#while i could absolutely just have him use the same ones the status and connotations of those drugs Now are Wildly different

[bluehairedspidey]

Fuck Marry Kill ask and the answer is Marry but lavender marry, also you have to (not really ofc) share that Study in Scarlet screenplay when you're done cause it bet it serves major cunt

what better solidarity than platonic marriage uwu

and hell yes >:3c i need to work on it some more, ive also got some other holmes stories im considering adapting (as of right now namely a scandal in bohemia (obviously) and the adventure of the cooper beeches)

[paper-n-ashes]

New Endeavours

Characters: Modern AU!Kylo Ren x Female Reader

Words: 2k

Warnings/Tags: Explicit (18+), Sugar daddy relationship, sexual references but no actual smut, bisexual vibes, attending a strip club.

Author’s Note: This is all because of my love, @maryforyou. An AU venture she ignited and I couldn’t let go of. Read into this however you want, I’m an open book in terms of exploring sexuality without labels. Being the first AU I’ve ever attempted, I kept this as an intro, to hopefully dive into the more explicit content I’ve been ruminating on for too long as a Part 2 (depending on how this is received).

*

“Are you sure this what you want?”

You smiled sweetly, smoothing out the creases in your dress as Kylo handed you your coat and gloves. “Like I said every day this week, I’m very sure.”

He still appeared doubtful, plush lips twisted in a disbelieving frown. “I could give you anything your heart desires for your birthday, princess,” he urged, helping you to secure the top buttons of your waistcoat, his large frame shifting close to yours. “This barely seems like enough of a gift for such a special occasion.”

Kylo was used to showering you with physical symbols of his adoration in the 18 months you had known him. The man had more money than he knew what to do with, lavishing all types of jewellery and clothing on you, some of the pieces you were certain cost more than your tiny apartment in the outskirts of the city. Every time you tried to refuse the extravagant gifts, Kylo always replied with sweetened notions of needing to worship and adore the personified goddess he saw you as. And when spoken in his infuriatingly mesmerising tenor, they would quickly conquer your resistance.

You were acutely aware of what this looked like from an outside perspective. A wealthy older man courting a young woman over 10 years his junior. Bathing her head to toe in the finest attire, parading her around in places a woman of her standing wouldn’t have been able to afford in two lifetimes.

A label came with this kind of behaviour. One you didn’t particularly like, yet was still true.

Sugar daddy.

There wasn’t a way you could deny that’s how your association with Kylo begun.

You’d heard whispers of other girls at the college you went to doing it. Offering their bodies to the affluent men of this city. At first, you’d scoffed at the idea. But when that third overdue notice of your credit card debt came, with the threat of eviction hanging over your head, you didn’t really have much choice.

A name was given to you of a bar that specialised in these kinds of meetings, completely covertly of course. And there Kylo had found you, hiding away in a secluded corner, stirring the gin and tonic in front of you with a single finger. At first, you’d assumed he was a well-dressed bartender, seemingly too young and strikingly handsome to be in need of a place like this. So you smiled sweetly and told him you weren’t quite done with your drink.

Within such an innocent interaction, Kylo knew he had to have you. And he did, 45 minutes later in the poorly lit bathroom stall, half-dressed bodies clutched together as he had you perch on the porcelain sink, fucking you with an uncharacteristically reckless abandon.

He hadn’t intended to. He hadn’t been entirely sure what he anticipated from that evening, the recommendation being given to him from a higher executive who regularly partook in the questionable operations of this establishment. Kylo meant only to scope the place out, sit for a quiet solitary drink out of the way of other patrons. There, he’d discovered you.

Shrinking into your stool, somewhat inhibited, clearly out of your element. The shy smile that spread across your face after he murmured a stiff hello ensnared him in moments, simply for how sincere it was. He wasn’t used to that.

Another thing Kylo wasn’t used to was the type of electricity that followed in your conversation. Rarely had he experienced an exchange that was so charged yet… genuine. You didn’t appear expectant, didn’t care to know how much money he made or the status of his career. You simply wanted to talk.

It was interesting how this fuelled an urge to make you speechless, to have you resorting to whines and whimpers rather than articulate your thoughts with any words. He didn’t act on them. Content to bide his time, play his cards right, set a precedence of composure and restraint in the hope of securing another meeting. You, however, had never cultivated the same type of discipline Kylo had.

After too many long minutes of flirtatious banter, you leaned forward, mouthing in a hushed tone, asking him to meet you in the women’s bathroom.

The chance encounter had bound you for longer than predicted.

Although never explicitly stated, the two of you fulfilled a portion of each other’s needs. Kylo required adequate distraction from his corporate life, someone who could slip into his erratic schedule with ease to… relieve him of mounting tension. In return, he provided you the monetary means to live in the city of your dreams without constant fear of homelessness.

In the months that passed, your arrangement turned into something stable, secure. His presence a constant in your life. While his working hours were long and finishing times unpredictable, Kylo could always count on you to be summoned to him from a single text message. Be it in the middle of the day, or the early hours of morning, you would race to a place of his choosing. Sometimes at his lush apartment, sometimes his office, and a plethora of restaurant bathrooms across the city after particularly stressful business lunches.

Initially, your involvement was kept mostly out of public view. Kylo had wanted to protect you from the judgements and negative connotations that were unavoidable in the arena of his work. Around the year mark, these reservations about being seen with you seemed to dissipate. Soon you were linked hand in hand at countless high-class dinners and charity events. A poised and elegant couple, right until the last set of eyes moved away.

This is where you had your fun.

As spectacular as Kylo was at fucking you until you saw stars, he’d surprisingly gone this long in life without venturing into more creative territory when it came to satisfaction. His version of sex was fast and hard, needing as much as you as he could get, chasing release with no frills or diversion. He’d never had the time, or the right lover, to encourage any of his deeply hidden fantasies. Until you.

You were game for anything. Sexually adventurous. Ready and willing to try all there was on offer just to elicit the highest levels of ecstasy. It was difficult not to be at the thought of Kylo’s hands, his mouth, his tongue, any part of him.

Although a little more slowly, he began to welcome new experiences, new pursuits of pleasure. Witnessing your reactions to these efforts became somewhat of an addiction for him. The way you writhed and squealed when exploring anal play for the first time. The way you surrendered and adored his verbal degradation and physical strikes. The way your body twitched and spasmed after the use of a newly obtained toy purchased with his platinum credit card.

You never pushed him, or forced him into anything he found uncomfortable in the chase of a sexual high. Communication was paramount, and boundaries were respected.

Interestingly enough, tonight was a boundary he never thought you’d cross.

“This is what I asked for, remember?” you smiled, taking the opportunity to press a gentle kiss to his nose.

Kylo’s apprehension refused to dissipate, while still clutching you closer. “It just… seems like this is something I will enjoy more than you.”

You barely withheld the urge to roll your eyes. “You’re sure about that, are you?”

His eyebrows crinkled, thinking the question over. There was the hint of a smirk that tugged the corner of his mouth, a subtle excited quiver in the breath he exhaled. “So you’re not doing this for me?”

“Not at all,” you breathed. Your palm slipped under his clean-shaven jaw, skating a thumb reassuringly over his cheek. “I’ve wanted to do this for a long time.”

“You have?”

You hummed a yes, drifting your lips intoxicatingly close to his, staring up with wide eyes.

Kylo’s mouth twisted slightly. “I wouldn’t want you to feel jealous, princess.”

“You’re only looking,” you insisted softly. “And, even if you touch a little…” You bit your lip at the thought. “Those women won’t be who gets to be taken home and fucked until it hurts.”

There was a noticeable tensing in the arms circled around you, as Kylo’s eyes began to burn with an impatient greed. “I could do that now, right against this door.”

It was difficult to deny how you’d happily allow him to make true on that statement. To slam you into the exquisitely carved oak door of his apartment and fill you to your absolute limit. However, the tantalising image of your planned evening was too consuming, heaving and tugging for you to indulge a deeply embedded desire you’d never been brave enough to pursue.

“Save it for when we get home,” you chirped, reaching for the doorhandle and dragging Kylo into the hallway.

 *

“Follow me,” the maître D instructed, her voice cheerfully welcoming. Even the sight of her silken, green dress was intimidating, the fabric glossing over her nimble shape as she guided you up the set of stairs. The lighting was low, almost too dark to see properly, Kylo’s grip strong as your steps were drowned out by the sultry music emanating behind the double doors at the apex. As they were opened to you, the hypnotic baseline ricocheted around your body.

You scanned around the large room, bold lights illuminating a risen stage with two currently unused silver poles at either corner. Plush chairs circled around, occupied by a differing array of men. Slinking between the patrons were women decorated with luxurious, high-end lingerie, each one styled and set to provoke unyielding temptation.

This was a completely new undertaking for you. Attending a strip club. Usually a male endeavour, seeking out instant gratification in the form of scantily clad bodies and paid attention. You knew this was an unusual request for a birthday outing, yet in truth there was nothing from Kylo you wanted more.

The two reasons were somewhat opposing, although they would still feed the same goal. Satisfying a craving.

One being that you had always found women to be alluring and captivating to a height you’d never really accepted, almost been afraid of. Only with time and maturity had you learned your attraction to them was a natural occurrence you were now ready to explore.

The other reason was a little more scandalous, and what you hadn’t quite articulated to Kylo yet. To have the view of his eyes roaming another woman’s almost naked body as she exposed herself to him, drove you wild. In a situation you should feel jealousy, you were only devoured by an uncontainable lust.

Occasionally your mind had forayed into imaginations where he would take another like he’d taken you countless times, able to watch his hands clawing at supple breasts, the smooth motion of his hips, how his thick cock would split a tight, dripping cunt in two. All the while he would deride and goad you, layering you with taunts, desperate to inflame your envy and ownership.

Your plan for this particular evening didn’t extend that far. You only wished to enjoy the performance of mesmeric women in their most enchanting form, observe Kylo’s undeniable arousal at the same lithe, flexible bodies, and return home to remind him that only you could ignite the billowing flames of a violent release.

Oh, but that plan crumbled when you’d each settled into your seats, just in time for the next show of seduction. A pair of glittered, platform heels slinked near to the pole closest to you, your vision roaming upwards over the statuesque figure they connected to. Delicately laced, ivory fabric shielded her most intimate portions from full view, conforming flawlessly to the curves of her figure. Somehow demure yet indecently sensual.

Lips parted, your breath hitched as the exquisite woman twirled around, her eyes trained to you as she let a wicked smile appear. You were sure this was a regular occurrence, a flirtation she expressed to all the patrons in this room. Yet, as she began to move in time with the decadent beat of the music, her eyes stayed transfixed to you marvelling stare.

In an unprecedented display of courage, you beckoned Kylo closer to you, whispering to his ear. “Her. That’s what I really want for my birthday.”

*To be continued*

Let me know if you don’t want to be tagged in future works! 

@tlcwrites @roanniom @maryforyou @mariesackler @sacklerscumrag @barbers-glimmerin-darlin @finn-ray-nal-beads @mylifeisactuallyamess @hopeamarsu @foxilayde @goddesstonythetiger @caillea @direnightshade @blackberries45 

[catgirlxox]

A Deconstruction of The Flame Keeper’s Circle & The Audience’s Common Complaints | Catgirl

As the title states, I’ve been reminded of a couple complaints made about this episode that stem from a large portion of the audience’s general disliking of the way both Ben and Julie were handled during the run of Ultimate Alien. In fact, I recently read a "review" of “The Flame Keeper's Circle,” or, more of a parody, actually, since a review would actually have some kind of substance to it and not just...a slew of insults thrown at a show you claim to like. It's almost like you're looking for something to be mad at, but anyway.

One of those was the OP actually asking someone to (probably joking, but anyway) explain "how Ben's mind works" to them.

And I was like, gladly!

According to the comments under the review, it seems like the general audience didn't really like this episode all that much when it first aired. Which, I bring up because, I on the other hand, actually did. And for a reason: because it proves my previous defence points right.

There's a lot of talk about Ben coming off as a “jerk” or a “douchebag”...but, in a situation such as the one presented within “The Flame Keeper’s Circle,” I would argue he did exactly what he should have done. So that's where I beg to differ.

This episode puts Ben in a position where he, once again, needs to deal with the overlap of a romantic relationship and his priorities as a superhero. The only reason there is conflict here is because they are both important to him.

A bad boyfriend would only care about himself, but Ben clearly cares about not only the safety of his (clearly, quite naive) girlfriend, but also the safety of the rest of the earth. Which, as I’m going to be stating several times, should be something expected of him considering everything else within the series that establishes who he is as a character.

So, on the topic of things that are important, ask yourselves, why would Ben prioritize going along with Julie's idea of joining a cult more than keeping her, and the rest of the world, safe when he realizes the trouble she could potentially be getting herself into?

Throughout the episode, and the fandom’s discussions from what I’ve seen, there is so much focus on "oh, he laughed at her idea so he's a douchebag and therefore a bad boyfriend" and not enough focus on the fact that he's not blindly following an alleged “good cause” because he isn't naive and that's in character based on everything we know about him as a character.

Context matters. And this kind of thing only further makes me question the people who want to cry "inconsistent" writing or characterization because he's acting the way he's been conditioned to.

Arguably from the age of ten, Ben's been dealing with situations where he needed to fight to survive and decide who to trust. Sometimes he trusted the wrong person, which wasn't done out of any other reason besides wanting to help and do the "right thing."

For example, Michael Morningstar in the episode “All That Glitters,” who fooled Ben and his team into thinking he was innocent all while abusing school girls for their life energy and almost killing Ben's cousin.

Or, Simian in “Birds of a Feather," who fooled Ben into thinking he was royalty and into helping him steal something that would aid the Highbreed in their mass murder plot.

In that way, Ben and Julie could have related in this situation because they were both trusting people in the interest of doing something “good.” Both Michael and Simian made Ben believe that they had something in common, or a common goal they could work together to reach. But, he trusted them blinded by his ambition and drive to save the world. Much like Julie is blinded by the promise of being a part of a group trying to make the world a better place.

As such, Ben has made the mistake before, so he's extra weary of how things could go very wrong. He's not against his girlfriend just to be a “jerk” - he's been through things like this before, and we’ve seen him go through those things.

Furthermore, the situation in which Julie is trusting The Flame Keeper’s Circle involves her indirectly agreeing to work with Vilgax. Who, as anyone familiar with Ben should know, is one of if not Ben’s biggest, and more importantly, most dangerous enemy.

Again, she, at the beginning didn’t know that he was involved, or what Ben had gone through already to make him act the way he does in this situation, but she does know what his job entails at this point in the series. She should probably infer that he’s suspicious for a good reason, as should the audience.

Not trusting people blindly is something he learned from being the leader of his team, while trying to protect the earth, namely from the Highbreed invasion back in Alien Force when he was putting together a stronger team. It would only make sense for him to then apply that to a situation in which his significant other gets roped into that which he fights against.

Speaking of fighting against, that brings me to another odd criticism of the writing of this episode. It’s no surprise that the flawed belief of Ben coming off as an alleged “sociopath” is brought up again, considering this episode takes place after The Ultimate Kevin arc. And yes, I realize the problematic connotations of using that term as a borderline insult as part of the issue here. But that aside, in this episode, the fact that he begins to fight Vilgax in his apparent “weakened” state is what is being attributed to that description.

Besides the fact that defending Vilgax is questionable in itself, he’s never needed water to survive for the many times he actually tried to kill Ben. I can’t find a solid answer from a writer that knows for certain if his need for water is genuine except for one who is only assuming that is the case when he’s in this state.

But regardless, (since he clearly survived long enough to morph with Dagon and become a bigger threat to the earth later on) we are still defending Vilgax the LITERAL INTERGALACTIC WARLORD.

Y’know, the guy who’s only in this position because of his own immoral actions? Who absolutely would not hesitate to take advantage of his opponent's weakened state in order to further get away with his immoral actions? Such as he is in this very episode, taking advantage of the people wrongfully worshiping him?

