#so i’d think that would’ve cemented her belief

[psyaurorak]

I always see people say Demeter in myths was overprotective & a control freak/ helicoper parent.

But if i was surrounded by rap-sts, murderers & men who were violent against women etc i would ALSO be just as protective of my daughter & keep my daughter away from the gods.

Shes not horrible for trying to keep her daughter away from men who would take advantage of her. Like…… a man who kidnapped her in the end…

Its almost as if she was right to do so

[martianbugsbunny]

OUAT Thoughts Pt.46--Episodes 5-6

I have watched through S5E6; spoilers DNI. Also, spoiler warning for those further behind than I am.

—Before we started episode 5, my mom and I were discussing (I say discussing, but it was more like a collective brain-crash) which was our favorite character and which was the one we most vibe with. Neither of us came up with a vibe, although I’m sure I could and would end up very annoyed with myself for the result, but her favorite is Regina and mine is Rumple. These two episodes have only cemented it. He’s just so terribly well-written that I can’t help adoring him. I’d love to know other people’s opinions on either of those, but with my usual caveat: if it involves spoilers for future seasons, I’d still be happy to hear it, but only after I’ve gotten past that point myself.

—That faceless Dark One was a bomb-ass design. That mask was amazing.

—Merlin is gorgeous. I was expecting some old beardy guy, but I much prefer the Sorcerer who actually showed up. And his cloak is awesome. I’m a sucker for cool embroidery.

—Speaking of good clothes and gorgeous people, Regina got a new red dress in Camelot that I am absolutely loving. It’s a different fabric, the shade of red is different (I actually think it’s a shade that’s better suited to her skin tone), and the embellishments are laid out differently. She’s fr not my type in Storybrooke or in any Evil Queen clothes except the outstanding riding habits, but in Camelot she just hits different.

—When Henry set up that date with Violet at Granny’s, I spent the scene thinking about how good her costuming is. My mom’s main takeaway was, ‘if he really liked her, he would’ve poured her Coke instead of Pepsi.’ Which is true. Ain’t no soda like a classic Coke.

—At the midpoint of…episode 5, I think? I thought Henry and Violet were going to be a cool example of how different circumstances could inspire different relationships between the same people—but no, it was so much worse. I’m still waiting to find out what Emma’s motives or goals are, but if she’s justifying hurting Henry for them, she’s definitely up to no good.

—Swaggy that the Charmings know not to trust Arthur in Storybrooke. I was starting to get worried about how long they would be ignorant.

—Also, at this point the Charmings may from time to time include Regina (and Robin; she gets a plus-one) and Hook.

—Emma’s dreamcatcher garage is a scary place.

—When Rumple was reunited with Belle, that stuff he said really got to me. This is legitimately beyond words for me, but suffice it to say I do believe one person can be enough to keep you in the world. Whoever wrote what Rumple said about not letting go because he heard Belle’s voice must believe that too, because you can’t write words that real without one or both of experience and belief.

—Merida. Honey. Sweetheart. Light of my life. That splitting the arrow trick is cool, but you can’t reuse those. Conserve your ammo.

—Okay, so there’s some new backstory for Merida that works better than just the other clans not wanting a queen. Having her fight in a war alongside her father is a cool story bit, and the fact that her aim wavering on the battlefield is what led to the other clans doubting her is a stronger concept.

—She should’ve been a ginger bear. ✨for the vibes✨

—Kinda sad that the teacup is broken. That thing’s been important to me almost as long as it’s been important to Rumple and Belle.

—You know what, Belle has gotten mighty picky. She doesn’t like Rumple when he’s the Dark One, she doesn’t like Rumple when he’s his natural self, and yet around other people she goes on and on about how she’s not giving up on him. Yes, he’s probably his best self now that he’s faced up to his fears, but at some point Belle might want to consider that she doesn’t truly love him. Barely any version of him is good enough for her, which I think says more about her feelings about him than it does about those other versions of him.

—For a while I’ve been debating with myself about whether I’ve wanted Rumple to change so he could be with Belle (which you’ve seen some of the results of already in this review), and I’ve finally reached my major conclusion. I want Rumple to change for himself—not because I particularly dislike him one way or the other or because I don’t think he’s good enough in my opinion or someone else’s—but because I want him to be a person that *he* can be proud of. I want Rumple to be able to look himself in the mirror and like that man. That’s why this personal journey is so satisfying; I’m invested in him for his sake, not for the sake of the people around him.

—I got so many goosebumps when Rumple pulled Excalibur! 😍 *weeps with joy* And I think the best part is that he made a deal with Emma for someone else. Instead of just pulling Excalibur, or refusing to pull it, he only did it in exchange for Merida’s freedom. That is a beautiful counterpoint to the Dark One he used to be and I am entirely here for it.

—Y’all, I think this might be the version of Rumple I’ve wanted to see since the fourth season. He fierce.

[papers4me]

Fruits Basket Manga Review (ch 90-91)

Since I discussed the first few pages of ch-90 that contains kyo & tohru in my previous preview, this one will only be kyoko’s story.

Kyoko’s story brilliantly explores the effects of unhealthy domestic environment on children without the use of the zodiac curse as a metaphor for abuse. My first-reaction of kyoko’s story is the following:

I really enjoyed how kyoko’s descend into darkness was explored & how the psychologically-informed writing of her behavior was depicted.

I was troubled by how Katsuya was presented as the magical solution to all her problems. Kyoko was saved by romantic love in a more basic writing than machi. Both girls just needed a guy to listen to them vent abt their family issues once & tada~ they’re in love.

Kyoko’s story made me realize that Arisa is just a more modern & healthier kyoko.. The only difference is that Kureno didn’t save Arisa. She herself changed gradually due to kyoko & tohru’s influence.

1) Kyoko’s descend into Darkness:

Kyokyo told kyo that she was already “out of control delinquent before she got to middle school”, “ fell into the wrong crowd”, “ enjoyed beating innocent ppl”. subtly citing the influence of “delinquent peers” & the innate desire be noticed at home. I’m bad, notice me! love me, listen to me!

There are some elements in her story that faintly reminds me of yuki & strongly reminds me of kyo:

Kyoko’s parents gave her a treatment similar to “ yuki’s parents”: cold, neglect & devoid of love. Her dad, similar to kyo’s dad, felt ashamed & disgraced by her.

Kyoko similarly to kyo was angry, full of self-loath & self-destruction. However, kyo was never violent like she was. I believe kyo’d have turned like her if he didn’t have Kazuma to discipline him with love, care & attention. Hence, we saw kyo carry on a code of “ not beating girls, or ppl who aren’t hurting them, or don’t know martial arts”, like Arisa or the student council guy whop loves yuki.

Kyoko’s mom similarly of kyo’s mom talked abt the dad venting his anger on her after being pissed off with kyoko. So, a hint of domestic violence between husband & wife.

Kyoko described herself as “ made of shattered glass”. Tohru once said both kyo & yuki are very sensitive. yuki blocks the world behind the prince mask & kyo puts on the annoyed attitude to push ppl away from hurting him.

Society thinks that “delinquent/bad ppl” are always happy with what they’ve become. Satisfied with their destructive choices. When in most of the times... they’re as bewildered & confused as the community around them..

I really don’t blame the teachers for being defensive. Teachers aren’t supposed to be “life-coaches” or “saviors of students”. That’s sth the educators with their research gush abt & what society demands & what families wish for. The fixer-teacher!!!! Teachers are ppl teaching a subject, doing a specific job, underpaid & overworked most of the times, also, they come from various backgrounds, beliefs, & sometimes even if they meant good & wanted to “ save” a student, they aren’t equipped with the suitable psychological training. Yeah, there are ppl for that in schools, but so many students with lots of issues. Also, let’s be real, we love kyoko cuz she’s the “epic mother of tohru, we grew on her teachings thro out 3 seasons” but if you meet a loud, delinquent, gangster head, violent chair throwing student who rarely comes anyway, would you wanna deal with them?

2- Katsuya “ the magical savior”:

so, why did teacher katsuya helped a screaming delinquent? cuz he IS interested in kyoko. He said so. He approached her, talked & tried to help cuz he intended to “never let her go since he saw her honesty” ~ romantic? maybe to some.. I find it weird & creepy. him eyeing her & getting interested & approaching her & earning her trust. It is true that he has no intention of hurting her or forcing her & he DID save her in more ways than one. But why is this all wrapped in romance. He DID flirt with her intentionally many times from the moment he saw her until then.

If Im being honest, had he not be her teacher (trainee or not), & had she not be very veeeeery young! I’d be enjoying his flirting so much. He’s so smooth, playful & cool (not looking head over heels in love) which is normally such a fun dynamics. She was so head over heels, tho. Finally found someone who noticed her tiny efforts “ drawing eyebrows”, someone who listened & someone who didn’t forced her to do her “duties”. She tells him (her teacher) that she is ditching classes & he’s okay with that~ not lecturing, not urging. why? cuz He only wants HER. she comes to see him in the lunch break everyday. school? classes? that’s her choice~ not his business~ In a way, Katsuya is intentionally made not morally correct. Why? cuz a good moral adult wouldn’t be in love with a middle schooler & would care for her future as an independent person from him. He must be written with intentional desire to NOT care for morals or right or the likes. Yes, he later helps her to study & graduate but ONLY when that is HER choice & she made it ONLY to catch up with him. To cleanse herself & be “ like the other girls” . Kyoko deemed katsuya “ good person” &  herself “ bad person”. That’s why she was motivated to be good to catch up with him since she can NO LONGER see him everyday in lunch break. He fixed that. How? teach her in the weekends & provide better chances to flirt since he’s no longer a teacher & she’s his student. The issue is not teacher-student love... it is adult-kid love!! but hey~ they’re cute (they’re written to be, so they are) so it’s cool ( it isn’t at all..eww).. oh the dilemma that is Takaya-san’s love for weird big age gaps where one is an underage teenager...

Furuba’s has this big theme of “ love doesn’t heal or save”. yuki took tohru’s love & grew up by himself. Kyo’s love for tohru didn’t save tohru, she was scared to be in love & forget her mom. Tohru made the decision to be free from her past, herself.  Tohru’s love to kyo made his trauma 10 times more complicated & he acted based on his love for her & decided to leave her. It wasnt until he decided to face his trauma, past & bio dad by himself, that he accepted tohru’s love. Only two characters were totally saved by love:

Machi: has the excuse of being solely created to be yuki’s reward for acknowledging platonic love for tohru & everything abt her is rushed & made as a lighter copy of all yuki’s issues to quickly create shared grounds for them to connect. Machi needed to vent her issues to yuki once & all her issues were never brought back to the service again. She was happier, calmer & healed.

I expected more for kyoko. She IS a bigger character than half of the zodiacs! but she just needed katsuya to listen to her & she was in love & her issues solved.

I don’t deny that it IS true that sometimes all we need is someone to listen to us. Tohru herself said so & even yuki said it to kyo. But Even if someone listen to us & we love them, the issues that troubled us dont magically disappear until we face them or do sth abt them aided by those who love us. Kyo’s issues remained even with his love until he faced them, tohru’s too!

Katsuya:

had off-screen issues with expressing himself. He said that he loved kyoko cuz she was “honest abt her ugly feelings” while he pretended to “humor & please his dad”. He gave a wonderful speech to her parents abt the expectations of parents on their kids & the refusal of their “human weakness” again furuba’s main vision. Unfortunately, this was followed with confessing, marriage proposal & kissing her on the lips all while the whole issue is abt kids/ parents exceptions of middle schooler/ neglect & his own acknowledgement that she’s minor while he was “in love”.

