#its not that the story is nonsensical or anything its just a very basic fairytale esque thing nothing groundbreaking

[francy-sketches]

I'm gonna have to work on my final project non stop for like a month straight bc I procrastinated on it too much fuck my stupid baka life

[ace-malarky]

I am intrigued about soul magic please expand maybe :)???

hm yes hi Trade I can very much expand on that!!!

caveat that a lot of this info is very possibly stuff I made up literally this month bc I only had the vaguest idea of how soul magic worked before starting on this particular story (ie the box for it in the twinery thing where I keep all my worldbuilding legit just has the world it comes from in it and nothing else lmao ^^; )

The vague in-text explanation we get is thus;

“Users power their spells with their lifeforce,” Jasper said. “Its main applications are healing and interrogation, but it can also be used to create locks and the like that are fine-tuned to a specific person.”

which is very rough but honestly it covers the basics. Jasper knows what he's about

When he says locks, I'm meaning like... biometric kinda scans only I couldn't remember the word when I wrote that. I may go back and write that in actually.

The other thing it can do that is like. the main part of the plot of this story is that the mages can use it to control other people! They're getting other people caught for their crimes!!

Mostly when a soul mage uses their magic, they're relying on their own life to power it. So many soul mages burn out early because they don't get the exchange right, or they just use their magic too freely. If a soul mage is old it means that either

a) they don't use magic a lot

b) they know the best exchange rates for spells (eg smaller spells will take less life)

c) they largely use it via aids such as gems and older spells that have been sunk into items for general use

or

d) they tie their spells to someone else's life.

d is why soul mages tend to have a pretty bad rep amongst the wider mist worlds. They're not as bad as green witches in general but hoo boy.

sometimes!! sometimes tying their spells to something else is useful. This is how you get the healing; you convince the hurt person's body to heal itself gotdamn quicker and if they maybe get a year or so knocked off their life in the process they probably won't notice. Can they siphon off other people's lives to extend theirs? uh. technically. yes. that's the plot of another story (sort of)*.

This is how you get the biometric locks and other fun trinkets that non-mages can use; you set the spell into the lock or the item or whatever and give it a trigger phrase or motion which can be used by anyone. Biometrics will ofc only work for like the one person, but anything else is just dependant on the person knowing the phrase or the motion. Using an item with soul magic in it is obvious - Solaris likens the feeling to a sudden weakness at one point and doesn't like using it. You can fully faint while using soul magic if you're not used to it sort of thing.

This is how you get the interrogation; no one likes having their soul poked at ok. it feels gross. they can and will rifle through your memories. Sometimes they ask for consent first (it could also be a therapy tool, I guess) but holy fuck it's tricky to do without damaging anything. Weirdly this is a fine-wire one that tends to fall more on the mage's life being the one used up because they're still the one using the magic. They could tip it the other way, but then they run the risk of like. killing the subject before they get anything useful.

The controlling-other-people part of the magic is less well known which is why everyone is so fucken stumped by the shenanigans that start this story. It's like. fairytale kinda nonsense. "the soul mage made me do it" to the tune of "the boy who cried wolf", you know?

But that one is tied to the victim's life and can be set as intricately as the mage likes. Most people never know they've even been controlled, although they'll have li'l missing screeds of time where they've just blanked the fuck out and then come to, maybe in another place with no knowledge of how they got there

noticeably it does not work well on fully bonded ferals bc they have two souls and not everyone knows this. The mage that goes after Jasper fucks up by just suppressing his human soul to make him lose the fight and uh. well. buddy's got a lynx soul in there as well, and the lynx has access to fire. That one may have backfired (lmao) on the mage that set the spell, but I'm not sure yet

The other fucked up casefile I have is Elise who is the target the soul mages are trying to get ahold of in this story bc she has a green witch sharing her body who fucked herself over by attempting to use soul magic when she was already dying. There's a timeshare going on. The soul mages stabilised them and would like the experiment back, thank you very much, but because of the stabilisation thingy-majiggy, soul magic no longer affects them. Elise would like the timeshare broken, the green witch is fairly sure she'd die in that case and Does Not Want that, no thank you. They are however both agreed that they're not letting the soul mages get their grubby little paws on them. The soul mages would like her back because literally no one can work out how the fuck she managed to make that happen. like. the only other beings that have two souls are fully bonded feral mages and uh. demons. I think is how Skilkran is classed anyway. but yeah Elise is decidedly neither like damn she's just a girl who turns into a witch when night falls.

(soul magic probably could affect them, the parameters of the spells just need to be set properly but no one's actually thought of that yet. or maybe they have but it's been since they escaped so they haven't had a chance to test the theory)

anyway! yes! soul magery! it was uhhhh it was born out of a dumb joke with brother#2 because the first time I wrote it the magic was set in the saxophone of a dude who was playing um. soul music.

that scene still exists within The Soul of the Party because there are no depths I will not sink to for a dumb joke.

*this is Mint of Red String, they may have had a bad break up with a soul mage in their youth and the soul mage reacted by uh. cursing them to drain the life of whoever fell in love with them? That gets broken with the power of polyamory and also maybe necromancy because fuck yes the gays are winning this one.

[antiloreolympus]

11 Anti LO Asks

1. Zeus would make a much more compelling character if RS grounded his obsession with gaining respect in the context of his childhood: He could’ve been Rhea’s favourite kid and grew a huge ego/sense of entitlement as a result while feeling deeply under appreciated by his brothers and Hera for his instrumental role in rescuing them and his care for her respectively, unable to look past his own trauma and ego to see that they too are struggling with their own demons rather than neglecting him.

2. I’m gonna have disagree with that one anon saying narrators are always a sign of weak storytelling because that’s not always the truth. Hades the game for example has a narrator and it’s used very effectively to give it an fairytale-like feel, a funny thing for zag to comment on because he can hear them and he will often comment on the rude things they say, and also provides a bit of world building. A narrator is also good if it’s established beforehand who is saying the narration, such as a storyteller or prophet, and it can establish to the audience they are viewing something from the past, and they can speak when there are major shifts in the story, not throughout the whole thing. A narrator in LO isn’t even a bad idea, the issue is it should have been established much earlier, maybe even episode one is we’re being honest, instead of just coming out of nowhere to speak of stuff in the future? It’s also pretty purposely only being there to be a cliffhanger instead of even putting in effort to make it interesting enough for anyone to care or come back without the narration there basically begging them to care what’s going on. It’s very strange and shows a lack of confidence and effort in her writing to be so literally spelled out like that.

I agree with the other comments too. The font is atrocious. LO is usually really good with fonts and they picked one that was visually very ugly and hard to read with an even worse color. I didn’t even think the fonts would degrade too like the art, and yet here we are!

3. I love how rachel dropped the cover for vol 2 of LO and its just a treasure trove of book design failures. her name is on top, giving the impression both she is the title and she cares more about getting her own name out there over the actual story, empty space where the title should be, the title covering most of hades, the title being cramped so much to cover him, persephone being covered by volume two, the list goes on. the first cover wasnt much better, but this is much worse.

4. RS is willing to change aspects of the story according to fan speculation but isn't down to do anything that would retcon out the offensive stereotypes, the homophobia, or the character-assassination of apollo.

5. I’m pretty sure Hera and Echo will have an infidelity arc followed by betrayal thanks to Echo’s role in Zeus’s meddling. It’s already established that Hera is just as willing to cheat as Zeus is and Echo’s blue colouration and short hair is clearly reminiscent of Hades. Given how RS has stated that character colour palettes are symbolic, I wouldn’t overlook this detail (the one instance of RS actually sticking to her colour rules lol). Also, Ares’ comment just seems to imply it!

6. Yo I just saw RS Insta story- SHES ALREADY MAKING A VOLUME TWO BOOK???? When the first volume isn’t out yet?????? Tbh, I never expected this 

7. Daphne has more personality than Persephone. Though both came from the same deprives mortal realm background, Daphne is thriving. Unlike Persephone, she’s confident and willing to take control over her own life (though this is only illustrated in the context of her dating life which is sad af, female characters never get any other kind of agency in LO). Perse would be a more interesting protagonist if she had Daphne’s (still limited af) personality.

8. There seems to be a lot of infighting here regarding Myth Hades and Persephone and it's 'modern retelling' or butchering by RS.

All fighting aside on whether Hades was a good husband and Persephones role (or lack of agency) in the myth of the Kidnapping - what is actually wrong with appreciating the myth as is?

(Isn't the myth there to give an explanation as to why the seasons change? As well as being a story of a mother in grief over her lost daughter? And her fight to find her?)

Also, in that context, is there really something wrong with liking the... lets say more "modern" adaptations of the Myth where Hades and Persephone loved one another, so long as one understands and respects the original canon (sources) and culture from which it originated?

9. The way Daphne is drawn went from sweet girl-next-door to model with overfilled lips and too many surgical alterations to increase her sex appeal.. Her lips look like they’ve been stung by several bees in the latest FP what is up with that? It’s especially irksome since RS normally draws very nice looking full lips (I.e Persephone) but they just look so off on Daphne.

10. So Minthe being in the story so early on (and already dating Hades) is lets say an "interesting" narrative choice. Mainly because it feels like RS did this because she doesnt want to acknowledge that Hades may have loved someone other than Persephone.

Because (as far as I am aware) Minthe does not show up until after Hades and Persephone are already married. And Hades did care about Minthe (as I believe one anon mentioned - he named a mountain after her?) - and she was stomped on by Persephone for daring to say that Hades liked her more.

It feels like RS made this narrative choice because she wanted to (mess with the myths) showcase that Persephone is Hades 'One True Love' and the only way she could think do to that was to make Minthe a vicious abuser. Which is unfair.

11. Uh …. Why are they already publishing a volume 2 or LO only four months after the first one? If they keep that rate up won’t they catch up really quick to the actual comic and run out of stuff to publish? I would be pissed to get a book with a cover with effort put into it just to get rushed nonsense in the actual book. Girl take a break.

Also the logo is literally covering up half of the couple while there is a giant empty space above them so her name is the main focus. Either Rachel is shit at book cover design (likely) or she needs to stroke her ego real bad and make sure her own name is the main focus. Good lord. 

[strawberry-metal]

Thought I’d upload some more rp stuff since it’d probably be important for Giorno’s relation to everyone in our au for you guys to know, particularly the three sisters and Dio.