If we are trying to imply that Ben is “just as bad as Vilgax,” then I would assume you’d easily find the flaw in that being Ben’s motivation for incapacitating a dangerous offender who is, at the moment, manipulating naive humans to work for him and help him continue get away with his immoral actions. Which is, needless to say, not the same as Vilgax, at all.

Again, you’d think that’d be obvious.

The Flame Keeper’s Circle’s mission is to end human suffering and find a solution to certain issues happening across the globe with the help of alien technology that is much more advanced than what everyday people are used to. And, while the end goal seems like a good cause, even something Ben as a superhero would be all for, the means through which they attempt to get there aren’t a good idea, at all.

A lot of people find it hard to navigate the use of technology considered advanced by human standards in the real world, so you can only imagine the various things that could go wrong if those kinds of people were suddenly exposed to something much more powerful. In short, a lot could go wrong.

Again, Ben has been in that exact position as soon as he was armed with the Omnitrix. Which is exactly why he’d see the flaw in what these people are trying to do, and therefore not be convinced that it’s such a good idea to allow them to continue, much less endorse it.

This is why I love when the writers actually allow Ben to speak for himself instead of cutting him off for drama or plot. Once he actually gets a word in, or more accurately, has his moment of heroic monologue, he makes himself very clear and, I think, only further proves what I’m trying to say about him.

Here he is, explaining exactly what I’ve been trying to highlight throughout this body of work:

Ben: “Even if Dagon was real, using alien technology to accelerate a planet’s natural development won’t bring utopia, it’ll bring disaster. It’s happened before. Why do you think the Plumbers have those laws? But even that’s not the point, because that isn’t Dagon! His name is Vilgax. He’s not a hero, he’s a selfish, evil warlord who’s using you. And if you let him get in his ship, he’s going to fly off and start an interstellar civil war.”

It’s not that only he can use alien technology to save the world, it’s that his status as a hero proves that he knows what he’s doing, unlike these businessmen in fancy robes leading a cult for profit.

That is not what I would have assumed reasonable people would consider “douchebag behaviour.” That’s actually smart, and going back to my first point, exactly what he should be doing in a situation like this.

The actual episode does end off on a positive note for both Ben and Julie, which is omitted from the review and most of the comments I have read from others on the topic. And, I bring it up because it’s actually vital to wrap up everything brought up within this episode that I have just expanded on. Not only because they make up and seem to understand each other’s perspective after all is said and done, but because they both agree to be open to further discussion on the topic, as Ben offers to go out for dinner.

Which, needless to point out I hope, but once again, is not “douchebag behaviour.”

[ontheoddoccasioniwritestuff]

Valentines Day for Nerds (Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader)

Summary: Spencer’s favourite holiday is often taken up mostly by work, but this year his enjoyment doesn’t seem to be as disruptive in the BAU bullpen. The team soon realise why.

AN: It’s a bit late- who am I kidding? IT’S ALWAYS HALLOWEEN IN OUR HEARTS! This was a part of @imagining-in-the-margins fic swap, for the brilliant @agntprentiss <3 

For my smut fic from the swap, check out A Little Indulgence (18+ only!)

Reader uses she/her pronouns!

Word count: 1.7k words

Gif credit to @imagining-in-the-margins​ <3

Your name: submit What is this?

The first breach of boredom was Penelope practically skipping into the bullpen, her arms cradling a bouquet of flowers as if it were an infant. The bold orange roses contrasted with the dyed black petals of its counterparts as they were planted upon Spencer’s desk.

“Delivery for Doctor Reid!” trilled Penelope, clapping her hands now that they were free of said delivery. Dropping his pen onto his unfinished paperwork, Spencer pivoted the base of the bouquet before he found a small black envelope.

It held a little card with two pumpkins, happy faces carved into them both. Inside were the following words:

 Black is for new beginnings,

Orange is for enthusiasm,

Spooky times are afoot tonight,

Watch out for ectoplasm!

I spent ten minutes trying to think of a rhyme for that. Happy Halloween, Cara Mia!

Y/N xxx

Spencer beamed as he placed the bouquet at the edge of his desk, next to the fake severed hand that now held the card in its stiff fingers. He scratched his bristly cheek. Less than a day until he could shave this off. It’d be worth it though.

“Is it from Y/N?”

He looked up to see Penelope had lingered like a lost spirit, waiting to see if her trials of passing on the bouquet had been worthy enough for her to move onto the next world – her Batcave. She was poised with a hopeful expression.

“Yes,” Spencer said, watching Penelope lean up on her tiptoes as she tried to rein in her delight.

She clapped her hands, her purple painted nails clicking as they tapped together, “Are my two favourite ghost hunters up to much this Hallow’s Eve?”

“We’re going to see the Phantasmagoria re-enactment after we go trick-or-treating with Henry tonight.”

It was hard to ignore the absolute glee with which Spencer spoke. Even if one completely ignored the way his voice carried a light excitement, the way his eyes lit up and his broad smile almost fell off his face was enough to connote that he was very excited for tonight. It was also hard to ignore the mild bemusement on the faces of everyone who heard.

Glad to be back and bearing witness to his elated behaviour regardless, Emily cracked a smile, “Maybe she’ll cling to you when she gets scared.”

A heat crawled up Spencer’s neck and he tried to return to work now in hopes that his gift’s display would be cut off. He’d rather sit in the glow of receiving the flowers without mockery.

To the team’s credit, no one ribbed him for it.

The flowers were not the last gift though.

Soon Penelope reappeared, “Your Cupid has returned with another gift for you!”

As he tore at the paper and revealed an Edgar Allen Poe pin – the titular Raven he instantly attached it to his satchel strap – in pride of place, just like the bouquet.

Derek was the one to notice how Spencer’s sandwiches had been cut into little pumpkins. Some digging and Spencer revealed that he had gotten Y/N to order a cutter online. He held his lunch in one hand, his collection of classic Halloween short stories in the other, with a childish glee that no one wanted to squander.

When Spencer climbed the steps to drop off a file to Hotch around mid-afternoon, Rossi walking behind him noted the brand-new socks. A classic odd pairing, and obviously they were Halloween themed. This kid left no opportunity untaken when it came to celebrating Halloween – more than his own birthday.

But Rossi was not closed enough to get a good look at them, and no one else was as close. So, he recruited Emily and Derek to discover what the pattern was. It was Emily and Derek who upped the stakes by wanting to get a glimpse without arousing suspicion. Now that outright asking Spencer was not an option, the game began as they dropped several pens as an excuse to bend over and strain for a flash of those socks.

Derek eventually resorted to a pantomime attempt at tripping in front of Spencer’s desk and gave the jig up straight away by shouting to a stressed Emily (whilst also catching the attention of Hotch through his office’s blinds): “IT’S IT!”

A few language barriers hurdled later, and hindsight brought them both clarity. The red splodge on Spencer’s ankle was officially defined as a balloon.

“So tell us! What’s the other one?” Emily said, her voice strained with how much she was invested in this single sock.

Spencer hiked up his trouser leg to display the skeletal zombie sewn into the sock. “It’s Curtis Danko from When Good Ghouls Go Bad. Y/N had it commissioned for me!”

JJ was watching nearby, unaffected by the tensions of the sock bet. She knew the film because Y/N had wanted to show it to Henry the other week when she babysat him. But upon further inspection, the R.L. Stine film – while intended for kids – might be a little intimidating for Henry to watch without his profiler mother and godfather, police officer father, and favourite auntie there to protect him from the cursed statue.

No one else in the bullpen knew the film.

The team soon discovered that Spencer was not the only one to be on the receiving end of such gifts. Six o’clock rolled around and Y/N entered the bullpen. She was wearing a fuzzy black scarf, some sparkles shining within the wool. At the tail of it, a lucky black cat patch was sewn onto the end. It caught Rossi’s eye and he hid behind a folder as he smiled. The three times that Spencer had forgone a card game with him (in favour of knitting the scarf on the flights back from cases) had been riddled with playful teasing. It was good to see that it was worth it.

Especially when Spencer saw Y/N wearing it and his back snapped straight up. His chair flew backwards, spinning around with the effort that Spencer had launched himself from it, and he and Y/N embraced each other with casual affection.

“How was work today?”

“Not as boring as I thought. But, I have to say: I’m meant to call you Cara Mia.” Spencer’s eyes darted to the card Y/N had sent that morning.

Y/N caught onto his meaning, “Should I stop?”

“Never.”

She rubbed her nose against his and Spencer went pink again, giggling like a teenager. True, he was as smitten with Y/N as Gomez was with Morticia. Then he remembered he was in the workplace as Y/N went to greet the rest of the team, and Spencer’s pink became a scarlet.

“Aww, Pretty Boy,” Derek grinned at him from his desk chair, “You’re so cute!”

“It’s like Sergio!” Emily said, admiring the scarf with her thumb rubbing over the stitches around the cat patch.

“Make sure he’s safe tonight,” Y/N squeezed her hands for a second.

Then JJ appeared from her office, coat and bag over her arm, and she, Y/N, and Spencer wished the bullpen a Happy Halloween before they left.

They had three hours before the Phantasmagoria started. Plenty of time to get ready.

Henry was right behind the front door of his home. The second it opened, he bounced at Spencer’s feet, his tiny hand clutching onto two of his fingers to drag him inside. He was babbling away at such speed that Y/N could barely keep up. She gave Will a wave across the ironing board where he was diligently ironing Will’s cape.

“Well don’t you look handsome!” Y/N beamed at Henry while JJ combed his hair back, slick with gel. It was something he agreed to but only if Spencer was doing the same. Which he was, occupying the downstairs bathroom as he prepared his own costume.

The moment Spencer had finished shaving everything bar the moustache, he was plonked in front of the television. Henry smoothed out his cloak and put in his plastic fangs in to watch the rest of his new favourite Halloween film, The Little Vampire. He mumbled along with Rudolph’s lines and sat enraptured as he pointed out to Spencer the flying scenes. Luckily for him, Will and JJ were getting dressed as Frederick and Freda Sackville-Bagg upstairs to join in the Halloween spirit – last year’s Halloween date night disaster long forgotten.

Henry put in his plastic fangs and hissed at Y/N who emerged in her long sleek black dress. As she stepped across the room as elegantly as Morticia, Spence spied that she was wearing the black spiderweb tights he had bought her today.

“Hello, Gomez,” She smiled radiantly at Spencer, smoothing out his suit jacket as he stood before her. He presented her with a red rose that matched her lipstick to a tee.

As she breathed in the flower’s scent, he kissed her cheek, enjoying her giggle at the bristle of his ‘stache, “You’re stunning.”

“Thank you, and you’re handsome as ever.” She swung their linked hands between them in the opposite way she poised on her tiptoes. “Maybe we should have taken a tango class.”

And she laughed loudly at Spencer’s wincing at such a thought.

“It’s ok, Cara Mia. I’ll settle for a kiss instead.”

Oh, that was something he could do forever. He brought her hands to his lips and kissed her knuckles then the inside of each wrist.

Unfortunately, Henry interrupted the stream of kisses that were headed in Y/N’s way. “Ready to go!” He skipped his way between the happy couple.

It was hard to be mad at Henry, especially with how adorable he looked beside his parents and with his bright orange pumpkin bag ready to collect candy. He felt safe with his four favourite adults guarding him.

“Tonight,” Y/N whispered into his ear and he could hear the smirk in her words, “After the Phantasmagoria.”

Spencer beamed, his dimples delightfully framing that smile. One day maybe, they would have their own Wednesday, Pugsley, and Pubert to join them. And maybe then Derek would dress up as Uncle Fester.

[alittlebitgoofy]

if you want it make a move (taywhora)

part 2!! surprised i did this so quick but motivation happens, I'm not sure if it went right, I'm still new to this but we trying. we stan emerald for betaing, love it when someone is shocked i write canon compliant now skdjhfksjdf

title is from yours by now now

ao3 link 

The drive home was monotonous, despite the entertainment of Bimini next to him. Tayce felt the hangover from last night dully present throughout the day. It filled him with a bit of dread to realise tonight would end up much the same. Perhaps he could hold back on the alcohol, though with A’whora around, that didn’t seem like a possibility. He hated the taste of it and yet loved to get drunk with people. Tayce learnt that one after many a night of drinking. The more he had, the more he’d egg Tayce on. It led to many horrible hangovers but it was part of what made his roommate so fun.

Speaking of A’whora, said roommate was constantly texting him. Clearly, the clingy behavior wasn’t just a result of the alcohol. Tayce chalked it up to excitement. A’whora loved a party and celebrating the end of their journey on the show was something they had to do. They wanted to send it off well and have a fun night to remember.

“Is that A’whora again? Swear she never leaves you to breathe.” Bimini giggled as Tayce’s phone vibrated again. He could only laugh it off, knowing the connotations of it all but not wanting to deal with that. The sexual tension was the most annoying thing, Bimini knew his aversion to it but it made jokes all the funnier to most people.

“He’s a right hound, was drunk calling me last night asking when I'll get home when I’d already told him.” Tayce couldn’t help but smile a bit in memory of the night before. It was stupid and by no means should have entertained him but there was something cute about someone so genuinely missing him after only a day apart. This was their thing to celebrate and he craved it as much as his roommate did.

“Aww, he misses you. That’s cute.”

Bimini teased, with Tayce barely able to hide the blush forming at the idea of it all. There was a part of him that missed the idiot when he wasn’t around. Something about his goofy smile, dimples showing whenever he barked out a laugh that was reminiscent of a seal. It made his heart squeeze in a way no one else could. The absolute hound, having the gall to be that cute.

He stayed uncharacteristically quiet, participating in conversation with Bimini every so often but staring out the window texting A’whora more than anything. Thankfully Bimini didn’t comment on it, assuming it was the hangover and not the thought of the clingy boy he called his best friend.

---

The realisation that Tayce didn’t have his phone had come quickly after entering the door. A’whora was there offering his own to call and sort the situation. It came to the conclusion of them mailing it back, with Tayce frustrated about the amount of time without his phone but thankful it was safe and he’d get it back.

A’whora helped take his mind off it, jumping at the chance to pull him into a tight hug and whisper how good he was in the finale. It was a brief moment, and Tayce wanted nothing more than to throw his bag in his room and chill out for a bit before they started celebrating.

The table that got set up was nostalgic, it looked like a kids party, with party rings, sausage rolls. The staples of a party for children, but it added to the warmth bubbling up in Tayce. They’d gotten a huge cake from some company he’d forgotten the second A’whora told him.

A’whora seemed delighted by it all, reveling in how the table was set up. Tayce couldn’t help but laugh at how focused he was on the aesthetics, always the designer.

“Wonder how easy it’ll be for you to get drunk, my favourite lightweight.” Tayce smirked, poking A’whora’s shoulder as he let out a huff.

“I am not! You can’t drink that much more than me anyway, you hound!” He exclaimed, gently shoving Tayce in protest.

“You take 3 or 4 drinks to get tipsy, don’t kid yourself.” He deadpanned, A’whora pouting in response, refusing to confirm or deny the statement though they both knew it was true.

His guess was right, on the fourth drink A’whora was sneaking closer, clumsily trying to get his attention without causing too much of a distraction. Their roommates would hound them the second they realised something may be going on but he was too busy buzzing from the alcohol and close proximity to Tayce to care.

Tayce himself wasn’t far off, a few drinks in, beginning to feel the alcohol in his system. Though there were some shots involved too, he still wasn’t as bad as the mess nestled into him.

A’whora was glued to his side for most of the night; the more drinks, the more giddy the pair became. Everything felt real now, the show had ended and it was supposed to be sad but in the company of each other it wasn’t. They were so glad it happened, reflecting on it all and sending it off like this just felt right.

“I’m so glad we got to do all of this, isn’t it wonderful?” A’whora mused, briefly philosophical before turning his attention back to the cake in his lap. He kept leaning over to offer Tayce some, despite being fully capable of getting his own slice, this felt better. He felt something in him flutter at the affection.

“Yeah, feels like we’re free now, we got on the show, we did it. Now we get to live our best lives with that experience,” Tayce agreed, and even though it amused him a bit to see A’whora become a suddenly philosophical drunk, he had a point.

