#his premises are usually more about the twist than anything super deep

[13eyond13]

the films are called unbreakable, split and glass, and they try to mimick a comic style, in case you want to watch the others. and i agree with you on how this director is a hit or miss, the sixth sense was amazing but old was terrible and it fell apart the more you thought about it

Thank you! Yeah, like I appreciate him and he's fun and unique, but definitely has made some stinkers and some hits

[a-pretty-nerd]

Rebellion

Tomura Shigaraki x AllMight!Daughter!Reader

Chapter 1

Premise:

When The League of Villians discovers that AllMight has a daughter, they are quick to snatch you up and hold you hostage. Shigaraki had a careful and thought out plan, but that was before you got there. Now you're in the mood for some not-so-healthy rebellion.

Word Count: 2551

Warnings: Themes of depression, emotional abuse, and violence.

A/N: I'm kinda obsessed with Shigaraki.

I think he's just a wonderfully well written character that not even I can get my head around 100%. He's like Kylo Ren...but way better and with actual values, not good values, but values. Anyways, I'm super excited to be writing this because the last series I wrote was also a villiany character thing but it was less work to work out the characters because one was an actualy psychopath were as Shigaraki isn't even a sociopath, he's just a survivor of truama and grooming and his own hate so I'm really excited to play with it! DON'T FORGET! I have a Patreon acc if you wanna support me there, you can make requests and vote for new content and join my discord! Thanks for reading!💕

Support Me On Patreon! 

Prologue Chapter 2 

"So, how do you like teaching?"

You asked as you played with the small bowl of Udon in your hand. All Might looked up from his bowl. The past month had been uneventful and lousy. There were little opportunities to spend time together and when you did, it was awkward and hopeless. It was hard to open up, apart of you just couldn’t bring yourself to get personal with him. You still had a little time left, you were hoping it would just a slow and gradual change, but a change none-the-less. 

“I enjoy it more than I thought I would.” 

“You miss hero work?” 

“It’s more frustrating than anything. Not being able to really do anything anymore. I was used to be the symbol of peace and now I’m just...” 

“Normal?” You asked. The insinuation clearly made him uncomfortable, his shoulders relaxed and let out a sad sigh. 

“As normal as a retired hero can be.” You felt bad for his, really, he looked so sad and defeated. 

“What is it they say back home? Teachers are the real heroes. They define and build the future by teaching future generations. Right? So really, you’re still a hero. Just in a different way, right?” He looked up at you with a small twinkle in his eyes. His lips slowly curled into a reluctant smile. 

“I guess you’re right.” The apartment fell silent again as you ate your meal. Finally, he broke it again. “So, two majors. That must have been a lot of work, what made you get two?” 

“The deal was if I could get scholarships for both, I could study what I wanted. Just as long as I got a law degree too. As a , quote, ‘backup’.” 

“A backup? I though forensic science is a pretty stable thing anyways.” 

“Forensic psychology, and yeah, it is. She told me she wouldn’t support me if I didn’t get the law degree.” 

“Wouldn’t support you? That’s a little harsh, but I thought you got a lot of scholarships to pay for it all.” You sighed at his ignorance. Apart of you had forgotten how little he really knew about you. It stung to even think about. 

“Well, I had a bit of an incident freshmen year and I lost them.” 

“An incident?” 

“Yeah. I had a bit of a breakdown. I’m fine now. I just lost everything and I had to take a lot of makeup courses so I could graduate on time.” You tried to avoid eye contact by looking out the window and onto the city at night. 

“Why didn’t you call me? I could have helped. Money’s no object, you could have-” 

“It’s fine. It’s not like she couldn’t afford it. Besides, it’s all done now and I have more opportunities. I have a job lined up as soon as I get home anyways. Everything’s fine now.” You brushed it off. 

“You can come to me for things, y’ know. I know I wasn’t around much when you were a kid but I’m here now. I was hoping this trip would help us reconnect.” 

“Yeah, me too.” 

“How is your mom doing, by the way?” 

“Oh, she’s fine. She got married again recently. Nice gal.” 

“Oh yeah? What happened to the last wife?” You shrugged. 

“I don’t know, it’s always something with her. Sucks, I really liked Sandra.” 

“Yeah, they seemed really good together. Do you at least keep in contact with Sandra? You guys were close, right?” 

“Yeah, she was there at my graduation. I miss her a lot.” 

“Do you not like the new girl?” 

“I don’t know her enough to know really. I didn’t even know mom was dating someone. She’s not much older than me though.” 

“Oh.” 

“Yeah, y’ know people expect this kind of thing from a Dad but I guess Mom’s always been the type to break stereotypes. I don’t get what you ever saw in her.” All Might chuckled as she scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. 

“It was a long time ago, we were different people back then.” 

“Yeah, I know.” The conversation fizzled out from there. “Are you done?” You asked him as you finished your bowl. He looked down at the empty thing. 

“Oh, yeah.” 

“I got it.” You took it from his hand and got up to toss the little bowls of takeout away. He stood and cleaned up the rest of the table before dropping dishes in the sink and walking over to the couch. 

“What do you want to watch tonight?” He asked as he sat down and turned on the TV. 

“Um, I was gonna go to the gym for a little if that’s okay.” You said as you shuffled your coat over your shoulders and adjusted it. He looked up at you, a little surprised, or was that disappointment? 

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll see you later.” 

“See you.” You waved as you threw your backpack over your shoulder and headed out the door. You locked the door behind you with the spare key and shoved it into your bag before going on your way. Usually, the gym would be empty at this time of night. You were a little disappointed to find you weren’t alone. Another man was running on a treadmill across the gym. You continued with your routine regardless. Pretty soon you were left alone to go about your business. 

You didn’t love to workout, it wasn’t the physical aspect that you enjoyed so much. You just liked the peace, being left alone to your own devices, and having people respect your privacy. You could plug in with your headphones and zone out for a while in the name of exercise. Sure, the strong body you’d acquired was nice and all, but you didn’t work out for appearances, not anymore. 

Sometimes you pushed yourself a little too hard, it was easy to. It was easy to ignore yourself at this rate. Easy to brush yourself aside, your wants, your needs, your desires, it was too easy to push aside and give in. It was so ingrained in your being to ignore yourself, that you barely even noticed how badly you were hurting. The constriction of your chest, the struggle to breathe properly was normal now. You hardly even noticed how dehydrated you were until your vision began to darken and your body started to crumble. You came out of your train of thought panting and sweating profusely. You reached for your water bottle and began to huff as you drank desperately from it. 

You gave yourself a long moment before the heavy feeling overcame you and you shuffled helplessly to the bathroom before hunching over, and spilling your guts in the toilet. You cursed at yourself, scolding yourself for working yourself sick. You stood in the cold shower for longer than you probably should have, your body shaking under the water as it ran smoothly over your form. You closed your eyes and tried to relax the best you could. 

Then you heard footsteps. What time was it? There usually isn’t anyone there at this hour. You turned off the shower to dry yourself off and to listen to the sound. The footsteps came around the corner to the showers before stopping abruptly. Weird. This is a little too weird. The silence felt wrong, felt suspicious. Then you heard the breathing, louder and louder until you knew it was right outside your shower stall. Your heart pounded rapidly in your chest and you began to panic. Normally, you could manage in a fight, but you had overworked yourself now. Your stomach was empty, your muscle ached, and your head was pounding. You felt sick. 

The silence was broken with the harsh sound of the shower curtain flying open. On the other side, a girl with a big bright, twisted smile lunged at you. She held a knife over her head and swung. You threw yourself to the shower wall, missing the blade as it came down. You pushed yourself out of the small space, clinging to your towel to cover yourself. You ran to the bathroom door, only to find a man standing in your way. The man lurking in the gym before. Your stomach dropped with fear as you gawked up at him. Now you could see him, a scar carved into his forehead. You watched him as you back away from his advancements, he pulled a mask over his head to complete his costume before he spoke. 

“Hold still now-Sorry about this!” He shouted at you before reaching out to grab ahold of you. 

“I got her!” The girl declared as she came from behind and grabbed ahold of you by your arm. She held the knife to your throat and tucked her chin in between your neck and shoulder. 

“Let me go!” You struggled against her, unable to push her off, unable to think of what to do. Unable to lift a finger at this rate. Your body cried out in defiance of your movements, the sick feeling rushed through your body and into your vision. Everything went blurry, and then everything went black. 

When you opened your eyes again, you found yourself clothed. Everything was still black, you realized there was a blindfold over your eyes and bindings on your wrists and ankles. You took deep breathes as you tried to make sense of your surroundings. Pressure, you felt pressure on either side of you. You were sitting. 

“She’s waking up.” The girl’s voice came from your right side. 

“Man, she really took a tumble!” The man’s voice came from your left. 

“I didn’t think it’d be that easy to grab her. You’d think the daughter of the number 1 hero would be a better fight.” The girl. 

“Doesn’t look like she has a quirk either, otherwise she would have used it, right?” Another man’s voice spoke from farther away. A car, you were in a car. It was moving, taking left and right turns. The voice now must be the driver. 

“She looks sick-She looks fine!” The man’s voice to your left spoke. 

“We’re close.” The driver spoke. The car turned another corner and pulled into a secluded garage before parking. 

“Come on, girly. He’ll be so happy to see you!” The girl giggled as she pulled you by the elbow out of the car. You still felt sick, hardly able to walk, especially with the ropes around your ankles. 

“Up ya go!” The man’s voice came from behind before you felt large hands grab ahold of you. They picked you up and held you like a baby as the man’s torso leaned back to properly carry you. He walked with you in his arms through a door and into a building. It was much warmed inside. 

“That the kid?” Another man spoke. 

“You wouldn’t believe how easy it was to nab her!” The girl cheered as she followed. You heard a lot of shuffling before he finally sat you down into a chair. From there, you were restrained further. 

“Not what I expected.” A raspy voice spoke from far away in the room. The blindfold was finally removed and light-flooded your view. It took you a second to make out figures, then the details of those figures, then the details of the room. It appeared to be the living space for an abandoned home. 

“You sure you got the right kid? I thought they’d be younger.” A man from the back of the room spoke. He held his arms tightly across his chest. His patchwork face starring you down in distaste. 

“100%!-Not sure!” 

“It’s All Might’s own flesh and blood alright! We’ve been watching them for weeks!” You shook in your seat as you looked up at the girl who boasted. A man with a face covered by a single hand stood from his seat across the room. He lurked closer and closer until he loomed over you. One red eye stared down at you as you stared back at it. 

“Are you really All Might’s daughter?” The raspy voice asked. You watched him for a moment before responding. 

“What do you want?” You croaked. He paused and stood up straight before looking back at the others. 

“Why is her hair wet?” He asked the girl. 

“We caught her off guard! Got her in the shower. She just passed out too, poor thing. Her body just gave out. Had to dress her myself.” Your face went hot with embarrassment and fear. 

“What’s her quirk?” 

“Doesn’t look like she has one.” The lizard-man spoke as he entered the room from the back door you came through. Red-eye looked back down at you. 

“What do you want?” You repeated. 

“You look pale. You sick or something?” He ignored you and changed the subject. 

“No. What do you want?” You insisted. 

“She looks sick, get her some water or something.” He groaned before walking away and sitting back down on a couch nearby. 

“What do you want with me?” 

“Should we tell her?” Patchwork asked Red-eye. 

“What? That’ll ruin the surprise!” The girl said with a face of glee. 

“I don’t know anything about the Heroes if you’re looking for information.” You spat helplessly. 

“Oh, we don’t need information.” Patchwork lulled. 

“Your accent, it’s American, isn’t it?” The girl smiled at you. 

“She’s American?” 

“That’s right, she flew in ‘bout a month ago to visit Daddy. And judging by her Japanese, she doesn’t visit much.” 

“She doesn’t know who we are, does she?” Patchwork spoke as he approached your chair. You stared up at him before he leaned over. 

“I don’t know names, but I have a pretty good idea who I’m dealing with.” You spoke softly. 

“And who do you think we are?” He purred. 

“The League of Villians.” Suddenly a sharp, raspy laugh rattled the room. Red-eye was hunched over giggling to himself on the couch before he stood and walked back over to you. He shoed patchwork away and knelt down to look up at you. He looked you in the eyes. 

“Bingo.” He smiled under the hand that covered his face. 

“What do you want with me? Clearly you know where All Might lives, why not hit him there? I can’t give you any information about UA either.” 

“I’m no low-life murderer, Y/L/N. I have bigger plans for you.” 

“You’re not trying to recruit me, are you?” He let out another chuckle at you. 

“No. You see, it would be easy to take All Might out now that he’s retired, that’s not the point. The symbol of peace is done for, people know that. What they can’t seem to understand is that its not just All Might that’s done for. It’s all heroes. They’ll see that when not even the world’s best heroes can get you back.” 

“So you’re going to kill me.” You murmured. He reached up and removed the hand from his face. He scared face peeking out from behind his shaggy hair. 

“Why would I kill my most valuable player? We’re not going to hurt you, we’re just going to keep you for as long as we need until the show is over.” He stood up finally and looked down at you once again. His face was almost, handsome.

Taglist:

@craftybean13 @babayaga67 @imjustverable 

[carriagelamp]

April 2020 Book Review - Quarantine Brain Fry Edition

This month of quarantine was much more challenging for me that last March... I suppose because we’re really in the throws of it, and the “extended spring break” feel has worn off. Between general World Anxieties and the incredible challenges of trying to adapt my work into an online setting, my brain has been absolute mush -- and I have a feeling I’m not the only one. Most of my books this month are either very easy reads (comics and children’s novels) or rereads or both! Honestly, I’ve been playing a lot more Animal Crossing than I have been reading...

So the theme for this month of reading? Treat your brain to a rest, and go reread that favourite comic or picture book or graphic novel from when you were a kid. We don’t have libraries or book stores at the moment, so dig deep into your shelf for something you love that you haven’t touched in a while. Here’s what I read:

Ghost Hunters Adventure Club and the Mystery of the Grande Chateau

I’m going to start with best and most unexpected book that I read this month (although this is actually a New Book and not a reread, so maybe it’s a bad start). It’s a Hardy Boys parody novel, and yes it’s by the Game Grumps. The only reason I even found out it existed was because my brother heard about it and we decided that this would be our next Sibling Read Aloud. It made a great read aloud. I was rather skeptical at first, but it was genuinely very clever and very, very funny. There characters were fucking delightful, as they bumbled their way through the mystery, and we ended up accidentally reading almost half the book in one sitting because we couldn’t put it down once we got to endgame. If you like satire and Classic Youth Mystery then do yourself a favour and give this a go. I am desperate for a sequel.

ISHI: Simple Tips from a Solid Friend

A picture book that was recommended to some of the local elementary children who are dealing with isolation from school and their friends. Its beauty is in its simplicity. It shows Ishi, a very simple white stone, experience challenges that it must then find ways to cope with. Things like loneliness, feeling empty or scared, being sad... all things children (and adults, I very much appreciated this little story) may be experiencing. This is definitely a picture book, not a self-help book, but it’s still very encouraging and makes me want to go and create my own Ishi. There’s a reading of it is online, and if you’re feeling like having a solid stone friend reassure you, I would recommend going to listen to it!

Bone 1-5

So, the first in my long list of books that I reread: I’ve started rereading the Bone series for the first time in years. Hands down one of my all time favourite graphic novel series. If you haven’t read Bone, it’s a classic and one of the best example of American graphic novels imho. It’s about Fone Bone and his cousins who, after being driven out of Boneville by Phoney Bone’s money-grubbling stunts, have found themselves across a desert and in a strange, fantastical valley where nothing makes sense. The three of them get drawn into the strange mysteries and adventures of Thorn, her grandmother, and the village of Barrelhaven. Such a perfect blend of beautiful art, comedy and off-the-wall cartoon-level hijinks, as well as really intense, dark adventure and tension as the story unfolds.

Also created this sequence, which may be the funniest two panels ever drawn in a comic

Here Is Greenwood v1

A charming ‘90s manga from my stash that I decided to reread. Honestly one of my favourite feel-good mangas, because it’s such a simple, pure, good-hearted slice of life without some of the gimmicks that other manga use. It’s about Kazuya starting at an all-boys school partway into the year, and moving into the school’s dorms. The entire book is just about him being constantly pestered by the well-meaning characters that share the dorm with him. It’s just goofy and fun, and has the fantastic aesthetic of a good ‘90s manga. Also, it was one of those books that, while technically not ~queer~ was also ~queer enough~ for my deprived teenage soul.

Blood Of Elves

The fourth book of the Witcher series that I’ve finished. I’ll be honest, not my favourite. I really enjoyed the beginning, the whole espionage thing with Dandelion, and then Ciri with Geralt, the Kaer Morhen witchers, and Triss. That was all really fun. It felt like it dragged a lot more though after Ciri joined Yennefer... And yet I love Yennefer as a character, she is hilariously snide and clever and really sweet with Ciri. But it felt like a scene that could have been done in a couple chapters took up half the book. Maybe that’s just because, as I said, my brain was mush and I couldn’t deal with it. I have the next book and as soon as my brain doesn’t look like chicken noodle soup anymore I will be starting it!

The Mouse and the Motorcycle

You know I love a good animal adventure story, and this is one that I adored as a child. The story of Ralph, a young mouse living with his family in a rundown motel, and how he and a young human boy discover that they can understand each other through a shared passion for vehicles... in particular a red toy motorcycle. There’s just something heartwarming about Ralph racing around a motel on a tiny toy motorcycle that runs when he makes motorcycles noises. I’ll have to find the second one as soon as libraries are open again.

Kit: The Adventures of a Raccoon

Another animal adventure story from my childhood, although this one is more of a chapter book than a true novel. This is a book that I’ve been lowkey hunting for years and finally came across in a school library. It’s a more realistic look at what a raccoon’s life is like, from birth to adulthood. Rereading it, it’s not a particularly exciting book and wouldn’t have otherwise stood out to me, but there’s still something that calls to me. It’s very gentle and makes this raccoon’s growing and learning feel very soft and compassionate, even if there are tragedies and death.

A quick edit because it was only just now that I realized that this is a Canadian lit book! Always exciting to discover that a favourite is Canadian!

Calvin and Hobbes: Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat

Calvin and Hobbes, yet one more bullet to add to the list of Comfort Comics that I’ve pulled out to keep my mind entertained while I can’t quite process Proper Novels. I doubt there’s anything I can say about Calvin and Hobbes that hasn’t already been said. You’ve either read these books already, and are nodding along with  me, or you haven’t and therefore are not a human being I can relate to.

Spy vs Spy

I dug out some of the old Spy vs Spy comics we had as kids. They’re basically falling to pieces, but it was fun -- like so many other books on this list -- to revisit something so familiar but which I haven’t looked at in years. These were a very odd experience to reread, because on one hand Spy vs Spy comics have such a simple, goofy premise it’s hard not to just grin and laugh while you read them, but also like... yup they sure are old and kinda ~problematique~ eh? Whatcha gonna do.

The Twisted Ones

The read aloud my brother and I did before Ghost Hunters, although we technically finished reading it at the very end of March, but too late for it to make that book roundup post. Look, I’m not going to defend myself here. Yes, I’ve read an obscene number of Five Nights at Freddy’s books. The first one of this series The Silver Eyes was honestly better than I would have expected. This sequel was not as good, unsurprisingly, but the main character is still so fucking bizarre, so different than the sort of protagonist I would normally expect from a series like this, that I can’t quite bring myself to stop reading them. And when I had a moment of Realization, about what might be in store for the third book, I genuinely screamed at my brother who was reading at the time. So yes. Somehow this youth horror is better than it has any right to be -- not good but better than it should be -- and yes I will be reading the third the second the libraries open again.

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

Another reread! This was a book I got as a birthday present when I was in... probably preschool? It’s a cross between a large picture book and a chapter book. It’s essentially a “novelization” of the original Disney movie, and it has such cute art to go along with it. Winnie the Pooh has always been a favourite of mine, and reading this old book was like a warm hug. Makes me want to see if I can get my VCR set up so I can watch that old movie again...

Frog and Toad Together

A friend found someone reading this book in a very asmr-style on youtube and recommended I listen because they found it super chill. And they were right! It is ridiculously chill. I’ve never read a Frog and Toad story before, but it’s really just a very cute old book that immediately launches you right back into grade one.

The BFG

This is my first time reading the BFG and it has all of Dahl’s usual charm and quirkiness. A young girl gets plucked out of an abusive orphanage by the Big Friendly Giant, who brings her to the terrifying Land Of Giants... all of which are bigger and crueller than the BFG, and who have an appetite for human flesh. It was quick and fun, and it’s always hard not to fall in love with Dahl’s sweet characters, especially this big eared, dream-catching giant.

[flydotnet]

Shuichi Saihara and the Mystery of the Neverending Melody

Summary: Ever since he was a child, Shuichi has heard the same melody, an experience he didn't share with anybody. This is the story of how and when he found out why it was. 

Fandom: Danganronpa V3 (AU) Ship: Saimatsu/Saiede/Saiaka/y’know the drill

Wordcount: 3.2K words

Notes: Once upon a time not too along ago, in a place not so far away... My giftee was (unknown to me, due to the rules of the exchange) @xoxorandomfangirl! Glad we could rejoice in some good ol’ Saimatsus. This is... a weird trip. It's a soulmate AU with a twist! God, the plot barely makes sense in this story, it's a disaster and a half haha. I hope both aren't too out of character, that'd be super embarrassing, especially with some of my ~veteran experience~. Anyway! As I expected, I had... more or less zero idea who this would be for, so I went wild and, as a result, this story is... weird and I guess kind of impersonal? I still hope you like it pal! 

Written for the @saimatsugiftexchange

AO3 version available here.

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

It first began when he was a little boy. After his parents (or, rather, their butler or maid) would have left his room, Shuichi would hear the serene notes of a piano in his now quiet room. He used to believe it was someone playing said instrument in a nearby room: after all, his mother owned a piano, a family heritage he had been told by the family’s most loyal butler, she could have very well been playing it, or asked someone else to do so for her husband or herself. Truth be told, Shuichi didn’t know much about his own house.

He never mentioned to his parents, or anyone for that matter. He was afraid of not getting believed. He had read somewhere before that, sometimes, you were just cursed to hear the same music over and over again for the remainder of your life until you’d find the one true way to break the curse and liberate your soul from going insane from the repetitiveness of it all and the loneliness it’d bring upon you. Again, Shuichi was but a little boy, and he was afraid of the curse too, more than he had ever been about the darkness of the night. Maybe that, if he ignored the song, it’d just go away… He figured he had grown out of believing such mythos, like the existence of the tooth fairy, of the soulmates his parents claimed to be in front of the cameras, and the curse of some piano music stalking him.

 He wasn’t weirded out by the myths, despite how much he’d hear about them and the number of stories he’d end up collecting in his mind with time. When he was a child, his parents would buy him a lot of story-focused books with urban legends like these plastered all over the pages. He’d watch, like every kid his age, series and movies about sirens, fairies, werewolves, vampires, soulmates with specific birthmarks, mermaids and haunting music. They usually ended well, turning darker as he got older and got to watch more grotesque content. The happy siren marrying the sailor she had first enchanted had become a tragic, death-riddled version of itself.

Shuichi didn’t believe a lot of them, despite hearing the music. Someone at school once told him it was someone searching after him and, when they’d get close to him, he’d hear the music. While she thought it was his Princess Charming searching for her beloved, he only found it creepy to think about: it was essentially being followed around your entire life until someone, possibly with malicious intent, would find you. How was that supposed to be reassuring?

 Speaking of the never-ending song, it got eerie when he’d start hearing it again when he was a teen. He had moved places entirely: to keep up with the demand for their services, his parents were mostly overseas, or at least far from home, and he had since moved in with his uncle Shinichi and the latter’s wife. Neither of them owned a piano, there was no such instrument in their house. If he let his soul get too carried away in its first instincts, he could almost feel the crescent-shaped mark on his chest itch.

Still, there was a rational explanation to that mysterious phenomenon, as there’s always been to various other enigmatic occurrences. When he absentmindedly mentioned this fact to his uncle and aunt, Auntie Ran mentioned that their neighbours had a son around Shuichi’s age who played the piano. It may have been this guy all along, so he shook the idea of being haunted or cursed away. There was always rationality to everything in life. There wasn’t anything to worry about…

 …that was, until he’d start hearing the melody where there was no piano nor the possibility of someone playing it, and especially in times where he shouldn’t have heard it.