Like the author wants to tie kyoko’s issues & katsuya’s issues so bad & present him as her ONLY chance for normal life. Kyoko was just repenting & understanding that her actions got consequences which is an epic moment! but romance triumphant & saved the day~ yay~! marriage!

The story would’ve been better romantically if it was given time for kyoko to “ grow up” just like katsuya himself said when they were at the beach. He said “ grow up, middle school is not the world”. He continued meeting her but never confessed & never crossed the line despite the flirting. But he KNEW what he was doing “ i never planned to let you go since I saw you”. He was cementing his place as the ONLY one in her world.

Had kyoko grew up, saw the real world, kept taps with katsuya, he helped her broaden her world, then they’ll marry without needing her dad to sign papers, then that would be a better love story than this.

Side Notes:

The writer didn’t shy away from confessing that pairing Katsuya & kyoko is problematic & stated it in canon (kyoko called katsuya “pedo”). She did the same with Arisa & kureno (Arisa thought the age gap is big & hana questioned if kureno is a married man). However, making the story acknowledge that as an issues doesn’t make it less uncomfortable, but at least, I respect when writers do what they plan to do regardless of fans. even if I dont agree with the writer. It’s way better than when writer becoming fans toy/ fans pleaser.

Still, couldn’t the author state that kyoko was held back few years in jmiddle school & failed & repeated school years? like make her i duno 17 or sth... this would at least lessen the big age gap... but no~~~ kyoko is what? 14? ... -_-’.

You bet this won’t change a bit in the upcoming anime spinoff abt kyoko. Just this year an anime abt an adult man & his high school love interest that he pursued stubbornly was highly popular & my real life friends were gushing abt “ him finally winning her/ being respectful & only kissing her lips once or sth/waiting for her to “catch up” with him”/ consent age differ in X & Y countries..I’m not dictating my beliefs on anybody or any country or saying my way of thinking is the just way. I’m saying, Personally, I think, there are better romantic stories than adults & kids couples.. The fact that this trope of (adults & kids romance) is still popular even today is sad~~

I dont mind HUGE age gaps as long as BOTH characters are adults. If any of them makes a crime, they’ll be held responsible by the law. & sometimes the younger adult is the one dominating the relationship. but “kids or teenagers” can’t. They’re easily groomed & manipulated, so it bothers me when a love story between an adult & a kid is portrayed as  “equal”. it isn’t.

I’m not judging whoever loves such trope in “ fiction”. it IS fiction, & as long as you don't pursue a real kid/teenager in real life, you can like whatever in fiction. moving on~

kyoko’s delinquent life is well-written & if done right, would send a powerful message of being able to start over. But the romantic love aspect will steal the spotlight by (a) directing uncomfortable hate/disgust towards the story & hence all the discussions will abt the “pedo” aspect. (which is fair). (b) Perceived as so lovable romance since katsuya is the prince who to saved the neglected princess which is a trope that has stood thro time garnering lots of support & attention always, so all the discussion would be abt their “cute romance”. (which is fair since the author weaved elements that endeared their romance, such as: cute nicknames “miss no-eyebrows”, him giving her space, home & respect, saving her from the streets & poverty & having the most endearing tohru”. So, yeah, the romance will be the center of attention regardless.

I like katsuya’s character type in fiction generally: the flirty, mischievous & a bit cool guy who is so aware he’s wrong most times & plays his cards smart to not get caught red-handed. He’s a cooler version of shigure. It’s just the blatant fact that he’s been planning to “get” a middle schooler from the first glance & that she is wayyyy young for this, that is bothering me so so much~~ T_T.

I wont expect the anime to change their age gap cuz it is the essence of their story that she’s a lost kid with no protection against the world & he’s the savior providing everything at once!~ Remember kyoko went on to be the savior of an entire clan tho tohru~ So in a way, katsuya saved the sohmas by saving kyoko....

“ i’m like a stray cat that he looked after instead of chasing away”. kyoko with katsuya is like kyo with kazuma! >_<!. When kyo met tohru, he wasn’t a stray cat, most of how he dealt with her was cuz he already knew her & was tormented by remembering kyoko’s death & feeling guilty towards tohru’s constant pain. That’s why when kyo started falling in love with tohru, he unconsciously stopped pushing her away little by little & just wanted to be with her until akito said “ i’ll hurt her” that’s when he totally gave up.

the way katsiya appeared in the right moment to save kyoko from her dad~ oh the drama. XD

Hospital Discharge & chase. like mom like daughter~ but thank God the kids got a more balanced love story.

Comparing kyoko/katsuya to Arisa/kureno in the broad writing of their romance without diving into details: (a) I hate the age gap in both but at least Arisa is older & nothing happened until she graduates & become an official adult. (b) Kyoko/katsuya are more fleshed out & if you forget the age gap,m their dynamic is so cute & endearing. (c) the love at first glance, never meeting afterwards yet still sickly in love to the extinct of screaming made Arisa/kureno shallower. (d) now that I saw teenage kyoko, Arisa is really just her clone! I hate that this steals from Arisa’s uniqueness. (e) both couples ate ramen in their first meeting/first unofficial date signalling their blooming love.

I’ve said this more than once, but I was the high-schooler that fancied adult independent men growing up, I never pursued anyone tho cuz I understood it was a crush even tho I’m pretty sure my “ *_*” face was clear to one or two, but I’m definitely lucky none of them tried to woo me or influence me. Now that I’m a grown woman, I think back & laugh at my self. I fancied them cuz they were independent & mature compared to the silly high school boys, which is what those men are supposed to be (adults) & what those boys are supposed to be (living their young age). lol. Still, I wish I found someone somehow to be my life’s partner since then, it would’ve made my life less lonely~ T_T.

[peggingtaron]

Sincerely Yours — Chapter 2

Story Description: One day, Gardner comes across the town’s librarian, Audrey Ezra, prompting him to begin a daily visit to the library. Rekindling his childhood love of books, Gardner became intrigued with the mysterious British bookworm he’d observe every morning.

Previous Chapter: Chapter 1 — Something Lost

Word count: 3.1K

A/N: a lil fluff

•

Chapter 2 — Kaleidoscopic Sanctuary

“What am I doing?” Gardner muttered to himself, dumbfound at his reflection in the glass door.

Gardner had gotten up that morning, waking up with the chore of reuniting Audrey with her notebook, cemented in his mind. And once his mind was set in a task, he never skipped a beat in his determination to get it done, no matter what it was.

What he failed to stop and think about was how early he was accustomed to getting up in the morning, and how taking into account the opening hours of the library would’ve been of some use to him. From the moment he woke up, his mind was only focused on the notebook and getting to the library. He had even ensured the notebook wasn’t stuffed in his pocket, and instead held on firmly with his hand, never to let go until it was to be placed gently in Audrey’s hands.

How would the girl in the library react, Gardner wondered. Would she smile politely and give him a gracious nod? Would she grin ear to ear and take his hands in hers, showering him with multiple ‘thank you’s? Would she be brought to tears of relief much like she was with the ring he returned to her? Or... would she be more ecstatic than that, so much so that she would inch towards him, look at him tenderly and bring her arms around hi—

That’s as far as Gardner’s thoughts went until he came face to face with the library’s sign stuck on the glass door. He frowned.

OPENING HOURS: 8:30am — 6:00pm

He was an hour and a half too early.

His eyes drifted to his reflection and he stared back at his blank face. How could he let his mind slip like that? Of course it wasn’t open this early.

“What am I doing...?” He muttered once more. He sighed and closed his eyes leaning forward to rest his forehead against the door.

Though as his weight inched forward, the door swiftly swung open, causing Gardner to stumble inside. Gardner froze after charging in unintentionally. The door was unlocked.

He gulped, debating whether to close the door behind him and wander round inside or leave and come back when it was open to the public.

“Erm— Hello?” Though he spoke softly, his voice echoed the building.

Gardner had decided to wander inside and after making his presence known with no response, he proceeded forward.

The library was dimly lit with the occasional burst of sunlight streaming in with different colours from each stained glass window. There was something in the air of the building that made him feel like he teleported somewhere else entirely. As if he was physically walking through the pockets of his own mind. It was calming to be somewhere that muffled every sound and sight from the outdoors.

Gardner’s head perked up as he heard a light trotting of footsteps. He wasn’t alone. It was hard to tell just where the footsteps were coming from as its echo vibrated everywhere, but he trusted his feet to carry him to the source as he walked upstairs.

The sound of the footsteps stopped but Gardner kept walking, turning corners round shelves and walking his way round the library without thinking. He didn’t know how to explain it. But he just knew where he was going. He knew that wherever his feet would take him it would lead him to...

...Her. There she was. Gardner eyes caught sight of a familiar mop of dark hair through the gaps between the book shelf.

Gardner found himself adjusting his height up and down to peer through gaps in between the books of the shelf that separated them. He could only catch glimpses of her. From what he gathered, she was pacing slightly back and forth while reading a book in her hand. Zoned out and completely oblivious to his presence, no doubt.

Her eyes were gliding smoothly side to side savouring the words she was reading. The faint fluttering of her blinking showed a dreamy fixation with the story she was immersing herself into. And her lips were parted, moving ever so slightly as she silently recited the words she’d read.

Had he cleared his throat or greeted her, he would’ve broken what looked like a blissful trance for her.

As far as Audrey was concerned, she was pacing back and forth the elegant halls of her husband’s estate, and her name wasn’t Audrey, it was Constance de Bonacieux. She smiled as she felt a presence looming over her shoulder. D’Artagnan. Turning around she met eyes with him. Audrey felt herself slipping in and out of her daydream. There was something particularly vivid about this one. She has always had strong visions of what the characters would look like but there was something particular about D’Artagnan. She let the vision continue as she let her eyes trail along the page in reality. It was the dead of the night as her nightgown only faintly covered her skin from the cold, though her face grew with heat as she looked up at D’Artagnan. Dishevelled with his shirt disarrayed and his ginger hair raised in a slightly tangled mess, he stepped towards her. Audrey blinked at him, getting a closer look. Her eyes came into focus to a pair of slightly familiar hazel eyes staring deeply into hers. She raised her eyebrows slowly slipping out of her vision. “Gardner...?”

“Yes?”

A voice broke her from her daydream. It was too vivid to be part of her imagination. It sliced through her trance so thoroughly, she jumped and gasped, her head making a sharp turn towards the shelf beside her.

Gardner’s eyes widened, startled by her own shock. She said his name, so he thought she must’ve seen him. “Sorry, I—“

Audrey let out a startled noise yet again, her eyes scanning feverishly for the source of the voice.

Gardner reached his hand and pulled out a couple books from the shelf between them, making his face visible to her. “H-Hi. Sorry— It’s just me.”

She met eyes with him. Blinking a few times just to be sure she was completely conscious. “Oh, Gardner!” Audrey put a hand to her chest as it rose up and down rapidly as she recovered from the slight scare. She let out a sigh, leaning against the shelf that separated them before looking through the gap he made. “It’s just you...”

Gardner drew his lips in a thin line, sheepishly. “Sorry... The door was open.”

“It was?”

“Well, unlocked.”

“You saw the sign?”

“Well, yes.”

“But you still came in.” That came out more blunt than Audrey intended for it to sound. But the slight disorientation she felt having been caught in one of her reading-high visions brought a crimson shade to her cheeks.

Gardner took notice immediately. “Er— yes... I’m sorry, I should’ve...”

“No, it’s fine.” Audrey mumbled after realising how harsh her tone may of sounded.

“No, it’s not.” Gardner said. “I was intruding.” He knew how discomforting it could be for someone to intrude on their space at work, no matter how harmless their intentions were. Gardner had all the space in the world with his old job, he had the entire sidewalk to himself at times and even then, his solitude was precious to him.