“You did so well in the finale, I’m so proud of you.” A’whora turned to him, soft brown eyes shining with admiration. Tayce wanted to avoid the gaze, to avoid dealing with the emotions it brought but that was just his talent. He looked so genuine in the statement, Tayce had never needed someone else’s approval, though this felt different. It wasn’t in the same way people always said it. A’whora genuinely looked up to him, it was cute.

“It was fun, I think we all knew Bim or Lawrence was going to win, took a lot of pressure off of my shoulders.”

“You’re my winner.” He didn’t try to hide the tenderness in his voice. The brown-haired man stared at Tayce like he was the only person in the world. His smile melted Tayce down to his core, pulling down any walls to just focus on him, here and now.

“You’re such a softie.” Tayce’s voice was also tender, pulling the smaller man into his arms, as if he needed protecting from anything in the silent room.

It was at that point he noticed everyone had gone, that it was just him and A’whora in the room, so much space around them but unable to pull themselves apart.

He shifted in Tayce’s arms, turning to face him. His face morphed between a few things, at first neutral, then into a goofy smile before something more thoughtful, Tayce knowing the look all too well. He was going to ask something, possibly something Tayce didn’t want to answer and it would be hard to say no to those eyes.

“Tayce, why do you never talk about your feelings?”

There it was. The emotional drunk A’whora, wanting nothing more than to open himself up and have someone do the same in return. Tayce wasn’t closed off to the idea, though he hated to be pried open. It was his choice, and no matter how much he trusted A’whora, he wouldn’t be able to do it on demand.

“I do, just don’t spill my vulnerability because that’s not how I deal with it.”

“You know what I mean, you’re never fully open with me. LIke I’m always the one bearing my heart and you shut yours out even when it’s only us.” A’whora frowned, eyes falling to the ground. It looked like tears were starting to build up, Tayce not knowing if he had it in him to deal with emotional crying drunk A’whora while he was gone himself.

“I know you don’t like being vulnerable, but I can tell you have feelings. Wouldn’t it be easier if you admitted it? We could be happy, but you just want to hide that part away, like it’ll go away when it clearly hasn’t.” A’whora continued, not waiting for a response and cutting Tayce deep. He was speechless, he knew deep down they were both aware of it, but it hit differently to hear it said out loud. His face spoke for him, eyes wide and flickering everywhere that wasn’t his roommate. This wasn’t a conversation you had while drunk, but it seemed like he didn’t have much of a choice with A’whora’s persistence.

Tayce tried to formulate his response, to honestly tell A’whora about his fears, not wanting to ruin the strong friendship they had and not feeling like a relationship would be good. It could work, they both knew it. They got along so well; they had amazing chemistry. The only thing stopping them was the hesitance.

The only thing stopping them was Tayce.

Maybe he should stop getting in his own way, and let himself try something outside of his comfort zone. Relationships were the one no-go in his life but why did they have to be? He didn’t have to be powerless at the idea. A’whora deserved better. So he kissed him, not waiting to think it through. A’whora was startled at first, but returned it enthusiastically, his arm snaking its way around Tayce’s shoulder to pull him in ever so closer.

They fell apart, trying to catch their breath as Tayce noticed the blush on A’whora’s face.

“Are you blushing? You give me this whole speech and you’re taken aback when I do something about it? You’re adorable.” Tayce’s face lit up, poking A’whora’s cheek and delighting in how flustered he looked.

“I’m not! The alcohol is making my body warm, you hound!” He futilely protested, blushing further as Tayce snuck closer, hand placed firmly on his chest to feel his racing heart.

“You’re an awful liar, it’s cute.”

A’whora jokingly shoved him, hiding his face in his hands as if it would help the situation.

“So do you want to do something about it? You were all talk last night, back it up, Georgie.”

If A’whora had anything left in him, it fled his body at that. He was left like a statue frozen at Tayce’s sudden shift. He could only lean into his hands as one cupped his face, pulling him into a more desperate kiss. Tayce wanted him, and he would let him have everything.

[shoichee]

GoMs + Kagami, Hanamiya, Teppei as Pokémon Trainers

Pokémon x Kuroko no Basket Crossover

Headcanons on KNB characters if they were trainers

For only the “Generation of Miracles” (plus Kagami), I wanted to show that they are prodigies in the pokémon universe by each giving them the appropriate specialty legendary/mythical pokémon respective to their anime counterpart abilities/personalities.

Also, as GoMs in the pokémon universe, I was careful to also choose some of their respective pokémon based on base stats and the consideration of type variety, unless a team had most pokémon sharing a type for a reason, in addition to already choosing pokémon based on their pokédex entries.

I have also given pictures of said pokémon suited to each KNB character below the cut.

Warning: spoilers on KNB characters, it’s a given

Kuroko Tetsuya 

his lack of presence would directly translate into the pokémon world pretty nicely and would make him pretty attuned to ghost pokémon floating about, but that won’t necessarily mean he’ll have a full team of ghosts

I feel like he would accidentally just pick up the mythical pokémon, Marshadow as a kid without knowing its reputation and would just let it follow him around like a buddy… and then they would become an official trainer-pokémon relationship later on // they’re both tiny and usually unnoticeable; they’d be best friends

he’d definitely have a Zoroark, since these pokémon require very strong bonds with their trainers, and they’re infamously known for their illusions and trickery; for Kuroko, he probably saw right through a Zorua’s (pre-evolution) tricks back in the day and then it became intrigued by him and joined him along the way before evolving into the Zoroark we see present day // this is a tribute to Nigou as well, since they’re both dog-like/fox?????

surprisingly, he’d have a Hatterene just trailing behind recently; Hatterenes hate extreme emotions emitted from humans and I’d feel like it would just be lured in by his dry personality

Hatterene’s color scheme is literally the same blue and pink like Kuroko and Momoi, so Hatterene is very much a Momoi who chases Kuroko around while he doesn’t mind it at all

his 4th pokémon, Vanilluxe, came to be when he spent hours hiding in the tall grass for a Vanillite (pre-evolution) to show up; he was willing to go out of his way to catch one because he wanted an ode to his love for vanilla milkshakes

all in all, he would be the trainer who is able to instantly connect and make friends with other pokémon around without even trying; ironically, he would have the most variety of typings in his team because of that

he’s the protagonist trainer who would always be the first to openly stand up against the villain teams and foiling their plans, but he would need the support of the other GoMs (cough) to take down the team bosses

he would definitely be friends with N (BEST franchise character)

he’s a “youngster” trainer like a “youngster joey” vibe KDJWORKWKW but like he’s pretty OP by the end of his journey

Kise Ryota

Cinderace with its hidden ability Libero is perfect for our blondie; Libero is an ability that allows the user to become that type of the move it just used until it uses a move of a different type, and then it’ll switch to that next type (I thought about Greninja with its Protean ability at first because it’s the OG ability and it's the exact effect just a diff name; but Cinderace’s design is a soccer motif and it reminded me of Kise in the old Teiko days)

Kise would very much be a renown model in the pokémon universe, and he’d idolize Elesa (from Pokémon B/W and B2/W2); both are blonde models too LOL (except she dyed her hair black in B2/W2)

so he’d have a Luxray (non shiny OR shiny, both suit him), because since he looks up to her so much and she’s an electric-type gym leader, he’d probably have an electric-type of his own

I would think he’d have a dragon-type pokémon like Haxorus to connect him with Aomine (a dragon-type trainer) since in the anime, Aomine was Kise’s mentor and role model in basketball; it would give him a fighting chance with Aomine if they ever faced each other in a pokémon battle

he would have a shiny Sylveon, and he would love to dote the ever living fuck out of it and feed it poképuffs (maybe from Murasakibara’s café LOL) and sing with it, and every time it sweeps someone’s team with its Moonblasts, he’ll cheer it on so much BDHWIRWI it also adds a certain connotation to his idol reputation as this “approachable guy” with his adorable Sylveon too

this guy has an idol status not just in the beauty/fashion industry, but also in the sports world (especially in Unova’s sports stadium in Nimbasa city)

he’d meet tons of other models and fashion icons like gym leader Nessa, champion Diantha, etc. WHEW JUST SAYIN

he would have his face plastered everywhere on trainer PR videos and even getting offers for some minor acting roles in Pokéstar Studios

one day, while he’d be at the studio, there was a whole commotion how the studio and the museum had their deliveries mixed up because the studio had the real meteorite while the museum had the well-made prop of a meteorite; and uh, it turns out this meteorite had the alien virus that pretty much had its DNA mutated into a Deoxys

long story short, being a very experienced trainer, Kise would manage to catch it after hours of chasing it in the wild areas nearby

over time, he and this particular Deoxys would come to have enough mutual respect for each other to be able to battle as a proper trainer-pokémon duo

that being said, he won’t resort to using it unless it’s life-threatening; note: he changes its Formes using a chunk from the meteorite in the studios he broke off (Deoxys [and its many forms] is further reference to his versatility as a basketball player)

Midorima Shintarou

as a man who seeks for good luck and fortunes he’d stack up on a Chimecho for sure and… 

Togekiss; he used to have its pre-evolution Togepi to solely to try to make it stand up while sleeping for good luck (according to the pokédex), and the more he kept trying, the more he made it attached to him and before he knew it, he had a fully evolved Togekiss // he’ll NEVER admit that he loves it to bits, though

this might be unexpected at first glance, but he’d have a Mega Absol; hear me out, it’s called the “disaster pokémon” according to its pokédex, however it is only named so because it warns others of disasters when it appears SO IT WOULD WARN MIDORIMA OF INCOMING BAD LUCK

he’d probably receive a Rowlet from Momoi as a gift from her laboratory, and he didn’t have the heart to abandon it; he’d evolve it to a Decidueye… and just… keep it (this pokémon is a reference to his no-miss shots)

ultimate good luck bringer: Ho-Oh ✨

would have the most “balanced” team out of everyone in terms of type-coverage (reference to him having the most coverage in skills for basketball, from shooting to absolute defense to having ball-handling skills)

he’d totally avoid Akashi’s Kadabra (pre-evolution of Alakazam)—who will be mentioned later down in the list—because it’s said to bring bad luck, as well as avoiding all the Ninetales because he doesn’t want to risk accidentally pulling off one of their tails and be cursed

he’ll avoid caverns as much as possible (but it’s impossible to avoid them all) because those are the habitats of Golbats (who will supposedly give bad luck if one bites you) but if there wasn’t a leeway for him, he will literally LATCH onto his Chimeco and keep his Togekiss and Absol out of their pokéballs to guard him LMAOOO

I would feel he would constantly strive to fill up his entire pokédex, so he’d be a pokémon master in training in a sense; he’s someone who wants to prepare himself for any situation and opportunity, so being a pokédex filler would always provide him an encyclopedia on potential pokémon to either stay away from or catch more of because of certain luck factors

make no mistake though, he’s a seasoned pokémon battler, don’t fuck with him

Aomine Daiki

an intimidating Garchomp would be his ace™️ pokémon, ummmm have you SEEN its base SPEED stat??? it’s a monster

we’re gonna go overkill and give this man a Mega Rayquaza just for the sole fact that he’d be the “ace” trainer of ALL ace trainers and veterans alike

however, because of his “lack of practice/training” like in the anime, he’d probably just stick with these two pokémon, since usually Garchomp already sweeps everyone’s teams without a sweat

homie is probably napping on top of one of the laboratory roofs (probably the one Momoi works in) or escaping to a nearby cliff or hill to relax and keep a lookout for any promising trainers that pass by him

is a trainer who pretty much kept one-shotting all the trainers throughout his journey in the region (aka that’s us protagonists when we play against NPCs)

he would also be that trainer who wiped the floor with the current champion so badly that he felt that all his “training” leading up to that moment didn’t even feel rewarding (plus there’s those countless trainer battles before where it didn’t feel thrilling), and so, he just left the league after, waiting for the day a sufficient rival could show up in his life

he’s definitely cleared the challenging battle systems of each region (probably back when he still had some passion for battling and had a good full team): Battle Frontier, Battle Tree, PWT tournament, Battle Manson, Battle Tower… you name it, he’d probably be done with most of them, if not, all

Murasakibara Atsushi

he’d have a Bewear, Appletun, and lots of variants of Alcremie’s just hanging around him

note: you should search up all the variations of Alcremies yourself, hint cough, it’s 60 variations total

maybe he’d have a Snorlax chilling nearby because it’s so huge

Murasakibara would be a Pokécafé owner AND HE’D HAVE HIS BULKY BEWEAR AND HIS SNORLAX GUARD THE SHOP, YOU CAN’T ARGUE WITH ME 

or he would UNLEASH his G-MAX forms of Alcremie’s

and he’ll just use his pokémon to make the tastiest poffins, poképuffs, and pokécurry

he’ll never bring out his final pokémon, Melmetal, unless it’s an absolute emergency and his shop is in danger

he would love Kuroko’s Vanilluxe, in a sense where he would always impassively joke about eating the ice-cream pokémon and Kuroko would just constantly hope he’s not being for real

he wouldn’t be motivated by ambitions like other trainers would have, he just wants to chill and loaf around all day; if someone pissed him off about he was a “weak” trainer or how they were becoming overly cocky when talking about their goals, he’d be right there smiling and ready to annihilate them | (• ◡•)|

Akashi Seijuro

Espeon would totally fit him as his first pokémon; its eyes are very reminiscent of his feline irises, and it’s tiny in size but a very powerful sweeper when set up right AND THEY’re ~calm~ while being capable of either sweet or very calculating later on / LIKE PET, LIKE OWNER

Tsareena; this one has a literal attitude of a queen and its pokédex is pretty terrifying in which one kick from its legs “leaves a wound in the opponent's body and soul that will never heal”... sound familiar?

Nidoking, cough I wonder why I picked this guy he’s a king, but jokes aside, it’s here to add more type variety to his team, and it’s mostly there to be a status inflictor (aka poisoning) and hazard setter with traps for his opponents… sound familiar with how he initiates his shogi strategies?

