#it gave me many a main space trio interactions to enjoy so JUST FOR THAT. i count it as a blessing OK

[kyurochurro]

"gentlemen i believe... we are lost."

(entering the new year with a stv drawing since im still on a st movie kick from the marathon my dad and i had HEHE >:D)

[creativeashproductions]

Elysium // Luke Patterson

Summary: The boys of Julie and the Phantoms need a hail Mary to dethrone Downslide from opening for Panic! At the Disco. While Willie is done to help his blue eyed crush and his friends there’s one issue: Willie can’t drive the bus. Moving a bench is one thing but driving an entire tour bus?  There’s only one person who can and Willie’s not sure where she is after year of no communication

Warnings: Swearing, angst, talk of death (it’s a ghost show, why is this a warning??), mention of assault, violence, and fluff.

Words: 11.5k

A/N: This is why I haven’t posted much in the last week. I’ve been writing this massive fic that I refused to turn into a series. My god, 11k words. I don’t think I’ll be doing this again. Enjoy and comment if you figured out who Rudy is!

Masterlist

There wasn’t much in the afterlife that you enjoyed after time spent in the limbo between the living and dead. Listening to songs before they were released lost its appeal just as much as dancing on stage with the ballet companies around the world, of being an unseen extra in shows and films being filmed.

Then you found a purpose a couple, well it could be more than a couple, years ago when you found a lost soul. William Young, Willie to his friends, had been sitting on the curb staring at the pavement entirely still as he had for two days.

The time from the last breath you took to walking the streets of Los Angeles was a blur in all honesty. The years bled together as you stayed stationary in a world that kept on spinning and changing, growing up. You had watched your friends hit new milestones you could only daydream about. Friends that graduated college and built new lives on the ashes of memories that included you.

Today’s walk was an attempt to escape your friends’ greying versions standing in front of a once vibrant sculpture. It happened every single year, but this one hurt the most. Listening to your friends recall stories of all the adventures you did together.

From being drunken idiots jumping off cliffs into that one lake the summer of freshman year. Or making a bonfire on the school’s roof with all the entryways blocked, rather stupid with the exits being blocked as well. Sneaking into concerts and stealing that one car that came close to sending you to boarding school.

The rebellion that still lived in you had mellowed in the five individuals with the adult responsibilities of family and work. Martha had removed all piercings but her lobes while Chase quit dying his hair colour. Jordan now had three children and a bought house.

Seeing the group no longer young had made your feet swiftly move from the memorial for a walk. The only thing that stopped you in your tracks was tripping over something in front of you.

“Ouch.” You hissed rolling onto your back with a moan of pain that faded with the sniffles.

Curled into his knees, sitting on the curb was a teenage boy about your age. Long hair curtaining his profile you found your eyes grasping the cracked helmet that spoke for itself abandoned by his side.

“Your kinda a hazard there.” You simply spoke sitting down next to the distraught teenager, “Heads up, I suck at comforting people.”

At his silence, you spoke once more, “I’m digging the tie-dye. Did you do it yourself?”

“This is some kind of stupid coma dream right?” The boy’s voice was husky from crying and disuse, “I’m probably in some kind of hospital with a tube down my throat.”

“I’d say yes, but it would be a blatant lie.” You spoke twirling a loose thread on your jeans while the stranger gazed at a spot on the street.

His dark brown eyes bloodshot as he remembered the car honking mere seconds before he heard the sound of a thud. He recalled struggling to breathe with his broken ribs and his screams being illustrated with bloodstains.

He remembered thinking how he had just bought that board a week ago with his allowance.

“Am I really dead?”

“Yes. We’re are a couple ghosts in a lively city.” You informed him with one handheld in the space between your ethereal forms. The teen hesitantly placed his hand in yours with a firm shake.

“William but call me Willie.” He softly told you, catching sight of the patch on your jean jacket—one of many from both when your grandma owned it and then when you did.

“I’m Y/N. Let’s blow this disappointment. I’m gonna teach you everything you need to know.” Brushing off the invisible dust on your jeans, you held your hand out to him, “We’re about to make the afterlife our bitch.”

A stark contrast to his former hesitance he immediately grasped your hand to tug himself off the curb. The forlorn skater didn’t question the board in your hand or how he could possibly even touch his own board. He didn’t wonder how it wasn’t in pieces like it had been when he first got hit.

That rebellion that ended your life flared again in the presence of your best friend with crashing Justin Bieber’s house. Of rearranging items in classrooms to freak teachers out and sitting in the cars turning the radio on and off. Haunting the living until the friendship fractured under the influence of a powerful ghost.

Caleb Covington had bewitched the skater with promises and extravagant gifts until Willie had taken the offer.

“He’s not like you said he was! I think you should give him a chance!” Willie cried following you around the place you had taken to be home.

“Willie he’s a bad guy! He butters you up until you give him what you want! That’s when you see his true colours. All he wants is your soul to power his magic and spread his reach!”

“I got to talk to my sister!”

“Your sister is five years old! It’s not Covington that gave you the opportunity. She won’t remember the experience as anything other than an invisible friend!”

“There are so many people at the Club that we can talk to. Aren’t you tired of the same routine and people we see?”

Willie’s pleading brought your full attention to the skater avoiding your gaze, “William Young…you took his offer.”

Willie tore his gaze from the art on the wall to find yours blatantly glaring at him with a bucket of random colour in your hand.

“The Club is going to France to tour around the country for a while. I’m dead, so I might as well make the best of it. Besides who gets to skate through the Louvre!” Willie beamed, watching as a small smile, found its way on your face at his excitement, “I’m sure Caleb would let you come to the Club tonight!”

“Willie, you are my best friend, but I’ve already seen the Club. It’s not my style, and I want nothing to do with it.”

That interaction was one of the very few speckled through the years when Caleb discovered who you were. No matter his offers, you never took the deal and when he saw how close you and Willie where he kept the skater busy. The Club didn’t appear in Los Angeles for a long time until Willie’s distance seemed too great to bridge.

“So, you need a way for the slot to be empty?” Willie asked the trio of ghosts all spread around the area.

Unfortunately for Luke, the only person they could get help from was from the very guy that placed them in a predicament. While Alex was the one spearheading the conversation with the long-haired skater Luke was glowering in his direction.

“The Orpheum was the thing we never got to do. We spent hours practising and performing with one goal-“

“Play the Orpheum and get distance from our parents. Well, at the time that streetdog and becoming legendary was my main focus.” Reggie recounted the feeling of suffocating in a house filled with fighting. A home he wished still stood, now dead all he wanted was to see his parents.

“We almost did it too.” Luke pouted relaxing his glare at the skater who openly sent apologetic gazes at Alex’s bandmates.

“So, we need to get rid of the opening band.” Willie nodded to himself, thinking about ways before he caught sight of the abject horror on the band. The skater’s eyebrows raised, “I know I deeply fractured the trust, but I’m not suggesting murder.”

“Okay. Good.” Reggie whistled relaxing his tense posture while Luke grumbled under his breath an insult that in turn got Alex’s arm into the guitarist’s ribs.

“Your best bet would be getting the bus out of LA. The band will probably celebrate the upcoming gig.”

“Could you make the bus disappear?” Alex hesitantly questioned shifting in his now vintage sneakers. The blonde-haired drummer flushed slightly under the endearing smile from the skater. The feelings create a confliction within Alex under Willie’s issue, leading them straight into a madman’s hands.

“I can move a bench, turn sirens on, but a bus is outside my paygrade.” Willie openly admitted showing his hands deep in his pockets, “The only person other than Caleb that has enough power-“

“-is he just as evil?” Luke demanded crossing his arms to glare at the male that had unfortunately caught the interest of Alex.

However, Luke couldn’t blame Alex for falling for this guy because well, Luke saw the teenage ghost’s appeal. Willie was attractive, but he wasn’t the type of person Luke would fall for. Plus he had initially made Alex incredibly happy, and Luke would never blame Alex for that.

“She is as different from Caleb as one can be. She uh…she taught me everything about being a ghost. Actually, found me where I died.” Willie cleared his throat as the guilt and sadness reared its head from deep within him. The guilt of leaving his little sister to grow up without him and the sorrow of not growing up with the girl.

It wasn’t often Willie allowed himself to remember the little girl, barely five when he died, who was always dancing. His little sister adored the colour purple and anything shiny and more than once Willie had let her dress him up. Willie’s greatest regret is that he’d never have that interaction with her. God, she’d be around his age now and in high school.

“Okay, so where is she?” Reggie clapped his hands, bringing the skater out of his thoughts and back into the present.

Luke saw the hesitation in Willie, “There’s a catch, isn’t there?”

“Kinda?” Willie trailed off bouncing on the balls of his feet, “I haven’t seen her in years now. Last time I saw her we fought about the whole joining Caleb thing? I’m not even sure if she’s still in LA.”

“Of fucking course,” Luke grunted shoving both hands in his hair taking a few steps away from the other ghosts.

First, he dies, then he gets caught up in some bullshit revenge plot, then makes a deal with the devil without realizing it, and now their one chance is going up in flames. Luke Patterson was livid with the universe and the shitty hand he had been dealt, but at least he had his friends with him.

“It can’t hurt to look for her?” Reggie innocently offered with a shake of his shoulders, “It’s not like we have any other option.”

“Did we ever even have options?” Luke hissed, causing Willie and Alex each to flinch with the different guilt they carried.

Alex was guilty of going to Willie for help when getting back at Bobby was the biggest thing. Willie was guilty of ignoring his instincts on keeping Alex as far from Caleb as he could be he just wanted to impress the drummer. It’s not like Willie had many options for dating, and well, Alex was the first to get his entire focus.

“Dude. Stop. No one saw it coming.” Reggie bumped his hip against the annoyed guitarist, “Let’s find this ghost and get our shot at playing.”

The quartet of dead guys didn’t have high hopes of finding the girl in question, but it seemed the universe took pity on Luke Patterson. Just two hours into their search on the edges of the city limits an individual was walking.

The person’s stature leaned against a smashed concrete wall of the skeleton of where a building once was. The only thing the group could make out was a faded jean jacket with splotches of colour. Her ankles crossed as her back leaned against the cement, oozed laid back confidence. Coming closer, Luke noticed the sunglasses perched on top of her head and the lips painted dark.

“What do you need Willie? I heard you were looking for me.” The husky voice drew Luke in the most. The lead guitarist of Julie and the Phantoms enamoured with the girl.

“How’d-“Willie’s question was cut off as you simply tapped your right index finger against your temple.

“How do you think you managed to get here?” You inquired pushing off the cement to stride over to the group. To Willie’s surprise, he was tugged into your embrace before swiftly pushed away, “Come on. We should head in before someone catches us.”

In the dark as much as the other three ghosts, Willie dutifully followed you past the pieces of cement littered around the area. Gasps of surprise sounded as the once empty space became filled with buildings. It was not as extravagant as the hotel the Club worked out of, but it was hidden from the living and dead eyes.

“Where did this come from?” Reggie gasped astounded by the people once hidden from his view, moving around the area. 

“This is Elysium. Don’t judge the name I lost the right in a poker game with Susie and Rudy. I’m Y/N.” You informed the group leading them to the gate where two people stood stoically guarding it, “Rudy was hellbent on calling it Valhalla.”

“This is Luke, Reggie and Alex.” Willie gestured to the awed trio of musicians only lingering on the blonde. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see the attraction between the skater and the blonde; finding a date in the afterlife was a lot harder than the living.

Nodding a greeting to the two ghosts, you lead the group to a building painted a pretty turquoise blue colour. The sign above the double doors a stark white with calligraphy writing simply stating Elysium Management. It was a building set up like an administrative office of three stories, and you led the group right up to the top floor.

“Just a heads up…Rudy is a little suspicious of people.” You admitted standing outside a door with a nameplate the only descriptor, “He’ll come off a little gruff and rude, but when you get passed that he doesn’t shut up.”

“I can hear you through the door dumbass.” The words were called out from the office door opening.

The man standing in the entry wore a crisp white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His honey-brown eyes lit up with a teasing look before it shuttered at the sight of four strangers behind you. Rudy had valid reasons to not fully trust people after the shitshow in his hometown when he was alive.

“And you’ve brought strangers.” Rudy deadpanned with a sigh concluding his sentence as he stepped back into the office. It appeared like the world repositioned itself on the young man’s shoulders once more.

“I should be done within the hour. We can go over everything.” You informed your business partner and friend. Receiving only a nod from Rudy, you closed the door to his office, cutting off the view from your guests.

“He’s..uh.”

“Standoffish? Rudy keeps his past to himself, all he’s ever revealed is that he’s from a town a few hours away.” You spoke, opening the door to your own office decorated differently from Rudy’s more sterile black and white aesthetic.

Your office had splashes of colour with vintage posters of both music and film framed on the walls—a plush couch in the corner with a basket of blankets next to it. Instead of sitting behind the dark desk, you chose the couch instead. As you settled in the corner, you flicked one finger bringing an extra seat over.

The motion shocking the three boys accompanying Willie who had seen the abilities himself.

“Okay so why did you want to search for me?” You questioned the skater leaning back in the seat.

“When did this all happen?” Willie countered gesturing to the office in a building settled in the middle of a ghost town. A literal ghost town.

“There’s an empty lot in LA that used to house an abandoned apartment building that Rudy and I both called home. Of course, it was torn down, and we kinda knew that there’s wasn’t a place that didn’t have the threat of being annihilated at some point.” The memories of those unknown days trickled into your mind among the more positive ones, “We wanted a home. A place to call our own.”

“A week or so later a skittish pixie of a brunette crashed into us full speed. Susie had a certain ability that Caleb desired to have under his thumb. There are so many ghosts he had manipulated into selling him their soul. Rudy and I both wanted to stop Caleb from having that chance for everyone.” You continued, “Can I show you?”

The moon shone through the light clouds as a duo wandered LA’s streets in different mental states. The only home you had known had been unceremoniously ripped down with no future plans in place. Your entire life had been in that apartment in a building you had once thought only you inhabited. You had been unaware that on a separate floor, Rudy had been dwelling.

The two teens in starkly different clothing grew close with each other through the whole being the dead thing they shared. The mission was to find another place too, use but the feeling of home being ripped away tore at their hearts. The apartment was a place Caleb Covington hadn’t been aware of.

Your thoughts threatened to turn darker as a force knocked you onto your bac—aA short brunette groaning in pain to the left of you. The girl was Gwen, who would become very important to both Rudy and you.

I’ve always been a little different than most people. I can move things short distances, but I developed a specific talent. I can get inside people’s minds to plant, remove or alter memories or simply talk and read their thoughts.

The sound of your voice in their heads freaked them out more than they would like to admit. The intrusive tickle of something in their brains unsettling as you made a more present entry so they could feel it.

“What?”

“This is why I can’t be anywhere near Caleb. The whole reason he gives people stamps and takes their souls is because of me.” You fully admitted clasping your fingers in your lap, “He couldn’t cope with the fear of another ghost leaving so added a stipulation to joining his Club.”

“How did you come to create Elysium?” Alex inquired leaning forward in his seat to rest his elbows on his knees. Luke and Reggie followed his posture as the anticipation built.

“Everyone deserves a safe place. A place as far away from Caleb as possible and we do so for free. No fee is required, and ghosts are free to come and go as they please. They are welcome as long as their unfinished business keeps them in this plane.”

It sounded like a sweet deal to the group of teens, but they had other commitments, “You can tell us more, but we need your help.”

The pleading in the messy-haired brunette tore at your heartstrings like the one time Willie brought you to his house. It had been shortly before your friendship fractured, a few years ago. He had brought you to a suburb for low-income families and straight to the backyard where a twelve-year-old year danced.

The dead skater boy and the rebel sat in the patio chair on the tiny porch nestled in the postmark sized backyard. A quintet of pre-pubescent girls danced on the lawn to some bubblegum pop song. The Young girl was submissive to a more confident girl even when the venue was the Young girl’s home.

“The girl to the left is my little sister Kayla. She’s twelve now, it’s been seven years since I died.” Willie’s brown eyes saddened at the dancer who had a spark of maturity in her eyes, “I check in every once in a while. These are Kayla’s friends. The bossy girl is Carrie, and while the band is a group, she is the unofficial leader of the band Carrie’s Constellations.”

 “She looks happy.”

“Kayla’s always been bubbly in personality, but she had questionable friends.” Willie outright admitted keeping his eyes pinned to the girl that had grown up in a blink of an eye. Her dark hair concealed by the gaudy purple wig; the colour assigned to the teenager.

“It’s nice that she still enjoys dance.” Willie finished reaching out to grab your hand in his and just like that Willie transitioned back into carefree, “I found this really cool skatepark I think you’d like.”

“We don’t have a lot of time.” Alex winced as the three musicians flinched as a sudden purple spark of colour lit up their midsections.

Like a tentacle, your mind reached into the quiet raven-haired boy with the leather jacket. Beyond the imagery of docile golden retrievers and steaming plates of food, you found the regret and fear in the boy. Stepping into a recent memory, you watched their experience at the Hollywood Ghost Club.

“You’ve met Caleb.” You sighed roughly pushing your index finger between your brows feeling the familiar ache.

“It was a stupid decision,” Luke spoke up, tearing his focus from the mysterious girl that ultimately had the power in her hands. The entire plan was weighing on the decision you would give, “Either we join his house band, or we don’t exist.”

“Hm.” You spoke as the kaleidoscope of colours in Luke’s eyes glittered under the sterile lights of the room. It was difficult to look away from the enthralling teenage ghost, but the emotion wafting off Willie was concerning.

“They died before they could perform at the Orpheum. We’re banking that getting the opening slot with giving them the push into crossing over.” The long-haired skater leaned closer, “I know we haven’t talked in a while, but I can’t do much.”

“So, you want to pull ’09 incident again?” You completely ignored the trio on the couch staring directly at the sheepish skater with raised eyebrows, “Only this time without the train?”

“Train?” Alex whispered, looking between the two long-time friends with interest and then next thing he knew Alex was in the backseat of a van crushed between Reggie and Luke equally confused.

Chicago, Illinois 2009

William Young and Y/N Y/L/N were complete hellions in the ghost world, creating havoc that fascinated the living population. The recent event being the highjacking of a van filled with drunk teenage boys. These boys had been the sole reason a young girl was recovering in a hospital with life-threatening injuries. The scene changed to a hospital room with Willie and Y/N watching a girl with massive bruising laid.

It had hit both Willie and Y/N hard catching the tail end of the new report, Willie thinking of how that could have been his sister. Even if Kayla was only five years old, having a sister set things more in perspective. For you it was a flashback to when you were alive and thus led you to the ICU room for the girl.

Slipping into her unconscious mind was easy but while the injured teen appeared peaceful to the hospital staff, she was anything but. The poor girl’s mind replayed the traumatic incident over and over like a movie; keeping in the shadows, you gently repainted the portrait with lighter and brighter images. 

For Willie, he watched as you wavered on your ghostly feet and smoothed out the features of the girl. The heart monitor subtly changing as the injured girl relaxed, and suddenly your interference heightened her chances of survival.

“I got it.” You spoke to Willie with a heated glare on your features and when the ghostly musician trio blinked they were back in the van.

Your hands gripped the van’s steering wheel with Willie turned in the passenger seat to watch a group of living boys scream. To the living eyes in the van, no one was in the front seats but whispered words spoke into their minds.

You’re going to go straight to the police and tell them what you did. You’ll hand over the photographic evidence and demand the worst punishment. You’ll leave the girl alone, or we’ll come back to finish our job. You will pay for the hospital bills if the family agrees. 

The boys trembled with the putrid scent of urine permeating the enclosed vehicle. The distant sound of a train echoed in the distance as the van stopped on the tracks. No matter how much the living boys moved the doors refused to open, and the windows remained unbreakable.

“WE promise!” The ringleader cried, slamming his shoulder against the door with the train’s bright lights illuminating the van.

“Let us go!” The other screamed, slamming his bruising hands on the window.

Alex was flinching at each slam of fists on the glass, leaving smears of blood. Knuckles broke from the window. At the very last second, your foot slammed the gas pedal taking the van millimetres from the train screeching on the tracks.

You and Willie stared at the stationary train lit up from the van’s headlights with the rhythmic flashes of the red and blue police lights. The van’s seat arrangement was different with the ringleader in the driver’s seat. 

The three ghost musicians standing unseen behind the duo but in the real world out of the dreamlike memory you knew.

Elysium, Present Day

“Holy fucking shit.” Alex cussed out of breath, leaning back on the couch with shaking limbs and fear in his bloodless veins.

Luke’s eyes blinked owlishly at the boy that he had once thought could never do something as terrifying and torturous. He was afraid to even ask the outcome of the life-threatening incident you did on the assailants.

“That is the reason for the train.” You barely glanced at the shaken trio to stare at who had once been your partner in crime, “Willie, I have responsibilities here. We just opened a new division for the children we house here.”

“It would take a few hours.” Willie pleaded, positioning his hands into a pleading position turning on his charm. The puppy eyes you had always struggled to say no to as if you weren’t the type of person easily capable of staying strong.

“We’ll do anything.” Luke pleaded just as much recalling the countless times he had charmed himself out of situations, “Please help us.”

“I’ll have to make arrangements with Rudy and Susie, but I might be able to pull some strings. I’m really sorry Willie, but I’m gonna need to erase your knowledge of this place. There are too many people depending on this setup.”

Outside the Orpheum

Outside the legendary venue, three out of four band members for Julie and the Phantoms walked up to the marquee. Hopefully, the letters for Downslide would be changed into their band name just under the main act. Everything was riding on Willie and Y/N’s capabilities. Trusting the skater was challenging to do and more so someone they didn’t fully know.

“Look, don’t worry, guys. Willie said he’d get us on that marquee.” Alex soothed his friends on each side of him. All three wearing concerned expressions at the place that hopefully was their last stop before crossing over.

