#yes i just posted this i forgot to edit the duration

[galaxxiwrites]

Heya! =D so you can decide if you wanna do it, but can you do a headcanon reaction of how Akira, Zakuro and Mizuki would react to their darling protecting them like a shield when they noticed that someone was about to try and hurt them and ended up getting badly injured from the hit. Again completely fine if you ignore this request.

Angst? *cracks fingers* Hegg yeah.

warning: these ended up being super long

edit: I forgot to mention, it has mentions of blood and shot!!

prompt: You and your lover were merely enjoying your date together, until you noticed a glint of something hiding in the shadows. It wasn't until you heard a loud bang did your mind register it was a gun. Despite your confusion, your body moves faster than your mind processes anything and you shove your lover away from the bullet's path—unfortunately leaving you to take the bullet in his stead.

Taking a hit (ft. Mizuki, Akira & Zakuro)

Mizuki

Mizuki is stunned. His mouth agape as he stands there, unsure of what to do first.

His mind wrestles with thoughts of getting the bastard who shot you or helping you, but when he sees the pool of blood slowly growing bigger, his body moves by itself.

"Hey...hey...! (Y/n)!"

Mizuki screams and shakes you, but your lack of response makes his heart drop.

He's racing to grab his phone, and his hands were too shaky to properly work the touchpad, but despite the odds he was able to properly pick out Kokuyo from his list of contacts and calls the one man he looks up to.

"Mizuki, what is it? We're in the middle of practice—"

Kokuyo sounded annoyed, but immediately fell silently when he heard Mizuki's sobs.

"Kokuyo...what do I do—?"

Mizuki can't talk properly, but does his best to explain the situation to him.

Kokuyo tells Mizuki to wait there with you while he calls an ambulance. Not like Mizuki had much of a choice anyway, as he didn't want to leave you alone.

The ambulance arrives after what feels like forever, and Mizuki's sobs that finally dried a while ago start up again as he sees you being whisked away into the vehicle on a stretcher.

For the remainder of what happened, it was all a blur to him. All Mizuki remembers was crying in front of the ER while they worked on stabilizing your condition.

After those gruesome hours of worrying, the doctors finally leave the ER. They tell Mizuki they did what they could—and that your chance of survival was 50/50 at best.

Mizuki was about to beat the doctor for not doing a better job of saving you, but Kokuyo stopped him before he could grab the doctor by the collar.

Mizuki asked for a few days off Starless, and even asked Sotetsu to dig up some information on your the attacker.

"Don't worry, (y/n). I'll make sure whoever did this to you is gonna pay."

He says, though not really waiting for a reply. After all, how could a person in deep slumber ever answer back?

Akira

Akira immediately calls the ambulance, and tells them everything despite his shaky voice almost failing him multiple times throughout the duration of the call.

Akira also tells Kokuyo about what happened, and excuses himself time off from Starless until he was assured that you were no longer in critical condition.

He stayed up all night outside of the ER, unable to even sit down despite his feet almost giving out from the fatigue of him pacing back and forth.

"We tried to close the shop as fast as we could. How is (y/n)?"

Takami asks, shocking the daylights out of Akira who was too focused on his thoughts of you to even realize that they arrived.

Akira's voice failed him. All he could was stare blankly back at the doors leading to the ER room, where you were.

Some time after, some doctors and nurses finally left the ER room. The one handling your operation told Team W that your condition has stabilized, and that you should be fine soon.

Finally, Akira was able to calm down. He just dropped to the floor, his whole body trembled as a murmurs of relief could be heard.

Taiga on the other hand, decided to dig up some information. After all, the world now revolved around the internet—it wouldn't be surprising if some wackjob ended up posting whatever schemed they had on their social media, especially if it was a throw away account.

Luckily, this sort of thing was childs play for the tech expert, and after a few hours of searching, was finally able to trace the fake account to its real owner—one of Akira's delusional fans.

The singer is mortified to see the latest post on the person's social media.

"Soon, he'll be mine."

Again, Akira's nerves tensed. Kokuyo smacks Taiga for showing them such information when Akira hasn't rested yet, but the singer thanks his team member. He even commits the person's face to memory, despite his mind feeling light from all the stress and lack of sleep.

In the early morning after her surgery, a nurse was scheduled to come in to monitor on (y/n)'s condition.

Akira stands to greet the nurse, but stops himself when he recognizes the face. This woman was no nurse, it was his fan.

He absentmindedly mumbles the person's social media handle, staring at them wide-eyed in disbelief.

Hearing her name being called out excited the fan.

"Yes! That's me! Don't worry Akira...once I get rid of this pest, we can finally be together. Like how it's supposed to be!"

Akira couldn't fathom the words that came out of this deranged fan's mouth. Without realizing it himself, Akira had his hand clenched into a fist, ready to punch this lunatic and hopefully fix whatever brain wires needed repair.

"Oi, give it a break. Jeez, a man can't even enjoy a smoke break."

Kokuyo came just in time to stop Akira from beating the woman in front of him to death, meanwhile Sin held the woman down. Akira was about to ask how they knew, but Taiga waved his phone to show hom some kind of gps app.

"It's a tracker. I had a feeling she would be making a move, so I decided to track her phone. Sorry not sorry for invading on your privacy, miss stalker fan." The tech master announces proudly.

"Takami's gonna give her over to the police. Meanwhile...you should sleep. Those eyebags don't suite you, pretty boy."

Kokuyo says, before leaving with the rest of Team W to give the two of you some silence—one that Akira desperately needed as he finally dozes off to sleep on your bedside.

Zakuro

Zakuro has a menacing look on his face—it's a smile, but so distorted with pain that he looks like a maniac.

He shakes your limp body and calls out your name.

"O—ya...? (Y/n)...?"

Zakuro's voice cracks as he realized your body remained unmoving. Zakuro's mind is blank— for the first time he's never felt so lost.

It wasn't until he received a text message did his mind finally managed to start working again.

"Good job on luring her out, ×××"

Read the text message from the unknown number. It doesn't take a genius to connect two and two together, after all, no one should have known his real name. You were targeted by Black Card—but why? What did you have to do with any of this?

Zakuro, instead of directly calling the ambulance, texts Qu to do it in his place, as he knew their number two would ask later rather than sooner.

Zakuro hides himself among the crowd, but he feels his heart drop when he sees you out on the stretcher.

He wants to be there with you, at least holding your hand while they take you to the ER. But now was not the time, not when someone from Black Card might still be monitoring his movements.

He returns to Starless, and it was only until Kei asked Zakuro about the source of the bloodstain on his clothes does he realize his garments were soiled—with your blood.

Quite ironic, considering how this is the perfect literature imagery of a person's blood on one's hands. So ironic that Zakuro breaks down into a chuckle.

Team C's singer asks Kei for some time off on Starless. Naturally, Kei can't just give anyone time off, they were employees in an industry that requires one's constant presence to remain relevant.

Kei tells Zakuro that of the latter would explain, then he might consider it.

"(Y/n)...She was shot."

Was all Zakuro utters before taking his leave from the building. All the others who were in close proximity were shocked, not just at what he said but how he said the news. Zakuro sounded absolutely broken, his voice lost all hints of mischief he once had.

Zakuro wished he was able to visit you and give himself some peace of mind that you were going to be alright, but he can't.

He refused to rest, not until he learns everything. About your connection to Black Card, or why you were specifically targeted. He knows it won't be easy, but he's willing to risk it all for you.

"If you bastards think I'd choose my memories over (y/n), then you're dead wrong. All of you are going to regret this."

[normal-thoughts-official]

HEY SO u didn’t wanna go on a trans!magnus tangent in ur sexuality post but *I* want you to go on a trans!magnus tangent! Tell me more about him coming to terms w/ his identity & how it’s influenced his life and all that. Essentially just give me all the trans!magnus content in ur brain. Love u ❤️❤️❤️ ~cursedlightwood

here’s my hot take: magnus’ gender is Tired. and yes, i will elaborate, because Ive spent the last 2-3 weeks doing research for this ask, so this is probably the most well-informed theory you’ll see on this subject. yeah, we’re doomed

EDIT: i was gonna say this from the get-go but i forgot, so: english is not my first language and i’m unsure about the usage of some terms that i found during research, particularly those referring to traditional javanese religions and customs; so, if you spot anything that is problematic, racist or colonialist please let me know and i’ll change it. 

ok, so i want to start this off by saying that, although javanese society had a binary gender system, they had pretty egalitarian views on gender, and from what i’ve seen the division of labor wasn’t really set in stone - although they were less common than male ones, there were female warriors, for instance. both men and women could be the sovereign and were equally respected, both could ask for a divorce, etc. the most important part of their gender views, to me, seems to be that they believed women were better for diplomatic roles and trading, because they believed men were too emotional and not as good as debating and making compromises as women were (same source)

so i’m just gonna say this, here and now: AFAB!Magnus makes a lot of sense because Magnus is the most diplomatic person you’ll ever fucking see, and in this context, if he were AFAB, he would have been socialized to be for a very young age. and i dont mean hes diplomatic just on the sense that he’s literally keeping most of the characters together and preventing fights (remember when he had to stop a Raphael VS Simon catfight? ugh), but also in the sense that out of everyone hes the one who best handles the seelie queen, for example. he’s good at Wit Battles, negotiating, building bridges and dealing with power relations when its needed.

and i mean, this would also be a pretty good start on why he’d be like “no thanks” when it comes to this whole Womanhood thing, because yeah, Magnus is good at that, he has to be, but does he like it? to me it’s pretty clear that he doesn’t, that he’s absolutely uninterested in anything involving power and negotiations and this whole ridiculous dance it involves. also he’s constantly giving himself the short end of the stick so y’know. honestly, at heart, magnus is an inventor, an explorer; he likes to create things, he likes to learn, he likes to explore the world around him, meet people, help them, build relationships - but on equal grounds, not this whole give-some-take-some thing diplomacy entails. and as a Woman™ in pre-colonial java society, it’s pretty much that, be a farmer, or a concubine - we’re gonna get to that a little bit later on.