Mega Alakazam. that’s it. this pokémon has 5000 IQ like ?? would totally wipe the floor with Akashi in shogi if it tried

you thought Aomine had an overkill legendary, but Akashi has Hoopa, who’s capable of a Confined form and Unbound form, representative of his two contrasting personalities 

he’s an ambitious trainer aiming to become a Pokémon Master, and he’s one of those feared prodigies that all the region champions just lowkey sweat hearing about him coming to wreck their leagues apart

his pokédex would be damn near completed

he looks more into a pokémon’s utility and how it can fit into his strategies; it just turns out that most of the capable/eligible pokémon he ends up picking are psychic-types because they all tend to have extremely high intelligence to pull them off

Momoi Satsuki

Mega Altaria fits Momoi’s aesthetic of being cute, but very dangerous if you underestimate it, and I wanted a cute connection to Aomine who I primarily headcanoned to be a dragon-type trainer, so Altaria is a dragon-type pokemon that I picked out (perfect alternative would be Mega Gardevoir if she never met Aomine)

Blissey is a pokemon that brings happiness to anyone that eats their eggs, and it very much fits Momoi’s personality

Tapu Lele is a totem pokemon that has incredible knowledge, and is known to be able to outsmart any opponent during battle, referencing her pre-cognitive defense research abilities

she would definitely be constantly mistaken as a pokémon “Beauty” (yes that’s a trainer title), but in actuality, she’s training to become a pokémon professor as an assistant 

Momoi’s “professor specialty” would definitely be her researching about a pokémon’s current stats (plus their EVs and IVs) and would pinpoint their level of potential and thus, predict their growth (and the steps taken for a certain type of growth) // she’d probably become really famous in the world of competitive battling because a lot of trainers would try to approach her to help “train their teams”

Kagami Taiga

I think he would ironically have a Lopunny because it used to be Alex’s but she just left it in his care and now he has this prankster bunny that’s basically an Alex 2.0 to other pokémon in its vicinity ?? but it has hops like Kagami so

a hotheaded, short-tempered guy like Kagami would have an Incineroar (they… kinda look the same) 

Krookodile would be very much up his alley… its offensive stats are also not something to take lightly, especially when paired with moves like Earthquake and Foul Play

Kommo-o would be a pokémon that embodies Kagami’s personality very well: it seeks to battle only strong opponents for the reason to defeat the “darkness,” and its presence is more than enough to scare the weaker opponents away; Kagami has been mentioned as the “light” many times throughout the series, and his piercing gaze on the courts generate suffocating pressure on the opposing teams // it’s also a pseudo-legendary pokémon on the same base-stat caliber as Aomine’s Garchomp (hinting at their game against each other) ( ᐛ )

last one I’d find really amusing to give for Kagami would be Victini, the adorable mythical pokémon said to bring only victories for its trainer… and it’s a reference to his ascendance to the top of the Winter Cup after defeating all the GoM’s teams

oh yeah, I forgot Mega Lopunny existed so I’ll just attached that right below

anywho, so he’s a rising pokémon trainer who wants to become a pokémon master… but only for the battling part LOL like he doesn’t believe in “catching ‘em all” so to speak because he’d be someone who would believe in winning battles with the pokémon you truly bonded with; in other words, he’d probably only catch new pokémon if he feels a certain connection with them

but because of that, he doesn’t have much info on other pokémon besides his own, and it bites him in the ass when he has to try to figure out ways to take down opposing teams

reluctantly would team up with Kuroko after finding out many of the competitions require double battling but he doesn’t have a single strategy for it, and then Kuroko would pop out of nowhere and offered a hand to be his double battle partner until he learned how to double-battle on his own

spoiler alert, they totally start becoming travel companions in exploring the world together

of course Kagami would have battle strategies, but he isn’t like Akashi where he would actively look for the appropriate strong pokémon for his strategies; he makes strategies to accommodate his existing team

Kiyoshi Teppei

HE HAS A LUCARIO, NOT ONLY THAT A MEGA LUCARIO; they both seek for justice and they’re extremely loyal, and they both are able to read their opponents very easily 

HE ISN’T CALLED THE “IRON HEART” FOR NOTHING, I CAN SEE HIM WITH A SHINY METAGROSS JUST BEING AN OFFENSIVE TANK YET BEING ABLE TO SWEEP, JUST LIKE AN ACE WOULD

he would live a double life: a shopkeeper of his grandparents’ pokémon item/antique store by day, pokémon ranger and patroller by night

he would keep his local area safe (ง'̀-'́)ง

yes, I only see him as a steel-type trainer

he’d be so precious with his pokémon and meticulous in his care for them: he’d probably shine his Metagross everyday or brush out his Lucario’s fur, just because !!

and his pokémon would be fiercely protective of Teppei in return, mostly because they noticed he has bad knees and they don’t want him to strain them any further(;´༎ຶٹ༎ຶ`)

Hanamiya Makoto

no debate, he’d have a shiny Hydreigon… dude that pokémon is an absolute nightmare to level up and evolve, let alone tame, but back when it debuted in Pokémon B/W, it was the most OP pokémon out there // shiny variant of it because it has a similar color scheme to the Kirisaki Daiichi basketball team, and he’d probably have a shiny version just to flaunt it off and piss people off

Salazzle with a hidden ability Corruption, where it allows it to poison any pokémon regardless of type or ability; again, it’s to piss the trainers off in battle

and finally, a Dracovish; a person like him would totally have this inherently fucked up pokémon just for the sole purpose to disturb the hell out of his opponent trainers, but make no mistake: it’s an underdog sweeper 

look, he’s an admin of some sinister villain team and he has his other Kirisaki Daiichi starter players as his personalized grunts (they’re like a specific sect of the villain team; e.g. Shadow Triad or the Seven Sages of Team Plasma)

you might wonder, why don’t I give him a “spider” pokémon, since the webs are the analogy used to compare to his strategies in basketball? too many villains have Ariados in their teams and Galvantula is a friendly, fuzzy tarantula soooo it wouldn’t fit Hanamiya at all

I don’t think he would have any deep motive to be villainous other than to just enjoy people getting fucked over by his own deeds and actions; sometimes, it isn’t so deep

“it’s your boy, Guzma Hanamiya” if you get this reference I love you

End Note: “Mega” forms and “G-MAX” forms are not separate pokémon, but rather, temporary power-ups during battles; they are just shown to show the differences in appearances compared to their original forms when they transform.

[chemicalarospec]

A Look At Dan’s Recent Branding

AKA I Make Up a Bunch of Stuff About Media and Perception and Promotion and Branding and Say the Same Things Over and Over

I’m so sorry this is actually horrendously long. I’m a loquacious a$$hole.

So I started rambling in the tags of this post began thinking about Dan’s  presence recently. The reason so many of us fell for the red chairing was because it actually seemed possible -- perhaps not a proper joint video, but a cameo or side role.

Now that the video’s out, I can see it has very strong Solo Phil vibes, but I can still imagine a few different ways Dan could have been in it if he wanted to be. (Side note: It also feels like a run-of-the-mill, everyday, video, though seasonal, and not a festive special, despite the content. idk, I blame it on the lack of decoration and boring grey wall. cue clowning for more spoopy content though.) Dan is not in the video, so he must not have wanted to be in it. Why? 

Before I talk more, let’s just talk about “branding” for a bit. I use it interchangeably with “image”/”public image”/”public persona”/”common connotations”/”associations” here (kinda wrongly), but I default to “branding” because it’s what the phandom (possibly even Dan and Phil themselves?) use the most frequently -- “image” is perhaps the best-fitting term. Regardless, in a very general example, if Stephen King wrote a fluffy teenage romance book, it would be “off-brand” for him. That’s what we’re talking about here. Except with Dan and smaller differences.

It’s also worth noting that Dan and Phil were not always Dan-and-Phil -- I remember seeing an early liveshow clip where Dan says they’re not a double act. I’m pretty sure the radio show in 2013/early 2014 followed by the launch of the gaming channel in 2014 is when they became a “double act” --  the BBC absolutely billed them as such. 

You can see what I’m getting at here: Dan is trying to drop the “and Phil” in a softer way than he dropped the “isnotonfire” back in 2017. However, it’s definitely worth noting that he had already distanced himself quite a bit from it before the official name change, with first the shorter fringe and then the curls being a visual representation of that. And it’s probably just a mental thing on my part, but curly Dan now looks different from curly Dan-with-Phil.

Okay so first, why is he trying to change his image? Like his first evolution, a major component is being more mature -- llamas and malteasers didn’t simply not represent Dan anymore, they represented a younger, less mature Dan. He didn’t like it anymore. Does Dan not like who we view him as now? My first instinct is “no,” because his current connotations are fairly empty, but I don’t really know, so I’ll just move on.

What do we associate with Dan right now? i. e. what’s “on brand” for him? Well, again, there’s not a lot of strong specifics, at least for me. After two years for being nearly absent from the internet and very clearly growing a lot as a person, Daniel hasn’t talked enough for there to be only the basics left: tall, British, memes, and gay.

Okay, but the gay. Dan and Phil have been out for one year, but being part of The Gays is a pretty big part of their branding. This is because of their already long-standing reputation, more specifically their attachments to the community -- all those teenage girls turning out to be lesbians and, of course, the shipping.

The Gay is also an answer to the next question: What different aspects of his image is he pushing? Again, that he’s more mature and serious -- the UN talk, for example. I’m not counting the book here because that’s the product of the changes, not content being used to create a shift.

The big thing I want to focus on is the attitude video series. I’m very curious as to how this came about to be and don’t know enough details to say some things, but one thing I can note is that the plug for You Will Get Through This Night is a really small part of it. It’s literally the last thing he says, and they don’t even show the cover. It’s so skippable, and while it’s good that means they all really care about the important content of the series, it does create some questions.

To be honest, all of the attitude/This Night content is kind of strange to me. For example, the quote they used to promote it doesn’t mention the book, which just looks bad. This Night isn’t really the center of the collab -- it’s more general mental health awareness and activism.

So that’s the first thing Dan’s trying to put into his image. The podcast (Get Britain Talking or something like that) is, I feel, more directly part of marketing This Night, though of course, like with the video series, the content itself is emphasized and important and I should treat it as such.

Back to attitude. attitude is “the UK’s best selling gay magazine.” Why is Dan trying to build connotations to things he already is? No, but actually this gives insight on how he’s trying to be perceived: he’s a confident gay man. This magazine with its connotations (formal media, queer, well-established) will come up should someone new search up Dan -- obviously that’s not the direct reason; it’s a representation of his public image. 

Why is he trying to create this image? Right now, us in the phandom are probably 90% of the people tuned into Daniel’s actions. We’ve already built up a lot about him, and though we don’t want to admit it, we do like Dan-and-Phil, the double act. Overall, I do think Dan will not change our image of him as much as he’d like, but he has changed it more than we might think -- for example, people talking about how “mature” and “grown-up” he is in new photos. 

I think I’m just stupid, but these pushes don’t seem to be needed for You Will Get Through This Night. Okay so the problem here is “how do you get people to buy a book?” An author’s broader public persona doesn’t really impact this. I’m not going to hear about a mental health book written by an ex-Youtuber and search up the author. I’m not going to hear about a mental health book written by an ex-Youtuber in my normal book searching, period.

You know where I could see myself finding out about a book like this, and what would get people to buy the book? Doing mainstream interviews specifically about it; I’ll read TIME interviews with anyone, so long as it seems mildly interesting. But Dan’s not doing that, not a lot, not yet. (I bet he will later.)

I guess what I’m saying is the attitude video series is periphery media that impacts his branding but does not reach a large audience; it’s impact is atmospheric, not promotional.

(Dude it’s 10:30 at this point I’m not sure what I’m saying.) (also I rearranged these paragraphs sorry if it reads poorly)

Dan is a private person. He has made this extensively clear throughout the years and in the most recent content. What this means is I don’t believe he wants to update his branding just for the sake of accuracy to self.

So it’s (partially) for something else, but the public framing clearly goes beyond This Night. The obvious answer is that Dan’s just trying to return to the public eye, but then I still ask why???

The attitude series is not an end goal -- i. e. it is a building block for something. I mean, I just don’t think Dan’s like “yeah I want to create content again and this is the content I want to create,” simply because it started out seeming like an extension of the interview and now it’s clearly more than that, but it’s still like, for the magazine. It’s not his.

So what’s Dan going to do with this status of being a queer content creater and mental health advocate he’s curating? So remember how there’s a 99% chance he’s doing something w/ television but there’s been no official announcement? Yeah, that. 

I had a few paragraphs talking about book-adjacent media (interviews, reviews, ect.) vs television-adjacent media but all of it was me 100% making stuff up so it’s gone now. Basically, I *think* if he were to make a show, fiction or non-fiction, people would search him up and write a small description of him, and I *think* this is less likely for You Will Get Through This Night, so I *think* this reputation-building is in preparation of the former, not the latter.

Isabelle, you spent over an hour on this, do you actually have anything interesting to say?

Freaking *waves hands* promotional-- social dynamics-- what the heck actually is branding at this point-- Dan show.

TL;DR: It might just be the French in me (or just *my* French relatives?), but life is manipulation and Dan is trying to drop “and Phil” from his name and is manipulating his public image to be more mature, with a focus on being one of The Gays and a mental health advocate. Because it’s not vibin’ as This Night promotion/set-up, it is likely setup for promotion for another project, probably the TV one.

TL;DR 2: Just read the tags on the original post I literally didn’t have to say any of this except for “television theory”.

[makeste]

I just took that Bakugou introspection as Horikoshi's way of telling the audience that yes Bakugou can keep up with OP Deku because there has been so much muttering across the fanbase that Bakugou won't be able to. I don't see the melodrama of Bakugou only seeing his strength as a means to keep up with Deku or that his pride is problematic. I think him having an idea for his hero names means he knows what his strength is for. He's always been strong as a person (when Deku was not) (pt1)

Losing his quirk doesn't need to be the gateway to force him to develop the kindness and consideration he's already been showing, nor would it be karmatic balance between him and Deku- especially when any scenario that takes his quirk benches him from the story or cheapens the stakes by him getting it back relatively fast. Deku's 15 years of quirklessness can't be balanced. Additionally, Bakugou only lost in the story when he was too close minded to learn, once open minded he started to (pt2)

grow. It doesn't send out a good message, if after all that growth he still gets punished. His declaration of spirit to not lose, be it to Shigaraki or Deku is not a bad thing, he is the underdog with an indominable will and he is declaring his spirit as the symbol of victory. Bakugou may lose his quirk, I don't know, but your reasons I disagree with because we interpret those panels differently. They give the audience a point of reference to guage Bakugou's ability.

you make some excellent points, anon! and you see, it’s strange, because up until this chapter and his monologue, I was in full agreement with most of what you’re saying -- that he’s already figured out all of that hero biz, that he’s already in the process of sorting his shit out on his own, and that Horikoshi is simply waiting for the right moment to finally show it.

but after reading his internal dialogue in this chapter, I’m just not so sure anymore.

in the past I’ve done a lot of guesswork on Kacchan’s thought processes based on his subtle little actions and microexpressions, and on what we’ve already been told about his character thus far. I call it “guesswork”, though, because it very much is that, because we so rarely get an actual glimpse into his head to see what he is really thinking. so when Horikoshi actually does give us one of those rare glimpses, I’m inclined to pay very close attention, and prepared to make any necessary adjustments to my current understanding of his character if need be. he is very, very complicated, and despite my spending an absurd percentage of my free time analyzing him up and down and front to back, that absolutely doesn’t mean that any of those analyses are actually right, lols. I’m constantly updating my internal databank of Kacchan knowledge both from interactions with the rest of the fandom, and -- when Horikoshi actually deigns to give us some new information -- from the canon itself.

anyway! so when I read this chapter and saw Kacchan yet again comparing his progress to Deku’s in his head, and thinking -- even now, even in the moments right before an intense battle!! -- only about his rivalry and about keeping up, that immediately set me to updating my mental bakuwiki in regards to his current character growth status. so he definitely has his hero name picked out already, we know that much. and so presumably has thus already figured out what kind of hero he wants to be. right? right.

and yet he still apparently has not revealed the new name to anyone. even after three months. like yeah, we get it, you made a promise to tell Jeanist first, etc. fair enough, but still! it’s an interesting bit of hesitation to take note of. and then there’s also the matter of Horikoshi’s interview from back in December (which I’ll link in a comment once this is posted), where he talked a lot about Bakugou and made a point of saying that his character growth wasn’t done yet, and that he still needs to apologize to Deku. which is as good a confirmation as any that such an apology is indeed forthcoming.

so why, then, does it seem like we’re still no closer to that moment, even after Kacchan seemingly had a mysterious epiphany at the end of the internship arc, and even after we subsequently went through a three month time jump? Kacchan isn’t one to be slow about it when he decides to make progress. his growth in all other aspects has come by leaps and bounds. and yet when it comes to his relationship with Deku -- his friendship with Deku, except that he still can’t bring himself to acknowledge that’s what it is, and insists on thinking of it as only a rivalry -- it seems like he reached a certain point, and then just... stalled. like he’s not willing to go any further past this. and there are many reasons for why that may be the case. but at the root of all of them is pride.

and I’m not saying he needs to give up that pride, because that’s a huge and very important part of who he is. you said his declaration of spirit not to lose isn’t a bad thing, and I agree. but that doesn’t always make it a good thing either, and I don’t want to get so swept up in my love of the character that I start refusing to acknowledge the downsides of that trademark pride as well. pride, like anything else, is nuanced. it can be both good and bad. it’s good when it motivates you and pushes you to do your best and to achieve your goals. but it’s bad when it makes you inflexible, and when it prevents you from taking actions which would benefit you and others, just because doing so would mean humbling yourself in a way that is scary and which feels like it runs counter to your ultimate goals. because you want to be someone who always wins. and so any time you do experience a loss, you go through an entire mini-crisis, because it feels like your very purpose in life is being threatened.