This is when Joseph and Avdol talk to the twins about Dio, the rest of the group already knows, takes place shortly after Shanna apologized to everyone for kinda being a...bitch. Writing is from an rp between @kazekothestrange and I for our au. No pictures to accompany it this time, I’m tired and hungry. :c

Dio in our au is a little different from canon. We wanted to have some JoJo antagonists to have a chance at redemption. Those two ended up being Dio and Pucci. We really wanted Mudad to actually be a thing in our story, see what would of happened if Dio was actually able to find someone to love instead of lust after, (look we all know Dio is a horny bisexual vampire lmao) and basically, see how that could affect his character, if he had something more to care about than trying to become essentially the ruler of the world. We also made him a little smarter and had him be a frequent traveler who would only settle down in a country for maybe a year before going to another one. So hes not in fricken Egypt the whole time.

Hopefully that summary will give you guys an idea! If you’re not a fan of it, that’s ok! Your opinion is valid! You don’t have to read the rp excerpt! For those who are, enjoy~

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

Kazeko: JoJo, please. *she gently scolds him, having taken note of their insistence that their hand holding was nothing*

Joseph: Whaaaat?

Kakyoin: *he laughs, covering his mouth. what a weird, lively group*

Avdol: *he blinks in surprise* Jotaro....has a girlfriend?

Shanna: I'm his girlfriend!?

Rose: Pfu!

Jotaro: ... *his face turns red and all he can do is cover it with his hand to hide it, mumbling a few curse words*

Joseph: Ok, fine, fine, she's NOT your girlfriend!

Shanna: I'm not? :c

Holly: I think WE'RE confusing them now! Teehee~!

Jotaro: *he grumbles louder, tightening his grip around her shoulders*

Avdol: Ahh hahaha, s-sorry.

Kazeko: A-anyway! Mr. Avdol, what did you find out? Anything at all?

Jotaro: ... *letting out an exhale and thanking her mentally, he lowers his hand*

Shanna: *ahem* ....A-Anyway....Kakyoin, you better come hear me play, got it? If we're gonna be friends, you gotta hear me play at least once~!

Holly: *she smiles, glad the kids seem to be getting along just fine now*

Avdol: I will admit, I did get quite distracted, the Kujo library actually had some old folklore studies that I couldn't put down! As for the photo, even with the aid of my flames, it was still too dark to see anything.

Shanna: Hm? A photo? *she looks over, abruptly distracted from her conversation with Kakyoin and the other teens for now* Maybe I can take a look? I got hawk eyes!

Rose: I thought you had musician ears?

Kakyoin: *he perks up again* Video games-??

Shanna: Hai! Every little secret, collectable, route, ending, none of them escape me!

Avdol: Well...I suppose it can't hurt. *he hands the photo over to her*

Shanna: *she takes the photo and stares intensely at it* Hmm....

Rose: So...?

Shanna: *Suddenly, she lets out a gasp*

Avdol: My word! What do you see!?

Shanna: NOT A DAMN THING!

Kazeko: Ahaha... *she laughs good naturedly, sweatdropping*

Joseph: Oh well. *he sighs, shrugging* Maybe we'll need a microscope or something.

Jotaro: Microscopes aren't the same thing as magnifying glasses, old man.

Joseph: Well it's worth a try anyway!

Shanna: Mm, but there is one thing I must say....

Avdol: Oh? So there was something you noticed??

Shanna: This guy, he... looks REALLY familiar to me... why do you have tasteful nudes of him?

*Suddenly, everyone else but Rose and Shanna gain a look of shock that is quickly replaced by a serious look, Shanna recognizes Dio!?*

Joseph: You do?! *he puts a hand down heavily on the table, shaking the tea set* Where from?! Was he somewhere around here?

Kazeko: *raising from her seat slightly, she puts her hands on Joseph's shoulder* C-calm down JoJo, you don't need to pressure her!

Jotaro: *amidst the commotion, he looks down at the petite brunette in surprise. how could she know Dio? Even he didn't know the guy existed until yesterday*

Shanna: *she blinks multiple times in surprise* Ah- I can try to rack my brain around for some answers, its been some time since I've seen him.

Avdol: Please, anything at all will be of help!

Holly: Shanna-chan....*her eyebrows upturn* How do you know this man?

Shanna: G-Guys, you're kinda pressuring me, give me a moment to think, ok?

Rose: Shanna let me see. *she takes the photo and her eyes widen as well* He....Shanna, this is no mistaking it. This is HIM.

Shanna: Right!? There was no way it couldn't be! Is he some kind of a model now?

Rose: Shanna and I were acquainted with him when we were in our early teens.

Shanna: Hahaha! Yeah! Didn't he think we were orphaned or something and tried to take us in? Something about our teeth!

Avdol: Wh-What...? Do....Do you two have any idea just who this man is...?

Shanna: Sure I do! Hes a rich guy with a redhead spouse and has a son!

Rose: What was his name again....Dio?

Shanna: Yeah that's it!

Joseph: ... *he can feel his blood run cold. he feels simultaneously sick and like putting a hole through the wall behind him. this guy... Dio... so he's just been living carefree like that? He even has a family? Did he manipulate them?! How many peoples lives has he entered without them having a clue who they were dealing with?*

Kazeko: Wh... no... really? Wh-When? Where?? *she clasps a fistful of her cardigan, suppressing her nerves as best as she can*

Kakyoin: *his eyes widen. they really knew him so casually...? The man who brainwashed and sent him out to commit murder?*

Jotaro: *the raven haired male is equally speechless. he knows very little about him, but from what he's heard... these two are lucky to be alive*

Avdol: Wh-Why were you in contact with him in the first place?!

Shanna: Oi oi, calm down guys! I don't know what is suddenly up with all of you! Again, this was back when we were in our early teens! We were still living in Germany then! We've moved since and he probably has too!

Rose: You see, our parents wanted us to learn more about responsibility, so we ended up taking up baby sitting. We took care of his child for him while his wife and he went out at night.

Shanna: Yeah, we did it for him many times too! For some reason it was only ever at night though?

Avdol: *he looks worriedly at Joseph and Kazeko. Should they tell these girls the truth about him? Should they even get them involved in the first place?*

Holly: *she glances around at everyone in the room. She too, is unsure about letting these girls know the truth...*

Joseph: ... *he unclenches his fist* ... Girls... that man. Dio Brando... he's not what you think.

Kazeko: JoJo... *honestly, she's not surprised. even if he's calmed down over the years, he's still the straightforward one*

Shanna: *she raises an eyebrow* What do you mean by that?

Rose: Hes just a night owl with a family though?

Avdol: That’s... rather, he’s more like-

Joseph: He's a vampire. *halfway through Avdol's statement, he says it anyway*

Shanna: ....PAH! HAHAHA! Good one old man! You had me there for a moment~! *she grins and closes her eyes in a smile* Honestly, don't do that, you scared me for a second there~!

*none of their expressions are any less serious. it doesn't look like he's kidding*

Kakyoin: *he looks down and starts fidgeting with his hair. he knows all too well how true this is*

Rose: ...Err...you guys can drop the facade now...

Shanna: Eh? You guys are still at it? *she reopens her eyes* Come on, we're 17. We know vampires aren't real.

Holly: Papa-

Kazeko: ... we wish they weren't-

Joseph: I know it sounds like fairytales and nonsense, but I'm not trying to scare you. It's true.

Shanna: ....This joke has gone on for quite long enough, don't you think? *annoyance is becoming present on her face. Looks like the twins won't just believe words*

Avdol: Mr. Joestar... we can later. Ok?

Joseph: They deserve to know, Avdol.

Avdol: I'm not saying they don't. *he closes his eyes, threading his fingers together* I'm saying that another time is better. When we have proof to give them. Jotaro didn't believe us either, at first.

Shanna: *she leans in to Rose, mumbling* Oi...I feel kind of disrespected here, they're still at it-

Kakyoin: I- ... if I may...

Rose: *she responds in an equally quiet voice*  I understand. Let's just let them have their fun for now.

Kakyoin: I... Rose-sama. Shanna-san...?

Shanna: Oi oi Kakyoin, you better not be joining in on this. Seriously, if we're going to talk something scary and more realistic...what about Aka Manto~? *she smirks*

Rose: Hey let's not, you scare me everytime you talk about it.

Kakyoin: I am serious. ... that thing you pulled out of me, Jotaro? ... He put it there.

Shanna: Really Kak...? *she looks disappointed, but by the looks on everyone's faces...* Wait.... you're... actually serious?

Rose: Did....Shanna and I miss something important while we were getting Holly?

Kakyoin: ... Hai. *he nods, running his fingers over his bandaged forehead*

Joseph: Dio is out there somewhere, brainwashing people and sending them after our family. He's been trying to wipe us out since my grandfather was alive.

Shanna: Ok whoa whoa whoa wait....you are...gonna have to slow down ok? Explain it slowly in detail one at a time, because Rose and I haven't had a single bad encounter with this guy...

Rose: I apologize Mr. Joestar, but we're going to need something a little less...blunt maybe?

Avdol: Mr. Joestar, maybe the way we explained it to Jotaro will be best for them too?

Shanna: Jotaro, you knew about this as well??

Holly: *she fidgets, she doesn't like this topic coming back up, but maybe it... could keep these girls safe*

Jotaro: They told me about this as soon as they pulled me out of jail.

Shanna: Damn-

Joseph: Right... *he taps the photo on the table* See that star there? Does it look familiar?

Shanna: *she picks it back up to take a look at it* Now that you mention it...that looks like your birthmark, Jotaro...

Rose: Jotaro has a birthmark?

Jotaro: Mom and JiJi have it too.

Joseph: Everyone in the Joestar family has one.

Shanna: *she lowers the picture* If you...don't mind....

Holly: *she moves her hair out of the way so the twins can see the birthmark*

Joseph: *he pulls down the collar of his shirt as well*

Rose: So it really is true....then, does this mean Dio is related to you?

Kazeko: ...Not exactly...

Shanna: Thank you Joseph, Seiko. I know that was a bit rude.

Avdol: His body below his neck, doesn't belong to him.

Shanna: You have officially lost me.

Rose: What do you mean... doesn't belong to him???

Joseph: From the neck down, his body is my grandfather's. He cut off his head and used his body as a means to survive!

Shanna: What the fuck, I'm STILL lost!

Rose: Wait wait....there’s no way that is possible.

Joseph: I'm sorry girls, you're gonna have to suspend your disbelief.  ... look at that scar on his neck.

Rose: Pardon me, Mr. Joestar. But his hair is covering alot of it...I see a bit but tattoos are starting to become popular these days.