so i think in this context little magnus would be like “no thanks” and wanting to go around and, i don’t know, look at plants and learn their properties and figure out why apples fall, or something. it’s not exactly a Man’s Role™ either, although to be fair i found it a little hard to figure out what exactly were men’s roles in javanese society because gender studies usually just focus on women and treat men as the standard and don’t really explore how manhood is construed. but anyway. i know that they were warriors more frequently than women (same source), but women could be warriors as well. like i said, gender roles in javanese society weren’t really set in stone. [alec voice] they’re not rules, they’re suggestions.

add to that the fact that magnus lived in a port city - he had to, since in the early 1600s the dutch were only settling in important ports and trading centers - and the ports in java were very important trading centers that had been attracting people from all over Asia and Europe for centuries, and had a quite good share of migrants and immigrants living there, including quite a good share of Buginese, aka the people who had a 5-gender division. jakarta, which is in java, has like the 10th biggest buginese population in the world, not to mention the countless other societies that had their own views on gender relations; and you have a pretty good and accepting environment when it comes to differences. the javanese were flexible, they were well aware that culture isn’t set in stone, and they were very prone to syncretism. the kingdom allowed people to have any religion they wanted, even if its “official” religion at the time was buddhism. so really: the javanese were actually not very into the whole “imposing cultural constructs” thing, especially the coastal javanese. so magnus would have likely had the freedom to explore and to not really want to conform to any gender stereotypes without that being a HUGE deal, in my opinion.

and then there’s the fact that the concept of womanhood was a pretty disputed one at the time; yes, the javanese had their own views, but it’s important to note that by the 1600s most of the coastal javanese population had converted to Islam, which led to a few differences as well; when compared to other southeast asian communities, for example, the rate of women in trade was a little different - while it was a steady 50% in almost all countries and cultures, in indonesia it was around 30%, because muslim communities had more of a “women stay at home” view. however, when compared to other asian societies such as the chinese society, where the rate was of 1-5%, you can see that the javanese’s egalitarian views on gender stood a fair amount of ground. also, in indonesia, precisely due to their more open views, Islam mostly syncretised with local religions and customs, including the gender views; in Bugis, for instance, the 5-gender system was kept, as were traditional customs such as “ritual transvestism” and homosexuality. so, yes, it was disputed, and people had many views on what people could or couldn’t do, but that mostly ended up becoming a kind of “live and let live” thing. which is the perfect environment for 1- AFAB!Magnus be Very Tired of this whole womanhood thing that no one can even decide what it is anyway; 2- Magnus to say “fuck this” and live as a masc-leaning genderless entity that just wanted to make some goddamn potions.

but then there’s the colonial relations, right? how do the dutch come into this already very complicated and delicately balanced equation? that was honestly the main point of my research, trying to figure out just how much influence the dutch had at such an early stage of colonisation, and also what it would be like to live in a mixed-culture household such as magnus’. here’s what i have:

during the first century of dutch colonisation (aka the part we’re talking about) the dutch and the europeans didn’t really have a big influence in javanese cultural and political relations. the javanese were pretty well organised and had a powerful and strong society so the europeans didn’t really manage to invade them successfully - even the portuguese, the most powerful european nation at the time, tried and failed to invade them for the whole 16th century (get rekt lmao). so what the dutch did was, they simply established themselves as one of the many companies that settled in jakarta to trade, and slowly built their power and influence from there. don’t get me wrong, the dutch were very violent colonisers and in other parts of indonesia they were doing the european thing of mass genocide as much as any other country. they weren’t a “softer” version of colonisers, they just didn’t have the power to subjugate the javanese, so they had to try a slower approach. during the early 1600s, the only dutch people in java were the VOC workers (VOC is the dutch east india company - the acronym is in dutch. basically the company that was there to get some nice spices to sell to the rest of europe so they could shove it all up their assholes or smth since up to this day their food is bland as shit), and they weren’t permanent settlers; they could only stay in java for the duration of their contract with the VOC and they couldn’t bring their wives and children with them, and they couldn’t bring any wives or mixed children they had while in java back to europe, either (same source).

this weird relationship meant that magnus’ “stepfather” and his mother probably had a relationship of concubinage (told you we’d get back to that), which was not uncommon in java neither before nor after the arrival of the dutch. in short, his mother was supposed to take care of his house, make him food and all that jazz, and also have a sexual relationship with him, in exchange for money (same source). it was not prostitution and it worked pretty much as a marriage, except it was temporary and contractual. BUT it meant that magnus’ mother would have to have converted to christianism (same source) and due to the fact that she was in a temporary contract, she couldn’t divorce him, and in their home he would treat her as, well, europeans treated their wives - with the particular western brand of sexism that they so kindly forced unto the rest of us. so that makes the whole thing even more disputed and complicated.

but as a VOC worker, magnus’ stepfather wouldn’t even be home for most of the day, and he couldn’t really keep magnus or his mom from, like, leaving the house and doing their things. i think he wouldn’t even try because that would prolly be very looked down upon in java; spousal abuse in southeast asia as a whole was pretty rare, since anyone could divorce whenever they wanted and women were politically and financially independent, so i think if he tried to pull something like that he would be in trouble - again, the dutch were the minority, and for the most part, they lived as the javanese did, in their villages, in their homes, eating their food and mostly adapting to their customs (same source). they even mostly spoke indonesian in their homes, since most indonesians didn’t speak dutch, and indonesia was kind of the universal language at the time, since there were many languages spoken both in and outside of java (this also explains why magnus speaks indonesian instead of javanese; that would have been the language spoken at his home. you have no idea how relieved having an explanation for this makes me). also there’s the pressing question of, would he even give a shit what magnus does or doesn’t do? magnus wasn’t his biological son, and most of these guys didn’t care about any biological children they might have had with these women, since they were women of color and they would leave them eventually anyway. honestly this is all the more reason for him to treat magnus like shit - he was javanese, he was brown, and he wasn’t even related to him by blood. this was also probably grounds for him to treat magnus’ mom even worse, since in his christian eyes the fact that she had a child outside of marriage made her even lesser than other indonesians.

so honestly, what i’m picturing is something like - most of the time it was pretty okay, there were certain expectations and a certain kind of female socialization but it was okay that he didn’t really fit in there, and then with his stepfather the whole thing was just shit. 

also, the fact that his mom was probably a concubine means there was a fair chance that his stepfather would have other concubines, and listen, yes i may be flexing, but you can’t stop me from imagining that maybe magnus was raised in a multicultural home with lots of other southeast asian women and children and maybe even buginese because again you can’t fucking STOP ME.

but either way, even if his home wasn’t like that, his city was - we don’t know which city he lived in, but it doesn’t matter, really; all cities with dutch settlers were port cities and therefore followed pretty much the same pattern of being a cultural tapestry with all sorts of influences coexisting in peace.

so really, little magnus lived in a pretty rich environment when it came to exploring his identity. he and his mom lived in a pretty egalitarian society gender-wise, he had the space and the opportunity to explore the world and figure out what he liked and didn’t like. am i going crazy imagining a tiny magnus with his mom, running around in other farms and listening, enraptured, stories of people from all over the world, about their cultures and lives, and learning there is so much to see and wanting to just go wherever he could, getting himself a passion for travelling that would later fuel his want to invent a quick way to go anywhere he wanted to, going to the port and seeing all the stuff they had available, from plants with healing properties to spices, and just loving to figure out their properties and how they could be mixed together to create new things, loving this world full of wonder and possibilities? maybe. god.

but anyway, what i’m trying to get at here is that it’s really impossible to think of a cis magnus in this context, no matter if you think AMAB or AFAB trans magnus - i know ive been focused on AFAB magnus here but really that’s mostly because 1- Projection; 2- thinking about AFAB magnus brings in new layers of complexity that need further exploration in my opinion; but really this applies to any magnus. what would being “cis” even mean, in a context where the very concepts of manhood and womanhood were so disputed and complex? and that’s not even going into the fact that after so many centuries, complying to gender roles of that time looked nothing like complying to our modern gender roles. really, it’s a lost cause. magnus kind of has a culturally-specific gender that…. no one but other warlocks born in similar situations could, really? there’s no word for it. there’s no explaining it with words. it is [REDACTED GOOD OMENS REFERENCE]

the closest we have is masc-leaning enby, since somewhere along the way he seems to have decided to use male pronouns and have a mostly masc-presenting body, even if paired with a more fem-presenting appearance fashion and mannerisms-wise. but again it’s too unique, there are way too many influences here.

and honestly that’s kind of beautiful! i love imagining small magnus having contact with people with all kinds of views on gender and society throughout his childhood, exploring, trying on their clothes, learning about their religions and customs, having elderly friends from different backgrounds and also young friends who were raised in very different ways, and sharing all of that, and learning about who he is amidst all of that, and being able to explore that and talk about that to his mom and friends and close people because they are used to these differences. even if when at home he was probably met with some kind of transphobic rhetoric and violence because of his stepfather and the imposed christianity that came with it - and that unlike other religions, didn’t syncretize at all.

which brings us to a second, very important point on the whole trans magnus ordeal, which is how deeply tied to racism the transphobia he’s suffered and the general understanding of his gender was. of course, this applies to every single of-color and non-western born person, but magnus has lived that through history. from a very young age, the blunt of the violence he was met with came from a racist standpoint that believed his very identity and existence made him lesser and in need to be corrected - because that’s what, after all, the colonizers were doing. their whole rhetoric was that the colonized were barbaric and needed them to learn the right ways through violence. it is worth noticing that the javanese have been referred to as “the most inhuman of all people” by dutch colonizers, and amongst the reasons for that was the fact that their views on gender were so different from the european’s (same source).