Audrey shook her head. “It’s a public library, sir.”

He frowned. “I told you, it’s Gardner.”

“Gardner.” She corrected herself.

“Why does Trudy call you Ezra?” Gardner asked as soon as the question popped in his head.

Audrey furrowed her brows. She was still recovering from being interrupted, and was struggling to keep up with the rapid back and forth conversing now happening between them. “Well, everybody does. It’s my name.”

“But why not Au—“

Audrey cringed and shook her head. “Oh please, Ezra’s fine. My father used to work here many years ago, before he moved to England. Some people recognised me and called me Ezra just as they did with him. You know how it is with small towns — where there’s a way to refrain as much change as possible, there’s a will.”

Gardner nodded. Though he was tempted to call her Audrey, he respected her request. “Ezra, it is.”

Audrey smiled a little. “Besides... ‘Audrey’ is just so...”

“You don’t like it?”

“Not particularly. It’s somewhat... distinctive.” She frowned.

Gardner, though perplexed, decided to leave it at that.

“What are you doing here so early anyway?” Audrey smiled. “That wasn’t an objection, just curiosity.”

The notebook was still safely clasped in Gardner’s hand, though as he returned a small smile to her warm expression, something possessed him to tuck the notebook into his pocket away from sight.

“I... uh, I go on early morning walks.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, and I was passing through and thought I’d...” Gardner’s eyes trailed across the room.

“It’s lovely, isn’t it?” Audrey grinned watching as the colours of the stained glass windows beamed around him. “Contrary to popular belief, I do actually love the sunlight. This area of the library is my favourite.”

Gardner’s eyes lingered on her face as she gazed and smiled to herself.

“The sun streaming through the stained glass in all kinds of shades, shining on each book. And out of the thousands of books there’s a whole intricate world inside each... Kind of like...”

“A kaleidoscope.”

Gardner found a smile twitch across his face. It was an effective analogy to describe anyone’s idea of a sanctuary, it was fitting to describe her enjoyment of a library just as it was to describe his enjoyment of a sidewalk. Seemingly mundane to the everyday passerby, though it’s transformation can be grand when seeing it through the kaleidoscopic lens of the person who loves it.

Audrey looked up at Gardner who was now delicately gliding his fingers along the spine of each book. “Precisely...” she chuckled to herself slightly. “I... never thought of it like that. All of a sudden it doesn’t sound so dull.”

“When was it ever dull?” The crease in between his eyebrows deepened as he frowned.

“Isn’t it, though?” Audrey chuckled. “Not as intriguing as delivering mail.”

Gardner forced a slight chuckle as well.

“Oh, that wasn’t a joke.” Audrey said.

“What’s so intriguing about the mail?” Gardner, although having gone without his job for a while, still had a place in his heart for it. He could list all that he found intriguing about it, but to hear it from someone else was rare.

“Mail — it’s what connects us. People communicate thanks to people like you.”

“Used to.” Gardner responded abruptly. It wasn’t him speaking, ‘her’ words had resurfaced as he tried to recall the last time he explained the importance of his old job.

“What?”

“Well, not so much anymore. Most people think letters as a form of communication are dated.”

Audrey shrugged, while putting a book back in place on the shelf. “That’s one way of looking at it.”

While she pushed her cart and walked to the end of the aisle, Gardner followed along on his side, soon meeting her on the other end.

“Well then how do you look at it?”

Audrey smiled to herself before looking down. “If I send you an email this moment to say that I love you...”

Gardner’s eyes flickered up as he gulped. Though bewilderment clouded him, he let her continue.

“...you’ll read my words later today... If I send you my love in a letter by post, you’ll receive it tomorrow... Which do you like most? An immediate email? A letter to fold? Which would you rather read, touch, smell — keep hold?”

Gardner’s face was misted with a mixture of awe and contemplation. As Audrey looked up at him only to be greeted by silence, she bit her lip.

“Ludwig VanDerwater.”

“Hm?” Gardner made a questioning sound, partially too entranced in thought to respond with words.

“She’s a children’s author... That was part of a series of poems she did.” She shrugged. “I don’t know, it was just a thought. Call me old-fashioned but I’ll always prefer handwritten letters. Perhaps one too many Austen novels is the catalyst of that mindset. Not that you would’ve delivered many handwritten letters, I’m sure most of what you deliver are bills, junk mail and magazines— Not that that’s not important as well! I only meant—“

“Thank you.” Gardner smiled a little.

There was a pause of silence while Audrey caught her breath and allowed Gardner’s calm demeanour to dilute her nervous ramblings. “For what?” She finally said.

“I loved my job.” He said. “I worked as a mail carrier for a long time. Yet never thought of it the way you do. It’s nice.” Gardner sighed to himself. He wished he could’ve articulated himself a bit better. To hear a new spark of intrigue from someone new about his old job... it almost felt like a different passion he never had for it was coming to life.

Audrey smiled at him. “What was it about being mail carrier that you loved the most?”

Gardner looked at her in silence for a few moments. Perhaps he was waiting for a mocking giggle or an indication that the question she had asked was out of mere politeness. But no, she waited patiently for him to gather his thoughts to answer. And when he did he found himself going off on a tangent, endlessly rambling.

Gardner walked alongside Audrey. She listened quietly while putting away books in their home on the shelf. Whenever Gardner dared to think his ramblings became a burden, Audrey would nod at him, urging him to continue.

“Yeah... 1833 pieces of mail... around 300 households. Everyday. Yet somehow... I never got tired of it.”

“Blimey...” Audrey let out a faint chuckle as she got out another book from the cart. Gardner watched as she looked back and forth between the spine of the book and the shelf, before sighing as she looked up at one of the higher shelves.

Audrey reached up, straining slightly as she stood on her toes, struggling to put the book in its place higher up. It hadn’t clicked for Gardner to help her. At least until her skirt began riding up her thighs as she stretched herself upwards. Forcing himself to dart his eyes up once he had caught a glimpse of the top of her stockings, he cleared his throat awkwardly. “Here, let me.” Gardner took the book from her hands and placed it in its spot with ease. “Here?”

“Erm, yes. Just there.” Audrey gulped as she felt Gardner towering over her shoulder as he leaned lightly against her to reach the shelf. “Thank you.”

Gardner looked down at her as she turned around to face him. Their arms were brushing ever so slightly by how close they were. Gardner traced the features of her face with his eyes before they trailed down her neck. He raised his eyebrows. “Your ring...”

Audrey looked down. “Oh, yes.” The ring that Gardner had returned to her settled on her chest as a necklace. “Thanks again, by the way. Really, it means a lot.”

Gardner nodded a little. “You... wear it round your neck?”

“Yeah, it’s a tad too big to fit on my finger. It was my father’s.”

“I see.” Gardner was beginning to formulate a follow up question in his head before Audrey interrupted him.

“Anyway, I think that’s the last of them.” She gestured to the empty cart. “Not much left to do before I move the sign and open up.”

Gardner checked his watch. “You still have about an hour.”

“Yeah I usually finish setting up for the day quite quickly.”

“What do you usually do while you wait to open?”

“I read. And eat breakfast... have you eaten yet?”

“Yeah, I had a piece of toast.”

Audrey shook her head. “That’s hardly breakfast.”

“It’s enough.” Gardner shrugged.

Audrey frowned. “It isn’t. I refuse to let you go on with your day starting with just a piece of toast.”

“You sound like my brother.” Gardner chuckled.

“Well I’m glad someone’s looking out for you.” She chuckled a little.

Gardner responded with a slight raise of his brows and a small grin as he looked down at her. Audrey, growing rather self-conscious being under his gaze with this close of proximity, bit her lip before walking towards her cart, breaking their eye contact.

Gardner let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding in as he felt a cold rush wash over him once the warmth of her presence peeled away.

He was still frozen in his spot as Audrey spoke. “Sorry, but... I’m afraid I’m going to have to lock up, while I go out for breakfast. You’re welcome to come back when I open.”

Audrey was beginning to push her cart before Gardner finally turned to face her. “What if I was hungry?”

Audrey lifted her head up from her cart. Though her back was facing Gardner, she was listening.

“Maybe I wasn’t so full after that toast. I could...” He drew lips into a thin line as he scratched the back of his head. “I could join you...?”

Gardner wished he was able to read Audrey’s face, though he was stuck staring at the back of her head. A few seconds of silence had passed and Gardner was begging for her to make a noise to alleviate the tension. Though the noise that broke the silence, was the sound of her pushing her cart as she continued walking, not saying a single word in response.

Gardner’s mouth soon became agape as he watched her walk away. He turned around, lightly hitting his head against the bookshelf as the sound of her pushing the cart faded away in the distance. He muttered under his breath through gritted teeth. “You idiot...” he cursed in his head several times over wishing to undo the last few seconds.

Sighing defeatedly, he decided to retreat the library before she could see him. He briskly made his way downstairs, never being more relieved to see an exit sign as he headed towards the door.

He felt a discomforting rush as he heard footsteps rushing behind him. “Gardner.”

Gardner closed his eyes in dread. He sighed and turned around. “Look, Ezra, I’m s—“

“I was just fetching my cardigan and bag.” She said as she ruffled through her handbag for her keys. “Did you have anything particular in mind?”

“W-What?” Gardner blinked.

“To eat.” Audrey chuckled.

“Um... not really.” Gardner, still not processing the rush of relief he should’ve had, watched as she skipped towards the door.

Audrey looked over her shoulder as she opened the door. The sun that streamed in and surrounded her like a halo frame, beckoned him to walk out towards her.

“You coming?”

“Yeah...”

[0poole]

Mulan and Pocahontas

So after rewatching Princess and the Frog (and I guess Ralph Breaks the Internet, technically), I realized I want to go back and watch every one of the Disney Princess’ movies just so I can actually see what’s up with them. Obviously I’ve seen bits and bobs about them, and I basically get the gist of who they are, but even if I did see their movies, I’ve probably forgotten the actual events of it because I honestly think child me didn’t really care to remember much. So, I started with Mulan and Pocahontas, really just because they’re the ones on Netflix...

Mulan did kind of start this spiral, since I wanted to watch this movie anyway. I could definitely sing along to a bit of Make a Man out of You, but I didn’t remember how the movie resolved exactly. I knew she shot a rocket at a mountain to kill some of the Huns with an avalanche, but I thought that was the very end of them. I didn’t know about the final bit, so that was fun. I also didn’t really know what was up with Mushu either, apart from him being a part of the comic relief animals. 

Honestly, I don’t know what to do with those types of characters in Disney movies, especially in these ones, but Mulan more specifically. They tend to just ruin tense moments for me. There was that one scene in Pocahontas where they remarked at the killing of one of the Natives, but that was about it. In Mulan, though, they really should’ve just been kept out of that scene where the troops look upon the thousands of dead soldiers near that attacked village. You already got a feel of dread and sadness from the village, and then panning over that bloodbath with all of the characters showing visible grim on their face, and one of them bringing up the helmet of the dead general, and then... cut to proto-Will Smith in dragon form with gigantic puppydog eyes. It just breaks the feeling. 

It’s also weird, though, because those three other soldiers who basically are comic relief also don’t feel as bad when reacting to such a scene. Maybe it’s just because they’re designs aren’t quite as exaggerated as the animals? I don’t know. It’s almost how upbeat they usually are that makes their somberness so much more impactful, especially when the scene cuts their joyful shanty short. 

Speaking of songs, Mulan’s Princess ballad actually struck a chord with me. I say “actually” because it was pretty much a generic “I want to be what other people don’t want to be” sort of deal, even with the “women are supposed to be seen not heard” tones of the film that are a little blown up nowadays. I mean, if you’re ever going to use that tone, it should be in ancient(?) China, but still. The song really got me.