Shanna: Yeah...don't you think this is a little far fetched-?

Joseph: No, I don't. My grandmother saw him killed right in front of her.

Shanna: What...?

Avdol: *he threads his fingers together* Ah, but our spirits, otherwise known as stands, are pretty far fetched too, wouldn't you say? To the wider world, our gifts are seen as psychic powers.

Rose: Stands...?

Avdol: The spirits that follow you and fight for you? They are always by your side, and are the very manifestation of your fighting spirit, otherwise known as stands. I was born with mine.

Joseph: I know it's hard to believe, but everyone here is wrapped up in 'far fetched'. Hell... I don't doubt a whole lot these days.

Jotaro: ...You're right. Life's been fucking us over for a couple months.

Kakyoin: *he averts his eyes guiltily, having been a part of that*

Shanna: Oi, Jotaro...can you vouch for all he’s saying? *shes looking at him out of the corner of her eyes. This is all very hard to believe, but if Jotaro can vouch for it, then...*

Jotaro: ... *he sighs, taking her hand under the table and threading his fingers between hers* ... I believe them.

Shanna: *she sighs* I guess I got no choice then. I mean...we have been witnessing some pretty weird ass shit ourselves lately.

Rose: Avdol...you said you were born with your, um, 'stand'. Jotaro, Shanna and I didn't get ours until a few months ago.

Joseph: For Jotaro, it's because of Dio's awakening. But he's been out for a few years, so your stand was kind of delayed... Anyway, I don't know why you two got stands.

Kazeko: It could be your relation to him, somehow... or maybe an impactful life event?

Avdol: Or maybe even you both were born with them, but were late bloomers. I'm sorry, but we can't say for sure.

Shanna: I see... *she looks a little down about them not knowing the answer to this*

Holly: Ah...I..wouldn't worry about it too much! You both happened to get stands for reasons we may not fully know, Avdol-san said it's a gift, so be thankful for being granted psychic abilities!

Shanna: Y-Yeah, you're right. Sorry, I let things bug me too much.

Jotaro: *he gives her hair a pet* It's ok. You've got Earth, no matter how it happened.

Shanna: ...*a slight smile appears across her lips. She remembers how Earth even tested her when she first fully appeared, to deem her worthy enough to wield her. Maybe because of how destructive Mother Earth could truly be if commanded to be*

Rose: If I may touch on a rather...recent topic...*she glances at Kakyoin, worried that this will make him uncomfortable* You called that thing a...flesh bud. A mind controlling device?

Avdol: *he nods* It was implanted on him by Dio himself, as you know, it was attached to his very brain and mind controlling him to attack Jotaro. I don't know the details of how it happened, but Kakyoin is....VERY lucky. He shouldn't of been able to survive the removal. Not even the world's most skilled surgeon could remove it. Attempting to remove one will cause the flesh bud to go in you and try to take control of your brain as well. One wrong move during the removal could result in an instant death as well. Kakyoin had a year left to live at most if we left it in him. ....But Jotaro was the one who removed it, despite all odds and danger.

Rose: *she looks shocked at all this new information suddenly thrown at her. It wasn't just mind controlling, it was also a matter of life or death with Kakyoin*

Kakyoin: ... *he quietly takes a sip of tea. he's grateful.... really, incredibly grateful. but he's still processing Jotaro's decision.. he could have easily left him to die to preserve his own life*

Jotaro: ... *he gives Shanna's hand a squeeze* /... sorry I didn't think it over. I... panicked./ *he tells her telepathically, not wanting to admit it to anyone else* I just did it before I knew I would.

Joseph: Either way, I'm proud of you. *he smiles confidently at his grandson*

Shanna: /That's... just like you. You really are such a kind person, Jotaro./ *she tightens her own grip around his hand*

Rose: Avdol...if it's ok to ask...how do you know so much about the flesh bud?

Avdol: I've witnessed other people with the flesh bud before and could not help them...and I almost became a victim myself.

Shanna: What!?

Kazeko: *gently, she places a hand on his back. she knows it was a while ago, but still, it can't be easy for him to think about*

Joseph: It happened four months ago.

Avdol: *exhaling, he places his elbows on the table* It happened back in Egypt, I was returning back to my house, where I did my fortune telling. It was nighttime. And at the top of the stairs stood him, Dio. I was...terrified, but somehow, also calm? His charisma, beauty, and power was overwhelming...he said he heard that I had special powers, and wanted me to show him. It was then and there that the flesh buds appeared. Immediately, I knew I was in danger and ducked out the window. I ran away, I didn't dare stop. I knew the labyrinth like the back of my hand, and was able to make my escape. I was lucky, incredibly lucky.

Rose: I...I'm sorry. That must not of been easy to talk about... thank you for telling us.

Shanna: Avdol....

Avdol: *he shakes his head* Joseph, Kazeko and I together have been trying to locate Dio's location. You kids need not worry about this.

Shanna: O-Oi oi, we're not kids.

Avdol: *he chuckles* Apologies. Teenagers.

Shanna: Hmph-

Kakyoin: ... Avdol-san... I'm glad you escaped. ... /I never want anyone else to go through what I did-/

Jotaro: And you've been at this the last four months?

Joseph: Right. Well, Kaz only joined us this month.

Kazeko: I couldn't let them face this problem, just the two of them, having known Joseph so long. ... Not that I'm the most useful ally. Hehe... at least I can heal.

Rose: You don’t have a stand?

Kazeko: No... I'm afraid I don't.

Rose: A medic then? *she smiles solemnly* We’re in the same boat. I have a stand but...shes not really meant for combat.

Kazeko: *she smiles, feeling a bit encouraged* That's right. I don't exactly use conventional medicine, though.

Rose: Oh...? What do you use?

Kazeko: Um, while you're suspending your disbelief... it's called hamon. A breathing technique that generates energy comparable to the sun. At base, it can be used for combat or for healing. I... never really got the hang of the former.

Shanna: Ham? You use ham?

Kazeko: Ah-

Joseph: *SNORT*

Rose: I see...*she rests her head on the table* I can’t even do that. I have to use medical supplies...

Shanna: .../I’m still upset with her but I’m starting to kinda feel bad;;;/

Kazeko: No, hamon. ... ah, but I can't do everything with it. medical supplies are still very useful.

Rose: Uuuuuuu.....

Shanna: Ah-

Rose: * her head shoots up* Ah! Knives! I’m good at cutting! I’m not TOTALLY useless!

Shanna: Oi oi! Why are you getting competitive! You were just depressed!!

Kakyoin: You fight with knives? *he tilts his head, intrigued*

Rose: I, ah...actually took out a stand user with one.

Shanna: SHE FUCKIN CHUCKED IT INTO HIS THROAT

Joseph: *he whistles, impressed*

Rose: Ehehe...

Kazeko: *her eyes widen*

Kakyoin: That's... very impressive. *he blinks, covering his mouth. that's kind of scary, but also kind of hot-*

Rose: I am also very knowledgeable of the human body. I know where all your weak points are, and the best places to torture someone. I know how to keep you alive while also putting you through immeasurable pain. You know, you want to avoid places like the head and stomach, but places like the arms and some of the back...legs....fingers and nails are especially perfect for-

Shanna: She wants to be a nurse, please don't think shes a psychopath oh gosh PLEASE don't.

Jotaro: She's not crazy. She just knows creepy shit.

Kazeko: O-of course not! *although, she does look a little intimidated*

Joseph: Damn... sounds like you'd be good in a fight even without stand combat.

Kakyoin: *ok VERY scary. but still hot-*

Rose: I also know Judo...but my sister is much better at that sort of stuff.

Shanna: Hehe! I took kendo and I'm a black belt in karate, and as I've already said, I used to be a street fighter!

Rose: Please stop bragging about being a street fighter, you're a noble-

Avdol: *ahem* Back to the topic at hand....is there anything else you wish to know?

Shanna: *she shakes her head* ...Well...actually...Joseph, I have two last questions for you. How do you know hes a, uh- vampire? Also....are you certain that his name is 'Dio Brando'?

Joseph: I know from what Granny told me, and from records I got from the Speedwagon Foundation. I don't know what you might call a creature that sucks blood, dies in the sunlight and can walk up walls, but I call that a vampire. And, yes. I'm positive his name is Dio Brando.

Shanna: I see....thank you.

Avdol: Were you...close?

Shanna: He was... kind of like a second father figure to Rose and I.

Rose: *she nods slowly* Gomen, we'll try not to let our personal feelings get in the way of anything...

Kazeko: ... I'm sorry, you two... it's better this way than if he'd actually hurt you, though.

Joseph: *he sighs* This was... really unexpected. But if it helps, you don't have to get involved with us. We just made a stop to help out Jotaro.

Kakyoin: You... said he had a family, too? ... I'm sorry, having met him, it's.. hard to imagine.

Rose: Yes...a wife and son.

Shanna: His son's name was pretty uncommon so I never forgot it. It was Giorno Giovanna.

Joseph: Not Brando?

Shanna: No- maybe he took his mother's last name? I'm sorry, I don't really know anything else.

Joseph: I see... ... I understand if you don't want to tell us. But do you remember his wife's name? It might help.

Shanna: D...Deli....I only remember the first part. It's silly, but I remember uncommon names better than common names.

Rose: She was a redhead though, and their son looked almost exactly like Dio. Except for the eye color.

Kazeko: I see... so... Delilah Brando? Or maybe Delia?

Shanna: I just remember it was D-E-L-I. Her hair was a little short, only about shoulder length since I last saw her. I believe she’s Italian.

Avdol: Thank you. Even if it's hard to remember, every little bit of information helps.

Joseph: I'll let the Speedwagon Foundation know. Don't worry. They won't raid them or anything. Just ask them some questions.

Shanna: *she nods*

Avdol: One more thing, you said he thought you were orphans because of your...teeth??

Shanna: Ah, I didn't understand back then, but it makes sense now that we know hes a vampire....

Avdol: What?

Rose: Shanna and I have really pointed canines, they look like fangs.

Jotaro: *he nods, able to vouch for this*

Kakyoin: I think I noticed that earlier...

Avdol: If...you don't mind?

Shanna: *she shrugs at Rose and opens her mouth, lifting a finger to pull her mouth to the side so they can see better*

Rose: *she does the same but just opens her mouth. ....Wow, she and Shanna have small mouths*

Joseph: *he raises  an eyebrow. so it's true* Huh, I get it. ... maybe those teeth kept you safe.