He figured he’d just play it in his mind to soothe his own soul when finding himself in dire situations. When he was very sick and seeing things that weren’t, when he was about to fall, only for something to retain his body before it’d break itself, when the car he was in almost got hit by another. The serene melody would always play, albeit quicker than before, and he’d feel better or get out of the situation safe and sound. It must have only been him but, deep down, a part of his sceptic mind was thankful for it…

 A part of his brain couldn’t compute anymore when, on an urbex trip with his best friend, the serene music reached his ears. Around them, nothing but the rests of life that once was: they were in the middle of an abandoned hospital, torchlights in their bags, a camera in his hands. Kaito noticed something was bothering him, so he immediately popped the question to the latter, making Shuichi feel his cheeks burn with embarrassment. With how rational Kaito was despite his silly appearance, he’d surely never believe him. Still, he owed his friend the truth, so he went for it anyway. While Kaito didn’t outright laugh at his face, his eyebrows still twitched in disbelief. He then proposed the idea that there could have been a piano in the premise, just well hidden and, while that wouldn’t make too much sense, nothing was impossible in urbex. Someone could have brought their instrument with them, or put in a wireless speaker to play with the visitors. It wouldn’t have been his first time seeing that happen, at least.

In the end, there was no piano in the old hospital, nobody else but them, and they found no speaker, even with Kaito’s best efforts. They both decided to believe they just hadn’t seen it. It could have been hidden in some rubble, after all, leaving shortly thereafter.

Little did they know that, by trying to follow the music, they had avoided an unfortunate encounter with a murderer hiding behind the rubble of what had once been.

 Still, the phenomenon kept on. It didn’t scare him in the slightest when he was staying over at his uncle’s, finding himself get soothed by the serene notes played by his neighbour. It didn’t scare him when he was sleeping over at Kaito’s grandparents’ place. In fact, he wasn’t scared of it whenever he was with someone else, because, even if they didn’t know what he was talking about and didn’t hear the music, they helped him rationalize it. He must have had a sensible hearing, like his mother apparently was. She’d sing for her own scenes; he must have inherited something from her except for his long eyelashes and slender figure.

The melody would actually change every time he heard it. It’d be subtle differences he’d notice more and more: an octave higher, an octave lower. It must have been him, but it’d differ depending on his mood. If he was sad, he’d hear solemn, yet optimistic notes. If he was trying to focus, it’d subdue and become background noise. If he was happy, it’d hear triumphant sounds. If he was embarrassed, the air would be comical and he’d feel easier, encouraged to take it easy. Hiding in some bathroom stall had never felt this comfortable.

 Now, the issue rose its head when he also realized he was always the only one to hear it in the unlikeliest place. The moment he realized that fact turned his entire life upside down: he was all alone in one of his family’s secondary residences, enjoying some time separated from the rest of the world during the holidays, without a butler nor a maid. Just him, all on his own, with the sound of his footsteps echoing through the empty corridors. For how weird it seemed to literally anyone around him, Shuichi took great pleasure in some voluntary solitude. Someone like him just needed moments where he could cool down from how heavy socialization could get.

Alas, he wasn’t all alone in this villa: the piano was playing. Haunted and anxious at the idea that a burglar could have step foot there, Shuichi braced himself and started making his way to the music room of the house, just to make sure it was just all in his mind again. He let himself get guided by the notes: the louder the calm symphony was, the closer he felt to the source. For a burglar, they sure were a gentleman to only play the piano instead of robbing the place out of its fairly pricey electronics and other luxurious expenses. His parents weren’t materialistic people to begin with anyway.

 Bracing himself one last time, he breathed in and out, and proceeded to open the door to the music room. The notes were at their loudest yet remained eerily peaceful, undisturbed. Time to see what the face of his musician, impromptu visitor was…

Shuichi’s jaw almost dropped to the floor when his eyes laid upon the piano. It suddenly felt like a fever dream.

 On the bench in front of the keyboard sat a blonde girl around his age, fingers moving almost on their own as she closed her eyes, too much into her music piece to notice someone entering the room, he quickly guessed. She wasn’t dressed any oddly by any normal means, albeit very formally for a robber: a mauve dress reaching to her ankles, only leaving her ankles bare, with a trail sitting diligently at her feet, with matching gloves covering most of her arms. Even her hair seemed nowhere near ready for quick action and housebreak: it was a fancy hairdo, with strands all over her back and shoulders. Her profile was, you could say, divine.

Now, how she had gotten herself there was a complete enigma to Shuichi. Even his uncle would have a ton of troubles trying to decipher what in the flying disorder was happening before his eyes. A girl his age had somehow broken into a high-security house dressed for a ball… only to play the piano and leave everything else intact in her stead. Surely he had to be hallucinating it all, stuck in a fever dream and barely realizing it. It was unreal to say the least.

 Eventually, the piece ended, and the girl opened her eyes, revealing pink irises glancing right into his. God, she was beautiful in all the meanings of the physical team, but seriously, what the hell? Who was this woman, what was she doing there, playing the piano? How and why? She couldn’t have possibly been the cause of all the music he had lonelily heard all of his life, could she?

“Ah,” she spoke up before he could even phrase a single thing in a coherent sentence, “I see that you have found me at last. I’ve lost our little game of hide-and-seek!”

Okay, now that was getting a tad creepy and way too cryptic for his liking.

“Who… Who are you?!”

 Shuichi didn’t want to scream that like some angry drunk guy stumbling upon his own imagination, especially when the empty halls and rooms resonated this badly; yet his voice decided to do so anyway. Sometimes, his body could ask for his consent, but apparently it didn’t want to know anything about his desires. He’d have dwelled more on it if he wasn’t staring right at a girl playing on his mother’s piano with a slight smile and shimmering eyes.

“Well, I kind of expected you to ask me that first-hand. My name is Kaede. It’s a pleasure to meet you at last, Shuichi!”

Okay, what the fuck. How did she know his given name? What in the hell was that evasive response? And she still hadn’t only replied to most of his interrogations! Was she making fun of him, on top of stalking him with piano music of all things? He didn’t know how to phrase anything without sounding like a future murderer or a maniac.

 Still, “Kaede” quickly noticed he wasn’t convinced by just having her name. She simply hummed and resumed the conversation (if conversation this weird situation even was).

“I’m certain you won’t believe me, but we’re soulmates! Have you never heard the myth of hearing music everywhere you went until you’d meet your one true person? It doesn’t even have to be about love!”

“…you’re kidding me, right?”

She didn’t seem quite that happy with being questioned, instead shrugging with a slightly displeased expression. She ought to have had a knife hidden under her dress.

“Why would I joke about that? I’ve waited seventeen years to meet you!”

 She rose from the bench, hair and trail flowing behind her, floating in the air like wind blew in the room. He had to admit it: she was absolutely stunning and, frankly, didn’t seem too mean aside from being… weirdly playing the piano in an empty house.

“Hold up”, he still said, rising a hand. “How did you break in? Why aren’t you, I don’t know, stealing anything?”

“Why would I steal anything? I’m not here for items, I’m here for you!”

“Still, how did you make your way here?”

Kaede seemed bothered by his question, looking aside with an awkward smile.

“Weeeeell… It’ll sound unbelievable, but I can go through walls when I want!”

“…you really got to be kidding me.”

 As if to prove her point, she walked past him and, indeed, made her arm go through the wall behind his back. He felt a shiver go down his spine with a cold sweat.

“O-okay… And how do you do that…?”

He may have been terrified to see such a display without a proper forewarning.

“I’m a goddess!”

How far could this girl push his willing suspension of disbelief?

“Gods aren’t real, no? That’s old mythological stuff.”

“Yet you have one right in front of you!”

He supposed she could go through the walls and play the piano wherever he went…

“Wait, that means you’ve known me since I was a little boy, right?”

That had the most unfortunate implications ever.

“I… actually never saw you until now.”

 The situation kept growing weirder and weirder.

“Wait, what?! How do you know I’m “the one”, then?!”

She pulled down the right side of her dress, revealing a part of her breast and, most importantly, a crescent-shaped birthmark. With her other hand, she pointed exactly where his was, on his right.

“…so, all along, all those legends were true? God, I must be dreaming all this.”

Kaede looked annoyed.

“I thought you’d be happier than that to know you’re linked to a goddess in such a way!”

 Only then did it hit him.

“Wait. You’re the one who was playing this song I’d always hear, right?”

“Yeah. That was me trying to locate you, but most of the time, you’d be in trouble…”

“So, in short, you’re also the one who saved me when I was in harm’s way.”

“I tried my best back there! I couldn’t lose you before we’d meet, right? That’d have been anticlimactic!”

 It felt like being revealed the truth after a lifetime of lies and he, honestly, didn’t know how to handle it, or even if he could. That must have been when he felt her soft, warm touch around his body.

“Hey, are you okay?!” She asked, frantic, as she carried him like a firefighter around, until she found the nearest bedroom to put him on the bed.

Words had escaped his mouth, head spinning in dizziness.

“I suppose that’s a lot to take in…”

She picked a chair and sat on it, right next to it, her fingers hovering over one of his hands.

“I… I don’t know what to say…!” Shuichi laughed, still half in disbelief. “That stuff’s just insane!”

“I can only imagine so.”

 He took a deep breath and tried calming himself, if not just to stabilize his swimming field of vision for a moment.

“So… You’re some kind of goddess, right?”

“Yeah! I’m a deity of music! My father is the god of harmony and my mother is the goddess of technique and precision. My twin sister is the goddess of the harp!”

Okay. That made… some coherence, at least. It wasn’t entirely hazardous pull after hazardous pull.

“But, like, does that mean you were in love with me since I was born?”

“I didn’t know who you were for real until today! I just knew your name, where you were and things like that, but I couldn’t see your face until you’d see mine first. It’s the thing with being a goddess with a mortal soulmate…”

She seemed saddened by that fact.

“That’s a thing that happens, sometimes?”

“We deities have a few different soulmates in our lifetime. Sometimes, our bond to them is so strong the mortal get to ascend, but it happens very rarely. You’re my first soulmate, though! I’m a very young goddess by our standards!”

“You’ve waited for me for seventeen years, right?”

“Yeah! I hoped you were a good guy, and I’m not disappointed. I’m sorry if I’ve scared you with my attempts at finding you.”

“It’s… it’s fine. Now I know it’s not a stalker with malicious intentions, at least…”

 Kaede put one of her hand on his. It was only now that he was noticing she had somehow changed into something much more comfortable-looking: a pink toga-like dress with an untied hairdo. He supposed that was part of her powers…

“If you don’t want me around, I can always go back to where I come from. But, if I’m to be honest, I’d rather discover the mortal world with you.”

“N-no, not at all, you don’t bother me!” (Now that he was getting over his emotions, he realized she seemed like a nice sport all around. He could get used to her magical shenanigans later down the line). “I just have a question to ask.”

“Yeah?”

“Can you take a human form? I don’t want to introduce you to Kaito as my invisible friend who can go through walls…”

Her expression, which had been serious and determined until that point, broke into a laugh.

“I like that title, though! Anyway, yeah, I can take human shape and pretend to be a mortal. I’ll just have to use a bit of my goddess magic to give me some officialness.”

“And you don’t mind that?”

She shook her head. “Nuh-huh!”

“That’s good…”

 Shuichi felt a wave of fatigue suddenly washing over him before yawning. That was a lot of emotions…

“It’s getting late,” Kaede noted as she looked outside, the pale moon lighting the otherwise pitch-black bedroom. “I guess you want to sleep.”

“Wouldn’t be against it for sure… But I think you have a lot to tell me.”

“Oh, it’s no problem! I’ll be back in the morning then, when you’ll be all rested up! Goodnight, Shuichi.”

“Goodnight…”

He fell asleep before her fingers had even left his, still dressed for the day. Maybe that it was all just a dream, an absurd dream of absurd proportions. For now, it was a soothing experience, so he figured he may as well enjoy what was left of it until he’d wake up…

 When he woke up, it was to the smell of breakfast and the sight of a now-familiar smiling face with blond strands of hair cupping her cheeks.

[smolbeandrabbles]

Hail To The King -  Henry IV & Reader (The King)

There’s absolutely zero ‘X’ to be had here. & To be used for platonic relationships #AppreciateThePlatonics

Author’s Note: 🎉🎉YES. I freakin’ DID.🎉🎉 Something else will have to come along and be freakin’ SPECTACULAR to stop this from being my movie of the year. Honestly, everyone involved in this movie should be super proud of themselves. This is an absolute gem. And I’m sure I’ll be raving about it for years to come... AND. If there’s one thing I love, it’s a good song. Especially when it fits the source material! Hail To The King - Avenged Sevenfold

Disclaimer: I do not own any of this apart from the words, which I wrote with mine own hand. I will not take away from the fantastic job David and Joel did. Also, seen as Shakespeare pretty much wrote fanfiction of history... this is like... fanfiction of fanfiction (of fanfiction?) Premise: As the King’s Guard it is your duty to protect him from anything. And you’ve done that well over the number of years you have served. There’s just one problem, what happens when you come face to face with the one thing you can’t protect him from...?

Words: 5371

Warnings: swearing / If you’ve not seen the movie and know nothing of the plays then... uh... spoilers!

__________

Royal flames will carve a path in chaos Bringing daylight to the night Death is riding in to town with armor... Blood is spilled while holding keys to the throne... No mercy from the edge of the blade Dare escape and learn the price to be paid Let the water flow in shades of red now Arrows black out all the light Death is riding in to town with armor They come to grant you your rights

There's a taste of fear When the henchmen call Iron fist to tame them Iron fist to claim it all Hail to the King Hail to the one Kneel to the crown Stand in the sun Hail to the King ---

If you’d ever bothered to trace your family history back, you wouldn’t have been surprised if there was a long line of you that had ended up in the service of whatever royal family was going. You had followed your father, and his father before him, and his before him… All in an array of vastly different roles – sure – but all in direct service to the King. Only difference here was you were female – and happened to have the most physical occupation of them all. King’s Guard. It had probably made sense when he was younger and getting himself into trouble – or dragging you half way across the country onto battlefields for his father and cousin. When you were more friends than anything else… But… When he became King? Shirked was the idea that he should have a woman defend him. But, apparently his thought process was quite the opposite; what kind of woman were you if you were the one charged with defending his life at every moment? Formidable. Worthy of being at his side.  And you were glad for it. You held his confidence, his council and were damn well needed when the realm started their many rebellions – that was before you counted assassination attempts. So when distain was still noted, but had considerably died down, you though you might be owed apologies. Or at least a thank you. No such luck from most of his other advisors. But you didn’t much care for them; you were much more invested now in his children. With his daughters now married into foreign families you had little opportunity to see them. But his four sons, who still liked to practice their swordsmanship, and on occasion treat you like you were still in your twenties and they were still under ten, were fast growing into tough young men of their own. With many responsibilities. Thomas was the one who had taken to this with the most resolve, that was immediately recognisable – and now he too was council to his father. John and Humphrey were content to rest on their laurels, and that made sense – they were likely to never inherit the crown, and you knew that if ever called to such service they would jump at the chance. …Then there was Hal… “Where is that boy of mine-??!” You were snapped from your deep thought, huddled sitting on the wooden steps, by the voice of your King. “Likely in town...” you tipped your head back, eyeing him curiously, he could only be talking about his eldest with a tone like that... “Would you like me to go get him?” It was as much your duty to know the whereabouts of those boys at all times. Henry already looked weary at the notion; “Is that your job?” “Not really.” You stood, brushing yourself down; “But sometimes I do like taking a walk...” He sat back for a second to regard you; “I’ll permit it, but hurry straight back.” You gave a nod of agreement “Your Majesty.” You turned with a smile “Oh-! And Y/N?” “Yes?” You twisted once more, now backing out of the throne room; “Knock some sense into him, would you?!” You gave a laugh “Even when they were younger I always thought it was easier said than done... I’ll see what I can do!” ** You didn’t have to stroll that far and had barely made it out of the castle grounds before you ran into him, looking about as worse for wear as you expected these days. But he was in the company of a man you didn’t recognise; causing your thumb to loosen your blade from its sheath; “Eastcheap no good for tonight then?” Hal sent his eyes heavenward, usually he’d take your snark and give you attitude of his own with amusement. Now it didn’t matter what you said, or how, it would simply be taken as another bout of chiding from his father. Hal essentially saw you as an extension of him now – and he had little patience for either. “…No.” “Well then you best get back inside and cleaned up. I shouldn’t like to send you to your father straight away, but he was asking after you…” and there it was… Hal sighed as if this would be a great effort on his part; “Fine.” You turned you attention from the prince to his companion and drew your eyes up and down him for some explanation. “And you are-!?” “Y/N…” You shot Hal a look to silence him.  “Falstaff, M’Lady…” It was a name you recognised… a seasoned warrior from a previous Kings reign. Although, he didn’t exactly look like that anymore. You wondered where Hal may have dug him up from. But could already jump to obvious conclusions. You folded your arms. “Oh, so you’re the bad influence.” His eyes flicked around the castle walls but didn’t meet your face; “I... don’t know how I feel about being called that.” You turned to Hal, still standing there awkwardly; “Don’t look at me, I’m not the one you answer to, get inside...” “But-!” “Get inside!!” You jerked your thumb over your shoulder, never one for liking repeating yourself.  He sighed, eyes downcast and trudged past you into the castle.  You shook your head and turned back to his companion, who was staring at your armour;  “And who exactly are you?” You folded your arms, eyebrow raised; “That’s a joke right? And not a very funny one...” you walked down the steps to effectively get up in his face - it worked well enough for him to take a pace back “You certainly look like a bad influence.” He smirked gently; “What, and you’re the good one?” You gave a shrug “I’m not here to be either - but seen as he appears a little wayward from time to time I do like to attempt a bit of steering... God knows what would happen if I didn’t.” He surveyed you again; “You’re King’s guard.” “Correct.” “Will you be Hal’s too?”  Part of you wanted to scoff, first it would have to happen – and tension in this family was high enough; “Unless he removes me from service...” you narrowed your eyes at the notion though, “But if I was you, I would have care how I spoke.” One too many strange men appearing on castle grounds got a girl wise to these things. He bent to examine your weaponry “Why? Would you run that through me?” You rolled your shoulders in a shrug; “I can think of worse things to do with my time...” “Surely all that is heavy? Don’t you take a break?”  You raised an eyebrow “It’s... my job.” Not as heavy as the weight of the Kingdom I should think, in its current state. “I see, is that it? Stand around like that all day.” “Occasionally I train Hal and his siblings in combat - which they will obviously need if things continue the way they are. And I advise, on occasion...” you placed your hands on your hips; what it was to him however was beyond you. Still, he nodded his head to the gate that his friend had just disappeared through. “You gonna advise the kid too?” You scoffed this time; “Ha-! Well I’d certainly give him a lot better advice than you.” He gave another smirk “we’ll see about that.”

**

As you expected the ill-feeling continued, and eventually Hal stopped coming around all together. You weren’t exactly surprised, and neither was Henry, which you were glad of. He wasn’t all as delusional as they would call him. However, your King was getting wise to his own mortality. He’d survived a few illnesses so far – but now he was getting older they were getting harder to fight. And today as you looked over the palace gardens his musings caught your attention; “I must call him back.” You were torn between his health as a priority and the knowledge that before something really awful happened, their relationship should be allowed to mend; “Will seeing him not strain you?” “Don’t you ever get tired of telling me what to do?” “I get worried.” You slid off the stone ledge you were sat on, “Now more than ever...” “Mortal life is such...” You lowered your head; “...But I did not expect it to be so sudden... this is my duty, what do I do without you...?” “Continue on.” “If your heir allows it.” “Why should he not?” “I don’t know... children have a funny way of looking at things...” You only began to walk as he did, and slow... you had never been more alert in your entire life - not even when you used to ride the battlefield together and his very life depended on yours. When enemies and weapons surrounded you.

But this was the second time in your life you had felt powerless to stop something. And the first was with his wife. You adored her too, and essentially became her Queens guard. Retaking that oath on their wedding day. It had happened similarly... how were you supposed to protect him from something like this...  And now enemies were on all sides too, what with the addition of Henry Percy to the rebellions. You should have dispatched him yourself over that dinner. You could reprimand yourself over that one later though… Still, in honesty, who would morn beside his father-!? Would you simply be fighting a losing battle? But you couldn’t give up - not on a man that meant so much to you.

*** Similar discussion rolled around again a week later, whilst you were waiting for the servants to finish dressing him one morning. You were the only one in this castle looped into everything. What Henry didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him – what the advisors weren’t telling you, you would gain from those in Henry’s inner most circle – the 4 or 5 of you that held his closest confidence. There was something in your demeanor that made you perfect to stand by his side and defend him, as well as make the right connections to have all the information at your disposal at any one time. Anyone who needed to know it would know in due time. Kindness paid you well, but being quiet and unassuming was twice as powerful. 

“I must speak to Hal, don’t you think? Before this gets worse.” This time your answer was different, if Henry were to listen to reason, he would do it now; “I do believe that wouldn’t go amiss.” He nodded, turning to let them smooth out his cloak ready for another communal day listening to very boring stories where you would try not to roll your eyes. You used to give each other similar looks of distain back in his younger days... Now Henry seemed to make snap judgments that didn’t make him very popular; and it was your duty to stand and listen and accept it. Having said that, if he turned to anyone, it was still to you. “I will summon him, then, lay down the rules. How I expect my succession to go.” “If I may, he only needs some straight and narrow. And giving it to him as laid down should help him with that…” you gave a nod of approval to his suggestion “Firm but fair.” He was giving you that look again that meant you didn’t necessarily believe in your suggestion “…Y/N… The truth from you now.” He dipped his head but kept those piercing blue eyes on you. You breathed a heavy sigh; “…Go easy on the firm…” You gave a gentle smile “…I believe the fair will be what he needs most.” ***

As the meeting was adjourned you allowed yourself to lower your head into your hands; oh, Lord above what have you done? Clearly whatever you had said days previously had gone over his head, been forgotten, or someone else in this room had put other notions in his head. You glared at his row of ‘advisors’ – you could make a fair few guesses. If only you were just allowed to go around and take them all out without some yelling treason and getting you killed. You ground your teeth and excused yourself from your King for a moment. “Tell me this wasn’t someone else’s idea?” Thomas gave a shrug “…I… Cannot say I knew it was coming. But neither can I say it’s a surprise.” “Whether that be Hal or the battle?” “Oh. The battle was set… Why?” “Would you like me to accompany you?” He politely shook his head; “Your place is at my fathers side.” “I know that, but he’s hardly about to fight a war is he…” “You may stay, if I need you I will send for you…” Thomas was always your favourite, you didn’t like the idea that he was about to walk into this on his fathers orders “…You promise?” “I promise.” “Well then you best keep it, if you are to succeed him, then I would expect you to already be utilizing me.” He gave a smile at that, and a confident nod; “Perhaps I shall see you on the battlefield?” You reflected his warm smile with your own; “Until such a time, Thomas! I wish you luck!” It wasn’t so hard to catch Henry after talking quickly to Thomas and even less hard to get him to usher all his other bickering advisors away; “When I said talk to Hal, that isn’t exactly what I had in mind!!” “...What? Do you believe me to have lapsed in judgement...?” “He is your son! I would just expect that...” You held your tongue at the look he was giving you “That boy is no son of mine, do you think he cares? He would sooner see me dead than come to my heed - and he said it himself, he does not seek the crown of England.” You tried to not look so hurt; what had caused such a rift... you had your own ideas... Hal had always been the wayward unruly one... but the eldest. You always thought he would come back, and perhaps he would have. But both he and his father shared a similar distaste for one another’s company that had never really healed. Not even now, when Henry, like it or not was a dead man walking.

 **

  Things declined, and fast. It wasn’t like you could say one day he was fine and the next he wasn’t, he’d been ailing for a while - but you expected it to draw itself out a little longer... but when hour two of you sitting in the throne room alone rolled around you knew something was wrong. And you knew he’d long since lost the strength to wander alone; so he wouldn’t be in any of the places you would have usually found him pondering life. You decided you’d rather be in trouble for not being here when he arrived than leaving anything too late.  And you were right; although when you got to his bedchamber only his doctor was still present. You stood in the doorway patiently, and he spotted you, whispering something to your King he came over; “I fear we are at the end...” It was like getting stabbed through the heart with your own sword, and as expected you couldn’t hold the dread from your voice; “...Is there nothing...” “Y/N I have done all I can... I know this is particular hard on y-” “You have NO idea how hard this is for me!” You spat back a little more venomously than you really meant. You were angry, confused, scared, upset.  Henry had always laughed and told you your face was too emotional, and you always pushed him and told him you were his emotional support. At least you could actually roll your eyes when someone came to him with something stupid. Not that you were supposed to, but sometimes needs must. The doctor looked more than a little taken aback, so your expression softened and you lowered your eyes “Forgive me this is just... after losing her I... I thought I would lose my life before he did...” “Have you not done your job amicably well if he is dying like this?” “In agony? When I cannot do anything? Should the King’s Guard really outlive their King?”  You were met with a silence, before the doctor turned to Henry again; “He will need rest... but you may stay...” “How long...?” “Little more than a week, I wouldn’t hope to expect that...” You swallowed back your tears, and he lay a hand on your arm; “...Y/N... I am sorry...” “...Are preparations made... is no one going to...” “What are preparations now? After Thomas-” You shot him another look “So we need to debate over Hal, now?” “Y/N... until he-” “For goodnessake...” You shook your head; fine. If his other advisors won’t say it, you would. Your smile was a thin line; “Thank you Doctor... I’ll take it from here...”