I mean, that’s basically all that needs to be said. It was a great movie, obviously. There’s 0 chance in hell that I’d watch the sequels, though. I don’t think anyone would shame me for that.

Pocahontas was probably the weirder one for me, even apart from the obvious historical inaccuracies, including but not limited to ol’ Poca not being of legal age when meeting the dreamboat Smith. I mean, when it comes to the fictitious version, frankly, this might’ve been the most believable love-at-first-sight I’ve ever seen. They established that she (I’m not going to type her name out every time) wanted someone with a distinct personality and a wild side, so naturally she’d be into a strange man with strange trinkets from a faraway land. Not to mention, he was seriously charming. I was honestly charmed. I’m not even into that type, and I wanted them together. It was probably helped by the fact that they didn’t resolve it with the perfect happy ending too. If you don’t resolve it yourself, then the audience will be more likely to want it resolved, anyway. If you do it for them, it feels slightly cheaper.

With Poca herself, I got that same sort of vibe I got when watching Lilo and Stitch. I’ve always seen her in merchandise and whatnot, so she never felt entirely like a character, and more like an image. Her few bits in Ralph Breaks the Internet just sort of cemented my preconceived notion that she’s the more reverent and quiet princess, but seeing her in action broke that, which is a little bittersweet. Obviously the wild-type is super charming, always has and always will be, but that seems to be the case with basically every princess. Obviously again, she’s one of the earliest princesses, so you couldn’t really blame them for maintaining a trend, but having a more quiet princess would be nice. Maybe that’s what they’re going for nowadays. It’s hard to tell, since she’s in basically nothing, especially with Elsa taking the Disney Princess reins.

It was also weird sometimes with the discrepancy between the flawless, probably rotoscoped faces of Poca and her friend, mixed with the highly cartoonic (cartoony? apparently cartoonic isn’t even a real word?) animals. It really gave off that same feel when a live actor is (trying) to interact with a CGI character, but decades before CGI was even a thing. It’s kind of interesting in that regard, but still really jarring. Thank God animation isn’t doing that anymore. The normally animated humans, like Ratcliffe, looked great though. They seriously spared no expense in the animation, as is the case with early Disney works. I just thought this movie was going to be more reminiscent of Snow White or Sleeping Beauty, where it was good, but not quite as polished. It was definitely polished.

The climax of the movie genuinely got me going, though. Both clans interchanging the same beliefs but from different sides through this gigantic, angry song was actually fucking amazing. You do sort of side with the Natives though, since they’re the ones acting in self defense, pretty much. By the end of it all, you of course realize that Ratcliffe was the source of the altercation, and frankly I wish one of his men shot him just as he was about to shoot Poca’s father. That would’ve been amazing. But, alas, John had to take the bullet. If only it were that easy in real life... There are just one too many Ratcliffes in the world.

Again, the sequels might as well not exist, because I ain’t touchen em.

I’m going to hope that I’ll get the chance to watch Snow White and Sleeping Beauty next, because I really want that classic Disney dose. I’ll take Brave as a substitute, even though that movie was seriously a disappointment in concept at least. I wanted a badass warrior princess, dammit! I mean, the only time I’ve actually watched Brave was on a party bus during a school field trip, so maybe I’m missing something.

[sxrpxntjones]

The Whyte Wyrm was always crowded, but it was particularly stifling tonight. There were so many people in the bar that it was hard to breathe air that wasn’t tainted with cigarette smoke, body odor, or spilled beer. Still, Jughead was happy. He was seated at the bar with a high vantage point of all that was happening in what the Southside Serpents deemed their headquarters. The occasion for this raucous party? F.P. turning a year older. Jughead knew that his dad cared about as much for birthdays as his son did, but he also never turned down a reason to drink. F.P. Jones was the center of attention in a crowd around him as he held his beer bottle high in the air and fed off their energy, a slightly manic look in his eyes to toasting to another year his liver survived him. Jughead sometimes wondered what his dad had been like in high school - he had found a Bulldogs letterman jacket shoved underneath some boxes in a closet one day and trying to picture F.P. as some jock who ran up and down a field after a tiny ball was usually hard but..tonight, watching him participate in an actual kegger chugging contest, Jughead could see he was watching the path F.P. shouldn’t have taken.

Normally, this sight would’ve been hard for Jughead to swallow. Normally, he wouldn’t have even come. There was no want to subject himself to the visual of why Jughead’s childhood had been so fucked up as he had seen it many times through the years of his life. This year was different, though. This year..she was in his life. Betty had heard of F.P.’s party and had been excited, and then disappointed when Jughead claimed he wasn’t going. Betty had this ability to see the best in everybody and she was wholly convinced that Jughead just had to stick it out through F.P.’s struggle, so certain he would find his way again all because he had a son who loved him and wanted him to get better. With the stars in her eyes and the pureness of heart she gave him as she told this to him, Jughead didn’t want to tell her that F.P. had been promising Jughead he’d get better for him all his life and that he had only a smidge of faith left in him. A smidge that Betty reawakened with her sweet voice and warm squeeze to his hand. He’d do this for her, for him, for them, and maybe he’d actually enjoy himself. It was also another way for Betty to get to know his friends, she reminded him. Jughead tried to keep his girlfriend as far away from his less than legal part of his life as much as possible but it was still a part of him and she wanted to know all of him. So there she was, in the middle of a conversation with Veronica and Fangs and Archie, all four of them laughing at something he didn’t know about but the sight of it made Jughead smile regardless.

“Jughead.” A voice broke the observant teen out of his thoughts and he turned around to face Toni. There was a surly look on her face and all warning bells went off in his mind that he was face to face with a moody woman and he needed to get the hell out of dodge. Especially when it was a moody Serpent woman. He liked Toni, he cared about Toni, he respected Toni but..he wasn’t sure if he could handle her tough as nails attitude tonight and her need to bring everybody down around her when she wasn’t feeling well. She liked to spread her mood as if it made her feel better to infect others and Jughead wanted to stay in his happy bubble tonight. Despite all this, his moral side won out and he knew he’d feel bad if he had ignored a friend in pain. He cleared his throat and pushed away his glass of soda. “Yeah, T. What’s up?”

Toni pushed back some of her pink hair and glanced around the room, sliding closer to him. “Can we..talk? I really need to talk to you about something.” His curiosity piqued, Jughead nodded and he stood up to follow her to wherever she led him. He assumed she wanted a quiet place and connecting eyes with Betty, Jughead smiled and held up a hand to signal that he’d be back in a little bit. All he got was his girlfriend was a wave and a nod. Turning his attention away from her, Jughead realized Toni was leading them into F.P.’s office and his brows rose as she shut the door behind him. He had hooked up with Toni in this very office a year ago and he really hoped she wasn’t looking for a repeat. She was with Cheryl, but Jughead knew Toni was more of a person to follow her impulses rather than logic. He leaned against the desk and folded his arms across his chest, hoping to create the look that he was closed off both physically and emotionally when it came to her. “What do you need to tell me?”

“Cheryl and I broke up.” Well. Whatever Jughead was expecting, it certainly hadn’t been that. His arms fell from his chest and he straightened up, a sympathetic look crossing his features. He hadn’t paid much attention to the couple as Cheryl wasn’t the sort of person he enjoyed spending time with but he had thought the two girls were a really good fit together. They both matched each other in defiance and Jughead couldn’t count the amount of times he had walked in on them in the process of getting it on. He had threatened to ban them from several rooms if they kept it up. To hear that they weren’t together was a shock and from the expression on Toni’s face, Jughead didn’t think it had been mutual or her idea. 

“I’m..really sorry, T. What happened?” Jughead asked softly, his hand reaching up to squeeze Toni’s shoulder. She stiffened for a second but then relaxed, and he could see her defenses weakening. Toni wasn’t one to share her emotions easily but Jughead could tell this was really upsetting her. He didn’t want to scare her away by getting physical but he also wanted her to know he was there. She had listened to a lot of his rants about his dad and even when he wasn’t in the mood to talk, she had been there to sit by him so he wasn’t lonely. This was what he could do to pay her back for that solidarity and friendship. Toni sighed and reached a hand up to brush away a tear that had started trailing down her cheek. “Cheryl told me we just didn’t belong,” she began in a flat voice but Jughead could hear the emotion quivering underneath the monotone she was trying so hard to maintain. “She said she loved me, and that I’d always be special to her, but she had an image to uphold and come graduation, she’d have to get serious about marrying somebody who fit in with her family. Some white boy with a name like Daniel or Phillip who could match her income.” Toni’s hands were shaking and she had clenched her fists to the point where her knuckles were white. Jughead recognized this as a coping method that Betty sometimes did but his urge to smooth out those fingers didn’t come with Toni like it did with Betty. Jughead just kept quiet and let Toni talk it out.

“I’m sorry. That had to be hard to hear. But maybe Cheryl did a good thing for you. It doesn’t sound like she wants to fight too hard to keep you,” Jughead tried to say as gently as he could. He didn’t want to hurt Toni any further but this only further cemented his belief that Cheryl was cold, cruel, and had no heart. Who said that to somebody they claimed to love? Who treated a relationship like it had a value in dollars? Jughead couldn’t even try to begin to imagine how he would feel if Betty told him she was too above him and had to seek higher. It was an insecurity he still tussled with but the more time they spent together, the more it faded away and stayed only in the deepest, darkest corners of his mind. Betty loved him. Betty chose him. Jughead was so, so lucky that Betty was not Cheryl.

“Don’t you get it, Jughead?” Toni asked, her eyes narrowing. She sounded disgusted with him and Jughead cocked his brows, immediately defensive at the tone in her voice. She may be heartbroken but Jughead wasn’t going to let her stand there and spout verbal abuse at him. He was only trying to help and be a good friend, and she didn’t get to make him her punching bag. Nobody did anymore. “What do you think it’s going to be like when Betty graduates? Her and Cheryl are from the same family..God, they’re cousins. You think Mrs. and Mr. Cooper won’t be whispering in her ear like Cheryl’s mom does? You think Betty’s going to choose trailer life and gang life over a good college and a chance to get out of this hell town? You’re stuck here, Jughead. You’re a legacy. Betty has nothing tying her to Riverdale and you have an entire gang. You’re the leader and you don’t get to leave.”

Toni must have seen something on Jughead’s face because her own softened and she stepped forward, putting a hand on his arm in a move meant to comfort him. All Jughead could feel was numb. There had been so much venom in her voice, so much disbelief that he hadn’t realized all these things, and it was as if the demons in his head finally had a face and a voice to speak all the dark thoughts to him. “Jughead..” Toni said softly. “I just don’t want you to get hurt. You’re in so much deeper with Betty than I was with Cheryl. You don’t want to get attached to these people. Your Northside friends..your Northside princess..they’ll all leave and you’ll be here, just a memory. They’re not going to stick around for you. They’ll leave. It’s time you face that instead of acting like both of your worlds can merge. It’s time to grow up.” Toni shook her head, like she couldn’t believe she had had to be the one to deliver the bad news. In her mind, this was her giving Jughead some tough love. Somebody had to shake him out of his delusion.

Jughead remained stock still, not moving. He heard a loud buzzing in his ears and he couldn’t even slap off Toni’s hand. His insides curled in anger at her voice, her face, her whole being but he couldn’t make a sound or a move. All Jughead could do was stand there and watch a montage inside of his head what his future would look like. He’d be wearing his Serpents jacket and watching Betty pack up her life as she hopped into a convertible with Archie and Veronica, not looking back and excited for the bright future she deserved and earned. Archie would not make the burger dates he promised when he was on break from school. Veronica would ignore his texts about movie recommendations and predictions for Oscar night. Lines would be drawn and Jughead would always be Southside.