Kakyoin: ... *he feels a slight rush of blood to his face. he doesn't get why, but he's blushing a little*

Avdol: *he nods* He may of saw you girls as one of his own kind, and thus, your teeth protected you.

Shanna: *she lets go of her mouth* I guess it...all makes sense now. Not gonna lie it... kind of hurts...

Rose: *she closes her mouth* Yeah... it hurts me too... but we can't deny the truth.

Kazeko: ... If it helps... I'm sure he knew by the end you weren't like him. But he still cared enough about you to let you keep caring for his son.

Joseph: She's right. If you knew him as long as you said, that's probably how it went. Dio Brando isn't stupid.

Shanna: *she looks up* So you're saying... he actually did care?

Avdol: It's hard to imagine for a man like Dio but... he very well may of cared for you both in the end.

Joseph: If he didn't, you would have known it.

Shanna: I-I see...

Rose: Thank you, all three of you, for telling us this. I hope that you'll be able to find him...

Holly: *she remains silent, so even these girls may of been in danger?*

Joseph: Thanks, Rose. ... when we find him, we'll let you know.

Kazeko: ... Holly, I'm sorry. Are you alright? ... it's a lot to process, I know...

Holly: *she nods* It's just...I had no idea that even these girls were once in danger too...

Shanna: ....*she holds her tongue on them being in danger for months now*

Jotaro: *he pulls her close to his side*

Kazeko: It must be hard to hear... your life's been fairly normal up until now.

Holly: *she nods* But...hopefully...these four can be safe now. Papa, Avdol-san, Kazeko-chan...please be careful?

Shanna: *she leans against Jotaro, feeling a little better from his comfort*

Rose: ...Kakyoin-san, your face has been quite red for awhile now. Are you ok?

Kakyoin: Uhm- ah! *he blinks, his eyes darting away and to her a couple of times* I-I... I'm alright, really. ... /I-it's that obvious...? I hope I haven't caught a fever.../

Kazeko: Of course Holly. Mr. Avdol and I are here to make sure your papa stays safe. *she smiles at her softly, placing her hand on hers* You can trust us.

Joseph: Oi, Kaz, don't talk about me like I'm still 19! *he looks miffed* I don't run in recklessly half as much as I used to!

[killian-whump]

I know you weren't a big fan of s6, so if you could rewrite it, what would you change?

Everything.

No, I’m kidding. I mean, there were some things I liked about S6 and would definitely keep around. I thought the S5 finale set everything up for S6 really well. I was excited for the Land of Untold Stories, and all the tales that were hinted at in the scenes that took place there, and I love Regina, especially when she’s the Evil Queen in flashbacks, so I was all amped up for the dual Reginas storyline. S6 looked great from that point.

Then it all went to shit.

The Evil Queen thing was SO over-the-top, and Lana was playing her in a campy and ridiculous way that didn’t appeal to me at all. In hindsight, I can see that they were trying to keep her “redeemable” and play up the whole “still Regina, even as the Evil Queen” thing for the storyline resolution, so they needed her to only be quasi-evil instead of evil-evil. Okay, fair enough, but it was still super disappointing and even downright cringey, and I will never forgive them for turning one of my favorite parts of the show into a circus act. Honestly, if they weren’t going to do the Evil Queen justice, I would’ve rather they hadn’t gone anywhere near her. So that would be change #1: Drop the camp or drop that storyline entirely.

And they could’ve dropped it entirely. That exciting land of Untold Stories they teased us with in the S5 finale was... a let-down. Yes, we got Jekyll and Hyde and Captain Nemo... but the Aladdin stuff they gave us was more fairytale than literary classic, and wtf was up with the ridiculous one-off shit like the Count of Monte Cristo? There were SO many classics they could’ve visited, and greater detail they could’ve gone into with the ones they DID visit... and the Land of Untold Stories was so COOL looking, with its wild mix of architecture and dirigibles and steampunk style. WHY would you create such a fantastical and fun-looking world, and then take everyone from that world and put them in OUR boring ass world? S6 should’ve taken place IN the Land of Untold Stories and brought us a lot more fresh takes and characters from that land than the pittance we got. AND MORE STEAMPUNK, FOR FUCK’S SAKE.

I’m also still angry that they teased me with an asylum plot in the press before the S5 finale, then gave me a taste of it IN that finale... and then ripped it from my greedy, hot little hands. They didn’t even put Killian Jones in a straitjacket while they were there. What the fuck, guys? Who does that? That man was born to be put into a straitjacket for my enjoyment and you had him RIGHT THERE and even put someone in a straitjacket, but it was the wrong fucking someone. Had S6 stayed in the Land of Untold Stories, we could’ve had untold opportunities for more asylum whump, and they could’ve put Killian in a straitjacket and made all of my dreams come true.

And why the SHIT did they actually kill off Hyde when Sam Witwer was the best thing to happen to that show since Colin, himself?! I mean, yeah, the Jekyll and Hyde storyline was probably planned from the get-go to end in their deaths, but when you see what a complete GEM Hyde is, what with his penchant for the Evil Queen’s cooking and his ridiculously awesome facial expressions and his dashing dapper-do and Sam Fucking Witwer’s everything... change whatever the fuck you need to change to somehow keep this man on your show. And then they even went and full-on made this man redeemable and gave him a heartbreaking backstory right before they killed him. Like, fuck you? Seriously. Fuck everyone for that one. I will never forgive them for killing Hyde.

Okay. Moving on from my general complaints, we come to my Killian-specific complaints. And there’s a lot of them. S6 did that character SO wrong SO many times... I really just want to take it out back and beat the shit out of it.

For starters, his relationships were ALL thrown in the shitcan. It was like S3-S5 just never happened and he was right back to Square One with everyone, being that dastardly pirate that can’t be trusted and that no one could ever care about. People who clearly cared enough about him to go to the fucking Underworld for him in S5 were suddenly calling him a pirate like it’s a foul word, and blatantly telling him he’s not good enough to be part of the family. Yeah, I get it, they wanted some dramatic negativity before showing these characters fully accepting and embracing him as part of their clan... but you know what makes for really awesome storytelling? Realistic relationships that grow and evolve over the course of several seasons - which was what they fucking HAD before they threw them all in the shitter for fake “developments” that had already happened. And FYI, Henry was actually nastier to Killian in the beginning of 6x06 than he was during the Spell of Shattered Sight. Like, did no one at the writers table even pause in their pursuit of drama long enough to realize that if Henry really ever had that much animosity towards Killian, it would’ve come out THEN? Or, you know, at any point in the course of the last four seasons?!

And it goes without saying: I would never, ever, ever have had Killian be the murderer of David’s father. Or, at the very least, I would’ve never had the murder go down the way they showed it in the flashback. Have it be an accidental death. Have it be a pirate duel. Have it be anything but cold-blooded murder. First of all, it’s just not believable that David could forgive him so easily and so quickly for depriving him of a loving father for no fucking reason. Secondly, they spend four whole seasons showing us flashbacks of a pirate with a deeply-buried heart of gold, who kept wanting to make the right decisions... but ended up making the wrong ones time and time again. They never showed us, before this ridiculously cheap dramatic ploy, a man who willfully murdered people just for shits and giggles. Finally, Killian Jones is a motherfucking pirate. Stealing from the King is par for the course, but the whole “Dead men tell no tales” thing makes ZERO sense. Pirates thrive by striking FEAR into the hearts of their enemies, and you don’t get a solid reputation for being a cut-throat villain to be feared by literally killing off all the witnesses to your evil deeds. Pirates are like, one step short of going “BEHOLD! It is I, Captain PirateGuy, here to steal your gold and seduce your ladies! Be sure to tell all your friends and neighbors about this when we’re through.” So... yeah. Way to throw a completely nonsensical spanner in the works that makes literally NO sense and flies in the face of everything else you’ve said and shown about this character in the past. It’s shit, and I refuse to accept it, and they should be sorry for its very existence.

And then there’s Captain Swan. *sigh* This relationship fell prey to the same shit that ALL of Killian’s relationships were destroyed by throughout S6. Only it was much, much worse here - because this is supposed to be (and has been!) his closest, most important relationship. And yet... We see Emma blow him off and then lie right to his face in the very first episode. Then she lies some more in each of the next few episodes, and when her lies are finally revealed, she doesn’t even seem to give a shit about the trust she’s betrayed or the hurt she’s caused. And the fact that they even filmed that deleted scene with Emma giving Killian a flippant “I said I was sorry...” just shows how fucking tone-deaf those writers were. If someone lies to your face, repeatedly, over something of life-or-death importance and for a lengthy period of time, then basically gives you a “I said I was sorry, what more do you want from me?” twenty minutes after their lies are revealed, because you’re still sore about it... get the FUCK out of that relationship immediately, because that person does not give two shits about you.

Things only got worse when she snooped through his belongings, pushed him to propose on her terms and when she wanted him to (despite the fact that he was clearly drunk and troubled by something at the time), called off their engagement when he dared to keep something from her (despite the fact that she’d just recently spent weeks lying right to his face), believed that he would just abandon her completely despite everything they’d been through, lied to him again right before their wedding in the course of once again shutting him out and not letting him help her with something (even though that’s literally the EXACT reason she ended their engagement when HE was the one doing it)... I mean, come on. That is NOT the CS I signed up for, and I refuse to accept it as the CS that is my OTP.

Hence, the Dark Emma explanation was born in my head. And when it comes to changes to S6... I’d either completely re-write about 90% of S6′s CS storylines... or make my Dark Emma theory a reality. The theory is as such: Since Emma did not die in 5x11, but merely had her Darkness sucked into Killian/Excaliber before HE died... some residual darkness remained in her. Nothing much was seen/noticed in 5b (though Killian DID make a comment about her not sleeping...) because she was too focused on saving Killian. However, once she was back home, safe and sound with her man, the Darkness started showing itself. She lied to those she loved. She made uncharacteristically selfish decisions. She hurt people. She eschewed all she’d learned about letting others in and getting help from the people who love her. And it wasn’t until her literal and figurative death at Gideon’s hands that the Darkness was truly eradicated from her - and only THEN could she truly find her Happy Beginning.

Oh, and by the way, I also hate the writers for even HAVING Killian walk to the docks with a packed bag and even consider boarding the Nautilus and leaving town. No. Just... no. Having him even CONSIDER doing that is even worse than having Emma believe he WOULD do such a thing to her. It’s like they got the S6 writers out of a Cracker Jack box and not a single one had ever watched an episode of the show or seen this couple before in their lives. Their whole fucking SCHTICK is that he would NEVER abandon her, that he would follow her to the end of the world or time itself... and that, despite a lifetime of fears and abandonment issues, Emma Swan has come to TRUST that he would never leave her. YOU CAN’T JUST GO “LOL, THAT’S NOT TRUE NOW” AND EXPECT ME TO ACCEPT THAT SHIT. No. Fuck you. Fuck your entire season AND the boat it rode in on. Just... fuck, man. FUCK.

