#usually it's dfs: father -> first son -> first son's son -> go back up and look for other sons

[paradoxspaceheater]

the ethuveraz rlly was like what if we used bfs in our primogeniture

[ohpsshaw]

~DFS Christmas Special~

No desire to draw lately, so I’ve been doing little prose sketches instead.

Just in time for December, here’s what turned out to be Uncle Jack taking Al Christmas shopping. This would be circa 199X B.G. (Before Glenn), making Al in his early 20s.

(Watch out if you have high blood sugar, cos this gets KINDA SACCHARINE.)

It had finally stopped snowing, thank goodness. The fresh white blanket reflected crisp light in through the windows, making him feel chilled inside. Luckily Pop was a comfort creature who kept a stock of hot chocolate mix in the pantry. Al never seemed to reach for it back at his apartment, but something about visiting home in the winter months made a warm mug feel as essential as a limb.

Uncle Jack had asked Al to accompany him for some holiday shopping later, and a chocolate briquette would be good to have heating his gut. He took it to the couch in the living room. Someone had dug up the old photo books and left them on the coffee table a few days ago. Flipping through, he noticed that half the pages were completely empty— photography had never been a popular concept in the Czar household. The preserved moments were of family trips and landmarks, rambunctious sepia-washed office parties, Al’s school portraits. Rarer was anything taken inside the house. One shot of himself at four or five years old, standing on the yellow-sunlit staircase and showing the camera a toy car, surfaced a memory of being coached to keep his mouth closed so as not to alarm a 1-hour photo developer. Thinking on it, it may have been more than coincidence that most of these were instant Polaroids.

Through the window, he heard the muffled sound of a car door, then: “What the fuck are you doing!?” Hey, Pop’s home. Al pulled back the curtain to watch the drama unfolding at the end of the driveway, where Uncle Jack had been chipping at the wall of powder the afternoon snowplow had left. Xav had just returned from morning errands and parked in the street, storming over the slush to stop his brother from working.

Cold air blasted from the foyer. Snow crunched as Xav shook out the snow shovel behind him. “Why was he doing this by himself? Did you become a quadriplegic when I wasn’t looking?”

Al flipped through the Rolodex in his head for the answer that would earn him the least amount of grief. He shrugged, as if confused by the absurdity of the question. “He didn’t ask.”

“I didn’t ask, Max.” Jack took the shovel back. “But you’re right, I should have. Reckon it was my vanity what did me in— I can’t stand to be upstaged by some young buck doing the same job in half the time.” He winked at his nephew. “Well, three-quarters.”

“Oh, fuck off,” Xav spat, the corners of his mouth curling up against his will. “You both know I’m not being unreasonable. You’re not a guest, Alan Henry. As far as I’m concerned, you still live here. You earn your keep during the day, and MAYBE I’ll consider putting on my robe and letting you suckle dinner from my left tit.”

Al choked on his hot chocolate.

“Shit. Careful on the carpet. I’ll get you a paper towel.” Xav left for the kitchen, grumble-exorcising demons as he walked. “If Papa caught one of us sitting on our ass while the other did chores...”

Why did Pop have to save his best lines for when people were eating? Bent over and lapping chocolate out of the crevices of his palm, Al thought he saw a piece of marshmallow among the bubbles. Heh... hope that didn’t come out of his nose.

“You still need me to shovel?” he asked Jack.

“Son, I would be honored,” Jack nodded, holding the shovel on the doormat like a knight leaning on an orange sword. “Gitcher boots on and you can finish the job before we head out. I’ll make sure your Pop watches the show from inside.”

Xav returned with the towels and a smirk. “Talking shit about me, Jack?”

“I was just sayin’ how you’ll hate to see us go, but you’ll love to watch us walk away.”

“Got that fucking right.” Al cleaned his face while Xav dabbed each of his fingers individually. An oddly tender gesture. “What are you two going out for, exactly?”

“Juuust... shoppin’. I need Alan’s opinion on somethin’.”