Toni took his silence for acceptance and she sighed, a pitying noise that made Jughead’s skin crawl. “I’m sorry, Jug,” she whispered and she genuinely did sound sorry. This was what Toni believed the world to be like. “I’ll go let Betty know you’re not in the mood to party. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.” Jughead watched her go, every instinct in his body screaming at him to run after her and refuse to let her dictate his thoughts or feelings but all he could do was stand, frozen. His demons had been released and they were purring and snapping in delight, wrapping him up and torturing him with images and thoughts until Jughead was brought down to his knees and struggled to breathe.

[mugiwara-lucy]

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations-My Thoughts/Review!-Some Nice Slice of Life!!

Hi, all! Emi’s back for another episode review of “Boruto: Naruto Next Generations”! Now like always, let’s get started!!

The episode starts off with Naruto looking and observing a nearby tree that’s shown to be more durable than a Super Saiyan! Seriously!!

And I have to say this scene reminded me of that one filler arc where Iruka reminiscence about the time he was Naruto’s homeroom teacher and we see Iruka give a lecture to Naruto on a tree that looked pretty darn similar!

Talk about throwbacks!

In any case, flash forward to the academy, Iwabe and Metal Lee are busy quarreling over who’s the best Kage as Iwabe is dead set on his belief that Naruto is the best ninja ever while Metal Lee believes the other kages are better

Speaking of strong ninjas, Sarada amazes everyone with her accuracy in her shuriken throwing, thanks to her Sharingan while she states how she’ll become the next hokage after Naruto

Boruto misses his target, leading to an argument between two as Mitsuki reveals how they’d be a good couple

As the shock wears off from that moment, Boruto decides to pull a massive prank on the Hokage monument since today is the day of the Five Kage Summit in the Leaf Village. Too bad none of his friends are interested :O

As soon as class ends, Iwabe, Denki and Metal Lee decide to have a group meet at Ninja McDonalds where they watch the annual Kage press in live on TV.

First of the Kage we see appear in the village is Darui:

Iwabe is indifferent while this is me:

Damn he got even MORE sexy!! :3

Next up is Chojuro.

I always had a soft spot for him :3

Plus FUN FACT for all of you, he has the same English voice as Takato from Digimon!

......Okay I thought Gaara was the biggest Naruto fanboy but I was wrong XD

Next up is Jessica’s fav, Kurotsuchi.

Jeesh Iwabe, keep it in your pants XD

Lastly is Gaara

Even if he changes his hairstyle I’ll ALWAYS love him~ :3

Gaara’s so badass, it overpowers Iwabe’s fanboyism! XD

As the Kage all appear, Naruto gives a PSA that the ninja world will continue to thrive under the guidance of them.

Meanwhile as this is going on, Sarada has a training session with Chocho and eventually Konohamaru who is Sarada’s rival in becoming the Hokage after Naruto.

Hehe, I’d love to see a fight between them! XD

With this scene over with, Naruto announces at the Kage meeting that after the incident with Shin and after talking with Sasuke, he fears that an evil greater than Kaguya will come to the earth

And we all know what this means....

(Sighs) -_-

But as Naruto says this, Kurotsuchi says how inferior the next generation are in comparison to their generation while Naruto cheerfully says how the never’s only ever with a N in front of it and how their generation has the potential to be even better than them

Speaking of said generation, Boruto decides to deface the hokage monument before Sarada tries stopping him.

They have a small lovers quarrel before Boruto decides to make a truce with Sarada as it was a fair fight

Yeah right! XD

Boruto goes in and vandalizes the Hokage monument showing his love for it and his dad as a whole XD

As Naruto and the others see this, they all come to a consensus of how Boruto has the potential to surpass Naruto the most

...Well with the curse mark he got from Momoshiki, they may be on to something XD

In any case, Mitsuki watches from afar while amusingly saying how he believes they should be a couple again

And while this is all going on, a small stem appears in the tree Naruto gawked at earlier, symbolizing the beginning of a new generation appearing in the Hidden Leaf

And that’s the episode, guys!

My thoughts on it?

1.) The Animation/Soundtrack! The animation was no episode 167 and the music scores were decent so those get a thumb up from me!

2.) Plot Progression? Given how I LOVE the slice of life episodes in Boruto, I think this was a great episode! And next week, we see Boruto and CO. take a field trip to the Mist Village. I’m hope we get to see Mei again!

However...speaking of plot....this episode pretty much cemented how we’ll be seeing a rendition of the Boruto Movie in anime form.

(Sighs) -_-

Why am I annoyed? Because I understand the reason why is for money and for the sake of the plot but at the same time, I still wonder the reason since we’ve had FOUR different variations of the movie. We’ve had it in the original movie:

A novel for the movie

A game for the movie (That was another version of the original Storm 4!)

And months recently, the manga of Boruto got done with its rendition of the movie arc not only a couple of months ago

So to see it again for a fifth time is kind of stale, IMHO.

At least with how fast Gaiden was animated, the film won’t be TOO long of an arc!

3.) Clearing up some things? Yeah this episode helped clear up a question we’ve ALL had since the start of this series:

“How old are the kids?”

I’ve seen people say how they’re eight but in the series they don’t seem to have aged and given how Naruto said it was 15 years since the end of the Fourth Great Ninja War, I guess we can say how Boruto and CO. are 11-12?

4.) Mitsuki’s comment about Boruto and Sarada.

His comment about Boruto and Sarada being a couple is one of the most talked about pieces of this episode I’m sure.

Now my thoughts on BoruSara?

I’m NOT a fan.

Why? Mainly because it seems like it’s a way of “peace” towards the SNS fandom. By this I mean there was no way SNS would’ve been a canon couple in WSJ, that much was given. And it seems BoruSara was made as a way to “pander” the SNS fans.

Especially with the similarities between Naruto/Boruto and Sasuke/Sarada.

And my response? No thanks.

I’m sorry but I’m not a fan of this ship.

Besides BoruSumi is WAY MORE appealing to me XP

In any case, I enjoyed this episode and I’ll see you all in the next one!

Til next week, bye! ^_^

P.S: Denki is the BIGGEST Naruto fanboy XD

[imaginejamesandsirius]

*dances around because you take prompts* Hi! I found this: "You know who would have never believed that Sirius could be a traitor even if he was unaware of the change in secret keepers? An incredibly dead James." So pretty please, would you write a fic in which James is the only one that believe that Sirius is innocent? It can be set whenever you want! Angst is fine as long as the end is fluffy (I love happy endings!). Thank you so, so much!

When James woke in hospital, the first thing he said was, “Where’s Sirius?” He’d found his glasses on the bedside table, and after sluggishly sitting up and pushing them on, he looked around. Lily, Remus, and Harry were there, Remus clinging to both of them like a lifeline. He wanted to reach out and hug all of them, but he felt like his bones had been hollowed out and filled with cement, so he settled for looking. Sitting up had been more difficult than it needed to be, and he wasn’t in a hurry to anywhere. Provided there was a good reason he wasn’t seeing Sirius, that is.

Lily and Remus exchanged an uneasy look at his question, and his stomach plummeted to the floor.

Don’t jump to conclusions, maybe he’s hurt or summat. “Where. Is. He.”

Lily swallowed, and didn’t answer his question, as if there were any chance he wouldn’t notice. “Voldemort’s dead, but so is Albus– he died before the Aurors could arrive. The war is officially over now, so that’s good. You’ve been out a few days,” she explained. “Got hit with a nasty curse, they had to keep you under for the pain. Peter was here earlier, but he’s helping search for Death Eaters, so he couldn’t stay long.”

“Is Sirius dead?” he asked, since apparently they didn’t want to come out and tell him.

“No,” Lily said, averting her eyes and looking completely uncomfortable.

“James,” Remus said cautiously, shifting the sleeping Harry in his arms, “you do remember what happened, don’t you?”

He furrowed his brow as he thought. “Voldemort… showed up at the house.”

“Yeah.” Remus and Lily’s faces were etched with expectant sadness, but James didn’t understand why.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“James,” Lily said, and James was starting to hate people saying his name like that, “Sirius was our secret keeper. If Voldemort found us, it’s because he told him, and he did find us.” Her voice was soft, like she was breaking the worst news of his lifetime.

James glared at her. How could she even think Sirius would do that? And why was Remus agreeing with her? “Sirius wouldn’t have told him shite.” He pushed the blankets off him and weakly swung his legs to the ground. The cold of the floor made him shiver, and he grit his teeth against the stab of pain it caused to his stomach.

He tried to stand and wouldn’t have gotten far even if Remus hadn’t been there to gently press him back down with a hand on his shoulder. “I know you don’t want to believe it, James, but it’s what happened. He betrayed you.”

James shoved Remus’s hand off, and stared at him, unable to name all the swirling emotions in him. “How can you say that. You know Sirius, he would’ve rather died. Did you even bother to talk to him? I’m sure he would’ve told you what happened if you, you know, asked. Where is he? We can go together.”

“He’s in Azkaban, James,” Lily said and his heart stopped.

“What?”

“He’s in Azkaban, along with all the other Death Eaters they’ve caught.”

“Don’t call him that,” he snapped, eyes welling with tears. “He’s not one of them.” 

“James-” Remus started.

“Stop saying my name like that!” James was ready to tear into the two of them for the mere consideration that Sirius was a traitor, but a Medi-Wizard arrived, effectively cutting him off before he could start.

“Mister Potter please lay back down.”

His hands clenched into fists.

The Medi-Wizard turned to Lily and Remus. “I’m afraid I have to ask you to leave for now, until he’s calm again.”

“I’m plenty calm,” James blatantly lied.

“I’m sure,” they said drily. “If you please,” they said, turning to Remus and Lily and motioning to the door.

They gave him a worried, lingering look as they left, that he studiously ignored.

“Mister Potter,” they sighed.

“Yeah, yeah,” he grumbled, reluctantly getting back in the bed. “When am I cleared to leave?”

They started doing something with their wand, but James couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to what it might be. “Tomorrow night, now that you’re awake. As long as you take it easy,” they added.

James nodded but– judging by the Medi-Wizard’s sigh– both of them knew he had zero intention of doing so.

The next day and a half was tense. James played at being happy for little Harry but was short with the boy’s parents. Remus and Lily seemed to understand, but it was still in the ‘he needs time to come to terms with the situation’ sort of way, so it only served to keep him upset.

“Did they even give him a trial?” he finally asked.

“No. They haven’t given any Death Eaters them, just thrown them in Azkaban to rot.”

“Lily. I love you, but stop calling him a Death Eater.” It was as nice as he was going to be. Personally, he thought his restraint was divine.

She opened her mouth to argue her point, but stopped, visibly holding herself back.

“What have they done with his things?”

“Nothing,” Remus answered. “They’re yours now.”

James had to close his eyes and take a deep breath. If he thought it would get better when he left St. Mungo’s, he was horribly wrong. Going to the Ministry was a bad decision, but he wanted to talk to Bartemius Crouch about getting Sirius out of Azkaban. It was like everyone wanted to pretend Sirius was dead. Shove him in a horrible place he didn’t belong and talk about him like he didn’t exist anymore. James was ready to fucking deck the next person that called him a traitor.

…It took about fifteen minutes. Another Auror– one James knew from an assignment when he and Sirius had worked with him– was spewing bullshit, and James didn’t feel the least bit bad about breaking his nose.

Scrimgeour hauled him to his office, furious. “What the hell was that Potter?” He continued without waiting for an explanation. “I know that Black was your partner, but you more than anyone should be angry with him.”

“And why is that, sir?” he spat, gearing up for a fight.