The wedding was nice, though. I loved the musical aspect. Everyone did great in it. It was a truly lovely episode in almost every way, although I didn’t care for Emma’s dress and especially not her hairdo. It was too stark, too severe, but somehow too fancy at the same time... and it seemed more Jen Morrison than Emma Swan to me. Other than that, though, it was lovely. Everyone looked lovely. The singing was lovely. The vows were lovely. Shame about the whirling black vortex of doom, though.

Speaking of things that suck, I would also like to set that fucking doily shirt that Emma wore in 6x17 on fucking fire. And she actually DARED to rescue my man in that atrocity. Did she not realize I would need to SEE that shitty article of clothing every time I admired that dashing rescue? Did no one think of the KWs of the world who would suffer from this fashion faux pas?!?!

Oh, and I hate that they literally had Emma burn Killian’s image in the curse and not have any kind of recollection. I mean, I get that they wanted Henry to make her believe, and the way they got him to do that was cute, but did they HAVE to show Emma looking at Killian’s picture burning in the fire and being like, “Eh, he might ring a bell, but not enough to bother thinking about for more than a second or anything.” I could’ve done without that scene, honestly, because it just comes off like, “This love isn’t strong enough to break through this curse!” and EXCUSE ME, but where’s the fucking fun in that? Haven’t any of those bitches ever read a goddamn fanfic?! LOVE BREAKING THROUGH A CURSE IS ALL THE RAGE, GUYS. That’s the kind of shit we like to read and see in our OTPs. What’s with this “Eh, let that handsome fucker on page 172 burn” shit??

Oh, but that scene where Fiona serves the charred remains of the book to Henry on a platter would need to stay. That shit was stone cold savage. That bitch came to play, and that scene straight up told you that she was NOT going to be sitting at anyone’s Thanksgiving table next year, asking someone to pass the potatoes like she was just named People Magazine’s Redeemed Villain of the Year or something. She meant business.

Finally, I think I would’ve ended the show with the S6 finale. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed S7 and I loved KnightRook and Wish Hook and all the excellent Colin content we got that year... but in hindsight, the Hail Mary play of rebooting the series really just didn’t work, and S7 ended up as the “extra chapter” the series itself didn’t need. It’s not that I would want to give up the awesomeness of what we had... It’s just that I feel like if we hadn’t had it, we’d be unaware of what we were missing out on anyway, but the series as a whole would’ve maintained more of its impact and dignity.

But then, we were blessed with Wish Hook and the wonders of S7 Hooked Queen, so... :D I mean, coulda shoulda woulda, I’ve got ‘em now and you can’t take that away from meeee...

[lostinthewinterwood]

Crossworks 2020

Hello friend!

Right, so, ah… sorry this is late.  Got incredibly caught up in other exchange nonsense—I’m sure you know how it is, unless you have reasonable decision-making skills and executive function, in which case can I have some too?

…anyway.

Some of these have way more rambling/commentary than others but I am desirous of them all, don’t worry.

If you’re browsing for people to treat, 1) thank you, you’re awesome; 2) I will gladly accept treats in any medium :D

General DNW

Rape/non/dub-con; non-canonical major character death; heavy angst; hurt no comfort; graphic depictions of deliberate and methodical self-harm*; graphic depictions of suicide; anything E rated; smut; gore; heavy gender dysphoria; grimdark; complete downer endings; character bashing; incest; cringe comedy; a/b/o; mpreg; graphic eye trauma; graphic and/or permanent hand trauma (unless the setting can provide a more-or-less fully functional prosthetic or equivalent); issuefic; unrequested identity headcanons; a focus on unrequested romantic relationships**.

*I don’t include things like, say, punching a wall in a fit of emotion under this. however, something like cutting would not be appreciated.

**canonical levels of canonical ships are perfectly fine; background non-canon ships that I haven't dnw'd are okay too, unless otherwise specified in a request.

  General Likes/Other General Info

So, since most of my requests are for fusions, I should probably lay out what I tend to consider a fusion—it’s a little broader than the official Crossworks definition, I think, which is “A work in which characters of one canon are treated as if they always belonged in another setting, or their world has always had elements of another canon.”  All of that falls under my personal definition, as do fusions that are basically Characters A playing out the story of Canon B, even if the setting is still mostly that of Canon A.  For the one crossover I’ve requested, as noted in that prompt I really don’t care how that crossover comes about, just that it does.

 Generally—as you could maybe, possibly, tell from the theme of many of my requests—I’m a total sucker for fairytale fusions; I haven’t really elaborated on all of those combos, just know that I adore characters I know and love playing out a fairytale plot; if you’ve matched on that, I don’t really know how you could go too far wrong.

 Other general likes I think are most relevant for this exchange include:

– I really like plotty fics

– Secret identity and disguise shenanigans, the more layers to them and more absurdity the better.

– Found family; families of choice

– Character studies

– Worldbuilding

  Specific Requests

 Superhero Fairytales

Miraculous Ladybug, Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Østenfor sol og vestenfor måne | East of the Sun and West of the Moon

Fic/Fusion

request-specific dnw: breaking up Rapunzel/Eugene, romantic Rapunzel/Cass, romantic Varian/anyone else from the main cast (unless you age him up/them down)

Would love to see Rapunzel et al as Miraculous holders, or the Miraculous kids with the Sundrop and Moonstone and all that goes with that, or the characters from either series facing the plot of East of the Sun and West of the Moon.

For the comparison of ML and Tangled—there’s a lot to explore, I feel, with the creation/healing vs destruction/decay powers that the series both have going, along with the idea that if united the power becomes much, much greater, and far more dangerous.

 As a side note: I’m very not up to date with ML; the last episode I’ve currently seen is Chameleon. I know some spoilers, and I’m not super concerned about them overall, but if you write a fic that relies on an intimate knowledge of events post-season-two I will be lost.

  Time-Travelling Imposters

Mother of Learning - nobody103, Rigel Black Series (Harry Potter fanfic) - murkybluematter, Tam Lin (Traditional Ballad)

Fic/Fusion

request-specific dnw: romantic Harry/Archie, explicitly breaking up canon ships fandom-specific exception: as long as it doesn't violate another dnw, if you do a Tam Lin fusion, the ship it's for (platonic or romantic or somewhere in between) is up to you.

Mother of Learning/Rigel Black Chronicles: I think it would be interesting to toss the RBC characters into the world/plot of MoL--who's the time traveler? who's the tagalong? The noble/nonnoble distinction in MoL and the Splinter Wars and the Weeping would be very interesting to warp into the RBC setting/plot, I'd expect, what with the pureblood/not!pureblood things and the Fade. (i'm not really requesting this, obviously, it's not in my fandoms, but if you're at loss for the angels--or indeed the faeries for a Tam Lin fusion--i always delight in the Tortallan gods showing up in RBC fic)

RBC/Tam Lin: don’t have too much to say here, but I think that RBC has plenty of relationships that you could fit into the dynamics here.

MoL/Tam Lin: in a weird way, MoL already has its characters in the roles they need to be in for a Tam Lin fusion, though the structure is of course very different--what is Zach if not a sacrifice against Panaxeth's release? What is Zorian if not the one who fights nigh-impossible odds to save him from that fate?

  Fairytale Gamer Kids

Hanging Out with a Gamer Girl (Manga), Fairy Tales & Related Fandoms  

Fic/Fusion

Fandom-specific DNW: sexualization of Kaoru’s crossdressing, full justification of Kaoru’s fears re: Nanami’s dad request-specific note: romantic Kaoru/Nanami is okay here if you want to fuse with a romantic fairytale; I'd equally enjoy such a fairytale being made more platonic or more ambiguous.

So, if you put the kids into the fairytale—who are they?  What fairytale are they in?  Can you work in the initial identity confusion, the ongoing ruse?

  Superhero Gamer Kids

Hanging Out with a Gamer Girl (Manga), Miraculous Ladybug

Fic/Fusion

request-specific DNW: sexualization of Kaoru’s crossdressing (or equivalent character's, if you fuse it the other way), romance between Kaoru and Nanami beyond light shiptease à la canon, full justification of Kaoru’s fears re: Nanami’s dad

 I'd love to see Kaoru and Nanami as Miraculous-holders; Marinette and Adrien as slowly-getting-less-reclusive gamers would also be fun, and there are some interesting parallels you could make with their family lives.

There are so many things you could draw from HOwaGG to make parallels to ML; is it that Ladybug is apparently a boy but Nanami a girl, and Chat Noire apparently a girl but Kaoru a boy—does that help them keep up their façade?

In terms of other parallels, there’s also Nanami and Marinette both being the only children of two loving parents, and Kaoru and Adrien both being the only children of distant/absent fathers and (seemingly) dead—and certainly absent—mothers.

As a side note: I’m very not up to date with ML; the last episode I’ve currently seen is Chameleon. I know some spoilers, and I’m not super concerned about them overall, but if you write a fic that relies on an intimate knowledge of events post-season-two I will be lost.

  Star Wars Fairytale

Star Wars Rebels: Servants of the Empire - Jason Fry, Østenfor sol og vestenfor måne | East of the Sun and West of the Moon  

Fic/Fusion

I don't have anything very specific here, at least not right now, but the idea of the protagonist questing to a near-impossible place to rescue a loved one is a parallel that I think it'd be interesting to draw out—in some ways the situations are utterly dissimilar, but they’re surprisingly alike in other ways.

  Superheroes Galore

僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia, Super Powereds - Drew Hayes

Fic/Crossover

fandom-specific dnw: non-canon ships

I'm very interested in the similarities and differences between these two superhero worlds--there's the Powered vs Super distinction in Super Powereds that's absent in bnha with its quirks, the wildly different (but both still formalized and structured) paths to becoming a hero, even just how common powers are in the different worlds. I'm not sure how well trying to wrangle both of them into the same world in the same era would work, but more power to you if you manage that, or maybe it's dimension hopping or time travel shenanigans that bring them into contact with each other--I really don't care on the mechanics here.

Also, the first time I saw Izuku my brain immediately went "hey, it's tiny green Vince!" and I think seeing them meet, at any point in their respective journeys, would be pretty funny and/or interesting.