“This is gonna work, right?” Reggie questioned with his hand confidently sliding into the pockets of his black jeans. The relaxed posture a juxtaposition to the anxiety and nerves on his flushed face.

“It has to.” Luke’s lips pursed into a pout with his words tinged with a dialect different from his best friends. The faint souvenir from the place he spent a few years growing up before moving to LA.

Luke’s words were highlighted by the groans of pain as that flash of purple courtesy of Caleb’s death stamp appeared. All three hunched over clutched their chests breathing through the pain; Luke was the first to unfurl his form.

“Whoa!” You gasped flashing underneath the marquee beside Willie. Rushing to give Luke support without even a second thought.

When the aftershock faded, the guitarist stood straight up with a thankful smile that boarded on adoration.

“Are you guys, okay?” Willie asked, keeping back with the swell of guilt that happened, seeing the familiar symptoms of post-shock. He had felt them a time or two in the time he had sold his soul to his unfortunate boss.

“Yeah, it’s nothing we haven’t felt before,” Alex replied, rubbing his hand over the baby blue shirt he had chosen today. His blue eyes doing their best to avoid looking into the puppy-like ones of the skater, “How’d it go?”

“Well, when that opening band wakes up, they’re gonna find their bus 200 miles outside of Vegas.” Willie proudly announcing turning on his heel to show off the Downslide jacket he took from the lead singer. His fist extending to bump yours instinctively before he did so with Luke.

“With no chance of getting back in time.” You snickered in response living on the adrenaline and nostalgia of the rebellion. With Elysium, you had turned around your life, “Meaning-“

“-there’s probably a promoter upstairs right about now freakin’ out.”

 “Nah. This is Hollywood, man.” Willie scoffed with a wave of his hand matching the one you supplied, “I’m sure he’s being very professional.”

As Willie finished his sentence up in the promotor’s office out of earshot of the ghosts stood a very pissed adult. His finger-wagging his finger with teeth clenched, his flushed skin a juxtaposition to the cheery blue Hawaiian style shirt. Frank Wolfe couldn’t believe how stupid his once opening band was.

“What do you mean the bus drove itself into the middle of the desert?” Frank questioned progressively growing more and more frustrated. His assistant Tasha casting concerned looks to her typically collected boss, “BUSES DON’T DRIVE THEMSELVES!”

Tasha flinched at the sudden loud growl of the sentence but more so as Wolfe starting slamming the phone into the cradle. Her fingers halting on her keyboard, going over the list of frequent acts. Unfortunately, the five acts had other commitments causing Tasha to fear tonight. The blonde lady was worried Wolfe could have a breakdown once more.

While Willie snickered to his own words, your eyes, not your mind, could read that Alex wanted to talk to the skater. With only a teasing jab of your elbow in Willie’s ribs you shuffled around the drummer to join Reggie and Luke away from the ‘will they won’t they’ couple.

“So, can you do me a favour?” Luke hesitantly questioned you with his inquisitive eyes a greener colour in the sunlight. His attractive eyes took your full attention with a simple tilt of your head, “Julie’s family means a lot to us, and could you keep an eye on them?”

“And Carlos,” Reggie interjected rocking on his polished pleather boots he had spent ages on finding for his rocker aesthetic back in the ’90s.

“-Julie’s little brother.” Luke supplied at the confusion painted clearly on your pretty features. His green eyes scoured your face as he always did that flushed both his and your faces red.

“Yeah, of course, I can.” You firmly told the two dead boys each standing tense in front of you.

You could easily see the love they held for the living family that had come to mean so much in such a short amount of time. Since first meeting them you had always gotten the feeling that their living years weren’t the best. For Alex, it was living in the ’90s as a young gay teenager during a terrifying time for the LGBTQ+ community. Reggie flinched at the raised voices, and Luke had longingly stared after the happy families milling around the Elysium.

“Did you ever find out what your unfinished business was?” Reggie inquired fixing a strand of his dark hair that had fallen onto his blemish-free skin. Your smile faltered at his question; nonetheless, you answered.

“I did.” The two words carried a sense of pain with them. Your eyes unfocused recalling the euphoric feeling of seeing the breathtaking white light of the peace exuding from the beyond and the agony of denying crossing over.

“How-“

“Hey! Y/N!” Willie called out to the young denim wearing ghost with his beaming grin, “Don’t go stealing buses without me!”

Luke swore he could see your laughter in the air, just as endearing as the smoky quality your voice carried.

“Don’t go glitter bombing criminals.” You returned as your best friend dropped his board to skate off to wherever he was needed. It was bittersweet to reconnect with him knowing that it could be the last time.

When Caleb found out, not an if but a when Willie had a hand in helping his desired band it was high chance Willie would be gone. Caleb was all too powerful, and when he was betrayed, it never ended well.

“I need to get back to Elysium. Susie’s arrival is tonight. Good luck with tonight.” Your words were accompanied by a hug for each of the boys. The one with Luke lingering the most, “I wish you could play for the kids.”

“Yeah. Me too.” The brunette, messy-haired boy’s words carried a hidden desire simply to be in your space more. The teenage ghost helps those in limbo while wearing a jean jacket with patches from many decades. The jacket creating an unknown time you had lived.

“Goodbye, boys.” You told the trio before you poofed away from the busy streets of Hollywood where the band had come full circle in death.

“Are you guys, okay?” Reggie inquired his best friends, forgoing his casual personality for the layers underneath. His blue-green eyes filled with only concern.

Alex and Luke shared a lingering look, “Yeah. We’re okay.”

The dining hall was filled with long tables and chairs populated by the ghostly forms of everyone currently living at Elysium. It was reminiscent of a British book turned film series of youth with magic abilities. The series had been a favourite of a former resident.

“Incredible.” Susie breathed staring at the joyful people having a place to call home. Making the limbo between life and death more bearable.

“We’ve done well. You smiled, wrapping an arm around her waist, “It’s so nice to have you back.”

Elysium was so much more than you could ever hope for. It kept growing and growing with more ghosts. Since the founding of the haven, new developments continuously happened with one resident’s unique ability.

Harvey had joined the haven a year into the founding bringing the ability to gift the residents with the capacity to eat. During his life, Harvey had been a renowned chef and the dream to make food it carried into his death. As long as Harvey cooked the food with his volunteer staff ghosts were able to eat it.

“Harvey has outdone himself again,” Rudy announced his arrival at your side with his arms crossed, displaying his corded muscles. The constellation of moles on his face standing on his pale creamy skin.

“Rudy!” Susie squealed, throwing herself into his arms with the same glee that came each time. Susie and Rudy since their first meeting had a special bond as chosen siblings who bonded over heartache.

Rudy had died, leaving his best friend and his strawberry blonde girlfriend in the living world back in their dark hometown. It was just one tidbit he had revealed throughout your friendship. The only physical connection to his living friends was the three picture on his desk of a group of people.

The first picture had a lean version of Rudy with his arms thrown over a Hispanic boy with a crooked jaw and glimmering brown eyes. The Hispanic boy had his arm around a pretty brunette girl with deep dimples and wavy brown hair. The two boys wore a sports uniform of some kind holding lacrosse sticks.

The second picture had Rudy and the Hispanic teen again but with a beautiful petite strawberry blonde. Along with them was a brunette with blunt chin-length hair and hardened features besides a shorter blonde male with blue eyes.

The last picture was of Rudy with the same Hispanic boy wearing graduation caps and gowns with two beaming adults. The male adult wore a tan shirt adorned with a star on his left pec and dark brown pants. He had to be Rudy’s father with similar features. The woman was of Hispanic descent with laugh lines, and thick dark curly hair pulled into a half do; obviously the Hispanic teen’s mother.

The pain in Rudy’s face each time he saw the pictures closed off a desire to ask him about the people.

“Hello, Susie.” Rudy chuckled, wrapping his arms around her small stature, “How was Europe?”

“Why don’t you ask the five newcomers I found before Caleb?” Susie teased gesturing to the ragtag of new ghosts immersed in conversations.

“Family?”

“A boarding school had a fire. Those five were in the fire when it happened and the only victims out of seven that didn’t cross over.” Susie’s tone faded into a melancholy tone with her small arms wrapping around her middle. Faded brown eyes staring at the younger of the five seeing herself in them.

“That’s terrible.” You whispered, staring at the table with one finger picking the patch of a band from the ’70s, “I can’t imagine how scary that could have been.”

“Yeah.” Susie softly spoke, pushing a strand of her hair off her temple just as equally sad for the way that death had no qualms of how it took.

The youngest ghost in Elysium had been a three-year-old toddler who passed over quickly when he was found by the deceased mother. The two had been separated at death and luckily shared the same unfinished business of finding each other.

“Miss Reynold’s has twelve spirits that finished their business.” Rudy softly informed his two partners. Soft smiles formed on their faces at the happy news of Elysium’s goal being accomplished again.

“May they find everlasting peace and serenity.” Your words intertwined with Susie in perfect sync of the motto coined after the first crossover, “I suppose the Serenity will begin planning?”

“Have the Serenity ever not performed their duty?” Rudy raised one dark eyebrow with a rhetorical question. E/c and faded brown met recalling the countless times Elysium had hosted a celebration for those who found their unfinished business.

“That is-whoa.” You gasped stumbling at the scream echoing in your mind accessorized with the vintage sound of a band.

Calloused hands grasped your shaking form from collapsing onto the ground from a proverbial psionic shove. Agony slammed your brain flickering into an old fashioned club filled with people in both colour or black and white attire. You caught sight of baby pink, deep royal blue and bright red suits. The pained screams of a skater in a dark room overtaking the music in the Club.

“No.” You whispered clenching your hands on your head, feeling the dread building in the pit of your stomach.

The joyful voices in the hall muted while your body flickered with the deep instinct to leave the haven for the one place that utterly terrified you. It was the familiar touch of Susie and Rudy that kept you from finding the one person that meant the world. Willie’s soul was on the cutting board, and Caleb obsession with performing was the only reason Willie still existed.

“Willie.” You whimpered tears rolling down your flushed cheeks, feeling the panic in the skater’s mind.

“Susie help me.” Rudy stonily spoke ushering the distraught girl from the busy hall into an empty room.

Your shaking body finding purchase on the plush sofa with Susie holding one hand in hers and Rudy brushing the sweaty hair from your forehead. It wasn’t often your psionic abilities left you in such a state, but the distance proved difficult.

“Shit.” Rudy grumbled frowning, “This is bad. Y/N, we need to get you to Willie. You’re flickering, and the distance isn’t helping.”

“You want to take one of Elysium’s strongest ghosts straight into Caleb’s domain? You know how much he wants her in his Club.” Susie hissed to the co-founder of the haven they had to take extraordinary measures to protect, “It won’t work! You’re throwing her to the dogs!”

“Susanne I wouldn’t do this if it wasn’t necessary. Besides, we always have a plan.” Rudy retorted narrowing his whiskey eyes at the younger girl, “I’ll take her to get Willie, but you need to stay here to make sure everything runs smooth.”

“Are you sure you can-“Susie cut herself off with a nod as Rudy displayed the reason he could do it, “Okay, yep, you can do it.”

Rudy came back into her vision in his signature position with one eyebrow raised, and his arms crossed. The reason why Elysium worked so well was Rudy’s ability to erase an object from the view of anyone. He could make himself invisible to anyone and in practice, developed it to hide items and location. With his ability, Elysium was permanently hidden to anyone outside of his power. Illusions were his unique ability.

“You aren’t the first person to doubt my capability.” Rudy informed the other ghost reaching one hand out. With his fingers caressing your temple, he snapped his fingers, transporting you and him away from Elysium.

The empty room of Elysium’s dining hall was exchanged for the business streets of Los Angeles, bringing an improvement in your body. Pushing away from Rudy, your eyes frantically scoured the unfamiliar area for any hint of Willie.

“He’s close.” You exclaimed closing your e/c eyes to focus solely on your sixth sense kicking in. Rudy’s gasp snapped your eyes open to see his eyes pinned on your feet where a glowing neon purple smoke wisped.

“What is that?” Rudy demanded crouching to touch it, but it was like nothing was there. His whiskey brown eyes meeting your confused gaze.

“I have no clue, but I feel like I have to follow it.” Robotically your feet started walking following the smoke through the streets.

Rudy was silent as you came upon a park swallowed by the darkness of the night with the moon barely showing through the clouds. The odd purple smoke the only offering of light so far from the path with street lights.

“Of course we have to go through a park.” Rudy grumbled, “Nothing good ever happens in wooded areas at night.”

Lifting your eyes from the smoke, you looked at a deeply unsettled Rudy lost in the past only he knew. His mind recalling traipsing through the forest with his asthmatic best friend in the middle of the night. The last night before the unknown took over his life. Oddly enough dying and returning as a ghost was the most normal with everything that happened with his friends alive.

“You can go ba-“

“We’re not splitting up,” Rudy growled plainly scowling at your hesitant features. Rudy’s slammed the door closed on his past life.

Sensing unease Rudy’s calloused hand reached over to slide into yours in platonic support. You continued your mission, unaware that three certain ghosts in breathtaking suits were searching for you. 

Alex, Reggie, and Luke, affected by the purple jolts, failed to find the one place where their plan B could work. What Julie hadn’t known was that the guys had a plan just in case the Orpheum wasn’t their unfinished business. The three would go to Elysium to accept their fate and ensure Julie believed they crossed over.

With no Elysium in sight, the boys returned to the Molina garage hoping that one thing would go their way: Julie would go straight to bed.

The glow purple smoke trailed through the city park into an older part of Los Angeles before it stopped. Where the smoke stopped was a vast empty space surrounded by trees.

“Well, that’s a little anticlimactic.” You grumbled crossing your arms, “Willie’s somewhere here. Do you think Caleb has an underground lair?”

Rudy cast an unamused expression at you, “From past experience. No, that’s not likely. He probably has an apartment downtown. An underground network of caves in the woods is more shapeshifter style but still not true.”

“One: You’re rambling. Two: What the hell kind of life did you have?” You questioned furrowing your eyebrows at his rather odd piece of information.

“An old one.” Rudy spoke, staring ahead, “Besides, I think we should check out whatever building is hidden from our sight.”

“Hid-“Your mouth halted when Rudy roughly gripped your shoulders to twist you to face the empty space.

“Close your eyes. Trust your senses.” Rudy spoke softly, “Or pay attention to the slab of concrete in the middle of an empty space with well-kempt grass.”

Your palm slammed your forehead with a resounding thump in the night with distance lights from surrounding buildings. Rudy squeezed your shoulders as he stepped to the side once more in turn, closing his eyes.

“Walk in my mind.” Rudy stated for the first time in your friendship, allowing you to look in his mind. Your hesitance was met with another squeeze of comfort in his calloused grip.

Your tired eyes closed as your mind timidly stepped into the rather breathtaking mind of Rudy, who felt guilt the most. While Susie’s mind was like a summer day spent at a lake with brightness and gorgeous field of flowers, Rudy’s mind was different.

It was dark in Rudy’s mind but not as if evil, but as if he had been touched by the darkness and painted permanently. There’s was the odd whisper of childlike laughter intermingled with the full adult laugh of a woman; the laughter overshadowed with the sound of funeral music. You felt the lose near that memory. Rudy’s mind was painful to be in and drowning in the feelings he had.

Your breath caught seeing a door you assumed was of his childhood room with a name you couldn’t pronounce for the life of you.

“My parents named me after my mom’s dad.” Rudy spoke through his mind with a soft smile on his face, “I couldn’t say it, so I called myself Mischief. I stopped using it when my mom died, and I went by a shortened version of my last name.”

Your eyes watched as the door disappeared, and the reason you were in his mind came back to the forefront. Your eyes watched the image forming of a vintage hotel rippling in the air before it solidified. The size reminded you of a castle, and it felt like you were storming it.

Without any more mental interaction, you stepped out of Rudy’s mind back into the real world. The very same hotel in plain sight to both Rudy and your surprised elation.

 “Honestly didn’t think that would work.” Rudy breathlessly laughed, staring at the hotel once hidden to them. A dark comparison to Elysium.

“How do we play this, Rudy?” You inquired looking over at him, “This is very different from stealing cars and scaring teens.”

“Easy. We blend in.” Rudy responded, holding one hand out to grasp yours in which you noticed your attire had changed, “Perks of illusion? I can alter our own perception of ourselves.”

“Oh, wow. That looks expensive.” You replied, staring at the diamond bracelet on your wrist matching the necklace you wore.

Rudy’s attire had changed from his normal button-up with the sleeves rolled to be layered under a charcoal grey vest and jacket. Sleek matching pants to his coat and the dark black-tie matching the elegant black dress you wore. He had taken pity on your footwear to fit your ability to walk and for the fancy place.

He even had diamond cufflinks that matched you, but the wedding rings on your fingers took you aback. Your widened eyes staring at him.

“Tonight we’re Mr and Mrs Martin,” Rudy spoke choking on the last name he gave as it was the upscale name toppled from his lips.

“Okay. This is a test of our abilities.”

“This is if our plan A of being invisible doesn’t work. The one thing we know for sure is that Caleb has never seen either one of us.” Rudy soothed your nerves with a half-smile,” Let’s get Willie out.”

Your arm slipped into the crook of his to walk to the front door, “I feel like a spy. I feel like that Naomi Roma-“

“It’s Natasha Romanoff. Have you ever seen one of the marvel movies?” Rudy demanded walking up the entrance with a pained smile, “You’re like my best friend and when he wouldn’t watch Star Wars! Never caught one of my references!”

“Okay! Sorry, we can watch the movies when this over.” You grumbled as your heels clicked in the foyer of the hotel. The inside made you feel like you were sent back in time to the roaring ’20s.

“Oh damn, this is nice,” Rudy whispered, staring at the chandelier in the extravagant lobby of the last place you wanted to be.

While on the outside the two ghosts appeared cool, calm and collected they were anything but. Both a wreck inside from the perilous errand they had done that could very well be the ending of Elysium. Rudy nudged you to begin finding Willie with your mind, but you didn’t need to.

That same glowing mist was on the ground pulling you in the direction of a dark hall away from the route to the Club. Rudy kept his eye out, a characteristic carried into the afterlife from his time with the FBI, as you followed the mist. The hall continued to get more and more dark as the walk continued.

 Finally at the end was a blood-red door.

 “I swear to god if he kills his Club members, I’ll lose it.” You hissed to your arm candy, “What if he’s really H. H. Holmes disguised as a former magician? His door is blood red!”

“Have you been using your serial killer colouring book again?” Rudy demanded stuttering his steps to place his whiskey brown eyes on you. The sheepish expression on your face was enough of a response to gain the look of disbelief could have sent you into hysterics had the time not been too serious.

With a grin belying the situation, you twisted your wrist to open the door to hopefully where Willie was being held.

“What a cliché. He’s keeping Willie in the basement?”

“Will you shut up!” Rudy hissed right back with a clenched jaw entering the somewhat unfinished basement. It was cold even to your dead standards where the cold didn’t bother that much.

At the bottom in front of a desk with only a small lamp as illumination sat a vacant-eyed Willie painstakingly detailing a fabric. The lush purple velvet fabric was bougie, to say the least, and rather outlandish for the skater.

“Willie.” You softly coaxed the teen to glance up from the fabric you found to be something Caleb would wear. Willie’s brown eyes barely met yours before they returned to the sewing needle in his hand and the tiny beads in the bowl.

“Caleb is actually forcing him to be his personal seamstress?” Rudy scoffed,d stepping right up by your side to look at the work.

Both trying unsuccessfully to coaxed Willie out of the stupor he was engaged in the sudden poofing wasn’t heard.

“Mrs. Young taught both Willie and Kayla how to sew. She’s quite the seamstress, reminds me of my old one.” Caleb wistfully responded with a smarmy smile on his face, “Well if it isn’t little Y/N and whoever she brought. Nice threads.”

“Let him go.”

Caleb’s index finger caressed the corner of his mouth so gently to ensure the stage makeup didn’t budge. His clear ocean blue eyes turning thunderstorm navy as his lips parted in such a bone-chilling sinister grin.

“Let him go? He tried to take my new house band from me. He thinks that those boys not crossing over is his punishment. I think that adorable but so very wrong.” Caleb shrugged, dragging his finger down the bicep of his puppet.

“What can we do to- “

“You see after he’s done fixing the tuxedo jacket I’m going to tie him up on the table and slowly strip away his soul piece by piece. No, Willie won’t get the quick and easy zap erasing him. I’ll personally see it’s the most painful thing he experiences and I’ll do so happily.”

“Willie! Wake up!” Rudy shouted, shaking the skater’s shoulder frantically with his focus never entirely leaving the mad man. The whiskey brown eyes panicking at the odd displaced feeling of reliving his living life.

“That won’t work.” Caleb chuckled crossing his arms, “It’s rather amusing you think you can beat me. I’m Caleb Covington! I’m persuasive enough for hundred of memberships to financially benefit the Club.”

“And I’m Y/N Y/L/N bitch.” You snarled viciously throwing your mind into the nefarious narcissistic mind of the washed-up magician. 

Caleb Convington had started to bore his audience with the same tricks at every previous show. The lack of interest depleting the attendance numbers and severely hurting the financials. So Caleb decided to broaden his talent by copying the likes of Harry Houdini.

He had a knack for both the dramatics and swindling his audience to be tricked by the illusions he created. The heightened popularity increased Caleb’s thirst for status and fame, so he overestimated himself.

Surrounded by adoring fans and journalists, Caleb had his assistant lock him in a safe with no key, to the audience’s knowledge, and push the safe into the river. Unfortunately from the infamous magician and escape artist the safe warped due to the material it as made out of. Caleb Covington died drowning in a safe at the bottom of the river.