Those were some of the hardest steps you’d ever had to take, which you thought was pretty pathetic on your part. He’s your King dammit! It doesn’t matter for how much longer, he is NOW! It’s YOUR job to be his strength, while he still has some of his own... But he was your whole life, your whole world, your best friend. And if there was something to go through, you’d probably been through it together. And for all the talk of you supposedly saving his life, you couldn’t count the number of times he’d saved yours. Your eyes flicked to the castle grounds visible from the window, and you were glad they hadn’t left it dark in here. Though if they had you’d have done something about it. Always the rebellious one. You sat on the edge of his bed and sighed gently... if this really was it then you’d never get to walk with him anywhere again, let alone out there. You were starting to wish you’d savoured yesterday that little more. It wasn’t long before his hand took yours, and you were forced to smile. His voice was weak but held that amusement that let you know he wasn’t truly done yet. “...Never thought you’d have to see me like this...” You shook your head, eyes still on the scenery “...this is you we’re talking about... I’ve seen much worse.” He managed a chuckle; “Oh! About to get a collective embarrassing life story, am I?” “I’ll spare you that, your Grace.” “Oh. The honour is mine...”  You laughed, despite the circumstances... “But in seriousness... we do need to talk about what happens next.” “Hal?” Your nod was barely there, unless he was about to offer up a second suggestion; “Who else?” There was a grumble and Henry withdrew his hand, which made you look back to him; “...I didn’t wish to see you lose any of them before your own life... but we can’t pretend it didn’t happen... Henry if you don’t name an heir there will be chaos... even if Hal is the more obvious choice... I don’t trust-” anyone! He sighed; “You never have.” “No. With good reason! Everyone here is here for themselves...” “And you aren’t?” “Thought it might be obvious by my title...” I’m here for you. You folded your arms “And if I have to tell you some home truths, so be it. I’m not afraid to do so.” “...Do you think he’s ready?” “I think he’ll be different.” “That wasn’t an answer to my question.” “How can anyone be ready? I’m not ready, and I’ve been preparing for what happens if I don’t do my job for 20 years-!” “You cannot shield me from this one...” “And how do you think THAT makes me feel-!?” There was sudden silence at the way you’d raised your voice and you sighed again “Forgive me, I...”

His hand reached out again and this time he brushed away the single tear that had escaped; “Do not waste your tears on me... crying is all but useless.” Your voice was barely above a whisper as it graduated to despair; “What am I supposed to do without you..?” “I told you. You will do your duty. And you better damn well do it good - that boy will need it.” You blinked a few times, allowing for a pause worthy of the significance, and raised an eyebrow; “Is that you agreeing with me on this one-!?” He chuckled again, “Come now; I don’t often disagree with your judgement.” “This is a major judgement...” you took his hands back in yours “Henry, it needs to be your decision and they all need to hear you say it...” “And they will, even if it’s the last thing I say...” You sighed gently again with a nod, despite your frustration, even now he wasn’t willing to mend fences. Well. You don’t know why you expected it. “May I stay?” “You may...” he closed his eyes again “... That way you can tell everyone else to leave.” You couldn’t help but grin, even though he couldn’t see it; oh you’d only wanted to do THAT from the second you’d been appointed... You left his bed, and settled in a chair, relaxing; “With pleasure..!” You ended up reading, head propped up in your hand and sword braced against the wall. It wasn’t something you had much occasion to do these days, and you for once gained your enjoyment from being absorbed in books, and not parrying in the courtyard with adolescent males who still hadn’t figured out a way to beat you yet that didn’t involve foul play. You smiled absentmindedly at the memory as you read on; no prizes for guessing which member of the family you ought to be thanking for that. Your eyes flicked up as he murmured something, and everything stilled for a moment. He murmured it again – a little louder but barely enough for you to catch it; you placed a marker in the book and slid it from your knee – leaning forward and focusing on him. It sounded like a string of nonsense – and you realised that he must be lost in dreaming. That didn’t make your approach any less curious. You stopped just short as he mumbled again; “…Mary…" Oh… Henry…  You crouched beside him, lacing your fingers with his. He repeated her name a little louder now, and his fingers closed around yours tighter – as if desperate not to let go. His calling of her more urgent. You bit your lip gently, and attempted to calm him with gentle hushed tones of your own. And all at once you knew. He would have her back, he would get to see her again. You knitted your eyebrows together – was it fair to keep him here, to pray to God few more precious hours as much as you did, when all he’d wanted since she’d died was to see her again? It was like everything was being forced into perspective – and when he relaxed you dropped your hand from his and looked Heavenwards. He was your everything. But you should be thinking about his everything… ‘Forgive me…’ ** Every morning since then you’d been the first one to his room. For a start, there was no way you were letting anyone else beat you to the King’s side, and you wanted to pay damn close attention to the kinds of poison they might be whispering. On occasion you would simply make sure your sword hit something as you moved, to keep them in line. Your concern now was them leading him to something when he had very little effort to fight it off. He’d already made some rash decisions when he was completely lucid... some of the people that came to him had good points-! Even if they went about it the wrong way...  

But, people had been calling him delusional for a little while and you weren’t having that, or anything else, happen now. So you watched them all with a particular form of glower. You’d only left his side to rest. Not that you got much of that done either - pacing the halls outside your room instead. You would wait in his, but, you had to at least act like life may go on. It wouldn’t. You would be just as delusional for thinking so... This morning however, was worse than all the rest. You took the steps 3 at a time and walked that corridor as briskly as you had any other day. But as you turned into his room you knew something was badly wrong. And that made you sprint the rest of the way, to your knees.  His breathing was laboured, and even in taking his hand there was no strength left.  “Henry...” He barely opened his eyes to you; “Y/N...” His voice was just as weak. And for the first time since he’d been bed bound, you didn’t want to cry. Some kind of amicable strength overcame you. “Save your words, My King... I shall gather everyone...” you knew he knew too.  A shiver ran through him that you also didn’t like. Just stay alive... please until Hal is here... stay alive...  You stood, and were about to turn and run from the room once more, but something stopped you. You reached down gently, and tucked his dark hair away from his face. Then you bent - and pressed a short kiss to his forehead. It wasn’t enough, but it was what you needed to say.

** You didn’t know if you were supposed to be running quite this fast in mail; and your sword occasionally banging into you caused a dull pain, but you didn’t care. Everyone you could think that would need to be there you roused from sleep, or any other mundane task they might be doing, in order to be by his side. And by the time you got back they were ready to administer last rights.

You stood in the centre of that room and surveyed it, a slow smooth circle until you were facing him again. Everyone was solemn and quiet. And there wasn’t anyone missing to be doing the task, either. You were about to raise the noise level; “Where is Hal?” “...Why would...” “Are you serious?! Without putting too finer point on it - we will need a new King. An heir to the throne of England. We can’t exactly have the first choice can we - where is Hal!?” “The King has not named Hal as the success-” “Are you JOKING!” You took an intimidating step forward, “Who else, pray tell, will sit on the Throne of England??! Would you like to call the Scots? The Welsh? The French? Hal is the heir and Henry’s eldest son...” “This King has not-” “RETRIEVE HAL FROM TOWN. One of you! NOW!” There was another silence like they weren’t going to heed your words. But within it a second weaker voice; “Hal...” You all turned at the sound of your King “...He must... you must...” You turned to them all with a sharp look; “I believe that is deceleration enough - one of you GO-!”

To be honest if your look was going to do anything it would well have murdered them on the spot, but it didn’t - so William was the one to volunteer to go. And you at least gave him a glum smile of thanks, before taking a deep breath and nodding to the Archbishop. It was time. Like it or not. And you didn’t.

***

You couldn’t stay, you should have been in that room but you couldn’t bare it. Watching his heart break over Mary was one thing too many even now; having him watch yours do the same wasn’t something you could do to him as he died. Instead you stood outside, one foot up against the wall. Your thoughts both equally merciful and selfish. Let it be quick and have him suffer no more... let him linger a while I’m not ready yet... But you weren’t even there, would it matter now. There was sudden screaming from the entrance way that made you look up; “Where is the monster!?” You sighed, Oh...Hal... You were right, fences could never be mended... would they be even now? All you could really be glad of was that he came.

Hal paused as he wheeled around the corner and caught sight of you. And composed himself, solemnly, you wouldn’t trust to hope he would be doing it for any reason other than you. Hal and yourself had never had any reason to not get along, other than the man you served. His walk slowed a little but he understood the urgency. His nod to you meant a great deal more than he would realise. You smiled gently at his interactions. He was like you, maybe that’s what Henry saw that he didn’t like. You weren’t opposed to the shakeup. You and he were two sides of the same coin - Hal and you would become the same side - there would be a lack of balance there - but you had discipline and your nature suited you to your job. There was a point where Henry liked that. Maybe he just didn’t want to see it in his own son. Either way, he was never blaming you for it.

**

You weren’t sure you had ever felt like this. Hollow emptiness, maybe, but it hurt so bad. You’d had weeks and months of this and you all knew what was coming. And yet... When it happened it was unbearable. There was sudden shuffling... and you knew everyone was dropping to Hal’s feet. You were still stood outside. They accepted because why? Because he had said so as he died? Because it was the only way? - if Hal relieved you from duty you could stick around. If he didn’t, you had a feeling he would need you more than his father did. Discord from the outside was naught like fighting something from within. Enemies on all sides once more. In a different way... You were aware of your tears this time and decided that this once you were allowed to not keep them at bay. You were conscious of Hal’s exit from the room and pulled yourself away from the wall. He paused, and turned to you. You took a breath, knowing you were duty bound to kneel to your King. And you would - but before you could even take the step he held his hand out. “You do not need to-” “It would be improper of me to not-” Hal was incredibly soft spoken, and that tone would serve him well; “Y/N - given your standing with my father, I would not have you submit in such a way before I am truly crowned...” he paused, and tilted his head, he saw those tears. And yet you should still be getting down on your knees... “...You will stay... in office?” You opened your mouth, but what to say, of course you would accept, and Henry had asked it of you. But did you risk looking too eager, everyone else would likely be forced, and yet he was giving you the choice. You countered; “If you would wish me to... and permit me to... I will stay.” He nodded in agreement “You are my Kings Guard.” “As you are my King.” There was a clear decision in that sentence that flickered across your face and Hal’s eyes at the sentiment. “...That is agreeable. You served my father well. I am of mind enough to know you shall do the same for me.”  You gave a nod, Henry V... that’s what he would be... your second, and your second term in such an office. You could only hope not to outlive this one, and that he would reign for many a year. You bowed instead, low, so low you might as well have knelt. And when you stood again you were smiling. All hail a new era - maybe one England desperately needed.

“Hail to the King.”

---

Hope you know I wasn’t resisting at least ONE GIF.

@dennismitchell @happyskywhale @wltz-bby #MendoTagSquad.

[featuristicfilm]

Movies of Fall/Winter 2019 (and 2020) that I’m really excited to see

With awards season kicking in, the movie release slate is about to bring us some incredible pieces of cinema. There are many films this year that sound fun, interesting, profound and promising so here is a shortened list of the ones that get me giddy with most anticipation. TOP 5 let’s go! (and a few honourable mentions)

5. Lucy in the Sky (Noah Hawley, December 6th, 2019, UK)

Randomly stumbling upon its trailer on Youtube, I was surprised as to why I haven’t heard anything about this film at all because it actually looks super intriguing. Even though the notion of a space movie can feel fairly worn-out, and there is only so much originality you can bring to that kind of concept, Lucy in the Sky looks like it’s going to be a completely shifted take on space dynamics and exploration. In fact, it seems it’s going to be a story fully centred around one character’s individual, self-reflective, very personal journey, with space acting only as a narrative device that creates the background, rather than it being at the forefront of the film’s events. Natalie Portman seems completely in her shoes in this trope of a study of a character who’s deeply damaged and emotionally transformed by whatever trials she undergoes. The trailer is put together so perfectly as well. It tells just enough information for us to understand what is the movie’s premise while also creating a dramatic and suspenseful energy. Also, to me the imagery feels very grounded and serious but also kind of weird, daring and eccentric in some shots, so if the creators managed to balance a kind of art-house approach with some epic, grandiose visual elements it is going to be one hell of a film. To be fair, I was kind of excited just ‘cause it’s Natalie Portman but the more I think about the story the more interesting and promising it sounds. Unfortunately, it comes out October 4th which means its going to have a biiiiit of a competitor in the box-office in the form of Joker.

4. Jojo Rabbit (Taika Waititi, January 3rd, 2020, UK)

This one exhibits several traits that make the film very enticing. First of all, of course, the subject matter. I think it’s fair to say that a little boy interacting with Adolf Hitler in the shape of an imaginary friend is as crazy and amusing an idea as it gets. And, of course, many of us have our understanding and reaction towards the people and events of the WW2 era but to have that portrayed in a comedy genre is definitely going to cast a whole new light on the subject, at least as seen on the big screen. This will most likely be a story exploring harsh realism through imagination and fantasy but also through the earnest and innocent eyes of a child and it will likely be a surprising take and not what anyone expects it to be. Due to many reasons, it is, obviously, going to be a widespread conversation piece and for that alone I have to see it. The other thing that perfectly complements the idea of this project, is the man himself, Taika Waititi. I don’t think a better combination between the material and the creator can emerge because it is hard to imagine someone else taking on such a bold proposition. He’s just the type of writer and director that is so unique in style and taste that you just believe anything he makes is going to turn out special in one way or another, and having creative will and freedom and integrity might be exactly what made this whole thing possible in the first place. Plus Waititi himself is playing Hitler which, I’d imagine, just raises the scale of humour and energy and dynamics of the whole piece. 

3. Jumanji: The Next Level (Jake Kasden, December 13th, 2019, UK)

I know, a not so popular of a choice. Compared to the way every other film is awaited based on their technical and creative merits, with this one I am so genuinely eager to experience the fun. After all the amusement Jumanji: Into the Jungle brought to the franchise, I don’t see why anybody wouldn’t be excited about this next instalment. I absolutely loved that film, it was so so so funny and entertaining! The story was really great because not only did it bring that fantasy and adventure aspect once again but also the way the avatar/game player narrative approach was incorporated was so unique. So, after seeing the trailers for this sequel, it sparked even more excitement to see how else can they possibly spin that concept. With that in mind, bringing in Danny DeVito and Danny Glover, well regarded comedic figures and over all talents, to the mix is genius. Them trapped in the bodies of Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart is, honestly, a hilarious thought and having old guys interact with the other teenage friends and deal with challenges in the desert, jungle, mountain tops will be no less than a thrilling journey. I think this is going to be just the right film to kind of step back from all the serious and deep dramas that will be in full motion for Oscar season at the time, and switch to some good-old light-hearted cinema. With holidays coming up during its release (December 13th) - nothing better than to go see a fun family movie. And if the playfulness and humour combined with the fond spirit of the story lands at least the same way as it did with the previous film, it’s going to win over people’s hearts and probably the box-office. Can’t wait to just fully enjoy the action and immerse myself in the wonder of this adventure all over again!

2. Joker (Todd Philips, October 4th, 2019, UK)

I have to admit, while initially I was very interested in this new iteration of Joker purely on a general movie-goer level, it was maintained and gradually piqued as time went on largely due to everyone talking about it so much. The sheer amount of hype and anticipation this announcement has managed to create is baffling. Every film coverage outlet, magazine, blog was discussing it. And maybe it’s just that I follow a lot of superhero genre loving people and maybe the idea of this film, in fact, doesn’t concern the general viewer as much, still it has kept many eagerly waiting. The thing that gives it an edge, though, is the fact that this is not simply going to be your general superhero action blockbuster but rather an intense psychological drama reflecting on certain societal issues applied to a familiar mythology. The character everyone knows as a rival to Batman here seems to be a troubled man, beaten down literally, as well as emotionally due to social injustice and his own mental complications. Therefore, this film will probably not rely on epic showdowns and comic tropes as much but actually will give the concept of an ‘origin story’ a different meaning. It’s exciting that DC took it upon themselves to make a bold and creatively charged version of their beloved character, and with Joaquin Phoenix as the lead and Todd Philips as director I think they can be confident about their vision. Whether it is going to be received well or not, that’s the question. While it did already receive heaps of acclaim, including the Golden Lion in the Venice Film Festival, the early audience reviews are quite widely mixed. Nonetheless, it is very intriguing. I have to say, it’s shaping out to be one of those films, and performances, in particular, that have the ability to stay in the minds of the viewers long after. Not long to wait now and we’ll finally see if it lives up to what it set out for. ‘Cause let me tell you, the standard’s high, for sure.

Knives Out (Rian Johnson, November 29th, 2019, UK)

For the longest, this film and Joker were up to par for the number one place on my list of the most awaited movies of the rest of year. Every trailer amped up the excitement so much more and, ultimately, when I felt that I could’t stop thinking about Knives Out, counting days ‘till it’s release, I knew which one has won me over. No surprise, though. I absolutely love whodunnits!!! There’s just a certain thrill to a mystery or a detective style film that cannot be found anywhere else. There’s always so much room for exploration of characters and narratives and the story can take so many directions. If a screenplay for a murder mystery is done right, and all the twists and turns are unexpected and smartly placed, it’s just the best. I also love the interactive aspect of it. Even though I know I can’t change the way it all plays out, I have the ability to have my own reasoning and conclusions that I can apply in my head as the events role out. So with this film I was instantly hooked. Chris Evans’ attachment to the project definitely helped me discover it, though. I’m a huge fan of his and I was curious already to see what kind of role he is about to take on next after the culmination of his journey as Captain America in the MCU. Since I find him to be a very intelligent actor, I think I can trust his judgement on what kind of material is interesting to explore and what kind of people are worth collaborating with. That in mind, this cast looks absolutely incredible! Some really experienced ‘veterans’ in Toni College, Jamie Lee Curtis, Christopher Plummer, a big big star Daniel Craig, as well as some less known but promising names such as Ana de Armas and Katherine Langford, for example. And that’s just to name a few… Wow. With the nature and genre of the story, given it’s a suspenseful mystery but with a comedic flare, a good ensemble of performers is crucial, as is their dynamic. Hopefully, writer/director Rian Johnson has managed to create a rich, powerful and unique film that will entertain and won’t disappoint. I do believe that will be the case, as that much talent on screen and behind the camera is usually a recipe for success.

If not for the short list… I have so many other films that have caught my attention and that will absolutely have me in the cinema seat on opening night. These include Bombshell whose team is worth an applause for that amazingly well put teaser trailer; Just Mercy, for a true story that will no doubt have an impact on me and for what seem to be astounding performances by the lead cast; and Marriage Story because it will make me cry… Stories about family, love and relationships always hit close home, this one might break my heart but there’s pain and joy in life all the time, I look forward to seeing the often difficult reality reflected on screen.

[nomadicism]

The Blue & Orange Morality of the White Lion and the Life Givers of Oriande

Prompted by an Ask, this very long post examines the White Lion and its condition for obtaining the knowledge of Altean Alchemy.

“Hi! I can't stop thinking about White Lion. Why is the condition for obtaining the knowledge so stupid? Give up your life? If anything, Allura wanted that knowledge for personal reasons (being Altean, father's daughter etc.), while Lotor went there with a purpose—he needed that knowledge so his own “Voltrons” would work with Alteans from Colony. It seems natural to fight, when lives of people depend on your success. And how did Haggar get that knowledge?”

My answer as to these questions—especially the White Lion and its condition for obtaining knowledge—is to deep dive into some meta and analysis by:

Skimming some literary and mythological concepts that relate to the Life Givers of Oriande and the White Lion via the basics of the Quest for Secret & Sacred Knowledge

Comparing VLD and the Prometheus and Alien: Covenant films where this quest appears

Exploring the requirements for entry to Oriande and the price of obtaining Secret & Sacred Knowledge in VLD

And how that applies to Lotor, Allura, Haggar, and Alfor

First, some context: There is a Reason™ why certain tropes, and certain types of plot lines, and certain types of character arcs are bundled together and progress in certain ways. These combinations are Timeless. Generally speaking, they work well so long as one follows the unwritten rules that bind them together. Their predictability can be offset by a skilled and clever writer. These combinations are the building blocks of Ur Stories, and many Ur Stories (and their contemporaries) involve Quests for Secret & Sacred Knowledge.

The White Lion’s strange condition for obtaining knowledge is one found in many such stories, told in myriad ways, and is one of the oldest concepts in human story-telling, hence why it almost always appears bundled with certain tropes, plot lines, character arcs, etc.

From Odin’s unyielding quest for knowledge and willingness to pay any price for it, to Prometheus’ defiance of the Gods to give mortals the Gift of Fire, to Victor Frankenstein’s ‘dangerous pursuit of knowledge’ resulting in the tragic creation of a monster, to Enkidu’s tryst with Shamhat leaving his physical prowess diminished but his mind expanded, and throughout many more such stories; the following theme emerges: When knowledge is gained, something is lost. 

The loss can be intentional (e.g. sacrifice) or unintentional (e.g. consequences).

In many stories with a similar setup, the White Lion and the Life Givers of Oriande would be a case of Blue & Orange Morality (this is not the same as being “morally gray”). In these kinds of stories, the Keepers of Knowledge often judge worthiness in a completely different way from that of the Knowledge Seeker, and they may even be pulling the strings for their own purposes that are incomprehensible to those who seek their knowledge. Their requirements for the gift of knowledge fulfills their own morality, and one to which they adhere, but that morality has little resemblance to what a Seeker of Knowledge may believe in…unless that Seeker learned their ways and began to practice them.

The Secret & Sacred Knowledge is for the taking by whomever is willing to pay the price, meaning that even the most vile and evil being that ever lived could gain the Knowledge for their own use. Thus the Keepers of Knowledge are not bound by a morality that would require them to prevent access by the evil and wicked. The only time the Keepers will care (e.g. divine retribution of some kind) is when the rules for gaining or using that knowledge are broken or some line is crossed by a prideful mortal. While there are stories where the morality of Keepers of Knowledge align with a general black-and-white morality of good and evil, Oriande and associated Altean-related concepts (not to mention, the Voltron lions) do not consistently give off the usual and unambiguous signals of black-and-white (e.g. good vs evil) morality.

Part I: Breaking the Keeper's Rules (two examples).

The titan Prometheus’ punishment for defying the Keepers (e.g. Zeus and the gods) is to be bound to a rock for an eternity as an eagle eats his constantly regenerating liver each day; and 

Victor Frankenstein has no deity to punish him for his God-defying scientific experiments, but tragedy finds him anyway.

In both of these examples, the knowledge gained came with a heavy and tragic price.

In example of Prometheus, (there are several versions) he is moved by the plight of mortals, their hard lives could be made better with the Gift of Fire (e.g. Knowledge), a gift that is jealously guarded by Zeus and the gods on Mt. Olympus. In some versions, the mortals already had the Gift of Fire, but Zeus took it from them out of anger of a trick played by Prometheus which benefitted the mortals in the form of sacrificial offerings. Either way, Zeus and the gods have a Blue & Orange morality. Prometheus’ intentions were noble and good, but his means via trickery broke the arbitrary rules of the gods (e.g. the Keepers of Knowledge). Why would the gods withhold this gift if it could do good? Because in the wrong hands, Fire can be weaponized and used for destruction. Remember that because we’ll return to this as VLD gives us a subtle Promethean character arc.

In the example of Victor Frankenstein—from Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus”—he takes his obsessive pursuit of knowledge, the secrets of life and death, too far in the name of science. He realizes too late the horror that he has created, and abandons his creation (the monster that is erroneously called Frankenstein outside of the story). Frankenstein's monster gradually destroys his life by murdering friends and family, even framing him for it. Shelley’s use of “The Modern Prometheus” as the subtitle of her novel intentionally invokes the myth of Prometheus and the divine retribution he suffered for his transgression against the Keepers of Knowledge. The punishment delivered to Frankenstein is a strange kind of black-and-white morality, as it is the price paid for transgressing Natural Law through science. One could call it “natural retribution” in absence of the divine. Here, the Keeper of Knowledge is simply Nature itself.