James stormed out of the room a few minutes later, jobless, livid, and thoroughly unsatisfied. During the time he packed up both his and Sirius’s desks, he managed to create a calm facade, solid enough to talk to Crouch, not that that went much better than talking to Scrimgeour. When Crouch said Sirius had been manipulating James into being his friend, it apparently wasn’t a good idea to ask how the buggering hell an eleven year old was manipulative enough to be planning for a war with a threat none of them knew about yet.

Crouch had said, “He’s a Black,” as if that explained everything.

“Yeah he’s a Black, a Black who was in Gryffindor, and an Auror, and was bloody disowned for his beliefs!” It didn’t have any effect on Crouch, but after two minutes with the man, he wasn’t surprised.

James wasn’t having a very good day. Or week. He was about two days away from busting Sirius out of Azkaban.

He was very careful not to say that to Lily, Remus, or Peter when they got together that night, careful to not so much as hint at it.

“You don’t look like you’ve had a good day,” Peter said sympathetically. He looked nervous, as he always seemed to these days. James was glad for yet another reason to be happy that the war was over– Peter didn’t deal well with stress, and he was so paranoid.

He almost felt bad about how aggressively he answered, especially considering he had been thinking the same thing. “Well let’s think here Pete. My boyfriend slash best mate got thrown in a literal hellhole, all our friends are convinced he deserves it, and no one cares that he, you know, didn’t do it or get a trial. I punched O’Leary for being a complete arse, quit my job, and probably convinced Crouch I’m a traitor because he’s a paranoid bastard. Oh, and everyone thinks me and Lily are together, so people keep mentioning that. All in all, I think the only that could make this worse is if one of us was dead, so yeah, I didn’t exactly have a good day.”

Peter blinked at him owlishly. “You- you and Sirius were together?”

“That’s all you took from that?” James asked incredulously. “And of course we are. I thought you knew.”

He shook his head and looked to Remus, who shrugged helplessly. “I didn’t know either.”

James frowned at them. “Seriously? We haven’t been subtle.”

“I thought you were just really good friends,” Lily added.

James was… perplexed. “How the fuck did none of you know? And what do you mean ‘really good friends’? We’ve kissed in front of you. Several times. We act like a bleeding couple!” None of them had a good response, and he let his head fall back on the sofa with a groan. “I can truthfully say,” he said slowly, staring up at the ceiling, “that I did not expect that.” He looked at them again. “Does this affect how you think about him at all? C’mon guys, this is Sirius do you honestly think he’d betray me? You should know better than to think he’d support the Death Eaters at all, but- me?”

“I guess not,” Remus sighed. “But there’s no other explanation, James. If I thought for a second there was a way it couldn’t be him, I’d jump on it, but there isn’t.”

James thought about it. He hadn’t bothered before– he knew Sirius didn’t do it, but he didn’t think about the how; he didn’t need proof. “What if they switched secret keepers? Only Sirius, Albus, and the other person would know, and with Albus dead…”

“Why wouldn’t he say something?” Remus asked, but not to discourage James like he’d been doing the past few days, more interested, hungry to find an excuse to agree with him.

“Maybe he did, but no one believed him. It’s not like there was an official setting for him to mention it,” he added bitterly. “We never told anyone Sirius was our secret keeper did we?” Lily shook her head. “They just assumed. So if Sirius thought the Death Eaters would assume the same thing, he could’ve switched to keep us safe.”

“Then what happened to the other secret keeper? He wouldn’t have chosen someone he didn’t trust,” Peter said, seeming skeptical.

“And why wouldn’t they have come forward?” Lily asked.

“They could be dead.” He shook his head. “We’re going to get nowhere with this. I’ll ask Sirius tomorrow.”

“What?”

“James, you can’t visit him, they’ll think you’re a traitor too,” Remus said, looking unnerved at the prospect.

“Well I would hope you’d tell them I’m not,” he said drily.

“It really doesn’t sound like a good idea, and they probably won’t even let you.”

“Pete, let me put it this way: I’m going to see him, whether they let me, or not.”

Lily forcefully changed the subject, and they come back to it for the rest of the night. James was beginning to relax as they talked meaninglessly, not bringing up the war, or the countless good people who died, then Peter dropped his news.

“You’re moving to Germany?”

He nodded. “I know it’s sudden, but… I’ve actually been planning on this for the past couple months.” It was an understatement, they all knew. “With,” he swallowed, “everything that’s happened, I just don’t feel safe here, and I can’t relax, and I just-” he cut off, looking at the floor shamefully.

“Hey,” James said softly, putting an arm around his shoulders, “it’s okay. We’ll understand as long as you write us.”