You flinched feeling the emotion at the time Caleb had died and the feeling of disappointment at not leaving a legacy. Your continued your trek in the struggling mind of a man who viewed himself as invincible. You caught glimpses of a young Caleb with his family and the moments of tragedy that shaped him.

You saw his first taste of power in death and the content since the first time he erased a ghost from existence. It sickened you more as you reached the point where Willie came into Caleb’s path.

I’m unique, Caleb. Unlike you with the illusions and empty promises, I have real power that you could only dream of. Hearing your thoughts and planting my own words is just the tip of the iceberg.

Caleb screamed in response holding his aching head as you cruelly ripped every memory of Willie from his mind. The screams echoed not only in the basement but through the hotel the Club worked out of.

“Stop!” Caleb pleaded, shaking his head back and forth. The anguish was un-fazing to both the lucid people in the room. Rudy too busy trying to wake your best friend from the trance he had been placed in.

“I can alter memories. Remove them and even plant memories of my own design. You may take from people, but I give to people. I refused to give you anything.” You circled the man seeing double from outside and inside his mind.

I’m everything you wish you could be.

Your last action in his mind was searing a burn that flashed across his entire body from a nerve stroked. With the heat equivalent to magma in his veins, you burrowed to where Caleb controlled the souls. With a smear of your fingers, Willie’s soul was released from Caleb clutches.

“C’mon. Get Willie.” You told Rudy sending Caleb into an empty trance as if he was no more than a wax figure. Rudy eased the skater up from the desk while you exchanged Caleb to sit on the chair holding the needle, “We need to leave. I’ll get rid of any speck of Willie in memories.”

“I didn’t even get to punch the guy.” Rudy pouted, dragging his feet up the stairs away from the magician.

“That’s a good thing. I’m sure Caleb would be more pissed about his nose being damaged than losing Willie.” You scoffed helping the man urge Willie to walk up the stairs and then down the hallway to the entrance.

As you walked you brushed the minds of every individual in the building, all members in attendance, you gently removed all traces of Willie. By the time you reached the edge of the park, you had relaxed.

“We should get him to Alex, they didn’t crossover. I can still feel their imprint.”

“He’d be safer at Elysium to lay low.” Rudy replied, keeping on eye on the skater and on anyone he could see.

With only a nod, you ushered the ghost to teleport both the skater and himself back to the safe walls of Elysium. As he did so, you reached out with your mind to the blonde-haired sweet male in adoration with your best friend.

Clicking his place was easy enough for your draining power after the taxing bond with Willie’s absent presence. Instead of walking as you would generally choose you poofed on the cement pad in the backyard of a home. The surrounding skirt of the backyard encased with plants and flowers.

“Hello?” You called out in the darkness. The soft, mumbled words had your feet moving in the direction.

Standing in a circle mesmerized at the purple tattoos lifting off their skin was the boys of Julie and the Phantoms. The teenage beautiful Puerto Rican girl stood across from Luke with Reggie and Alex on each side.

“Alex?” You called out to the boy wearing a baby pink vintage tuxedo that complimented his skin and hair exquisitely. The outfit definitely screamed that Caleb had something to do with it, especially with the missing fanny pack.

“Y/N?” Luke gasped turning to see you in incredibly fancy attire matching his gorgeous blue suit modified to having no sleeves. The anticipation of eating at you to find Reggie rocking a red suit with butterflies on the fabric.

“I’m sorry you didn’t crossover.” Your words soothed the sad teenagers that had accepted their fate only to have no control again. An introduction was brought between you and Julie when the living girl elbowed Alex.

“Not that we mind but what are you doing here? How did you get here, and why are you dressed up?” Luke inquired, pushing his hands into his suit pockets, engrossed with your gorgeous appearance.

“Well when you crash a fancy Club with a narcissistic founder…any means to blend in is necessary.” You responded, “As for your second question.”

Your finger tapped your temple before continuing to speak, “I’m here because Alex deserves to know. You all do.”

The boy in baby pink frantically stepped forward, “What happened?”

“Maybe it’s best, I just show you?” Your brows furrowed to your own question accompanied by your lower lip being bitten by your teeth. The red lipstick not budging as it was an illusion as well.

“Hu-“Reggie grunted as he spiralled with his two dead bandmates into the scene that had sent you on your determined mission.

The rough action of being drawn into your memories as jarring as the first time and just as scary. The maniacal magician pacing the dark basement simply to heighten his dramatic speech. Alex’s heart clenched at the vacant look in the skater’s eyes with the faintest tinge of purple in the gorgeous brown.

“I feel like I got carsick.” Reggie moaned leaning over to clutch his midsection once you released the ghostly trio. Reggie would often gain a look of disbelief and horror from the blonde drummer, but his entire brain was centred on Willie.

“Rudy took Willie back to Elysium where he’ll be safe. If you want, you can join us.” The words were offered to both the dead and living currently in the room.

Opting out, Julie retired to her bedroom to calm down from the rush of performing at the Orpheum of all places. Besides she felt like going to Elysium was best for the three boys, and maybe they would move there. Julie would miss them, but she knew they’d always come back.

Susie was quick to hug you tightly as you stepped through the gates with the dead members of Julie’s band. The boys changed out of the tuxedos they had dropped off at a donation centre, Reggie had wanted to burn them. After living on the streets for a short while, Luke understood the need for clothing, so the clothing was taken to shelters.

“I’m so glad you’re okay. Rudy told me you overexerted yourself again.” Susie spoke with a deeply furrowed brow oblivious to the puppy dog look from the bassist in red flannel.

“If I didn’t, Willie would be gone.”

“You’re pale yet flushed cheeks. I can see you have a fever. You need to rest.”

“I need to soothe Willie out of the trance that psychotic prick put him in.” You scoffed shaking Susie’s hand off your shoulder to sidestep her, “I’ll rest when he’s fine.”

“I-“

“At least gab something from the cafeteria for energy.” Susie’s brown eyes dimmed at your typical brush off. The same routine of overusing your powers and not recharging correctly, “He’s in Cottage A!”

The boys were on your heels as you power-walked through the streets of the ghost city with one location in mind. The living streets with homes of all style and colours appeared passed the bakery, the school and the clothing stores.

“You can eat?” Reggie whispered as a little ghost girl licked an ice cream cone walked by.

“Harvey adored cooking for people when he living, so he continued in death. Harvey can make food for ghosts, and so can his staff if they work in his kitchen. His pastry chef provides baked goods to Flora’s Bakery and makes the best ice cream.”

 “Oh my god.” Reggie practically squealed wholly flabbergasted by the almost perfect place you created, “How do you pay for things?”

“We don’t. What Harvey doesn’t grow in his garden, he can make ingredients out of thin air. We all have some kind of job we do. Everyone has a role in fulfilling to keep Elysium running.” You simply spoke keeping your eyes on the cottage with the robin’s egg blue door.

As if he knew Rudy flung the door open elated to see you standing there. Both of you still wearing the illusioned attire. IN milliseconds he wiped the illusion away, returning you back into your street clothes.

“How is he?”

“No change.” Rudy replied, following your steps in the living room. The skater was staring blankly at the wall.

“Willie!” Alex cried, rushing over to kneel beside the boy that had so swiftly stolen his heart without him realizing. The emotion in his word didn’t get a microscopic flinch from the formerly so-called enemy.

“Everyone be quiet.” You demanded forcibly staring each person in the room down for a mere second. With the desired silence continued, you ignored the headache forming in your head to step into the skater’s mind.

William Young was screaming to be released by the prison of his own mind Caleb had forced him into. He had felt the restriction on his soul lifted and the mist of purple leaving his brain, but he was still stuck.

He could barely breathe with the weight on his chest. Willie didn’t like feeling stuck in one place as he was a wanderer at heart. It was a reason why he had joined the Hollywood Ghost Club with the promise of travel.

Willie come back

In his mind, the sound of your voice firstly grounded the young man as a mirage of your form flickered. Your eyes screamed worry while the smile was one of relief.

Caleb can’t hurt you anymore. Come home.

The spectators watching see your flinching wavering expression and the tensing of Willie’s facial muscles. Everyone sat on the edge of their seat as the two pairs eyes opened in synch of the yells of hurt.

What they didn’t expect was your eyes to roll into the back of your skull and you to collapse onto the floor.

“Y/N!” Willie cried, stumbling off the couch onto the cold floor where your body lay prone, “Wake up!”

It seemed everyone forgot the little detail of being dead.

 “She’s fine.” Rudy remarked, shaking your arm with such gentle care matching the four guys’ care in the room.

Your eyelids fluttered open under the bright lights of the unused cottage still waiting for an owner.

“Susie was right.” You grumbled allowing Willie to help you sit up against the blue velvet couch. Your mussed hair adorable in the eyes of the guitarist utterly enamoured with everything about you.

“She usually is.” Rudy mused, thinking of the many times she had proven everyone wrong, “She punched me for not bringing you home.”

“Gotta love her.” You snorted turning to face the four ghosts awkwardly gazing around the room. It was barren of personality with the lack of inhabitants. The yearning quickly found in the boys’ eyes, “You know this isn’t the only cottage in need of people.”

“What do-“

“You’re welcome to live here. I know you three live in that studio, but here you can have a real bed. You can eat and having your own place. You can come and go as you please.” You offered without looking, Rudy.

“I don’-“

“If you don’t want to live here, it’s okay, but the option is always there. Willie, we make plans for a skatepark-“

“Oh, you had me from the start.” Willie beamed tugging you into his arms, “I missed this. I missed you.”

 “Me too.” You murmured into his warm embrace equally relaxed at knowing he was safe again. Your eyes clashing with the soft blue had Ideas songwriting already filled with lyrics of a pretty girl wearing a jean jacket with patches.

The lyrics turned into songs both in the studio and the cottage that Luke, Reggie and Alex accepted in Elysium. It had been a spirited discussion with Julie on moving to Elysium, but the boys were always there when she wasn’t in school. Often Elysium hosted a concert for the residents with the visitation of Julie.

Your reciprocated attraction with the messy-haired hazel-eyed guitarist flourished into a serious relationship. Luke took on the role of teaching how to play the guitar and songwriting. Alex took of mediation while Reggie worked with Harvey.

Willie quickly took on designing the skatepark he taught at while also taking a position at the ghost school.

“Morning.” The soft whisper roused your sleep into the golden glow of the morning light and chirping birds.

The growling aspect of his voice coming from only just waking up. The sight of Luke’s bleary eyes was heartwarming.

 A year into moving into Elysium, Luke had asked if you’d like to move in as he was the only one in the original house. Alex had moved into the little cottage with Willie three months into the relationship while Reggie was going back and forth between Susie’s room and his own place.

“Morning.” You hummed leaning forward to kiss his cheek.

“You know I thought my life ended when I died. That I could never find someone and have a family. That I couldn’t share my music with the world. I was wrong.” Luke murmured as he cupped your cheek in his hand, “The band is growing more and more each day. I found the love of my life, and we have a family with everyone. I haven’t felt like I had had home for so long, but I get it now. You’re my home. I love you.”

Your cheeks warmed up at the adoration Luke displayed in his expressive hazel green gaze just as it had since day one. The awe fell from his lips before you pressed a kiss to his lips, only one of the many in the eons to come.

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[ajnerdess]

Rise of Skywalker thoughts

Spoilers ahead.

Honestly, I enjoyed the film, I think people are taking the entire franchise WAAAAY too seriously and seemed to have forgotten that a, the original 3 films were simple good VS evil space fantasies and the prequels had their fair share of tragedy(and were largely disliked because they steered so far from the OG trilogy AND tried too hard to be overly complicated) so honestly, I don’t understand why some people (cough, cough, hardcore Reylos) are surprised to the point where they are slating the film and saying it’s bad because they didn’t get their lovey dovey ending. It was obvious that wasn’t going to happen if you go by EVERY other star wars film.

Do I think there were plot holes and things shoehorned in that mildly annoyed me? Yes. I thought the Palpatine plot didn’t have as much build-up as it needed and I was just a little like “oh ok, that’s happening now, sure, ok”. I personally didn’t like Poe’s questionable past seeing as he was raised by heroes of the Resistance. There were characters that were pointless and I can’t even remember their names which just seemed unnecessary. But other than that, everything else largely worked and made sense to me.

As a HUGE Hux fan, i’m obviously sad he was killed off so quickly but I knew he was going to die and I knew he wasn’t going to get the spotlight. As much as I love him, I mean, come on people, I've written a 385 page fanfiction involving him and Poe, he was a secondary, if not tertiary character in the new trilogy. He was never going to get as much love as the main trio and Ren, especially as the plot had to cram so much into the story. I’m grateful he had as much screen time as he did and as someone who has spent so many chapters of my own story trying to give him a developed personality, I am SO glad he semi redeemed himself somewhat by becoming a spy for the Resistance, even if it was just because he was a petty bitch. As for people saying it was against his character..... was it? I mean, Domhnall had said over and over again “Hux is like a kicked dog, if you kick him too much, eventually he’s going to bite back” the comic basically said that he believed everyone underestimated him and didn’t take him seriously and never saw him as a threat, what better way to prove them otherwise than to deflect to help bring them down??? Maybe i’m just trying to see the good in him as a character when I shouldn’t, but honestly, I had geared myself up for the worst regarding his character and I was actually pleasantly surprised. 

As for Ren, personally, I don’t like his character. I never did, and his ‘romantic’ link with Rey sort of reminded me of a 50 shades of grey type of uncomfortable male love interest territory. I don’t think he was as bad as some male love interests but I definitely never felt the connection between him and Rey and thought he could often be manipulative and emotionally abusive towards her, and besides that, he, you know, murdered his dad and tried to kill his mum. Much like Hux, not a nice guy, so I really am not surprised they killed him off, but am glad they gave him a nice lil redemption arc, much like Darth Vader’s, to me, that was pretty poetic, seeing as he always wanted to be like Vader. Point is, it’s not shocking he died. It’s not shocking he didn’t end up happy with Rey, I mean, did you see Padme and Anakin’s love story?? Even Leia and Han didn’t exactly have a healthy, happy relationship so, go figure. I don’t think it’s a valid enough excuse to hate the movie as much as some people are. To me, it still falls under Star Wars canon and is very reminiscent of the original films. 

The only major point I will say that served as a downfall to the film, is the fact that it’s VERY clear JJ hated the Last Jedi and tried to do everything to pretend it didn’t exist. That’s fine, but then it just angers me a little that we even had the last Jedi. It would have made more sense to have JJ direct all 3 so the middle film could have served as the build up to Palpatine’s return so it wouldn’t have seemed so out of the blue in this film. 

I loved the trio’s interactions. I loved the environments, I loved the campy space creatures, like the little one that fixes C-3PO and the ones on the desert planet in the colour festival scene thing. I liked the plot. I liked what they did with the characters. I liked how they wrapped up the Skywalker saga. It felt much more like an old star wars film than the Last Jedi did. Was it as good as the original trilogy? No. Was it as good as Force Awakens? No. But was it still a good film and good in comparison to TLJ and the prequels? In my opinion, yeah, I really think it was. But then I went into the film with relatively average expectations and knew not to take it too seriously. 

Edit: I am also sad about FinnPoe not being real, but again, I knew Disney wouldn’t be brave enough to do it. I'm just super grateful we have Oscar Isaac and John Boyega who champion the ship so much and support it to a level I've never seen before, so let’s just be grateful for those wholesome beans! I also realise I said luke and Han's relationship, not Leia and Han, but honestly Luke and Han deserved some homoerotic undertones because who the hell doesn't?

[msjr0119]

Cordonian Wags

Part 1- Welcome to the team

In a world full of Professional footballers and their demanding wives- can their football team nicknamed the ‘Cordonian Apples’ succeed? An American female physiotherapist joins the club. Will this cause issues with the footballers wives?

*This series is based on The Royal Romance characters who belong to Pixelberry - AU Plot switch*

Read the introduction here

Disclaimer: Quite a bit of swear words and a lot of dialogue- Sorry 😐

Tags: @annekebbphotography @burnsoslow @drakesensworld @ladyangel70 @kingliam2019 @bbrandy2002 @butindeed @bascmve01 @drakewalker04 @pedudley @captain-kingliamsqueen @duchessemersynwalker @insideamirage @of-course-i-went-to-hartfeld @kozabaji @texaskitten30 @ibldw-main @kimmiedoo5 @nikkis1983 @dangerouseggseagleartisan @gnatbrain @walker7519 @lodberg @cmestrella @hopefulmoonobject @addictedtodrakefanfic @angi15h @liamxs-world @rafasgirl23415 @notoriouscs @whenyourheartskipsabeat @nz1091 @jovialyouthmusic @yukinagato2012

******

Riley hadn’t had the chance to unpack yet- due to the invitation to the pre season party. Her main priority was to prepare the paperwork for the players to fill out for her knowledge. When she had been offered the job- she checked out accommodation to rent in Cordonia. Most places only offered a years contract- she accepted this, knowing that she would have to pay the remaining months once the season had finished.

If the Cordonian Wags were anything like the British ones- they would all be trying to out stage each other at these type events. Causing trouble. Fighting for attention. Riley was the odd one out at any event- technically she was classed as a ‘wag’ but in her mind she was just the physio. Pulling out a simple little black dress with matching black heels, she looked like she was going to a funeral rather than a party. Keeping her make up to a minimal and her natural brown curls loosely fall effortlessly down her back- the simple look. This was the first time Riley had been out for a while. She avoided leaving the house having the British press stalk her every movement.

Let’s get this over and done with.

*****

Savannah had persuaded Bertrand to allow Drake to get ready at their house and attend with them. Drake refused at first - his number one characteristic was his stubbornness. Your sister will blame me all night if you don’t come with us- and you know how angry she can become. Please. Drake eventually agreed after the ‘peer pressure’ from his brother in law. He hated receiving the sympathy vote from everyone even if it was self infliction for him not ending his relationship with Kiara. Whilst waiting for the sitter to arrive, the trio began to pre-drink.

“Darling, I spoke to Riley before. She seems really nice. And ambitious. I was hoping to become friends with her- she seems so much nicer than the other women here - apart from Hana. I believe she and Hana would get on very well.”

“Who the fuck is Riley?” Drake demanded frowning at his sister.

“Erm. No one, Drake. Well obviously she is someone. You’ll be formally introduced to her later.”

Bertrand responded, he knew how his wife’s mind ticked, she wound her brother up constantly. Deep down she wanted her brother to be happy in a relationship, so believed she was testing the water. Bertrand knew exactly what her intentions for this random conversation were.

Savannah secretly laughed, she knew she was frustrating Drake. He hated secrets being kept from him. Handing him a whiskey- she was going to continue rising his blood pressure with the frustration and curiosity. Sibling love at its best.

“Did you know she’s getting divorced? So she’s technically single?”

“Savannah, let’s not talk about her personal life. She’s not here to look for love. Keep her away from Leo Rhys for gods sake.”

The sitter was late, much to Bertrand’s annoyance- he liked everyone to be punctual. When it came to meeting people he would request that people meet him an hour earlier than needed, to ensure that there was extra time for situations such as this. The doorbell rang, Bertrand immediately shot up- it was one of two people- the babysitter or Riley. He had invited Riley to attend with them as she didn’t know anyone else.

“Good evening Riley.” Bertrand pulled her in for a welcoming hug, as she handed him a bottle of wine as a thank you for supporting her already.

“Thank you for the invitation. Your home is absolutely stunning”

Bertrand guided her into the large open spaced lounge, offering her a glass of champagne which she accepted politely. The Walker siblings were sat talking, before both abruptly turning mute.

“Hi Riley, it’s so nice to see you again. I didn’t know you was coming?” Savannah slowly stood up and gave Riley a friendly squeeze. Riley wasn’t sure if she was an overly touchy- feely person or if she was just a genuinely friendly person with a heart of gold.

“I... I’m sorry if I’ve interrupted....Mr Beaumont suggested it.... As i don’t know anyone but you guys and Mr Rhys.”

“Don’t need to apologise. I’m happy that you’re here. Saves me from being bored shitless with these two misery’s..I want to get to know you better- we can be friends? This is my brother Drake by the way.”

Savannah gave her brother dagger eyes after observing her brother’s lack of politeness. Scowling at the woman stood nervously in front of them he rolled his eyes back not really willing to take much notice of the newbie-great another gold digger he thought. Riley bit her lip due to the awkward silence. Drake Walker’s stereotypical nickname was known as the ‘grumpy stubborn one’.

“Nice to see you in the flesh Walker. I look forward to working with you all.” Riley gulped the champagne back in one go- impatiently waiting for a non existent response. He hadn’t looked at her- uh he’s such an ignorant arsehole.

‘I look forward to working with you all’ - Drake suddenly was knocked out of his trance, trying to figure out who she could be after that sentence. Fixating his gaze on her, his eyes locked on hers- he couldn’t help but admire her beauty. No I’m with Kiara- stop gawping at her. Shaking his head, taking a deep breath, he stood up and shook Riley’s hand- feeling a bolt of lightening spread throughout his body, he now had butterflies in his stomach. They both let go of each other before fixing their gaze towards the marble floor. Savannah and Bertrand noticed the interaction and gave each other that knowing look.

“So, how are you enjoying your first day? Drake, Riley is the teams new physio- when Connie introduces her act surprised!”

Bertrand begged his brother in law- he knew it was the chairman’s responsibility to introduce the newest member of the team to everyone.

“It’s different.. it’s nice to not be stalked by the paparazzi..”

“Isn’t that what the job title includes for a Wag?” Savannah sarcastically said, whilst winking.

She’s a wag... she’s a physio.... Drake’s mind was working overtime- if she’s a footballers wife, where is he? Why is she here? Surely she doesn’t need to work and can fend off her husbands paycheck like other wives.

“I was never a ‘wag’ Savannah. I hate them. I was the odd one out. Biggest mistake of my life has been marrying a footballer- no offence Drake.”