Above, Honvera rebukes Alfor’s caution: “The ancients thought that lightning was shot from the bows of the gods until science proved otherwise. We must always push into dangerous territory in pursuit of knowledge.”

In VLD, Honerva’s Frankenstein-like obsession with quintessence, and her willingness to push further—to break natural boundaries in pursuit of knowledge—is her undoing. Honerva’s tragedy does not stop with herself and her family, as the price of knowledge gained is paid for by the entire universe for 10,000 years.

Part II: The Quest for Secret & Sacred Knowledge In Space.

In Season 5 of VLD, the basic template of a Quest for Secret & Sacred Knowledge appears in the form of the journey to Oriande. The same basic quest template also appears in the Prometheus and Alien: Covenant films.

Above, a summary: A pretty, well-spoken, ageless, pale-haired man with a British accent is used-and-emotionally-neglected by his powerful father whom he grows to despise and is treated badly and distrusted by his father’s kind. The father is prideful and has a bit of god complex. After his father’s well-deserved death, the man embarks upon a Quest of Secret & Sacred Knowledge held in a far-off utopia guarded and/or inhabited by Ancient Keepers of Knowledge. His companion to this utopia is his love interest, a petite and well-spoken woman with a British accent who is stronger than she looks, and is instrumental to finding the star map that initiates the quest to begin with. The sought-after secret knowledge has themes of life and creation. These secrets are yielded through life sacrifice and prove to be dangerous in the wrong hands.

I’m not saying that VLD ripped off Prometheus and Alien: Covenant but here we are...

The starting premise of Prometheus is that an exploration mission to planet LV-223 is organized by Peter Weyland, an old and dying CEO who bankrupts his corporation to pay for this mission. He is desperate to find humanity’s creators—called “Engineers” by Elizabeth Shaw and Charlie Holloway—firm in the belief that they will grant him immortality. The location of LV-223 is revealed through the discoveries of star maps in the form of cave drawings by Shaw and Holloway. 

Above: Upon arrival to LV-223, the crew discovers a temple and within it are urns containing a mysterious black goo, as well as long dead remains of some Engineers. They quickly discover that this black goo has strange and unexpected properties. It doesn’t go well for them, after all, this is the prequel to the Alien franchise.

Above, content warning: None. The video clip above shows the discovery of the mysterious urns within the Engineer temple.

So we’ve got cave drawings that function as a star map, a temple constructed by ancient creators keeping the secrets of life, and a mysterious substance that can create powerful monsters via its transmutational properties.

Above: in addition to being an unobtanium power source, some forms of quintessence can have transmutational properties as with the black goo in Prometheus.

Below: a xenomorph derived from a chain of gradual evolutions that began with the black goo and an unlucky victim, and Ranveig’s super weapon, the horror- monster-esque result of experiments with the strange quintessence.

In both Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, this black goo—called “Chemical A0-3959X.91 – 15”—is a weaponized mutagenic pathogen that delivers a modern sci-fi twist on transmutational alchemy and transformation potions. Chemical A0-3959X.91 – 15 evolves non-botanical life, by first destroying it, and then creating something new out of that which it comes into contact.

Above: Krolia tells Keith about the quintessence that the BoM have been tracking (two separate scenes). “We’re going after the enriched quintessence that created Ranveig’s super weapon. [...] It was unlike any other quintessence we’d seen. [...] and it has some very unexpected effects.”

How strangely familiar all of this is! Let’s continue.

The Engineers, creators of human life, and their morality:

Throughout Prometheus, the Engineers—the Ancient Keepers of Knowledge—are revealed to embody a Blue & Orange Morality and are the creators of human life (among others) and they sometimes return to judge their creations.

Above: An Engineer asks, “Why does he [Weyland] want more life? What makes this man so great as to ask such a thing?”

Above, content warning: Video clip of extended/deleted scene where David 8 speaks with an Engineer and Weyland asks for immortality. There is a quick decapitation (bloodless because David 8 is a Synthetic) and some quick impact deaths. No gore. Use the YouTube gear/settings icon to turn on subtitles to see what the Engineer is saying.

Addition/Edit: The video clip above doesn’t link anymore and Tumblr wont’ let me add another video, so here’s the URL until I can re-edit this properly to fix it.

Above: the Engineer directs his cold stare at Elizabeth Shaw who wants answers as to why they were lured to LV-223 to find the weaponized pathogen. She asks “Why do you hate us?”

The Engineers created humanity and have a detached will to wipe the slate clean and start all over again, sacrificing their own lives in the act of new creation. Within their their beliefs and morality, creation and destruction are intertwined. It is death that begets life. What Elizabeth Shaw sees as hate, is just the Engineers’ way of perfecting their own flawed creations. Nothing personal.

The morality of the Engineers later corrupts David 8 (who was already morally gray) during his years of studying them, as he learns their ways during The Crossing, which takes place between Prometheus and Alien: Covenant.

Below: David 8 and Elizabeth Shaw operate the navigation system of the Engineer’s ship in The Crossing.

Above: after Shaw is put to sleep in a cryobed, David 8 is left alone to study the Engineers for the remainder of their journey. When they arrive, he has learned their ways and has come to a grim decision of what to do with their weaponized mutagenic pathogen.

Above content warning: None. This promo video ends just before David 8 unleashes the Engineers’ own weapon against them upon his arrival to their utopia.

Above: If y’all thought Lotor was dramatic... David 8 overlooks the destruction and cries while reciting a line from Ozymandias. “Look on my works ye mighty, and despair.”

Below, content warning: Video clip with body horror and abstract gore, slightly obscured by dim lighting and desaturated colors during David 8’s destruction of the Engineers.

As these video clips and images show, the ways of the Engineers—their philosophy and morality—lead David 8 into crossing the Moral Event Horizon. He becomes both a God-Slayer (destruction of the Engineers) and a Creator of Life (cultivation and creation of the Xenomorphs).

About mid-way through Alien: Covenant, David 8 is revealed to have betrayed the person he loved, Elizabeth Shaw, by using her for organ harvesting. The harvesting was necessary for the creation and cultivated evolution of the perfect life-form: the Xenomorph (I’ll spare y’all the images of that). 

Through his mastery of the Engineers' knowledge, David 8 becomes the Greater Scope Villain of the Alien franchise. His story is one of triumph. He wins against those who wronged him, against the father that used him and considered him soul-less (thus less than a human), against the humans that created him to be used, and against the Engineers that created a humanity that he sees as unworthy of the gift of creation in the first place. A gift denied to David 8 because he is a Synthetic. All it cost David 8 to gain this gift of knowledge was the sacrifice of the only person who was kind to him (and possibly loved him, that's unclear).

The loss-and-sacrifice of Shaw fulfills the Sacred Knowledge Quest rule that: when knowledge is gained, something is lost.

Above: an Engineer uses the black goo to transmute his own body in order to seed non-botanical life on Earth.

The off-screen sacrifice of Shaw’s life echoes the beginnings of human life shown in the opening of Prometheus where an Engineer seeds life on Earth by sacrificing himself via the pseudo-alchemical transmutation of his own body.

Above content warning:  Abstractly graphic. Not bloody, but the Engineer’s body is slowly disintegrated while being transmuted by the black goo. No gore.

An eerily similar Quest for Sacred & Secret Knowledge mixed with horror appears in VLD, spread out between Lotor’s actions prior to the start of the series, the journey to Oriande in Season 5, and the events in Season 6.

The Life Givers and Altean Alchemy:

In VLD, the Keepers of the Secret & Sacred Knowledge of Altean Alchemy are called the “Life Givers” by Lotor, and the “Sages” by Allura. As shown in the image above, they are described by Lotor as “the first Alteans to unlock the secrets of Oriande, the beginning of Altean Alchemy.”

One of them—presumably a Life Giver—is later shown without corporeal form when speaking with Allura after she passes the White Lion’s trial. Allura is told that she is in the realm of her ancestors—the Alteans and Life Givers—implying that she is one of them for she is “home”.

Above: the cosmic voice tells Allura “You have returned to the realm of your ancestors, the Alteans and the Life Givers who came before. [...] You are home, and the secret is already within you.”

For those keeping score: Life Givers = Engineers.

The morality of the Life Givers is unclear as story events—and the aforementioned bundle of Timeless tropes and concepts—suggest Blue & Orange morality, while the implied traits and other in-story associations thus far (ahead of S8) with the Alteans and Alfor suggest that the Life Givers of Oriande embody a morality of Perfectly Good Pureness in opposition to the Galra’s presumed Horribly Evil Darkness. It’s upon examining the actions and beliefs of the Alteans—and thus the Life Givers—that a superficial black-and-white morality starts to give way to a Blue & Orange morality that is incomprehensible in various ways (e.g. the White Lion’s strange condition for obtaining knowledge).

Like David 8, Lotor learns of the Life Givers’ ways prior to arrival at the utopia, only in his case, he does so without realizing it and his understanding is warped by being raised in the Galran belief system. Here, their ways—to give of one’s life, and/or that life must be sacrificed to obtain knowledge—are associated with the Alteans and Lotor's study of Alfor’s work, Altean culture, artifacts, and ancient drawings (until the story unambiguously shows otherwise). Unlike David 8, Lotor’s sacrifice and quintessence harvesting of those who loved-and-worshipped him occurs before entering the utopia (if the events described by Romelle are true). Also, unlike David 8, Lotor’s story is not one of triumph against those who wronged him and others, but like David 8, Lotor was on the path to attaining something greater than his nature would have otherwise allowed.

Above: David 8 delights in the unexpected unlocking of the Engineer’s star map, and both Lotor and Allura are shown the same way when Allura unlocks the star map to Oriande from the compass stone.

In both Prometheus and VLD, the clues to the location of the utopia comes from a combination of ancient cave drawings and navigation devices left behind. These clues form star maps and the like, but are mostly unusable until they are unlocked, by David 8 in Prometheus, and Allura in VLD. As shown above, their respective unlocking and reveals are very similar.

The big difference here is that in Prometheus, there are two star maps: (1) the initial star map—derived from cave drawing to reveal the location of planet LV-223—is discovered and deciphered by Elizabeth Shaw and Charlie Holloway; and (2) the star map in the navigation room that reveals the location of the Engineer’s home world (a utopia called ‘paradise’ in their language). Thus, in Prometheus, the Quest for Secret & Sacred Knowledge is divided into two parts, with the second part to be completed prior to Alien: Covenant in The Crossing.

Above: that’s one hell of a mouth on these monsters (Hammerpede and Deacon from Prometheus, and Ranveig’s super weapon from VLD).

Given how closely Oriande and Lotor’s role in that part of VLD’s story parallels David 8’s in Prometheus, I would not be surprised if Ranveig’s Super Weapon was informed by Xenomorphs, especially since the transmutational properties of the black goo would find a correlation in the strange effects of the quintessence found by Ranveig.

Above: Allura passes the White Lion’s trial by being non-violent and speaking to its philosopy. “I seek the secret of life. I give my own.”

For Allura’s part, unlike Shaw, she survives the Quest for Secret & Sacred Knowledge. Her willingness to self-sacrifice during the White Lion's trial, for the sake of knowledge, relates to Shaw’s unwilling sacrifice in Prometheus. Both sacrifices lead to knowledge. Allura for her own gain (in addition to Lotor’s), and Shaw for David’s gain.

The key here is that both stories demand a sacrifice of life for knowledge, and the knowledge obtained has to do with the power of creation and life with alchemical themes (transmutational).

That’s heavy stuff. It’s mythic level. These are themes found throughout humanity’s oldest stories, myths, and religions. It’s the stuff of Warring Gods, Capricious Fair Folk, Geas and Mystic Debts, and Divine Retribution, and Tragic Fates.

Which brings us back to Anon’s question about the White Lion:

“Why is the condition for obtaining the knowledge so stupid? Give up your life?”

Superficially, the White Lion is just another DotU reference. There’s nothing deep or meaningful about it on its own.

Thematically, the White Lion’s Trial is similar to the Blade of Marmora’s Trial. The BoM’s creed “Knowledge or Death” is informed by the Galra creed “Victory or Death”, both of which are contrasted by Allura’s words to the White Lion: “I give my own [life].”

It’s most likely that’s all there really is to the White Lion and Oriande, and thus there is nothing else here to dig at as far as the story is concerned. “Give up your life” for knowledge is merely a part of the aforementioned package of Timeless tropes and concepts that are frequently found in Quests for Secret & Sacred Knowledge and other Ur Stories.

But for the sake of meta, I’ll pretend that there is more to the White Lion and the Life Givers of Oriande.

To recap: within the context of Ur Stories, the White Lion and the Life Givers of Oriande are Keepers of Knowledge. The White Lion is the kind bound by some form of morality that dictates who gets access and how it tests those who seek it, while the Life Givers bestow it. Prometheus and Alien: Covenant are a recent example of this kind of story, and a similar tale plays out in VLD.

Part III: The Case for Blue & Orange Morality.

From the start, the White Lion’s requirements have their bias in Altean-ness, but not just any Altean-ness. A “worthy” Altean. Given that Alfor, Lotor, Allura, and Haggar were all worthy to enter Oriande, their past actions or goals/desires were less important, or not even a consideration. Thus, worthy Altean-ness is arbitrary from the outside, but must suit the Blue & Orange morality of the White Lion in some way. Additionally, only the worthy can pilot the lions of Voltron (depending upon where we are in the series and when the requirement lore is discussed or retconned), and yet none of them could enter Oriande. Why is that? What made Lotor—a half-Altean who Did Bad Things™—more worthy than Lance who was chosen to be the paladin of two different Lions? This arbitrary worthiness contradicts the symbolism of the Guardian being a “White Lion” that ties it to Voltron (and possibly the Lion Goddess worship of the Arusians). Such contradictions are reasonable to expect out of Blue & Orange morality.

However, if the White Lion and Oriande were meant to embody the Perfectly Good Pureness of the Alteans, then that raises a lot of questions about why Lotor and Haggar were able to enter while the paladins were not. While Haggar is shown to be using her magic, and possibly over-powering the White Lion and the Life Givers, I’ll explain why that might not be the case. Alternatively, this contradiction reveals a huge plot hole.

In the case of Blue & Orange morality, anyone being allowed to enter is questionable, as typically, Powerful Eternal Entities Protecting Sacred Knowledge who adhere to Blue & Orange morality often have their own motivations, plans, goals, etc that involve the use of the Knowledge Seeker in some way. In other words, the White Lion and the Life Givers may have their own agenda, and any who enter Oriande are at risk of being used to further it (either knowingly, unknowingly, cooperatively, or uncooperatively).

Oriande calls back to those Ur Stories, because one doesn't set up Blue & Orange morality behind a Quest for Secret & Sacred Knowledge in a setting like VLD without a plot twist revealing Something to embody that morality as an obstacle to the protagonists at the 11th Hour (if consistency in world-building and adherence to genre conventions were to apply). Thus, we are looking at Playthings of the Gods, or a Greater Scope Villain scenario that has something to do with Oriande. This also means that at least one of these four: Alfor, Lotor, Allura, and Haggar, were lured to Oriande for the purpose of Something Else.

Above: Haggar emerges from the temple, sparkling with divine purpose, and is restored as Honerva.

Haggar’s restoration into Honerva all but seals Blue & Orange morality for me. She got a huge pay-off from Oriande, and from the protagonist-centered morality PoV, she was the least worthy to enter, and so far appears to have paid no price. Additionally, in some stories with Blue & Orange morality, Haggar’s 10k years of reaping quintessence from the destruction of planets (and every living thing) would be seen as a necessary process to maintain the balance of creation. As in Prometheus, Death begets Life.

Above: Honerva equates quintessence with life twice in The Legend Begins. The Komar is used to reap quintessence from a planet in Taking Flight. And when Zarkon powers himself up during his fight with Lotor in Blood Duel, he does so with the quintessence that has been collected for the use of the Empire.

Thus, when Zarkon says “the strength of the Empire flows through my veins” he means that literally and symbolically. He is made stronger through all of the life energy reaped within his empire, every living thing which has died is within him. Through Honerva’s work, Death begets Life (a cursed life perhaps, but life all the same).

Why Perfectly Good Pureness doesn’t work:

If the White Lion and Oriande were meant to embody Perfectly Good Pureness, then that makes the entrance of Haggar and Lotor highly questionable.

Either that’s flawed writing, or there is something else is going on that’s not adding up:

Lotor is revealed to have harvested quintessence from Alteans (which may not be the full story), and Altean-ness is a pre-requisite to enter Oriande, and Allura is Altean while Lotor is half-Altean. But Allura is also implied to be a Life Giver and that Oriande is her home, meaning that the Life Givers and Altean-ness are closely-related. If what Romelle said about Lotor was true, by any stretch of Perfectly Good Pureness morality, the White Lion should not have given Lotor the all-clear signal in the form of Marks of the Chosen due to Lotor's past sin of evil acts against Alteans. So either his past with the Alteans at the Colony do not qualify as evil (which contradicts Perfectly Good Pureness), or those actions didn’t happen in the way that Romelle described them.

If Lotor wouldn’t have been worthy to enter Oriande due to his past actions, then that could mean that he was allowed to enter for the sake of having brought Allura there, his failure of the White Lion’s Trial foreseen and thus no risk of him gaining the sacred knowledge. This means that he was used by the Life Givers to serve their purpose.

Further, being half-Altean wasn’t a barrier to Lotor, which means that he must have something else in common with Allura to qualify in this scenario which brings us to...

If Life Givers and Altean-ness are closely related, and if Allura is both a Life Giver and an Altean, then either all Alteans are Life Givers, or only some are, as implied by Lotor in the temple. That it was those first Altean alchemists who to came to Oriande and they are the Life Givers. But the Life Giver that Allura speaks to says that the secret is already inside of her. Why would she even need to go there? Was that true of the first Altean alchemists as well? This smells a lot like Allura is host to a cosmic entity and those stories don’t usually end well for the host (e.g. Dark Phoenix from the X-Men). In which case, the Perfectly Good Pureness morality doesn’t work, as why are the Life Givers using Alteans as hosts? And if they use Alteans as hosts…do they discriminate against half-Alteans? And why do they hide their knowledge behind an arbitrary test?

Haggar should not have been able to get anywhere near Oriande for obvious reasons.

Above: Allura embodies the Life Givers’ philosophy when she risks herself to heal the dying Balmera in Rebirth. Coran says “To heal an entire planet, it could take more energy than you possess. You may not live through it.”

Even before entering Oriande, Allura had enough quintessence—life energy—to heal a dying Balmera. Do all Life Givers have that much quintessence within them? Does this mean that the Life Givers were on par with Allura prior to her entry to Oriande? If so, what power is Oriande giving them that they didn’t already possess? Within the context of Quests for Secret & Sacred Knowledge, it appears that the secret knowledge is about how to use that power to its fullest extent. Surely that comes with a price?

Anon also asks: “How did Haggar get that knowledge?”

Haggar gets the knowledge in the same way that Allura did, by being worthy to enter, and, either by knowing the philosophy behind the White Lion’s trial or by over-powering the White Lion and the Life Givers. The former can appear to be a stretch, but the latter doesn’t make a lot of sense.

Above: Haggar at Oriande, her own Marks of the Chosen, and the difference between her encounter with the Sage Statues and Allura and Lotor’s encounter.

In Season 6, Haggar arrives at Oriande’s location, her Marks of the Chosen appear, thus she gets the ‘all clear’ signal from the White Lion. Haggar is worthy of Oriande. She then enters the temple where we see her doing one of her casting circles as the Sage Statues (e.g. the Life Givers in statue form) are poised to attack.

In the case where the White Lion and Oriande embody Perfectly Good Pureness, it would be necessary for Haggar to over-power them in order to enter as she could not be considered worthy unless Blue & Orange morality applied. At the very least, Haggar was deemed worthy by the White Lion’s arbitrary requirements. So did Haggar over-power the Sage Statues, or did she offer them a gift as Allura did?

Above: Haggar and her druids transferring quintessence to Zarkon, and Allura and the Balmerans transfer quintessence to heal the Balmera.

We’ve seen Haggar and her druids use similar orientations and positions as Allura and the Balmerans do when channeling their quintessence into another being such as Zarkon, or in the case of Naxella, a planet. When they attack with quintessence, and when they reap quintessence via the Komar, their positions are different. This channeling position is used by Haggar in Oriande when she meets the Sage Statues (again, the Life Givers in statue form).

So either Haggar gave them a gift, or she over-powered them. But if Haggar can overpower the Life Givers…then why does she need the secrets of Oriande?

To put it another way, if Haggar can over-power beings capable of (at a bare minimum) restoring a Balmera as Allura did, but after they have ascended to be part of Oriande (so even more powerful right?) then what Secret & Sacred Knowledge could the Life Givers of Oriande possibly bestow upon her that would make any of that effort and risk worth it? Is there something else in Oriande that she may have been after instead?

What secrets are so powerful, that Haggar—who by this line of logic may as well be all-powerful herself—needs them to fulfill her goals?

These same secrets are also now known to Allura, though the argument can be made that Haggar-now-Honerva had much more time to study them properly. These secrets have unlocked Allura’s potential, giving her—as Lotor says during their battle in S6—“all the power in the universe”. Hypothetically, Honerva has unlocked this power within herself as well.

And this is why we've got a case of Blue and Orange morality. For so long as one fulfills some arbitrary requirements, then one is allowed in. The next parts, getting past the Life Givers in the form of the Sage Statues, and passing the White Lion’s Trial relate back to the Blade of Marmora. For the BoM, one has to be thinking like them to pass (Knowledge or Death). For the White Lion and the Life Givers, one has to understand the philosophy underlying their Blue & Orange morality, which in this case, is giving up life for knowledge. Piece of cake for Allura, quite likely easy for Haggar too, not so for Lotor. Understanding their philosophy is alignment agnostic, both the good and the evil can know it and put it to use.

In Lotor’s case, he failed the White Lion’s alignment-agnostic philosophy exam. Even though he learned their ways enough to replicate some of Alfor and Honerva's accomplishments, and got as far as he did, (and I’d argue to understand the bigger picture of what is necessary to bring peace to the universe). He failed because the Galra philosophy of “Victory or Death” came out in him as the White Lion’s threat triggered that philosophy in addition to his desperation to achieve his goal (which in S6E1 we see hints of his anxiousness towards not being delayed further from). He did not fail due to moral alignment.

From Lotor's PoV—as stated by Anon—“It seems natural to fight, when lives of people depend on your success.” This natural way can easily fall under the Galra’s “Victory or Death”, and leads Lotor to fail, therefore it must be at odds with the morality and/or philosophy of the White Lion and the Life Givers. If not, then it at the very least, it must be at odds with how the Life Givers intend for Altean Alchemy to be used, just as Prometheus’ use of the Gift of Fire went against how Zeus and the gods intended for it to be used.

Thus, Lotor is a Promethean character, setting him against Life Givers' and the White Lion’s morality as he wants to take their Gift (e.g. Altean Alchemy via Allura) for another use, as Anon said: “He needed that knowledge so his own “Voltrons" would work with Alteans from Colony.”

Above: Lotor lights the flame at Kral Zera and double-dipping into flame symbolism.

That other use, what amounts to Altean Alchemy For All, is one that the White Lion’s trial exists to prevent by way of only allowing worthy Alteans to enter. Those worthy Alteans are ‘sacred’, and it is not much of a stretch to assume that they may have once derived their social status from being the only Alteans who can wield this secret power.

While I’m not completely sold on “Voltrons with Alteans” being Lotor's reasoning (definitely for Honerva though), that still aligns with his Dark Savior obsession underlying his desire for power to defend the Alteans himself, or, to enable the Alteans to defend themselves (remember his words to the Puigian leader about how Voltron left the Puigians defenseless). However, Lotor's stated goal—giving unlimited quintessence to the universe for the sake of peace—is analogous to Prometheus taking Fire from Olympus so that the mortals could use its heat and improve their lot. Further, like Prometheus, Lotor is divinely punished for his actions, for via Allura, Lotor stole the means to unlimited quintessence for all (e.g. the Fire) from Oriande and the Life Givers (e.g. Olympus and the Gods).

Divine Punishment:

Above: Allura attacks first while Lotor pleads with her. Lotor responds by ordering his generals to hold their fire.

Lotor's divine punishment comes from Allura. Allura takes up a “fight first” instinct multiple times throughout the story, the same instinct that caused Lotor to fail the White Lion’s trial. Allura fights first even though she is from a race that we’re told are excellent diplomats, whose culture and mythological beings (e.g. White Lion and the Life Givers) appear to embody a “giving one’s life rather than fighting” philosophy. This philosophy is what motivated Allura to restore the Balmera at risk of her own life, but her fight first moments throughout the story contradict that philosophy, as well as her readiness to fight rather than embrace a diplomacy-first approach in the case of Ulaz and Kolivan. Allura embraces diplomacy-first when it is easy and convenient.