I'd be into the other characters too—there’s also a comparison to be made, I feel, between Izuku as both powerful and analytic, and Roy and Hershel who are kind of the same but More and also split apart.

  Anyway, that’s probably enough rambling from me for now.  Good luck with the writing!

[bloojayoolie]

Animals, Bad, and Children: prokopetz I've seen a lot of videos going around of urban-dwelling critters coming to humans for help with various problems, ranging from boxes stuck on their heads to young trapped down a storm drain, and it's gotten me to thinking: On the one hand, it's kind of fascinating that they know to do that. On the other hand, setting any questions of how this sort of behaviour must have arisen aside for the nonce, does it ever strike you how weird it is that we've got whole collection of prey species whose basic problem-solving script ends with the step "if all else fails, go bother one of the local apex predators and maybe they'll fix the problem for no reason"? roachpatrol well, come to think of it, we're at the top of the food chain but we almost exclusively hunt and kill prey out in the country. raccoons and possums and foxes and crows all succeed in an urban environment because they're opportunistic and observant. and almost none of them would have observed us pounce on one of their species and then start eating it, you know? a lot of them would have observed that we scream and chase them out of wherever we don't want them to be, but other animals are territorial too. but there's a number of situations where humans feed whoever's bold enough to take them up on the offer, and we do tend to pull garbage off of other animals as soon as they slow down enough for us to catch. 'a human got me but nothing bad happened' is a much more frequent thing than 'a human got me and tried to eat me anyway like, we're masters of our environment, we make weird shit happen all the time, we have lots of great food and sometimes we share, and we almost never eat someone. it makes sense for urban animals, over the last century or so, to just keep an eye out for opportunities to use us, and to pass the habit on to their kids. tsfennec It really is a weird, funny thing. Like yeah, technically they're predators, and they get pretty screamy, especially if you try to take any of their stuf... but given the chance it seems like they'd rather help us out and sometimes they'll just randomly give you food, so??? I mean, I guess in fairytales and myths we've got our fair share of stories about dangerous people/creatures who might well kill you or otherwise ruin your life, but to whom people nonetheless turn for help in desperate circumstances. So it's not like the perspective is exactly a foreign thing to our own mindset, really... It's just that, y'know, we can't actually go make a deal with the faeries when there's something we can't figure out. (Which brings me to an interesting thought about the ubiquitous rule about never eating the faery food lest you find yourself forever unsatisfied with anything in the human world and the potential parallels to the dangers of feeding wildlife human food lest they become addicted and too tame and dependent to be safe for either themselves or us. Hmm.) sapphicaquarius Okay, but that last bit with the Fae...makes almost perfect sense Of the stories l've read, the food of the Fae, its origins and effects, are often strange and/or obscure.- Just like our food to most animals The Fae are strange beings that seem to know weird things that give them power or an edge over us.- Just like us to animals. The Fae work and live by strange rules also often nonsensical or obscure to us.- Just like us to animals. The Fae can easily obtain vast amounts of things we consider rare/precious/ desireable, and have no problem with dishing it out wantonly for no other reason than amusement.- Just like us to animals. The Fae sometimes are amused by having us around, but only on their terms and IF it amuses/intrigues them.- Just like us to animals GUYS, I SENSE A PATTERN... roachpatrol -they have arcane social conventions and the punishment for not paying the correct respects right is banishment, if you're lucky, and death if you're not. -they have wild and unexpected parties where you'd least expect to find them, but if you're bold enough to entertain them they'll feed you and caress you and play with you all night. -time runs strangely in their realm. their homes are summerlands: warm and bright, no matter the season. there is always fruit on their tables. but not everyone who comes in from the cold is let back out again -their games are cruel and complex and unfair, but if you can beat them by their own rules you will access riches beyond imagining. -sometimes they just fucking fuck with you, the fuckheads. -they will absolutely steal your children away. when your children return- if they ever do - they will come back strange. they will have magic earrings or necklaces or bracelets. they will know things they shouldn't. they won't know things that they should. your strange children might survive, might even prosper, might take wives and husbands and have children of their own. but they will always be marked by their time away from your world. -the price for pissing them off is always death. sometimes just you. sometimes your whole community. -if you are very good, and very smart, and very brave, they will grant your wish Source: prokopetz 84 107 notes Maybe the real fae were inside us all along

[serenlyss]

Mob Psycho Fic Recs Part 3

Here we go again! I’ve racked up another 10 bookmarks to share. As always, if you are the author of any of these wonderful fics and want to have your tumblr tagged just let me know!

Parental Supervision Author: piperita Rating: G Archive Warnings: None Completion Status: In Progress Tags: dad reigen, good parent reigen, protective reigen, found family Summary: Reigen finds out that Teruki lives alone. No parents, foster parents, or even a hired caretaker. He doesn't know exactly what he's going to do with this information, but it's certainly not 'nothing'. Or: Reigen's awkward, messy, and backwards guide to adopting psychic children. My Notes: Just a nice cute fic about Reigen looking out for and helping take care of Teru after finding out that he lives on his own. It’s cute and very sweet how Reigen takes a kind of backwards approach to helping out Teru, since Teru is way too stubborn to allow himself to be completely cared for by someone else. I really love Reigen and Teru’s dynamic in this fic so far and I’m excited to see more!

aquarium Author: amaranthinecanicular Rating: G Archive Warnings: None Completion Status: Complete Tags: ritshou, mermaid au, background terumob Summary: It was just a fairytale. One of those bedtime stories parents tell their kids to make them wary of the surface. Merfolk didn’t fall in love with humans, they didn’t fall for the sweet words of seawitches and they didn’t fall out of the ocean with legs only to fall back as seafoam. It was just a fairytale. It was supposed to be a fairytale. My Notes: One of my all-time favorite ritshou fics, I go back and reread it all the time! I’m such a sucker for mermaid fics and this one is super beautifully written. It’s poetic and flows so so well, it wraps you in from the very beginning with its gorgeous prose and mysterious story. It’s definitely been an inspiration to me in pursuing a more descriptive and flowery writing style for certain fics. The budding friendship between Shou and Ritsu is endearing and believable and very in character, and the little mermaid inspiration brings a familiarity to the story as well that makes it easy to follow and understand what’s going on behind the scenes. I absolutely adore how the author writes Ritsu’s point of view, it’s just a really really solid and fun fic that I’ll continue to go back to after this.

Out of Body Author: bobmoss Rating: M Archive Warnings: None Completion Status: In Progress Tags: serirei, slow burn, mental health issues, recovery, case fic, hurt/comfort Summary: Serizawa's recovery seems to be going so well, but then he suddenly develops a habit of accidental out of body experiences during panic attacks. My Notes: A very sweet, emotional exploration of Serizawa and Reigen’s budding relationship post-world domination arc. I absolutely love the way the author writes these two as friends who know and understand each other, and how that leads into an eventual romance. It has some really heart-stoppingly scary dramatic moments, too, for being such a character-centered story, which took me pleasantly by surprise. I really look forward to what the author has planned for the future of this fic!

Night Terrors Author: futuresoon Rating: T Archive Warnings: Unspecified (there’s some blood/injury and horror elements, but nothing too extreme) Completion Status: Complete Tags: Yomawari: Midnight Shadows fusion (no knowledge needed to read), horror, angst, alternate universe Summary: Ritsu wants psychic powers more than he wants almost anything. But he didn’t expect them to only be good for seeing spirits, and he didn’t expect them to only appear after his brother walks into the forest and doesn’t come back. Now the town is full of monsters, and all Ritsu can do is search for his brother--but even powerful children are still children, and the night is not always kind. My Notes: This fic really took me by surprise, since I had never played Yomawari and knew nothing about it before reading this. It’s dark and relatively scary as far as my usual taste in fics go, but it’s written really well. The author is really good at displaying the hopeless aura of the situation without making it seem like all is lost, and the atmosphere and constantly moving story make it really easy to get lost in this dark alternate reality. It’s not really a happy fic, though, and the ending is rather bittersweet, so be aware if you decide to read this one.

The Accelerated Velocity of Terminological Inexactitude Author: LogicalBookThief Rating: G Archive Warnings: None Completion Status: Complete Tags: terumob, fake dating au, slow build/slow burn, crushes, pining, holding hands, slight angst, mentions of mogami arc Summary: Teru offers to fake date Mob in order to gain Tsubomi's attention. His own crush on Mob makes this plan somewhat problematic. My Notes: Teru has a big ol crush on Mob and takes advantage of his crush on Tsubomi to become his fake boyfriend for a time, except it really does more harm to himself than to anyone else. The fake dating AU we all know and love, now with added mogami arc angst (just a little) and the slow realization that their fake relationship might have more truth behind it than either of them are intending. It’s a super sweet fic and a relatively quick read if you’re looking for something with meat that isn’t 100k words long. It brought quite a few smiles to my face and a couple of excited squeals as well.

Grow as we Go Author: lesboba Rating: T Archive Warnings: None Completion Status: In Progress Tags: terumob, fluff, character study, hurt/comfort, dad reigen, established relationship, good person teru, post-canon, kissing, panic attacks Summary: Teru's still working on himself, but he has time and the right people with him now. My Notes: This fic is so so good and sweet, it focuses on Teru coming into his own and figuring out how to be a good person post-canon. It’s so endearing seeing him interacting with the whole Kageyama family, especially Shigeo, who he’s dating in secret, and his parents, who treat him like their own son and it’s great. It’s so nice to see Teru’s struggle to remind himself that he can change and become better from inside his own head, since in canon we only get brief mentions of what that must be like. It’s also super soft, just very very soft, and it makes me feel nice every time I go back to refresh myself on it.

Blind Eye Author: NewWorldFool Rating: G Archive Warnings: None Completion Status: Complete Tags: ritshou, pining, fluff, mutual pining, john mulaney references Summary: “Yo, Ritsu!” Shou says with a nonchalant wave as he walks through the doorway, entering the threshold of the student council room. The boy in question sighs, but not unkindly. “Shou,” he says in lieu of a greeting. Shou showing up to the student council meetings has become a somewhat common occurrence even though he doesn’t even attend the school. He won’t admit the exact reason why, but Ritsu deduced it was probably to mess with him. Normally he’d be annoyed, but today? Ritsu is grateful for the interruption. (Basically a ritshou fic where they're dating but not really dating and Ritsu gets an epiphany) My Notes: This is a super sweet, super cute one-shot about how Ritsu and Shou act like they’re a couple long before they actually start dating and I love it. Shou showing up at Ritsu’s school and house out of the blue is one of my favorite fanon interpretations of him and it’s played out really well in this fic. I also love the idea of the two of them just being unabashedly affectionate when it’s just the two of them, they have such a cute relationship in this interpretation!