“Um.. none taken... you’re married to a footballer... you’re a physio.... anything else you need to confess?”

“Excuse me? Mr Rhys knows all about my background, my estranged husband. There’s nothing more to tell. It’s none of your business Walker. My business is to make sure that none of you dumbasses injure yourselves too much!”

“You’re going to be trouble, I can already tell!” Drake snapped, whilst gulping another whiskey.

“What is your issue?” Riley snapped back- she didn’t like his attitude. What a wanker.

“You are.. look no offence. But this place is vicious. Full of secrets. If I was you I’d get back on a plane to America pronto!”

Riley felt anger build through her body. She had never met someone that was such a jerk on their first meeting. She shrugged her shoulders and blanked him- as far as she was aware the miserable man was non existent. This is going to be a long nine months.

******

Liam and Olivia were almost ready to attend the party. They had chosen to go in matching outfits. Well, Olivia had suggested it- Liam didn’t have a choice in the matter. She wore the trousers in the relationship after all.

“Liv, hurry up! We are going to be late!”

Liam had been ready for a while- the scotch was running smoothly down his throat every time he drank some more. His wife was taking forever to get ready. Typical footballers wife. At times, he wished he was single- looking out for ‘me, myself and I’. Olivia was a nightmare - at times he regretted marrying her, all she did was moan. She was jealous of his brother being the captain of the team, she hated the fact that Constantine favoured Leo over Liam. Frustrated that her husband couldn’t grow some bollocks and stand up to his father.

“Okay! Okay! You’re such an arse. Never rush a woman getting ready, Li. Do we even have to go? Your father is just going to be praising golden bollocks all night!”

“Yes Liv! We all have to attend!” Liam snapped as he was frustrated at his wife’s questions. She knew the answer to her idiotic question.

“Kiara isn’t... I could be doing anything better than socialise with those people!” Folding her arms, she frowned at her husband spitting her dummy out.

“That’s Kiara.... they aren’t married so get away with it.”

Olivia rolled her eyes back, the only positive thing about these events was the unlimited free bar and winding Madeleine up.

****

Leo had ignored his wife ever since he had returned home from training. Quickly he got dressed up into one of his many designer tuxedos. Styling his hair to perfection- he loved himself too much. Leo Rhys you sexy mother fucker - he said to himself checking himself out in the mirror, placing a condom in his pocket- just in case. Hitting the bottle- he was eager to get to the party just to escape from his wife’s constant lectures that were like a vinyl on loop. Same shit, different day. Finally she made an appearance- her eyes narrowed at him like always, as if her facial expression was superglued to that same resting bitch expression .

“Oh darling you look amazing.” She said sarcastically rolling her eyes back.

“Baby I’d say the same about you. But... You have something on the end of your nose. You don’t look flattering at all...”

“It’s just a bit of powder. I dread to think what’s on the end of your dick! After all, you stick it in all sorts of places!”

“The answer to your question.... a bell is at the end of it!”

Leo slammed his tumbler of the brown liquid on the table, before heading outside to the waiting car. Madeleine slowly caught up- Leo held the door open for her before slamming it shut with an almighty force.

****

Zeke and Penelope hated these types of events- mainly because they had to leave their daughters behind. They felt guilty if they returned home drunk. Everyone had told them to let their hair down every once in a while. This couple were the most responsible out of them all- mainly due to their family which they were grateful for.

“Girls, be good for Amber. And look after the poodles for your Mom. Promise? I love you both.”

“Yes, daddy.” Emma and Emily said in unison.

“Love you little darlings. See you in morning.” Penelope said whilst still hesitating about leaving them.

The two girls jumped into their parents arms giving them the tightest bear hug. Tip toeing out of the front door- the parents looked back at their adorable daughters before leaving. Sorrow in their eyes as Emma and Emily waved slowly at them. The couple promised each other to leave early and too not drink too much.

****

Maxwell and Hana arrived separately, keeping their relationship under pretentious again. They had seen how majority of their friends relationships had crumbled. Knowing the minute they became official the press would hound them.

Maxwell entered the room, and immediately hit the dance floor. Spotting Hana he couldn’t resist spending time with her- all their friends had an inkling regarding their relationship. What’s the harm in dancing with a ‘friend’? You look beautiful Miss Lee, dance with me?

Hana nodded providing a seductive smile. After a while they both stumbled over to the bar- where Drake was sat drowning his sorrows.

“Hey buddy. What’s up?”

“My life. That’s what’s up Max. My girlfriend can’t even be arsed showing up. Why haven’t I got the guts to dump her and throw her out of MY house? She keeps walking all over me. I just allow it. I say ‘love you’, she ignores it. I might just go home.”

“Well... we all advised you to end it but we also understand how hard it must be when you love someone. You’ll move on buddy. I’ll take you home once Constantine has done his speech okay?”

‘You’ll move on....’ ha I wish Max.

“Thanks Max. I don’t know where I’d be without you.”

“No probs. Whiskey?”

Drake nodded, he was glad his friend knew him inside and out. Maxwell pat him on the shoulder, giving him a whiskey before persuading Drake to join him and Hana having shots.

*****

The group of friends all stood the corner, impatiently waiting for the chairman to arrive. Both Savannah and Leo, were intoxicated- Bertrand had tried to conceal his wife’s behaviour up- but she just became louder and louder. Leo was just Leo. The usual drunk.

“Looks like your father has traded Regina in for a younger model.” Olivia whispered to Liam and Leo. Leo quickly looked over. As did the other men. Chinese whispers began spreading throughout the room - ‘who is she?’ was the common question that was unanswered. Drake just rolled his eyes- for some reason he hated her. He couldn’t comprehend why? Leo straightened his tie, checking his hair in a nearby mirror and headed straight over to his father and Riley.

“Why, hello there gorgeous. I haven’t seen you around here before.” Showing an exasperated expression, she wondered how long it would take for the local playboy to attempt to make a move.

“Leo, so nice to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you.” You’re a wanker, you’re a cheat, you’re a mess. You are a girls worse nightmare. Her mind talked sense- she wasn’t going to say her thoughts out loud risking her job before she’s even started it.

Leo pulled her into his embrace, she played along with his flirting to begin with, teasing him. Caressing his cheek, whispering in his ear- unknown to a drunk Leo he didn’t understand the sarcasm in her voice. You love yourself don’t you. Why wouldn’t you? You are quite handsome. I bet the women love you.... Riley felt his jeans tighten as he held her, making her skin crawl- she shuddered at the thought. Not giving a shit, he swiftly moved closer and kissed her on the neck- before she pushed him away. Everyone joined the trio, needing to rescue the mystery woman from the womaniser. She held the record for being the only woman that they had ever witnessed turn down Leo Rhys.

“Touch me again Mr Rhys- and you’ll be wishing that one of them break your legs on the pitch instead of me. And I won’t help you recover.”

“You’re a fiesty one. Come on babe. You’re gorgeous. And so am I. You know you wanted to kiss me back. I’ll take you on date sometime... Miss?” Riley didn’t know whether to punch that smirk off his face or just scowl at the disgusting man stood in front of her.

“It’s Mrs... Mrs Riley López your new physio.”

She winked at Constantine- technically she was still married so could stil use the marriage card. Constantine shook his head - disappointed in his son’s behaviour. Thanking the lord that this girl could protect herself. Clearing his throat, he grabbed the microphone, ready to make his announcement.

“Everyone, I’m assuming you have many questions regarding who this woman standing by my side is. Gentlemen this is Riley Brooks, your new physio. Miss Brooks has some paperwork for you all to complete before you attend training tomorrow. Please make her feel welcome, and of course- everyone enjoy the party!” Constantine kept his speech sort- he didn’t want to elaborate on anything- so walked away from the crowd with his wife Regina.

“So MISS Brooks.... you’re not a Mrs... About that date...” Leo thought he had a second chance- smirking at her flashing his pearly whites.

“Fuck you Leo. I’m getting a divorce. And I’m not interested in married men- especially not interested in footballers.”

“Fuck you... oh I do want you to do that.”

“N. O. Spells NO! Goodnight Mr Rhys.”

Riley walked over to the bar, taking a few shots back in a flash. Leo reminded her of her husband. She hadn’t been introduced to his wife as of yet- but she already felt empathy towards her. Swallowing the last shot, she was spooked as someone tapped her on the shoulder.

“Miss Brooks, I do apologise on behalf of my brother for his appalling attitude.” Liam the other Rhys brother- he’s not like Leo. As far as I’m aware.

“No worries Liam, I can handle men like him.”

“How do you know who I am?”

“Bertrand explained to me earlier on who was who before I was spying on you all at training. Leo- the playboy, Drake- The grump and stubborn one, Maxwell- the hyper one, Zeke - the family man and you Liam. You’re the nice brother. The loyalist of them all. The other players didn’t really get awarded with a nickname. I just assume Mr Beaumont is closer to you guys.”

“Heh. Bertrand has got us to a T... my brother wasn’t lying when he called you gorgeous. I think we can all agree on that. Myself and Drake saw you before with Savannah, and I actually called you that too. Great minds and all that.... I hope you settle in and enjoy your time here. Erm, there’s gossip spreading about your marriage- if you ever need anyone to talk to about it, I’ll always be here.” Gently holding her hand as he said this, she could tell by the sparkle of his eyes and his smile that his words were genuine.

“Thank you, But i would rather not talk about it. I’m here to do my job. Hoping that you all make it easy for me and have no injuries this season.”

“I can’t promise that none of us won’t get any injuries. If I don’t see you later on, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Liam kissed Riley on the cheek, a slight blush showed up on her face. She was thankful for the dark lightening hoping no one would see it. His soft touch was still lingering even after he had left.

*****

Savannah introduced Riley to Max, Hana, Zeke and Penelope. She felt that these people were the only normality in the room. Looking over her shoulder she overheard a red head and blonde sniping insults to each other, whilst staring at her with looks that could kill. Typical footballers wives, she thought as she quietly laughed to herself at the irony. Riley would feel intimidated in the past with these actions but now she honestly couldn’t care less- she knew these type of women.

“Ah just ignore them, they are always like that.” Hana stated as she shook her head, in response to the entertainment happening in the background.

“I gathered. Let’s hope the Rhys brothers don’t become injured - I couldn’t cope with associating with women like that.”

“No I don’t blame you. Myself and Hana are having a party tomorrow - I call them ‘Beaumont bashes’. You’re welcome to come Riley. I know we are all going to be the best of friends.” Max grinning like a Cheshire Cat- he loved making new friends.

“Sure. It’ll be nice to get to know normal people.”

“Sorry Max- we won’t be able to attend. The girls have a riding competition. And we want to spend time with them to celebrate afterwards.” Zeke said with sorrow in his eyes. He loved a Beaumont bash but his family always came first.

“Ah man. Okay.” Maxwell pretended to cry, over dramatically wiping his tears away. But he understood that Zekes and Penelope’s children were their priority.

“Oh. I love riding. I haven’t been able to do it since I moved to England. I used to do it on a regular basis back in the states. I can only imagine how proud you are of your children Zeke and Penny.”

“We are Riley. We are so proud. You will have to come for a ride one day. I’m more of a dog person- I have two poodles. We are an animal loving family.”

“Thank you for the invite. I will be honoured to come one day.” Penelope and Zeke smiled at her pulling her in for a group hug.

They were all sociably talking, getting to know Riley. After a while she excused herself, explaining she needed a bit of air- as the room had become slightly stuffy.

*****

Walking out on the veranda, the cool air as well as the alcohol hit Riley suddenly. The moonlit sky was beautiful- stars scattered evenly.

Feeling much cooler, she turned around not looking where she was going as she bumped straight into someone. He caught her and held her tight- their eyes fixated on each other. The two of them ended up covered in a fusion of alcohol.

Before Riley could escape, he grabbed her wrist pulling her closer to him. There was a tingling sensation spreading throughout his stomach. Standing frozen, she could hear his heartbeat rapidly increase, every second he held her. Slowly he lent down, before crashing his lips onto hers whilst inhaling her fruity fragrance. The short kiss- made him feel intoxicated, she was going to be his newest drug- one he couldn’t wait to taste again. Riley looked at him with sorrow in her eyes as she pushed him away with an almighty force. Immediately she ran away as fast as she could. Not looking back, she was hoping to just be able to sneak out of the party without anyone noticing her. She was uncontrollably shaking, regretting that she didn’t do anything to prevent the interaction that had just occurred.

[paperclipninja]

Younger post-ep ramble 6x04

Well now, we’ve hit a rather interesting point in the season now haven’t we? Can you say DRAH-MAH. This week’s episode, ‘An Inside Glob’, sees the tension that’s been mounting in the first three episodes of season 6 reach boiling point. And then boil over. Into a restaurant full of onlookers. Then onto Reddit. Lol. Now I may be biased because of my love of Miriam Shor (or I am simply an appreciator of good directing when I see it), but this week’s ep was so well put together, it felt like there was ample room for each scene to breathe and the pacing overall felt significantly less frantic than it sometimes does. There was a familiarity, for lack of a better word, about the structure and the feel of this ep, not to mention the writing left me legit laughing out loud many times throughout. The writers are bringing it this season. We also see the welcome return of two faves: Charles’ three-piece suit and Liza’s silver-suit power-tude. Let’s dive on in.

You always know it’s going to be a good ep when it opens with a loft heart-to-heart between Liza and Maggie, but not before Liza meets Maggie’s new boo Beth (with Liza’s ‘ew’ and hand wiping after Maggie tells her they just finished a session equal parts gold and gross). Their whole interaction, from the ‘I promise not to call him Chaz’ (was anyone else hoping she would call him Chaz, because I was HANGING for a Chaz drop at dinner. There’s still time...), to Liza sharing her concerns that Charles is secretly financing a new company and Maggie trying to justify all the coincidences and reassure her, it was just premium bff content. Not to mention a great set-up for the episode and follow on from the last one.

Liza continues to try and allay her suspicions about Charles by getting Kelsey’s view of the funding source after the morning meeting with my new fave power-trio (quick poll: Zane always looking like a dog who just ate your pizza - accurate or nay?) and Diana brings the top quality delivery of one liners right from the get-go as we’re introduced to this week’s author, Bronwyn Madigan (aka, the cash cow whose milk Millennial could use...yes, D. Trout, you did need to say that). Apparently baby boomers like to top off their reading of erotica with a good meatloaf (actual meatloaf, get your minds out of the euphemistic gutter) and that is now two foodstuffs I have a strained relationship with following this ep of Younger. Liza is able to quash her spidey senses re: the Mercury money briefly, as Kelsey reveals she’s been doing some digging and discovered the company is operating out of the financial district, therefore obviously it’s a big media company behind it. Obviously...

Lo and behold Kelsey marches her feisty self down to the Mercury office to confront Zane and weaves through hopeful start-up founders in a co-working space to find him (also, are AirPods a pre-req to land a job at Mercury?). Their entire exchange had a couple of ‘whoa’ moments for me. Exhibit A, when discussing how Zane secured Audrey Colbert’s book:

Kelsey: ‘So you slept with her? God, that is completely unethical. And so creepy”

Zane: ‘But it’s fine when you do it?’

File under: T for TRUTH. Not gonna lie, I almost applauded. I would have filed under H for Hypocrite except the next part of the conversation, in which Kelsey throws the accusation that Zane went after Audrey because he knew she was (and I’m with Zane on this one, she is going to need to learn to suck it up when Millennial loses out on books, our pal Kels is on one steep learning curve), followed with, ‘that book was important to me and you knew it’, goes straight to the H folder. How does Zane know it? Could it be because Kelsey told Zane she was going after Audrey’s book? Even after he told her he had a job, that he was just waiting for everything to line up and considering his history of swooping in and being competitive? While they are not fully comparable situations, I found this a bit rich considering the grief Kelsey gave Liza for discussing business with Charles (I get that was her insecurity and feeling he would interfere), when her discussions with Zane have seemingly led him to going after this book. Which is 100% in character for him btw.

I have been liking a lot of Kelsey’s boss moments this season but this week it certainly felt like she was in way over her head. At her lunch with Lauren, yet another combo I thoroughly enjoy on my screen, we once again see Lauren being the relentlessly supportive friend she always is and educating Kelsey on the dos and don’ts of dating apps (surely Kelsey knew that deleting an app doesn’t delete your profile right??? Putting it down to stress amnesia). Pointing out that putting your job title on your dating profile if it is in any way a potential threat to male ego is a big no-no (’this kind of over-accomplishment only works if you’re trying to pick up women’), Lauren offers up that Kelsey suffers from BDE. Of course we later discover that rather than big dick energy, Kelsey is suffering bald dude energy, confirmed by her alopecia diagnosis. I did so enjoy Kelsey’s dramatic reactions, ‘just keep an eye out ok?’, to the whole ordeal and it certainly added another element to the rising tension.

Cue hilarious conversation with Diana about her own battle with hair loss (not on her head) along with the rest of her ailments (shingles seems to be a running theme this season. Did someone in the writers room have a shingles flair up recently after reading a particularly terrible autobiography or suffer month-specific breakouts aka Diana’s electric tube top? Need to know). Even though it was not making Kelsey feel better necessarily, this was Diana being supportive in her own way and I am just here for it every day of the week. I think what I enjoyed most about the office scenes in this episode, aside from every single line that came out of Diana’s mouth, were the moments that were reminiscent of the old office dynamic. From Diana bleating ‘Liza’ as she enters Liza’s office (still can’t believe that’s a thing) with the idea of advertising erotica on the bike kiosks to the sarcasm when Liza asks ‘Bronwyn’s?’ and Diana responds with ‘no, my own’. We finally get to meet author of ‘The Seasoned Slut’ (loving the guest casting this season btw) who oozes a self-assurance that only serves to emphasise her reason for not re-signing with Millennial: that her problem ‘is with the lack of value placed on experience’. Ugh, I loved this line. 

I loved it because it is an absolute reality, especially for women in the workplace, and goes hand in hand with the ageism this show’s entire premise was built upon. I loved it because this show tells us that experience is and should be valued through Zane’s comment in episode one, that Kelsey should not lose Diana as she is the best in the business and Kelsey telling Diana that she values and respects her. And I loved this line because the set-up for this season remains true to the original premise and challenges it at the same time, taking another look at the role age/experience and gender play in success and reinventing yourself. Did I mention I love this show?

Liza’s reaction to the question of ‘where is the grey hair in the room?’ was also noted, a nice reminder that the age-lie is still in play and is never far from the surface. The other thing I loved in the meeting with Bronwyn was Diana’s horror that she a) might be considered the demographic for her books and b) ‘do people think I’m her age?’ I cannot imagine a time I will ever watch this line and not roar with laughter. I also love that that was the main takeaway Diana had from the whole BJ comment this woman just casually dropped in as she exited, you know, as one might mention they know a great bagel place you might enjoy nearby. 

Josh’s parenting journey continues to unfold as he gets his first overnight stay with Gemma, but not before experiencing some kind of parental rite of passage and being squirted in the face with breast milk. I know there is a lot of mistrust of Clare out there in the internet but I will keep saying this week after week, I am so enjoying seeing Josh and Clare navigating this modern-day parenting arrangement together. I appreciate Josh’s desire to be there for both Clare and Gemma in any way he can and I appreciate that Clare appears to be open and wanting the same. I am not the biggest fan of baby storylines in general but I tell you what, to see Lauren pacing up and down cradling this little person, I am 100% pro-baby. This is one of my favourite moments of the whole episode and just when I thought there couldn’t possibly be any more layers to Lauren Heller, I get the up-all-night-with-crying-baby Lauren and I simply cannot: ‘I have been up all night with a crying baby. Why? I don’t know, because the rest of you either don’t have ears or you don’t have souls’. Early contender for line of the season. Kelsey’s bag-of-hair inducing scream finally wakes Josh and Lauren’s reaction, for him to ‘get it together man, Kelsey doesn’t need this’, epitomises Lauren’s selfless nature (which I just love as it seems so contradictory to her sometimes self-absorbed tendencies). It was not because she was up all night with his child, it was that Kelsey was in the midst of a crisis that Lauren needed Josh to pull it together and it just reinforces yet again what a multi-dimensional, caring character she is. And yes Josh, you are the dad, not the babysitter (kudos for this Alison Brown) so you may need to learn to sleep a little more lightly or something FYI.

Kelsey’s hair stress continues to play out as she runs into Maggie, who was also hoping to make a covert pharmaceutical purchase and the two wander back to Maggie’s for the scene I have been looking forward to since the possibility of such a scene came into play. I am of course talking about dinner at the loft and the integration of Charles into the friend circle. Kelsey’s freak out seems to be hitting fever pitch as she asks Beth for advice but this is soon interrupted by the arrival of Charles and Liza, who come bearing blackout cake (which I googled and holy chocolate pudding it looks AMAZING) in the most adorbs coupley entrance and don’t mind me, just having a quiet gush over here. Ok, I’m done. While Kelsey is over chatting with her old boss, Beth puts her naturopathy into practice by suggesting Maggie take a more natural approach to treating her yeast infection, doing some seasoning of her own to let a clove of garlic work its magic. Between jalapeno dick and garlic vag, this show loves to make us consider our spices in a whole new light.

This entire dinner party scene was next level, I want to frame a picture of it and put it on my wall because yes. We have casual, relaxed Charles, who is the first to ask if there is garlic bread on the menu (I love so much that he was the first to smell it) and seriously, from this moment, the unfolding of the garlic saga was nothing short of amazing. Kelsey was so amped this whole scene, she’s like a tightly wound ball and it was palpable. Her interjections as she commented that it smells like an everything bagel and agreement about the garlic knot and escargot were just brilliant contrasts to her otherwise increasing intensity. I so adored seeing Kelsey and Charles interacting casually and seeing what this would (ahem, could have) look like. But Kelsey asking Liza if she’d told Charles about Brownyn Madigan...I’m sorry, but how could she WHEN SHE CAN’T TALK ABOUT WORK WITH CHARLES? This bit made my head hurt a bit. Surely Liza in that moment must have been thinking the same (also Liza’s moment of identifying a garlic knot, so so good). 