Two of these fight first times—yeeting Lotor when he was no threat, and attacking Lotor when he was pleading with her—occur after she gained the knowledge of Altean Alchemy from Oriande. I’m not saying that Allura was’t emotionally justified, but part of being the Special Sacred One, is that one is usually required to control those impulses in exchange for the sacred power and knowledge.

In stories where there is a “Here’s this Mythic Sacred Thing you got because of a Quest to a Special Place” event, there are usually conditions upon the continued use of the Thing. Acting against the precepts or philosophy or morality embodied by the Bestowers of the Thing is a Big Deal. It is such a Big Deal, that this conflict appears in stories from nearly every mythology or religion, even if only in the form of the smallest side-story of a minor hero or prophet (e.g. Enkidu from Gilgamesh, or “Don’t look back” for Orpheus and Eurydice).

Above: Allura’s power over life on display.

Allura’s got this awesome power now, and it didn’t cost her anything.

That breaks the Quest for Secret & Sacred Knowledge story code (risking her life to not defend against the White Lion barely counts). Allura can bring Lance back to life, shift Shiro’s soul into the body of another person a clone, and myriad other all-powerful plot-friendly things. Yet there is no geas placed upon her? No requirement that she continue to embody the philosophy that allowed her to pass the White Lion’s trial in the first place?

It appears as though Allura's awesome power is inconsistent for when it’s available (cough Plot cough), as in Season 7, she’s a quintessence power house during the fight with Macidus, but she couldn’t save Sanda as she did with Lance?

In the context of Ur Stories, when a Seeker of Knowledge has gained a gift of knowledge and not immediately paid a price—such as when Odin gives an eye for a drink from Urd’s Well of Knowledge—then that Seeker usually has to continue to embody what made them worthy to get the gift in the first place. Or, they must complete some kind of Task or observe a taboo, otherwise they risk the wrath of those who bestowed the gift or lose access to the gift. As Allura does not yet appear to have lost her power, then she may have a Task to complete instead. Violating the seemingly pacifist philosophy of the Life Givers to deliver divine punishment to Lotor may have been permissible given the circumstances.

Finally—Part IV: Payment is Coming Due

While I still doubt that there is anything more to the White Lion than a nod to DotU combined with a basic Quest for Secret & Sacred Knowledge (thus explaining the White Lion’s strange condition for such knowledge), it’s still possible that this is leading to something mythic inline with Ur Stories, especially given VLD’s hellscape setting, dark tone, and love of tragedy. Season 8 could bring us a Playthings of the Gods scenario pitting Allura versus Honerva for reasons beyond the obvious (e.g. a plot twist), or, a tragic fate awaits Allura due to something as classic as Alfor flaking on a Task or Debt asked of him for the knowledge he gained at Oriande (another plot twist).

In many stories where a similar arc or backstory occurred, Alfor should have come back with a Task or a Debt to be called upon at some later date (often tragic and inconvenient). That Task could have been the creation of Voltron, that Debt could have been Allura’s life.

Remember the “I give my life” philosophy?

Time to pay up.

Alfor may have hidden Voltron and Allura from Zarkon, if doing so meant that they would avoid a Tragic Fate for which they were intended by the Life Givers, in exchange for bestowing the secrets of Altean Alchemy upon him. His actions then—in classic Greek tragedy fashion—made the situation immeasurably worse, and the universe paid the price.

Tragic endings are what happens when you back out on a Mystic Deal, or when you try to avoid Fate.

[spoopybruh]

If you’re still taking prompts, maybe Andrew being super bummed out and moody after Steven moves to NYC and Adam points this out. and Andrew does some reflecting and then realizes he’s in love with steven and flies to see him. it can have angst the fluffier and happier the ending the better. I just need some fluff i’ve seen too much angst recently:(. tysm I LOVE your writing

[ I am! Thank you for the compliment, I’m glad to hear that you do! That’s most encouraging. Here’s angst w a happy ending for you! May I also suggest you listen to this song while you read? c: ]

Twenty seven Worth It videosin, Andrew receives a quiet but firm tap against the desk space next to hislaptop and glances upwards to acknowledge the appearance of a familiar friend.With a degree of reluctance, he pauses the current video he was on and removeshis ear-buds right as Adam makes himself comfortable in Steven's seat anunoccupied office chair next to him."Hey."Now that his attention is mainly focused on his friend and colleague, it'simpossible for Andrew not to have missed the fleeting yet pointed glance Adamoffers to the display on his screen. While he hadn't verbally brought thingsup, it's enough to have Andrew feeling defensive enough to fully shut the coverof his laptop down in an audible click. 

"Just uh-" An abortive shrug of his shoulder was made. "Doingsome research." He knows it's as flimsy of an excuse as they come- doesn't mean he still won'tmake an attempt to navigate out of an undoubtedly awkward situation.Unfortunately enough, Adam's nowhere as new of a friend to let him off thateasily.

"By watching oldvideos?"  There's no hesitation inthe dry disbelief of Adam's delivery when he responds to his truthfullypathetic attempt of an excuse and Andrew has to fight back the urge to wincebecause damn, talk about leaving no wiggle room. Then again, Adam isn't theonly stubborn one in this situation. Not...situation but it very well is fast becoming one.

"Yeah. You don'tknow what we could have missed. Could work it into our contingency plans orsomething."

Andrew's repeatattempt draws a longsuffering sigh from his companion and he allows himself aspan of a few seconds to feel a reflexive stab of guilt before rectifying thatwith a reminder that Adam didtechnically start this, therefore he has no grounds to be making Andrew feelbad.

"Andrew-"Okay now he really feels bad forbeing the cause of that much exasperation. "It's been months." There's only so many repeats of the same videosone can watch without being suspected of feeling some type of way. Adam doesn'tvocalise that but the implications were clear. Knowing that they were leaves asour taste in Andrew's mouth that worsens when Adam's frustrations faded intosomething softer. Something that resembled sympathy mingled with pain. "You can't keep living like this."

The intake of breathhe draws into his lungs is shaky to say the least. Done out of necessity tosteady himself from the hollow ache that settles against his chest with anoppressive weight. "I know, Adam. I just-" Another deep inhale. Keep it together.There's no reason he should be feeling like this. He has no right. It wasn'this decision to make and it still isn't. Thinking otherwise would have beenselfish.

I miss him.

"I guess I just needmore time. It won't...I won't always be like this, I promise. I just...needmore time."

It's ridiculous. Heknows it is. Steven's not dead. Theystill talk all the time and if he wanted to, he could always see what Steven isup to by following his social media updates. He's not dead. He's just...gone. He's just not here and the factthat his absence in proximity could upset the balance of peace Andrew feels isridiculous. It shouldn't be the case, except it is. Even if it made no damn sense.

There were times whereAndrew momentarily resents Steven for that. For somehow making him care. Forbeing able to affect him this drastically. For leaving everything and everyonebehind that easily, like they meant nothing to him. Like he meant nothing to him. And that's fucked up because he shouldn'tbe feeling this way. A change in environment and resources meant thepossibility of accomplishing more. Steven has plans for his future and Andrewhas no place holding him back from fulfilling his goals.

"Andrew." Ohwow a second Adam-trademark sigh. They're really on a roll today.  Adam's fingers dug in slightly when he sets ahand on his shoulder and squeezes. Perhaps it's due to the fact that he'saccustomed to handling heavy filming equipment, so his grip gets a little toostrong at times. But Andrew finds the pressure steadying. Like an anchor,securing him so he has no danger of drifting off. Drifting away. Not like-

"This isn't aproblem that can be fixed with time. You're not helping anyone by letting itfester." His friend is undeterred in his chiding but no less gentledespite his insistence. "Whatever this is. It has to stop. It's nothealthy."

" I've tried. Nothing's working."

He resists the urge toscrub at his own face. Exhaustion weighs heavy against his temples, leaningagainst the slopes of his shoulders.

"Steven's myfriend too, you know." Hearing his name spoken aloud is clarity at itscoldest. Adam waits for him to make eye contact again before he continues."You're not the only one who has to deal with having a close friend leave-I did as well. And right now, I feel like I'm losing another even though he'ssitting next to me every day."  

Despite his usual eloquence, Andrew finds thatthe lump forming against the back of his throat severely dampens his ability toform a sentence. Regardless, there's nothing he could have said to deny thestark truth of Adam's statement. Steven isn't just Andrew's friend. Everyonemisses him too. And in the time Andrew had spent moping in the face of hisdeparture for New York, he's kind of neglected to see that they were all copingwith his absence too. God, what a shitty friend he'd been. "....Adam, I'm sorry."

"I know, I'msorry too. I waited because I thought it'd get easier to deal with but you'vejust been getting worse. I've never seen you get this bad. Not since-"Adam breaks the rest of his sentence off with a decisive shake of his head. Tohis credit, he barely falters when he continued on. "This has to stop,Andrew. You need to stop pretending that nothing's wrong. You have to dosomething about it."

The backs of his eyesstung when Andrew closes them and wills his voice not to waver.

"I don't knowwhat to do."

Sheer vulnerability inhis admission has him speaking in a hushed tone, twisting his fingers to focuson anything else but the pain. "Besides, it's not like I can just show upunannounced-" "You can."

The conviction inAdam's tone has the rest of his words vacating the premises in an instant andit's all Andrew could do but stare at him in bewilderment. He can't reallyexpect Andrew to just drop everything and step out just to fly all the way toNew York and confront Steven- what the fuck was he even supposed to say? 'Hey sorryfor dropping in so suddenly but you leaving us all behind really hurt myfeelings.' Yeah that would go well.

"You can." Adam repeats once again."I've checked. HQ in New York's currently looking to liaise with someonein our offices for a cross-collaboration so you can go as long as youparticipate in it and facilitate the whole set up. Just think about it,okay?"

As quickly as he'dmade his entrance, Adam disappears after offering Andrew two more meaningfulpats on the shoulder and leaves him reeling in an effort to process theinformation he'd just been offered. Against better judgment, Andrew does end upthinking about it. More specifically, it creeps up on him the moment he stopsbeing able to find other matters to focus on. With a simple yet succinctresponse, Adam has successfully managed to rip off the metaphorical 'Do NotCross' tape he'd painstakingly placed up in the corners of his mind.

Case in point: Stevenis working from their offices in New York rather than here with them and Andrewis upset about it. That's to be expected. Anyone who's developed a friendshipwith Steven would naturally feel upset about watching him go. What the problemhere is that he's been consistently low ever since he'd made the transfer. Hemisses him all the time. Misses beingable to see his face when Andrew successfully sneaks in a pun. Misses beingable to poke and prod at his sides when work is particularly slow. Misses thefamiliar cadence of Steven's voice when he whines his name with mockexasperation.

It's an acute feelingof loss. No longer being surrounded by Steven with his steven-esque things allover the desk. Not having to play wrestle him because he keeps stealing andstretching out Andrew's jackets instead of using his own. Missing the littlethings that have come to mean something to Andrew. Sure they still talk asoften as possible through ,their group chats or arranging times to make calls.Steven sends him memes and images all the time. He saves them all. Butit's not the same as having Steven actually beside him. And how long would thatlast? Sooner or later, Steven is going to meet new people. He's going to makenew friends, be swept up with different projects and before he knows it, thetimes in which they'll be able to contact each other would dwindle. Thebeautiful and cruel thing about Life is that it goes on. It'll always go on andAndrew would be here. Stuck in the moment like he usually is.

Sooner or later, he'sgoing to have to let Steven go.

And- oh.

"Oh my god."This time the tears really do fall. "I'm in love with Steven Lim."

A week later, heboards his flight to New York with his heart in his throat and conviction onhis mind. Past Andrew might have been tempted to decide it's a stupid idea,turn back and die with regret weighing like a perpetual sheet of ice againsthis innards. Current Andrew has decided that he owes it to himself, and Adam,to at least give it a try.

Hours later, Andrew'sin the midst of a rooftop party hosted at their headquarters there. Under thecover of flashing lights, an excitable crowd dancing and mingling about, it'seasy for Andrew to slip in the background unnoticed. With practised ease, heweaves through the throng of colleagues both new and old, careful not to spillthe drink he's clutching onto for a sense of security. Before long, hissweeping gaze lands on Steven.

Even among a crowdwhose liveliness easily matched his, there's something about Steven that standsout. He's bobbing along to the beat in what Andrew recognises as one of hisgoofy moves, laughing along with the others and he steps forward before he'sable to overthink the awkwardness of his actions or how this is still a stupid fucking idea.

Andrew gets aboutthree quarters of the way there before Steven catches sight of him andimmediately does a double take so quick, he wonders if it gave him whiplash.But Andrew doesn't get much time to think after that because the gaping wideeyed expression on Steven's face soon morphs into jubilance and Steven'sbreaking out into a sprint towards him. A couple of hurried 'Sorry's later, hefinds the air knocked out of him as his companion straight up barrels into him,sending the both of them stumbling for a few paces before they're able to catchtheir balance. Andrew's lifted off the ground with how full bodied Steven'sembrace was and under normal circumstances, he would have been self consciousenough to protest about causing a commotion in public.

But this is by nomeans a normal situation so instead of complaining, he secures his own armsaround Steven's shoulders, presses his face against the crook of his neck andsqueezes back. The familiarity of the shampoo and laundry detergent Steven useswashes over him like a warm breeze on a cold evening and he has to resist theurge to shudder before pulling him even closer- if that was even possible. Steven'swarmth is steadying. The lankiness of his body securing Andrew against him isfamiliar and he's never been extremely emotional but for the span of a fewseconds, he swears he could start crying again because even after all this timein New York, Steven still feels like home.

All too soon, the hugends but Andrew couldn't bring himself to protest since Steven's still holdingonto him by his shoulders and offering him his full attention. Being on thereceiving end of such a bright welcoming grin is like basking in the warm raysof the sun on a lazy afternoon and Andrew intends to keep it with him as longas he could.

"Holy shit! Ithought I was seeing things, oh my god! Andrew?!!! What're you doinghere?"

Already, Steven'schattering with enthusiasm, squeezing at his biceps while he beams from ear toear. He makes to draw Andrew into the crowd, holding on to his wrist in a lighttug, probably to introduce him to people. And he can't begrudge the confusionthat settled soon after when he's prevented from doing so by way of Andrewtugging him back.

"Later." Hemouths at Steven through the heavy thrumming of bass and music, motioning withhis head. "Can we-?"

Comprehension dawns onhis companion soon enough because he's nodding back in confirmation andflashing him yet another grin. This time, Steven switches direction and Andrewfollows. Together, they make their way through the crowd, dodging theoccasional errant elbow and shuffling feet as best as they were able. Stevenleads him away from the party, pushing the doors open so that they would be mostlyseparated from the commotion.

"So what'sup?"

Ever the directperson, he wastes no time in sinking down on one of the sofas available,patting at the other end in an invitation to sit. Eyes, as lively as they weresharp, focused on Andrew in a bid to study his reactions and he has to remindhimself to breathe now that he's able to fully take in the sight of Stevenwithout all the distracting strobe lights around.

When Andrew doesn'timmediately answer the question, concern starts to seep into Steven'sdemeanour.

"....Iseverything okay?" Concern is soon to be replaced with alarm as Stevenstiffens. "Are you okay? Is everyone okay?"

"No, no.Everything's fine." For once since the whole duration of being in NewYork, Andrew finds familiar ground, waving Steven's concerns away before theother could worry himself into panic. "It's just...."

No turning back now. Fingerscurled into fists before relaxing repeatedly as Andrew fought to keep hisnerves in check. Distantly, he wonders if the loud beating in his ears is aside effect from the music, or if it's his heart currently trying to vacate hischest because it sure as hell  isstarting to seem more like the latter.

"Look, Steven. Iknow this is a really dumb idea and I know that it's stupid but hear meout."

There was so much tounpack. So much left unsaid that he could have brought up: 'I missed you. Weall did' for one. 'I told you I was happy for you but I really didn't want youto go' for another. What came out of his lips in a hurried breathless mannerwas "I love you."

Like water from abroken dam, it spills from him without restraint.

"I'm in love with you. Have been for a long time.And I know now isn't a good time for me to be telling you this. Especially whenyou have your own things to do here and you're just settling in with your newlife. But...I think about how years or even months from now.....how things maychange for better or for worse and I just...the thought of you moving on fromm- from us, the thought about having to one day let you go completely...itterrifies me. So-" Admittedly, he's not the best at heartfelt speechesbecause he breaks off to wring his hands. "So this is me letting you knowthat you're important to me. And that I love you. I don't expect anything inreturn from you and I'm alright with continuing to be friends. Just pleasedon't cut me off."

He'd be able to handlemost of anything but that. Though he'd spent so long waiting to see Stevenagain, it's suddenly very hard to meet his eyes. In the quietude of the officespace, it's almost quiet enough to hear the words of the remixes that werecurrently being played through the doors. Andrew doesn't regret getting hiswords out even if they weren't rehearsed and he's reeling them off from the topof his head. He doesn't regret the fact that he's just virtually spilledeverything he'd been holding in out.

What's probably theworst thing out of this is that Steven has gone completely still. And with eachpassing second of his silence, Andrew has the mounting urge to apologise and sinkdown into concrete floors. After an eternity, he swallows his shame and chancesa glance up.

Only to see an openlygaping Steven whose pink cheeks were rapidly gaining colour. When Stevenfinally speaks, he emits an undignified squeak that has Andrew fighting off theurge to laugh. His voice cracks when he thumps the front of his chest and triesagain.

"You...soyou...you booked a flight, took it all the way here, came to HQ, all just totell me that?" Okay screw that, there goes the urge to laugh. Andrew released an embarrassedhuff instead. "I told you it was ridiculous." Unlike the higher pitch in Steven'sreply, he murmurs in a tone so quiet, Steven has to tilt his head to the sideto hear it. "But that was the plan, yes."

"Andrew....that'slike...something straight out of a rom-com movie."

"You know me, I'mfull of surprises."

Snickering filled theair briefly in the face of Andrew's dry remark. There is a bright glimmer inSteven's eyes when he worries at his own bottom lip and reaches out. Longerfingers skated across the outlines of his knuckles when Steven rests both hishands atop of Andrew's, easily covering them with his palms. If Andrew's hearthad been hammering then, it sure as hell doesn't plan on stopping anytime soonwith Steven's next words.

"Can I kissyou?"

Not fully trustinghimself with words, he substitutes a verbal response with a nod instead,leaning in. Much like before, Steven meets him in the middle, shifting closerso that he could press their lips together experimentally in a chaste kiss.It's not perfect by any means- Steven's lips are chapped, the tips of theirnoses bumped together and it took a lot of adjusting angles to accommodate eachother before they find an agreeable arrangement. But it was real. It was good.Better than good. Whatever word that conveys 'yes' because Andrew's a littletoo preoccupied to be able to give a term to it.

They break the kissand Steven shivers before he leans in once more. Then they're kissing again.And again. It gets a little easier to lose himself in each kiss. In the waySteven rubs at his cheeks with his thumbs when he cups his face and catches hisbottom lip with his teeth. In the noises of delight he makes each time Andrewdoes something he finds particularly enjoyable. In the feather light tickles ofSteven's lashes brushing against him briefly each time they shift. Andrewdrinks it all in. He kisses him like it's the first and last time he'll ever beable to do so. Vows to bottle this moment in his memory. Memorise the littledips and divots of Steven's lips fitted against his. Memorises the way Stevenexhales a sigh of heady relief when they break for air.

"That was farbetter than I imagined it to be."

"Than youimagined it to be? Steven you-"

Andrew's thrown offbalance both figuratively and literally as Steven snorts and pinches at the tipof his nose. Steven's cheeks were still pink when he answers the unspokenquestion.

"I love you too,duh. Like- a lot."

It takes Andrew awhole five minutes to regain coherency in his brain functions after that. In thatspan of time, Steven's taken him by the hand, led him towards the exit andstopped to kiss him again.

[bizarre-dollhouse]

My Top 10 Favourite Anime (And Why You Should Watch Them)

This is normally something I would put on my main blog, but I wanted to celebrate a follower milestone and also I know this will reach a significantly wider audience on this blog.

Consider this both a list of recommendations and a *get to know me* thing, I guess.

Honourable Mentions:

Bakemonogatari: A really stylized show about a semi vampire helping people with their supernatural afflictions born from emotional issues. The subsequent seasons get a little questionable, but this is definitely a standalone story with great dialogue and visuals. (15 eps)

Shiki: Creepy story about a small town infested with vampires. Really brutal and sick, but it has fascinating themes. The pacing is a bit slow and it has a kind of bad scene towards the end, but the show is 100% worth it. (24 eps)

Cardcaptor Sakura: Because this is mostly aimed at younger viewers, I would only really recommend this show for either magical girl fans, or people who watched the extremely altered dub as a kid. That being said, its a cute, fun show about magic with a likeable cast and surprisingly creative and original ideas, especially towards the latter half. (70 eps)

Jojos Bizarre Adventure 4: Diamond is Unbreakable: Full disclosure, I have not seen the first 3 jojo series, but its not necessary to enjoy this show. This is a super creative and really fun series about superpowered badasses in a strange city fighting each other and trying to solve a murder mystery in the background. Weird, but in the best way. (39 eps)

Kuroshitsuji: Book of Circus: This should be higher on the list, but in truth I would recommend the manga way over the show. But, if you want to watch a supernatural horror/comedy without reading a 138+ chapter manga, OR you were a fan of the original Black Butler seasons and want to see something way better, give this a watch. (10 eps)

*drumroll*

10. Trigun

So Trigun takes place is this old west, yet mysterious science fiction-y world where, through a bunch of complicated scenarios, a pacifist is the most wanted criminal known to man. Due to his status as a “natural disaster,” two insurance workers are tasked with reining him in to save their business. It’s an incredibly charming series, and the protagonist is really likeable. It’s extremely creative, funny, and emotional near the end. I do have some problems with the ending because it almost seems like the final conflict just...solves itself, but that’s a nitpick. The first episode is basically a short film, so give that a watch and see how you feel. (26 eps)

9. Paranoia Agent

This was directed by the late and great Satoshi Kon and has his usual themes about the blurring between fiction, dreams, and reality. It’s about a string of mysterious assaults committed by a kid with a baseball bat, and how these assaults seem to solve the problems of the victims. It’s very arthouse and has a twist that makes me ball my eyes out even though it’s not sad it’s just...odd and overwhelming. It drags a bit near the middle, but if you like kind of surreal stuff that’s also just really good, you have to watch this show. (13 eps)

8. Baby Steps

The amazing thing about this show is that its premise is specifically designed to make me hate it. It’s about a nerdy teenager who starts to play a sport for the sole sake of getting fit and having a more well rounded life style, and also he has a crush on this really popular girl. That sounds fucking awful, but the main character is actually really likeable (he reminds me a lot of Deku from BNHA) and I swear to fucking god every time I thought this show was going to do something awful and cliched with its romantic comedy plot, it doesn’t. The beauty and the geek trope is still there, but all of the bullshit that comes with it is omitted in a way I feel was kind of self-aware. The sports aspect is really good too: it’s well paced and there’s lots of tension even though the show as a whole is really upbeat and pleasant. I had a blast watching it, and if you can make it past the fact that is has god awful animation, give it a watch.