“Uh-huh.” Secrets being a rare and dangerous thing in this family, there wasn’t much question as to what this was really about. Especially between brothers who were as close as twins. But the holidays were about giving, after all, so Xav seemed to decide to give them the benefit of the doubt. A game is more fun when everybody plays along.

Truthfully, even Al wasn’t sure what they were going to get for his father. A successful family man hitting his sixties doesn’t want for much. By this point, Xav had enough neckties and “#1 Dad” mugs to be buried surrounded by them like a pharaoh. Jack could always steal the show by reaching into his deep D.D.S. pockets or by making a new piece of furniture, but the son was held to no such standards. Xav had simple hobbies, and he seemed to have the house exactly how he wanted it. Was Al too old to make a coupon book, redeemable for hugs and remembering to use a coaster?

Or maybe his gift to Pop could be giving college another shot. Dropping out had caused some... friction, a flint-strikes-wood situation that had led to Al moving out of the house, and eventually out-of-state. He had to admit, the independence felt good. Putting his shoes on the coffee table, not having to tell anyone where he was going... he’d definitely become more promiscuous. No independent murders, though, which was starting to grate on him. He’d realized lately that he had always expected to be allowed to do more, without his father and uncle. Maybe if he did what Pop wanted, things would calm down so he could move back to Michigan and use the cabin. But the idea of sitting in another classroom, taking notes on a subject he didn’t care about, all for the promise of 50 years chained to a desk... It made him want to sleep forever.

When the car pulled up to the mall, Al was not surprised at all by the entrance his uncle had chosen. “Mind if I peek in Sears?” Jack asked, as if wild horses could stop him.

Home improvement and appliance stores were another phenomenon Al only seemed to experience at home. The dusty, unvarnished smell and high ceilings had been a frequent backdrop during his childhood— for Jack, they seemed to be akin to a candy store. He was talented as a carpenter and repairman, and sincerely relished something going wrong with the house if it meant he could pull out his toolkit. He also liked to make things go wrong with human bodies on occasion, but there was a separate box for those tools waiting up at the cabin.

Two steps in the door, and a weary-looking holiday hire hit them up with a canned pitch: “...and I’m happy to help you find whatever’s on your list!“ Aggressive customer service, the bane of the paranoid shopper. Jack was the front line for shaking off overly helpful greeters, which Xav had called “the second-worst thing to come out of the 80s after Iran-Contra.”

“Just lookin’, God willing— I brought my conscience with me to make me behave,” Jack looked to his nephew. “Don’t let me buy a single screw, y’hear?”

“Got it. Bulk purchases only.” That earned Al a shove.

Salesperson successfully deflected, Jack ducked toward his usual corner: the big ticket carpentry goods. When Al caught up, he was running his hand over a table saw. As much as he loved his uncle, Al wasn’t particularly interested in watching him fantasize about cutting wood, or even bone. “You have a project in mind?”

“A bit of a science experiment, next time we play cards,” Jack’s pupils darted along the equipment, still in reverie. “I’ve been readin’ a book about crucifixions, and how they affect the body.”

“Oh, that’s seasonal.”

“‘Course, I won’t be able to try it ‘til next year. You think your Pop would let me pick out a rabbit by April?” Jack chuckled. He was not talking about the Easter bunny. “We can see if she comes back to life after three days.”

Al snorted. “Jesus.”

“Precisely. Y’know, Christ is usually depicted with holes in his hands, but in actuality, the Romans would have put the nails through his wrists.” Jack picked up Al’s arm to demonstrate, dancing fingers across his palm. “Ain’t much to take hold of in here. It’s too fragile and open-ended. But if you move up the arm,”— he pressed his thumb into the straightened portion of Al’s median nerve— “You can hook the radius and the ulna. Much better support.” Jack’s eyes flickered with glee. “And it hurts like a bitch!”

“Wait, are you going to go first, or last?” Playing cards was usually a once-a-year affair, and the night Al looked forward to the most. If Jack snuffed her out before he had his turn...

“Oh, don’t worry, son. Done right, she could last for days.” Not that she would, since Pop would probably have something to say about that. “I just want to try, er... doin’ as the Romans do. And who knows, maybe you’ll like it. Every bachelor eventually needs to have a girl nailed down!”