What I love most about this scene is that we have Kelsey’s conversation getting more intense by the minute as she jumps from unloading about the stress of work, to Zane and his new venture, before finally climaxing with her ‘who is it?’ declaration, all the while having zero suspicion that Mercury’s investor is sitting right beside her. Side note: I really like Charles’ comment that he’s sure it is business, not personal re: Zane. I think it’s interesting considering the stereotype that women are too emotional vs. men and I’m curious to see how this plays out this season as Kelsey finds her feet. Meanwhile, Charles is trying to have a nice double date with his gf, while also keeping a secret that is the cause of much of the distress Kelsey is sharing with the table, while Liza takes the opportunity to make Charles squirm by pressing the point about the money for Zane’s venture coming from somewhere. It’s such an intricate web and of course parallel to that is Maggie’s secret vagina garlic that has the whole room assuming some kind of paranormal baking is taking place before Maggie responds to Kelsey’s ‘who is it?’ with, ‘it’s me!’ and it was just too much. My reaction was the same as everyone around the table when Maggie announced the source of the garlicky aroma, what a dinner party (and what a way for Charles to avoid any further scrutiny).

I am so glad that the conversation that needed to happen finally did this week and that was, of course, Liza confronting Charles about his involvement in Mercury. Oy, my heart. It broke a little when Liza gave Charles the opportunity to come clean and he didn’t and she had to ask so directly. It was so good to hear these two talking, like properly talking, and Charles explaining that he had to make choices in order to be with Liza but he never wanted to give up publishing for good was great insight into the journey Charles has been on post-Empirical, especially as we really haven’t been privy to that. I felt for both of them at various stages during the conversation. I do believe Liza understands why Charles would want to reinvent himself but I also understand why she would feel so hurt that he would keep such a huge thing from her (although again, they’d agreed not to talk about work at Liza’s request so *insert shrug emoji here*). 

But it does highlight an ongoing issue which I really hope gets properly addressed sometime soon and that is where Liza’s loyalties lie. I think it is unquestionably not ok that Charles set up a rival company while Chairman of the Board of Millennial, for obvious reasons. However, had he told Liza, she would have felt compelled to tell Kelsey, which I have no doubt Charles knows and would expect as she is the publisher, so in not telling Liza he is yes protecting his own interests but also stopping her from being in a compromised position. So while Charles’ secrecy is disappointing, so is Liza’s text to Kelsey the following morning asking to meet before work after Charles asked specifically that she tell no one about him financing Mercury just yet. 

This episode comes to a head at Suffolk House in a most spectacular fashion. Hilary Duff really did knock this entire ep out of the water with her acting, I cannot heap enough praise on her for the entire performance. You just knew it was gonna be good when Liza turned up as Kelsey was intercepting Bronwyn in an attempt to convince her that Zane was a bitter ex-employee (not very professional IMO but we won’t focus on that for now), only to discover that Bronwyn didn’t know Zane from a wart on her butt (delightful). She was in fact there to meet...dun-dun-dunnnnn...Charles (shout-out to the three piece suit, always a welcome sight, did not disappoint)! Kelsey was justifiably angry, however the stark contrast in experience and maturity was well and truly on show as she proceeded to express herself very loudly and publicly, despite Charles and Zane suggesting they step outside. Zane clocked the smart phone filming the entire incident and you just knew that Kelsey’s outburst was going to come back to bite her.

Regardless of whether Kelsey was in the right or wrong, she certainly came off worse in the way she handled it. My favourite part of the scene was Liza FINALLY re-awakening that gutsy silver suit wearing power, her turning and telling Bronwyn that Charles called her books matron lit was this season’s manuscript drop. And thank f-ing god. One of the things I’ve always loved about the Liza/ Charles dynamic is that Liza stands up for herself with him when she doesn’t with so many others and she is not afraid to call him out, which has been missing these past couple of eps. So now that that has been restored, I am legit so excited to see how this relationship moves forward.

The ramifications of the restaurant confrontation are of course trending on Reddit by the next morning, and Liza and Diana have the unenviable job of delivering the news that even though Charles was in the wrong for setting up the company the way he did, he has since resigned from the board and a number of authors are making noise about jumping ship to Mercury (I was going to say that I think Kelsey might have preferred it if her eyebrows actually had fallen off in that moment but I feel like that’s probs false).

The fact that Kelsey and Charles are pitted against one another as publishers and Liza and Zane as editors provides the most glorious opportunity to explore the ideas of reputation vs. experience. vs. gender vs. fresh ideas and I am so here for it, so damn excited, and so sure that whatever ends up playing out this season, it will be nothing that I expect. In the meantime I’m going to compile every Diana Trout line from this episode into a ringtone because what workplace wouldn’t want Diana talking about nutcracker’s oesophagus ringing through the open-plan office?

[managician]

ARC V Anniversary Day 12

Disccusion prompt: Favorite ships?

ARC V has really made me ship a lot of things, be it with or without taking canon into account just because of the potential, so buckle up ‘cause this is gonna be long. I kept it to a top 10 or otherwise I’d be here all day. Honorable mentions to prodigy and whistle, as they barely didn’t make it.

(PD this is a reupload because I realised the post wasn’t showing up properly, so if you’ve seen it before already I apologize)

With that out of the way, let’s go!

10. Natureshipping

I love many of the bgirl/bgirl ships so naturally I’d love all of them being together… Not only for the awesome aesthetic though, I also think their personalities would fit so nicely with each other and they’d like having the chance to meet and talk about everything they’ve gone through; I have so many fluffy headcanons for them and I really just wanna see them bonding and being happy together!

09. Frypanshipping

Probably the oddest ship in this list, I sure as hell didn’t expect to like them so much, but Crow really helped in making Shingo become a better person, and poor Shingo clutching onto his card post BB-arc the entire time made me so emotional. You could tell they had a good relationship and were very happy to be fighting together after that, they’re so cute.

08. Wingshipping

Look at these two precious babs… On a visual level they both have some of my favorite designs in all of ARC V and they’re both counterparts, so I was bound to at the very least consider pairing them up, but when they actually had a rather peaceful meeting in canon all things considered, and immediately valued each other? When you take into account all the possible fluff and angst you could make with setting these two into any scenario? I was soo sold. And they both share the egao philosophy, they’d definitely get along… It’s just fun to think about ideas with them.

07. Janushipping

I have a weak spot for Fusion/XYZ ships because I think there’s so much room for growth and forgiveness if done right, and while I didn’t expect Dennis and Ruri to actually have some backstory together, this relationship has all I could wish for both of their characters. It adds personal conflict to their stories (especially on Ruri’s side, something that isn’t about being related to Shun or Yuto) and leaves room for Dennis to be able to apologize and improve himself after the war; not to mention their aesthetics mesh beautifully together. It’s so easy to picture them awkwardly falling back into an acquaintanceship and figuring out together where to go from there.

06. Fruitshipping

aka the ‘these two care so fucking much for each other, I don’t know how you can watch arc v and at the very least not appreciate their relationship’ ship.

I don’t know what to say that hasn’t been said about them already, honestly. I was admittedly… Reticent, let’s say, to ship this at first, because the relationships between the protagonist and lead girl in YGO shows tend to be lackluster at best for me, but they built each other up as equals from day one and have a genuinely heartwarming friendship, where they know they can lean on each other for support no matter what. They’re one of the most important people for the other and you can feel that throughout the entire show. To this day they hold the honour of being the only protag/main girl ship I can stand romantically.

Though… since they’re so well-executed in canon, I don’t feel the need to seek fanworks of them because there’s no real conflict in their relationship, if that makes sense, haha.

05. Mysteryshipping

This is sort of to be expected as I enjoy all the relationships between this trio separately (even if Yuto/Yuzu’s was short-lived); this shot in the 2nd ED is what got me to even become interested in the OT3 potential, though it was after I finished the show. Yuzu had clearly been having a period of self-doubt in S1 because of the Yuto situation, and thanks to episodes 36-37 we got a wonderful showcase of how well Yuto and Yuya would have clicked, so if Yuzu happened to explain her problem to either of them and caused them to meet in not-so-tragic circumstancies… You can only dream of the possibilities. And thanks to their bonds being established early on, you can expand on them during or post canon events, both in a positive and negative light. We’ve seen teamwork and discussions between all of them already; it’s fun to try to translate that dynamic into a three-way interaction (cranky but overly protective Yuto being dragged around by his two enthusiastic Standard S/Os who also happen to love each other very much, for one).

04. Musicboxshipping

Gosh, these two are just so cute together. Sora was heavily influenced by both Yuya and Yuzu, but you can tell their relationship is really important by the way they both act with each other, especially during the Synchro Arc. Sora taught Yuzu how to Fusion Summon and thanks to that Yuzu was able to become stronger; but Sora also was able to form a solid connection with her and basically made his first true friend in all of his life. They support each other and care about each other so much that even after they know of Sora’s true colours, Yuzu still has blind faith in him, and Sora returns that feeling by saving her from her Duel crash and even being unable to carry the mission Academia gave him because he treasured their friendship that much. Their little master/apprentice moments are adorable and really give off the fluffy energy these two have around each other; and of course Sora’s Mad Chimera and Yuzu’s Bloom Prima dancing together was beautiful too! That was such a lovely scene that made me really appreciate the trust they have in each other.

03. Swiftshipping

I shipped them together from the moment I learned both of them had been kidnapped, and I was really happy when I saw that their designs fit well with each other’s color scheme. They’re both very caring for people they hold close and since there was no indication of the opposite, for the longest time I assumed they were in a cell together. Imagining both of them trying to comfort and support each other through their predicament got me really invested in their possible relationship, and even if it didn’t turn out like I’d hoped in the end, I still had a solid grasp on their personalities by that time, and I couldn’t let go of all the AUs and concepting I’d made for them. It should be said that I have a really weak spot for f/f ships, and this one hit many of my favorite tropes (stuck in same bad situation where they both would try to be strong for each other’s sake, different growing-up backgrounds; to name a few) so my investment only went up from there. I love them so much.

02. Triggershipping

I didn’t expect them to interact much, much less positively, and much less for them to grow to care for each other so much in a short span of time. They have such a friendly and beautiful relationship; Yugo hugging Yuzu because he thought she was Rin and poor Yuzu becoming a blushing mess was a sure way to make me interested from the get go in them, haha. And it only got better from there! Even though she was a complete stranger to him, Yugo still tried to comfort Yuzu to the best of his abilities and looked out for her, fully trusting everything she said, even if to someone else it would’ve sounded like a crazy story. And you can tell Yuzu grows very comfortable with being around Yugo; their small scene with the domestic bantering and her pulling out her fan says that much, as she only uses it with people she really cares for. Whenever they’re on screen together you know you’re gonna be in for a good time, their interactions are always funny and heartwarming.

Yugo saying that Yuzu will always live on his heart in a similar manner to what Yuri said of Rin made me realise how much she really meant to him, and both of them cheering for each other in their Friendship Cup duels was adorable. But if you put their situation into context their relationship is… really sad, as Yugo has lost Rin and Yuzu is all by herself in an unknown dimension. They have that perfect mix of fluff and angst to work with that I love in ships. I adore their relationship; even if it was born out of less than desirable circumstancies, they made it work and learned to appreciate and love each other. It’s always a source of inspiration for me!

(And Yugo’s lack of knowledge of what personal space is just made it even easier to ship them)

01. Counterpartshipping

ARC V has always had the uncanny ability of making me consider ships in the span of a single episode because of the wonderful character interactions. But these two… These two really take the cake. I’m not exaggerating when I say the relationship and development between them has made me cry.    

Anyone who has heard me talk about YGO may know how much I like them. As I mentioned in a previous post where I talked about my favorite characters, I hadn’t expected to enjoy Yuto’s character so much, and much less this ship. Yuto remains a latent force of encouragement for Yuya during the entire show; as Reiji beautifully points out on his duel with Yuya after the Battle Royale fiasco, Yuya’s immediate connection with Yuto thanks to their shared ideology was the bond that allowed him to perform a XYZ Summon. His concern for Yuto in episode 37 was so palpable that it hurt; Yuto went from being some random shady dude who was beating up his friend Sora to a kind damaged person who believed in Yuya’s potential to make people happy in a way that he no longer could. It’s really interesting for me to analyse how deeply they affected each other in a short span of time. We’d seen that Yuto was a very protective person thanks to his interactions with Yuzu, so when he said that he didn’t want to hurt anyone else and ended up protecting Yuya at the cost of his own life… It drove the point home, Yuto really saw Yuya as someone worth protecting and that made it so much more painful.

Yuya also later on refers to their dialogue as a vow/promise, despite the fact that Yuto never said so, which really shows just how much thought he put into his words; to the point where those very words managed to snap him out of Berserk Mode when he was about to fight Sora. It really moved me, and the soul-crushing sensation I felt then stayed fresh in my mind right until the final season, which made me fall in love with them even more. They argued, they had fallouts, but their undying trust for each other still rose through all the problems. Yuto trusted Yuya so much that he essentially told him he was okay with falling to darkness because he knew Yuya would be okay and he’d still believe in him no matter what; that moment nearly made me actually tear up because it shows how much they’d helped each other grow.

They’re hands down one of the, if not my most favorite ship in all of the YGO series, and they’ve spurred my creativity so much. I love making AUs or analysing their interactions. They made me interested in creating content for other people to enjoy after I’d hit a stalemate 5 months ago, I’ll just never be able to express how much I love them and how grateful I am that they got to meet.

[applegelstore]

My sis and I are through with the actual main plot of KH3, so I can officially go back to scheduled ToZ fangirling now. …Well, I promised Cray a bit of fix-it-fanart, so after that, I guess.

Hit the cut for a resume. It got super long and has endgame story spoilers, so you might not want to stumble upon it by accident.

Another extra big shoutout (again!) to @crazayrock for bearing my liveblogging on Discord, screaming without context and occasional spoilers. And linking me fluffy Soriku doujinshi. Here, have my favourite, spoiler-heavy excerpt of our conversation:

Okay anyway, let’s get started: GAMEPLAY

Kingdom Hearts 3 is BEAUTIFUL. The gameplay is so smooth and intuitive that you can immediately get to playing like you’d never done anything else; in fact so smooth that I doubt I will ever be able to pick up the first game ever again. It’s always been fun, but the looooooong years’ gap actually did wonders to the gameplay.

The keyblade form changes are fun and keep things fresh, you can do flashy triangle button shit every other minute, and shotlock is still insanely useful without being a game-breaker.

It seems easier than the first two main games, though?

The gummi ship is still a pain in the ass to steer, but I do enjoy the open world-like travel options (even if there’s not… much to discover except heartless lasering the shit out of you). I’m also eternally grateful that they kept the gummi ship thing from KH2 where you can just use a new gummi ship once you got the blueprint and don’t buy actual fucking legos as in the first game.

Thank you, Square. Not thanking you for the dumb cherry flan game, though.

The Caribbean being basically an open world stage was delightful! Apparently what our resident island kid needs is a big ship and tropical islands to plunder.

VISUALS AND STUFF

PRETTY LIGHTS EVERYWHERE

The long gap between the games also did wonders to the visuals.

There’s finally, FINALLY a few towns with actual NPCs you can talk to. Why it took the team so many years and the Gods know how many games is beyond me. The magic effects are beautiful, the animations smooth (honestly you can hardly tell apart cutscenes and fully rendered CGI scenes in this day and age of the PS4. I’m probably the only person still amazed by this because the only games I played on PS4 before were a few hours of Child of Light and of course Tales of Zestiria and Berseria. No, I still haven’t played FFXV but that’s a topic for another day). How far videogames have come.Even space finally looks like space, lol. Not really high-end what the PS4 can do I assume but god, it’s such an amazing and much needed upgrade from the terrible textureless colourful tubes you flew through before.

No excuse for the terrible battleship thingy before the Keyblade Graveyard, though. I got lost and beaten up so many times and crashed against more walls than I can count.

Nothing beats the World that Never Was, but the Keyblade Graveyard also has creepy cool potential, as does the beautiful but ghosted City in the Sky.

Still not getting what’s with JRPGs and very Definitely Final Dungeons (TM) that are basically space. …………or heaven. Or nothing. I’m getting the bad kind of original NGE TV series ending vibes. But. Okay.

The soundtrack is splendid

.……I miss Traverse Town and Radiant Garden, however.

Which brings us to:

THE WORLDS

I guess I can live with no more Final Fantasy characters being there (although I always loved that), and the meta jokes in Toy Story world really got me. Seeing Disney characters calling the KH villains call out on their shit was delightful. …the KH characters lampshading their own games’ sloppy dialogue writing was delightful.Still, those Disney worlds are always so much more in my head than what I actually get to play. This has been bugging me ever since the first game and it still does. I do not expect or want to replay the entire movies, but would it hurt to give the cutscenes some goddamn background music? Whenever there’s cutscenes, either the world’s usual BGM keeps playing or the music stops altogether. Together with the shortened dialogues and generally drastically shortened plots with odd cuts, that leads to scenes that are awkward at best. They never even remotely have the impact the movies had. You just sit there and think “oh wow that is so silly and awkward”.

Dancing scene in Corona? My favorite scene in Tangled. Zero impact on me without the lovely BGM (at least they made it a minigame so the moment isn’t over after 3 secs). Just for example. You can ask me like, world by world, but I can think of only exception off the top of my head and it’s not helping:

Let it Go of course. Listen guys, I actually love the song. But it’s so overused (and Frozen is an overrated movie at best that doesn’t deserve its hype in the slightest) that I can’t even really enjoy it being there. Like.


IF THAT’S OKAY WITH YOU,WHY DIDN’T YOU INCLUDE LITERALLY ANY OTHER ORIGINAL SONG FROM THE ORIGINAL MOVIES. Instead of BGM just not being there entirely, or in odd, cringey re-renderings that nobody wants to listen to (*cough* Atlantica *cough*).

Why torture me and not give me the one good scene from At World’s End (the up is down scene) when you had the chance?Kingdom Hearts is also prone to super lazy level design and wasting chances at wonderful scenery for no apparent reason other than I suppose empty cliffsides are quick to render. All games before did that, and KH3 is, sadly, no exception. We get to see a bit of Corona and Athens and they finally have NPCs, too, but you cannot even get near Arendelle. You cannot enter Elsa’s palace. You spend the entire time there climbing around in the snowy mountains of Norway, and unfortunately it looks less interesting than one would expect from the lovely concept art that the film unfortunately never used.You cannot enter Rapunzel’s tower although Sora can apparently parkour his way up even without her help.

………In short, the places you can go are, again, very limited, and a lot of interesting places and scenes you never get to see.

And to follow the plot you still only need the stuff that does NOT happen in those Disney worlds because they’re all beach filler episodes. It’s always been like that, but I keep wondering whether I’m the only one bothered by that. I’m also still salty they didn’t introduce a single new world from a 2D animated movie.

Also, as I said, I miss Traverse Town, it felt so warm and welcoming and beautiful.

And I get behind The World that Never Was missing although I loved it there, but why not give us back Radiant Garden? Destiny Islands since they’ve been restored? Disney Castle?

As much as I love the series, it never fucking lives up to its own potential. Idk whether it’s made more difficult by copyright issues or whatever, I just know that it bugs me.The first two games also had like twice as many worlds.

PLOT

I mean it’s never been deep; however, it’s complicated. No analysis or whatever from me because plot analysis and meta writing bore me like seven hells, just my emotional reaction: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH 
Okay, bad news. I got into it expecting nothing, and still got disappointed. I don’t actually enjoy the prospect of writing essays about it, but here’s my tea with it; in not particular order:

1) the pacing is terrible. Nothing happens for like 30 hours and then suddenly like 20 characters’ arcs are (naturally poorly) resolved within the last few hours of cutscenes. Build up anyone? At least they actually did pick up Maleficent and the box thing again. …In the epilogue.

2) Speaking of build ups, Sora’s breakdown could have been developed nicely and steadily over the game to feel natural, and instead it’s hinted at in the beginning by everyone picking on him, but then it’s never further developed and comes out of fucking nowhere. Like. For real? It felt terribly OOC.

3) Why on earth have they shown 90% of the plot in the trailers already, and why are those scenes so massively disappointing in context

4) Kairi. Oh god, Kairi. What are we gonna do with you. I want to love her, I really do, but she’s a prime example of shittily written female leads. Mostly because she’s not leading. It’s not her fault. She’s just a fictional character. But honest to God, Nomura, why. Her screen time is almost nonexistent, and she’s entirely use- and helpless whenever she’s on screen (which isn’t often). Her ONLY point in the plot is being rescued because she is fucking useless. Why. Just why. Why waste her character like that. All we know is that she’s shoehorned into being the token love interest, but she has zero plot relevance and there is even less build up of her relationship with Sora. It’s all tell and NEVER show; and not even much telling, either. She has literally zero direct interaction with in the entire game before they share their paopu. The question remains: why are straights like this

5) On a related note: look, I don’t even ask for (or expect, or even hope) my ship to be canon. Squeenix doesn’t exactly have a rich history in queer representation. I’m totally fine with Sora and Riku being best friends. BUT. Building up Sora as the most important person in Riku’s life (and arguably, vice versa) over the course of several games, just to then hardly have them interact in the finale and then SUDDENLY bring back Kairi into the equation, who hasn’t interacted with him since the ending of KH2 (except for one unsent(?) letter) is just piss poor writing, period.I actually love Cray’s suggestion she gave me over Discord: let Sora, Kairi and Riku all share a paopu together (and let them group hug, too, you cowards). It would have been the perfect message to send (Sora as truly all-loving hero, and loving all your friends equally; romantic love isn’t more important than platonic love and doesn’t need to be singled out). Really sad that this isn’t what happens. Apparently that wouldn’t have been no homo enough.