7. Higurashi: When They Cry

Yet another great show with absolute garbage animation. Anyways, this show is about a group of teenagers in a small town who are unknowingly trapped in a time loop. In each loop there’s a bunch of new mysteries, as well as some extremely brutal murders and tortures experienced my the main cast. I’ve seen a number of Western shows (Orphan Black, BBC Sherlock, Lost, Supernatural, etc.) fall apart because the writers want a really clever and intricate mystery to play out, but they don’t want to actually put the time into crafting one, so it’s just a bunch of cliffhangers with no answers or pay off. THIS SHOW SUCCEEDS AT WHAT ALL OF THOSE OTHER SHOWS FAIL AT. While not all of the answers are great (the second season isn’t as good) the original author somehow made the world’s most ludicrously complicated mystery story work, with a lot of it relying on the audience to put all of the pieces together even when the characters can’t. Its very clever in doing that: it makes its audience feel smart. It also has themes that don’t really show up in other horror stories, even though they’re incredibly relevant to fear and violence. Great show, go watch it. (50 eps)

6. Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood

Everyone knows about this show, everyone says it’s great, and everyone’s right. If you’ve been living under a rock for ten years: the show is about two brothers who break an alchemy taboo, which destroys their bodies, They’re on the hunt for something to restore them to normal and along the way they meet like 8990354578579 characters with interesting stories. It’s tightly written and really gripping. It’s fun, but also really dramatic and emotional when it needs to be. My only problems with it are that the ending is reaaaallllly convoluted, and there’s a minor plot point earlier on that gets weirdly dropped, but everyone kinda forgets about those things because the show’s so good. Also the brotherly bond makes me cry. (64 eps)

5. FLCL

I honestly don’t even know where to start with this show because it has the unique property of being the only show I have ever seen that I have literally no problems with. Not even nitpicks. There is nothing wrong with this show; it’s perfect. The only reason it’s not number 1 is because some other shows have more ideas or more fleshed out characters. So this arthouse spastic comedy is about a boy who is disappointed with all of the adults in his life, then some chick hits him in the face with a guitar and giant robots from a secret facility start coming out of his head. It’s fucking wild and has like 30 different aesthetics and I love all of them. It’s the best looking show I’ve ever seen and one of the best directed. It feels like someone read a really weird poem and turned it into a 6 episode show. It’s funny, it’s emotional, it’s cartoony, it’s beautiful, it’s raunchy, it’s poetic, it’s silly, it’s creative, and it’s got strong themes. The wtf visuals, the nonsensical plot, and the amazing soundtrack make an aesthetic experience more than anything. (6 eps)

4. Princess Tutu

I already made a post about this show and why it’s good, which you can check out here, but the gist is it’s a meta fairytale about a duck that turns into a girl to help a storybook prince find his emotions. I used to love stories that were “twists on fairytales” or whatever, but after watching this show I realized that the genre is pretty derivative. This show is so amazing it honestly made me reevaluate an entire genre and come to the conclusion that this is the only member of that genre worth watching. It’s truly creative and well crafted with fantastic characters. (26 eps)

3. Hunter x Hunter (2011)

This show is basically a bunch of creative ideas, unique set pieces, and interesting characters stacked on top of each other in a trench coat disguised as a narrative. It’s about a perky shonen protagonist and a child assassin becoming friends while also trying to become hunters (a position involving vast wealth and adventure). It’s in a modern fantasy setting so literally anything can happen. In one arc they have to play life-or-death dodgeball against robots, and another is an insanely epic tale about the intense evil that people are capable of (feat. a 25 episode climax). I can’t even talk about all of the themes or ideas because there are just too many. Because of it’s wild, sprawling story, it has a lot of ass pulls and retcons, but in the grand scheme of things they don’t really matter. It’s long, but super easy to watch in huge chunks. (148 eps)

2. Neon Genesis Evangelion and The End of Evangelion

The most efficient way to describe this show is to say that it’s the most interesting show ever made. It’s about an apocalyptic future in which emotionally disturbed teenagers must pilot giant bio-machines to fight monsters which are referred to as angels. It’s got deep characters, a creative story, and is probably the most well directed show I’ve ever seen. The ending infamously fell apart due to production problems, so there’s a movie called The End of Evangelion to conclude the story. It’s a very disturbing arthouse movie, so watch out for that, but the show as a whole is moooosssstly more straightforward and fascinating, This is an absolute must watch. (26 eps and 1 movie)

1. Baccano!

Baccano! takes place in 1930s New York, and is about thieves, gangsters, criminals, terrorists, alchemists, and immortals interacting in this nonlinear comedy/action thrill ride. I felt like I was on a rollercoaster while watching this show. It’s the perfect blend of action, comedy, romance, drama, horror, and creative storytelling. It’s fantastic to rewatch since the first episodes barely make any sense without context (but are still an absolute joy to watch). It’s got great characters and it’s a great story. Go watch it. And then watch it again. (13 eps and 3 OVAs)

That’s it for this list! Check out my MAL page for more recommendations if you’re interested and have a great night! 

[starry-kfics]

when in verona [minhyuk] [2.0]

(1.0) (2.0) (3.0)

in the last part i was mistaken in saying two parts, there's going to be three parts total, and the five word prompt will be in the very last one

word count: 1881

warnings: none

other info: hs au, 5 word prompt

"I said I love you."

♡

Drama practice that afternoon was worse than usual. Apparently Myungjun and Woosoo's argument at his locker escalated enough to have a teacher come by and scold them for yelling. They were both miffed about it, and you rolled your eyes as Woosoo told the story of how MJ had been verbally abusing her in the hallway, knowing that she was definitely throwing insults back at him.

"Romeo, Juliet, let's go!" The drama teacher waved you on stage, and Minhyuk followed you. "Balcony scene, from the beginning."

Completely forgetting about the rivalry, you let yourself act it through, getting lost in the words. They were beautiful, even if they were wasted on a stupid pretense. Partway through your scene, the effect of the words you were saying to Minhyuk hit you. Suddenly you began stumbling over your words, forgetting entire phrases and felt your face heat up. Why were you being like this?

Finally you had made it through the scene, and the teacher sounded disappointed as she dismissed the two of you, asking MJ, Dongmin, and Woosoo up for their scene.

"Sorry for messing up so much, Minhyuk." You muttered apologetically as you shuffled off stage.

"You were probably just nervous, it's okay. We can practice our lines at my house tonight, too." He offered, and you could barely keep eye contact as another beautiful smile graced his lips.

Minhyuk looked at the time on his phone, then peered back out at the stage. MJ and Woosoo were bitterly saying their lines, and at least the scene itself was an argument.

"They're going to take a while. Let's go now."

"Really?"

"Yeah, come on."

And so you grabbed your bookbag, following Minhyuk to his car. The car ride was more awkward than you would have liked, he was playing his music through an aux cord, but neither of you said anything.

At his house, he showed you to the kitchen table before going into the kitchen to grab you two some snacks. His house was nice, not too big or too small, just comfortable.

"Alright, syntax or balcony first?" He asked, popping a chip into his mouth.

"How about neither?" You groaned, sinking into your chair, and your partner laughed.

"Let's get a little bit done before you collapse, Y/N."

"Fine, I'd rather do syntax right now."

"Let's go up to my room, we can use my laptop for research."

You grabbed your bookbag, and Minhyuk lead the way to his room. Inside, it wasn't the cleanest room, but it definitely wasn't messy. Sure, there were a couple drawers open, his desk was slightly cluttered, and his bed wasn't made, but it wasn't disgusting or anything. As you looked around, your eyes landed on a collage of pictures, accompanied by some trophies, all from dance competitions.

"You dance?" You asked, admiring the photos. He looked so intense, focused on his routine. It was downright hot.

"Oh yeah, I do, mainly on the weekends since I'm doing drama during the week." Minhyuk seemed embarassed as you admired the wall.

"Are you in a dance troupe or just do it solo?"

"Jinwoo, Bin, and I are a dance trio, but since the whole drama thing has happened, we haven't had any successful practices."

"I'm sorry it's affecting your friendships." You frowned, not wanting it to get this far.

"I'm sure it'll be fine after the performance." He shrugged, but that only made you more concerned.

"That's still a long time away, though."

"It's not your fault, Y/N."

"I know it's not."

"Come on, let's get our research done."

So you sat beside Minhyuk at his desk as he found various sources and information, and you read and wrote down your notes on them. After putting it into a graphic organizer, and feeling like your hand was going to fall off, you set your pen down.

"Can we practice our lines now or something?"

"Sure." Minhyuk let out a slight laugh, going to grab his own script, just in case.

You decided to go out to the stairs so you could stand at the top for your "balcony", and Minhyuk could be a few steps below you. The hardest part of this scene wasn't pretending to be busy at the beginning while some man creeper around below you, no, it was hearing Minhyuk profess his love to you, with so much passion in his voice that was so believable. You nearly choked every time you had to start speaking, but managed to preform anyway. Even if the premise was dumb, the words were still beautiful.

The two of you got through your lines with no issues, giving each other a silly bow and clap at the end.

"My mom should be home soon, come on." Minhyuk waved you down the stairs, and you walked behind him curiously.

"Now where we going?"

"The park down the street."

"Why?"

"You need to relax, Y/N."

You frowned, still following him out the front door. "What do you mean?"

"You've been constantly stressed for the past two weeks or so." He linked his arm with yours as the two of you walked down the street. "Talk to me, what's up?"

Taking a deep sigh, you decided to spill everything out to Minhyuk. After all, he asked for it.

"First of all, school is stressful. It always is. Then of course our syntax project bullshit, like, who even cares about some obscure Slavic language? But the big fat obvious motherload of stress is The Great Divide in drama. Drama club was supposed to be something fun for Woosoo and I to do together and meet new people or whatever, but instead everyone is fighting and I'm fucking tired of it. Do they not see how it's essentially ruining Drama club? The teacher is ready to kill us all before we can kill each other. Oh, and don't even get me started on this dumb crush I have."

After your rant, you felt some of the weight lifted off your chest, before you realized that you had just admitted to having a crush. To your crush. Real fucking smart.

"I can relate to every single thing you said, Y/N." Minhyuk said, almost with a laugh.

You both were quiet for a moment, until you got to park, where Minhyuk promptly started running towards the jungle gym, yelling, "Race you!"

Letting out a noise of betrayal, you broke into a run, chasing after him. But he was apparently much more athletic than you, and had a head start, easily reaching the mulched area first. Out of breath, you sat yourself on one of the swings, and Minhyuk joined you.

"So, want to tell me about this dumb crush?" Minhyuk prompted, looking over to you.

You gently swung, only able to look at your legs and the ground, making eye contact with him would be too much. "It's really dumb, he probably doesn't even like me back or anything. And Woosoo really wouldn't like it if she found out, either."

"Oh, so it's someone in drama that's with MJ?" Minhyuk immediately seemed to deduce who it is. "Or is it MJ?"

"Oh, jeez. No, it's not Myungjun."

"Hm, Bin? He's really sweet-"

"No, I don't like Bin."

"Well it's definitely not Sanha, he's like 12."

"Mhm."

"Oh, Youjin!" Your friend declared, referencing the boy who was also kind of on MJ's side, he only had a very minor role in the play.

"No, can you just stop this, already?" You groaned, burying your face in your hands.

"That's pretty much everybody who's in the play, unless it's someone on tech, but they're not involved in the arguements." Minhyuk was deeply contemplating this.

With a sigh, you stood back up off the swing.

"Woah, where are you going?"

"We need to finish the syntax project."

"You're trying to avoid this conversation, aren't you?”

"Oh no, you've discovered my master plan." You scoffed sarcastically as he walked beside you, matching your quick pace.

"Let's make a deal." He offered.

"Deal for what, exactly?"

"I'll tell you about my crush, if you tell me who yours is on."

"That's not a fair trade unless you tell me their name as well."

He half-smiled, seeming pretty confident. "I'll give you her name, too."

"Go ahead."

"Well let me describe her first, hm? Let me think, she's really intelligent, and caring, and funny, oh man I'm always laughing with her. She's got a great smile, incredible face too-"

You burst out laughing at his phrasing. Minhyuk chuckled too when he saw you laughing, commenting, "I love your laugh."

Your heart twisted at his words, knowing that he didn't mean it on as deep a level as you wanted him to.

"Anyway," he continued on. "She's also super creative. And I mean, every time I see her I just smile and I really want to hug her and hold her close, y'know."

"That's great, Minhyuk." You forced an encouraging smile, hoping deep down that it was you he was talking about. Probably not, but there still the smallest chance it was.

"Oh, one more thing about her-"

"Her name?"

"Uh, no-"

"You promised you'd tell me her name."

"Could I please talk, Y/N?" Minhyuk groaned as you kept interrupting him, covering your mouth with his hand.

You giggled behind it, nodding before he dropped his warm hand from your face.

"Okay so, what I was going to say is that she's also really dumb. Like, so dumb. And my crush on her? Also dumb. Because her dumb crush is probably on someone else."

His overuse of the word 'dumb' made you tilt your head to the side suspiciously. He seemed to be waiting for you to say something, and you hesitantly pointed at yourself. "Me?"

"Wow, you really are dumb, Y/N."

Your heart dropped down to the floor as he laughed, probably at you, and how fucking stupid you were for thinking he could ever like you.

His next words cut your assumptions down as he was still laughing, "Of course it's you!"

A huge sigh of thanks left your mouth, and you felt your body just stop. You were actually shaking in relief, stopping on the sidewalk to catch your breath. Minhyuk was still grinning as he stopped next to you, rubbing your back as you took a few deep breaths. "You scared me half to death, Minhyuk."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to say it like that, I didn't want you to worry but I guess I accidentally did."

"Yeah, yeah, you did." You stood up straight, finally looking him in the eye. "Now what?"

Minhyuk suddenly wrapped his arms around you, pulling you close to him. And he held you there, chin resting on your shoulder as you hugged him back. You closed your eyes, reveling the feeling of being held by him, he was warm and cozy.

Finally, after who knows how long, you let go of each other.

"I guess we should finish our syntax project, huh?" Minhyuk said, and you nodded in reply.

He held his hand out to you, and with a shy smile, took it in yours. Lacing your fingers together, he guided you back to his house with a skip in his step.

[sorry this took forever, i’m still managing work, running my own swim lessons, school, and i just got my car. but fingers crossed that i’ll get back into the groove of writing this stuff again. also, blog update/upgrade coming at you this weekend most likely, i’ll have an announcement post and all that jazz for the revamped blog. love y’all!!]

[ninety6tears]

Dear Yuletide Writer 2017

ninety6tears | Thanks for checking out my thoughts and prompts! I have a tendency to go on and on in my letters but if you’re excited to be writing any of my requests, please take as much or as little from my ideas that you need.

Basics: The whole spectrum from G-rated gen to explicit PWP is fine. I've got no preference over POV/tense/narrative style, just use whatever comes to you! I love pastiche for lit fandoms but something that feels more off the beaten path of the original style can also be fun.

I love: Angst, pining, subtle UST, first times, or established relationships with some level of conflict to be resolved. Intense friendship stories. Protectiveness in close relationships as well as in those that wouldn't obviously appear to be protective at first. A character or characters experiencing a type of attraction that isn't the status quo for them. Relationships that broke up/had a falling-out, maybe a long time ago, and neither of them ever really got over it. Any kind of amusing/surprising interactions between characters that don't usually get one-on-one time in canon. Characterization that focuses on the nature & nurture of who people have grown to be and the unique ways they take care of or need other characters. Insecurity/hangups over worthiness.  AUs*, whether they interact with our expectations from the original story or tell it in a thoughtfully different way, as a fork-in-the-road or a completely different genre/setting that strikes you as something that would bring some good stuff out of the characters/relationship(s). You are welcome to poke around my AO3 bookmarks or my tumblr or even my goodreads to see what fandoms I'm familiar with if the idea of doing a crossover or fusion* appeals to you (crossovers can get controversial but I say as long as big fandom characters don't take center stage, anything is fair game).            [*I would always love to see fusions etc. with: The Bone Clocks, Harry Potter, It Follows, Old Kingdom, Pacific Rim (though I'm not as into PR as its own fandom, so more of a fusion than a crossover or less focus on its characters would be preferred). I'm rarely picky about AUs, but I'd always like to see college/high school - or the more rare school faculty AU, sci-fi, slavery as a non-kinky theme, sex work as a non-kinky theme (though i wouldn't be offended by shippy hookerfic), historical settings, and good old fork-in-the-road ideas that bring a whole different set of conflicts and emotional moments.]

I can handle: Underage, dubcon, noncon, torture and incest. Character death. Love triangles. Infidelity.

I don't want: Canon divergent fix-it scenarios unless prompted (AUs where the original conflict never happened doesn’t fall into that; I just don’t want “X didn’t die or make that big mistake” as a main premise). Soulbonding/magical soulmate tropes. A/B/O, mpreg, or any body fluid kinks. Highly described sex toys. More than a mention of Alzheimer’s/dementia.

You might look at this meme for a more thorough list of kinks/tropes I'm into, but only bother if you're curious! Dublin Murder Squad Series - Tana French Mick “Scorcher” Kennedy, Richie Curran . I love these two as a ship, as a partnership, and/or as a brief but intense friendship. Scorcher is a bit of a pill especially as he's portrayed in Faithful Place, but part of what I love about this series is Tana’s ability to complicate characters in different lights, and the warmth between these two in Broken Harbour as well as the tragically missed opportunities for Mick to open up to Richie were part of what finally endeared me to the character. I think the first moment in BH when I started to actively like him was when he got protective for Richie’s reputation after he couldn't handle the autopsy.

I'm not sure whether or not Mick and Richie could ever make up especially as they won't be running into each other professionally, but if you're open to the slashy interpretation I could kind of see some angsty reunion where they run into each other and Scorcher is still so bitter but also so isolated and touch-starved that they end up fucking anyway. Or maybe there could be a missing scene with something of a near-kiss or touch, some time while they were working together. I'd also love to get a glimpse into what Richie was thinking about Scorcher just before or throughout BH, since it's hard to imagine him being extremely fond of Scorcher from the very beginning. Any moment from Richie’s perspective throughout BH would be lovely, though, as long as you don't dwell on his encounter with Dina more than its aftermath. I don't have any specific AU prompts, but I always like twists on the detective genre, especially with shippable partners, so if their quick and unexpected friendship is there, or even if it's awkward yet caring, that's what I'd love to get in an AU. Maybe Richie could handle some sf/f equivalent of investigative work a little better, or maybe it would be heartbreaking for him all over again. I’ve requested this series every year in numerous ways, and wouldn't say no to an appearance of Frank, maybe involving Olivia (Liv knows Kennedy well enough to seemingly dislike him, or dislike who Frank is with him, and I’ve always wondered about that). if in doubt about whether I might enjoy anything a bit (or a lot) off the grid of my requests, I'd probably love it. I won't spam you with potentially irrelevant prompts but any character or pairing I talked about in previous years is something I'd still be happy to see. Far From the Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy Bathsheba Everdene, Gabriel Oak . I really love these two as a kind of friends-to-lovers trope in a setting where men and women rarely had opportunities to be 100% friends. Some interpretations reduce Gabriel to the guy that's just pining on the sidelines waiting for her to return his feelings, but I like how the professional relationship forms into a true companionship between confidants aside from his resignation on the possibility. I like that it's never a sweeping passion for Bathsheba but she comes to hold his opinions and his regard for her as singularly important while taking forever to directly reconsider her feelings (even while absently imagining what it would be like to be married to him and considering him her first sweetheart), and that in turn Gabriel doesn't put her on a simplistic pedestal or sugarcoat things for her even as his affection doesn't waver. I like that she's treated as arrogant as a matter of forgivable fact, and that her being loved by him in vain is something she wants selfishly until it's not actually in vain. I love that she's authoritative in order to keep him at a distance but then pines for him to remain significant in her life. Any moment from their working relationship that shows that Gabriel starts to fall even more in love with the real her, despite all reasons against it, would be great; or some moment from Bathsheba’s viewpoint that shows her neighborliness actually becoming a deeper trust...I don't really approach this as a super-steamy ship but feel free to try to convince me there was some UST on a level that Hardy didn't indulge in, or give me something in bed from the honeymoon period if that's your thing (would she have been pleasantly surprised by him, if Troy was not the most considerate partner?). One AU scenario I wondered about: When Bathsheba has that talk with Gabriel (in chapter 51) about whether she should commit herself to Boldwood, and admits to herself after that she’d wanted him to give some indication he'd still be willing to marry her, I wonder how things would have gone around then if their mutual wanting had just slipped out somehow...because wouldn't it be more of a forbidden or at least ill-timed desire, considering Gabriel’s logic of a more dutiful commitment not being a disrespect to her missing husband, and the risk of the two of them driving Boldwood off the deep end? Or what might have happened if Gabriel had overheard the way Boldwood pretty much scared her into promising herself to him at the party? (Hardy handles his ~madness~ with some degree of sympathy, but feel free to treat Boldwood as just a jealous creep if that's your angle, especially since I can't imagine Gabriel being very sympathetic to him at that point.) My one annoyingly lectury fandom-specific do-not-want: Please, please do not imply that Gabriel only reconsiders leaving at the end because of the marriage possibility. In the novel he clearly thinks twice about it just because of how much it upsets Bathsheba, but multiple adaptations screw this up.

It - Stephen King Ben Hanscom, Beverly Marsh

.

You don't have to write both characters or feature them as a pairing (though I do ship them and love to imagine how they might go on together as adults)--I partly picked them because I'm curious about the things that happened to them between the childhood we’re shown and the eighties, from the big events to the smaller moments.

They're obviously both one of the less happier people when they come to being reunited, Beverly just escaping Tom and Ben, for vague reasons, still being quite solitary despite his success. I'm intrigued by Ben as the character who probably changes the most over that time, seemingly becoming this more cynical and self-deprecating man we meet in that intense bar scene but always retaining a kindness towards others, having survived not just the monster he doesn't remember but the severe bullying he continued to endure. I love the determination he's capable of and the fact he decides to lose weight as a “fuck you” to his asshole gym teacher, but I wonder if his self-image remained shaky for a while after and if he had a sense of imposter syndrome as he came of age, probably being treated in a way he wasn’t used to because of his looks and later his talent. That bartender observes that he never seems to pick up any dates, but maybe he tried and it just never felt right because he just wasn't good at feeling close to people, or for some other reason…?

I feel like the description of Bev finally abandoning her father is only briefly referenced, and I'm always curious about that--was there an inciting event that meant her father would know exactly why she left, if there was ever any doubt about that? Was it the sudden decision of a runaway who didn't have an easy place to hole up? I'm also intrigued by Bev apparently being this high-class designer who still lives the better parts of her life in a simple and relatable way: as someone who never got the hang of being popular but has that one true friend in Kay. I like to imagine that with Ben she would still have a glamorous but quiet life, with precious few people who bring out the real her. I’d also like to get to know her as a teenager...In general I love Bev’s combined softness and feistiness and would love to see some of that, maybe her rediscovering it in a way after she’s lost touch with her childhood.

If you want to bring in other characters, I have to say the recent movie was enjoyable but didn't show the talents of the Losers club or their teamwork as well as I'd have liked, so I would adore an AU that brings them into a different conflict as a team. I love them all together as adults (keep in Stan if you want!) in pretty much any AU you can think of (an Inception fusion? members of a school faculty? mundane college friends à la St. Elmo’s Fire or The Big Chill?), but I also love school settings and all the kids together.

You could even give me bits of what's going on with all the Losers over the years following childhood, or in those first months/years they begin drifting apart, with a vague haunted connection between them. I just like being in the company of these characters and their strengths and flaws and loneliness, with the knowledge that that loneliness won't be forever, with maybe a shadow of the past that's both horrifying and hopeful hanging over them, or some vague memories surfacing in times of intense emotions.

There isn’t any pairing among the main seven that I wouldn’t like as long as it doesn’t heavily contradict Ben/Bev as endgame (though Eddie/Richie is super popular and I don’t feel like I’m short on them, but a hint of that would be fine).

The Long Walk - Richard Bachman Peter McVries, Ray Garraty . Oh, this disastrous OTP of mine...I always felt that Ray's cold reaction to Pete popping the handjob question came from being hurt that Pete was basically making light of how close they were by offering what was either a total joke or something that would feel desperate and impersonal (he didn't want him to do it in that way). It's a very paradoxical ship in my mind, because it takes the intensity of the situation for this ruthless love to form between them, but because of their inability to express any of it in this vacuum the only sincere thing is the acknowledgment that any future involving both of them is impossible. If you're only interested in focusing on them as a friendship I would still be very happy, and I'm hardly demanding anything sexual; even though strange things do happen on the walk I would prefer nothing to get physical between them unless it happens outside of that situation. But in my mind Ray absolutely has some self-destructive anxiety about his masculinity/sexuality, and I'd like to see that at least not contradicted if it's not a theme you're going for. Since we're never in Pete's head, it would be great to get anything detailing how his initial distance from Ray quickly erodes into the protectiveness he obviously can't help over him, if there's a spark of empathy there even before the first time Ray saves him, or what he's really thinking or trying to say at some of his more cynical and cryptic moments. I wonder what it was that Parker said to him to imply he thought he and Ray were "queer for each other" and how this apparently was covered without McVries feeling the need to deny it? I'd love an AU in which some revolt or rescue does manage to at least stave off danger for a time - some situation where there's no real hope they won't be found and killed but gives them time to interact outside of the rules, even if much of that amounts to passing out while huddled together, would be a nice bittersweet twist - but if you wanted to write a successful coup actually saving their lives and ending the walk, I would love to see how their relationship remains in the aftermath; maybe Ray ends up staying with his girlfriend and they only meet up every once in a while because they share this traumatizing thing, and they have an essential but troubled friendship (and maybe they end up fucking a couple times but don't really talk about it). In the realm of more absolute alternate universes, I'm eager if it's keeping intact the angst and the masculine insecurity and the very teenage conversations and McVries being such a defeated self-punishing sourpuss that his sweetness towards Ray feels like a small miracle. A bigoted boarding school atmosphere, an aggressive correctional camp, anything where a compulsive make-out might happen in the bunks or the showers and then be stiffly denied later on sounds like a backdrop I'd love for these boys if you want to do something bleak-but-not-as-mortally-bleak. I prefer to think of McVries as having complicated depression that doesn’t just stem from girlfriend probems; I'd prefer you mention the incident with Priscilla as little as possible, but any focus on Pete’s scar is totally fine.

