so I don't think I really get a say in how it was handled in this movie. ^_^"

I probably won't watch it again, at least for awhile because again you basically get no breaks from the tension until it ends, but it was pretty good and I think if you like The Shining and abandoned places you should definitely check it out! It's not streaming anywhere but if you want the link to where I watched it, hit up my DMs. :0)

7.5/10 📽️📽️📽️📽️📽️📽️📽️⬛⬛⬛

[coffeeandjournaling]

5 Act Play

A solo journaling RPG  by Kaden Ramstack

Materials

game manual

a journal or other recording method

deck of tarot cards or playing cards

(if you use playing cards) 1d6 and 1d20

Premise

Channel your inner Shakespeare! Using a five-act structure, create your very own tragedy or comedy in the vein of the Bard of Avon: populate your play with colourful characters, give them motives and let them loose on each other. Whether you write a modern love story for the ages or a funny entertaining romp is all up to you.

Mechanics

This game is all about prompts inspiring and guiding you through the writing process of a five-act play (or more precisely: a summary of the same). Prompts are generated by drawing cards from your tarot deck or using the alternative playing cards and dice method. With the tarot deck, you alternate between drawing from the major arcana and suits. While the suits are tied to different motives and prompts depending on your progress throughout the play, the major arcana stand for themselves and need to be interpreted to inspire character creation, key parts of the narrative and ultimately the ending of your play. Sounds complicated? Don’t fret: with each step of the process comes a short but precise explanation of each part of the play as well as an example from a tragedy and a comedy each (”Much ado about nothing” and “Romeo and Juliet” respectively).

Thoughts and Examples from my Playthrough

5 Act Play is a clever little game that can entertain you for a lot of playthroughs. All the instructions are clearly worded and each step carefully thought out to enable you to write an actual play summary in under an hour. The prompts are inspired by Shakespeare’s plays and can serve both tragedies and comedies well, still requiring you to put some effort into interpreting and implementing them into your play. This can be a bit of a challenge sometimes: how do you put a death into your light-hearted comedy? Here, the examples come in extremely handy, as they feel carefully chosen to help you solve this exact problem (a death doesn’t always mean someone has to actually die - nothing is more fun than a fake death and a surprise return at just the right moment).

I hate to say this, but as a teacher I absolutely love the idea of mixing literary knowledge with a fun exercise in writing - this can be as much of a learning tool as it is a genuinely fun game. The layout, the explanations, the examples, the prompts all work together to give you a framework for your play and, almost as if it’s magic, you know what a five-act play is at the end, how it’s structured and how the plot usually progresses. I can also see this being a fun group activity with everyone creating plays individually and then reading them to each other or even crowning the Shakespeare of the day/evening. Basically, the role playing aspect is you being a writer writing a play, and there’s no better way to learn something than to try it out yourself.

Additionally, if you enjoy reading cards this is a great way to practice it: interpreting the cards based on the traditional meaning or using bits and pieces of their names and illustrations to build elements for your play, both approaches work just as well. I’m not too versed in tarot despite having had a deck since 6th grade, but it does feel like there was some thought put into which elements of the deck are used at each point in the game.

I played two times so far, the first playthrough to create a tragedy (”The Queen’s Right Hand”) and the second one to create a comedy (”The Dressmaker’s Happiness” - look, titles are hard). Now, I’m not a strong writer, so it takes me a bit to get into it and connect separate elements into a coherent story. But by the time I reached Act II the prompts simply fell into place, almost entirely on their own. The tragedy is about a Queen’s most valuable advisor, a reserved and controlled woman with the only goal to protect her ruler. When I created the antagonist, I didn’t quite know what to do with them, but drawing the motive card for “jealousy” made it clear that this is a tale of bitter and unrequited love on pretty much all sides - and then it almost wrote itself.

Is it an actually good play, though? Probably not. But games aren’t meant to produce a perfectly polished piece of writing (although they certainly can), they’re first and foremost meant to be fun. And I did have a lot of fun. So, goal accomplished. As always, you should try and make yourself comfortable in what you do. No one has to see what you write - indulge, be cringey, be cliché. I think that would even be on point for Shakespeare. Certainly by your second round you’ll feel more at ease: the comedy was a cute little romantic tale of deception, accidental kidnappings and a dressmaker who vowed to never marry falling in love with a socialite who lived under the thumb of her seemingly strict and gloomy uncle (with a duel in the middle - that one was a surprise even for me).