They cackled and then shushed each other, wincing like sneaky little boys at the idea that someone would hear them over the store’s ambient shopping muzak. They really shouldn’t talk like this in public, even with code words and euphemisms. Though over the years they’d learned that people can be experts at ignoring what’s right under their noses. Certainly none of the men had ever overheard anyone else planning a murder.

“It’s just a pipe dream, I’m still in the plannin’ stages,” Jack added. “Ain’t even got the lumber yet. So if you wanna put some packages under the tree that are, say, 4-by-6 and 72 inches long... I promise to be shocked when I unwrap ‘em.”

Al’s attention shifted over his uncle’s shoulder, to a shelf of handheld orbital sanders. Al was more of a hands-on kind of guy— he still got a little queasy thinking about Jack’s experiment to see which sandpaper grit was the best at removing skin.

“So what was it you wanted me to look at? I don’t think Pop needs a crucifix for Christmas.”

“Oh, I’m just killin’ time before our appointment.”

“Appointment?”

“At the photo studio. I want you to give your Pop a picture.”

“...of us?”

“Naw, just you.”

Al loved that. “Yeah, that’d be hilarious. Merry Christmas, Pop, I got you me!”

A pause. “Oh, you’re serious.”

“As a heart attack, son. It’s just what he needs.”

“Do you have, I don’t know, a backup plan?” Al faltered. “Something less self-centered? I’m not exactly his favorite person right now. He kind of thinks I’m a failure.”

“Alan, you are not a failure. You are...” Jack patted his nephew’s cheek. “An unbroken mustang who has not yet found his ranch. And your father is just tryna keep you from bein’ sold as horse meat.” He slid them into a far aisle for more privacy. “He worries about you a lot, and he misses you somethin’ fierce.”

Al chewed his cheek. “Well, talk to him about showing it sometime.”

“No, son,” Jack took him by the shoulder, looking around to make sure they were alone. “Your father cries. At night when he talks about you, he starts wellin’ up like a waif. He doesn’t need to hear that you know about it, but it’s the God’s honest truth. All he talks about is wantin’ you back home.”

“I think movin’ out has been good for you, and I’m happy you did it. But it wounded him to his core. You’re his heart, kid.”

Al wasn’t sure how he was taking this information, but he knew how he was supposed to. He scrunched his eyes closed and took a deep breath.

“Okay... If you’re completely sure he won’t think it’s stupid.”

“Are you kiddin’? He’ll put it on the nightstand.” Jack grinned. “And if you smile for it real nice, I’ll take you to that steakhouse in the plaza after.”

Al cocked an eyebrow. “You were gonna go there anyway.”

“Yes. Yes, I was. But won’t you enjoy your ribeye that much more knowin’ you’ve earned it?” Mmn, maybe. “Besides... did you have any better ideas?”

⬥ ⬥ ⬥

Come Christmas Day, Xav had unwrapped the waist-up portrait and just said “thank you”— which was worrying because he was usually much more verbose than that— and gone silent in his chair. At least he wasn’t mad. Al looked to Jack, who smiled knowingly and handed him a package to keep the gift exchange going.

Al figured it was because Jack had given him something funny, but then he heard his father breathe in sharply.

“Maudit tabarnak... you fucking assholes,” Xav’s voice sounded high and squeaky, like it was being squeezed through slabs of rock. He ducked his chin into his bedshirt collar to hide his face.

“You, fucking... why’d you have to...” He shook his hand at the framed photo. Oh boy, he really did hate it. The whole idea was idiotic. Al had sat in front of that artfully-mottled green backdrop and squinted for a man with a bow tie and no indoor voice for nothing, except for the sheer discomfort of it. And a ribeye steak with a baked potato.

Xav blinked up at the ceiling and gulped, his Adam’s apple fluctuating grotesquely. Eventually he seemed to find his voice again. “Why didn’t you tell me you were having pictures taken, so I could make sure he had his fucking hair combed?” He showed them the photo. “Look at his bangs— they’re all over the fucking place.”