[sailorspazz]

[Fanfic] No Words (Black/Zamasu)

Yup, look at me, still caught up in this damn ship that isn’t getting nearly enough attention in the form of fan works. Hence, I was “forced” to write another story :3

Title: No Words

Series: Dragon Ball Super

Pairing: Black/Zamasu

Rating: M (for sex)

Words: 5,100

Summary: As a jealous Zamasu enacts punishment upon him, Black wonders what's really on his other self's mind. 

Where to read: Posted on fanfiction.net and ao3. Or just click below!

Well well well…looks like this piece of fujoshi trash is at it again! A few months have passed since I wrote my previous fic about these two, and I’m still sailing hard on the Black/Zamasu ship. I’m a bit disappointed to see that not many on the English-speaking side of fandom have joined me in creating fan works, though :/ Seriously, the number of fics out there right now can be counted on one hand! So here I am, adding another one to the very small pile with the hope that we can someday make it into double digits…!

But I can at least take solace in the thriving Japanese ZamaBlack fan-art community, which led to the inspiration for this story. In fact, the premise is based on a particular comic by a highly prolific artist. Though the scenario may be distinct enough that those who’ve seen the original piece will probably recognize the source, it’s basically the setup and a small amount of dialogue that are similar, and I do my own thing with it from there.

One more thing: after I put myself out of my own element by making my previous fic about these guys a bit dark and twisted, this time I’m back in my more comfortable fluff and smut zone♥ Try not to gag on any excessive cuteness that may occur :P

Completed: 2017.02.15

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

“…completely unforgivable! How dare you!”

One moment I’m taking a well-earned nap following a hard day of working toward creating an ideal world, the next I’m being rudely awakened to hear the tail end of an accusation being hurled at me by my partner. I try to sit up, but find that I’m being pinned to the bed by an unseen force, still too groggy to comprehend what’s happening.

“I don’t care if you were just talking in your sleep,” he continues ranting, piercing me directly with a fiery glare now that he sees I’m waking up, “The only name you should ever speak is mine.” His hand snakes its way under my shirt, fingers stroking my chest and abs, and as I try to move again I realize that he’s using his godly powers to hold my mortal body immobile. Only my head and neck can move according to my own will, though it seems other parts can still move instinctually, as demonstrated by the erection forming in my pants. Even though I don’t know what’s going on, being forced down by him is undeniably a turn on.

The growing lump doesn’t escape his notice and his hand moves down to caress it, his gentle motions sharply contrasting with his irate expression. “Is this…for me?” he asks with a disconcerting amount of mock sweetness. “Or…for that Saiyan?” his tone darkens and he grasps my erection tightly. I cringe and gasp as he maintains his forceful grip for several unbearably long moments.

When he finally lets go, I look up at him, pleading for a measure of rationality. “Za…Zamasu, don’t be ridi—” He cuts me off with a brutal kiss, his tongue violently probing my mouth. I meet his lips with the same level of desire, even though as I’m clearing the fog of sleep from my mind, I find his behavior to be quite baffling. Based on what he’s said, I must have inadvertently mumbled Trunks’ name in my sleep. Yes, I can see why that could upset him, but his reaction still strikes me as rather extreme.

He breaks his lips away from mine, a silky thread of saliva briefly keeping our tongues connected as we part. “I have to punish you now,” he states coolly, making me leery for what sort of punishment he has in mind if that painful vicelike grip on my dick wasn’t even the start of it. But the menacing look in his eyes from moments ago has dissipated, and he now wears an impish grin as he slides my pants downward. “You need to repent for what you’ve done.”

“What I’ve ‘done’ is nothing. Talking in my sleep doesn’t…” I trail off as I realize he isn’t listening to my protest anyway, his attention becoming undividedly fixated on my dick as it pops up after he removes my pants. He takes it in his hands and is concentrating so hard that it almost seems as if he’s addressing it rather than me as a whole when he speaks.

“Now I’m going to make you come. For thirty minutes straight.” After making this declaration, he begins softly blowing on my erection, seemingly at odds with his stated goal. Such gentle stimulation isn’t going to get me off, after all, so if he wants to make me come over and over he’s going to have to get serious rather quickly.

But as he continues this seemingly unstimulating action, alternating between hitting me with cool, concentrated streams of air, exhaling warm breath onto me, and sucking air away from me, I soon discover that this is far more arousing than I would’ve expected. Perhaps the fact that I can’t move is making it even more effective (though if I tried, I could easily break out of his hold; even if his technique is highly effective on mortals, I have the mind of a god, not to mention a body that had access to godly ki even before I took it over). This teasing is making me yearn for him much more than I would if I could simply decide the pace as usual and do whatever I please.

And thus, an embarrassingly uncouth moan escapes my throat when he finally decides to take me into his mouth. After taking his time to work me up, he’s now going all out to finish me off. In an instant, he buries my erection so deep that the tip hits the back of his throat, then propels his head rapidly up and down. Not even a minute passes before his mouth fills with my cum, which he noisily gulps down, then he sloppily licks up small droplets that have dribbled out from his mouth onto my dick. He’s clearly playing this up, and looking so erotic doing it that I almost immediately become hard again.

My counterpart glances mischievously at me as he finishes running his tongue over my once again stiffened member. “Ready for more already?” he chuckles. He goes to work removing my remaining clothing, giving me a moment to go back to the thought of how odd this all seems. Of course I’m enjoying what he’s doing, but the reasoning behind it, this apparent jealousy over that Saiyan boy, makes absolutely no sense. How could he question our bond so much that he’d display such inexplicable insecurity? We’re working every day to create a utopia in which no one but the two of us will be left alive. Our dedication to our cause and each other is unshakeable. I would never—could never—betray him for anyone else; he must know this. So why…?

Zamasu undresses himself after he finishes throwing my clothes aside and lies on the bed next to me. Our faces are almost close enough to kiss, but he stays out of reach when I try to move my lips closer to his. He slides a hand down my body, firmly taking my erection in his hand, and begins stroking it at a leisurely pace.

I try searching his face for clues about what he’s thinking. Is this merely a sex game, and he came up with the contrived jealous lover act as a flimsy excuse to play out this fantasy? He notices that I’m looking at him and our eyes meet. I recall being told in the past that my face was highly inscrutable, and it was impossible for others to ascertain my mood just from looking at me. But knowing my own former face as well as I do, it’s usually easy for me to tell what my other self is feeling, mostly through those subtly expressive eyes. As I look into them, I can detect a myriad of emotions: a palpable sensual playfulness, a hint of steely determination, and, hidden a bit deeper, a sense of unease and anxiety. He’s not just putting on an act; there really is something worrying him. But I highly doubt it has anything to do with Trunks.

My partner seems to not appreciate the lingering, inquisitive look I’m giving him, and moves his face closer to mine. Just as our lips are about to touch, he fakes me out and pecks my cheek instead. Starting from there, he kisses a trail down my neck and across my collarbone, stopping once he reaches my chest. He drags his tongue over each nipple in turn, using long, laborious strokes to work them into rigid nubs. His hand starts working me a bit faster, though I can tell he’s still drawing this out and doesn’t intend for me to come right away, giving me a bit more time to think.

I know there’s no way he could legitimately believe that that Saiyan could tempt me to do anything other than use him to enhance my fighting skills. Zamasu and I have a link to each other that’s impossible to experience with anyone else. I’ve heard humans have a cliché of referring to romantic partners as being two bodies sharing one soul, but we actually embody that sentiment, and certainly have a far deeper understanding between us than those simpleminded pests could ever comprehend. No matter how long two separate beings have known each other—including gods who’ve spent countless millennia together—they could still never know the inherent kinship felt with another version of oneself. Calling it a relationship, a partnership, or anything of that sort that feels insufficient to describe what we share. There are no words for it; we are simply everything to each other.

Though our bond as a whole may be indefinable, obviously there’s a romantic and sexual side to it that’s heavily defined by mortal behavior. Gods don’t tend to form these sorts of relationships, so the way we act as a “couple” has ended up being based largely on what we’ve observed over long spans of human history. “Love” seems to be the closest representation of what we feel, though what we share goes far beyond that. And we do use that word to express our feelings for one another, even knowing that it’s basically meaningless to do so. Now I have to wonder if this jealous outburst is the result of Zamasu getting too carried away in the human-like influence of the romance we share, and he’s being swayed to act this way based on observations of how they behave when they betray each other.

The realization hits me that it’s a cover-up. This thought brings some sense of relief, knowing he doesn’t truly believe I would forsake our bond for any reason. But I can’t feel at ease yet, because there’s still something bothering him, and the fact that I don’t know what it is disturbs me immensely. As kindred spirits, it shouldn’t be possible to have misunderstandings or secrets between us. And yet, we’ve noticed during the years we’ve spent together that our personalities have gradually started to diverge. At our core, we’re both still Zamasu, but the differences in our life experiences, though in terms of time have been a very small percentage, have included hugely formative events like my decision to take over the body of Son Gokuu. Up until now, our emerging differences have been insignificant enough that they’ve only led to occasional minor disagreements. Now he’s intentionally hiding something from me, and even trying to cover it up. Still, I believe in our connection to each other more than anything, and I will figure out what’s on his mind, even if he doesn’t want me to know.

I can feel Zamasu becoming serious about getting me off as he starts to jerk me more vigorously. He breaks away from licking my nipples and looks me directly in the eye, maintaining eye contact as he repositions his body, silently imploring me to keep watching him. He puts his face near my dick, and though I expect him to finish me off with his mouth again, he keeps stroking away, still staring at me with a sly sparkle in his eyes. I finally succumb to his energetic hand job and release my load all over his face. The sensuousness of his joyously amorous expression increases many times over when covered in a fine sheen of jizz, I discover.

He can tell that I’m completely in awe of him, and grins lecherously as he licks his lips. “Mmm…the taste of you just drives me wild.” He wipes some of the cum off his cheek with his hand, then starts rubbing it against his nipples. “It feels so good on my body. I want to feel it…everywhere.” His hand moves down to his dick, touching the tip where his pre-cum is leaking out and mixing our fluids together. “I want it…Ah! Inside me…” He moans as he moves his hand around to his backside, pushing cum coated fingers into his asshole.

God damn, I wish I could move right now. He’s making me lust for him so hard, I can’t even think straight enough to figure out how to counteract his god powers and release myself from his hold. And he looks incredibly pleased with himself as he gazes down at me, relishing my obvious agitation. I’d love to throw him down and fuck that smug smirk right off him…though I’m sure that’s exactly what he wants me to be thinking right now, and doing so would only heighten his smugness to new levels.

He stops fingering himself and brings his face close to mine, offering me the cheek still dripping with cum. “Taste it,” he softly commands, quickly switching to his dominant side after teasing me with his submissiveness. We’re both capable of fulfilling either of these roles for each other, so I willingly submit and begin licking him. I brush my lips and tongue over his cheek, tasting my own essence, lapping up every last bit. When I attempt to move to the other side of his face to slurp up whatever he failed to wipe off before, he stops me by catching my mouth with his own, pulling me into a long, probing kiss. When he detaches his lips from mine, he scolds me playfully, “I said you could taste it, not have all of it. Now I’ll have to make more…”

His hand latches onto my dick again, though this time he’s slathering it in a lubricating substance of his own creation. He maneuvers his body so he’s straddling my lap facing away from me. I can see him peeking over his shoulder to make sure I’m watching him; clearly he’s chosen this position to ensure I have a good view of what he’s doing. So I obediently look at the intensely erotic sight of my own erection slowly entering his ass as he pushes down on me. He slides it all the way in in one drawn out, smooth motion, then rises up again to repeat the process. After a few of these protracted establishing thrusts, his hips start moving with more speed and power, and he starts throwing in moans and yelps that I can tell aren’t entirely genuine, yet still sound so enticing.

And as I remember what he stated at the beginning of all this, I have to wonder, how the hell does he consider this a punishment? Immobilizing me and “forcing” me to endure incredible sex hardly seems like an effective deterrent. Then I realize that calling it such was also a cover-up to hide his true intentions. Thinking back to everything he’s done to me so far, it seems more like this is supposed to be a showcase of his skills.

I’m momentarily distracted by the feeling that I’m about to come…except right before I get there, he suddenly slows his pace way down, preventing me from hitting that peak. Which only solidifies in my mind that he’s indeed showing off how well he knows my body. Back when we first teamed up, it was much easier for me to pleasure him than the other way around, since I had the advantage of knowing everything about the body I formerly occupied. Zamasu, on the other hand, had to learn how to best satisfy the body of Son Gokuu…and did he ever. Over the past few years, we’ve spent countless hours enjoying each other’s company, exploring and experimenting, doing things this body’s original inhabitant would never dream of. I’d say at this point, when it comes to pleasing my body, my other self probably knows even more than I do.

He knows too much, in fact, as he again builds me up to just before the point of climax, only to deny me once more. I protest with a dissatisfied grunt and he glances back at me, looking more self-satisfied than ever. He doesn’t say a word, but looking into his eyes I can clearly imagine his voice: “See, you don’t need anyone else. No one knows you like I do.” I know he doesn’t believe I’d leave him for Trunks, but I can tell there’s some threat he doesn’t want to lose me to, and I still have no idea who or what it is.

He repeats this pattern again. And again. And my mind starts becoming so mired in desperation that I can’t even keep count anymore, but after at least a half dozen repetitions I feel close to losing it. My body is trembling, aching for the release he refuses to grant me. I try to plead with him, though I can barely even speak through my haggard breaths. “Za…su…”

“Beg,” he states bluntly, not even bothering to turn his head to address me.

“Pl…se…”

And he immediately picks up the pace again, thrusting himself down onto me vigorously. I’m quickly pushed over the edge, the primal vocalizations pouring out of me shockingly undignified and unbefitting of a god. He waits until all of my seed has been emptied into him, then lies down next to me on his side, watching my body shiver as I recover. “How was that?” he asks, and though my eyes aren’t even open I can just hear the smirk in his voice.

Despite the fact that my breath is still coming in shallow gasps, I attempt to answer anyway. “You…you’re not really…doing what you said…”

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

“You said…you’d make me come…as many times as possible…in thirty minutes.”

He snickers. “Well, that’s not actually how I phrased it. I never mentioned anything about the number of times.” I open my eyes and see that he’s giving me a highly seductive look with those smoky gray eyes. “Just that I’d keep you coming continuously. Of course that includes the buildup to that payoff. Wouldn’t you rather have quality over quantity?” His hand drifts down to my cock again, caressing it tenderly. “Although we still have a few minutes left, so we could try for one more…”

But after that last insanely powerful orgasm, I find it highly unlikely I’ll be able to get hard again before time is up, even with Zamasu’s unmatched skill. “I…I don’t think it’ll…”

A slight furrow appears on his brow as he tries and fails to make my flaccid member erect again. But his expression turns alarmingly sadistic in an instant. “Then…I suppose…” He sits up and appears to be stroking his own erection now. “…there are other ways to make you come.” I realize that he’s not merely touching himself, but is applying lubrication.

I look at him warily. It’s not that we never do it this way—though usually it only happens if I’m rather intoxicated. I certainly don’t mind letting him do whatever he wants to me, but I am concerned about that vicious grin on his face. I realize now that he’s been so focused on demonstrating his precise control over my body that he hasn’t come even once yet, so he’s probably incredibly pent up and eager to unleash his passion on me.

I suddenly find myself being forcefully flipped over. His hand connects with my ass, smacking it sharply. I instinctively cry out, though not entirely from pain; I have a masochistic side too, after all, so this isn’t actually unpleasant to me. He continues slapping, and I groan salaciously each time he makes contact; I can’t work him up quite as much as he did to me earlier since I still can’t move, but I can do my best to play this up.

I hear him chuckle after he stops spanking me, brushing his hand against the spot he had been concentrating his strikes upon. “My, what a pretty pink color. So your ass can turn Rosé too?” Once he finishes admiring his handiwork, he yanks me upright roughly by my hair. He wraps an arm around me to help keep me vertical as his mouth attacks my neck and shoulder, gnawing on me ferociously then dragging his tongue across the wounds he’s caused. He moves up to my ear, tickling me with his warm breath as he whispers demandingly, “Who do you belong to?”

“You. Only you,” I answer unwaveringly, wanting him to know how much I mean these words. “We belong…only to ourselves.”

His voice sounds slightly calmer as he chimes in, though still a bit on edge. “Only us two. No other…”

“Only us kindred spirits, sharing the same mind and soul, are worthy of each other.” As I’m about to turn my head toward him, he’s already jerking me back and kissing me fiercely. I can sense a surprisingly large amount of insecurity behind this action. Somehow my efforts to allay his unspoken concerns have only made things worse.

He lets go of my hair and unwraps his arm from around me, causing my limp body to flop inelegantly down onto the bed. He rolls me onto my side and scoots forward to position himself between my legs, lifting the top one slightly. I grimace as he pushes his hips forward and slides himself inside me, not at all bothering to start out slow and gentle. As he continues thrusting at a steady pace, at first I’m biting my lip and hissing at the pain, since I’m not used to being taken by him this way. But as he continues, he starts hitting me in just the right spot, and I find myself panting and moaning involuntarily. He takes my sensual vocalizations as a sign that he can ramp this up a bit, and begins plunging into me deeper and faster. The room fills with the sounds of the bed creaking, our skin slapping, and my own moans quickly increasing in pitch and fervor. He brings his mouth down to my nipple, sucking and licking and biting, sending me even more into a frenzy; if I were able to move, I’d absolutely be writhing in pleasure right now. It won’t be long until he makes me come…

But I’m abruptly ripped from this blissful state as he pulls out of me, leaving me bereft. I sit up and glare at him. “What the hell…?” I start to shout, belatedly realizing that he’s released his hold on me and I’m able to move again.

“It’s been thirty minutes. Your punishment’s over now,” he explains in an irritatingly matter-of-fact manner. But then slyness creeps into his expression. “Now you’re free to do…whatever you please.” Obviously he’s expecting—and hoping—for me to exact revenge upon him. And I’m very much inclined to do so, but after spending the last half hour completely at his mercy, I don’t want this to play out exactly as he thinks it will.

I shoot him a sinister grin, then shove him down on the bed and crawl on top of him. “What I’d like to do is…” At first he looks at me with anticipation, fully expecting me to spread his legs and fuck the hell out of him. Then he looks perplexed as I straddle his lap instead. “…finish what you started.” I press my hips downward, inserting him inside me once more. As I rock up and down, my smile grows as I see him gripping the sheets and gasping, the flushed coloring on his face spreading like fire all the way out to his pointed ear tips. Even after everything he did to me before, he still hasn’t come yet, so this’ll probably be over quickly. I start to buck my hips wildly, relishing the lustful moans coming out of him. My hands are pressed against his chest to brace myself as I grind against him, and his hand moves up to rest upon mine. One of his fingers brushes against the Time Ring, and in that moment I see a hint of distress in his eyes.

And after more than thirty minutes of unsuccessfully trying to figure out what’s been bothering my other self, all it takes is one almost imperceptibly subtle change of expression to give me the one hint I needed to tie all the clues together. It’s true that we’re the same in most ways, but the biggest difference between our personalities is my high level of ambition. My need to exact justice on the evil I could no longer sit back and watch is what brought us together, but I realize now that he worries it could also tear us apart. It’s likely a fear he doesn’t want to legitimize by speaking aloud, but he thinks it’s possible that I’ll reach the point where I won’t need him anymore. Of course he knows no other god or mortal could come between us, but knowing that other versions of us exist in other worlds means there’s still someone else out there with whom I could form the same kind of unrivalled partnership. This reason for his jealousy does make logical sense, but I still can’t help but feel he should believe in our bond more than that. He needs to recognize how important he is to me, without having to resort to trying to “prove” his value.

I cease my hip movements momentarily, bringing my face down close to his. “Zamasu…” I cup his chin in my hand and smile tenderly. “I don’t need any other me but you.” His eyes widen, then soften, and he beams with pure joy and relief. I push myself up for leverage again and thrust him deeply inside me a few more times, bringing us both to our climax simultaneously. He throws his head back and lets out a tantalizing shout as his body shudders and ejaculates inside me. I wait for him to finish filling me up, then roll off of him onto my side. We wrap our arms around each other and spend several long moments just listening to our own heavy, perfectly synced breathing.

“Th-thank you,” Zamasu stutters once he fully regains his breath. “I…I realize it may have been unfounded, but I’ve been worrying about that recently.” He looks timid, almost ashamed that these doubts even crossed his mind. “I know you’ve noticed too that we’ve been diverging lately. We don’t always agree anymore, so I thought…maybe you’d rather move on and start over with another Zamasu. You could learn from what happened with us and find another version that you could stay better in sync with.”

I shake my head adamantly to dismiss his fears. “Traveling to another time in the first place was a huge risk. With each world having its own circumstances, there was no guarantee that I’d find another me. Other versions of myself could’ve not existed at all, or might’ve even been appalled by my plan and tried to stop me. I wasn’t looking for just any other me; it had to be one that wholeheartedly supported what I was doing…and I found that in you. I consider myself incredibly lucky to have ended up with you, because I have no doubt that this combination of us is the best possible partnership. So what if we have petty disagreements? That’s utterly meaningless in comparison to all that we do share. Our minds, our souls still resonate on a far deeper level than anyone else is capable, or even worthy of understanding. No matter where the Zero Mortals Plan takes us, you will always be by my side. I need only you, I want only you…”

I’m cut off as he leans forward and softly brushes his lips against mine. He smiles warmly at me. “I know. I should’ve never doubted you. It’s just…these feelings we have are so overwhelming, it’s hard for me to stay rational when it comes to you. But I know that I…that we…” Our eyes are fiercely locked in an unwavering gaze, both feeling completely engulfed by a swirl of unbearably strong emotions, and we say the words together.

“…Love ourselves…more than anything.” Practically speaking, expressing our love shouldn’t hold that much meaning, but in reality it’s profoundly heartwarming to do so. We’re compelled bring our lips together and share a delicate kiss. It stays very chaste at first, gradually progressing to us opening our mouths slightly, then a bit more to let our tongues touch lightly. We start with them barely brushing together, slowly work up to sliding them against each other, and eventually allow them to enter each other’s mouths. Even then we keep our pace unhurried, breathing into each other deeply, caressing each other with the soft touch of our lips and tongues. It becomes so overpoweringly intense that we ultimately need to break it off to get a hold of our senses again. We stare at each other intently, basking in the heated passion threatening to overflow once more. His eyes are shimmering from the pure enormity of our love for each other, and I’m sure mine must be too.

There may be no words that even come close to describing what this is. But what we share, what we feel, what we are is simply…

“Beautiful…”

THE END

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Hhnnnngggghh♥, oh my god, I love these two so much~! I don't even care if the fluff got too mushy, I just want them to be happyyyy...why they gotta die ;_; Anyway, I hope it was enjoyable, and I look forward to seeing what the fandom continues to produce for this ridiculously addictive couple (moar fics plz :3)

[maneaterwithtail]

The politics are the cough. the disease is flooding to chase the trend of personal brand building. Events and confusing communities and arguably the arrangement of the direct market itself. No simplicity and lots of expense with shakeup one after the other.

And some transparently business or out of story disrupting existing (in humans versus mutants)

Starting Marvel, as an example, is harder than figuring out where to come in on the Fate series. I mention this because Comics are often compared to manga and yet however convoluted in silly may get for the most part you buy one collection, or let's not kid ourselves pirate, or wait until an animated adaptation comes out realize that it's pretty much faithful, go back to the core comic and so long as you start from the beginning you can follow to the end. Even if it's based off of a visual novel chances are everything will progress from beginning to end. It's usually when that models messed up with that something becomes destructive and difficult to follow or deal.

Unlike with manga where if you're having trouble following where to start with, like the Fate series, you can at least enjoy the latest Nasu verse offering. especially if you can turn your brain off and just engage with one example. Or if you don't want to deal with that you can just go to an entirely different property from a similar publisher that scratches a similar itch.

Like the premise of America Chavez buts I think she did it wrong? Well it's not like you can just switch over to Champions because that's a mess as well along with Miles Morales Spider-Man and ms. Marvel or spider woman.

it's expensive, patchy, filled with all sorts of weird continuity that you end up having to buy just to start. As such only the dedicated fanbase could possibly tolerate it but that also is exclusive in the sense that it's so to them with a history that it feels kind of off-putting.