I don’t know if “problematic” is the word I would use for this aspect of him. I feel like that word is fairly overused, especially in fandom, and now has certain connotations of “this is objectively bad behavior which should be called out and shunned.” and I don’t think that’s the case at all when it comes to Kacchan’s pride. he’s already learned how to put it aside in order to work with others and save others. and that’s great! he already is a great hero by this point, imo. if Horikoshi decided to just end his character arc here and not take it any further, I would actually be just fine with that.

but I think that there is still the potential for more. I think that we are still not done here yet. because this manga consistently surprises and amazes me with the way it goes the extra mile when it comes to character development. Kacchan and Deku didn’t have to reconcile their differences and learn to respect one another after only 120 chapters (I say “only” in a very sincere and not sarcastic sense here, because that really is an insanely short timeframe compared to most other manga). but they did. Endeavor didn’t have to see the error of his ways and decide that he wanted to become a better person, and he definitely didn’t have to be shown apologizing and admitting his wrongdoings and even going so far as to back out of his family’s lives for their sakes and even build them a house so they could move on apart from him. but he did! and that’s insane, you guys. name me another series that goes that hard in trying to redeem a guy whom virtually every single member of this fandom would have once described as ultimately devoid of any redeeming qualities. I can’t think of any.

but BnHA is just like that. it goes hard. it doesn’t back off. nothing about its character arcs is remotely half-assed. and so if a character is showing signs that they are still angling for more growth? that there are still things they need to learn? then I’m inclined to think we are going to roll up our sleeves and get that growth, one way or another.

this story consistently amazes me because whenever I look at a certain aspect of a character’s development and say to myself, “oh hey, that’s pretty awesome, even if it’s still not ideal,” Horikoshi goes and nudges it down another notch towards being ideal. like, the dude just doesn’t settle. and so that’s one of the reasons why I’m convinced this is a very real and even likely possibility. because this kind of development, to me, would be very, very, very close to my ideal. is it strictly necessary? absolutely not. would it fucking blow my mind as a development, however? I kinda think it would, ngl.

-- that is, with the one addendum that since I do love my son very dearly, I wouldn’t want it to actually be permanent. so in order to be truly ideal, such an arc would also have to include a way for him to climb back up again after experiencing that fall. which some might find contrived or “cheap”, as you put it. but that’s a risk I’m very selfishly and biasedly game for all the same, lol. I am more than willing to occasionally suspend my sense of disbelief in the name of character development, and honestly, I don’t actually think it would cheapen the stakes in any way, because just because Kacchan’s main character status gives him cool perks like a one-time get-out-of-losing-your-quirk-for-free card doesn’t mean the same would apply towards anybody else. and for that matter, it wouldn’t detract from whatever soul searching Kacchan does during that period while he fully believes that he will be quirkless for the rest of his life, either. it doesn’t have to be permanent in order to have a permanent impact.

lastly, in regards to it balancing things out between him and Deku, I don’t mean that Kacchan becoming quirkless would (a) be some sort of necessary and deserved punishment for him, or (b) be even remotely equivalent in any kind of way to what Deku experienced while growing up. that is very obviously not the case, and I can’t stand that kind of thinking, that redemption is only about punishment. maybe “karmic” isn’t the word I should have used then; I meant it as a way of signifying something spiritual in the push-pull balance between the two of them, not in the “what goes around comes around you were a jerk and now you’ll finally understand what it feels like” sense of the word. that’s a big yikes, lol. so yeah, just to clarify that part of it!

what I mean by balance is that it would serve as a catalyst to Kacchan finally being able to understand Deku’s side of it. finally being able to see things from the point of view of his rival-friend who’s had the exact opposite arc as him in terms of what he had to do and go through and learn and unlearn to get this far. it would serve as a means of finally bridging that one last gap of understanding between them. it would bring things back into balance because it would bring them back into balance, by giving them the push to finally mend that one last broken part of their former friendship. the part that’s still untouched by both of them, because they’re both afraid of disrupting the current semi-stable truce that they have now in their relationship. even if it’s not perfect. not, if you’ll pardon my use of the word yet again, ideal.

tl;dr I see Bakugou’s introspection as being a lead-in to something potentially game-changing both because I want it to be, and because, as strange as it may seem, the manga has conditioned me to think this way now. to have expectations. to anticipate more depth, more growth. so it may be the case that in this instance I’ve taken those expectations too far and I need to temper them back down and swing them in a less angsty, more traditionally shounen direction. and like I said, if that does wind up being the case, I won’t be upset.

but maybe, just maybe though, this manga will in fact go there once again. if for no other reason than that it can. “Horikoshi really went and did that” is a sentence I’ve gotten very used to typing since I started reading this manga. and so, well, let’s just wait and see.

[lockedstuck]

sorrow that you keep

March 2021 - Sollux Captor

“Vitals!” Dirk announces, rapping on your door with his knuckles. “C’mon, let’s get this over with so I can serve breakfast!”

When you walk out of your room, there’s already a line leading out of the treatment room. The person in front of you, a dark-skinned kid with an Angela Davis-style afro - Karkat, you think his name is - curses up a blue streak while he waits in line.

“I don’t see why I had to get a prissy fucking bastard with insomnia as my goddamn roommate. I didn’t ask for any of this fucking shit. Fucking involuntary status, fucking dumbshit Eridan, I hope this fucking hospital burns down.”

It’s too early to put up with this guy, especially with the migraine you woke up with.

“Not tryna piss you off or anything but do you think you could keep it down with your tirade?”

If looks could kill, the glare Karkat shoots you would have rendered you to a pile of smoldering ash.

“I haven’t had a cigarette in six days, it’s seven oh fuck in the morning, my roommate wakes up seventeen times a night, and I might be losing my job because my shithead brother signed me into this fucking place, so you can go straight the fuck to hell,” Karkat replies.

“Are you this obnoxious later in the day, or did they just forget to give you your ativan last night?”

“I don’t even take ativan, dumbfuck.” He squares up. Maybe if he weren’t five foot one, you’d actually be afraid. “I’ll knock you out if you keep talking, though.”

Behind you, a guy with eyes so dark that they might be violet moves to plant a hand on Karkat’s shoulder. It’s your roommate, Gamzee Makara, who appears to sleep for fifteen hours a day. Karkat surprisingly refrains from flinching or scowling. You probably wouldn’t scowl at this guy if you had the opportunity either; he’s easily six foot four, his hair curling around his ears and sticking out worse than Karkat’s.

“Now there’s no reason to get up an’ motherfucking truculent with the new guy so early in the morning.”

Karkat rolls his eyes. “Makara, if you tell me to calm down and wait for the morning miracles, I’ll kill you too.”

“There’s no need to wait, Karbro. The sunrise is a miracle in and of itself. When I looked at the ceiling in my room, I saw miracles. Everywhere.”

“They need to put you on haldol, man.”

“I don’t need no helldogs telling me what to do. I just go with the flow.”

“Of course,” Karkat says, almost fondly. “You and your motherfucking miracles.”

When it’s nearly Karkat’s turn for vitals, Dirk escorts Roxy over to the nurses’ station. She blows a kiss at Karkat, who raises his hand in half-salute. Ignacio walks out of the charting room and takes a look at her.

“Miss Lalonde, I have medication for you. This’ll help with the shakes, hypertension, and sweating.”

Roxy puts her hands on her hips and winks at him. “Again, cutiepie?”

Ignacio rolls his eyes at her and shakes his head, his mohawk moving slightly with the motion. He hands her a medication cup and a paper cup of water. She swallows her medication down fluidly, without drinking any of the water. That has to be an xbox achievement.

During breakfast, as Eridan continues to scowl and bitch about his lack of breakfast (he has ECT today), and Karkat tells him to stop being an overdramatic fuckass before he stabs him with a fork, Dr. Vandayar pulls you aside for one of his “no big deal” discussions.

Otherwise known as morning check-in.

Truth be told, you rather like Dr. V, or Krishna, which is what he told you that you could call him, even though he has a doctorate.

He got you access to sharps, your body wash, and your clothes. He means well, and aside from when he checks in every morning, he doesn’t force you to talk if you don’t want to.

“How are you doing today, Mr. Captor?” he asks.

You shrug. “I’m okay, I guess. Pretty much the same as yesterday.”

Then come the “one to tens”, as you’ve come to think of them. Krishna has his little clipboard balanced on his thigh.

“Urges to hurt other people, one to ten?”

You think of Karkat Vantas and that smug fucking look on his face.

“Two.” It’s always less than three. Maybe that’s why he starts with it.

“Urges to hurt yourself, one to ten?”

You contemplate yesterday’s DBT handout, Roxy’s outburst about self-destruction, and its many varying connotations.

“Eight,” you reply.

“Suicidal thoughts, one to ten?”

“Nine.”

“Active or passive?”

“Passive, mostly. Fleetingly active. I don’t want to live if I’m going to burden people, the usual.”

“Do you have any plans to seriously harm yourself on the unit?”

“No. Not here,” you say. “Everything I’d want to do would require me to be outside.”

“I see,” Krishna says. “Have you been seeing or hearing things that aren’t really there?”

“No.”

“What about feeling like people are out to get you, or sending you special messages?”

“No. Nothing like that. I get enough of that shit at home.”

Dr. V does not laugh at your attempt to joke about your chaotic home life.

If you were to be completely honest, you’re wondering when your medications are going to start working, or if they’re going to start working. Talking to the other patients has been a double-edged sword. So many of them have been on a million different drugs without relief.

Logically, you know that it’ll probably take whatever you’re on more than a week to cure you, but… You’re scared. You’re not in full control and it scares you. There’s a reason you slit your throat. There’s a reason you’re here.

You’re scared the melancholy will wrap itself around you like a shroud, and never relinquish its hold. You’re scared you’ll hate yourself and this life forever.

“I thank you for your honesty, Sollux,” Dr. V says, once he makes his notes. “Any uses of target behaviors that I should be aware of?”

“I cut myself with a plastic knife on Friday evening. Not deep enough to need medical attention, though.”

You scan his expression for evidence of emotion, but he has the mother of all poker faces. All he does is write your answers down in his incomprehensible shorthand,

“How did that make you feel?” he asks. “Remember, it didn’t necessarily have to make you feel anything.”

You shrug. “It helped relieve the tension in the moment, I guess.”

“But it also made me feel disappointed later on,” you go on. “Disappointed at myself. I’m such a fucking idiot for relapsing.”

Dr. V jots this down as well, and shuffles through his papers.

“I wouldn’t use that language to describe yourself. Ridding yourself of maladaptive coping mechanisms can be quite difficult, especially if they have worked for you in the past,” he says. “Nevertheless, do you think you need to be on one-to-one for a few days? So that you stop hurting yourself while you’re here?"

You shake your head vehemently. “Absolutely not. I won’t do what I did again.”

“That is reassuring to hear. I’ll refrain from filling out the paperwork that would put you on constant observation for self-injury. That said, though, there is something you also need to do to prevent that.”

You roll your eyes a little. “You want me to contract for safety, don’t you? Like, filling out one of those sheets that says I’ll grab someone else before I decide to hurt myself. Otherwise I end up on one-to-one, right?”

Dr. V nods at you, before going on. “Yes, that is the general idea. You may either fill it out with me later on in the afternoon, or with a member of the staff with whom you are more comfortable.”

“I’d rather fill it out with you, to be perfectly honest. I trust you.”

He smiles. “I am very glad to hear that, Sollux. I don’t have any further questions for the moment.”’

You get out of your conference with Krishna, and walk into the dayroom.  

Gamzee sits there, watching Good Morning America. He’s got a small smile on his face, and a faraway look in his eye, like he’s both here and not. You call his name to get his attention. It works, his dark eyes trained on you.

“You mind if I sit down?” you ask.

He shakes his head. “Naw, it’s cool. You can even change the channel if that’s somethin’ you wanna do.”

He’s built like a linebacker, all broad shoulders and muscles. He could probably snap you in half if he wanted to. You take the seat next to him and he smiles serenely at you.

“So what’s up?” he asks.

“Nothing, man. Just got outta session with Dr. V. He wanted to make sure I didn’t want to hurt myself.”

Gamzee looks thoughtful. He pulls a red paper flower out of his shorts and hands it to you.

“I folded that a couple days ago. You can have it, if you want.”

“For what?”

“For when you need to up an fuckin’ remember the miracles. Like we talked about last night.”

Last night, Gamzee harangued you at length about the Mirthful Messiahs, and the Dark Carnival, and with a practiced skill you have learned from your sibling’s rants about the NYPD following them, you tuned him out utterly. You really hope he doesn’t count you as a believer in his weird ass faith, which seems like some kind of psychotic juggalo cult.

He’s a nice guy, though. You know he’s not utterly harmless, but he seems easygoing enough. You fiddle around with and tear at a piece of paper until you have a square, which you then use to make a paper crane.

“Hey, Gamzee,” you say. He glances up at you.

“Yeah?”

You hand him the paper crane. “You know, the Japanese believe if you fold a thousand of these, you get a wish. I’m not folding a thousand cranes, but this is for you.”

“I will cherish it every day of my motherfucking life.”

You think he means it, too.

Art group is at 11. Katya herds everyone who wants to show up into the art room. So far, that’s you, Roxy, Karkat, June, Gamzee, Calliope, and Porrim. Karkat nods his head at you, and then inclines it toward the door. He wants to talk to you one-on-one. Whatever the fuck about?

He looks like he’s swallowed a lemon before he deigns to speak to you, all pursed lips and narrowed eyes. You’re tempted to ask him what the fuck’s eating him, and then he speaks.

“Listen. I want to apologize about earlier this morning,” he says. “I was in a foul fucking mood, and I need to work on not taking that shit out on other people.”

Wait, seriously? He can’t actually think you’re still upset about that; you get cursed out worse by your sibling on a daily basis, and that’s when they’re in a good mood.

“Accepted,” you reply. “Don’t worry about it, man.”

Faint relief breaks out on Karkat’s features.

Katya has all of you gather around before she constructs a box out of a weirdly shaped piece of cardboard that looks as if it’s been cut so that a small briefcase sized box could be constructed.

“These are what I like to call coping boxes. You make the box, and then you decorate it. You can put anything in here. Things that make you feel good, or that make you think, or handouts you get during other groups. Whatefur you want!”

She hands a box to each of you, after she puts out tempera and acrylic paint, colored markers, gel pens, and colored pencils.

You weren’t planning to keep any of your distress tolerance handouts in the box, but maybe you should. Gamzee’s staring at you while he paints, and that’s kind of weird, at least until you get a good look at how he’s decorating his coping box.

He’s painting halfway decent pictures of you, Roxy, Karkat, Calliope and Eridan on the front part of the box, with the word “friends”, in purple cursive.

He counts you as a friend even though the only thing you’ve really had to do with him was vaguely listen while he spouted his weird theories about the mirthful messiahs?

You have to hand it to him, though. Kid’s a real artist, probably - no, definitely - good enough to paint portraits for money over in Washington Square Park or something. Karkat gets a decent look at what Gamzee’s painting and blushes.

“Oh, come on, you didn’t have to put me on the damn box,” he says.

“But you are my best friend in the whole wide motherfucking universe,” Gamzee replies.

Karkat splutters something and looks like he’d like to object, then just sighs, and tells him to make sure he gets Karkat’s good side. 

“Hey, Gamzee!” Roxy calls.

“Yes, Roxybro?”

“Does painting that mean you’re gonna paint me like one ‘a’ your French girls one of these days?”

Gamzee gives this a good half-minute of thought.

“I ain’t up an’ got any motherfuckin’ French girls.”

Meanwhile, you focus on your tree. It looks like a lollipop with antennae, but whatever, that’s going to be as good as it gets. You ask Katya if you can get a piece of paper to paint on, she “of course”s you and hands you a piece of printer paper.

What will you paint today, Sollux Captor? More trees?

Tears spring to your eyes, and just when you think the worst is over, they start trailing down your face. Roxy recoils and apologizes to you, thinking she’s done something, and all you do is cry harder, you fuckup. You can’t do a goddamn thing right. Only things you’re good for are fixing computers and having nervous breakdowns.