Al had to admit, they did look a little wild. “Aw, shoot. Sorry, Pop,” he laughed.

Jack tutted. “I think it looks nice. Rugged.”

“That’s because you don’t know how to comb your hair either, Jack.” Xav brought the photo back into his lap, looking it over. “Looks like he fought a bear before sitting down. But don’t worry, I still like it. You look handsome, kid. Maybe I can find some space on my nightstand.” Al and Jack exchanged victory grins, and didn’t catch Xav wiping tears from both eyes.

[seadramonster]

Why some cats aren’t in the DF

Since the beginning of the time we learned where certain cats went, a lot of people have been asking why certain cats went to StarClan or the Dark Forest. The most popular examples being; Thistleclaw (before Spottedleaf’s Heart), Ashfur, Rainflower, and Appledusk.

A lot of people seem to be under the impression that the Dark Forest is where all the bad cats go, no matter what. But that’s not what we’ve been shown in canon. Let’s take a look at all of the Dark Forest cats to see what they did that made them go to the Dark Forest and use the information to figure out why the cats people think should have gone to the Dark Forest went to StarClan instead.

NOTE: I’m only going over the cats in the Dark Forest whose crimes we know. Cats such as Houndleap, Maggottail, and such who we barely know anything about will not be discussed, since we have no idea what they did. Although we can assume it was something similar to everyone else in the Dark Forest.

Antpelt- Antpelt chose to join the Dark Forest because "These are my Clanmates more than WindClan ever was. Where else would I go?". He could have been in StarClan, but chose the Dark Forest instead.

This shows us that a cat can, if they are capable of going to StarClan, choose to go to the Dark Forest instead.

Brokenstar- Heavily broke the code by training kits too young, killing them and his own father (perhaps even others offscreen), exiling elders, and driving out another Clan

Darkstripe- Attempted to kill a kit by tricking her into eating poison, betrayed his Clan not once, but twice by leaving to join Tigerstar and then joining BloodClan immediately after.

So why is Darkstripe in the Dark Forest for being a traitor and other cats who left their Clan not? Well, aside from attempting to kill a kit, Darkstripe was never loyal to any Clan, just Tigerstar. And when Tigerstar died, instead of fighting alongside his new Clan, he instead betrayed them, too. 

Cats who leave their Clan for another usually do so with good intentions and are either loyal to their new Clan, or end up returning to their old one and are loyal to that one now that they realize it’s where they belong. Even if the decision was selfish, it was never done so to harm others. Darkstripe just wanted to be on the winning side, and once Tigerstar was gone, he had no one left he cared about except himself.

Hawkfrost- He just wanted power and wasn’t afraid to turn on his own Clan to obtain it. It’s heavily implied he struck up a deal with Mudclaw to help him take leadership from Onewhisker, he talked Ashfur into luring Firestar into the fox trap, and then tried to kill Brambleclaw when Brambleclaw refused to kill his own leader.

Mapleshade- I know a lot of people have pity for her and all, but like. She was a literal serial killer. She fell in love with a cat from another Clan, had his kits, lied to her Clan about the father of her kits by letting them believe it was the cat her mate had accidentally killed, made the stupid decision to take her kits across a flooded river in the middle of a storm, and it got her kits killed. Then she killed a medicine cat, the cat who she had manipulated into believing Mapleshade’s kits were her brother’s, attempted to murder a pregnant queen, and killed the father of her kits. Mapleshade was a victim, yes, but so was everyone she killed. She was not forced to go across the river, she chose that path herself. More on Appledusk later.

Redwillow- Joined the Dark Forest in the final battle against the Clans and was killed by Blackstar. Pretty clear why he ended up there

Thistleclaw- The big one. Spottedleaf’s Heart confirmed he chose the Dark Forest and this is all but confirmed in Crookedstar’s Promise already when he reveals he thinks StarClan are weak fools. While he was loyal to his Clan, he was also incredibly bloodthirsty and made it obvious that he wanted to destroy the rest of the Clans. A medicine cat had a whole prophecy saying he would bring unnecessary war and bloodshed as a leader. He also nearly had his apprentice murder a kit and attempted to kill the deputy of another Clan. It’s possible he may have killed cats from other Clans or from outside the Clans offscreen, but as far as we know, he didn’t kill anyone from his Clan.