If you have trouble thinking of names for characters and places, I suggest having a few online name generators ready to help you out. It also works to use the cards as a guide: I drew “Strength” for one character and named him “Peter the Lion” because there’s a lion on the card...I mean. Do what you must.

I’d like to think Shakespeare would approve of this game. I very much do.

This might be your cup of coffee if...

you like telling stories and creating characters.

you want a relatively short writing challenge or exercise to flex your creative muscles.

you feel better having more of a framework to guide you in your writing.

you want to learn some literary theory on the side.

you are familiar with/want to get familiar with reading cards, specifically tarot.

You can get Kaden Ramstack’s 5 Act Play HERE on itch.io! Make sure to check out his other games as well (I for one really want to get to “Un-navigatable” soon).

[jade-curtiss]

Title: Wake up Mr. Neis

Summary: A regular sample exchange.

Genre: Western

Cw: some sort of ego death (unintentional) and implied very highly maxed out credit card with overdraft fees coming straight up. The card probably look metallic, glistening in black, A soft minimalist contrast is observable. It really do look like some centurion. But nah, thing probably got replicated and is linked to some low tier capital one account. Is he even allowed to do that? Well maybe he will have to argue that one and that might cost his job. In context of what happens here it’s not entirely a loss, unless.

The surrounding space was rather eerie, at a close distance it was obvious he was sitting on what must be a bench. Truth to be told no attention was actually being paid at anything. He stared in an indefinite void in silence for what might have been minutes to hours, it was unclear and not particularly relevant. A sharp feminine voice caught him off guard.

“Oh, it’s you!”

He blinks and try to glance in direction of that familiar voice. He knew that voice only too well, too acquainted, only confused to hear the voice come from the front, and yet he clearly feels that the hand on his shoulder is coming from behind. The sudden touch doesn’t make him flinch, it happened too many times before. And yet, he could never get (read: acknowledge) the reason why the path of sound was mismatched every single time. He sighs as suddenly he make sense of the desk in front of him. Suddenly it gets less and less hazy, as usual.

“Where did you put your bag? Oh, did it get stolen again?”

He was never able to make a sound of his own in these situations. Only give himself the vague impression his eyes could shift and roll around, trying to make sense of a scenery that never will.

“Please, don’t be like this, but you know how other kids can be, I know you care about making sure your friend’s sister is happy, but that bag is a bit…”

Ah yes, of course, the casual reminder of Nephry’s left overs. It probably was not out of ill intentions, but for an unexplained reasons she simply couldn’t throw stuff away, but no one ever really wanted it. Out of (let’s make ourselves believe) generosity he accepted to be the receiving end of her questionable charity. There was perks, but the general tackiness of the trinkets were seriously making his social life a constant daily challenge.

“Look, I do understand that you’re doing that to please your friend’s sister, but you can’t just keep doing that. You’re being the target of every other kids, and as much as I’d like to stand by you. I can’t just simply keep letting it go only to stand by you when I have over 30 other kids to attend. I do support you, as much as I can, I do see your potential..”

Despite the crudeness, he could not deny: he was probably a massive toll on the young (skin care can make people believe anything) woman’s morale. He never really cared about what other kids would be thinking of him, the words of people he didn’t inherently approve didn’t required his approval. Normally, in such circumstances the nature of the things would escalate but there was his loophole: what if you only befriend the people at the top, and them only? And there he was, accepting receiptless bad gifts you can’t even return or thrift from hell to make that very thing happen. Which worked, sometimes, sometimes less. Sometimes it is convenient when the person at the top is just as socially inept as you are. Miracle happens.

“I never promised I would protect you. I do get your interest in Jade, he’s an interesting kid in his own way, I do concede, but...hey. Hey? Are you falling asleep?”

These were the times he wished he could simply pull that trick off: sleep out of sleep.

The timing was good, the brutality was something else. But the reassuring thing, the thing that made him feel alive was in place: the sound was coming from the right directions. He was awake. He would have preferred a softer alarm, but as long as he was here on the clock he couldn’t complain about the shattering noise these bulbs made.