Katya looks up from praising Calliope and Gamzee’s collaboration, and walks up to you.

“Hey - no, it’s okay, mew don’t have to cover your face - what’s wrong?”

She crouches so that she’s eye level with you as you sit in your chair. It somehow makes you feel even worse, like you’re some small child that can’t control their emotional outbursts. Come to think of it, you were like this as a kid, too. Tuna was the outgoing twin who made all the friends, and you were the twin who would start crying if you accidentally colored outside the lines.

“It’s alright. If you don’t want to paint, maybe you’d like to go for a walk?” she asks. You shake your head emphatically.

“I’m sorry,” you say. “It’s just that I’ve never really been good at artistic stuff. Sorry I suck so bad.”

“Art group is not about being good or bad stylistically,” Katya says. “It’s about expressing yourself. As long as you’re doing that, you’re fine. I like your tree. You and Roxy are both excellent at trees.”

Roxy, who has been sitting next to you, using highlighters to draw what looks either like a really bad tree or a neon colored mushroom cloud, gives you a small little smile.

“Wanna draw with me?” she asks.

At first, you assume she’s found some oblique way to hit on you the way she does everyone else, but then she hands you the bottle of black tempera paint and a couple of colored markers. You don’t know what she expects you to do with them. Your tree sucks way more than hers.

“If you can’t think of anything to draw, why not try making patterns?” Katya asks.

You guess you can do that. You start drawing red and blue circles on your piece of paper, clustering them closer and closer together. 

Apropos of nothing, you remember the time in undergrad where you and Ray couldn’t get back to campus in time to beat the blizzard. You and she slept overnight in your car, parked in a gas station. Outside, nothing but a vast, enveloping white, what you imagine death or infinity must look like. The whole world rendered down to the slope and curve of dunes and valleys.

If you think hard enough, you can feel the wind rocking the car, can imagine the sound of Ray’s teeth chattering, or the occasional slip of her hands as she does a tarot reading. Another one. Another one down, another one down, another one bites the dust, Queen playing through your radio speakers. She sits in the front passenger seat, one leg bent beneath her.

“You think we’re ever gonna get out of here?” she asks.

At this moment, you ask yourself that same question. It’s a little different, now.

You wish you could take your seven eighths of a computer engineering degree and come up with a way out of this, but you can’t. That’s your problem. You’re only you, and you’ve never been good at managing your emotions.

[ante--meridiem]

How do you see the wizarding world’s view of homosexuality back in the late 1800s when Albus was growing up? How do you think he handled it? Do you think the extreme homophobia and hate in the muggle world played a part other than what happened to Ariana in him wanting to change the muggle world? What do you think his experience with his sexuality was like? Do you see that experience leading to some of the decisions he made in life? Hope you don’t mind me asking :)

I definitely don't mind you asking, though there's a lot here and I don't quite feel qualified to do these questions justice.

So, regarding the wizarding world: I've seen it suggested that the wizarding world didn't have homophobia, but I don't really find that plausible. For one thing, the wizarding world and muggle world were never completely segregated, even if the Status of Secrecy was seemingly much stricter back then. You still have half-muggle half-magic towns like Godric's Hollow, so it's hard to imagine the cultures and prejudices staying completely separate. Even if the wizarding world was completely accepting there would be the problem of "what if the muggles see you being openly gay?". It's possible they would go to the other extreme and pride themselves on how much more accepting they are than the muggles, but the fact that Travers reacted to finding out that Albus and Gellert had been extremely close once with "such good friends" and didn't seem to even consider the possibility of romantic involvement isn't exactly suggestive of a society where same-gender relationships are completely normalised.

If I remember correctly, Word of Rowling is that pure-blood prejudice is the most significant kind of bigotry in the wizarding world. In fact I think she said in an interview that "the main concern for the Lucius Malfoys of the world is getting pure-blood children" (paraphrased). Now, this doesn't suggest to me that homophobia isn't an issue, since "but what about having biological children" is a fairly common motivation for it in the real world. But it does seem to suggest that it's less deeply rooted than in our world, and might be more of a side effect of cultural intersections or subconscious bias towards having children than something people hold as a firm social pillar. So. I think the late 1800s wizarding world would be significantly less homophobic than our late 1800s world, but also probably more homophobic than our current world. I could easily see it being a "don't ask don't tell" kind of situation.

As for whether Albus was affected by that my first reaction is "yes of course, some things are impossible not to be affected by." The quote (paraphrased again) from Aberforth about him being "raised on secrets and lies" may be referring primarily to hiding Ariana, but it does take on certain connotations when you realise we're talking about a gay man in 19th century England. I think it would make Albus more sensitive to noticing social injustices, and more skeptical of taking social attitudes at face value. I also kind of believe he could have some guilt around it, not so much because he's internalised other people's attitudes but because it's an extra secret that could make things harder for his family if it got out, and therefore another reason for him to feel selfish for wanting to pursue his own happiness. (I feel like being told things along the lines of "yeah we accept you, but what will other people think? What if this reflects badly on us?" or "this is an unnecessary complication that will just make your and other people around you's lives harder" by people close to us is a common experience among LGBTQ people, and not one that would play well with Albus' guilt complex.)

I don't think it led explicitly to any of his decisions except in as much as it was part of what formed his personality, and his personality shaped his decisions. I don't think it played an explicit role in any of his politics either, if nothing else because that would be a plot line that requires more sensitivity and attention than I think there's space for given everything else already going on. Like I said before: while I don't think it would be a catalyst it would make him more likely to notice other flaws in society, wizarding and muggle both. It would also partially help build his sympathy towards other marginalised people (since we know Albus draws in and sympathises with people who tend to consider themselves outsiders). Otherwise I absolutely think it plays a role in his private nature and emotional repression, because those tend to be traits developed by people who have been given reason their whole lives to feel they shouldn't openly express themselves.

Besides this, regarding his experience with sexuality... we're veering well into headcanon territory here because I have nothing solid to back up my claims with, but I do think he was well aware of his sexuality and tried dating other people before Gellert. Albus may be emotionally isolated but he doesn't like it that way; I would expect him to have been a bit of a romantic who was already searching for a life partner. However, in between the inherent difficulty of trying to find other gay men to date during that time period, the extra pressure from his family situation, and his own high standards for emotional connection, I can imagine him going into the summer of 1899 already resigned that he wouldn't be able to find a relationship that works. Which only makes it more painful when he thinks he has, and it crashes down spectacularly. I think he would find Gellert's blatant defiance to be a breath of fresh air after spending his life having to carefully consider what other people would say. I see Gellert as the kind of person who would be as open as he can get away with about their relationship (and push the limits of "what he can get away with") which would make Albus nervous, but also be a welcome change from potential past partners who might have been overly cautious or even acted ashamed to be with him. It can be... really really nice to be with someone who doesn't overthink the gender and sexuality aspects of their relationship with you and just treats it as a natural progression of feelings. But the consequence would be that Albus' gratitude for this aspect of Gellert's rebellious nature would make him more willing to turn a blind eye to the rest of it, and we all know how that ends.

So, yeah - I don't think his sexuality ever blatantly influences his choices but it does influence his personality in the "no-one's personality can be completely disentangled from their position relative to social structures" way.

[bellumventurusest-rp]

Emma Vanity - Twenty-Two - Code White - Pureblood

Wand: Swamp mayhaw wood, with a rougarou hair core, 13″, unyielding.

Patronus: Dolphin

Boggart: Herself, as a housewife.

Job: Recruited in her final year of Hogwarts, Emma started playing for the Montrose Magpies as a Chaser right away.

P E R S O N A L I T Y   T R A I T S

Positives: Adventurous, Charismatic, Loyal, 

Negatives: Mischevious, Hedonistic, Overindulged 

H I S T O R Y

The Vanità family of Italy was renowned in Pureblood society for three things: their perfectly pure lineage, their excessive wealth, and most importantly — their fertility issues. For years, the family became smaller and smaller, the problem not much helped by how they refused to marry outside of their circles, or heaven forbid, someone who’s blood purity couldn’t be traced back for at least a century. When Emma’s father, Giuseppe, was born, his twin sister following a few minutes after, the family considered it nothing short of a miracle.

Treated like a young prince, forced into etiquette and manners, and always told to pull up his nose at anyone lesser — it was surprising to all of his family that the boy turned out to be a bit of a dreamer. The House of Vanità was one of tradition, one where publicity, good or bad, was a death sentence, and most of all, they were incredibly rooted in their home country. The connotations to their name were only known in the most coveted circles of high society, their wealth was shrouded in absolute secrecy, and they were seclusive, to say the least — though not enough that it did not strike a chord with most regular members of wizarding society. Both fear and awe was something they cultivated.

With their fertility issues and desire to keep the line pure but without inbreeding, the Vanità’s had soon learned to seek their betrothals outside of the country, which is how Giuseppe wound up with a young, French woman named Camille. They did not meet until a month before their set wedding date, but while Giuseppe was definitely surprised at the beauty of his wife-to-be, what definitely set her apart was her personality. Cultured, sophisticated, and manipulative — though he was unaware of that final one, he definitely felt the effects. Camille heard his whispers of dreams, of raising his family out of that secrecy they so craved, and return it to glory. A name everyone knew. A name everyone wanted to be associated with. They were grand now, grand and ancient and splendid, but they could be so much more. Camille heard it all, and then she went to work.

Not until after their wedding was official did she tell him the truth. Camille’s father had fallen in love with a Veela, and she had been the offspring of that union, though he had kept it secret. It was considered almost normal in France, but there and across the world, it was not. Luckily for her, he did not see it as a downside, but instead as an opportunity, not realizing that she used the gifts of her heritage on him too. She got him to promise her a great many things, but the most important was this: that they would not let their family die out in Italy.

Giuseppe Senior, his father, passed on the exact day they found out Camille was pregnant with their first child, thus making him the next great patriarch of the Vanità family. Tears of joy and tears of grief mingled, as people touched the expecting mothers’ belly at the elaborate funeral — though his own was surprisingly dry. His mother had been born in London, a Yaxley by birth, before leaving to marry in Italy, but she had held onto her connections back home and had made sure her son had done the same with the children of her former peers. And as a few of them showed up for her husbands’ funeral, they whispered of a rumor that made Giuseppe’s eyes go wide — not with fear, but with opportunity.

Knights of Walpurgis, a wizarding society where the purebloods ruled, a Dark Lord promising power to those who searched for it. Once the funeral was over, he told Camille all he had heard, and though her husband looked at it mostly in terms of social status, she saw something else, too — power. Giuseppe was a little hesitant, but she was not, and with all the sway she held over her husband, they started making plans for their move the very next day.

Despite their plans to have her born on English soil and make sure the next generation was firmly rooted in that country, Emmanuella Vittoria Vanità was born two weeks before her mother was due, climbing her way out kicking and screaming. It was much to her grandmother’s delight, who had disagreed with the move, wanting to follow her husband’s wishes, despite his death. She had reluctantly agreed to come with them to the United Kingdom, to reunite with her own family there, and to help them in raising little Emma. And even though she was early, even though she was a girl, even though she’d upended all their plans — her parents were overjoyed with the birth of their child.

It had taken them three years to get to this moment, three years of seeing magical fertility specialists, three years of countless potions that made Camille sick more often than not, but finally, she was there — Giuseppe’s coveted heir, his little Emmanuella, tufts of dark hair sticking up from her head as they wrapped her in the pink blanket and handed her to him. Despite her birth, Giuseppe had no plans to wait more than another week on their move.

Exhausted and holding onto their newborn, the Vanità’s finally arrived in London — and after hearing official after official horribly mispronouncing their surname, they made yet another bold move. An anglicized version. Vanity. His family, being horribly insulted by the change, was smoothed over by lies from Camille. It would make them fit in better, people would accept them, their anonymity would remain. The last one was especially powerful. But when they moved into that enormous estate in Virginia Water, all bets were off.

Attention from the English pureblood society was drawn quite quickly — especially not when you were also related to one of their Sacred Twenty-Eight families through your mother, or considering the fact that your wife had some sort of a supernatural charm about her, or that your daughter was just so impossibly adorable. Camille and Giuseppe found themselves with a stack of invitations to every pureblood ball, charity gala, or even social event a week later, something they took advantage of greedily, leaving their newborn in the care of either her grandmother or one of their various hired helps.

Emma Vanity grew up in the lap of luxury, with absentee parents, but a gaggle of tutors and nannies chasing after her at any given time. Whenever her parents were home, they were loving, doting even — it was just that they loved their social life more. She was left in good hands, they would have no less for their only child — especially when it was so unlikely they would ever have another, but they still left her.

Raised the same way most of her pureblood peers were, her life consisted of tutoring ( both magical and other ), fittings for her clothes, and a variety of events that her parents deemed appropriate for her to attend. That was of course until she spotted the broom one of the cooks standing in their foyer. Emma was immediately intrigued by the object. She’d heard of brooms, of course, but Vanity’s did not use that kind of transportation.

So, she climbed onto the broom, and for thirty seconds — it was like everything was right in the world. And then, of course, she fell on her ass. But Emma Vanity was and never will be a quitter. As a child of extremely wealthy parents, she’d never learned the word consequence, so she took the broom outside without asking the owner, and continued her efforts. It took almost the entire day, complete with a lot of hiding from her tutors ( which was easy when they weren’t looking up ), but at the end of it, she managed to zoom around the estate like she’d been doing this for years. Of course, at the exact moment she attempted to do a dive, her father walked into the gardens and saw her hovering there. Giuseppe and Camille forbade her from any more flying, to instantly return the broom, and chastised her for the mud she’d gotten all over her robes. But the next day, Emma found the brooms stacked in the kitchen closet, and she tried again.

It took her a while to find a decent balance between sneaking off to fly and attending all the activities her parents wanted her too. Mostly, she skipped out on the clothing fittings — asking one of the staff members’ children, who also joined them for tutoring on the estate, to pretend to be her instead. Either the two of them truly did look alike, or the tailors simply didn’t care, but it worked, Emma’s clothes still fit, and she managed to get a steady hour of flying in almost every day — longer, if she got the chance. It was no surprise that when some of her friends returned from their first year at Hogwarts and told her about the Quidditch teams, she immediately knew that she would aim to join one as soon as she got her chance. No one could deny Emma was a natural, backed with almost three years of practice whenever she found a moment — she should be able to get in, right?

But when she got to Hogwarts, and they sorted her into Slytherin, the Quidditch captain saw that excited first-year smile, and even without letting her try out — told her not to even bother until next year. Emma, quickly found out that most of the subjects in school had been covered in her tutoring, and now with her also excluded from the team for at least another year, was not just angry — she was something much worse than that. She was bored. And the school soon learned to fear whenever Emma Vanity was bored. Dubbed a troublemaker from the moment she entered Hogwarts, she started fights, pulled pranks, and insulted teachers. Luckily for, but unbeknownst to her, the Veela nature lurking in her blood made her charming, able to sweet-talk her way out of most permanent marks, and when that failed, her parents and their endless supply of money never did. Ironically, her misbehavior also made her popular — the attention of older years quickly drawn by this young upstart, and they invited her to their parties, if only just for the entertainment she brought.

Emma returned for her second year with a vengeance. They had tried to send her away from try-outs again, but she forced them to let her join, to watch her fly. And then when they realized she hadn’t been lying last year about her abilities and let her join as a chaser, she grinned and told them that by next year she’d be their captain — earning laughs. It was no surprise that after her first Quidditch game, Emma’s popularity skyrocketed. Not only was she an extraordinarily gifted player, but she had also gained a trouble-makers reputation, and she knew for a fact that most of her peers were jealous that they invited her to all the parties they were still deemed too young for. And truth be told, their decision on that was correct because Emma was also too young for them, too young and too impressionable, she did not take well to it. Of course, she loved it, being popular, hanging out with seventeen-year-olds, and even being offered alcohol — but that doesn’t mean it was any good for her. At only age fifteen, Emma had fallen into a life filled with nothing but debauchery, frequently receiving howlers from her parents and grandmother — with her only saving grace being that excellence in Quidditch, which they finally chose to see as a positive.