Tigerstar the first- I don’t think I need to explain this one

So what do we know about the Dark Forest from this? What qualities does a cat need to have to be in there? Well, they.

Need to have betrayed their Clan maliciously and have little to no loyalty whatsoever, even to their new Clan if they have one,

Needed to have severely broken the code by either murdering cats without good reason or attempting to kill an innocent kit,

And/or could have gone to StarClan, but chose the Dark Forest instead

The Dark Forest is an extreme punishment for cats who were never loyal to their Clan, or who killed others without a second thought. It’s not meant to be the place where bad cats go. It’s meant to be the place where traitors and serial killers go. Cats who are bad people but never really did anything wrong still go to StarClan, because at the end of the day, they were still loyal to their Clan as a whole.

So now it’s time to go over some cats people think should have gone to the Dark Forest, but didn’t;

Ashfur- This one was the subject to heavy debate. Here’s what I think. Ashfur may or may not have known what Hawkfrost was doing exactly. It’s possible he didn’t know Hawkfrost’s entire plan and thought Firestar getting caught in a fox trap wasn’t part of it and ran to get help. Or, maybe he decided he didn’t want to go through with it after all and chickened out.

As for what happened with the Three... Well, he did attempt to kill his Clanmates, but again, nothing came of it. He chickened out again. And it should be stated here that like. The three were adults. They were not harmless kits! They knew of their powers at this point! Nothing was stopping them or even Squirrelflight from just grabbing Ashfur and hauling him off the tree or throwing him to the fire. Especially Lionblaze whose entire power centers around him not getting hurt in a fight. It would have been a four on one fight if everyone fought him off. They could have easily stopped Ashfur at any time, but they didn’t, because the plot demanded they didn’t. They were never going to die there, not without a fight. Maybe if Ashfur had died there, he would have ended up in the Dark Forest, but he didn’t. He never actually killed anyone, never actually physically attacked anyone himself, and even warned the Clan that his leader was in danger. He was just focused on getting revenge against one specific cat, but we never saw him treat the rest of the Clan poorly. And for StarClan, his loyalty and the fact he never actually killed anyone was enough to let him in on a bullshit excuse.

Appledusk- A shitty, shitty person. But overall, loyal to his Clan. We never saw what Appledusk was like to the rest of his Clan offscreen. All we know is that he was cheating on his mate with Mapleshade (who Mapleshade clearly had no idea was his mate). That’s basically the only crime we’ve seen him commit. Is he a bad person? Yes. Yes, he is. But he never murdered someone, and admitted to his Clan he thought his relationship with Mapleshade was a mistake. As far as StarClan was concerned, that’s all it was. A mistake. He was a loyal warrior who died protecting his real mate and their future kits from a traitor, and had likely proven his loyalty in other ways offscreen.

Rainflower- Another case of “terrible person but ultimately loyal to their Clan”. Rainflower never killed anyone as far as we know, or even broke the code. She treated her son horribly, but I don’t remember her ever being rude to anyone else. And even if she was, as we’ve seen, being a bad person isn’t enough to land you in the Dark Forest.

Mudclaw- He may seem like he belongs in the Dark Forest, but here’s the thing. StarClan was never against Mudclaw’s leadership. Tallstar made the decision by himself. For all we knew, Mudclaw would have made a better leader than Onestar or been exactly the same. Tallstar changed his deputy last minute on his deathbed and didn’t do the ceremony correctly. The only cats who saw were cats of another Clan, and the one he was making the new deputy. Mudclaw had every right to challenge the decision when it was announced. From his perspective, another Clan was lying about their friend being chosen as the new deputy. Of course he was going to feel wronged, because in a way, he was. It’s possible StarClan may have even rejected Onewhisker, if Mudclaw had not revolted at the time he did. I don’t think Mudclaw’s death was divine intervention, either. Not every bad weather event that happens in Warriors is StarClan’s doing, even if the cats think it is. I think it just Mudclaw being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was still loyal to his Clan, he was just trying to get back the position he thought had been stolen from him.