LET THE DESTINY TRIO GROUP HUG YOU COWARDS


Do Riku and Kairi even interact once in the whole game?


HOW IS THIS A TRIO, IT’S JUST A SHITTILY WRITTEN LOVE TRIANGLE

6) Time travelling is a bitch, Christ. It doesn’t solve plotholes or can be played for drama, it just adds MORE plotholes. It just got WORSE. The cloning blues and people not aging doesn’t help, either.

7) Just so you know, I care absolutely zero for wild fan theories. You’re not Nomura. I want a statement from the man who wrote this shit himself why on bloody earth Sora dies when he apparently successfully found and brought back Kairi (and since nobody aged a day, apparently it didn’t even take that long lol). DUDES, THIS IS KINDA PART OF THE PLOT, AND YOU DON’T BOTHER TO EXPLAIN IT INGAME???? And how was Ienzo/Zexion able to revive Naminé while Kairi was still missing/dead/whatever…?

Okay so in short the writing is worse than ever and that’s saying something.

However, let’s try to find something good in this trainwreck; it wasn’t all bad. There’s some really nice scenes which sadly are better enjoyed without any context at all.

So, guess my favourite scenes.You had time enough, here’s the solution:

1) Purifying uhm er rescuing Aqua. Poor girl. She deserves the rest. Poor, poor Aqua. The only properly wirrten female in the whole damn franchise. Also the only person other than Riku who fucking gets shit done.

2) The Gayblade (TM)

3) Happy Axel in the reunion with his kids. Oh god, the poor chap deserves it so much. Thank you, Nomura. I don’t care that it makes pretty much no sense. Make him happy. Give him his friends back. Just give Axel all his friends and let him happily set things on fire. Hi I love Axel

4) The party at the beach cutscene before the credits roll. Axel and Xion get clothes. Half the organization is on our side now. I almost teared up at the Wayfinder trio saying goodbye to Eraqus’ forceghost. Hey come on he’s the voice of Luke Skywalker

5) Sully yeeting Vanitas

6) Woody calling out Xehanort that nobody loves him

7) Jack Sparrow bad breathing Luxord

I wish we had gotten:

1) justice for Kairi

2) a happy Zexion, the poor emo kid. Well maybe now he will be, with all the orga members who changed sides now, lol.

3) I will never trust mobile games ever again so I don’t want to play KHUX but I would have loved to learn about the Keyblade Wars :;))))


WHAT WAS THE KEYBLADE WAR ABOUT CAN WE SPEND MORE TIME IN THAT COOL CITY IN THE SKY WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH MIKLEO
I MEAN THAT EPHEMER KIDDO


WHAT’S WITH THE MASKED DUDES AND DUDETTES FROM THE MOVIE


WTF WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM AFTER THE MOVIE???? WHERE THOSE KEYBLADE USER NAMES ACTUAL MOBILE GAME PLAYER NAMES??? Next game? PLEASE?

I really, REALLY hope the epilogue means we will get Xiggy/Luxu as our new big bad and we learn more about the five dudes and dudettes from the movie. Please. PLEASE. I’m so up for it. Them finally pickung up the bit with Maleficent and the mysterious box again? Hell yeah.

The secret movie was really unexciting in comparison, although I laughed very hard at the “Verum Rex” scene in Toy Story world. Maybe that’s why it was much cheaper to unlock than in KH1 and KH2.

4) give Ven a drink

DLC ideas I would actually pay for because I’m a sad human being: 1) more Disney worlds 2) Japanese audio 3) at least one of the following as permanently playable characters: Riku, Kairi, Axel, Ven, Aqua. At least as a guest member as in KH2. THIS SUCH A BIG STEP BACKWARDS I’M FUMING

FINAL THOUGHTS

Kingdom Hearts 3 is a hella lot of fun, beautiful, and also moving when it sets its mind to it. Unfortunately it doesn’t always do so. I don’t feel like it wasn’t worth the wait; it was. However, I’m very salty how rotten the writing is. I do not mind logical fallacies, I do not mind the cheesiness and cringeyness; however, I do mind how so many interesting characters do not get the screentime they deserve, and Kairi is a very bad joke.

I’ll probably find more to nitpick about (Gods. Just. Don’t come up with dub excuses why Sora is lv 1 in each game. JUST LEAVE IT BE. You don’t explain why Donald and Goofy are lv 1 again, either. JUST. LEAVE. IT. BE. The sacrifice was dumb and not even moving, I’m just still furious that Kairi’s ONLY point in the plot is being so useless that it’s literally getting herself KILLED and she needs constant rescuing to the point that Sora has to sacrifice himself for her, effectively. Kairi deserves better, Sora deserves better, I deserve better than to think about this absurdity.…I’m just… gonna cherry-pick the good bits from the lore and try to pretend the finale didn’t exist, I guess. GODS.

[echoeternally]

BAF Postmortem ~ Characters

Protagonists! (The Main Couple)

My main couple that I wanted to be the focus of the story. It originally started with trying to figure out how to set these characters along to make them fun to follow, and gradually became a project on developing characters altogether!

Greninja

The first character that I had written for and planned on using, that’s Greninja.

Seems pretty typical for folks that want to write about their favorite “popularmons,” but this was back just after X and Y had been released; Greninja was doing well, but still wasn’t in the anime at the time (Ash-Greninja wasn’t even a daydream), and had just been tossed into the latest Super Smash Bros. games (For).

But hey, it was a Water type Pokémon, a Starter no less, and a ninja frog; I don’t think there was a way that I was avoiding using him. 

Since this was coming up after I had written for my Super Mario fanfic, I wanted a character that wasn’t quite as front and center as the main characters from that story, at least not to start with.

So, I went with a shy ninja fellow, one that was added to the roster for the king’s personal army. To fit with, well, internal monologues for readers to follow, he was kind of caught up in daydreaming and getting lost in thought when I originally wrote him.

Greninja was also a lot more awkward, having moments that he would kind of burst out and/or babble/ramble his thoughts and emotions a bit more impulsively than he does later on.

He joined them alongside his clansman, Accelgor, who I had been planning on having something of a close relationship with Greninja, but never really wrote it out for the starting concepts.

(I still haven’t quite flourished it yet, but at least they have more interactions than before!)

Through his knowing Accelgor, he gained interaction with Escavalier, who sought him out for advice on his wife.

Otherwise, he pretty much observed others and noted them, but didn’t really hold meaningful interactions with many. It was the kind of typical sort of feeling from a first person perspective, where the other characters just exist to fill holes, and you don’t really worry about their existence at all.

(Not that Greninja would help the audience really care about them, since he kind of just went about his own business. This wasn’t even based on his character; that’s just how the writing depicted him.)

This later developed as I wrote out the actual story, sharing his leading role with his love interest, Chesnaught. Greninja was still introspective, shy, and awkward, but gained a much-needed boost in elegance.

Whereas prior writing had focused on his odd qualities that set him apart from the cast, it was now reshaped to make him alluring instead, with an air of mystery that intrigued others to him, beyond his superior skill and speed as a fighter.

The main boon that Greninja gained was his interpersonal connections. To better balance him alongside Chesnaught, I wanted to give Greninja a rising scale of connections to other characters.

This is showcased when he starts picking up friends in the middle portions of the story, forming fast friends with others, but maintaining those friendships through interaction and support. Doing so balances him to Chesnaught’s connections with the other knights. These friends help Greninja explore his desires more through their encouragement.

Although he remains quick to romance and develops a weighty crush on Chesnaught, Greninja also doesn’t expect his affections returned, holding back on ever telling Chesnaught how he feels, and assuming his partner has no interest in him. In fact, he’s practically given up on the pursuit until another character convinces him to just plug away at life regardless.

It comes down to the point where he’s confessing his feelings not to find love, but just to be open. And that’s a middle ground he dances along oftentimes: contrary to some aspects of his personality, he’s not the type to his affections based on his romantic inclinations. However, he’s not eager to dump this side of him out where it’s not appropriate either.

By the story’s end, Greninja is still a shy and quieter type of character, but one that looks to grow honestly. His relationship, signaled by his silent acceptance of his boyfriend’s public declaration, is what becomes a driving factor for him to keep being true to himself, and to come out more with others.

Chesnaught

My second character written, originally serving as a love interest until I later upgraded his role to a lead protagonist with his eventual boyfriend.

Something gave me an inkling of a feeling that Chesnaught wasn’t going to be the most popular of the Starter trio. Just a hunch, I suppose. Personally, I enjoyed all three of the Kalos trio, and was a bit bothered by this idea.

So, knowing that Greninja was going to be the main character, the idea was to make Chesnaught his love interest, in hopes to appeal to the wider audience that might grow to like Chesnaught as well. (Ok, so I wasn’t completely oblivious to Greninja’s potential popularity.)

His original character acting only as a one-off story’s love interest, however, felt very bland. Chesnaught was fairly popular for the other characters, being more loved by his fellow knights over others, but he was generally liked by many overall. Cheery, easygoing, and attractive were pretty much his traits, which…made him feel a lot more like an object and a lot less like a character.

And that was the prompting factor that made me want to rework the story to improve him a lot more.

(Especially given that I had written another story that alternated between the two main protagonists, another couple, which was a lot more balanced.)

To do so as soon as possible, I wanted to write the first scene from his perspective. This helped give that initial push to not only begin developing Chesnaught, but also the world around him; even if it’s all new to the readers, Chesnaught could still make a reliable narrator to introduce the castle, the knights, and essentially the plot.

His personality was able to open up more flaws to flesh him out as well. Though he retained his positive characteristics, Chesnaught was also saddled with some flaws.

He was a bit more oblivious this time around, not catching onto Greninja’s feelings like he did in the concept. This tipped into his own awkward behaviors, increasing how relatable he’d end up as a character, since he didn’t quite pick up hints from the other characters.

Though he does eventually discover Greninja’s interest in him, it’s after other characters suggest it to him. To his credit, he’s not the type to fall at first blush either; though he’s attracted to Greninja, he doesn’t immediately act upon it, not looking to develop a love-at-first-sight type affair. Slow burn for Chesnaught’s less than stellar speed, I suppose.

Chesnaught also picked up some insecurity, with his popularity being less based on himself and more on maintaining projected norms around his knight comrades. He wasn’t comfortable with himself around them either, not to the same extent as before, until it’s finally revealed that none of them are aware of his romantic inclinations. (This also made it so that he would never be the first to reveal his budding romantic interest.)

By adding this, he was now less attached to his portion of characters that would take up his attention, as there was an unmentioned desire for him to get space, allowing readers to follow him for isolated instances, or to have one-on-one interactions.

But with these flaws, he was also able to gain a more dedicated focus on bettering himself, through improving his strength and interest in combat practices.

This in turn helped differentiate how each would tell the story to a degree, with Chesnaught’s segments focusing more on combative instances and less on descriptions. The world was new to Greninja, not him, but the battles were something he could pay attention to. He’s even perhaps a touch on the impulsive side here too.

In spite of these inclinations, he still remains open to suggestion, which allows the other characters to help him grow comfortable with his pursuing his interests. So when Greninja finally confessings his attraction, Chesnaught is immediate to reciprocate, deciding to break past his barriers to follow his heart.

Though he’s still working on this by story’s end, Chesnaught discovers Greninja’s desires to be open on multiple levels. This pushes him to his ending gamble, publicly revealing his love for Greninja. Its development is saved for later in the next story.

[gloves94]

White Holes [Cassian Andor] [6/10]

Warnings: Language Pairings: Cassian Andor/OC Summary: Captain Cassian Andor was an Officer of Rebel Intelligence for the Alliance. An emotionless tool. There was nothing more to his life than following orders and working for the Resistance. Hell! His only friend was an Imperial droid named K-2SO. So what happens when he is struck by a love at first sight and meets Dr. Lya Stryker? Will their story has a happy ending? (CassianxOC)

My fanfiction: M A S T E R L I S T

A whole new set of trainees were arriving at Yavin 4. Supporters of the Rebellion and the cause everyone had pledged their lives to. Cassian observed them. Most were children. Barely over the age of 14. Each one of them traveled from beyond the reals of the galaxy to provide their services to their cause against the Empire. Striving mechanics, soldiers, technicians, fighter pilots, and medics all crammed the main building of the headquarters. The base's commander greeted each one of them and dismissed them to a post. Today would be the day that Lux and Adair graduated from Dr. Stryker's training. They weren't quite ready to be professional medics yet; however, they had graduated from their mentorship. They would now serve to check up medics. They would assist doctor's and keep busy with clinic hours aiding those with malaise and minor injuries, then work their way up the ladder. "I'm proud of both you," Lya said looking at both of her apprentices her violet eyes reflected the pride she felt for them. "I am more than certain that both of you will be excellent medics, and don't be strangers. I'll still be around the base." She smiled at both of them. Both smiled back at her, the young couple held their hands with their fingers intercepted. Both were either very brave or very stupid to show their affections in public. The Doctor was so caught up in the moment that she failed to notice someone bump into her from behind almost making her fall over, "Excuse me," the voice retorted sarcastically. She merely glared at the man who walked away; there was plenty of space for him to walk around. That had been so unnecessary.

"I don't like that new doctor," said Adair, Who eyed the man suspiciously with his dark eyes. There was something- odd about him. "He's in charge of the clinic right? So we'll be seeing plenty of him," chimed Lux. "What's his name again?" "Dr. Aztin Cyder. He was transferred here from the base in D'Qar," Lya spoke not removing her eyes from the creature's back. He was a Khajiit from a distant galaxy. A brown, copper colored lynx with humanoid features. His eyes were the color of ambers, and every inch of his body was covered in thick fur, he even had a long tail which crept from under his lab robe. Feeling the glares from the other medic his long whiskers twitched and he turned to glare back. "Unfriendly creature.…"Adair muttered under his breath, "I hate cats." "Dr. Stryker," a young male Togruta approached the trio. Colorful tones of lime green marked his skin and his large montrals and head tails were white and a grayish shade of blue. His eyes were a matching shade of ocean blue. "You must be Seena N'Aviid, correct?" The doctor greeted the young man politely. Behind her stood another human young man. "And Forrest Ramsenn." "You're the new interns correct?" Dr. Adair Habibt acknowledged them. The medics all became acquainted with each other. Lux Nova and Adair had no problem filling them in with their new tasks and duties and showing them the strings around. "I'll be in my office getting some paperwork ready for you, come to meet me whenever you're done socializing. Doctors," She excused herself acknowledging the new position of her former apprentices.   "Dr. Stryker seems alright," Seena commented. "She's strict, very hard working, but she makes sure you learn. After all, we play one of the most important roles in the Rebel Alliance's task force." Their eyes trailed the Doctor, that's when they saw it. "Adair. Str-Andor interaction at 3 o'clock," she spoke in an excited tone. The interns all eyed the doctor confused as she crossed paths with the tall, dark man. Both of their expressions remained stoic. Their eyes didn't even meet. They continued their way as strangers. "Such a shame those two didn't work out," Lux sighed disappointedly. "I wonder what happened that night they both left together, he still seemed interested in her and well the Doctor, her behavior is very unpredictable." Adair pondered. Both of the interns had witnessed the beginning, and quick collapse of their mentor's relationship with Captain Andor and both were eager for something to blossom, however, to their disappointment their relationship instead wilted. XXXX Lya closed the door behind her and leaned against it. In her own blessed privacy, she pulled out the small note from her lab coat's pocket. 'That cat touches you again. He's going to make a nice fur rug.' She couldn't help but chuckle at Cassian's note. It was scribbled in his own messy handwriting. It was a simple gesture, regardless she treasured it. Both had decided to keep their relationship under the wraps. It was what was best for both. 

Besides, it was nobody's business. 

Cassian was a spy. Thankfully, discretion came easily to him. Lya on the other hand- she still had some work to do. He was so good at what he did she barely even noticed that he had snuck something into her pocket until later. 

It was only a while later that Dr. Stryker's newest apprentices joined her in the office. She spoke little with the two young men and got to know them some more. Seena seemed optimistic and eager to learn, he had a lot of energy and wanted to focus on treating burn victims. Forrest, on the other hand, was composed and analytical, his hazel eyes were sharp, and his interest lay in surgery. She could see that both had potential. With a quick nod and many forms and papers signed she dismissed them for the day. Lya stood up and evened out some papers against her desk when there was a knock on the door. 

"Yes?" She said automatically without lifting her gaze. "Doctor," a weak voice came in. "I'm afraid I've got a terrible illness." The door closed behind the individual. The Doctor raised her bored gaze to meet the Captain's jovial smirk. "If it isn't my favorite patient," she said with heavy sarcasm dripping from her voice. "As much as I enjoy your company, I've asked you not to come distract me at work," she said with a small frown. "You don't see me showing up at your work." "That's different," he said wondering around her wooden desk. "If you showed up at my work, you'd be dead." He reached for her hand. "Right, because the medical ward is so safe, right?" She pressed her index finger against a particular pressure point in his hand. "Ouuuch," he grumbled pulling his hand back. "Friendly reminder that I can take care of myself." She nodded with the slightest of smile and continued gathering her documents. "But troopers wear armors," he pointed out. He did have a point. He wrapped his arms around her and held her in place. "Cass- I have to go make my rounds. My new apprentices are waiting for me." She protested against his embrace. "Wait- you're not taking me seriously." He complained. "You didn't even ask me what I was sick with this time!" She rolled her eyes. She loved yet at the same time hated how damn clingy this man could be. "You're such a hypochondriac. What are you sick with now Cassian?" She turned to eye him an eyebrow cocked expectantly. "I'm lovesick." He said before planting a fat kiss on her nose. "I think I’m the one who is going to be sick," she laughed while cringing. Lya would never be able to understand where the root of his infatuation came from. "Doctor Stryker?" a third voice suddenly piped in. Lya could've sworn she jumped three feet in the air. Cassian, on the other hand, played it cool and nonchalant shoved his hands into his pockets. It was the new cat in town, Dr. Aztin Cyder. "Dr. Cyder!" The Doctor greeted. "H-How can I help you?" She asked nervously. Cassian eyed the man carefully. There was something odd about him, something unsettling. He wasn't sure if it was his fixed glare on Lya or the way his massive feline teeth glistened whenever he spoke. "I knocked, but you didn't answer-" He began. It was a lie, Cassian knew better. He debated if it was best to confront him about it or merely witness and analyze his faux charade. It was apparent he had witnessed the romantic interaction between the couple. "I wanted to discuss my clinic hours with you," He spoke in a serious tone, his voice also carried an accent a distant land. One in which he would pronounce his Ks hard and his Ss would drag, and all of his Rs just sounded odd. Just the way he said Dr. Stryker as "Dr. SsstRAaicKerR,"gave her the creeps. "Right," she pursed her lips and swallowed her breath. "I think you'll be alright," she nodded towards Cassian awkwardly and stretched out her hand for him to shake. His mistrusting eyes shifted between both Doctor's and with no choice he took her hand in his. "Thank you, Doctor," he said briefly. He walked out slowly, his eyes combing every inch of the Lynx man before them. Lya flashed him a pleading look as he left. Once outside Cassian closed the door behind him. A scowl was noticeable on his features. "You seem, distraught Captain," commented K-2SO. "There's something odd about that Khajiit," Cassian said as they walked out of the ward. He adjusted his leather jacket and scratched his beard bringing the note that Lya had handed him to his close eyesight. 'Come back to me.' It was a simple note; regardless it brought a smile to his face. "Perhaps you are jealous Captain?" K-2SO suggested. The Captain shook his head slightly. He would get to the bottom of this. Meanwhile back in her office, Lya dealt with Dr. Cyder. "Boyfriend?" The man asked as Cassian left the room. "What can I do for you Aztin?" she said with a polite smile ignoring the question. He didn't falter. "I want more hours in the emergency ward, as well as my own assistants." The man said in a demanding tone. Lya clapped her hands together and shrugged her shoulders. "I'm sorry, but- I'm afraid there's not much I can do for you." "Back in Naboo I had eight apprentices and was the head of the surgical ward-" He raised his tone, which she interrupted. "Although your qualifications were outstanding, I hope you understand we can't do that just yet- to begin with we are short staffed and you've only been in the Yavin 4 base for a couple of weeks. Let's see how you do and then we can discuss it again, yes?" She spoke in a hurried tone as she once again gathered her notes, and charts amongst other documents. "Thank you for understanding," she opened the door for him. The lynx remained in his seat not even flinching. He didn't even bother in turning his head to acknowledge the Doctor. "That was Captain Cassian Andor, no?" He spoke in that eerie tone he had. Lya slowly retreated closing the door. "I can only assume, it could be… dangerous to be involved with an officer like that. With so many enemies, who knows what could happen if word got out." He carefully attempted to read her expression from the corner of his predatory vision, his teeth gleaming in the dim light of her small office.

  "Get out," Lya slammed the door of her office behind the man. A Cheshire cat grin played on his feline features. He had gotten what he wanted, almost. More hours in the ER and two new assistants.

"I'm glad, you're a reasoning woman," he said satisfied. Lya clenched her fist tightly at her sides as she fought the urge to sock him in the face. This would not end like this.

He wanted assistants? Then he would have assistants. He wanted an apprentice? Then he would have an apprentice and if he wanted an office- oh he would get his office. 

Lya didn't know what to do. It had been a little more than a week and Cassian hadn't returned from his mission. Then again, it was his fault this was all happening to begin with. She had assigned both Lux and Adair as his assistants. His apprentice would be Forrest since he was interested in surgery just like Dr. Aztin. "I want you to report everything to me," She had instructed her former students. Both nodded and discretely continued with their missions obediently. 