Cinderella-Esque Author: beanpots and Floral Fancies (lovelycoris) Rating: T Archive Warnings: None Completion Status: Complete Tags: ritshou, terumob, cinderella au, curses Summary: Once upon a time in a faraway land, there was a tiny kingdom that was peaceful, prosperous, and rich in romance and tradition. Tucked away in the corner of town lies a charming little stone house that's absolutely smothered by flowers of impeccable beauty. But the life around the Kageyama house belies the bane plaguing them - Ritsu Kageyama will do anything to lift the curse from his older brother. Even if it costs him a glass shoe. My Notes: This might be my favorite mob psycho fic like.. ever. I remember staying up into the early hours of the morning to read it all in one sitting because I just had to know what happened next. It’s beautifully written and leaves you on the edge of your seat wondering what might happen next, and the fantasy/cinderella vibes are so so fun to read. This art also comes with the amazing added bonus of having beautiful chapter cover art and even some mini comics slotted into the fic itself, which is such a treat to come across every single time. I highly recommend this fic to anyone who likes ritshou and terumob even a little, it’s so well-written and the characterization, specifically for Ritsu and Shigeo, is really solid.

first day Author: shcherbatskayas Rating: T Archive Warnings: None Completion Status: Complete Tags: ritshou, school nonsense, hugs, undiagnosed dyslexia, lunch sharing, mutual pining, trauma Summary: Ritsu can't stop himself from being excited about it: Shou's first day in his class. He can't stop himself from being nervous, either. My Notes: post-canon, Shou starts attending Salt middle school and ends up in Ritsu’s class. Shou’s not really cut out for school, unsurprisingly, but Ritsu’s there to keep him company and reassure him that he’ll end up alright. Ritsu makes a pro vs con list of what it’s like to have Shou as a classmate (and to have a friend in his class who he actually likes). It’s a really sweet, nice, fluffy fic and I love the way the author writes Ritsu and Shou’s friendship and how they support each other, I just really love all of the author’s ritshou fics actually. This one was particularly nice to read though, their interpretation of Ritsu and Shou’s relationship is really nice to read and comes across very natural and close.

It’s Hard to Read When You’re Fast Asleep Author: Squishy360 Rating: G Archive Warnings: None Completion Status: Complete Tags: good brother ritsu, family fluff, ???% as a character Summary: Mob passes out. ???% wakes up. Ritsu helps his brother take care of himself in the meantime. My Notes: This fic caught me by surprise in the best way. It’s short and tame and is such a fun and interesting take on ???%’s relationship with Ritsu, how he still recognizes Ritsu as his brother and has that sort of instinctual caring attitude toward him. It’s surprisingly wholesome and comes across almost like a crack fic but it just leaves you feeling warm and happy in the end. Ritsu’s initial fear of ???% and his slow realization that he’s not going to get hurt this time is so nice to read and very cathartic overall. I really love this idea and the author executes on it really really well!

[davidmann95]

So, what's the deal with Kingdom Hearts? I mean, it's a Disney/Final Fantasy crossover, right? Hard to see why would that cause such dedicated whatever.

I’ve had this in my drafts for a while, and given today’s the series’ 17th anniversary it seems like the time to finally get back and finish it. Simple answer: the music slaps and you just want the soft children to get to go home.

Long answer: Even now people joke about the baseline absurdity of a universe in which Donald Duck can go toe-to-toe with Cloud, and while I think 17 years in we’re past the point where it’s time to accept that this is just a part of the landscape for these characters, yes, that does remain objectively bonkers. It’s not a natural, intuitive combination like your JLA/Avengers, this is Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe-level “well, I suppose they both exist in…the, uh, medium of visual storytelling” stuff, other than I suppose that they both tend towards fantasy in this case. And then that whole wacko premise got hijacked by Tetsuya Nomura for an extended epoch-spanning drama driven by labyrinthine, (occasionally literal) dream logic mythology where it’s genuinely impossible to tell at this point what’s being thrown in by the seat of the creators’ pants and what was planned out since day one, pretty much casting aside the franchises that were in theory the main appeal as relevant parts of the plot even as you still hang out with Baymax from Big Hero 6. Step back even a touch, and there will always be a whiff of derangement about the entire affair - it’s simply baked in at this point.

My controversial opinion however: it’s actually good. There are structural issues and awkward moments and aspects ill-served, I’d never deny that, but even diehard lifelong Kingdom Hearts fans tend towards prefacing appreciation with at least two or three levels of irony and self-critique. I suppose it’s in part a response to the general reaction to it I mentioned before, but no, I absolutely think these are genuinely good, ambitious stories build on a foundation that’s still holding strong. An important note in service of that point: Winnie the Pooh, maybe Hercules, and with III Toy Story aside, I have basically zero childhood nostalgia for any of the properties involved. Wasn’t a huge Disney kid outside maybe very very early childhood, and only dabbled with Final Fantasy after the fact (still intend to play through XV someday though). It won me over young, yes, but on its own.

The building blocks help: the characters designs are great, the individual Disney settings in their platonic representations of various locales and landscapes make perfect towns packed with quirky locals to roam through on your quest, the Final Fantasy elements are tried and tested for this sort of thing, the original worlds each have their own unique aesthetics and touchstones and come out lovely, by my estimation the gameplay’s fun adventure/slasher stuff even if it’s had ups and downs over the years, the actors largely bring it, it all looks pretty, and as noted, the score is as good as it gets. They’re games that look, sound, and play good made up of component parts that unify into a sensible whole. And for me, the scope and convolution of the plot that so many leap at as the easy target - with its memory manipulations and replicas and time travel and ancient prophecies and possessions and hearts grown from scratch and universes that live in computers and storybooks and dreams - is half the appeal; I live for that kind of nonsense. Not that folks aren’t justified as hell in taking jabs at it, but I’ll admit I often quietly raise an eyebrow when I see the kind of people I tend to follow having an unironic laugh at it given *gestures toward the last 40 years of superhero comics*.

All that through is ultimately window dressing. The most powerful appeal of Kingdom Hearts is I suppose hidden if you’re going by commercials and isolated GIFs and whatnot, and even the bulk of the content of the average Disney world, charming as they are. It’s deceptively easy to pick out something else as the fundamental appeal too; even if I’d call them incredibly well-executed examples of such the character archetypes it deals in are relatively broad, and while it handles the necessary shifts in its tone from fanciful Disney shenanigans to apocalyptic cosmic showdowns for the heart of all that is with incredible skill - and that might be its most unique aspect, and certainly a critical one - a lot of that comes down to raw technical ability on the part of the writers, appropriate dramatic buildup, and demarcation between environments and acts of the story.

The real heart of the matter, to speak to my typical audience, is that Kingdom Hearts in a profound way resembles 1960s Superman comics and stories inspired by the same: it’s 90% dopey lovely cornball folk tale stuff, until every now and again it spins around and sucker punches you in the goddamn soul with Extremely Real Human Shit. Except here instead of being lone panels and subtext, it builds and builds throughout each given adventure until it takes over and flips for the finale from fairytale to fantasy epic.

That can probably be credited directly to Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi suggesting to Tetsuya Nomura to try treating this weird gig seriously instead of as the licensed cash-in it seemed destined to be, since if this didn’t have a soul the target audience would recognize it. But in spite of that seriousness, it’s perhaps its most joyfully mocked aspect in its entirely unselfconscious dedication to making Hearts and Feelings and Light and/or Darkness the most important things in the universe that lets it do what it does. It’s childish in the most primal way, absolutely, but what that translates to is that there aren’t cosmic or personal stakes that swap places as major or subsidiary at any given point, because in this world they’re always literally the same thing. There’s no major relationship where the fate of a primal power or a last chance at salvation doesn’t ultimately hang in the balance depending on how it shakes out, and there’s no prophecy or ultimate weapon or grand scheme that doesn’t have direct, fundamental ramifications on the life of an innocent or the memories that define them or whether they’ll ever be able to find a place to call home. ‘Hearts’ is an all-encompassing theme, whether in strength of will or redemption or questions of personhood or the ties that bind us, and by making it a literal source of power, it lends personal dimension to the unfathomable universal and the grand weight of destiny to whether or not someone can come to terms with who they want to be or apologize to those they’ve wronged. It’s a world where emotional openness and personal growth ultimately works the same way and achieves the same results as doing calisthenics in five hundred times Earth’s gravity does in Dragon Ball. and it’s tender and exuberant and thoughtful enough where it counts to take advantage of that as a storytelling engine.

That’d be why Sora works so well as the main character, because he straddles the line most directly between those poles. He may stand out as a spiky anime boy when actually next to Aladdin and the rest, but when it comes down to it he’s a Disney character, just a really nice, cheeky, dopey kid who wants to hang out with his friends and go on an adventure and believes in people really really hard. As the stranger in a strange land he’s a tether to a wider, sometimes more somber and weighty world when he’s sticking his head into the movie plots, but when he’s in the midst of stacked-up conspiracies and mythic wars that make all seem lost, he’s the one whose concerns remain purely, firmly rooted in the lives of those connected to him. Other characters get to go out there into bleak questions of self-identity or forgiveness, but while he might wrestle with doubt and fear Sora’s the guy who holds the ship steady and reminds all these classic heroes and flawed-yet-resolute champions and doomed Chosen Ones what they’re fighting for by just being a really good dude.

Given superhero comics are my bread and butter it doesn’t come up much, but Kingdom Hearts is really about as foundational to the landscape of my imagination as Superman and company, and while 100% that’s in part because it came into my life early it didn’t take hold by chance. It manages its stakes and its drama in a way and on a scale unlike just about anything else I’ve ever seen (even prior to getting to the weird mythology stuff that’s so profoundly up my alley), and somehow the aesthetics and gameplay and dialogue and all the million and one details that needed to come together to facilitate that story joined together into something that’s become one of the most curious, beloved touchstones of its medium. It’s a small, lovely bastion of warmth and sincerity in a way that only feels more like a breath of fresh air with time, playing out over decades a bunch of kids’ journeys to try and find the people they love most and help them and go home together when everything in the universe seems to be against them. It’s special in ways that will for me always be unique and meaningful, and I’m glad it seems to have plenty more in it before it’s through.

And seriously THAT MUSIC.