Oakstar- Oakstar is the one who exiled Mapleshade and her kits and everyone thinks this means he belongs in the Dark Forest. I. Disagree with this. Yes, he exiled the kits, but that isn’t actually against the code? The only codes about kits are that they can’t be apprenticed before six moons and no cat can neglect a kit in pain or in danger. (an extra rule is they can’t be out of camp without a warrior) You probably can’t throw out just a kit on their own, but Mapleshade’s kits weren’t alone. The kits were with their mother. 

A single mother in the wild can and will raise kits on her own. Will they all survive? It’s unlikely, but there’s no guarantee they would survive in the Clans, either. Not being in a Clan does not mean these kits will die, just like being a Clan doesn’t mean they’ll all survive. There was a good chance at least one of those kits would have survived to adulthood. Oakstar probably thought Mapleshade would take them somewhere safe, or, if she did take them to RiverClan, that she would use the bridge that led across it up by fourtrees instead of the flooded stones. He only told her to the leave the territory. He never told her where to go. Mapleshade is the one who chose to take them across the river in the worst spot possible.

Let’s look at it from Oakstar’s perspective; Oakstar had just lost his son and an apprentice in a big battle. His daughter is still grieving for the loss of her brother, and it’s likely Oakstar is still grieving, too. And then Mapleshade becomes pregnant and the Clan mistakenly lets them believe that Oakstar’s son is the father of her kits. Only for them to later discover the cat who caused the deaths of Birchface and Flowerpaw, a cat from another Clan who they all believe killed Birchface on purpose, is the real father. What else was Oakstar going to do? The Clan wouldn’t have treated those kits or Mapleshade fairly. Their lives would have been miserable. Think of what happened with Tawnypaw and Bramblepaw, only the entire Clan is against them, not just a handful of members. Exiling them was likely the merciful thing to do.

As for the “no neglecting a kit in danger” code, the kits weren’t in danger until Mapleshade herself put them in it. There was no mention of foxes, badgers, or anything else in ThunderClan’s territory. The only issue they had (the snakes), had been dealt with already. No, they couldn’t have known it was like that in other places, but as long as they were in ThunderClan’s territory, those kits were safe. And there was no reason to think they’d be in immediate danger in other territories either.

The Clan territories are actually rather safe, all things considered. Threats like foxes, badgers, and the like are dealt with quickly. The only real threats in another Clan’s territory are the cats who own it, who would probably not attack a queen just passing through with her kits. If anything, if she had met with ShadowClan or WindClan first, they might have even allowed Mapleshade to stay, once she explained everything to them. At least until the bad weather had passed.

So, yes, all of the cats above were terrible, but they never actually did anything wrong by StarClan’s standards. They were loyal members of their Clan who made some mistakes, but ultimately never killed anyone or severely broke the code. Just being a bad person isn’t enough to send you to StarClan. As long as you’re loyal and don’t actually kill anyone, they don’t care.

[leoasters-blog]

henlo my peaches !! i’m zy (she/her/hers), i’m an unrepentant aquarius, i’m actually moving back to dtla in like a month lol, and i’m super excited to be here !! i’ll be playing my bby boy leo, who’s kind of a loser a sweet summer child. pls treat him kindly !! or not LMAO. i’ve included a bit about him below the jump to help ur muse decide which they’d prefer. that said, my inbox/d*scord is always open, and if u drop a lil ol’ like on this i’ll hop in urs !!