so really we’re mixing in the fact that he was a “bastard” child in his stepfather’s eyes, a warlock, and trans… and yeah, oof. there’s no way he was treated with anything other than violence from way before his mom’s suicide and the subsequent drowning attempt. in his stepfather’s eyes, everything about magnus’ existence was demonic, impure, and all the more reason why he and his mom were dirty and needed to be corrected.

it’s also worth noting that sorcery was a very big part of javanese culture that was also syncretized with pretty much every religion. the javanese believed in sorcery, believed everyone could do magic, and the dutch, of course, despised that. the source above is a pretty interesting article that argues that the european’s so-called “skepticism” on magic and “rational-based” culture was actually part of a construction of whiteness that hoped precisely to differentiate them from the “savage” others. i mean, the guys were burning women at the stake because they were “witches”, but every other culture’s religions, rituals and magic were just bullshit and couldn’t be trusted because the europeans were too rational and knew better? okay buddy. it also features an amazing story about a dutch colonizer who got hexxed because of his racism that is, quite frankly, heartwarming. but i digress.

so yeah listen i know i already talked about this on the other ask but there’s really no way the reason his mother killed herself was because she found out magnus was a warlock or a demon’s son or whatever. magic was part of their culture. it was what they believed in. it was a part of nature to them. it’s way more likely that the reason she killed herself was the constant violence she was met with in daily life that she couldn’t get away from, and his stepfather simply blamed magnus because, to him, he represented everything that was wrong with their culture - and that makes even more sense if we think about trans!magnus, because that makes him an even deeper abomination. it’s very likely that most of the violence and belittling his mother had to face was related to magnus as well - look what you created, what you do, your culture is an abomination, this is unacceptable. but magnus was way too small at that time, and he believed what his stepfather told him, because i mean, what else would he believe in?

i also think that asmodeus kind of messed with his perception of how the whole thing went down, telling him that he “murdered” him when really it was clearly self defense, erasing the violence his stepfather directed towards magnus and focusing on the end to convince magnus that he was evil, unredeemable, that no one would accept him but asmodeus, that he had no other choice. so that’s super fun! but yeah i do believe that asmodeus spent enough time gaslighting magnus and rewriting this whole story for this to be considered magnus’ worst memory, seen by him as a reminder of his “ugly side” that doesn’t really even exist. asmodeus weaponized this, which served the double purpose of convincing magnus he had no choice but to follow asmodeus, and teaching him that violence is normal and there’s nothing wrong with it, and that retaliating makes him bad. 

this is all i have to say about the asmodeus years, really, because like i said before i don’t think he gives a shit about gender, he’s way older than it and who cares. but the trauma that the whole thing put magnus through is easily weaponizable. @thesorrowoflizards also wrote this amazing fic that features the headcanon that asmodeus used magnus’ transness to manipulate him as well, using spells that made him more masculine and stuff but only if magnus obeyed him. fun! especially considering that he was with asmodeus through his puberty (or at least that’s likely) when his body would have begun to change, so for him to have such a masc-presenting body…. yeah. this is very plausible. i love pain.

and then we get to england, where again, everyone is an asshole, about everything, all the time. like holy shit, he thought the europeans cared too much when he was in java, but that is nothing compared to the brits and their casual sentencing people to death for being gender non conforming. also, to the europeans, asian men were seen as emasculate and their gender relations as a whole was unnatural, and listen, i know that in 18th-19th century england men also wore makeup and stuff, but i mean, magnus was probably seen as exotic in his “effeminate” mannerisms and non-compliance to gender roles, even if people didn’t know he was AFAB or just trans in general. he was probably objectified in that sense, kinda like a human-zoo sorta thing. fascinating, these emasculated asians with weird bodies and customs. ugh.

so yeah gender got particularly exhausting at that time, too. thankfully there were the warlocks, who were old enough to know all of this was bullshit and who had people from all kinds of cultural backgrounds, thousands of people with culturally-specific genders, as well as other people who were raised in similar environments as him. so in there he finds a home of sorts, a place where this doesn’t matter and where he can be himself and nobody cares, and also has access to different cultures and views and knowledge, and really it’s like the good parts of his childhood again. he learns more about magic and potion-making, about other cultures and places, travels the world, learns about science and the workings behind his magic. creates new potions, new spells, continues his education, learns and remembers how much he loves this, the cultural effervency, the chances to learn and explore and create. really the warlock community is so amazing and it’s like, golden era.

but he’s also living amongst mundanes and to some extent he likes them - not to mention, he likes travelling and learning about different places and cultures. and they seem to care more and more about differentiating genders as time goes by, and to be getting more and more violent in their never-ending quest to force people to fit into these roles, and it’s. tiring. exhausting. who cares. it makes less and less sense to him, and this alienation from the whole thing only solidifies his non-conformance and general inability to fit. sometimes he feels old, and alone, even if he has other people who are Like Him now - the shadow world can get tiring, sometimes, and there’s also the shadowhunters racism thing going on that’s also inevitably trying to subjugate their spaces and looks down on their culture - so it also has the downsides of his childhood. sometimes it’s like there’s no word for who he is, no one that can understand it, no place where he can be fully himself and loved for it. and this only intensifies by the middle of the 19th century, when suddenly makeup and colorful clothing is not for men anymore, and he’s even less conforming than before - he was a pretty respectable Man™ to their standarts up to that point, but from then on that is lost. it doesn’t matter too much, because even if he is masc-leaning, he still doesn’t really see himself as a man in the sense that he seems to be expected to. but that furthers the alienation, and the feeling of loneliness and of being old and unfit for this world.

that is also when he meets camille! and that’s canon because there was that one picture of him with camille and ragnor and the clothes they are wearing are very much from the 1840s (i talked about this here), which is precisely when the whole men’s fashion differentiating from women’s fashion thing was starting. so in the context of his gender this makes it even easier for camille to manipulate him into thinking that she’s the only one who will ever understand and accept him, and that he’s naive, and that he doesn’t fit into the world and doesn’t understand what’s best for him, and really he should trust her judgement better because he is a man out of his time, but she can help him, and- yeah. that good olde cis-girl-abuses-trans-person routine, with even more elements than usual. ggghhhghh

and it’s not until the 1960s and 70s that these notions start to actually be challenged. of course, trans people have always existed and were building their own communities and helping each other as well as they could, and magnus certainly was a part of that, because, well, that’s who he is. he doesn’t leave people in need and he knows how painful it is to go through all of this alone, so he does his best to help and adopts pretty much everyone he can. but for the most part, they are a diaspora, and the cissexist society that alienates and tries to kill them goes on unchallenged.

that gives him all the more reason to get so involved with stonewall and the subsequent building of the queer neighborhoods and communities, that feeling that maybe he can belong after all, that things might change and his life doesn’t have to be an infinite cycle of violence, isolation, abuse, and repeat. seeing these events unfold, helping keep people safe, meeting Sylvia Rivera and all the other trans people of color who were part of this, who had stories so similar to his, who were also bisexual (!!), who knew what it was like. that was healing, and that was important to him, and gjfdkafaskfa yeah.

and of course not everything is a sea of roses, because then the community starts to divide and trans and bi ppl, particularly of color, particularly those who are like him, start to be looked down on. Sylvia is arrested and even booed at Pride, suddenly he’s drawing the short end of the stick again. and then there’s the AIDS crisis, and he sees so many people die, and for a while, it feels like there’s no way out after all. and he even loses a lot of his warlock friends, the people who really understand him in his entirety, because sometime around that there’s the Circle massacre, as well. it’s a dark time for him, and honestly it’s a good thing he’s sworn off romance after the whole camille ordeal to clear his head, because after losing so many people he’s never felt this alienated, this alone, and to fall into the arms of another camille or asmodeus would have been just too easy.

but god, he heals. it’s crazy, but he has raphael, he has cat, ragnor, dot, elias, and he somehow builds himself up and relearns to trust and starts to believe that he has the love he’s always believed himself unworthy of having, that he believed impossible to him. and he starts to open up, and to feel more confident in his own skin, right in time to meet alec.

and look, trans!Magnus just makes malec all the more powerful. not only is this shadowhunter showing up and fully trusting a downworlder, giving him his strength, caring about him, cleaning his home (!) and taking care of him, something he hasn’t allowed himself to have for so long, something he didn’t believe he could have and that alec does so easily even when they’ve barely met. he shows magnus so much care and respect from day one and magnus doesn’t get that from anyone, let alone a shadowhunter, let alone a shadowhunter that’s there with jocelyn’s entitled daughter who treats him as a tool - and look, i know he loves clary, but she is entitled and magnus unfortunately enables her and other entitled shadowhunters to treat him as such, because even he treats himself as such most of the time, and it’s something he needs to work on, and probably has been at least since he broke up with camille.

but he’s also a white, gay man, and magnus has seen firsthand that these people can be nasty to people like him. yes he tried to help alec come to terms with his sexuality, and yes he’s surprised him before, but it’s also not like alec didn’t fuck up and wasn’t entirely… well, shadowhunter-y and had a lot of trouble believing that things didn’t have to be the shadowhunter, bigoted way for a while. but alec doesn’t give a shit if magnus is trans, it doesn’t lessen his attraction or love to him in any way, and it’s just. ugh. beautiful.

and yeah this has gotten too long and it already took me like 3 weeks to answer it because of the amount of research ive done and general tiredness so im gonna end this here, and on a positive note for a change! magnus is happy and learning to take care of himself and accepts himself and trans rights. hell yeah.

[comicteaparty]

August 16th, 2018 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on August 16th, 2018, from 5PM - 7PM PDT.  The chat focused on Raison d'Etre by Cloud Fourteen (Funari and Leigh).

Featured Comment:

Chat:

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

COMIC TEA PARTY START!

Good day everyone~! This week’s Comic Tea Party is now officially beginning~! Today we are discussing Raison d'Etre by Cloud Fourteen (Funari and Leigh)~! (http://raisondetrecomic.tumblr.com/) For those new or in need of a reminder, discussions about the comic are freeform, so please feel free to bring up whatever you wish. However, every 30 minutes I will be dropping in a discussion question to help those who would like a prompt. These questions are totally OPTIONAL to answer, and you can pay them no mind if you wish. If you miss out on any though, they’ll be pinned for the duration of the chat once they’re posted~! Remember, constructive criticism is allowed, but the primary focus here is to have fun and appreciate the amazing comics that the community makes~! All that being said, let’s get started and have a great discussion!