“W...What did you do again?” It’s always nice to have your voice again.

“Isn’t it obvious? I thought we knew each other well enough…”

The floor was littered in what could seems like a scatter of diamonds only to be essentially just glass, and perhaps crystal from the exuberant chandelier that used to take an obscenely high ratio of that ceiling. Despite the intimidating act, the whole thing probably looked better on the floor as a reminder that sometimes disasters come with great taste.

“Ah, of course. You shot the lights out and got yourself hiding until sun, but couldn’t stand spending another lonely night. Fair enough. I won’t call you by what should describe you tho”

Jade sighed as he finally paid attention to the predicament he got himself into. Despite circumstances, despite your ranks, despite the person in front of you. It’s always quite uncouth to simply vandalize, not that it doesn’t get you places (back at work, what will you do, call the cops on cops? Well please do yourself a favor here). Anyways, now that his main guest (it’s his room) was up, it was time for him to sit down. Sit down and hope he won’t let him down. Kid was really uncomfortable to hang with from times to times, but he persisted in an admirable way nonetheless. Would it hadn’t been of him he is not exactly sure what would have been of him. He keeps it to himself, but he couldn’t get over the sheer convenience of meeting the only person who’ve been able to keep him on an unsaid leash instead of just allowing him to become what his roots sees him as.

Despite everything that happened, there isn’t a single day that isn’t soaked in regret. Not for his own persistence in facing consequences of his own arrogance, but for quitting. Over what? Ethical concerns? How do you even get convinced into accepting resigning to your own potential only to turn into another dog in the most corrupted field in existence. But it wasn’t as if his host in the moment wasn’t giving him a run for his money when it came to shading his evolution.

“I might not be the most frequentable person, I know. But am I not some sort of improvement given what attention you probably earn normally? Do you really do put up with these leeches? You won’t make me, oh, please, don’t make me believe that you actually could have befriended Mohs...oh. How could that b-”

No flinch, as Jade raised his hand to catch the glass thrown at his face.

“Don’t you fucking start rumors here, but I do admit that I did not fall far from the tree when it comes to business…”

As much as he felt overpowered the moment he walked out from the military industrial complex, it didn’t last that long before he strayed and ended up stumbling into a place where resentment was ruling like a queen could only wish. All that because they couldn’t bring back one, she was no monarch but she was only better.

“I’m not here for mutual wound licking, unless this is what you’re into, could do the bedroom eyes if you asked nicely.”

Out of lane, but worth trying. Sometimes, some people do happen to be so starved and craving for actual human contact, so much, that perhaps just a punch across the jaw could be just enough.

“You’re crossing the line here, friend.”

That stung harder than any kick could have at the moment, and yet, he couldn’t exactly overreact to that one. There’s consequences to bad decisions, and unless resignation is achieved there was probably no opportunity to actually do anything that could salvage the branding of what bounded them together on the same path. As much as he knew he still cared nonetheless, he also knew that his persistence was beyond his amiability. Sacrifices have to be done to let one’s ego survive.

“Who is crossing the line here exactly? Do I have to actually remind you the real reason why I’m here?”

He was seething, the difference between him and Jade is that Jade actually had made the decision (in a rather hazy state and under pressure, let’s not deny ourselves) to follow his own course. On top of the audacity to take for granted he could just carry him on like a dog, yet who was really the one on the leash?

“You know that despite everything, despite it all, especially since Hod, you know who is on the receiving end of all the results of your own bullshit?”

If tabs had to be compared fairly. Nothing was ever.

“Four in the morning, and I'm zonin'. They say I'm possessed, it's an omen. I keep it 300, like the Romans. 300 bitches, where's the Trojans? Baby we livin' in the moment. I've been a menace for the longest. But I ain't finished I'm devoted. And you know it, and you know it...”

“Isn’t that a bit inappropriate for you to claim that one?”

“Shut the fuck up”

Jade stared in silence in complete disregard. He expected him to lay that one out, and more or less wanted it. No need to deny his real intentions any longer now that he spilled himself.