It had been weeks, and Cassian still hadn't returned from his mission. It was an unusually rainy night, and Lya was presently leaning on a mountain of pillows on one of the sofas of her small round living room. The sky thundered making the window tremble and rattle. The yellow light in the room coming from the corner lamp was dim, and she ran a hand over her loose shoulder length hair as her eyes narrowed at Lux's handwritten notes. The notes were observations of the new doctor in the office, Dr. Aztin Cyder. Everything was perfectly ordinary. He treated the interns firmly but with respect. He checked in on time and performed his rounds and hours to perfection. Regardless of this, there was still something about it that rubbed her wrong. "Dammit!" She slammed the stack of papers against her crossed knees and shook her head a frustrated exhale escaping her lips. Continuing with the reports she read over the new interns. Forrest was progressing at an average pace. He was always stoic and composed. Seena, on the other hand, was being educated on different types of tissue injuries and what the best prevention and medical care worked with each. He seemed to catch on quickly, way too fast. Perhaps this child was a prodigy in medical care? Lya saw much of herself in the young Togruta. Lya tapped the end of her pen against her chin in a serious matter. She momentarily became distracted by the rain desperately tapping on the window. Having come from a dry climate, she couldn't comprehend how it was possible for it to rain so much in this forest. Thunder rumbled above in the darkness of the jungle and lighting momentarily flashed through the window. SLAM! It was then that the heavy wooden door at the entrance came apart. A violent gust of wind tossed her notes into the air; the air chilled her skin. She looked at the dark shadow outline that stood in her doorway. Water spilled inside the warm home. Alert she braced herself digging her fingers into the arm of the sofa. Her jaw clenched, eyes wide, teeth grinding tightly as adrenaline pumped through her veins. Her heart stuck on her larynx. "A-Aztin..." She managed to speak. She was ready for the attack. Her closest weapon was the pen she was currently gripping in her clenched fist. From the darkness stumbled forward Cassian instead, K-2SO followed suit. He slammed the door shut behind him catching his breath. His body soaked from head to toe. Kaytoo's metal body was slick cold. "Cassian!" She jumped to her feet tossing her remaining notes aside. Dark circles hung heavily under his eyelids. His eyes had turned into slits and remained focused on her. "Dammit! You scared the hell out of me!" She screeched, her face twisted into an upset scowl. Regardless he approached her, he didn't waste a moment in engulfing her in his drenched arms. His lips thirsted for hers as they attacked her. 

"Get off me!" She allowed a sharp exhale as she pushed him away. He looked at her perplexed. "Stop." She held her breath, a stern warning in the back of her throat. Her heart was hammering in her throat. He looked at her still confused. She felt light-headed and leaned on the nearby kitchen counter. Her hand on her racing heart. "I-.…" She lowered her head slowly. Shame filling her. "I'm sorry." She sighed. "You just- you scared the crap out of me Cass."

She got a good look at him. At how drained and exhausted he really was and the way his shoulder's hunched over in defeat.

"Should we get going, Captain?" K-2SO suddenly piped. Without a second thought and with pursed lips he turned leaving the humble house. The Doctor felt the guilt weigh down on her shoulders.  "Cass-" She ran out of her house after him. She ran into the rainforest barefoot wearing a loose tank top and mid tight length cotton shorts. The rain consumed her. She could feel her wet hair sticking to her face. "Cassian!" She reached him and wrapped his arms around him, holding on to his blue parka. "Now you want me?" He removed her arms from his body. "I come, tired, drained, and the only thing I want is to see you and this happens-" he raised his tone. "Cassian- I was scared! What do you expect me to do when someone comes in barging in the middle of a storm?" The thunder resounded above them. They both stood in the rain. Kaytoo stood along with them. Besides the heavy pouring of the rain, there was not a single sound amongst them. "Let's-Let's just go inside." She asked in a kinder tone. Her eyebrows arched upwards in concern.

"Y-You're soaking wet," she said nervously as she wrapped her arms around her own cold body. He remained silent. "I'll make tea," she said quietly in an attempt to keep busy. "I will now be powering down Captain," K-2SO announced a sudden beeping sound he emitted allowed both humans to know he was out. Lya could feel Cassian shuffling around the apartment. The Captain unzipped his wet parka and laid it on a chair. Luckily he remained dry underneath.

"Make yourself at home," she said dryly as she walked past him handing him a cup with tea. He responded with an unfriendly look. She casually removed her shirt as she made way to her room, sipping some tea on the way. A couple of moments later she returned wearing another loose blouse and plopped down amongst the many pillows on the sofa. She pretended not to mind him. However, he remained where he stood. His eyes were fixated on a blank spot of the dull wall. Lya kept her eyes on some notes she had been formerly leafing through. In a couple of moments, she heard Cassian shuffling about. She didn’t raise her gaze. His socks standing before her suddenly filled her vision. Raising her head, her eyes traveled across his bruised naked torso. Patches of hair adorned the middle of his chest and trailed so the south of his navel. She looked at him sadly, sighing her fingers reached for his sides which she caressed lightly. "Does it hurt?" She asked after a moment leaning forward and brushing his hot skin with her tender lips. "I'm sorry," She whispered meeting his eyes. "It's just…- hard for me when you leave." Tightening her grip on his hips, she pulled him down to the sofa and embraced him as if it were the last time. Both embraced some moments later. His head on her chest as he existed in romantic gaze. He found comfort in her touch and held one of her hands against his heart. Cassian didn't say much about his mission, then again, that was highly confidential information. It's not as if he was allowed. Lya mindlessly read over her reports with her free hand. "I think there's a spy in the quarters," he said suddenly. "Hmm?" She asked half not listening. "I think we've been infiltrated." He said turning his head up to face her with a severe expression. Her eyebrows furrowed confused. Her mind wondered for a moment, and the sudden image of the new feline doctor filled her vision: Dr. Aztin Cyder. She slightly sat up. Cassian looked at her confused. If Cyder was a spy, there was no other reason why he would want control of the medical ward, and his own assistants to do his dirty work for him. "I think I know who the spy is…" She said when the realization hit her.

Prev: 5 Next: 7

[quicksiluers]

Last Jedi thoughts below! I was going to record something buttt my mic isn’t working so I just typed it up. Spoilers as well! So beware of that. 

Saw this for a second time today and it helped gather my thoughts! Liked it more the second time but I do have issues with the movie. 

Things I liked~!:

Mark Hamill killed it as Luke in this movie. Not everything that the character did was in agreement with me (Really? Luke is going to think, for even a second, to kill his nephew? I know it was a lapse but still, it didn’t sit well with me). But Hamill was out of this world great and his last scene, staring at the sunset and fading away, really did get me choked up.

With with TFA, I love Rey, Finn, Poe, and the added addition of Rose! I’m happy to see by the end of the movie (with the exception of Rose who is hurt) that we have the trio together. I hope to see more of them interacting in the next movie together cause I feel like the dynamic could be great.

Mentioning Poe, I’m happy we got to see more of him since he wasn’t in TFA too much. I was frustrated by his storyline at times (why didn’t Holda just tell him from the get go what they were doing? I get chain of command but with a resistance that is deprived of leader shio, giving him the heads up would have been helpful). But like I said, love seeing more Poe.

Rose, I really liked her! Kelly did a great job and brought a fun energy to her. I hope we get to see more of her in the next movie, though I do hope they don’t try and juggle too many characters in IX.

Ach-To and Crait were both awesome new planets in this world. Crait was really cool with the added  red effect when stepping on the salt. And the little crystal foxes! Also, I do love the porgs...they were cute and funny and non of the merch has done them justice with their creepy soulless black eyes.

The fights in this movie were great, from space battles, to the battle on Crait, to the Kylo and Rey saber fight in that cool red room. Each had a different flare to it that made them stand out.

The movie looks beautiful, some of the shots are simply fantastic.

The cast is great, everyone is spot on. Also, really love all the costumes, set designs, I always love seeing what new things they can come up with in these movies.

Things I didn’t like:

Listen...I just could care less about Kylo Ren. I’m not invested, I don’t care about the dude at all. Adam Driver does a good job here, but I’m not backing this dude. And I mean, I don’t have to, but I just don’t care. When his scenes come up, I’m like ok how long will this be. I was happy they didn’t try and redeem him in this, I would have rolled my eyes so hard (which I was already doing when Rey kept calling him Ben sdfghjk but that’s a whole fucking other thing). And I’m interested to see what they do with him cause apparently now he’s the main bad guy? I don’t know what they’ll do with that but I’m sure it’ll be...something

This whole Rey and Kylo business, I am hard passing this shit. The force chats?? The first two, the one where she tries to shoot him and the other when she calls him a monster, I was like “huh ok...not sure if I like this but you have my interest.” But that third one? Where he randomly has his shirt on and they’re talking and for some reason Rey really wants to know why he killed Han Solo? That came out of nowhere, Rey hadn’t expressed any interest in knowing why Kylo killed Han in any of the scenes leading up to that. She just kept saying he was a menace, he was a monster who had to be dealt with. Hell, she tells Luke in the scene before “Kylo failed you, but I won’t” and then she just turns around and is like “why did you kill Han, he loved you!” and then they’re touching hands because she didn’t find the answers she wanted?? That whole middle point in the movie with Rey, I was not into it. At all. This random idea of trying to get Kylo to turn was out of the blue, Kylo our last hope? Are you kidding? And then, what a shock, turns out that Kylo wants to fucking rule it all and wants Rey by his side. At least she denies him then, and shuts the door on him when she’s leaving Crait with the rest of the resistance.

Some of the Finn and Rose stuff I could have done without, particularly the DJ stuff. The casino was cool, the animal stuff was kinda eh but whatever, but DJ?? Why was that character even there? That whole subplot felt different from the rest of the movie? I don’t hate it like some people but I’m always like “oh yeah this” which is a shame cause I do love Rose and Finn, and BB-8 was there too! Also, some of the cgi in those scenes were prettyyy bad.

Let’s be real, the whole first order is kinda a snooze. Hux is funny from time to time when people are throwing him into walls, but he doesn’t really do much? And I mean, Captain Phasma? The fight with her and Finn was cool but was far too short. And then she dies? I mean, if she makes it out of that, that would be crazy.

The editing at time felt really off, as well as the flow of the story? I think because they were jumping between 3 different subplots, they would jump to each of them at times where I was just getting into one of them.

Snoke was so ugh, and you know...if you’re going to have a mystery with this character from the last movie, actually do something with him. Why even bother with this character at all? Yeah, all the theories for snoke were dumb, but to kill him off like this? It’s a big waste of time for fans and kinda a fuck you lol. I understand why some fans are pissed about this movie because TFA set up these questions and people have been speculating given the information that they were dealt with. And then you go “nahh actually they’re nobody, let’s move along.” It just...leaves a lot to be desired.

I’m not even going to get into the Rey parent thing cause I thought that was dumbbbb and they gave themselves that wiggle room of like “well Kylo is an unreliable narrator so who knows if he’s telling the truth about her parents!!” I”M DONE. I’M TIRED. Don’t make a fucking big deal about who her parents are if you’re just going to make it this! If she was just a random person, that’s fine! Just say it in TFA! It would have been simple but noooo they gotta make it a big mystery and then in this movie it’s just tossed aside. It drives me nuts.

I know the cons are longer but I did enjoy this movie but I do have major flaws with it. This doesn’t even feel like a middle chapter to me, it feels like just the beginning? Which is kinda bad when the “3rd” part of your story is coming up next and it’s supposed to wrap it all up. What is there to wrap up? More first order fighting the resistance? Is kylo going to die? I’m just so tired, everyone has been arguing all weekend about this movie and I’m tired. It’s fine, it’s not amazing, it’s not awful, it’s fine and good. Flaws are mixed in with interesting ideas and characters I like.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

[lunafeather]

judeehopps replied to your post “If anyone else has seen The Last Jedi already and wants to discuss,...”

I’m curious about what you think. What did you think of it? I have mixed feelings...

Overall I enjoyed it a lot, but it did have a lot of issues. I think I liked The Force Awakens a lot more, so I’m glad that JJ Abrams will be directing Episode IX and not Rian Johnson, though obviously Abrams isn’t perfect. This film also continues Star Wars’ penchant for gorgeousness; so many scenes and shots were absolutely breathtaking in their beauty. This might be my favorite film when it comes to that.

Spoilers below the cut! (Also, fair warning! I have a lot of thoughts)

I wasn’t a fan of the limited interactions between our main trio, especially Finn and Rey -- whose relationship literally drives the narrative of this trilogy. Don’t get me wrong, that hug at the end literally made me squeal with joy it was so pure and sweet, but that is seriously all we got and like??? I DO ship Finnrey but I also just enjoy watching their friendship so this was a major downside.

Speaking of ships, I am VERY anti Rose/Finn. I feel like the kiss at the end of the film was incredibly forced and awkward, and came out of nowhere. They have okay chemistry, but I didn’t get a romantic vibe from them at all, so for her to swoop in with this huge romantic gesture and pull out the “I love you” before passing out was very out of place. I feel like they barely know each other, and Rose’s feelings are heavily impacted by her initial view of Finn as this Rebel Hero, and that her jump from awe to fury to love is just a natural progression of her fangirling, and not actual love. Not to mention the fact that Finn literally just froze when she kissed him, it wasn’t reciprocated at all. I hope that they have an adorable “WOW that was awkward” moment in the next film but that they remain friends only.

I really enjoyed Rey’s arc over the film. I think she is more powerful than we realize and I really hope we get to see that power as she trains to be an actual jedi (I’m sure we will). I also really enjoy her parallel’s to Luke in that she is insistent that Kylo can be turned and tries to sway him against her mentor’s wishes, that she is just SO GOOD inside (I, like others, was afraid they may try to tease her switching to the dark side, but I’m glad this film just reiterated how good she is), but I also love that where Luke succeeded, Rey did not. I think it would be very predictable and boring for Rey to “save” Kylo the way Luke “saved” Vader.

Branching off of that, the trailers had a lot of people spouting that whole, “ohhh this is just another copy cat/rehash of Empire, just like TFA was identical to ANH” (which is bullshit anyway, TFA had many homages to ANH but the story was different in a few key ways) crap that I am glad was destroyed immediately. All this chatter about the AT-ATs and the rebels trying to escape a base and Degobah and blah blah blah. None of it was founded, the film was actually VERY different from ESB. Which isn’t necessarily a good thing.... but I digress.

I am a tad miffed that Finn’s force sensitivity wasn’t touched on AT ALL. As far as I’m aware, someone has to be force sensitive to use a lightsaber and Finn used Luke’s at the end of TFA. I hope they touch back on that in Episode IX.

A big thing I am distressed about is the fact that one of the original trio is basically going to be killed off in each film. Han in TFA, now Luke in TLJ, and obviously Leia will need to be killed off in Episode IX... It’s really fucking depressing. Part of me hopes that they will write IX in a way that Leia doesn’t need to die but never appears on screen -- I feel like of the three, she would be the one to survive. It’s possible, narratively, but I doubt they’ll do that. Still.... Also, seeing as Luke became one with the force or whatever, I feel like he will train Rey from beyond, the same way Obiwan often advised him after his death. So maybe we’ll at least have that.

Upon further reflection, I feel like the Casino excursion was very misplaced and unneeded. It was hectic and rushed and urgent, the whole movie was, and I wasn’t a huge fan of that. Star Wars movies ebb and flow with their pace, usually taking place over a moderate amount of time, but obviously this film had a very short time span and I gotta say, I’m not digging it. I prefer the story building, character building pace of the other films.

Humor was out of place a lot of times. The other movies were funny, yes, but the humor in this one was much too....modern? Even in TFA the humor was more classic, in this film it was annoyingly snappy. I really hated the opening scene and its “joke” with Poe pretending he couldn’t hear Hux. Hux should be scary and looming and menacing but that scene just made a fool out of him, and for that to be the OPENING scene is just.... no. Turned me off immediately. Some of the humor was spot on, like Chewie being watched by the family/friends of the bird thing he was trying to eat. THAT was good. Even Rey knocking that giant piece of rock over the cliff and annihilating those aliens’ cart of stuff was good. But most of the other humor was off.

My favorite moment/shot, and I’m sure it’s a lot of people’s, was Holdo hyperspacing into Snoke’s ship. Everything about that was GLORIOUS. The quick burst shots of the lightning blue spikes cracking the ship, the DEAD SILENCE -- no music, no sound effects, nothing -- until the delayed noise of the explosion, I was AWED. The ENTIRE THEATRE gasped and then hushed in the same awed silence as myself. What an amazing idea and execution.

Other favorite shots, Kylo and Luke standing on opposite sides of the screen, waiting to battle -- the colors and composition were beautiful. Crap, there are more but I can’t remember them now.

Mother fucking LEIA ORGANA, using the force to survive being blown into space. SHE DID THAT, Y’ALL. Do you have any idea how powerful she has to be to do that kind of shit??? I seriously thought they were gonna kill her off.

Luke Skywalker being a sassy shit during his astral projection gave me so much life. I love him.

I’ve seen a lot of disparaging comments about Yoda showing up but I actually liked that bit. I think it was one of the times when the humor was on point, and they had to have used a puppet because he looked great.

After a lot of discussion with my ex, we came to the conclusion that Leia must have known Luke wasn’t really there at the old rebel base. Initially I thought it was a vision/wonder twin connection like Kylo and Rey were having (which..... wtf???? Why was that happening? Could it not?) but then everyone else saw him so.... still, I think Leia knew it wasn’t really him. I think that’s why she didn’t touch him/hug him -- because they are VERY huggy twins -- and why she left Han’s dice behind. I think she knew she wouldn’t see him again, which breaks my heart. Because how alone is Leia now? She lost the love of her life, she lost her son, she lost her brother. Ughhhh.

So yeah, this stupid “connection” between Rey and Kylo the film was trying to force on us just.... irked me. I have heard that R*ylos are fangirling over the movie, which boggles my mind because Rey literally hates his guts?? She was disgusted by his naked chest and demanded he clothe himself?? She literally tried to save him because she’s a good person, not because he’s ever done anything to deserve it or because there’s some kind of “love connection” there?? He fucking mind raped her, guys. He almost killed the first person to ever COME BACK FOR HER. (again, why did this movie focus on the Rey/Kylo shit when there is a goldmine with Rey/Finn??????) Oh he’s also a fucking pyscho murderous asshole who killed Rey’s friend and hero in cold blood.

Anyway.

Snoke as a villain: Disappointing. Boring. Anticlimactic. I pity that we didn’t get backstory on him, though I suppose we never got any for the Emperor until the prequels. Still.... Snoke was a very thin and half assed master villain. Shouldn’t there be waaaaaaaaay more lore about the Knights of Ren? Is that going to come into play in Episode IX, seeing as Kylo is now the Supreme Leader? Also, how the fuck am I supposed to take Kylo seriously as the next major villain when he continues to throw temper tantrums and be easily manipulated by outside forces?

On that note, did he choose to spare Leia because of that conflict inside of him, or did Leia force sense him and mind influence him to not shoot?? WE’LL NEVER KNOW.

Second to last point: Not enough Chewie.

Final point: I liked the examination of perspective. Luke’s story of what happened the night Kylo went crazy, Kylo’s story, and finally the truth. How we twist things to feel better/to get what we want. How every story is biased. I thought that was neat.

I lied, one last thing: I am on the fence but leaning towards hating Rey’s parents being “nobodys”. I think it’s an interesting choice but not one that lends anything to the narrative. I think the hype around her parentage was stoked just so they could say, “HAHA she actually isn’t anyone special, you were speculating for nothing!”. Speculating is fun. Bloodlines are fun. Let nerds discuss! A big part of me hopes that Kylo was lying to Rey to make her more upset and thus “more likely” to swing to the dark side. To encourage her fear that she really was abandoned for no reason. BUT it would also be unique to have her be so special despite coming from nothing.

Alright, I’m done. I may think of more but that’s it for now. My rating would probably be like.... 6.5/10. In the top 5 but not the top 4. Enjoyable and beautiful but nothing special and a let down in regards to story and character development.

[tokupedia]

SPECIAL SAIKOU!: Superhero Showcase: Gatchaman Pt. 1: Introduction

“Sometimes we are one...sometimes we are five....the white shadow that slips through unseen ! Science Ninja Team GATCHAMAN!”

Tatsuo Yoshida had loved the concept of superheroes from the very beginning. As a young boy after the US occupied Japan at the end of WWII, he and his two brothers often interacted with American GIs. Some of them were polite and respectful to young Japanese kids and gave away their old comics they weren’t reading anymore to them so they would have something to enjoy.

While none of the Yoshida boys could understand the English text, there was a resonance of appreciation that transcended language in the artwork of the comics. Then again, seeing mighty beings with powers and abilities far beyond mortal man or skilled costumed athletes showing the best of humanity’s good nature resonates with humanity no matter what side of the map you are on. Their favorite of course was Superman, though given the design of the superheroes we are going to talk about, it wouldn’t surprise me if they had a love for the other half of the World’s Finest as well.

These costumes were bright and colorful, so the boys started drawing them and eventually became very good at it.

Superman is the one hero who inspires other ideas in many people, especially since he helped bring the superhero concept to the mainstream masses. This would follow Tatuso as he would again intertwine with the hero of his youth.

In 1959 or 1960 Tasuo was working in a manga studio and was asked to do a manga on Superman!

Yes, this was more or less a manga made to capitalize on the 1957 George Reeves TV show, which had been brought over to Japan in 1958.

While a few Japanese citizens saw US superheroes and scoffed them as propaganda, Tatsuo looked past that. He saw the very core of what made superheroes great, that they are willing to do the right thing and selflessly help others.