Peter gave him a half-smile that had him grinning. “Can do.”

~~~

Everyone was out to make James’s life harder, he was sure of it. First, Scrimgeour had sent an owl, all but ordering James to come back (James sent back a reply telling him in explicit detail what he could do with that idea). It wasn’t a good idea to piss off the Head of the Auror Department, but James was full of bad ideas at the moment. Then, Lily had flooed to try and convince him not to go visit Sirius (except she refused to say his name), giving all the reasons she thought it would go poorly. Of course she was operating under the ridiculously incorrect assumption that Sirius was guilty, so he didn’t pay her any mind.

And then, they told him that he couldn’t go to Azkaban, citing some made-up rule about visitation. James eviscerated that attempt because he’d done his goddamn research before coming today. It’s not like visitors weren’t allowed, they just never did– whether because the prisoner didn’t have anyone, or because no one voluntarily spent time around Dementors. Once he called their bluff, they said something about wands not being allowed, clearly thinking it would dissuade him. Instead, James shoved his wand flat into their chest without a second’s hesitation. After that they understood that they were going to have to let him go or risk him breaking in.

They took a boat across, his guide– or whatever their title/job was– looking supremely nervous, and not taking more than a single step closer to the main structure than he had to. He stuttered out a location and James took off before he finished speaking. He was sure he would’ve looked very intimidating if he hadn’t slipped on some moss.

James had to hold back a wave of rage when he neared Sirius’s cell, seeing the higher concentration of Dementors in this area. In what was surely the most stupid thing he’d ever done, he made physical contact with one to push it aside so he could get through, it was so crowded in the narrow hallway.

James doesn’t know how Dementors work, but something about him or the situation made the majority of them float a short distance away. His chest tightened when he saw Sirius, half-way between the door and the outside, obviously wanting to get away from the ocean spray but not wanting to get any closer to the Dementors than he had to. The floor was comprised of hard stone and a thick film of mud and grime that Sirius was covered with after his week here. James knelt on the ground, shoulder bumping the same wall that Sirius was leaning against.

“Sirius?”

His body stilled, to the point James was half-convinced he’d been petrified, before he took a careful breath. “James?”

An involuntary smile came to James. Gods but he’d missed his boyfriend. He hadn’t seen Sirius in over a month, and with the stress of everything else he hadn’t had time to be sad about it this past week.  “Yeah, love, it’s me.”

Sirius’s head came up sharply, eyes roving over James like he couldn’t believe he was here. He scrambled forward, but not so close that James could reach him on his own. “You’re alive,” he breathed, voice filled with wonder.

“‘Course I am, I’m too stubborn to be killed,” James said with a crooked smile, trying to ignore how wrong it was for them to be separated, for Sirius to be behind bars. James stuck his arm through the bars, reaching for Sirius and gesturing for him to come closer. “I can’t reach you back there, mate.”

His eyes filled with tears and he lurched forward, flush with the bars as he tried to get as close as he could to James, and hugged him. He was filthy, shaking, and smelled like death, but James wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. “I thought you were dead.”

“Nope. Hurt a little, but not dead.” He let a deep breath out and felt the exhaustion of the past few days weighing down on him. “I’m sorry I haven’t gotten you out yet. No one wants to listen to me, and they don’t care that you never got a trial, and it’s just-”

“It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay Si, how can you say that? You’re in Azkaban for fuck’s sake, this is the antonym of okay, it has this exact situation described in the thesaurus.”

“But you’re alive,” he said, as if that changed everything. And for him, maybe it did. By this point, they normally would have let go of each other, but they hadn’t seen each other in weeks and Sirius had thought he was dead. James didn’t want to let go of him for the entire visit, and he was certain the sentiment was returned.

“I’m alive. And you’re alive, so this could be a hundred times worse.”

Sirius chuckled, sounding strained. “Yeah. I’m guessing you haven’t found Peter?”

James frowned, and pulled back a little. “What do you mean? Pete’s fine, I saw him last night.”

Sirius’s face contorted. “He’s the one that gave your location to Voldemort.”

“But… what?”

“We switched Secret Keepers, I- I thought I was too obvious, that you’d be safer if it was someone else, and he agreed, and Albus switched it didn’t he tell you?” Sirius had gone from angry to desperate and rambling in a matter of seconds, and if James wasn’t used to it, he’d have whiplash.

James shook his head numbly. “Albus is dead. Pe- he said he was moving, he’s running.”

“If he leaves, I’m never going to get out!”

“Yes you will. I’m not leaving you in here. If I- if I can just get you a trial, then you can request Veritaserum, and then you’ll be out.”

Sirius stared at him, but there was no hope there. “Crouch isn’t going to authorize that. I tried when they took me James, they aren’t going to listen; they want to throw every suspected Death Eater in here and forget they helped build a society where something this horrible got this far. They sure as hell aren’t going to admit they were wrong about me.”

“I’m going to get you out of here,” James promised.

“Don’t go doing anything illegal. I’m fine,” he lied, and James gave him a flat stare. They hadn’t been able to lie to each other since third year.

“You’re not, I’m not, and when has legality ever stood in our way. Are… are you sure it was Peter?” James asked hopelessly.

“I’m sure.”

James went back to hugging him. “How did everything get so buggered?”

“Well, I think it all started when the first wizard thought genocide was a great idea and it snowballed from there.” Neither of them said anything for a while. “Don’t do anything if it’s going to get you in here,” he said quietly.

“Si. I appreciate the thought. But we both know I’ll do whatever it takes.”

He sighed. “Yeah. I know. Be careful though. I love you, but I don’t want you to be my next-door neighbour for the rest of our lives.”

“Yeah. In your bed is a much better arrangement.”

Epilogue

James would be the first to admit that getting Sirius’s name cleared was a whole hell of a lot harder than it needed to be, and in his ever objective opinion, it took way too fucking long. The fortunate part, he grudgingly acknowledged, was that no one found out he’d broken Sirius out of Azkaban. Remus had known what James was doing, just because he knew that James wasn’t going to leave Sirius there if the process to get him out was taking months. He snuck Sirius out, started working on getting him what he should’ve had from the beginning, and snuck him back in the day of the trial.

Crouch had been deposed, and the new administration was going back, trying to fix all the previous oversights, which was the only reason Sirius got a trail. James tried to push Sirius’s date up, but the department was busy with other things. He wasn’t happy about it, but he understood.

They never found Peter, and honestly James was glad. He’d left them a note in Germany– where he’d told them he was staying before they knew what he’d done– apologising. Sirius was furious, but James… well. He didn’t want to see Peter again, and that included having him tried for what he’d done. Maybe it was hypocritical, but he didn’t want to think about it. Peter betrayed them, he had his reasons, and that was that.

It took time for them to trust Remus and Lily again, but Sirius was more willing to forgive than James was, and that helped. The rest of the Wizarding World could suck it. They were all imbeciles, who would rather an innocent man be in prison than out so they could have a false sense of safety.

James could never hold his bitterness for too long though, because then he’d see Sirius, healthy and smiling, and– as per usual– not giving a single fuck what anyone else thought.

“You know Jamie, we should get married.”

“Oh? Why’s that?”

“You need a reason other then our world-stopping, undying love?” He gasped, a hand over his heart.

“It would be nice, yes,” James teased.

“How about so the next time people falsely accuse me of betraying you, they won’t have a leg to stand on?”

James rolled his eyes. “They didn’t have a leg to stand on in the first place, but yes we should get married. Just in case.”

[foxcroft-rpg-blog]

Congratulations, Angie! Your application was so well thought out. I had a lot of fears when it came to Val applications, because it’s so easy to make her too rebellious, or too devoted to her religion, but I really think you struck a nice balance. I’m so excited to see where you take our cult leader babe. 

Thanks again for applying! Please create your account and send in the link, track the right tags, and follow everyone on the masterlist as soon as you can. Welcome to Foxcroft!

OUT OF CHARACTER

Name: Angie

Age: 20

Preferred pronouns: She/her

Time zone:EST

Activity:On a scale from 1-10 I’d place myself at a 7. I’m a full-time college student, but my schedule’s been pretty light this semester and finals are still a little over a month away, so there’s not many impediments at the moment that could affect my activity.

Anything else?:Nope! I do want to apologize though for having been such a hassle about fc choices. Why are you like this @me.

IN CHARACTER

Full name:Valerie Pineda

Date of birth:October 25th, 1989 / / S c o r p i o

How long have they been in Foxcroft:Valerie’s lived in Foxcroft all her life. It’s where she’s conducted God’s work under the banner of Deathless and its twisted belief system, and it’s where she’ll continue to strive for salvation for its other members, no matter the cost.

Sexuality: Am I allowed to say questioning? I imagine that given her strict conservative upbringing, Val would’ve had heteronormativity beaten into her on the regular. That said, she was always one to push boundaries and skirt around rules when it suited her, so I feel like she might’ve experimented with the opposite gender in her shameless pursuit for that ultimate adrenaline high. Nowadays, with her being even more committed to her religion, I think that she’d be more inclined towards playing it safe with her sexuality to kind of build on this otherworldly image she’s built for herself, even though there’s a lot of misplaced confusion and guilt wrapped in there.

FC Change: Eiza Gonzalez, Camila Mendes, Emeraude Toubia

MORE

How do you interpret this character’s personality? How will you portray them? Include two weaknesses and two strengths. (2+ paragraphs)

+ charismatic, dedicated, crafty

- manipulative, obsessive, self-serving

She was always a spirited little thing. With a pistol for a mouth and a smile that seemed to beget trouble for the mere sake of it, Valerie’s inherent grit was the one thing neither her parents nor the nuns at school could ever really beat out of her, for hers was a particular brand of recklessness that bypassed the traditionalism of her upbringing; a bold addiction to life that couldn’t be reined in. She was cigarette smoke seeping from beneath the door of the girl’s lavatory; she was the burn of whiskey at the back of one’s throat; she was loud, rambunctious laughter and legs flailing from atop the water tower; she was invincible.

And no one could convince her otherwise.

It’s her religion that grounds her. Never one to limit herself to the restrictions of convention, Valerie is nevertheless a staunch believer in her God. To those who don’t know her very well, it can be hard to reconcile the image of the wild child from her early years with the devoted Catholic that routinely attends church service. But for the select few in her inner circle, it’s not quite as difficult to understand how it is she does it, funneling that same frenzied energy, a trademark of Foxcroft’s finest delinquent, into the religious zeal that’s now come to define her character. It’s her faith that defines her and it’s her faith that brings out the very best and the very worst of Valerie Pineda.

There’s the charismatic side that resembles your typical cult leaders’. At first glance there’s something magnetic to her spirited ways. Val projects a confidence and plucky sort of charm that’s been known to draw people in; she knows how to make them feel special. Whether it’s in convincing the other children at church to join her cause, or reaching out to lost souls and lending them a purpose in life, she knows how to foster feelings of belonging among others and inspire loyalty. Her silver-tongued charisma and apparent kindness don’t always stem from a place of cold calculation, though, and this is underscored by her real sense of devotion to Deathless. They’re in many ways the closest thing she’s got to a family and though self-preservation will typically have her prioritizing her own safety and well-being over theirs, they’re not simply a means to an end for her anymore as they too deserve to know the grace of God’s salvation.

Then there’s the uglier, more merciless side. In essence, Valerie is a taker, not a giver. She takes from those she calls friends, like Jonah and Jack; their choices, their independence, their sanity – she takes it all and bends them to her own will because she thinks she knows what’s best for them, and with Val what’s best for others tends to coincide a lot with what’s best for her. She takes from Marcus Murphy, dragging him into her convoluted web, knowing full well that he can’t afford to go against her word. And, ultimately, though not by her own hand, she took Hazel Abram’s life the minute she decided salvation demanded a sacrifice.

Religious devotion and an almost narcissistic fixation to rise above her own mortality has warped the finer elements of Val’s personality. She’s become a more intense and possessive version of herself in her quest for immortality, twisted by her ambitions and ego into a frightfully selfish creature not entirely of sound mind. But when all is said and done, no matter how hard and how long she’s aspired to heights of otherworldliness, Val remains inherently human at her core. She doesn’t want to go at it alone and, in truth, the reality of an immortal life spent entirely on her own scares her as much as the prospect of death.  

How did this character react to the death of Hazel Abrams? Adam Foxcroft? (1+ paragraphs)

Her engineering of Hazel Abram’s death wasn’t so much a necessary evil as it was the most pivotal moment in Valerie Pineda’s life. It was a game changer for her in more ways than one, simultaneously earning her the immortality she’d so long craved while cementing the cruel lengths she’ll go to, to get what she wants. From that point on, there was no going back. While she’d publicly feign regret over the loss of life in the days to follow, Val privately felt not a shred of remorse for her actions. Sacrifices, after all, were always made in service of something bigger than all of them and the rest of Deathless would come to thank her one day when they too knew glory of salvation. Her one and only concern came in covering for Jonah, something she continues to do to this day both out of pragmatism and loyalty.

Adam Foxcroft’s death complicated matters. The recent tragedy has once again shined the spotlight on the Hazel Abram case and Val worries about how this could affect Jonah and Deathless. The execution of Adam’s death, so similar to that of Hazel’s, has also raised her suspicions. She wonders to herself if a member of Deathless was behind the murder, having chosen to go rogue and ignore her instructions in what she could only construe as a damning act of betrayal.

How do they see the town and its people? Think about the different groups of people and prejudices the town holds about them. (1+ paragraphs)

Val has never been particularly prejudiced in her view of the fellow townspeople. Hailing from a devout Catholic family that’s lived in relative modesty all their lives, she belonged neither to the affluent heights of the Foxcroft family, nor the poverty of the swamps. Instead, her free-spiritedness led her to befriend town residents from all walks of life, especially those with similarly troubled backgrounds as her own. It’s because of this open-mindedness that she’s been able to build Deathless up from scratch, inviting into the fold people that she knows have little to lose and everything to gain from a newfound sense of purpose.

For non-human characters: What does this character know about what they’ve become? Have they had any experiences that made them aware that weren’t exactly human? Elaborate. (2+ paragraphs)

Countless nights were spent by Valerie burning the midnight oil at both ends as she poured over every religious text she could get her hands on. She’s known in her heart of hearts for ages now that she’s meant for something greater. All those times she defied death had her fully convinced that she’d been made in God’s image, that she was truly untouchable, and as such all that remained to seal the deal was the assurance of a godly life: an immortal life. And so, she delved into her research, desperate to reach what she believed to be her fullest potential.

That fateful night at Sweetwater Church changed everything. Valerie can still remember hearing the loud bang of a single gunshot echoing around the altar; she can remember the rosary around her neck bursting to pieces, cracked beads rolling about on the floor as Marcus Murphy blew a hole through her chest. Above all else, she can remember that feeling of overwhelming triumph as she lifted her head up to meet his eyes, teeth spread in a wide grin while the gaping hole in her chest began to stitch itself back together. That was when she knew it’d all been worth it.

Please include 1-2 possible plots your see for this character (1 paragraph brief explanation for each)