QUESTION 1. What is your favorite scene in the comic so far and why?

snuffysam

my favorite scene is the scene where inada gives yukina the journals, but only on a second reading. "hey tante, can you help me research-" "what's that? you wanted my sister's diary? you wanted my big sister's deepest, darkest secrets? you wanted to learn the most intimate details of your mothers' lives? that's what you wanted?"

Funari

Mueheheh~ Yeah, we love putting in stuff like that. Seemingly innocent comment at first, but during a reread? BONUS!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

in the retrospect i can only suspect inada was saving them for blackmail O_O

Funari

Little siblings...they can be such brats ;P

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

lets see, lets see. i think my favorite scene is when yukina is in the shadow place because i really like the tension of shit hitting the fan, the visuals, and then the comedic end where yukina and rie just wind up in a pile.

Funari

Ah, yes. Chapter 5 was when Leigh started putting in her two cents more into the story. I don't recall who came up with the exact direction there BUT that was a good one. It kinda encompasses Raison's story style as a whole - can get serious but then it has its comedic moments just kinda "whoop!" right back

A roller coaster of emotions

snuffysam

i really like that comedic aspect too

like in the story being told about miko and sachiko rescuing nozomi

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

I'm pretty bad for being able to figure out relationships unless they're spelled out in black and white myself. Even the big reveal of "Kaa-san", I don't remember how long it took until I clued in to there being two mothers.

snuffysam

i think "oh, she's their daughter" was the first thing i thought of, but the way the characters' talked threw me off

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

LOL. i guess thats fair though. not sure how much anime you watch cause if you dont watch anime, yeah, kaa-san would probably just go right over.

Funari

Leigh: The "rescuing Nozomi" story was one of the first stories I was asked to help with back in Part 1. I've looked forward to that scene finally playing out, and was not disappointed!(edited)

snuffysam

i like how japanese mom is kaa-san and french mom is maman lol(edited)

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

My favourite scene was actually pretty early on. It was when Kregor was going after Sachiko saying something to the effect of "this should be easy" only to have Miko disarm his dagger and get into a whole fight.

Funari

Leigh: Made life a little easier as far as trying to write for these idiots ;p(edited)

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

In a sense it helped set up his other flailed attempts.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

another scene that i really liked was when yukina learned about the ascendent and decided that perhaps she should stop hiding and all that. i feel that was portrayed in a powerful direct effect of reading the journal.

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

(Yes, I meant flailed not failed.)

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

any scene with kregor is a classic because kregor is that right mix of overconfident and screw up

Funari

Poor Kregor~

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Rebel: I watch anime. I got the reference, I didn't put two and two together that Miko and Sachi were married.

Funari

Leigh: I'm working on a page with Kregor at this very moment. So he's not going anywhere soon!(edited)

snuffysam

it's the first thing we learn about them math!

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Snuffy: I did think that was clever about the two language mothers.

I have the mind of a goldfish!

Rebel: Yeah, that whole ascendent thing was good. I liked the side story of her with her mother too.

snuffysam

"eh, i just sort of forgot about this canon f/f ship" - math, 2018

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

We were in the future though!

Funari

A little something from Maman, and a little something from Kaa-san ;p

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

I'm used to seeing them younger and courting.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Hello!

snuffysam

hey sj!

Funari

Hello there :3

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

(I'll be a bit in-and-out with my 2 month old, btw.)

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

hey sj~!

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

I see you're one of the creative talents responsible for this comic, @Funari

Really nice efforts ya got here!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

well the important part, math, is that you figured it out eventually and saw that those ship sails moved at full force.

Funari

Thank you :3 I created the universe and the basic plot and some of the cast. Leigh created the other half of the cast and has helped string the plot together a bit better since chapter 5 :3

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Ah okies!

Always appreciate a good team effort.

Also was not expecting that four year timeskip

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah i have to say the timeskip surprised me too. not that it was unwelcome, mind you, just something that made me go legasp

Funari

I don't think anyone was, according to folks over at the c14 server or anyone who's commented to us besides one friend lol

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

lol

Funari

Ever since Leigh started contributing more, it made twists even more likely. Sometimes she'll suggest an idea and smirk at me from across the room and...oh boy.. xD

snuffysam

yeah i was figuring part 2 would begin with the gang immediately going to rescue them but nope

it was a cool twist!

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

lol XD

AV-chan

Hi, just dropped by to join the Raison discussion party here Favorite scenes? I think it's mostly the ones with Miko and Sachiko especially when they were in their teens

Funari

Leigh: smirks

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Also just wanted to say this is a really good suit https://78.media.tumblr.com/ea04508234ff49e7d6b78458cef47714/tumblr_inline_nal653HGRk1r87x2y.png

Funari

Hey AV! :3

snuffysam

but yeah @AV-chan , i absolutely agree

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Hello AV!

snuffysam

seeing miko and sachiko interact as teens is just the best

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

welcome @AV-chan ~! thank you for coming!

AV-chan

Hiya everyone

snuffysam

they're so perfect together!

AV-chan

I know right, it's just so cute seeing them get together

Funari

Leigh: I do love a woman in uniform @Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

miko and sachiko have a really nice and fluffy relationship so seeing them together is a happy thing :3

Funari

Awwww

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Women in univerm are always so awesome

especially the battle-ready ones

Funari

Leigh: Heheh~ YES! Sword Wife!

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

A good sword wife

AV-chan

Totally

Funari

It personally makes me gush that you guys love the SachiMiko interactions x3

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Sweet to hear~

AV-chan

Maybe soon with Yucchan too but that's probably not gonna happen any time soon I think

Funari

Leigh: Smirks

snuffysam

i seem to recall on some page where yukina's mom (not sure which) called to her from off-screen, there was an author comment that went something like "i have no idea what her parents' designs will be lol"

that was a nice touch

Funari

laughs

AV-chan

I think it's mostly cause how I somehow witness the development and changes to your OCs Funari that makes me very interested in them as well

snuffysam

though to be fair, we hadn't seen what miko and sachiko looked like as adults yet, so that wasn't necessarily a lie

Funari

Leigh: I knew that Nari had been hanging with me for too long when that popped up!

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Oh yeah, then it was a hat hiding things. Was that an accident?

Like, saying that?

Funari

That's the point! @snuffysam xD

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

speaking of designs tho, i really do like the adult designs for them. especially how sachiko has this sort of grizzled look now cause of the eyepatch

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

https://78.media.tumblr.com/bc036315fd6b663afa1ffaffa11a5e89/tumblr_p9i9zvvI3w1tzfltho1_1280.png Wow, the future sure looks... different.

Funari

Don't quite get what you mean there @MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑 Just want to be sure I know what you're talking about before I answer

AV-chan

A traditional house in the future?

snuffysam

people have traditional houses today, don't they?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

QUESTION 2. Throughout the comic, we continually see the appearance of Kregor who is out to cause a lot of harm at the behest of his boss, Lady Elianne. What do you think is so special about Sachiko’s blood? Does it have something to do with Allie or is something else afoot? Why do you think Lady Elianne targets Sachiko specifically and not anyone else in her family? Do you think Lady Elianne will ultimately succeed, or will everyone be able to stop her? Who even is Lady Elianne? Outside of Sachiko, Kregor also hunts Yukina’s friend Rie at the behest of the Tanuki Brothers. Do you think the initial failure will deter Kregor from trying again? If Kregor doesn’t try again, do you believe the Tanuki Brothers will leave Rie alone? If Kregor does try again, will he succeed or will something else stop him?

Funari

Stuff has happened to both between their teenaged years and when they're moms. Meta-wise, we're also not fans of works where adult forms of characters almost look exactly the same as the young forms but with smaller eyes or the like

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yes, we do

snuffysam

it's clear that there's something important about the nakamura bloodline

Funari

The idea behind the Miyamotos' house is that was to hammer down the idea that they were pretty traditional. At least since Nozomi got married.

(and there are still traditional homes in Japan today ;P )

AV-chan

Ooh that's true

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

aah, alright X3

snuffysam

plenty of houses that are around today were built centuries ago, and plenty of modern houses try to imitate houses from centuries ago

AV-chan

That part with Sachiko being hunted has always piqued my curiosity in a way, like what's gonna happen next

Funari

Oh and my reaction to Question 2? ohhhhh that's pretty much what Part 2 is all about! So I'll just keep myself "quiet"

snuffysam

well we know what did happen next

Funari

And Leigh is saying she's just gonna keep smirking, so not much input from her either lol

snuffysam

lost her depth perception, for one

gained a shadow friend

Funari

True, very true...for the depth perception bit

Shadow friend? Ohhhhhh that happened sooner in her life

AV-chan

An interesting twist there

snuffysam

i mean "next" being after the latest journal entry that yucchan read

i don't think we've seen allie in any journal entries so far?

Funari

Nope, not in journals, though there is a Special comic that shows a specific moment in Sachiko's life relating to that

https://imgur.com/a/Q4J7v

snuffysam

i bet everyone is super jealous of yucchan's three moms

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

"How do you even get three mommies?"

snuffysam

japanese mom, french mom, and shadow mom

Funari

Leigh: Hey, I'M jealous of her moms!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

so in respects to the question, i recall elianne referring to the thing as a curse and how its killed her ancestors. but im starting to wonder if its not something on her mother's side but something on her father's side. because nobody on her mother's side seems at all bothered by any sort of curse and what not and it fits why kregor is targetting sachiko and not say her brother.

AV-chan

That's an interesting way to put it

I forgot if Sachiko's brother had a different dad

snuffysam

he did

Funari

He does!

Also BOOM! Good catch, @✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨ !

AV-chan

Ah that most likely it

Funari

Hayato was born through Rin's marriage with Japanese businessman Daichi Nakamura. Sachiko was....well, by all means, an illegitimate child from a guy in France that Rin knew

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Back, sorry @Funari ; I think what I was wondering was were Yukinas parents always decided from the start, and it was how they looked in the future that gave rise to the hat, or was the scene with her parents evolving as that scene began.

Funari

@MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑 Yukina was always intended to be Sachiko and Miko's kid. Her meta-conception was pretty much that basic idea

But, ahem, yeah. Something's going on with Sachiko's paternal blood that's related to Elianne. Some big stuff

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Oh yeah, Sachiko's dad is actually the head of some other huge NKP department or something... that's probably the reason the hit was put out on her?

Funari

The Rin (Favreau) side of things is mostly just "Oh, this family is one of the famous clans in the NKP!"

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i wonder if sachiko's dad knew about this so-called curse?

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Lady Elianne is Sachiko's step-mom.

Don't want her getting the inheritance.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

oh no the mom count increases to four now

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Mum's the word.

snuffysam

what's with men not telling their partners about their bloodline stuff lol

Funari

That was Leigh. This is what I put up with when she inks pages

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Hah! That's funny. Nice heart for penache.

AV-chan

Haha

Funari

Also, Math, you are NOT the only one who has mentioned a theory that Elianne is related to Sachiko like that

I can't say yes or no though

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

it seems plausible given elianne keeps saying the blood belongs to her. and thats usually something ppl say when theyre blood-related

and theyre evil that is

snuffysam

that's also the sort of thing you say if you're evil and want blood

like in general

AV-chan

Inb4 something like Elianne is the mother of Sachiko's dad

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Or they're vampires.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

or both

elianne is sachiko's vampire granny

AV-chan

Yeah

Funari

Leigh: Isn't that the usual plot twist nowadays?

AV-chan

It's still a good twist

Funari

Elianne is....SOMETHING!

Leigh: She's a real piece of work. A real PAIN IN THE PATELLA

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

I wonder

Doesn't anyone else in the roster have badass suits?

AV-chan

Wanna see Yukina in that suit soon

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Speaking of Kregor - does the guy have good lawyers, or what? He keeps getting banished to be tried for his crimes, and he keeps getting off... sometimes even portaling away before he can be banished. Who is paying his legal fees?(edited)

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

it is a nice suit

Funari

The most we got right now is this

AV-chan

Elianne maybe?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

elianne of course

assuming she doesnt just bust him out of jail by other means

Funari

It's Elianne :P

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

She's a rules lawyer too then.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

speaking of kregor though, i do wonder for real if rie is still in danger. cause didnt kregor already get paid?

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

"You didn't inflect properly, so my client goes free."

AV-chan

That long hair... Yukina grew her hair?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

its bad assassin form to take the money and not finish the job

Funari

Rie is out of danger

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

dat suit

I'll take it

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Rie's mom might still pay a ransom.

Funari

Elianne has been working on something that's far more significant than the Rie thing and when Kregor told her he missed and hit Sachiko and Miko instead with her spell, she was like "Oh. OH. NEVER MIND ABOUT THE TANUKIS."

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

"Ship... out of danger?" "You saved the ship." "The needs of the many..."

Funari

Kregor would do anything for Elianne by the way

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

He would do anything for love. But he won't do that.

AV-chan

That thing huh

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

That thing with the strawberries.

Funari

Also, Nozomi is on HIGH ALERT for Kregor to show up, so even if he tried to finish the deed, he's not gonna

Nozomi...is a tough little firecracker

With a crossbow

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Lol

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i feel like this is gonna put them on the tanuki's shit list though then? cause id be pretty mad if i paid an assassin and then they were like "sorry bro my lady says we got better shit to do peace out."

Funari

Leigh: Tanuki vs Elianne. Round 1 (ding)

snuffysam

no refunds!

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

FIGHT!

Funari

Leigh: No, for real, they're welcome to try it

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

true i dont imagine theyre actually a threat XD

but they could at least go around spreading ill founded gossip

the horror

QUESTION 3. Chapter 6 of the comic is a four year time skip after Lady Elianne inadvertently captures Sachiko and Koyomiko. What do you think Yukina has been doing for the four years? Has she been in France the whole time, or do you think she came back to Japan at some point? How do you think Yukina has been coping with her missing mothers, and what do you think she intends to do about it? In regards to other characters, how do you think they’re doing? Is Rie okay, or has something happened because of her grandmother’s heir? Do you think Rie’s mother is doing okay as captain, and what do you think the state of her marriage is? Are Sachiko and Koyomiko alive still, and if so, why haven’t they escaped? What, in general, do you think is going to happen now?

snuffysam

they'll hit lady elianne where it hurts - her wallet. leave a bad review, and nobody will hire her again.

Funari

As I read this question out to Leigh, she got this HUGE smile on her face

I think she likes this question :P

snuffysam

and yeah i think things aren't looking great for nozomi. a guy kidnapped her best friends in an attempted kidnapping of her daughter, all because her husband didn't tell her anything

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Probably stayed in France for two years then came back to Japan the final two

Just having a four year-long vacation

Funari

An interesting theory

Also @snuffysam - If that all happened to me, I'd be pretty angry and stressed out, that's for sure!

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

And that's why you need a vacation

to get all that stress off ya

and plot your comeback

Funari

Nozomi needs a vacation like no one's business

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yes

Funari

Considering what we know of Nozomi's personality, and that the Captain in the NKP is the leader of the whole group...

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i think it largely depends on whats happening too. if its business as usual i think nozomi would be fine, but if crime shot up or something thatd be a diff story. albeit im sure stressed. especially if on the side shes been trying to inquire where sachiko and miko be at. and losing all the sleep. also wondering when rie's destiny will come knocking at the door

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Perhaps

Funari

We plan to do a special comic about Rie's grandmother finally showing up

Because Rie turned 18 within the 4 year timeskip

snuffysam

oh snap

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Oh snap!

Double Snap

snuffysam

hey total non-sequiter. how old was rin when she married mr. nakamura?

no wait i did the math on hayato's birth year totally wrong. ignore me.

Funari

Oh, okay xD

I was about to pull up my notes

But it's cool :P

snuffysam

np np

Funari

Oh by the way, I DID actually cover this question in a way. Theorize :P

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Oh my god

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

old enough to marry, but not old enough to recognize a potentially bad partner when she sees it

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

That looks really nice

And lol

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

ah sweet the cat thing whose name i forgot found a friend

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

I’d talk about what I would do if I found out that my partner was less then desirable but this isn’t life tea party so

snuffysam

he already had one though ):

Funari

Do not forget about Miko and Sachiko D: His first friends/family

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Oh...

snuffysam

yeah, exactly

Funari

And, as we can see in the drawing, yes, Nozomi is stressing hard during the past 4 years

snuffysam

he had a friend

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

well okay, cat thing found a new friend. to combat the lonliness but probably more likely to get in elianne's way.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

I wonder, what if the timeskip was only one year

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i really wanna know why elianne specifically referred to the cat as a renegade

Funari

Leigh: Well, he's done it once. What's not to say he'll do it again?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

the timeskip wasnt only one year tho?

Funari

Koneko the Renegade~

snuffysam

well, this may come as a shock - but i don't believe koneko was born on earth

Funari

Or, if you've read the most recent pages, Ozadarr :P

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

Koneko is the real hero of the story

snuffysam

and we don't know how old he is at that. it's possible he's been a thorn in elianne's side since before miko was born

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

that is the impression i got

that theres tons of past history here

and koneko is a sneaky sneak

Funari

Leigh: No one really knows how old Koneko is. Except us, of course

Funari

Koneko is very much a sneaky sneak!

And even besides the Elianne thing, consider that Koneko looked exactly the same between the 2000s-era journal flashbacks and Yucchan's present time...Red flags

snuffysam

plenty of cats look the same across, like, 30 years

not weird at all

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Mmmm

Very sneaky~

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

but speaking of not koneko, im gonna be optimistic and assume sachiko and miko are alive and just being held prisoner. since elianne cant do the evil without memories or something apparently. meanwhile koneko fled to mexico or canada. O_O cause thats where all the criminals in popculture flee.

Funari

Those memories....they're pretty important

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

4 years of prison.

Sounds like hell

snuffysam

i don't think koneko's running away so much as looking for help

and hey, at least they have each other?

Funari

4 years of prison while suffering from amnesia!

Just imagine looking to the side, and there's another beautiful woman and you have NO idea who they are, and they're giving you that same look

snuffysam

at least when they get out they'll know for sure that love at first sight is a real thing?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

elianne is at least being nice if she puts them in a cell or something together.

Funari

Leigh: I like that remark! @snuffysam

They're in exactly the same place you saw them in the Interlude

So...sort of a prison?

Not the bars and concrete kind, but they're trapped in that weird bubble in a strange dimension (though the beginning of ch 6 mentions what it is in slightly more detail as a passing comment...)

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

QUESTION 4. By Yukina’s time period, Sachiko and Koyomiko are pretty legendary. What do you think happened in the past that earned them such notoriety? Is it something to do with catching Kregor, Koyomiko’s Ascendant Rights work, or just everything put together? Speaking of the past, do you think Koyomiko repaired the relationship with her family at some point? We also see a brief flashback of how Sachiko lost her eye, so what do you think are the circumstances that brought that about? Aside from the past, do you think reading the journals about Sachiko and Koyomiko has helped Yukina in ways besides offering her a new perspective on them? Do you believe they will help Yukina find her raison?

snuffysam

"And for almost catching Kregor for good no less than sixty times, we give the medal of bravery to Sachiko and Koyomiko!"

Funari

The Kregor Katcher Award

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

(A half hour of crying baby later... )

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

poor baby :<

Funari

:<

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Regards the prior question, obviously the reason Sachiko and Miko haven't escaped yet is because they don't have their memories and don't know where to escape to. It's a fun Catch-22, because if they had their memories, they'd be put to death.