“You know, regarding that, regarding our little trojan pony we made for ourselves. Yes, the one that did end up costing us an entire lifetime of rent free space in our heads. Have you…”

Ah, so that is what it was for: no intention to discuss pitiful failures when we can talk about chaotic success.

“Ah, our golden friend, the only naturally born replica we’ve had I think…”

“I’d rather call her trifling, thanks enough, but yes. That one.”

“Ah, way over town…”

“Do you have any more informations”

“Hm, don’t mess with her. Not to be mean, but, I will admit a little secret: I know your current state of affairs. I know your sin and I know that your credit ain’t shit. She does not mess with people like you these days...I mean..”

That’s when some bitch realized they didn’t need some chair to fly out the window.

[beatcroc]

thing that really tickles me abt ace attorney is that the games have not only never used numeric titles for their releases [except for investigations 2 i think?], but have also always given each of the cases within a game specific names/titles, and Absolutely Fucking No One Uses Them. we’re out here saying shit like. 3-5. 4-2. 1-4. like they’re fucking super mario levels.

the fuck are you talking about “The Stolen Turnabout” from “Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations”? that’s 3-2 you fucking dipshit

the wilder part is that this is somehow a superior and less confusing alternative to actually using the proper titles. [unless it’s rise from the ashes]

[beom1e]

lonely hearts chapter 40 | empty dedication

genre mostly angst. warnings none. wc 645.

you switched off your phone, watching as the screen turned black before dropping your arm onto the couch. the way you felt was inexplainable. you missed them and at the same time you didn’t, simply because you never got to know the real them.

as a distraction, you picked up the remote and switched on the tv. it was too early for anybody else to be in the common room, leaving the control over the channel to you.

‘famous match-making website ‘lonely hearts’ has now been shut down for the foreseeable future,’ a news channel was never your first choice, but you found it difficult to switch to another at the mention of the familiar website. ‘investigations into the website began after the beloved band ‘tomorrow by together’ shared their experience of supposedly being ‘put under a love spell’ by the owner of said website. others have stepped forward to—’

you quickly switched to the next channel, shocked to see yet another news channel talking about the exact same thing.

‘investors are hoping to reopen the website under a new name and new ownership—’

‘she goes by the name of ‘yoo nabi’. some of you may recognise this name as the name of the famous ‘nevertheless’ character—’

‘experts in reversal magic—‘

you sighed, opting for no tv at all. instead you sat listening to the silence and trying not to think of anything. every thought led back to yeonjun’s verse he wrote for you. or the way beomgyu had kissed you. or the comment taehyun made right before you were going to disappear from his life forever. or how soobin was always so eager to talk to you. or how kai always gently held your hand.

groaning with frustration, you pushed yourself up from the couch and grabbed your coat. it wasn’t until you had climbed down many flights of stairs and stepped outside that you realised it was raining, and you’d put on a coat with no hood. you wanted to scream, but ran for the bus stop feeling sorry for yourself instead.

‘great,’ you huffed, sitting yourself down on the bench. ‘it’s not even seven and my day is already going terribly.’

upon realisation that you were sitting alone talking to yourself, you dropped your head back against the shelter of the bus and pursed your lips. the rain picked up in speed and frequency, bouncing very loudly against the already damp ground. you shoved your hands into your pockets in search for your headphones, and thankfully this had been the last place you had left them.

placing one in each ear and opening spotify, you scrolled through your many playlists in search of something appealing. clearly your phone had other plans, refreshing the app and reopening to show the announcement that there was a new album under tomorrow x together’s name. your hesitant finger clicked on the announcement, opening up the album on your screen. you clicked shuffle, and the worst thing followed.

‘fairy of shampoo’ began playing directly into your ears, while all you could do was stare blankly at the title. you felt physically sick with emotion at this point, but decided to let the song play.

you wondered about the origin story of the song as it played, considering you had never even existed in their life. did yeonjun happen to fall in love with somebody else and write the exact same song? was the song just sitting there in a pile of forgotten songs with an empty dedication?

the bus coming to a stop in front of you cut off your thoughts. two people stepped off and you found yourself replacing them on the bus, despite not having the intention to get on one in the beginning. you scanned your student card and thanked the driver.

as you walked towards a vacant seat, you locked eyes with kai.

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