In 1962, after a good career in the manga industry, Tatsuo opened Tatsunoko Productions with the help of his brothers. After the first series about modern super spy ninjas and an Astro Boy clone called Space Ace in 1965 (no relation to the Don Bluth animated video game), Tatsunoko hit the really big time on TV in 1967. Debuting a high octane action show that would eventually make waves around the world....Mach GoGoGo! 

The series made it to American airwaves in the fall of that year as Speed Racer, which was one of several old school anime would set off a slow chain reaction that would later explode into our modern western otaku culture.

Then came one of the pillars that held it in place....

In 1969, its codemane was Production 21 and later it went by many names: Science Ninja Squad 5 and even Birdman until Tatsunoko presumably found out there was a Hanna-Barbera character with that name. Finally, the advertisers chose a name...Gatchaman, which premiered on October 1, 1972. The series was partially influenced not only by Shotaro Ishinomori’s Henshin Hero Boom from the popularity of Kamen Rider, but also the spark of love Tatsuo had for heroes like Superman.

The reason so many in the comics industry love Gatchaman such as Alex Ross is because out of all Japanese superheroes, this one takes the rawest form of its rooted American concept. One can simply observe the look of the original  costumes and see aspects of Adams, Giordano, Swan and many other Silver and Bronze Age artists in the aesthetic. The same can be said for the evolving costumes later on as they borrow elements of popular western media and comics of the specific period.

Now you have to be asking, what the heck is a “Gatcha”?

Gatcha, at least in one translation, is the Japanese onomatopoeia sound of machinery such as a loom. This is more or less a reference to the fact this superteam uses machines to stop evil in its tracks.

If you wanna know more on the process of this series coming to be, check out this page:

http://www.battleoftheplanets.info/whatwas.html

Overview

The Original Series (1972-1974)

The International Science Organization and the world are under attack by a terrorist organization known as Galactor, overseen by the evil Sosai X, who want to control Earth’s resources for themselves. Dr. Kōzaburō Nambu, who knew of Galactor’s schemes, deploys a special task force to deal with them: The Science Ninja Team...Gatchaman!

The Sequels (1978-1980)

Gatchaman II (1978-1979)

After the destruction of his army, Sosai X tried yet again to attack the Earth with the help of an abducted child mutated into an adult Commander named Gel Sadora. The Science Ninja Team head out again with new weapons, vehicles and a revived comrade to do battle with Galactor yet again!

Gatchaman Fighter aka Gatchaman F (1979-1980)

After seemingly being destroyed by the Gatchaman, Sosai X’s remains mutate and he revives into the more devious Sosai Z. He recruits the cruel European dictator Count Erun Egobossler to make his Galactor organization even deadlier than ever before. Their first attack completely obliterates the Gatchaman’s gear and ship from the last season and defeats them. The team manage to get rescued before they are killed by an engineer, who shows Dr. Nambu’s latest mechas and gear for the team. This season gets darker than previous one towards the end and features the death of Dr. Nambu.

If the energy charged sword called the Gatchafencer and the Gatchaspartan ship weren’t dead giveaways, this was when Star Wars was a pop culture cult phenomenon in Japan. Every studio tried to duplicate the George Lucas magic in one way or another or at least ride its coattails.

The OVAs (1994)

In the 90s, Tatsunoko tried to revive their old heroes with polished new looks and retooled the characters for a modern audience. The story for the most part is derived from various episodes of the first series, but mostly the first episode and a few plots from others.

Gatchaman ‘98 (Unmade)

Tatsunoko was going to revive their characters again full time in a new set of TV shows, including Gatchaman.

However, one of the main problems that prevented this was their poor choice of a starting show: A Mach GoGoGo reboot. While the classic show celebrated its 30th anniversary in 1997, times had changed in the anime landscape. A guy with a cool gadget-laden car racing around a track was a bit pedestrian in a realm of Kamehamehas, Dragon Slaves and Moon Healing Escalations. Going big and loud for spectacle or subliminally selling tons of toys/video games/merchandise was the norm in the 90s for anime.

The Mach GoGoGo show cost a lot to make as it used CGI in parts of its animation and it was cancelled over halfway through due to low ratings. Another roadblock (no pun intended) for Gatchaman reviving in the late 90s was no sponsor wanted to back it despite the shows legendary status in pop culture (Possibly due to the debacle investment in the new Mach GoGoGo.)

NTT (2000)

http://gatchaman.wikia.com/wiki/NTT_Gatchaman

The Gatchaman Team vanished for 3 years until NTT East approached Tatsunoko with a proposal for a set of internet service provider commercials starring SMAP and brand new animation and costumes of the science ninjas in action. 

The Imagi Disaster (2011 aborted animated film)

Already talked about this one:

http://tokupedia.tumblr.com/post/147082771026/special-saikou-examples-of-toku-projects-that

Live action film (2013)

This is the film that, at the very least, made the older, traditional version of the superheroes limp on life support. This movie did what many revisionists do to any beloved superhero, find faults in ideas where there are none and make beloved aspects disappear and be replaced by something near unrecognizable.

Gone were the bird motifs and chest emblems, no mecha aside from the God Phoenix, no Sosai X and no Galactor (unless you count the in-name only reference). What was added was unnecessary, the Gatchaman all had superpowers and weapons given by shiny McGuffin stones and something about a virus that creates energy shields.

They didn’t even get to be ninjas too much in this movie. The saddest part is the complete waste of Tori Matsuzaka and this could have worked as a tokusatsu given the show’s legacy in the form of Super Sentai.

Gatchaman Crowds (2013-2015)

Sometimes derided by a few older purists as “Gatchaman for Millennials” or “Facebook: The Anime”, this reboot series departed from capes and costumes for neon Tony Stark armor by way of Akihabara, new characters and notebook souls. Lots of newcomers gravitated towards this season and it was considered as the sleeper hit of 2013 and 2015. So despite critics, it acted as its own entity. Crowds was also was the first new, full fledged Gatchaman TV show in over 30 years.

The show’s core philosophical focus was to examine how the internet and social media have affected society in both positive and negative ways and in rare cases, the relevancy of superheroes in the digital age. The second season insight focused on how hive mentality and politics associated with it on the internet could have very bad consequences or be distorted even in cases where the intentions are originally noble. 

A creative sort of re-imagining, this series examined how our future could be shaped for good or for ill by digital media before finally taking a neutral perspective as that is the choice we humans will have to make for ourselves.

Good Morning Ninja Team Gatchaman

There was a morning comedy Flash animation series of shorts featuring the original Gatchaman, but it is not worth the time examining as its is just gag sketches with no action.

Battle of the Planets/G-Force/Eagle Riders (1978, 1986, 1996)

The various edited dubs of the original trio of shows, which served as a gateway series to about 2 or 3 generations worth of future anime fans in the west. The content in some cases was heavily edited or censored as most anime were known for doing at the time.

Due to the various companies who hold the rights to these adaptations, it is impossible at the moment for the original Japanese Gatchaman Trilogy to be completely on DVD or Blu-Ray. But Sandy Frank Productions did relinquish their rights to the first series to Funimation for a release..so there’s that.

Up next....The leader of the ninja flock!

[ciathyzareposts]

Missed Classic 69: Borrowed Time (1985) – Introduction

Written by Joe Pranevich

If you are like me, sometimes research takes you places that you don’t expect. When I started into Batman Returns, I expected to find that it was a half-assed game produced by a no-name little software outlet who won the minimum bid to make the ninth licensed game based on the 1992 movie. And, it might still be that. I haven’t even looked at the game yet as I wait for a copy of the manual to arrive by mail. (I’ll be donating it to the Internet Archive once I wrap up my review.) Instead, I discovered the story of Subway Software and one of it founders, Bill Kunkel.

Rather than jump straight into Batman, I’d like to tell Mr. Kunkel’s story through a different game: an illustrated text adventure called Borrowed Time, Subway Software’s first release. As so many of these games were, it was a multi-party affair: developed by Interplay using their adventure game engine, based on a story and design by Kunkel’s company, and published by Activision. This was still around four months before Activision bought Infocom so it is not quite a cousin to the games that we have looked at in the Zork marathon, but it is a sign that they were interested in the interactive fiction genre. Borrowed Time has kidnapping, murder, and at least one HIPAA violation. It was also pretty fun to play to whet my appetite for Batman. Let’s get to it.

Bill Kunkel, enjoying a pizza in 2005.

Prior to doing my usual pre-game research, I had never heard of Bill Kunkel. That’s not unusual; while we have a few designers that we’ve come know very well, the majority of the staff in any given game is anonymous. I claim no special talent or access to sources, but a combination of Google and digging through old magazines and interviews usually gives us a picture. For some of these games, I enjoy the research even more than the playthrough! As I dug into Kunkel’s history, the information just kept coming: his writing projects, his impact on the history of video games, and even his battles with drug addiction. As a game journalist, he wrote hundreds of articles over four decades, not to mention fanzines on several topics, plus edited multiple magazines. He was an expert witness on several of the legal battles that shaped our industry. There’s no way for me to read and absorb all that in a couple of weeks, but he comes off to me as a fan’s fan. He loved conventions and fanzines, comic books and professional wrestling, and the gaming journalism that he would become famous for. Along the way, almost by accident, he ended up writing games. It’s a fun story– no doubt exaggerated by his own talent for self-promotion– but one that I am happy to share.

Bill’s writing career began in fandom, producing an independent science-fiction fan magazine called Genook when he was just seventeen years old. Genook was followed by Rats!, another fan magazine, but by this point he was establishing himself as a member of the New York fan community. It was through these fan-connections that he was introduced to Arnie Katz and Joyce Worley, a husband and wife pair who would become his long-time friends and collaborators. They are themselves worthy of a series of posts, a constant presence in almost every one of Kunkel’s projects. One of their first collaborations would be another fan magazine, Four-Star Extra, where the four of them would each write an article every month on a chosen topic. They introduced Kunkel to the DC writer and editor Denny O’Neil at one of their weekly fandom parties; it was through that connection that Bill sold his first comic book script, eventually to be published in the anthology comic House of Mystery. (Kunkel’s memoirs state that he sold this story in 1971, but the earliest I found it was in House of Mystery #252 in 1977. I am uncertain whether this story was shelved for many years, published without a by-line, or if the online comic book databases are incomplete for this period.) Based on this connection, Kunkel became a freelance “fill-in” author for DC comics, writing stories that would be held back and used if the regular stories of the issue were delayed. While they were sold, it is unclear how many (if any) were used by DC. It was not glamorous, but he was working in comics!

Several of Kunkel’s later games seem inspired by these early interests. 

Without making it as more than a fill-in writer in comics, Kunkel embarked on a project in a different segment of fandom: professional wrestling. He and his near-permanent partners, Katz and Worley, wrote and distributed a magazine called Main Event featuring photography and articles about WWWF stars and matches. The WWWF was the precursor of the WWF and later the WWE. Kunkel both wrote and photographed for the magazine which was sold at WWWF events, with the support and permission of Vince McMahon, Sr. The magazine led Kunkel and Kats doing radio, a 1AM Main Event wrestling talk show on New York’s WHBI. Although Kunkel folded the magazine after a short time, he continued to love and write about wrestling for the remainder of his career.

By 1976, Kunkel was back writing comics. The second time was a charm and DC gave him higher profile work including a shot at reviving a 1940s character, “The Vigilante”, in World’s Finest. Looking back on his time at DC, Kunkel remarked that he worked on “Lois Lane, The Private Life of Clark Kent, Vigilante, romance stories, horror stories and Jor-El only knows what all else”. But Kunkel did not enjoy the corporate environs of DC and switched teams to work in the “bullpen” at Marvel. Once there, he worked on “Spiderman, Captain America, The Falcon, Wonder Man, Dr. Strange, and some fill-in stories that may still be sitting in the office files”. Even that work didn’t last long and he was shortly doing uncredited and low-paying work writing Richie Rich for Harvey Comics. He ricocheted around the industry, doing stints or freelance work for everyone that would pay him. By 1978 however, Kunkel’s life was falling apart. He was unable to make a living and considered himself a “parasite” on his wife and his marriage. By his own admission, he was already battling drug addiction. He needed a big break.

The very first “Electronic Games” in 1981. Can Asteroids conquer Space Invaders? We still want to know.

Kunkel’s “big idea” came in 1979 when he started writing “Arcade Alley”, a regular column in Video magazine. It is dramatically oversimplifying the story to say that he was onto something, that very few others were covering the nascent home video game industry. By 1981, this idea took form as Kunkel was able to convince Reese Publishing to back his new project, Electronic Games, with him as a writer and editor. The first issue soared off the shelves and the magazine quickly became a monthly, documenting and promoting the first era of home video games. Perhaps ironically, the magazine landed just as his marriage was ending. Kunkel was a leading voice in game journalism throughout the first age of video games, but the crash in 1983 that led to so many unsold E.T. cartridges also led to a decline in fortunes at Electronic Games. By 1985, he and his partners were out and the magazine’s first life was over. For Kunkel, Katz, and Worley, it was time to embark on the next phases of their careers. Enter: Subway Software.

Operating on their own once again, the trio formed two companies: one to further their journalistic pursuits and a second to design games. They had reviewed and discussed software for so many years– plus made many industry connections– weren’t they uniquely qualified to write games themselves? Nevermind that none of the three of them were programmers in a field where programmer-designers were still the dominant paradigm. From that idea, “Subway Software” was formed. The name was selected for the rather mundane reason that none of them (at the time) could drive. Instead, they traveled (and no doubt planned games) on the subway between their various homes around the city. They landed their first deal with Interplay and the rest, as they say, is history.

I have had some difficulty tracking down a complete list of games that Subway Software worked on, but between Wikipedia and MobyGames I have located seventeen games. Neither site appears to have a complete list and there may be inaccuracies. For our purposes, only four of them are adventure games and those credits appear to be correct: Borrowed Time (1985), Star Trek: First Contact (1988), Omnicrom Conspiracy (1990), and Batman Returns (1992). We’ll be looking at the first and last of those on this blog, plus the Star Trek game has been on my “want to play” list for some time. Subway Software appears to have closed its doors in 1992, just in time for Kunkel to start the “new” run of Electronic Games. We’ll look at that leap more closely and finish off his story when we get to Batman Returns.

My first time using an amiga emulator. I can’t seem to fix the aspect ratio.

Having come this far, there is not that much to say about Borrowed Time itself. As Kunkel and his friends were only providing the script and the design, the heaviest lifting was done by Interplay. Their game engine, already used for Mindshadow and The Tracer Sanction (both 1984), was done and supported a few different platforms. We’ve already looked at one game based on a later version of the same engine, Mike Berlyn’s Tass Times in Tonetown. Unlike Infocom who chose the least common denominator, Interplay believed in taking advantage of each platform capabilities. To that end, the graphics in each of the several ports are quite different. I’ll be playing the Amiga version as that appears to be the most mature of the several iterations.

Although I’ve focused on Kunkel, other credits on the game are no less important. We could have waxed equally about Brian Fargo, the plotter of the game, who founded Interplay Entertainment, worked on seminal games likes the Bard’s Tale series, and so many other things. He cut his teeth on The Demon’s Forge (1981), another early graphical text adventure we should look at eventually. He was joined in that role by Michael Cranford, another Interplay developer who was most famous for his work on Bard’s Tale.

The manual is about as boring as it is physically possible for a manual to be.

The manual itself isn’t very good, but it summarizes the plot well enough: “As private eye Sam Harlow, you must discover who is trying to murder you, collect the appropriate evidence and bring it to the police, while avoiding constant attempts on your life.” There is also a “Living Tutorial” at the start which provides a nice overview of the text adventure genre and how to play a game like this. I do not know why it is a “living” tutorial and they do not let you practice any gameplay; my impression is that they may have wanted to make it into a minigame but ran out of time or motivation. Even without being alive, it’s not a bad introduction to newcomers to the genre.

I am uncertain how much success this game garnered in its release, except to say that it must have been both successful enough for a re-release and not successful enough that no one thought name recognition would be valuable. It hit the bargain bins in 1989 as Time to Die. I have played through a bit of that version and, other than the logo, I did not immediately see any differences. With that, there is nothing to do but play the game!

Being a detective is so relaxing.

The Chase

The game opens in my detective’s office where I am sticking my feet up on a surprisingly bright day for a noir detective story. The phone rings and the voice on the other end warns me that someone wants me dead… A shadow darkens the window, but fortunately it’s just the window washer. Whew! Although not captured by my simple screenshots, the scenes are lightly animated. In this first scene, my feet is tapping a bit. In the next scene, the water cooler bubbles. In neither case is the animation more than a handful of frames, but it is a lovely touch.

I take stock: I’m carrying a wallet with my ID and a gun permit, plus a loaded handgun with six bullets. Is that a homage to hard-boiled detectives needing guns? Or a clue that I’ll have to be selective in how many people I shoot along the way? Searching the desk, I find an overdue alimony check made out to my ex-wife, Rita Sweeny. Could she be behind this? As I explore, I get the feeling that I am being watched. The writing is terse but tense. Just to the east, my secretary has her own desk notepad. She’s off at a dentist’s appointment, but she left me a note that “Mavis” called and wants me to get back to her. I try to call “Mavis” on my phone, but all I get is a busy signal.

  Bang. I’m dead. 

I hear a gun cocking somewhere and I head out of my office… and right into an ambush. A pair of thugs are approaching me in the alleyway. If I backtrack into my office, they catch up and kill me quickly. I try to replay the start of the game faster, but that seems to have no bearing on when they arrive. I try to shoot them, but the game criticises me for resorting to that kind of violence… right before telling me that I’m dead. I even try calling the police, but they have a busy signal as well. What kind of police force has a busy signal? I search for other ways out of my office. The window-washer’s platform comes to mind, but I can’t open or break the windows to get out. What am I missing?

After my tenth restore or so, I discover that while I cannot run back into my office, I can run into the hotel across the street. That takes me into a lobby with a single chair and a door to the north. I duck behind the chair and the thugs shoot at me unsuccessfully, From there, I can crawl to the doorway and emerge on a landing at the bottom of a stairwell. If I even stop to look at anything, the thugs catch up and kill me. If I go up the stairs, they catch up and kill me. It’s a very tense situation. It takes a few deaths (and a close look at the screen) to realize that there is a lock on the door. If I lock it first, the thugs take longer to bash their way through. That gives me time to race up the stairs into an empty attic, a dead end except for a locked window. Unlike at my office, I can break this window revealing a shard of glass and a way out. I pocket the glass just in time because the thugs are running up the stairs.

If I were in the circus, I’d be going on top of the wire.

Outside the window is a ledge, but there is a cable covered with laundry leading to the other side of an alley. I can cross it hand-over-hand to get to the window of the bar across the street. The thugs stop firing but now they follow my lead to cross the cable. This window is locked and apparently unbreakable so they have a couple of turns to catch up and throw me to my death. On my next attempt, I use my shard of glass to cut the cable and send them to the street below. With the thugs defeated, I am now allowed to enter the bar and descend to street level.

Inside the establishment, the barmaid tells me that she had seen the thugs outside and tried to warn me– she is the person from Irene’s message. She tells me that she saw Farnham’s man, Charlie Lebock, tell my wife and Fred Mongo that I would never finish my investigation. Before she can continue, she is spooked by the sight of someone in one of the booths and runs out into the street. There is a lot to unpack here. She specifically said “my wife” which might be Rita, or maybe I got married again? I’m not sure. You’d think I’d know that sort of thing. Does that mean that Rita is working with Fred? Does Fred work for Farnham? There are too many names and I can’t stitch it all together into a plot yet.

Relaxing at the bar.

Pausing for Breath

That was exciting! Since my character has a chance to pause for a breather, I will as well. The interface is interesting, but not quite as functional as it appears. It consists of four key areas: an animated image, a list of nouns, a list of verbs, and a graphical depiction of our inventory. The noun list looks like it’s supposed to be updating for where you are, but it doesn’t; it’s still “correct” for my office and not much else. The list of verbs is also incomplete and does not cover many of the actions that I just needed to take, including “hide” and “break”. (Not to mention the lack of connecting words!) I’m not sure how sophisticated the parser is, but it seems fairly good for its era with full-sentence recognition. Maybe not as mature as Infocom, but a far cry from the two-word era of the early 1980s.

I’m going to leave us here for now, just as the game is about to begin. This is an introductory post so please feel free to leave your guesses for the rating below. We’ll be posting the final part in two days so don’t wait! As far as score advice goes, the only related game we have played so far is Tass Times, which scored 47. It was also played 170 games ago (one of the first for the blog!) so our standards may have wandered a bit since then. And yes, it really has been 170 games. Doesn’t time just fly by?

Before we go, I’d like to introduce you to a new YouTube channel that I like already, Critical Kate and her Patreon. After I had drafted this post, I was doing some final spot-checks when I happened to notice that she had just written a detailed analysis of the works of Bill Kunkel. It’s a nice case of parallel evolution that we were both researching the same guy at the same time and came up with a similar set of concerns with the material, although her detailed look at the publishing history of Video magazine and his comics puts mine to shame. I used her research to make some final adjustments on this post. I hope you will check her out. See you soon!

Note Regarding Spoilers and Companion Assist Points: There’s a set of rules regarding spoilers and companion assist points. Please read it here before making any comments that could be considered a spoiler in any way. The short of it is that no CAPs will be given for hints or spoilers given in advance of me requiring one. As this is an introduction post, it’s an opportunity for readers to bet 10 CAPs (only if they already have them) that I won’t be able to solve a puzzle without putting in an official Request for Assistance: remember to use ROT13 for betting. If you get it right, you will be rewarded with 50 CAPs in return. It’s also your chance to predict what the final rating will be for the game. Voters can predict whatever score they want, regardless of whether someone else has already chosen it.

source http://reposts.ciathyza.com/missed-classic-69-borrowed-time-1985-introduction/