(Baby's had a bottle now. No, not the weird one, the other one. And not with the cold formula, the other stuff.)

Funari

Leigh: Right on the money

Leigh: There's a few more complexities involved, but that's the gist of it

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

That kinda seemed obvious to me.

(Am I making up for not realizing who the mothers were?)

Funari

Leigh: It wasn't supposed to be particularly hidden lol

Leigh: You're forgiven. For now

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

it was pretty obvious but ya never know when someone might have an interesting theory

like elianne gave them part time work and theyre like "sweet this pays way more than min wage"

Funari

Yeah, no that makes perfect sense. But, in this case, we weren't trying to hide anything extra there

We'll be adding more details in the next few updates actually

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Seconding Rebel

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Also regards the prior question, I feel like Yukina's been trying to train herself in France so as to (1) Not ask stupid questions like what's going on when in the middle of a tense situation, and (2) Learn from Cassandra about what to do to avoid flipping out after freezing at the end of said tense situation.

Funari

Thank you for remembering that Cassandra exists :3

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

LOVE the Cassandra angle. Gotta go to her for Ascendant issues.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i was wondering if we were gonna see cassandra again

Funari

VERY soon

snuffysam

i wonder if Yukina'll meet up with her grandfather?

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

I mean, she could be in Scotland, but she did speak French. shrugs

Funari

We're both very fond of Cassie

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Training during a break seems like a good idea. Especially for four years

Never skipping leg day either

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

As to the NEW question, perhaps they're legendary for their looooove. It was even pointed out how everyone in school knew back then.

Funari

Cassandra's well-traveled. She knows French, German, and a bit of Japanese thanks to having Miko as a very close friend

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

omg math. that would actually be hilarious if true. theyre legendary because no matter the trial their love was unconquered

Funari

WELL, in a personal sense, that may be true!

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Does Yuzu + Miko = Suzaku no Miko? (hashtag Fushigi Yugi...)

Funari

Leigh: Certainly, when everyone who was at their wedding remembers them for their bond!

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Rebel: True love did kind of conquor that darkness spell that hit Sachiko.

(I mean, it wasn't a kiss, but still... we can imagine that...)

Funari

heheh

Their love is pretty darn important!

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Actually, maybe Sachiko's already conquered her evil step-mom? Could be someone other than Elianne, maybe that was the big deal.

Losing the eye was probably a prophecy... darn those prophecies...

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Never underestimate it

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i am curious why sachiko didnt seem to block kregor in that flashback. like theres a point id think shed stop freezing up with fear, but maybe it was not at that time i guess

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Actually, kind of interesting that in 2031 they don't have a prosthetic for that. Unless Sachiko wears the eyepatch as a badge of honour.

Funari

It was an incident related to Elianne. No prophecies this time, just some crazy stuff.

Sachiko definitely has a problem with freezing up

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Rebel: Maybe Miko was behind her.

Funari

The wound isn't natural

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

hmm thats interesting it isnt natural

which makes me think man, that must of hurt even more

Funari

But yeah, deep down, Sachiko would prefer to solve things without violence. Miko's the more violent-prone one

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

As to Miko's family... I kinda doubt it? The way she referred to her mom and everything back then? The ascendancy stuff becoming mainstream might have helped, but I kinda doubt it.

Funari

Conferring with Leigh and

Eh, may as well just say it

No

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

The wound isn't natural... it's artificial. Sachiko's been a clone this whole time.

Gotcha. Probably why Miko wants to do things better with her family though.

Funari

Miko's mom's attitude never changed, so Miko never made up with her. Even Tomoko eventually moved away from her, though she still has a sort-of connection there. Sort of

Oh yeah. That's how she reacted to the abuse. It helped that she had folks like Sachiko and Rin around to show her what family can be like, and her dad WAS an okay man, but he was married to....that. She always wanted to be better than her mom

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Actually, if anyone's a clone, it's probably Kregor. Explains why he was vanquished 60 times.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

I man, how many people stride to be better than their parents? Just curious

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

haha i suspected. making up with ppl is difficult if it can be done at all in those cases.

you cant clone kregor

kregor is one of a kind

O_O

Funari

Leigh: personal experience

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Hmmm, if Miko had both Sachiko and a clone of Sachiko to spend time with at once...

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

math plz

theres already a threesome with allie in the mix

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Always room for one more.

One for the shadows, one for the daytime.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

A foursome?

Sign me up

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

anyway, idk if the journals helped yukina find a raison or purpose, but im sure her moms getting kidnapped certainly helped

Funari

(was trying to make this quick. It DOES seem like Kregor's got fans!)

snuffysam

"gee yukina, how come you get to have FOUR moms whenmmmmghg-" gets kidnapped by kitsune grandma

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Oooh, title drop. (Yeah, I was surprised that with all the French nods, Funari's not part French that I can tell...)

Funari

omg

Leigh: I think Rie would say that one mom is plenty, giving who HER mom is!

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Kregor's the villain you love to hate.

Funari

And in regards to @✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨ - we're definitely moving towards a moment of recknoning for Yucchan

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

So here's a question I wanted to ask before we run out of time -- have we seen Pan in the future?

Did I just miss it?

Funari

Not yet

She's in the little "How things have changed" drawing, and there are plans, but officially not yet

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Ooooh, hmmmm. As long as she didn't turn to the dark side.

Funari

No, we can confidently confirm that Pan is still on our side ;p

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Lol

What about the light side

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Mr & Mrs Daggers?

Funari

fjfjgjfj

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i have wondered where pan has been too. i think from the time skip im most interested in seeing what rie's dad is up too given for all i know nozomi kicked his butt out onto the street into the gutter(edited)

snuffysam

good

Funari

OOF

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Okay since we're running out of time here I just wanted to say good luck on the rest of the comic and hope it all goes well, there's some seriously good reads hidden in there.

Funari

Thanks much :3

Any other quick questions?

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Yeah, funny thing is, I can kind of see why he'd bow to the pressure of not telling his wife about Rie. The thing I don't get is him not telling about who he was before the marriage, that's the weird transgression to me.

Funari

Leigh and I have certainly had lots of fun tonight! Glad you all have enjoyed what we've done so far!

Leigh: Mmmhmm (too secretive for his own good)

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Does "Cat" have a human form too?

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

You're welcome!(edited)

Funari

TECHNICALLY yes

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Hashtag catgirls?

(Or catboys, whatever.)

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Funari

Catpeople

But yes, technically he does, but we won't see it any time soon. There are Reasons

raisons

Elianne's gonna do a huge exposition dump in the next few pages

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Cassandra's mother was secretly a catgirl.

Funari

She is...preparing for it

MathTans the super Pun 👑Prince👑

Anyway, good job! It'll be interesting to see what happens as comic looks at other planes, as seems to be happening in the new pages.(edited)

(Or just people from other planes hiding out in ours.)

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

COMIC TEA PARTY END!

Unfortunately, the scheduled Comic Tea Party time is now up~! Thank you everyone so much for reading and joining this week’s chat~! We want to give a special thank you to Cloud Fourteen (Funari and Leigh), as well, for making Raison d'Etre and volunteering it for our reading queue. If you liked the comic, please be sure to support Cloud Fourteen (Funari and Leigh)’s efforts however you’re able to. All that being said, if you would like to continue discussing this week’s comic, we highly encourage you to do so~!

For next week, Comic Tea Party will focus on Pathways: Chronicles of Tuvana by Elaine Tipping. As always, please use the next several days to read as much of the comic as you would like. We hope to see you next Thursday on August 23rd from 5PM to 7PM PDT for the chat~! Until then, happy reading~! Comic: http://pathways.smackjeeves.com/

[uncloseted]

i want to become a college professor but i’m not sure if it’s worth it or not. i see online how people say there aren’t enough positions for professors anymore and it’s not worth the time and money. i want to become an english professor, my other option was an english teacher. i love this subject so much but ppl always say it’s a useless degree and are criticizing the professions like the ones i want to pursue and it makes me depressed like i don’t have a future with the skills i have. i’m

going to college this fall and i’m honestly wondering if i should just change my major to something else for chances of a better job.

i forgot to say i live in the US btw for the question about college/being a professor thanks xx

Obligatory song, “What Do You Do With a BA in English”, from Avenue Q:

But being serious, “worth it” is a really subjective measure, and I don’t think it’s necessarily how you should be thinking about this issue.  Rather, I would think about why you want to be an English Professor in particular.  I have a post here on identifying your passion which may be worth reading through to consider whether being a professor is actually would make you feel fulfilled. 

Of course you love English as a subject, but are you compatible with the lifestyle that being a professor brings?  Are you passionate about teaching students and introducing the next generation to the great works of literature?  Do you really want to conduct research?  Are you okay playing into the (sometimes arbitrary) expectations of your department?  Would you be willing to move to another country or take a position at a university that isn’t prestigious?  Would you be willing to teach at a community college?  Are you committed to spending the next several years of your life getting a PhD in the hopes that you can get a job once you graduate?  Are you willing to network, put aside your own research interests, and market yourself in order to get a job?

For some people, the answer to all of those is a resounding, emphatic “yes”.  They’re passionate about their subject, they love research and teaching, and they would do anything to pursue it.  But for those who aren’t as passionate, pursuing a career in academia can be really difficult and draining.  It can also be expensive.  In the US, unlike in the EU, there is no mandated minimum salary or national salary scale for PhD students.  So worst case scenario, you might be working for free and best case scenario, you’re making between $15,000 and $30,000 a year for the 4-7 year duration of your PhD program- and that’s with you having to pay for the program itself.  IMO, if you’re not getting free tuition and a stipend, a PhD isn’t worth the financial investment unless you’re independently wealthy.