[bizarre-dollhouse]

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

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

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

Honourable Mentions:

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

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

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

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

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

*drumroll*

10. Trigun

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

9. Paranoia Agent

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

8. Baby Steps

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

7. Higurashi: When They Cry

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

6. Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood

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

5. FLCL

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

4. Princess Tutu

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

3. Hunter x Hunter (2011)

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

2. Neon Genesis Evangelion and The End of Evangelion

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

1. Baccano!

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

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

[tumblunni]

Huh, its funny how i’ve actually watched SO MANY THINGS with a reference to the old japanese parable The Spider’s Thread, yet i never knew it cos they all removed or muddled the reference in translation. Apparantly barret’s ‘shiny golden wire of hope’ line was indeed identically hilarious in japanese, though he was more of a ‘comically serious’ character rather than someone who had EVERY line be comic relief. And also the way he phrased this line gave a shout out to that old folklore story, which could be quite relevant or maybe not?

Basic summary of the story: Total jerkass sin man gets sent to hell, but buddha sees the one good thing he did in his life and gives him one last chance to win his freedom. He sends a magic spider’s thread that the dude can climb to feedom! But then this absolute douche is all ‘ugh, but what if OTHER PEOPLE might get saved too?’ and ends up ruining his one chance at salvation cos he’s too preoccupied throwing other people back down instead of climbing up.

So yeah, its quite similar to the ‘crab pot’ parable or the ‘scorpion and the frog’. The first one says that (apparantly) you don’t need to put a lid on a crab pot because the crabs will drag down any of them that tries to escape. Which sounds so absolutely nonsense that i doubt its real, but then again sheep have such bad spatial awareness that they’ll run in circles cos they’re all following the guy in front of them. So probably any stupid animal behaviour could be true, but its probably just some quirk of animal brains not being adapted for human situations, rather than some big metaphor about how the lower class are there cos its their own fault. Cos that’s supposed to be the moral- that people will always gang up on anyone who tries to step outside their station, and take themselves down in the process, they’d rather everyone be lazy and stupid rather than let one person show effort and get any sort of reward for it. And then the scorpion and the frog is about a scorpion that asks a frog for a ride across the river and then stabs it to death and drowns. The frog asks ‘why the fuck would you murder me with literally no motive, when it means you’d die too’ and the scorpion just answers ‘well you knew i was a scorpion, so this is your own fault’. The whole ‘moral’ is just ‘some people are born evil and are always evil and will be evil even when there is no reason and no benefit to them. so its good to judge people on appearance/their status as a member of a certain category. Be a racist or those damn lesser racists will LITERALLY KILL YOU IN YOUR SLEEP’ Thus I kinda like this japanese variant the best cos the dude fails at rising up purely because of his own fault, not because ‘you dont deserve to rise up’ or ‘poor people are poor because theyre assholes who deserve it, and you cant trust anyone else in your own community, please don’t rise up and make unions.’ And like... its funny cos there was a clear opportunity to make that moral! They coulda said the thread broke because all these other people tried to climb it, and oh no poor Guy With One Less Sin Than The Others, he was damned by those greedy other people. But no, the string only snaps because he wasted to much time and jostled it all over the place while kicking them off. The moral is that you shouldnt be selfish/stingy with [whatever opportunity is representing the metaphor right now], or you’ll just ruin it for yourself as well as everyone else.

But also an interesting thing is that this story is so well known in japan that people can just reference it as a metaphor for some smaller minor detail or like.. aesthetic imagery aspect. Like.. what I mean is that of all the times i’ve seen it mentioned in animes, its very rarely to bring up the whole ‘don’t be a selfish prick’ metaphor. FF7 only mentions it here to be a kind of subtle foreshadowing that someone is gonna die soon, and/or general misfortune will be in the story, I guess. And it was used in Erased as the main motive for the villain but like.. he wasnt a guy who believed everyone was dragging him down, or believed that his victims were stepping outside their station or anything. He just tried to drown a bunch of animals as a kid and one of them survived by letting the others drown and climbing up on their corpses to keep its head above water. And this vaguely reminded him of the guy who climbed the spider’s thread to save himself, instead of helping others. But like.. yeah.. it just doesnt go any further than that? He says he sees spider threads above everyone he’s ‘destined’ to kill somehow, but they don’t fit any characteristics of the sinner in the story so I guess it was just an arbitrarily chosen visual metaphor. I wonder if he would have seen breadcrumbs if he read hansel and gretel, lol? Ehh, its a shame cos its a very interesting story with a moral that actually stands the test of time unlike a lot of others. Also it makes me wonder if there’s ever any situations where english stories presume so much familiarity with some fairytale or another that it’d be impossible to translate? or, actually, it'd be really interesting to find out what fairytales we have in common across both countries! or which ones we have that’re similar but have different animals and somehow tell the exact opposite moral, lol

[greenleafbird-blog]

Greenleafbird’s Testimony

I’m probably more surprised than anyone to say that today, October 18, 2017, I became a Christian.

For years now (I’m 21), I’ve been digging into not only Christianity but all religions, seeking to disprove them and going as far as to call those who believe in them ignorant, moronic, and blind. I have been obsessed with having empirical proof and undeniable scientific evidence that I became mean and aggressive - even just seeing someone praying silently in public, I would feel anger come over me, thinking, “How much of a fool do you have to be to believe in this nonsense?”

Well, as of today, I choose to believe in this nonsense.

It’s true, it’s nonsensical - it’s difficult to fathom, and there’s no way to be 100% certain that Jesus is real and that the Bible is true. Still, I’m actively choosing to believe.

Why has this happened so suddenly? It hasn’t, it’s been a long process, but I’ve met people within the last couple of months at college who have answered all of my questions with patience and - best of all - admit that there is no complete certainty; their faith isn’t blind, something I’ve always criticized.

Through this church group on campus, I’ve met many people who have shared their testimonies and views with me. One of those people is Mary* (pseudonym). Mary has especially helped me, as she used to be quite similar to me. She was an atheist, and in fact never even looked into religion as anything more than fairytales, as she is European and comes from a highly secular country (she moved here to the U.S., where I’ve always lived, for school). She was an angry atheist, calling people names, even acting physically threatening. She explained how her life has changed since accepting Christ, and others around her who knew the “old” Mary agree. She went through a difficult time, like me, without many friends - but then, she found this campus ministry, and they love her unconditionally, making her wonder what it was about them that made them different. I wondered the same thing. Everyone I’ve talked to has answered in the same way - it’s Jesus working through them.

It is so strange to type these words. A year ago - heck, a month ago, I’d be slapping my current self in the face for giving into peer pressure and social norms, but now I see that no, I want this. I want to have what they have, feel God like they do, and experience the joy that they show.

The tipping point for me was a very small, but clear sign. At first, I tried to brush it off as coincidence - it was so trivial, after all - but that got harder to do the more I thought about it.

So, here’s the story:

I was walking on campus one day and came across a table where a church was handing out free Bibles. I don’t know why, but I went over and grabbed one, just so that I’d have a copy here that I could annotate and argumentatively shred in debates. I stuck it in my backpack and didn’t think much about it.

At this time, for the past week or two, I had been talking to people in this campus ministry that Mary is a part of and started to pray, asking God to give me a sign if he was real. I was basically saying, “unless you show me you’re real, I’m not going to believe. It’s too crazy. I don’t have faith.”

I didn’t want faith. I wanted facts.

So, that evening, I was praying again, this time in the shower, while singing. As a previous choir kid, I always do this, singing randomly, just coming up with lyrics as I go, and the only difference this time was that I was essentially singing to God/Jesus/the universe (though it certainly felt like I was talking to myself).

One of the lyrics I sang was, “send me a dove with a green leaf, to remind me that your love is free.”

No idea why I sang that - it felt very hokey, and moderately embarrassing - but nonetheless, that’s what I sang, what I prayed.

I got out of the shower and lay in bed, the new Bible on my nightstand. I picked it up and decided to just glance through it. I decided to look at Proverbs, just on a whim, and read a couple of chapters before just leafing through (ha, I made an unintentional pun, ha, tell me I’m funny). Then I came across Proverbs 11:28, which said, “Those who trust in their riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.”

Weird. Very weird. I got really hyped for a second but again, skepticism kicked in, and I said “nah, that’s just coincidence.” Plus, if God was going to give me a sign, I wanted it to be big, bold, and sort of a slap in the face.

I talked to one of the women from the ministry, Tina*, about this, complaining about how the mention of a leaf seems very trivial and stupid as a sign from the so-called creator of literally ALL OF THE THINGS. Tina then asked me what sort of sign I would actually believe.

I realized in that moment that no sign would be good enough. If I saw a vision or heard a voice, I would pass it off as a side effect of my antidepressants or the onset of schizophrenia. If Jesus literally came down in front of me and said, “Hey fam, I’m real, yo,” I’d react in the same way, doubting my sanity and calling my psychiatrist. But this, this little sign, it’s clear and not a product of imagination. It’s right there, on paper, in the Bible I picked up.

The other day I decided to download a Bible study app, and I just picked a random one with a high rating. I didn’t even notice it until it was installed, but its icon is - uh huh, I’m getting predictable now - a green leaf.

It was small, but had to deny. Coincidences happen, I think, but this? This was very precise.

Last night I studied (that’s a lie, we were not productive) with some of the church girls, and one said, “I love fall, the leaves are so pretty. I want to be a leaf. An evangelist leaf.” I laughed along with everyone else, but that hung in my mind.

I got back to my dorm and prayed for quite a while, saying, “a lot of this doesn’t make sense. I don understand how a man was born of a virgin (like where did half of his genetics come from?),died, and then came back to life. All I know is that, if I put my faith in Jesus, things will change for the better. I‘ll be surrounded by better people - sincere, genuine people - who openly say they love me and call me their “sister.” I’ll have a community of support. That’s why, even though it confusing, I’m going to choose to believe. From this moment forward, I want your plan to take precedence over mine. I want to become a new person. I want to find what all these people say they have found in you.”

I met up with Mary today between classes and told her all of this, and I “officially” became a Christian when we prayed together. I repented of my sins and asked to grow in faith, to come to see the world and others through eyes of forgiveness, and to be saved.

There it is. I’m still like “????” and I’m sure I will be like that a while, if not forever. Still, I decided to dive in. The best outcome? I learn  swim. My faith grows. Jesus does wok through me, and someday this will all make sense. The worst outcome? There was no water to dive into in the first place, so I won't drown anyway.

From now on, however, I will choose to believe that the water is there.