i. From what I could tell Valerie doesn’t seem to be aware of the other forces at work in Foxcroft, namely the rest of the non-human species lurking around town. I definitely think that a realization on her end later on in the rp’s story could bring with it a lot of interesting repercussions that would be hella fun to explore. As someone who’s suffered so much for her faith and sacrificed so much of herself in service of it, I would imagine she wouldn’t be too pleased to know that there are others out there that have been similarly gifted with abilities beyond the realm of human imagination. I figure she’d still be deluded and egotistic enough to view immortality as the only real form of salvation, but it’d be cool to see how she’d deal with that turn of events and if it’d be enough to drive her over the edge.

ii. Literally anything and everything to do with Deathless. What I find most fascinating about Valerie is how she’s managed to cultivate this cult of hers by collecting people like a serial killer would trophies (that’s not a weird example at all angie) and commanding their attentions and allegiance. The lost causes, the broken hearts, the wounded ones that live on the fringes of Foxcroft’s society – she’s found ways to connect with them and bring them into the sphere of her fanaticism, and while not all of them are as devoted to her as they initially were, I still think it’d be cool to build on those dynamics and test just how far some members might go to stay in her good books, or how much they can put up with before choosing to actively go against her.

WRITING SAMPLE

There are two options here, and you only need to complete one.

( I hope it’s okay that I linked you to two of my past rp blogs – I just didn’t want to overcrowd this section. )

( para sample #1 ): (x) ( para sample #2 ): (x)

EXTRA [THIS SECTION WILL NOT INFLUENCE ACCEPTANCE]

How would you feel about this character dying?: I don’t know enough about the lore surrounding the town to know if an immortal can really die, but if it is a possibility or ends up becoming one later down the line, I’d be okay with it. Valerie’s story is so tightly wound with death and immortality, and her motives so fixed upon her determination to cheat death, that I think it’d be an interesting route to explore.

Why did you choose this character?:While I was initially toying around with the idea of applying for either Nina or Summer, it was Valerie’s bio that I kept being drawn back to. I think what struck me the most about Valerie is that hers is a character that could so easily be cast in the same mold as your typical religious zealot, yet there’s nothing one note about her. She’s defiant but committed; ruthlessly calculating but intensely passionate; self-serving to a fault but still willing to go above and beyond to protect her Deathless family. There’s so many layers there to work with, so much depth to uncover, that I feel she’d be a blast to play.

Extras: Here’s a playlist I made for Valerie (x)

How did you find us?: I was poking around the lsrpg tag and came across your promos there.

[archivezosia]

As the World Shifts /// Flashback ( About 10 years ago )

Juxtaposed to the erratic behavior of her heartbeat, Annika’s gaze that settled upon Zosia remained inexorable. You might say that her eyes’s were almost addicted to the image of the reader —- it certainly wouldn’t be an exaggeration. No matter the subject of which they spoke, she was sure that the urge to stare would be impossible to overcome. Should they lapse into a comfortable silence, still, upon the other her eyes would stay. So she watched and wondered what might be happening inside that seemingly beautiful and riveting mind. “If we find ourselves unsatisfied, as I predict we will, we can always jump on a plane to my homeland. It’s only an 11 hour flight.” Spreading her tone with a thick layer of sarcasm, Annika bit her lip and cocked an eyebrow as if to say ‘how about it?’. It was a ridiculous idea, but one that played regularly in the reel of idealistic scenarios in Annika’s imagination. To take Zosia, who had kindled her affections so brightly, to the place she theoretically kept her heart —- as cliche as it was, really would be a dream come true. The suggestion of becoming a painter too set Anni’s heart fluttering. It might have been a fleeting comment from Zosia but of course, the poet naturally read into it and saw it as the kind of suggestion she would follow with ‘you’d do that for me…?’. She bit back the hopeless hopefulness and instead possessed a sheepish and daft grin. “My Godfather was a proper advocate for Plaid Cymru so being around his political rants naturally inspired me. Don’t let it frighten you though —- I’m pretty passive about it. I don’t really know how that works, but it’s how I chose to play it. Opinionated but chilled about it.” The redolent hope that lingered in her coaster themed sentence was left hanging in the air. Annika felt her stomach flip. Something had changed, but layers down, buried deep beneath their perceptible connection. A pea had been lodged underneath the hundreds of mattresses that was their desire for conversation and contact. Except it wasn’t a pea, and it certainly wasn’t something insignificant to their budding relationship. To Annika’s horror, Zosia held in her hands a scrap of paper she had trusted to the wind to carry somewhere safe. And it had found her. Was this fate? That she had discarded it somewhere so rural, so distant to where they were now —- but it had made it’s way to the very subject herself? Millions upon millions of questions percolated her conscience, her ability to see clear. “This…where did you get this from?” Quietened to a whisper, sheer anxiety lurked in Anni’s shaky voice. The embarrassment of it all. These were not just words. This piece of paper had the poets very soul bared upon it. She could lie —- the idea flashed in her head and she winced at it’s interference with her ability to think straight. The poem did not name anyone. Rapid plans of fibs scrabbled her sense and she was blinking so fast her eyes were beginning to water. It was useless. She could not lie at the best of times, let alone to the face of her deepest desire. Yet, it took everything she had to compose herself and admit that those words were, in fact, about the woman before her. “I didn’t want you to find it. I threw it to the wind, Zosia. On the camping trip… It was supposed to fly away and be lost. It was supposed to be cathartic, for me and only me…but it found you. I don’t know if that is a good thing or not.” Completely clueless as to where to take her words, which of the many emotions beating behind her forehead to expose, Annika’s fingernails nipped lightly at the skin upon her opposite hand, gaze refusing to plant anywhere in the room. “I don’t know what to say. What do I say? I confirm that I wrote it about you. I’m not sure whether it was right or wrong or what. You could call it self preservation —- it’s like a coping mechanism. It’s how I come to terms with things. I needed to figure it all out, get it into words, what I was —- am feeling.” Flickering emerald eyes hazily drifted to meet Zosia’s, alight with so many embers of sentiments. “That’s what it translated as. That’s how it is. …Is that okay?”

”Hypothetically,” making sure to heavily precursor the adjoining sentiment with a solid foundation of that plain and uncommitted nonchalance she had mastered so well to accommodate the upheaval of emotion Annika dredged up within her, Zosia allowed herself to sneak in a bona fide nod of affirmation, “I think I’d like that.” The agreement resonated with a sincere sense of hope she could only hope was overshadowed by how it was presented; in a place built on a city of fables, populated with streets named ‘what if’ and ‘maybe someday’. Impossible and improbable universes that neither of them had the blessed fortune to occupy together. The idea of such a spontaneous adventure preyed upon the reader’s suppressed passion for the pastime of travel. To visit the land Annika hailed from, where cement and plastic clutter were not part of the daily sight-seeing routine, was a suggestion she struggled to find a sane reason to refuse —- theoretically or not. Speaking with crystal clarity was easy around someone such as the woman she sat by. It made Zosia daring enough to let secrets less noticeably slip into speech, with a simple turn of phrase, that could be a double edged sword of truths or open up a pandora’s box of misunderstandings. Around anyone else in her peer group, she would have done it with confidence, knowing certain inflections and references would fly over most of their heads. Under the discerning reception of Annika’s intelligent ear, the line was a much finer one to walk. Giving too much credit to the poet seemed an oxymoron. Frankly, Zosia was more at risk of giving too little. “Ah, of course. I should’ve guessed your bloodline was enriched with spirit.” An entire thesaurus’ worth of terms could have been substituted in the place of ‘spirit’. Holding this belief more like a fact, she momentarily needed to carefully study the Annika’s features to ensure she hadn’t accidentally voiced a more intimately-sourced adjective. With her voluminous thoughts trafficking so noisily inside her skull, it grew increasingly difficult to tell what she verbally let out into the ethers anymore. To posses an intense deep affection for another was to love. For a word so strong, linked to how humans often haphazardly threw it around like bullets, it felt as though shrapnel ought to have littered the earth’s surface. Surely, it would have littered the floor in a perfect circle around where Zosia sat. Was she so foolish to try and convince herself that a particular sensation of ‘deep affection’ was not the exact summary that described her inner disposition? Would it really have been so preposterous to suggest that the very mention of Annika’s name had the reader’s brain instantaneously linking along a poem [ it was love that had me and held so fast, I was trapped like a moth to the flame, wise men have said true love never lasts, when in love you’ll burn again and again. ] which had kept those three syllables company for over above a fortnight? Gripped by infatuation, that was for certain, but were the depths of these feelings fleeting —- like a pool in the heat of Summer doomed to be emptied by the end of the season —- or as unprecedented and unpredictable as the bottomless ocean? Placing the letter in her lap, Zosia nearly held her breath as she sat silently to listen to what reasoning she would hear from the other woman. Palms pressed together, lifted with the sides of her index fingers pressed to her lips, she was caught somewhere between willing herself not to say anything, and trying to summon some cursed higher power to alleviate her shackled mind. Staring at Annika with a mixture of trepidation, admiration, and loss, she quietly mumbled, “I was given it.” Despite purposefully omitting details of identification, she could practically hear Maya’s voice ringing in her eardrums; imagine an expression of disdain; and the brutal disapproval of even the reader’s quietest consideration of entertaining the dreams she had pertaining to Annika. The terms between Zosia and her supposed ex were unclear, murky as the waters of a lagoon —- however, in comparison ( which did nothing to ease the stress on her conscience ), Annika presented no more clarity. Though, one factor was for certain: the pier of safety the music maker represented was far more anchored than it’s hurricane counterpart. A hopeless ache chipped away at Zosia’s heart like a hammer and chisel took to stone, leaving behind a cave of wonder and insecurity that waves of Annika’s touching sentiments gently lapped up against. “You didn’t want me to see it.” Emptily echoing the impression she had absorbed from the tone of the writer’s elaboration, the literary aficionado failed to ward off the indignant sense that arose when confronted with such a notion. Fingers protectively tightened their hold on the flimsy letter as she imagined a scenario where the discarding of it had being successful, disheartened by the possibility of the note never seeing the light of day, consumed by the forest forever. How could she dare do such a thing? To deliberately keep Zosia blinded from a truth so mockingly blatant she had actually needed to read it on paper before she’d understood the muted refrain of her interest was not a one sided arrangement. They were singing a duet, of coasters and teacups, no less. Of course, it made absurd sense. Nothing quite permeated the reader’s daydreamy grasp on the world other than the physical presence of the written world —- a place her mind could escape to forever, even if the outcome of their meeting mounted insignificantly. Annika could have downright laid a kiss onto Zosia and she likely still would’ve internalized it, analyzed the hell out of it, and then brushed it off as accidental. A rare and situationally dependent gesture, at best. Too good to be true. “Why would it not be a good thing?” Because who was Zosia to receive the gift of this enchantment’s attention? “Why hide it? It was —- it is… beautiful, Annika. I didn’t… I wouldn’t have imagined you saw me in such a light. I…” A defeated sigh escaped her lungs, briefly preceding a rapidly spoken line of French she was grateful wouldn’t be understood, “Vous êtes comme un rayon de lumière sur mon horizon. Mon cœur souffre pour vous , ma chérie. Comment pouvez-vous pas savoir…” Shaking her head, poignant hazel eyes escaped the vibrant green shade of their captor’s to avert to the nearest wall; being able to truly concentrate depended on it. “First of all, you must understand that is okay. More than…” Trailing off, she felt suddenly concerned and self conscious with how much that she said or did when it would be permanently on the record. “It’s just… inconvenient.” A strained thread of pent up frustration lined her tone, eloquence uncharacteristically escaping her as she struggled in more ways than one, “It’s welcomed and it’s inconvenient. I feel it matters little what I want to really say, as in no reality could I say that this is impeccable timing, Annika.“

To be continued…

[carriejoneone-blog]

Alive but not for long.

Deactivated my Facebook page today. I keep going to her page. She's never taking me back. She doesn't hate me but I'm worthless in her eyes. She would deny that but she never loved me. I loved her & she didn't love me because I never would've treated her like that. I really want to leave. I've never been so depressed in my life. The only way out is death. Nothing interests me anymore. My thoughts of anything makes me ask, "Then what?" Everything is miserable without her. My suicide will only cement Carrie's faith in a Christianity more & how she was always right & how I'm wrong. Her ideologies are cruel. "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers" - 2 Corinthians 6:14 This passage is what I'm sure repeats in her head about me. That is the cruelest thing I've ever read. I'm crying right now. I love with everything but that means nothing because I'm not a believer. My love is an annoyance to her & not a genuine feeling to her. This is what real Hell feels like. Torment & a feeling of worthlessness. I keep looking up ways to commit suicide. The most easiest & painless ways. I don't want to hurt. I'll probably slit my wrists. Just the one, left since I'm right handed. I won't be around to see Carrie's reaction. I won't be anything anymore. That's truly a scary thought....nothingness. No after life for me, no heaven, no hell. Nothing is what awaits because I'll be erased from existence. I leave behind nothing. People will mourn me for a second but they'll go back to their lives & I'll be an after thought. Someone will think of me & forget my first name or maybe my last. They refer to me as "whatshisname" & say, "Oh right, him. Can't believe he did that." & they'll go back to their lives. I was born into a nightmare & lived with an unloving father, violent & sadistic mother & an older brother who tried to help me. I've wanted to kill myself since I was 4 years old. I just didn't know the word & it scared me but I was tired of being punished & beaten for being alive by my mom. Everyday I think of suicide since I'm no longer with Carrie. She took my last & only bit of love I had left within me. Without her, the hatred for myself is at an all time high. I've never loved myself. I did for a short time but now I have a huge piece missing. The will to live is gone. When I met her, I'd fought for years to never allow another woman into my life. I've always been rejected & dumped. I couldn't handle it anymore. So instead of killing myself, I escaped from being hurt by anyone else. Carrie pursued me & I didn't want to get involved with anyone ever again, especially someone who everyone I asked about her kept referring to as "super religious". I do not like religion. That's all religions. So much murder & cruelty & apathy is caused because of religious beliefs. It's always "If you're not with me, you're against me." I hate that attitude. Good deeds are nothing unless religion is somehow apart of it. I think if you only do things because your religion compels you to than you aren't in control of your actions because you're either afraid of the wraith or you follow blindly. I finally went out with her & I really enjoyed getting to know her. I was nervous because I really liked her & I didn't want to come of as a weirdo. After a month, I knew I loved her. I don't know the exact moment or exactly what she said or did but I knew (and I'm living it now) that life would empty without Carrie in it. There's things that I wish I could've done differently with her. I should have allowed her to meet my dad. He died a year after we starting dating. I was ashamed of my family & afraid my dad would have "glommed" onto her family & would've asked for money. My dad was jobless & he kept asking me for money, I could only imagine what he would've done. He kept guilting me. I didn't want to subject Carrie's family to that. She never met my dad until he was brain dead in an ICU bed. I made he suffer through that & I wish she never had to experience that. She was there for me & she kept me sane during that time. That's when I knew I wanted to marry her. I knew I wanted spend the rest of my life with her. Now, she's dissociated from ever loving me. She looks at me with this zombie look in her eyes. Like I'm a stranger. It's heartbreaking. I feel like a shell, a husk. I'm empty now. The only way I can let her go is by being dead. I can't stop thinking about her. It's every damn day & I get sadder & sadder. Life is not worth living without her.