I like the comicsgate comics I have heard of. I can also understand why we try to move away from that. Such as very obvious p*** tracing. And so on. Yes supposed diversity has basically led to a similar story of we're here now we're going to f*** the status quo too strongly relating to the audience or the author's pandering.

But it's not just they're going to have a trans person in an announcement. Which is a pretty major character trait I imagine that they want to talk about that or include it in the announcement.

the discontinuity does not help you build upsetting characters characterization and Circumstance. This is what I mean you're following themes story and events building to something then a new author will come in and he or she will wreck all that up so that they can go in an entirely different direction. Okay maybe you don't like the homosexual overtones of Eddie Brock and Venom. Maybe you want to stick it to all the slash shippers on Tumblr. But they've been the people who been following the comic and there's been a multi-year build up with sleeper, Eddie Brock and Venom's son.

going no now Eddy has a son he doesn't know about. oh and he was in the car that killed a child and him and Venom hate each other? Basically says f*** that other story we're going back to this story because I liked it better when I was young and I like it this way. And this kind of hostility is constant with every Changing of the Guard which can happen almost every two to three years. This keeps happening right when things are starting to get good or conclusion is reached. this undermines any death any major event or twist especially when it's in the headlines as if it's going to be meaningful

we can't even engaged in the illusion that someone has a plan charting something out when it feels like it's always fly by the seat of the pants the slightest whim can blow off the direction. We know in our conscious nothing that happens matters or at the very least when things end and we don't move on to something else then realize that there was a change but it seems seamless. Or at the very least it's a damn good seem that makes a very likeable and unique and distinct quilt. Again comparing and contrasting with manga

basically constantly ragging on the Politics as if that's what's causing the problem as opposed to Poor practices is off. yeah the customer service is definitely a no-go. But let's not kid ourselves Fanboys started it

I can straight up say that if you had a book that was straight up gay. like it starred the gay couple that once was Rescued by Captain America including his childhood hero And they were joined by the gender-bending exiled courtesan. you know those girls that always hang around in the background of Thor comics and everybody talks about winching and all that stuff? What if we actually focus on one of them and we threw in some mythological deviant queerness with the idea that men who practiced a certain form of Witchcraft had to be ladies. Now in practice this often meant anything from cross-dressing to performing ceremonies with a freaking dildo. But this is Comics so instead I can just go with the idea that after he uses magic so much he can turn or does turn into a lady. At first it's inadvertent but then he Masters the power so much that can transform into any lady. So he can go from weak little nerdy witch man to a Vanir (super durable pretty strong) or she giant.

It gets even more so when apparently he can change not just to a generic woman but any specific one. so he can literally clone an individual lady alive or dead. If she's dead you can act as a vessel for her soul so effectively while he might be booted deep within he can resurrect anyone's female loved one. Until changes back. The Twist is that while he won a beauty contest to be one of Odin's many many side pieces due to the politics and sociology of the time and the setup Odin didn't like admitting that they were both men or equals. Now the crossdressing courtesan isnt necessarily the nicest person. In fact the number one thing that characterizes him is that he hates the alpha male warrior culture or at least what he perceives of the negatives of it of Asgard. But that doesn't necessarily mean that he provides a good alternative. This will be a total retcon. not only would this make Odin effectively bisexual -although it's long since established that it seems like he's banged about so much he has had a child with everyone but his wife- but the idea that Loki and Thor grew up exposed to this weird gender-bending courtesan who tried to compete with the affections of their Queen Mother just so that that way he could get ahead and hated showing the absolute loyalty and Devotion to Asgard seeking glory in battle and death as opposed to conniving Gatling favor and trolling for booty while having to serve drinks for the Warriors that came by and were celebrated in the castle Hall.

Probably make up all sorts of relationships with other lesser-known Danny's that haven't been as much part of Marvel Thor but are important or at least well-known for the tradition. I would also shamelessly ripoff @gumon and her take on Norse mythology. With giants that just naturally produce children whether male or female. anyway ignoring all the continuity just so I could bring in the mythology that I want I would have it so that he was ultimately exiled because he got set up on a failure assignment. He got assigned to the Blue Mountain the traveling planet or set of rocks now that was the home of one of the Warriors Three the blue guy well the guy who wears blue and looks kind of like Angus Khan

The entire point of this is to get a different eye view of the Marvel Universe. What was it like to be one of those disposable pin-up girls. What is the gay population in gay culture and gay people been doing and light of the world that's been invaded from the ground been in a Perpetual fight with remnants of terrorists from World War II. And of course how they've been in for you property and making their lives and how are they responding to the fact that New York finally recognizes their marriage and of course life in the Twilight years as a gay couple that's constantly facing mortality. Also with the usual hey I'm an immortal mystical being who's having to relearn how to be human after having lived a life with a God's but neither being loyal to them nor a particular loyal to my own people. Along with the issues of the shapeshifter gender Dynamics and identity and all other sort of things. Pretty damn gay book. But I read it

Kids like imitating what they see so ripping the idea that someone's going to take some of the more iconic X-Men looks and style themselves after them when they know that their mutant doesn't seem wrong. I like the idea that we're going to open with someone who manages an online community for mutants. I like the idea of Trailblazer I like the ladies thick and I like the fact that she has a more utility power that she's going to have to work with and around hopefully being clever though that backpack does run the risk of becoming the Omnitrix and having the solution for every problem that you need.

Basically I like the children of the atom a bit more than the whole lineup of the new Warriors. I think people really should give the characters a chance so if you're turned off by yet another set of incest siblings in Marvel ya no problem or argument here.

[jaketheaudiophile]

Best Albums of 2017.

Hey friends. Well, time for the big enchilada, as the kids say. Let’s discuss my favorite albums of 2017.

In all honesty, 2017 wasn’t my favorite year for music. I actually really disliked or was ambivalent to a lot of albums, particularly those by some of my favorite bands. Also, to be blunt, 2017 wasn’t the greatest year for me personally as well. I got laid off and spent 2 months being unemployed, went on maybe like 4 dates all year, and in general feel like I sort of stagnated creatively. However, the cream rises to the top and I’ll always be an optimist because I don’t know any other way to be, so I’m still grateful for the releases that truly stood out and made me super appreciate them and how they helped carry me through this year.

I normally do a top 15 with an honorable mention, but in making up my list, I found that the albums that I had selected 16-12 sort of ran together, and I had a hard time ranking them or distinguishing why I felt like including them in this list. So, instead, I decided to stick to a top 10 this year. So, with apologies to Scale The Summit, Entheos, Counterparts, August Burns Red and Balmorhea, let’s get on a goin’...

Top Ten Albums of 2017.

Honorable Mention

Sleep Maps: “No More Good Dreams”

released on March 7 via Lost Future

Throwing a bone to the indie musicians here; heard about this release from the good people over at Feedbands: This is a deep, dark and moody instrumental rock album with some fun / creepy old sci-fi movie sound bites scattered throughout. The result is a fun ride down a twisted path to madness that may lack originality but has enough twists and turns to keep me coming back. Pretty damn impressive to be pulled off by essentially one dude as well. Kudos, Ben Kaplan.

10.

Iglooghost: “Neo Wax Bloom”

released on September 29 via Brainfeeder

I’ve never been a huge fan of electronic music. I don’t have a vendetta against the genre or the people who do like it; it’s just never really grabbed my attention. I’ve found it generally too repetitive or robotic, but this miasma of noise may have just finally changed my mind. The sheer amount of time needed to compose and arrange these songs is staggering, so a huge amount of credit needs to go to Irish mastermind Seamus Malliagh. It’s a little overwhelming but super impressive. Kudos also to Anthony Fantano, aka The Needle Drop for getting me completely hooked on this album (and several other albums / bands over the years).

9.

Chon: “Homey”

released on June 19 via Sumerian

Rather than rest on their laurels and create another album full of guitar trickery, these Cali bros invited in producers and guest musicians to craft a surprisingly varied record with techno or beat-based tracks scattered throughout. Some songs are better than others (“Berry Streets” just sort of exists and floats around) but “Nayhoo” and “Feel This Way” a breaths of fresh air. And then when Chon defaults to their musical wizardry, the tracks feel fresh and inspired, particularly the fun, bouncy “Waterslide”. Props to Chon for not settling and expanding their sound into something completely new.

8.

Minus The Bear: “Voids”

released on March 3 via Suicide Squeeze

After five years of silence and the departure of founding drummer Erin Tate, math rock titans Minus The Bear are back and as good as ever. Picking up largely where 2012’s Infinity Overhead left off, this album is more of the same old, sweet same old for these dudes. There’s a few nice throwback moments to their older guitar-driven sound (such as the sweet tapping riffs on “Invisible”) but otherwise it’s another round of layered electronic backings and memorable pop songs. The only slightly odd choice is when keyboardist Alex Rose takes over lead vocals on a few songs (such as “Call The Cops”). His voice isn’t super distinctive from frontman Jake Snider, and if you didn’t know that Rose was singing (which I didn’t know until I saw the band play live), you’d think the producer added a super weird filter on Snider’s vocals. It’s not entirely a bad decision, but just struck me as odd, but definitely didn’t take anything away from this release.

7.

Knuckle Puck: “Shapeshifter”

released on October 13 via Rise

I quite admire these Chicagoland pop-punkers but felt their debut full-length album Copacetic was a smidge uninspired. Thankfully they step up to the plate and crushed it out of the park with Shapeshifter. Their songwriting and hooks have always been the stuff of legends, but what truly floored me about this record is its production. I hadn’t heard of Seth Henderson prior to buying this record, but I’m gonna do a deep dive into his back catalogue because man, this record sounds pristine and fucking HUGE. It’s a bit bombastic, but it complements the inherent melodrama and drive of these tracks so well. A few of the later songs of the album are a smidge lackluster, but that doesn’t change the fact that “Gone” is my favorite song of the year and Knuckle Puck remain my torchbearer for the genre.

6.

Prawn: “Run”

released on September 22 via Topshelf

There are times I feel like a bad music fan. One of the prime examples from 2017 is my completely missing the release of this album and having an “Oh shit!” moment about two weeks later and immediately buying it. I’m a bit sad / angry with myself that I missed the hype for the album’s release, because this is the best record these New Jersey emo / indie rockers have created. I’ve felt that previous releases by the band have been meandering or lacking focus, but that’s definitely not the case here as this is a fun, streamlined album full of great riffs and refrains. The only odd moment to me is that the album feels like it ends after the ninth track “Leopard’s Paw” and then sort of just continues for the last two songs. I had to look up the tracklist online to see if the final two songs were bonus tracks. Granted, it’s not that these songs are bad; it just seemed like the ending of “Leopard’s Paw” was a natural conclusion. Regardless, I really like this band and this record and have been listening to it nonstop to try to make up for the fact that I initially ignored it’s birth.

5.

Enter Shikari: “The Spark”

released on September 22 via Ambush Reality

This was perhaps the least surprising entry on this list (well, maybe other than my album of the year) as I’ve adored these Brits from day one and generally trumpet everything they do with aplomb. And while this isn’t my favorite album of theirs, I’m genuinely impressed with how optimistic it is considering their usual source material. For a band who generally pull inspiration out of anger towards political and environmental decision-makers, it’s surprising how hopeful and uplifting this record is considering our current political climate. It’s proof to me that the reason I first came into music is for a release from reality, and I’m grateful to Enter Shikari for creating another vessel to bring joy and distraction.

4.

John Frum: “A Stirring in the Noos”

released on May 12 via Relapse

From the complete opposite end of the optimistic spectrum comes this brutal, relentlessly heavy and nauseating black metal record. Apparently taking around 6 years to create and made up of members of the Dillinger Escape Plan and The Faceless, among others, this album is pure terror and bleakness compressed into a dizzying array of heaviness, noise and thrash. It’s not content to just bludgeon you over the head and drag your body to a desolate place, however; tracks like “Memory Palace” and the dreadful instrumental “He Come” are content to slow things down and make your skin crawl without screaming in your face or blastbeat drumming you to death. And speaking of drums, we need to give some kind of award to Eli Litwin for his work on this record. The variety, skill and speed to his rhythm and fills are jaw dropping. This record is not for the faint of heart but is easily the best metal record I’ve heard this year and put lots of hair on my chest.

3.

Alpha Male Tea Party: “Health”

released on June 23 via Big Scary Monsters

I had not heard of this band prior to 2017 but read their name somewhere online and immediately thought, “Yep. I’m gonna love this band immediately”. That was reinforced by hearing their 2014 album, Droids and falling in love with their riff-heavy, layered instrumental rock and then amped up by learning of their impending 2017 followup Health. And man, did these Liverpool dudes delivery. This album keeps you on your toes from start to finish and never lets up with its grooves and happy-go-lucky arrangements. It’s not too flashy or over-the-top, though, and that’s what keeps me coming back. What puts it over the top is the last track, “No More”, which ends in a lovely out-of-nowhere crescendo with the only vocal track on the album. I probably listened to tracks 3-5 on repeat more than most other albums this year, and had it not been for another instrumental rock group from the UK, this may have been my album of the year. But we’ll get to that in a few minutes…

2.

Antoine Dufour: “Back and Forth”

released on March 31 via CandyRat Records

So, this may be the musician that most people reading this are least familiar with, but hear me out: Antoine Dufour is a Canadian fingerstyle acoustic guitarist and a particularly brilliant one at that. This is a genre of music that primarily attracts fellow guitarists and other musicians, so I get that it’s not for everyone. However, Dufour has become one of my favorite guitarists in general for his skills and arrangements, particularly in the myriad of amazing cover songs he’s released over the years. This album was actually an Indiegogo project I was happy to back myself, particularly because I was immediately hooked and smitten by the premise. This release is actually a double album; the first being standard acoustic guitar wizardry, and the second made up of electronic versions of each song by Dufour. The result is staggering, and it’s truly a testament to Dufour’s songwriting ability that both versions of each song works remarkably well. It’s almost impossible to listen to one version of a song without wanting to hear the other, or to listen to just one of the two albums by itself. Due to the immense set of skills on display across multiple genres, this is certainly a record that needs to be celebrated and hopefully gives Dufour the recognition he deserves.

1.

And So I Watch You From Afar: “The Endless Shimmering”

released on October 20 via Sargent House

When it all came down to the end, there is no other record I wanted to crank on high volume on repeat this year. I’ve always set the bar extremely high for these Irish wizards of instrumental rock, and by God did they hurdle that bar with ease while doing several flips and sticking the landing. This album is sublime from start to finish and has so many memorable moments and songs that I can’t wait to tattoo it permanently into my brain and memorize it for the next time they tour America and I can jump around like a fool in joy to these tunes. In a year of somewhat disappointing releases from a lot of my favorite bands, kudos to ASIWYFA for working their butts off to make an impeccable album.

[smolbeandrabbles]

The First Time - Orson Krennic x Reader (Rogue One)

GIF CREDIT: @esmesqualor

Author’s Note: First off. There has never been a more appropriate time to gift you Krennic.

@my-world-of-imagines If I’ve told you once, I’ve probably told you 100 times. But seen as it’s your fic that was responsible for me even having a crush on Krennic, it is only appropriate that I bring him out here for your writing challenge. And I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing This is part of @my-world-of-imagines 3K Follower Angst Challange! - Congrats on 3K! ❤ You deserve it! ❤ Phrase: Number 45,  “Wasn’t I worth a goodbye?”

Premise: When your planet aligns with the Empire and you join their ranks, you come face to face with a man you thought you’d never see again. And he owes you an apology... Disclaimer: Krennic, much as I wish he was, is not mine nor was he my idea.  ’Reader’ and her planet are mine. I made that up myself! Words: 2061

Warnings: Romantic Angst, because as always that’s the genre!

Even when you don't have me You can still be the one to hurt me It must feel good to know That I'm still holdin' on to letting go

That's why the past should be the past Far behind, back of mind, out of the way Let the memories burn and crash 'Cause sittin' here... Is just tearin' my heart back in half Like nothing's changed except the time that's passed...

You’d met him on Pravaxiya. A paradise beach planet you just so happened to have the luxury of living on. You knew at the time you were one of many. You’d heard Orson Krennic was partial to parties and kept a long string of lovers. But he never made you feel like you were one. It had been great while it lasted. One endless hot summer... He insisted on letting you in on all his secrets; even those it sounded like he wasn’t supposed to share. He was working on an architectural project here. You liked watching him draw. Every morning he would sit overlooking the crystal clear deep blue water and diamond white sand beaches drawing buildings.... It didn’t seem too good to last. Far from it, sometimes he told you that when he had to leave, he would take you with him. And you must have believed him. Because one day he was just gone. Up in the middle of the night and vanished. And it broke your heart, whether you’d known better or not. Now you faced endless nights in your bed alone. And although it was always summer here, you’d never known it to be colder. What hurt the most for you though was that you’d never had that one last conversation. He’d never told you he was leaving, and he’d never said goodbye. He left the buildings he’d created, though, as some twisted constant reminder. 

 **

 Eventually your planet had been swallowed up by this war too... and you’d joined the ranks of the Empire. And even though you’d always known Krennic would be somewhere you never thought you’d actually see him.  It wasn't that you forgot Krennic. You couldn't. That was impossible. It was that you just didn't ever expect to hear his name; being intelligence you expected him on far away covert missions. And who, in all honesty and in the midst of war, really cared so much about architecture? So, the first time you heard his name your heart skipped. And then you started noticing it. Because apparently, he was now fronting the Advanced Weapons Research division? And he was a Director. Director. That word resounded in your head. That meant he was big news. And there was no way you were ever going to see him again... Clearly, given his new found status you weren't ever worthy of a goodbye. He was way above all that now...  Until you were put on the same ship as him. And the only reason you even knew that was because people spread his name around like an excited whisper. And if they'd been so fortunate as to meet him, they displayed it like a badge of honour. That made your ego swell a little - met him!? You'd loved on that guy. These imperials had no idea. You had information on Orson Krennic that was likely to ruin his reputation... But then, you knew he already HAD that kind of reputation... You weren't even trying to avoid him, you just never saw him around... But you found that was disappointing to you. You couldn't understand why you wanted to see him. That idea was crazy to you. After what he'd done!!? And it wasn’t like you wanted to see him to slap him, or yell at him, or... You actually wanted to see him. To remember what it felt like to hold him close to you again. Y/N GET A GRIP!!!

It didn’t help that you had taken pieces of him with you. Covering the wall of the room you shared with fellow officers were several architectural drawings he had gifted you. You spent every off duty waking hour now staring at them and sinking further into this love-sick depressive state. Your roommate had quizzed you on them more than once. But although you yearned to be back in the place and time he drew them, you never wanted to talk about them; “They are really good! did you draw them?” “No...” “Oh. Who?” “He’s long gone now...”   ** Orson Krennic. Now director. May have moved on. But he’d never forgotten you. And he’d regretted leaving the way he did for the past few years. He always meant to go back, it was a promise he’d made himself, but never been able to keep because of this damned war... He’d been forced off that planet by the Empire. He liked what he was doing there - as well as his architectural work - the planet was known for its rich mining facilities. And he was exploiting that for all it was worth. The stones weren’t exactly Kyber, but until he managed to trace Galen again, he would work with what he had.

He hadn’t had the time to say goodbye though. They had called him to a meeting late in the evening and he’d thought that they’d finally made some kind of scientific breakthrough. No. They were just going to leave and it had to be now, no questions asked. Of course, he was furious and had many, many questions but... He had to act like that was fine. Because if anyone discovered you it wasn’t likely to be his career but your life on the line. He didn’t like that idea. He knew that no matter what he told intelligence they would never believe that he had told you nothing of the super weapon he was helping to construct. He’d hidden it mostly because he was scared of your reaction. But also, because he secretly felt a little in over his head with it. Dammit! He needed Galen Erso! He hated goodbyes; he didn’t often say them unless he wanted them to be so final. Which is why he hadn’t even asked if he could go back to you to say it. But he should have gone back to you to say something... 

He let out a frustrated sigh as he stared at the many stars the ship was idly passing by. Trouble was, everything about being with you on Pravaxiya was so perfect, and everything that had happened to him since then had been from bad to worse. It wasn’t working for him; he was trying to build something for himself too, and as long as the project was stalling that wasn’t happening either. Oh, and Tarkin was sure as hell making sure he knew that! He turned back to his desk. Usually bare aside from his tablet and the single architectural model he’d built as part of his final project during the Futures Program. Today it was also strewn with a few pieces of note paper. Whenever he thought of you, Krennic would start drawing. Because it was something you’d love to see him do. He sat and stared at each of his designs in turn, taking as long as possible over every single one. But they only made his heart ache... Each time he did this he knew... He’d created them for you. He wanted to build them for you... He wanted to take your hand and lead you through whatever city they would be placed in and stand you in front of them and beam and tell you they were all yours... How likely was that to happen now? He already knew, for what he had done, you probably never wanted to see him again… You probably hated him. He'd left to protect you and he couldn’t even tell you that. It wasn’t even about him and what he wanted to achieve. It was about you. It had always been about you.   **   The social gathering was small. You weren't even particularly that interested in going, but your shift mates and your roomie had dragged you along anyway. And you certainly hadn't expected high ranking officials to be there. In fact, you hadn't noticed any until it happened. Those eyes of his were unmistakable as he caught yours and you both froze. He looked just as flawless as you remember, from his neat greying hair, to the cut of his uniform and the long flowing white cape. Easily your favourite part. Neither of you had expected to see the other here, and for different reasons. Hell, he probably didn't even know you were now working for the Empire. And despite everything, despite the fact you knew you wanted his love over anything, despite the fact he held rank over you... You found yourself getting mad. Excusing yourself from your friends you stalked across the room. You weren't thinking, and you were going to get in trouble, but at this point you honestly didn't care if they kicked you out. He had to know. He saw you coming, because he couldn't take his eyes off you. Making him excuse himself from the conversation, and just when you thought he might head your way... He headed in the opposite direction. Oh no, he was NOT getting away from you that easy. He swept through the exit and you let out an angry sigh. No way in hell did Orson Krennic get to do this to you again. Director or not. "Don't you dare walk away from me!" You didn't know where you got the courage to yell it at him across the empty corridor. You also were surprised that he actually stopped. He turned, and at least he had the decency to look guilty "You don't get to do that to me! Not again!"  "Y/N... Let me explain..."  "Save it!" It grated with you how remarkably calm he was, you almost wanted a screaming match, you didn’t want him to look at you like it was all his fault even though it was. It upset you. “Wasn’t I worth a goodbye?” You’d hurt him, his face was too emotional for this job, but you’d really hurt him. “Yes...” He sighed and looked to the floor “Of course you were...” His eyes flicked back to yours “But I didn’t want to say something so final to someone I didn’t want to leave...”  “Then why did you?” “Because I had to.” You shook your head “That’s NOT an excuse!” “The Intelligence Bureau would have torn you apart. They would have taken you away from me. Do you understand that!? Saying Goodbye would have torn me apart... It would tear YOU apart.” He let the silence between you linger because you knew he was right “...I couldn’t do that to you. Not that...” He hesitated for just a second, and you thought you glimpsed a smile “...It implies I would never see you again. Which, by all means is clearly not true.” “So you’d have come back!?” There was too much hope in your voice. There was not enough in his. And it was killing him. He opened his mouth and hesitated again.  "I'm sorry. Y/N. I know why you followed me out here... I Know. But I cannot... I cannot give you what you want from me.” Your smile at the thought he might confess something suddenly turned to heartbreak "What. " You didn’t understand "Forgive me. But I cannot be the man you want me to be..." He backed away a few paces "And this should stay as the glorious summer affair that I will always remember it as.” By now you were in tears "Krennic... Why...!?" "I will not put you in that kind of danger. In that position..." He turned and his cape danced with the movement. How could he walk away from you again when he looked like this? He sighed, still turned away from you as he delivered his next blow, your sobs echoing off the corridor walls "It is unfair on you to keep you here. And it would not serve well for both of us to be in the same ship... I will see you transferred tomorrow." He paused "I did love you. Y/N... But I cannot allow myself to fall for you again now... I am sorry." And he walked. He didn't even glance back. He just walked away from you. Your tears blurred the bright white of his uniform and the black decor into one. You couldn't believe this is how he would leave it. After all this time he would leave you like this. Broken in the middle of a corridor of his own design? And once again, Orson Krennic had left you without a goodbye. 

...And that’s why Goodbye should mean Goodbye, The First Time...

-----  

So... I just went full on ANGST at you. And honestly, he was gonna end up with you/her. He WAS. Until I made a snap judgement to take the ‘angst’ bit and just... Run a little too far. I’m sorry guys... I’m so sorry!!!

Just bookeded the lyrics so the title makes more sense! There! You’re welcome!