* ☆ ·˚ 「 ryan potter. cismale. he/him. 」 — oh, you mean leo aster, the twenty two year-old translator? they’ve been around the fold for seven months. i know they’re a sagittarius and when i see them, i can’t help but think of scuffed converse tapping on concrete, clacking joysticks, & a steaming drink in a chipped mug. but you’ll get to make your own judgement soon! 

background

hailing from tokyo, japan, leo was born to a prominent businessman and the manager of an international hotel chain. he lived an incredibly privileged life, but with that privilege came a stringent set of expectations that covered basically every aspect of leo’s life, from his future to his hobbies to his friends. leo’s life was planned to follow a tidy trajectory: he’d succeed academically, attend a prestigious university, then return to take over his father’s business. 

leo was an incredibly fortunate kid, for innumerable reasons. he never wanted for anything (physically, at least), and was given the best of the best - with the expectation that he would reflect his means, of course. but he also never really had a childhood. his parents treated him more like a successor than a son, to put it generously. there was no love in leo’s childhood home; his mother spent most of her time traveling to the various resort properties she managed, and his father, in his loneliness, found refuge in another woman. they were, for all intents and purposes, a farce of a family. but that was all leo knew.

but it isn’t until college that the plot begins to thicken. leo attended the university of southern california, and man. america was an eye opener for him.

for the first time, he was able to explore life beyond his parents’ domineering control. he could try out new interests - like the video games his freshman year roommate was really into - and speak to new people - like people who pursued higher-risk occupations for the love, not the money. leo fell in love with writing poetry, and had the opportunity to do the stupid things that his parents disapproved of - like writing dumb raps, for one. he kissed people. he found something like a family. this really strained his relationship with his parents, a complication exacerbated by certain developments back home: namely, increased pressure caused by the rollout of an ambitious expansion plan for the company. 

leo graduated college with one conviction: fuck the trajectory. leo’s life in america was the first thing he actually built for himself (kinda, mostly, if u ignore the fact that his family bankrolled his education LMAO) and he wasn’t ready to give it up. he’d been given a taste of freedom, and he wasn’t gonna let it go.

now

leo’s been,, making it work, surprisingly. his parents have threatened to cut him off if he doesn’t return to japan at the end of the year, but joke’s on them - his current job, translating japanese video games into english for a fairly prolific studio, sponsors his visa and pays him well enough to survive in los angeles, albeit much more frugally than he’s used to. he knows that he’s being humored, that they’re waiting for him to live out his rebellious phase and go home. but he knows for a fact that he’d rather exist in a perpetual cycle of existential doubt than return to the misery that’s his life in japan. 

seriously, his entire post-grad life has been dedicated to “finding himself,” usually through increasingly ridiculous hobbies. some highlights have included photography (not terrible), glassblowing (absolutely disastrous), dj-ing (the less said, the better), yoga (surprisingly successful), and pottery (consistently lopsided, but not altogether hideous). the one thing he always comes back to, though, is spoken word and rap - the latter of which he releases online to a small but actually existent following. 

his deposit for his room in the fold was the first purchase he made on his own!! he appreciates the social nature of co-living. it’s interesting, because leo is one of the most outgoing residents of the complex, but also one of the most notoriously private. he’s made it a point to share very little about his personal life and history, deflecting any genuine attempts to get to know him with some well-timed hijinks. 

etc.

leo’s birth name is uotani ryousei. leo is the americanized pronunciation of his childhood nickname, ryou, and aster is his mother’s maiden name. he started going by leo when he moved to the states for college, and started using aster when he decided to pursue full financial independence.

leo’s rap name is leo astra, bc he thinks he’s witty. i hc his vc as rich brian,, so,, yea lmao.

his mbti is entp and his alignment is chaotic good! 

he is somewhat allergic to cats but loves them regardless.

he’s decidedly a night owl. his favorite place to think is the roof at night.

canonically has ryan potter’s long hair. it’s an attempt to look his age. does it work?? u be the judge !! lmfao

wc / potential plots

a confidant - someone who leo’s told his story to. maybe they’re a good friend, but maybe it’s someone who stumbled on leo smoking on the roof at ass o’ clock in the morning, more pensive than they’ve ever seen him, and who wrangled the full story out of him. 

kitchen confidential - the unfortunate soul who’s run into leo attempting to set the building on fire cook. maybe they’re a good cook doing their civic duty and teaching the poor boy to not burn down the complex, or maybe they’re equally inept and figure that two heads will be better than one. either way, they’re gonna cook together !!!!