As she’d promised, she’d become Quidditch captain in her third year, riding it out until her final year. It was the one thing she was actually serious about, showing up to the Pitch every single day, hangover or no hangover, and pushing herself and the team for nothing but perfection. It was the one constant in her entire academic career, despite the fact that her tutors had definitely done their job well enough to make sure her grades were still up to par, it was the one thing that offered her any kind of future aside from partying every single night, spending her family fortune, and dying an early death. Quidditch forced her not to go too far, to make sure she still had something she should be prepared for. It was her heart and soul, something that made her trainwreck of a lifestyle better by heaps. It was no surprise she was scouted by the Montrose Magpies during one of her final matches and joined the team fresh out of school.

Her career forced her to make sure she had her life a little more under control, to make sure she had some semblance of restraint, to make sure she passed her drug tests, but mostly, to make sure she did not lose this beautiful opportunity. To make sure she was not going to lose out on her life’s dream. And then, of course, there was the other thing. A war, raging all around. It followed her around wherever she went, and though her parents allied with the Death Eaters ( even though they were too cowardly to be more than just supporters ) she did not, actually, give a shit. She agrees somewhat with the Death Eater philosophy, largely based on her upbringing and circle of friends, but Emma does not feel strong enough either way to join the fight — and she frequently quips that the only side she’ll ever stand on is her own. But when it’s happening all around her, with the battles that happen in the street, and wixen being carted off to Azkaban every single day, for how long? How long until she has to pick a side, pick up arms and leave her problematic but comfortable little life?

She tries not to think about it. Emma Vanity has better things to do.

R E L A T I O N S H I P S

Andromeda Black - Former Friend - During their Hogwarts days, Emma and Andromeda were quite close, but nowadays, she finds herself more drawn to her other sisters instead. She disagrees with Andromeda’s decision to leave, but still sometimes misses the friendship they used to have, even when she refuses to acknowledge it now.

Emmeline Vance - Tense Friendship - Another friendship that started in Hogwarts, Emma struggles with her relationship to Emmeline even more than Andromeda. At least the latter made the line very clear. She worries about her friend often, trying to stir her onto what she thinks is the right path, but is unsure if Emmeline feels the same way.

Evan Rosier - Bad Influence - Emma has always been attracted to danger, and Evan is exactly that. She enjoys spending time with him, learning about the darker things in life. Still, she’s grown closer to him as a friend and now feels worried about his obsession with Dorcas, fearing that it hurt him a lot more than he is letting on.

Amara Greengrass - Close Friend - Her friendship with Amara has always been about fun. The two of them could light up a room, having the best time. She was worried when Amara momentarily strayed from the path with Alastor but is glad to have her friend back. Though, she can’t help but admit she has a small crush on the other girl too.

Vincent Mulciber - Betrothed, Annoyance - She had hoped her parents would never force her into a betrothal, let alone with someone like him. Emma thinks Vincent is a brute and his treatment of Dolores wasn’t promising much good. Her only hope now is that he thinks the same way and will help her break the engagement.

Faceclaim: Elizabeth Gillies Status: TAKEN

[moviegroovies]

the lost boys + names

so if you’ve been following my lost boys obsession, you’ll have noticed me just absolutely gushing about so many things that really got me hooked into the movie’s clutches, but one thing i decided to save for its own post was my affection for the way the characters are named. 

in particular, the first pair of names that really jumped out at me were edgar and alan frog, for the obvious edgar allan poe reference reasons. i think those names are fitting insofar as the frog brothers are, as sam kind of points out, a little grimdark and morose (even though they’re right about the whole “vampires in santa carla” thing, they could probably stand to lighten up a little about it, right?), which is pretty much poe’s brand name. on a different level, given what little we see of their parents, it kind of makes me wonder if those are the boy’s given names; we see the talk about ex-hippies being hazardous to their children’s given names with michael “moonchild” emerson and star, but edgar allan poe wasn’t exactly famous for resonating with the hippie movement, either.

the tv tropes page for the lost boys acknowledges the meaningful name connotations latent in “lucy” and “max”: lucy, for the character lucy westenra, who was turned by dracula into a vampire (as was max’s plan for lucy emerson), and max, for max schreck, who played count orlok in nosferatu, a film mentioned by name in the lost boys. 

now, here’s the part where the post takes a turn for the “ok, you’re reaching,” so bear with me. honestly, none of the lost boy’s names jumped out at me in particular (as far as i know, none of them have any particularly meaningful connotations, they’re just, you know, names), except for david... but ONLY in conjuncture with star. now, it’s impossible to tell whether or not this was the intention of the writers, but the fact that there are two pretty major characters in the movie with the names “david” and “star,” especially when they’re said in the same line (when michael corners david on the boardwalk, he asks “where’s star, david”), invokes magen david, the star of david, pretty decisively. perhaps this is especially augmented by something my dad said when we were watching the lost boys together; when the boys went to collect star as she meant to go off with michael, he had a comment that went something like “oh yeah, i think she kind of belongs to them.” now, i’m obviously opposed on principle to the idea that girls can belong to guys in general, or that star actually belongs to the lost boys like an item in this specific case, but i don’t think the observation was that far off; she definitely feels that she has to go to david, specifically, when he comes calling, even though it’s pretty clear that she’d rather go get food with michael like he offered. this element of possessiveness kind of rounds out the association; literally, she’s the star of david. so what does that mean?

well, the star of david is obviously the modern symbol of judaism (worth noting here, i suppose, that star’s actress, jami gertz, is a jewish woman). however, as a symbol, it has no real backing in the torah, only really popping up in the last few hundred years as we know it now. the website my jewish learning offers a few explanations of possible meanings: franz rosenzweig wrote about it as the star of redemption, a theme which fits with star’s desire to undo what she’s done in giving up her humanity, while kabbalists used it as a symbol of protection against evil spirits, which can be read into her role in shielding michael from the lost boys, AND in her role in shielding laddie from the frog brothers’ attacks. no matter what the intention in these names were (and i fully acknowledge i might just be reading too much into what was never supposed to be this deep), i think these explanations are worth noting as insights into star’s motivations and her role in the movie.

in my previous posts, i talked a little bit about star’s name outside of the star of david bit, examining the conversation she had with michael where he suggested that her parents called her that because they were ex-hippies, like his, and came to the conclusion that it may be possible that her parents weren’t the ex-hippies, but rather, she was, meaning that star has been with the lost boys for a lot longer than most people think. basically, star’s name has a bunch of layers metatextually, and i don’t think that we would have gotten a whole conversation between the two of them about where her name came from if we weren’t supposed to think about that for a little bit. 

we stan a queen.

finally, and this one i’ll admit is REALLY off the shits, i want to examine the names michael and sam in connection with one another. my own personal bias is really shining through right here, and i want to get that out of the way first and foremost. michael, right now, is pretty much my favorite name, specifically because of my intense interest in angelology and, in particular, the archangel michael. naturally, when i realized that the lost boys had a michael as the main character, i was immediately on the lookout for anything that gave it a Meaningful Name(tm) status, and so when his brother was introduced as sam, i was kind of... excited, to say the least. you see, one relationship i’m really interested in, fictionally, is the sibling-esque bond that people like to examine between archangels, and in particular, the michael & lucifer relationship is my most favorite. the thing is, another name for lucifer that a lot of that type of media in particular uses is sammael... which, obviously, could easily shorten to “sam.” 

in the context of the movie, sam being the one connected to sammael, the fallen angel, the one who disobeyed god’s will and took the path forbidden from him, and michael being the one connected to, like, st. michael, the leader of god’s army, seems a bit... backward. obviously i’m stretching so hard i’ve dislocated my shoulder, but i think it might be interesting if that were on purpose; meaningful names that invoke the most famous angels, but then the characters marked with them go the opposite directions of their namesakes, and it becomes up to sam to bring michael back on the right path. 

...food for thought, i guess? let me know what you think, or if you have any other names from the movie that stuck out to you! this is my absolute favorite thing to analyze honestly. 

[weston-hcs]

Chapter 137: Animal symbolism

Sebastian is an ugly bitch and we all know that. But what does his grossness actually mean? Supernatural beings take on the form of whatever a human is able to comprehend, yet this does not mean that it is their true form. Sebastian’s appearance so far is probably not what one can call a true form. How have I already pumped out a full-on analysis within a few hours after translating the chapter myself? Hi I’m Sen and welcome to my TED talk on demonic and animalistic imagery. 

The first image in Chapter 137 we have of Sebastian’s animal forms is the image of a reptilian like eye. If we were to jump to a quick conclusion, we can make an assumption that Sebastian is the demon Moloch - a demon from Judaism with a lizard like form. In addition to this, Moloch has also been known to feed off of sacrificed children. In this predicament, Sebastian fits these criteria. Lizards, or “leTa’ah”, have been listed in Leviticus 11, said to be unclean “creeping things.”

It is likely that Toboso’s use of animal forms here looks towards Biblical representation, due to the nature of this series, yet another interpretation is quite ironic - lizards contradict one of Sebastian’s most powerful statements in this chapter. They have the power to regenerate that which is lost. Apart from that, the close up of the eye evokes an image of power; not that we haven’t just seen him slaughter a man, but hiding the rest of his form is a powerful technique to make one see him as a being of grandeur, that his eye alone is enough to evoke terror.

The image of the fly is our next image, again only as an eye. Within each unit of Sebastian’s, we can see O!Ciel’s fearful reflection. Judging by how Ciel looks up at him, it can be assumed that… that’s a big bitch. Even more terrifyingly so, Ciel can see his own reflection - he can’t avoid looking at his ‘cowardly’ expression. This adds to the psychological torture that leads to the eventual contract. Looking back at theological sources again, we can ponder upon Sebastian’s identity not being Moloch but rather the better known Beelzebub, Lord of the Flies.

Compounded with the fact that in this chapter Sebastian is only referred to as “the demon/devil”, one could even assume that Sebastian is the greatest demon of them all, as Beelzebub is sometimes used as another name for a devil. Though, judging by Sebastian’s power in comparison to Grim Reapers, I would assume that Sebastian is neither Satan, nor a prince of Hell. Flies have been associated with the devil and evil in many passages of scripture, one of the most famous is when God sent down a plague of flies in the Old Testament - in both Biblical means and in this chapter, the appearance of a fly is a portent for greater tragedy.

Perhaps the most Biblical animal imagery you can get is the snake, what we see Sebastian presented as next. The Fall of Man where Satan in the form of a serpent is what first may come to mind in this scene; Ciel is tempted by the devil without knowing any better, his contract built upon the belief that it was his own fault that he had lost his family. However, the demon Aym seems to fit this motif as well. While every demon takes a beautiful and charming form, Aym is noted for his ability use people’s secrets against them and get them to do things that they otherwise may not want to do.  After each animal that is presented in Sebastian’s form, they so far all fit within the general idea of his character.

Most interestingly is the positioning of this form. The snake appears very near to Ciel, it’s fangs close enough to bite, yet it is still outside of the cage. This contributes again to the psychological fear that Sebastian uses to coerce his victim into forming a contract. Not only does he terrify the child, but symbolically it represents Sebastian’s freedom outside of the cage - while Ciel is obviously constrained within the cage, denying this contract and the demon’s request would mean that he’d be left alone. Sebastian has already demonstrated his power in obliterating everyone outside of the cage, and it’d be an easy feat to destroy the child sitting vulnerable inside it. This image not only adds to the idea of Sebastian as the cunning tempter, but also that he is cruel and ruthless in his ways, finding ease to tap into one’s trauma and terror to get what he really wants. He’s an absolute... snake.

The image of the dog is just about one of the last that Ciel would want to see in that moment. Again, though Sebastian may not have had knowledge of it, this form again, adds to the idea of tapping into mental torment. For Ciel, who also thinks of how he can’t even run back to his dog anymore, this only adds to rub salt in his wounds. By appearing as a dog, Sebastian can appeal to Ciel’s guilt, making him feel as if it was his fault that his dog had died, but he can also create the fear that even those who once loved him now despise him. No wonder this is the image that shows before he’s finally broken.

This appeal also grants the idea of safety. We’ve established that he is the guard dog to the Queen’s guard dog right at the start of this series. For Ciel, who’s lost one of the last beings that protected him, having the same creature appear to him grants an idea of hope. This of course is truly sad, considering that Sebastian steals all of this away by word of the contract, but it’s still enough to deceive Ciel into thinking that he has no choice but to come to Sebastian. I mean, Sebastian is a real.... son of a bitch.

The next three images placed in succession, which can mean that they are or less significance. However, these three animals - a raven, an octopus and a goat - are still important in understanding Sebastian’s nature. Interestingly, anthropologist Claude Levi Strauss proposed that ravens are almost mythic in status as they are the mediator animals between life and death, being carrion birds. These birds have been associated with Sebastian before in Toboso’s sketches and moreso the introduction to the anime. While the anime-canon is one that most of us would like to forget, it has become increasingly relevant with the arrival of the recent chapters, what with Alois being used as a parallel to Ciel’s suffering. The contract in the anime is depicted in a shower of raven feathers, so having Sebastian be portrayed here as a raven is fitting. All in all, this… doesn’t really tell us much of what we already know. Sebastian is powerful, what’s the deal with that?

The deal is that he may have not been so powerful before. In German stories, and as we know Toboso does pull inspiration from Germany, ravens are the damned souls. Perhaps this is Toboso’s indicator of what demons actually are. Many theories have speculated that in the series they must be fallen angels, or that demons were just born demons - it can be seen that Sebastian may in fact be a damned soul, once a human, but sentenced to an eternity of suffering. This however is all speculation and can be considered as Toboso teasing us on the discovery of what Sebastian is later on.

Even more confusingly so… we have… an octopus? There isn’t much to go upon in biblical terms. Apart from the fact that you’re not supposed to eat “anything in the seas… that does not have fins and scales”, octopi are pretty much irrelevant. It’s positioning in the panel seems distant yet the stance of it’s tentacles appear to be ready to pounce upon Ciel. In fact, both the octopus and raven appear in this way. The statement that Sebastian has been “summoned” and “that this fact shall never change” is fitting with the image - once both have a hold on their targets, it will be near impossible to be free from their grasp. This octopus represents the futility of escape. Sebastian is the only choice Ciel has at surviving. (The discord chat kept on making Octodaddy jokes as I wrote this and I almost lost my will to live)

The goat is probably the most significant image of the devil, alike to the snake. During the Green Witch arc, Sebastian’s description of their meeting to Sieglinde even shows the typical depiction of a devil - a goat head, bird-like wings and a woman’s breasts. This image was worshipped by many cults such as the Free Masons. However, most significantly, this is the image of Baal/Baphomet (and his other many ridiculous names), one of the worst demons. In fact, I would say that Baal is closest to Sebastian’s character out of any demon that I could pull right outta my ass. As a commander of war, Baal supervises the destruction of masses - during the Green Witch arc, he finds interest in the development of humanity, but in particular their war efforts over science. Baal also desires sacrifices in great numbers, usually with sacrifice under deception… as we witnessed in the last few chapters.

Though I don’t believe that Sebastian is actually one of the named demons in any monotheistic religion, I do see that he is comparable to many demons. This is exactly the danger that we shouldn’t fall into so early. The image of the goat is deceptive; it’s what one usually assumes when they think about an animalistic devil. Perhaps this is a clue as to Toboso telling us not to get too comfortable with our perception of Sebastian just yet - in fact, I beg to argue that this is a forewarning of us getting further insight into Sebastian’s character as a whole.

Finally, we arrive at the image of a bat. The idea of bats as demonic has existed in many cultures. Looking outside from Biblical connotations, bats have been associated with creatures as the Jilaiya in Indian lore and more. Once again, positioning is important, with the bat outside of the cage, a taunt to coerce Ciel into accepting the contract. To cast someone “to the bats”, a saying used in the Bible when told what to do with idols, is to consign them to desolation or ruin. This is exactly what Sebastian is doing; it is through Sebastian’s hand that Ciel will be lead to damnation. However, these are all ideas that we’ve beaten half to death in the fandom. Apart from plot revelation of Sebastian’s manipulation, there isn’t too much that we learn about Sebastian at all.