Even if you do have a PhD, it can be difficult to get a job in academia. Especially in fields like English, there are lots of professors who have been in their position for upwards of 30 years and plan on teaching until they physically can’t anymore.  That means that there are lots of Associate Professors who have spent years trying to get tenure and fail because there just aren’t open positions.  If you’re willing to move abroad, especially to Asia, that’s less of an issue, but if you’re focused only on prestigious universities in the US, that can be a real problem.  Most universities in the West get between 250 and 400 candidates for a single open position, and even if you get that position, there isn’t a lot of job security.  

In an attempt to save money, many universities have opted to slash their budget for full-time, tenured, or tenure-track faculty in favor of poorly paid, part-time “adjunct” faculty.  However, PhD programs continue to accept and graduate lots of students every year, and so the number of open positions (even poor ones) in relation to the number of PhDs who are applying to those positions gets bigger every year.  You can see the discrepancy in this infographic from the paper, The missing piece to changing the university culture.  

I don’t mean to be a downer here, but as someone who very nearly pursued a career in academia (and honestly, still might), I’m glad that someone told me these things before I committed to that career path.  If you can carve out a niche for yourself, particularly a niche that universities are looking for, it becomes easier to become employed.  If you’re happy to do the grunt work and wait it out, academia can be a really fulfilling career path.  If your PhD program is one of the top 20 in the world, you have a much better chance (54% of top 10 PhD program students are employed out of their program) than if your PhD program is lower in the rankings.

There are also other things you can do with an English degree that don’t involve academia.  You can go into publishing, marketing/advertising, public relations, law, freelance writing, news reporting/journalism, library sciences, editing, interpreting/translation, etc.  Just because you get an English degree doesn’t mean you’re locked into teaching.

You also don’t have to write off getting a degree in English just because it doesn’t have a direct career path.  The vast majority of people don’t have jobs that are related to their college major.  But even if you do want to get a degree with a direct career path (which I think is smart), you can always double major in English and something else or minor in English.  You don’t have to let go of it entirely.

Finally, it’s possible that you’ll get to university and realize that English isn’t actually what you want to study after all.  A lot of people think they know what they want to study upon entering university and then realize that they hate their subject or that they’re actually more passionate about something else.  Give yourself that room to grow and explore without feeling tied to the person you expected you would be. 

[thelittlestag]

Unpopular opinion time

Okay so I know this is probably like, gonna get some blow back (if anyone even sees it haha) but like, I am honestly sick of seeing a bunch of posts about "how to write X type of character and what not to do" x being black characters, autistic chracters gay ect. And those have a certain usefulness like the one for poc "don't compare their skin to ebony, coffee ect, find another way to describe their skin tone" solid point, yes sir, noted and will do. Or the post I just saw about autistic characters: "don't have them be cruel and not care if they are/ are told they were cruel, if their comparable to Sheldon from big bang, start over." Things like that ^ are helpful. But when ur faced with a litteral wall of text about the billion and one things not to do 'or ur a teraable person 11! !!!' It just makes me as a writer not want include those kinds of chracters. I get torn between "I don't want to write these chracters because so much could go wrong and I don't want to be attacked because I made a mistake and either didn't catch it while I was editing or didn't know/forgot." And "but my cast is so boring and a white party over here" and I think there is something to forcing diversity but at the same time, walk outside for an hour and you'll probably encounter at least a handful of poc (based on where I live now) and having all my chracters be white is just unrealistic. But to what degree? Most of the stories I write involve either a couple or a trio of people as my main chracters. I have plenty of side chracters sure and those are much more diverse than my main chracters. Literally because their not there for the entire duration of the novel so when they are around, it's only sections where I have to think much harder about if I'm being offensive. The point is, those posts are meant to be helpful but I find them incredibly annoying, discouraging and make me not eat to include a diverse cast for fear of making a mistake and being ripped apart for it because the mob mentality of this website is disgusting and I know even if it was a genuine mistake and I apologized and fixed it, the shit storm would blow through here and I would never have another moment of peace here, a place I come to to escape reality and bordom for awhile and reblogged gift of cats and cute girls. So that's my rant. But just to be clear in case it wasnt: Those kinds of posts are good posts I just personally find them discouraging and tumbles mob mentality and echo box nature is the real heart of the problem.

[comicteaparty]

July 5th, 2018 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on July 5th, 2018, from 5PM - 7PM PDT.  The chat focused on Cunning Fire by Kaz Rowe.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

COMIC TEA PARTY START!

Good day everyone~! This week’s Comic Tea Party is now officially beginning~! Today we are discussing Cunning Fire by Kaz Rowe~! (http://cunningfire.com/) For those new or in need of a reminder, discussions about the comic are freeform, so please feel free to bring up whatever you wish. However, every 30 minutes I will be dropping in a discussion question to help those who would like a prompt. These questions are totally OPTIONAL to answer, and you can pay them no mind if you wish. If you miss out on any though, they’ll be pinned for the duration of the chat once they’re posted~! Remember, constructive criticism is allowed, but the primary focus here is to have fun and appreciate the amazing comics that the community makes~! As a bonus, each chat a top comment will be picked and featured in the archives and on an ad for CTP! All that being said, let’s get started and have a great discussion!

QUESTION 1. What is your favorite scene in the comic so far and why?

snuffysam

I liked the scene where Akiva and Blair go through the first few levels of the astral plane

It was cool introducing the different environments, and that scene gave us "i need to make a harder challenge"

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i felt so bad for that first level guardian. XD just trying to make some nifty puzzles but nope, everyone just comes and solves them and moves along

i think my fave scene is when they charged the crystal. not only were the visuals really stunning, but im glad there was an element of danger to it. i think that really painted a distinct picture that no, being a witch is kind of dangerous

snuffysam

yeah, i liked the idea that if you mess up with that channeling, you could be hit by lightning

turned out ok in the end, because they needed smaller crystals. but the danger was there

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

So, I liked when Akiva and Darcy first met, and the latter remarked how "literally none of that is your business" but they still kind of got along... and so I shipped them only to see in the author's comment that it could end up being canon.

snuffysam

i can see that. the ship has a lot of potential

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Though the astral plane stuff was neat too. Poor tearful Guardian 1, I guess anyone who makes it to him kind of has a sense of things already.

A lot of things seem dangerous, Akiva's just blindly charging in (though not totally blindly, as they're trying to help her).

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

haha i feel the akiva darcy ship is pretty obvious. would be surprised if it doesnt happen because the two have a really strong connection. or at least akiva is really insistent on being a creepy porch stalker

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Just gotta get past that whole Bahram spoiling it thing.

snuffysam

and a creepy window stalker

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Akiva, into the architecture, heh.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i like how the danger kind of gradually increases for akiva. in that they dont throw her into the most dangerous stuff from the get go. i feel like theyre working their way up so she doesnt panic

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Though you know me and my yuri ships.

snuffysam

yeah it really is kind of like getting experience points and leveling up

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Rebel - Yeah, that's a good point. And they seem to have judged where she's at too, like that remark in the graveyard about how she'd have already been thrown out if there was problems.

"This isn't like a video game!"

snuffysam

it is totally like a video game though, lol.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

another scene that i really enjoyed was when akiva and blair talked on the balcony. mostly because i felt like that scene had some really great atmosphere.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Yeah, I hope that builds up to something more, and learning about Darcy's past.

Related, I find the cast page really interesting... their witch cards, with certain "spoiler" information blacked out.

snuffysam

the balcony scene reminded me - one thing i really like is how the characters' clothes change

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I hadn't even really remarked on that. Good one.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i was actually really sad there was so much good info on that cast page cause i wanted to include some of that stuff in the questions but decided against it since it wasnt in the story itself. XD

i really enjoy how the characters have their own individual styles for clothing

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Heh. The evil date, "121613".

Actually... this takes place in 2016. And Darcy's pact was 3 years ago. Coincidence? O.o

Some people (witches?) must have up and died in mid-December that year...

snuffysam

rio's had a pact for 3 years too, according to her card

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

well the cast page does say eden is one of 4 survivors. and cant have survivors unless ppl dun died

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Maybe they were just sent to astral jail or something.

Like the hellhounds.

snuffysam

though i would point out that eden wasn't registered until after december 16th 2013

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

OH. Nice catch. That is interesting. Maybe the incident is what drove him to witchcraft.

I like how Akiva was born on Halloween.

Also that Blair's overdue for renewal.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

that or it could mean the council didnt know about eden and he was doing underground witch stuff. and then the incident is what made them aware of those ppl

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

The incident was SORT of in the story too... that side story with the online message boards.

Rebel: Good point.

Gotta have the licence to practice magic.

I also liked the side comic following up on the "favour" that was owed, using the library. Including the use of gloves to handle old documents, well portrayed.

There's a whole big backstory here we're only just starting to see.

snuffysam

yeah it really feels like there's a lot to this world we haven't seen yet

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

QUESTION 2. The comic has plenty of mysteries surrounding our protagonist Akiva. First off, why do you think Azrael spared Akiva’s life as a baby? Or, in other words, what exactly did Akiva do that upset the balance that was mentioned a few times? We also learn that one of Akiva’s brothers died under unknown circumstances. What do you think happened to the brother? Was it an accident, self-inflicted, or somehow supernatural? Do you believe the brother’s death has something to do with Akiva’s strained relationship with her family? Lastly, though we know Akiva is a Death Witch, we have yet to see the full extent of her powers. As a Death Witch, what do you think Akiva will be able to do? Do you think she’ll adjust to her powers, or will they scare her and cause emotional trauma?

snuffysam

azrael was just in that halloween spirit

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Her brother had to die because she lived. Will she want to bring him back? Not sure about that.

Maybe he lives on inside her. As a female. Who can resuscitate on the third astral plane.

snuffysam

maybe there can only be a certain number of death witches in the world, and akiva's birth somehow caused one to die?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Because the big twist is, they're not actually related... Akiva's father is actually Bahram, or something. (edited)

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

maybe. as for upsetting the balance i assume that akiva did something she wasnt supposed to do. and for a baby that could mean maybe she wasnt even supposed to live long enough to be born? albeit there is that one scene with azrael where he wishes the old lady good luck in the next life. so assuming reincarnation is a thing, maybe akiva's balance upsetting has more to do with who she was before than who she is now.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Hm, not sure I buy that there's a quota.