eternal rival - someone to assist leo in commandeering the second floor tv to play smash for hours with.

other ppl in the music scene?? particularly in the rnb/hip hop sphere, extra brownie points if they regularly go to events like brownies and lemonade or 143!!

lovers?? ex-lovers??? honestly if u’ve hooked up with leo i guarantee there’s a 99.99998% he still has a lil bit of a puppy crush on u.

co-commuters?? leo works in santa monica but lives in dtla like a Fewl so if ur muse also takes the expo line every day they probably Suffer Together

college friends!! - these people are leo’s rock, and the first family he’s ever truly known. bffls they 100% have matching engraved flasks.

dfs;adkfjg;sh coming up with wcs is Difficult let’s just plot collaboratively !!!

das it ily sorry this was A Lot ty for reading this far lol

[luchablog]

AAA Lllave de la Gloria finalists quick thoughts

Just rushing thru these and look at my lineup database

Ancla Jr. - works a lot of WMC matches, usually early in the card, and some of other Mexico State indies. Seems young, haven’t seen him in action.

Astrolux - is awesome

Solaris - worked dark matches for Elite last year, shows up on EDM indies, never in a big role.

Aeron Kid - MAYBE Iron Kid, who's definitely did try out and is one of the great Kamikazes del Aire. He's the one of the group who doesn't seem to train in Naucalpan, since he's never used on IWRG, but looks good on the super indie shows.

Brole Xtream - Puebla indie guy, part of a trio with Prayer & Mini Multifacetico as a strong style team, gets good reviews

Kronoz - one of two sons of Villano V (the other out of action with a leg injury), so we've got the son of one the people making the decisions. Appeared on PROESA TV and other places, is OK.

Kronoz was actually in AAA just two years ago - he was the mystery man with Electroshock and Hijo del Pirata Morgan in the Holocausto stable that was dropped suddenly in the dying days of the Konnan creative regime. Kronoz suffered a leg injury before his first big show, and was never brought back. AAA’s discovering someone they let go is weird but is AAA.

Jessy - presumably not the Jessy who was in AAA very long ago (and is Tiffany's brother), but no idea who else it could be

Papillon - there may be two different people, or one person who's doing a lot of commuting from Mexico State to Michoacan. Both guys are unknown and recently seen, though the most recent known match happens to be with Hijo del Angel & Villano III Jr.

Canibal Jr. - Arena Aficion regular, may be the son of the deceased former AAA luchador who used that name.

Hijo del Angel - possibly the son of ex-AAA wrestler Angel/Oscar Sevilla, was definitely presented as his son a few times. Has worked the DF indies but usually low on the card without a break up match. Looked good if not outstanding, and works a fair amount. Weird situation of someone doing a varition of a character AAA invented seemingly without AAA permission winning an AAA contest.

Tronic - no one exactly by the name. Tronx would be a Mexicali luchador who's looked good, but not sure if that's it.

Villano III Jr. - son of Villano III, you might have figured that out. Showed up on Leyendas Inmortales TV looking promising but very young. Might have been the Villano III son training in IWRG. Wrestles on indies, but rarely the bigger ones. Actually appeared on TripleMania already two years ago as part of honoring his father and they'd have a great story if he wrestled on this one.

Hanaoka - Daisuke Hanaoka, one of the Japones del Mal, a group loosely affiliated with the Perros del Mal (and who take in any Japanese wrestlers who happen to come to Mexico.) He and his partner seem to wrestling less on a team over the last year. Seen on the DragonMania show ever year. Believed to be the former Mini Kenzo Suzuki, so this would be an ex-AAA wrestler getting back into AAA.

Douki - The other half of Japones del Mal, usually wrestles with a mask but didn't in the tryout. A little bit more active of the team, wrestling a lot on his own and occasoinally passing thru IWRG for a few months, as well as traveling around Mexico (and into Texas.) Both Japanese guys are good, but I prefer Douki of the two. Has a Twitter account that I read and occasionally reference, much to Douki's confusion.