Now what will I conclude out of all of this? You poor sad fools… Sebastian doesn’t have a true form. Toboso is too lazy to draw- Nah, I’m just fucking with y’all. We won’t see that true form for a while. We’re going to get shady little snippets of what he is, but Toboso might stick with the idea that demons are incomprehensible and unfathomable to the human eye. Yet, this is a forewarning that we will eventually gain further insight into what Sebastian is. However, if you’d ask for my interpretation…

Sebastian is full of bullshit and that might just be all that we get.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

Shoutout to @asthmaticastre for putting up with my bullshit.

[jibunstudies]

Why do you hate the word gaijin?

*cracks knuckles*

So let’s talk about why gaikokujin is okay but gaijin is…not.

外国人 (gaikokujin) is the Japanese word for foreigner, and it’s perfectly acceptable to describe people that are literally “from an outside country.” We have this word in English and we use it to describe the same kinds of people. In fact, I’m pretty sure the word for “foreigner” exists in every language. 

That being said, 外人 (gaijin) has long been an insult directed towards foreigners in Japan. Recently, the term has been fairly watered down and I think it’s being “reclaimed,” especially by 外国人 themselves with things like “GaijinPot” and the “Oh, silly gaijin!” sayings for when foreigners make silly mistakes in Japan. 

But that doesn’t mean I don’t hate it or hate when it’s used.

In March, a guy I knew from high school that was finishing up his mission in Japan got ahold of me on Facebook and was like “Wow, I didn’t know you lived in Japan!” and we got chatting a bit about life in Japan and the Japanese language. I had recently posted a short status in Japanese before this, and he said to me, “I’m surprised that you’ve only been studying for a year! Your use of kanji is really good as far as I can tell.” I thanked him, even though I felt weird about the comment. Then he said, “Yeah! You speak Japanese well for a gaijin.”

It just really rubbed me the wrong way because it felt like an insult, especially coming from another foreigner also learning Japanese. I suppose, for some context, I’ll mention that he’d just spent the last 15 minutes offering to “send me some great resources” and then being surprised to find out I’d already finished them (like Tae Kim’s Guide) or knew about them and didn’t find them effective, because I’d only been studying for a year so it wasn’t possible my Japanese could be that good. (Seriously, this is what he told me.)

So the comment felt backhand, even if it wasn’t meant that way.

Here’s the thing – whether or not people are trying to reclaim the word is up to them and up to society as a whole. Feel free to call yourself a gaijin all you want, but at the end of the day – it has historically been used in negative contexts by Japanese people to isolate non-Japanese from their circles.

Also – it’s really taboo now to call Japanese people “Japs.” They don’t like it, and they find it offensive, even if it’s used in a light-hearted and friendly context by people who mean no harm and just like to shorten their words. I’ve had quite a few Japanese people that went abroad tell me that it really hurt them when they heard it, because it made them feel less human and more “other.” 

That’s how I feel when I hear the word 外人.

Yes, I am absolutely a foreigner because I’m not Japanese. I don’t want to be Japanese. That’s not the problem. I’m perfectly happy existing outside of the “Japanese circle.” But I think that there’s a huge difference in the connotation that comes from 外国人 and 外人, and while people are trying to reclaim the word to be more positive, I still hate hearing it and really dislike it.

As always, my experience and opinion is not a universal one and I’m not claiming it as such. But this is just how I feel about it and why I don’t like it.

[ryokourecollections]

Beginning of Golden Week

    I had a nice weekend and Monday off of work to start of Golden Week of this year, but unfortunately they weren’t really things I could take nice representative pictures of - so if a text post will do, I’ll do my best to recount them!

    First thing was a trip back to Akihabara - this time with a guide in the form of my coworkers. One of my coworkers needed new parts for his new PC that he’ll be building here, so we took the occasion to travel around Akihabara to get him some parts and accessories on the cheap(er [sometimes] than Amazon...)! Apparently, on Sundays, the main street of Akihabara is closed to traffic until about 8pm, so we had a mission to ping pong across the main thoroughfare and make one pass down the whole street, visiting as much as we could!

    We started out having lunch at a chain restaurant called Go-Go Curry, (The Go part being evocative of their mascot - the gorilla!) and while not the best food I’ve had in my trip so far, it was a lesson in how to get a lot of sustenance for a very low price. We headed into of computer software shops first, buying various peripherals, and oogling the more expensive parts, and then we headed to one of the several stories high erotic shops that Akihabara used to be truly known for, against my druthers, but for the purpose of tourism, I suppose.

    In all honesty, it wasn’t all that surprising except in volume - that and the creepier/more awful stuff I had already heard about from stories online. The weirdest thing about it was the number of casual customers - when there are places where you and your fellows can so unabashedly browse what would be considered so intimate by the average American, it makes sense that you might get stereotyped with perversion or excess sexual publicity by those people. It would seem almost freeing if it wasn’t so one sided towards men. One of the floors even had signs disallowing women, with the connotation that if a woman were to see the kind of merchandise they were trying to sell, she might spoil the fun - needless to say, to me, that was the worst of it.

    Thankfully we had a large portion of our night left after that, and I managed to land upon currently my favorite coffee shop I’ve reached here in Japan! For those of you who may not know (though of my current readership, I suspect these numbers are few) I’m a coffee nut, and while the general status quo of coffee here is higher than in the United States (according to only my opinion, of course) it’s still not on the cutting edge most of the time -  black drip coffee is all of a dark, mainly South American feeling, and espresso drinks are mostly lattes, with the rare cappuccino or straight shot available here or there. But this shop (COFFEE VAULT, Akihabara) actually had a variety of specialty beans available for pour over (or hand drip coffee, for those who prefer that term). The shop was tucked away on a third floor tucked behind a closed door, and was exceptionally quiet and calm. I went for an Ethiopian, as I was craving any sort of light roast coffee, and even though it wasn’t the best Ethiopian I had ever had, it was so refreshing! It had intense orangey flavor - my coworker bought an orange cheesecake to go with his drink - I think it would have been an awesome fit... but it gives me incentive to return!

    We went to a couple other shops selling manga, figurines, gunpla, games, and anime, but finished off our night at the Arcades, as they were open later than most other things. I played a bunch of music games (one of my desktop gaming specialties) and while I did better than I had expected, I hurt my hands much more than expected on the hard arcade buttons. I wanted to try my hands at some fighting games, but there didn’t seem to a big scene at the arcade we went to, so I let it lie. I wasted some money on the crane machines trying to get a two for one pull (which was so close!), but was reassured by my poor coworker, who spent over 30USD trying to get a big prize that, while tantalizing, wouldn’t budge. We tried the well circulated trick of asking a store employee to readjust the position to “unstick” it, but he ended up essentially undoing some progress... goes to show you can’t always trust the experience of others! We had dinner at a “cheap” (quotations indicate that it wasn’t, in reality, cheap...) izakaya and headed home from Akiba station, past some pour souls who were ever so drunk.

    The next day, I was invited to a barbecue by my host family, which was a gathering of all the Japanese friends and acquaintances they had made during their time in Singapore. It was a really nice bunch of people and great speaking practice - I had to leave early to run an errand, but I was told later that it was quite the party - it only came to a stop because the host passed out in a flower pot!

    That night, I also went to a public bath (温泉) for the first time! It was something that I knew I should do during my time here, being such a tourist staple, but also something I was quite honestly nervous about, having never been in any publicly nude situations. I was surprised by how natural and calm it felt - when everyone’s trying their best to relax in the various baths, it’s not really a situation where you pay mind to anyone aside from yourself, and maybe your company (which in my case, was my family). There was a piping hot bath, which you were supposed to alternate with an extremely cold one for good circulation, a bath charged with a light electric current for the same purpose, an outdoor bath, and some massage baths similar to the American hot tub. The water was supposed to be true mineral water piped from a spring, but my host family told me they doubt it due to the week feeling. All in all, however, it felt like a spa treatment, and left me feeling quite refreshed! On the other end I spurned the traditional milk drink (it’s supposed to taste extra good after the bath) for something I hadn’t heard of - a sort of blueberry vinegar “health” drink. It was definitely vinegar, and extremely acidic, but it only hit you in the very back of your throat, so you had to be careful not to take big gulps. The rest of the taste was like some sort of blueberry juice drink - definitely strange, but I can’t help but admit that it was cleansing as advertised.

Probably boring to read so much with absolutely no pictures, so I’ve done a better job with the second half of Golden Week. In general this seems like a lot of reading - It’s exciting to me but perhaps not as much to the average reader. Perhaps I’ll make more of an effort to cut things down, or perhaps have a weekly/monthly highlights type post that just has the juiciest bits. Until then!

​

[ptw30]

Ficlet: Worst-Case Scenario

Part of the Blade!Shiro series

Summary: It isn’t easy being the only human in the Galra Empire, Shiro knows well. After his human father and Galra stepmother leave he and his half-Galra brother, Keith, to fend for themselves, Shiro resorts to the worst-case scenario time and time again to survive. And now that Keith is sick and in desperate need of medicine, Shiro has no choice but to proposition a high-ranking Galra official. But this time, it might not be GAC he receives – but salvation.

i.e. How Shiro becomes the only human member of the Blade of Marmora

A/N: This was written with my VLD Drabble Challenge commuter AU prompt in mind, and I held off posting it then in hopes of participating in Galra Week. But then Galra Week said it doesn’t reblog NSFW, and while this is has nothing graphic, the content discussed is definitely mature. So please read with caution. 

Warnings under the cut - to be safe, NSFW 

Warnings: Prostitution (nothing graphic – Shiro propositions Ulaz and references his times with Sendak.)

The lean but built Galra kept glancing over at Shiro with clear intent, helping to make the decision that much easier. The Galra's face was lavender, pretty and smooth for the race, and dressed in a black suit of the empire’s armed forces, he held a high rank and therefore, received the best medical attention. He was most likely clean.

Shiro could do worse.

He had done worse, but Keith's cough now sounded wet. He'd carried a fever for the last three days, and the little money they'd gotten from Shiro's last "odd job" ran out when he brought the tickets to the skyway. He figured they had another hour or two before the conductor kicked them off, but the warmth and long benches gave Keith a comfortable and relatively safe place to sleep.  

It was a restless slumber, though, with loud, guttural hacks and delirious mumbles. The eight year old was getting progressively worse, his purple fur matted with sweat, his large cat ears drooping, and his face scrunched in pain. Even his tail was tucked between his legs.  

When Keith coughed again and moaned, he resituated his head on Shiro’s balled up jacket, his own covering his upper body. The noise and motion drew the Galra’s attention again, and though Shiro’s stomach plummeted, one job would get him enough money for a room, some soup, and probably a few pills for Keith.

Shiro only hoped this Galra didn't have a marking kink like that bastard Sendak.

With a resigned sigh, Shiro stood, pressed a tender kiss to Keith's burning forehead, and started toward the Galra soldier. Shiro's undershirt was prefect for solicitation, tight across his growing muscles and cutting off at his sculpted shoulders. In a few years, he'd be built, able to protect Keith and himself without fear against even the fiercest Galra. For now, they needed just to survive, and sometimes, that took extreme measures.

With his taller form, the Galra could stare straight into Shiro’s eyes even while sitting. His own were bright, almost a cheerful amber, so Shiro stuffed his hands in his back pockets and said evenly, "Services start at 500 GAC."

The Galra's eyes shot wide and turned toward the bench where Keith rested, and Shiro immediately shut that down, stepping back into the Galra's eyesight. "Hey, now it’s 750, and if you glance that way again, I will kill you."

He'd done it before; he'd do it again.

The Galra stood then, towering over the still growing Shiro. Great, this Galra had to be a super creep, but Shiro set his shoulders. He wouldn’t let anything happen to Keith.

The Galra didn't look toward Keith again, only bent to scrutinize Shiro's eyes. "You're fully human. Out here? I didn't think that was possible."

Most lifeforms in the Galra Empire felt that way, unfortunately. "Are you interested or not?"

"Hm." A wandering hand ghosted down his back, caressing his firming muscles and sliding over his smooth shoulder blades. Shiro bit back a bitter laugh because of course, this Galra was interested. Any pervert in the general vicinity noticed he was human and loved nothing more than to feel his vulnerable skin and mark it as their own. Just like Sendak.

“How did you find yourself all the way out here?” The Galra’s voice grated a bit, like it was used to scream commands during battle. “We’re hundreds of lightyears away from Earth.”

“Money upfront. Discussion to the minimum.”

“You must be an undocumented citizen, or are you owned by the little one back there?”

Shiro bristled, though he shouldn’t have. It wasn’t a new question, and his little brother being half Galra helped them to survive after their father drunk himself into a stupor and Keith’s Galra mother left for…wherever she was. With the Galra regarding every other lifeform as property, Shiro managed to navigate his cruel caste in Galra society thanks to Keith, even if the Galra in question knew nothing of his privileged status.  

Shiro stepped out of the Galra’s hold, hands curling into tight fists. “Look. Are we doing this? If not, I’ve got places to be.”

Despite not wanting more scars, Sendak would probably give them a room for a few days and medicine for Keith’s illness in exchange for a few favors. It was a worst-case scenario, but they were there if this Galra wasn’t willing to help.

Help? Shiro snorted. The Galra Empire had a way of twisting words to have dark connotations.

When the Galra pulled his head back and revered Shiro with a long, stringent gaze, Shiro huffed and turned, only to stop at the Galra’s next words.

“What happened to Ryou? He did not return to Earth?”

Shiro swung around, eyes trembling, mouth agape – this Galra knew his father? – when the Galra lunged. His hand swept across Shiro’s lower back and freed the dagger he kept hidden there, a luxite blade adorned with a glowing purple symbol.

“Give it back!” Shiro demanded – it was the only thing he hadn’t sold, including his morality – but the Galra simply snatched Shiro’s wrist. With his opposite hand, he pressed two fingers against Shiro’s neck, and a sudden crack engulfed Shiro’s world in darkness.

“Takashi?”

Shiro’s head thumped in a painful beat, almost the exact same rhythm of the tiny tugs on his shirt.  

“Taka-SHI?”

He shifted, neck stiff and sore, and a heavy weight settled upon his stomach.

“TAKASHI!”

Shiro woke up, fully alert and shooting to sit up. On instinct, his arms wrapped about the smaller Galra who had been huddled against his side, but he immediately sought the tiny, duel amber eyes gazing up with a clarity he hadn’t seen in over a week.

“Keith! Are you okay?”

“Yeah, Ulaz gave me some medicine. Said you needed some time to recover, too, but – ”

Panic immediately seized Shiro. “Medicine? What kind of medicine? Did you take it? And Ulaz? Who the hell is – ” Someone shifted just over Keith’s head, and Shiro pulled Keith closer, as if protect his brother from the large Galra who now stood in the corner of the room. Dressed in a black suit with a large dagger peeking up from behind his back, the Galra sent fine tremors through Shiro’s body, though he put on a strong front with narrowed eyes and a grating tone.  

“You!” It was the Galra from the train. “Where are we? Who are you?”

“We are currently in the Thaldycon System –” The Galra bowed, fist over his heart. “– and as your little brother informed you, I am Ulaz.”

That explained absolutely nothing. “Why did you bring us here?”

Ulaz stepped forward, purposefully but steadily, as if not to further frighten an already hissing cat, and then sat on the bed just beyond Shiro’s bent knees. He placed a hand upon Keith’s head, much to Shiro’s distress, and ruffled the soft locks.

“Kolivan will not like a human in our ranks, but I will not give him a choice. If we do not fight for our families, then what are we fighting for?”

Shiro agreed to that, especially when Keith began to purr. “What does that mean?” he asked in a strangled scream.

Ulaz smiled and lifted up the dagger for Shiro to accept once more. “It means, welcome to the Blade of Marmora…Paladin.”

More from the Blade!Shiro series