Or who she will become?

snuffysam

azrael said that she DID upset the balance, not that she WILL, so i don't think it's that

the next life could refer to just the afterlife. but it could be reincarnation?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

That's fair. I wonder if it's like the balance between our world and the astral one then... was she only "born" in one place...?

snuffysam

are you saying everyone is supposed to have an earthly form and an astral form, and that azrael had to spare her because she didn't have an astral form?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I'm not sure what I'm saying, but let's go with that.

Maybe that Alex girl has the answers. (Am I getting the name right? The prior Death Witch.)

snuffysam

i think it was alexa?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yes alex is correct. alexis if you want to go non nickname

snuffysam

ah yes

yeah i think she knows what's going on with azrael more than anyone else

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I'll take any chance at a name I can get. ^^;

Except if she has the potion, why hasn't she spoken to him already? Is it that she needs a noble excuse?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

she could still know something. albeit shes still far from getting the potion. shes only on the 5th floor and there are 13 floors

so thats many to go

im really curious about whether each time they go to a new floor if their progress saves or if theyre bumped back to the beginning

cause if its the latter that makes sense for why getting to azrael is hard

since akiva passed out on what, floor 3?

snuffysam

i think you always have to start at floor 1. the reason you can ever make it further is because you train up to not lose so much energy.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

They must go back through, because that person said that Darcy had gone through level 2 quickly. Owing to her experience.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

ah thats true!

i forgot about the mention of darcy

welp

good luck to akiva

in regards to akiva's bro, maybe she hugged him and sucked the life out of him

just like how she murdered that flower for a moment

snuffysam

oh dang that would certainly cause some strained relations

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Actually, I'm pretty sure that the Darcy scene we saw near the start (with the crystals) took place in the midst of Part 4, like it was sort of a "flash forward" and then we went back to follow Akiva's path.

snuffysam

maybe? i figured it was just one of the many tries.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Hmm, Seth seemed to know it was coming though? Because he left that note. But I suppose it could explain about her regaining that ability (or rather just lost the power to turn it off).

I suppose it could be too. I've no proof.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

maybe bahram killed him O_O cause lets just blame bahram for everything

this sounds like a great plan

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

yis.

snuffysam

there are plenty of other evil entities out there!

probably

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i assume the strained relationship is actually just cause she predicted it. cause ppl tend to like to blame others when somebody dies.

maybe this is one of her powers as a death witch

she can see ppl's dates of death

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Oh, that could be too. Or maybe she could have predicted it, but said nothing, because of suppressing it?

Though I guess that wouldn't make sense with her family.

Unless she told them about her ability when she was young maybe.

snuffysam

have we seen her predict deaths a long time in advance? we know she sees azrael show up and follow people around a few minutes before they die...

we know she told them about seeing ghosts when she was young, and they didn't believe her

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Ahhhh. (Except Seth, maybe? I don't recall.)

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i dont think she specified it was a few minutes before? i think she just said soon and soon can mean a few minutes or it could mean a few hours (or a few days if you want to stretch it). and since azrael is technically just projecting himself its not like hes going to be worried about appointment keeping. cause theoretically he can just project himself however many times he needs.

wait

now i wonder how azrael knows when to get ppl

cause he didnt get that one girl who inadvertantly got akiva arrested

and if shes seen other ghosts

snuffysam

i feel like ghosts come back from the astral plane under certain circumstances? don't know what those would be though

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

well that one chick with akiva was most likely murdered so i could see how that leaves unfinished business.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Maybe there's only certain people who are special enough.

Back to the original question, I don't think the Death Witch thing will cause any more emotional trauma than Akiva already has. ^.^

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i think it could but i think itd depend on the what. i think itll take something super major. like somebody dying.

QUESTION 3. Not long after Akiva joins Keter, she finds out that Keter had a Death Witch who vanished. Why do you think the last Death Witch, Alexis, left Keter? Was it based on selfish motivations, or could it have been something that Keter did? Does it have something to do with whatever happened between Alexis and Riley (and what do you think happened between them in the first place)? If Alexis left Keter, why is she still trying to reach Azrael with such determination? Lastly, do you believe Alexis and Akiva will meet, and if so, how might that affect Akiva’s perception of Keter?

snuffysam

i think the others were just pushing alexis too hard

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I suspect they'll meet on the Astral. Could be rocky.

snuffysam

yeah i imagine they'll run into each other on the astral plane somewhere

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Maybe they were doing more than pushing too hard, maybe they were pushing her in a couple directions at once. Which was why she couldn't handle the relationship side of things too.

snuffysam

possibly

is it possible that alexis is trying to make the elixir for some personal reason?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

She might have left in a rush, she left her stuff. (Though I guess if she had to steal the elixer on the way out, that makes sense.)

I think that's almost a definite, yeah.

snuffysam

like, someone she knows who died or is dying?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i could go a few ways. on the one hand i could see it that she was pushed too hard. cause i feel like theyre already doing that with akiva. cause even if akiva is a natural, akiva is also still a beginner. and they already have her jumping into the astral and that seems a bit soonish to me. so in a sense i do feel like keter probably drove her to it

but on the otherhand, maybe theres something alexis knows that we dont

like some secret she discovered

snuffysam

maybe there's something shady going on with rio?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I feel like already died, otherwise she'd have been putting pressure on herself too, but there could be something to that.

Alexis knows who puts cream in their coffee.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

something shady with rio, or perhaps it has something to do with azrael. cause azrael did use to be human (iirc). that could have something to do with it.

and i assume theyre all there to revive different ppl tbh

so either that elixir has multiple uses

or after they get it theyre going to fight it out about who gets to use it

snuffysam

some people want to sell the elixir for money, probably

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

maybe. i dont feel any of the charas would. riley and quinn seem involved for research. but i think blair, eden, and darcy are pretty heavily implied to want the elixir for the life giving part of it.

idk about rio

rio might just want moneys

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

OH. Hmmm, will Akiva become the new Azrael? Is that her destiny? Because I'd forgotten about the human thing.

Maybe Alexis wants the Elixer just to spite the others.

snuffysam

maybe all the guardians were once humans, and death witches are created in case they need more?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Maybe Death Witches are all potential successors, it's a question of whether they pass certain tests.

snuffysam

yeah, that's what i'm thinking

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

maybe natural death witches at least

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Yes, no artificial Death Witch sweeteners. Sorry, Darcy.

snuffysam

only death witches who make it to azrael are allowed to become the next azrael, for example

do we know of anyone who has truly pulled off being an artificial death witch?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

no tho its implied they exist. i just assume natural ones are way stronger and have a huge advantage

and are more likely to actually make it to azrael

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Was that guy in the other coven, the one who used his powers for healing, a natural one?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i dont recall if they mentioned

nope

hes a natural

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Me neither. I guess they can't change covens once they decide?

Oh, good find.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i actually clicked on the first page right from the get go

i lucked the heck out on that one

and idk i feel like they could change covens

just usually dont

snuffysam

you can quit covens, nothing stopping you from joining another one

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Why not just offer him better benefits then, to join them? Like dental? (Eden seems to have a good dental plan...)

snuffysam

its just kind of a jerk move unless you had serious personal problems with your previous coven

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i dont think avery would be a good choice cause even he says he sticks mostly to healing.

so ive had a thought. what if alexis doesnt come back to keter because she felt so pressured to succeed that she stayed in astral too long and lost her connection to her physical body

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Fair enough.

Oh, huh... do you think they're trying to get the Elixcer to help Eden out? Because he seems to have the vampiric tendencies, with the teeth and not going outside.

Maybe that's why Alexis cut and run.

snuffysam

maybe? but if she lost the connection to her physical body, how did she steal their progress?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

well i mean she stole their progress, ran away, hid, but can no longer come back to them even if she wanted

so lost the connection after she ran away i mean

snuffysam

ah, ok

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

thats why she hasnt really talked to them or so i feel is implied

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Ah, I see... that's possible. You'd think someone would have found a body though?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

not if she hid super good O_O

but that was just my pulled out of the hat theory

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Maybe she needs the Elixer to get back inside her body.

snuffysam

that would suck if the elixir only has one use then, lol. lose your body trying to make the elixir, and now you need the elixir to get back.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Maybe it simply raises all the dead.

It's like "Death Note" in reverse.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

im not sure azrael would consider that for the greater good

but on the point of the greater good i wonder how theyre going to frame it to convince azrael of that

snuffysam

depends who they're planning on using it on

darcy said that it's definitely not going to work if you're just in it for the money or the challenge, and i agree with her there

but if it's to cure a vampire who could potentially save dozens of lives with his potions? that might work

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Everyone's life insurance premiums will go down?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i wonder what darcy wants then that she considers her goal more worthy

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I dunno, but she is DRIVEN. To experience pain whenever someone touches you? That's a sacrifice.

Also rains a bit on the ship, sadly.

Will need to cover her in saran wrap. Not sure if into that.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

QUESTION 4. Besides Akiva, there are plenty of other characters with mysteries upon mysteries. Between Keter and Darcy, what do you believe everyone’s motivation is to create the Elixir of Life? Why do you believe Darcy would go so far as to contract with Bahram, who seems to be bad? Further, what is Azrael’s relationship with Bahram? As for Keter, what do you think is going on with Eden since he has to visit the doctor frequently? As Blair was avoidant of the question, why do you think she became a Hedge Witch? So the question doesn’t become too long, are there any other theories regarding the characters or their pasts, whether those mentioned or some of the others like Rio and Quinn?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Nice little segue I gave there.

Again, I figure Eden's somehow vampiric. Could be from another pact, like Darcy's? Can't go outside versus can't be touched?

snuffysam

pacts seem to cause downsides like that. i wonder what rio's condition is, since she apparently made a pact?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

idk. wish we had more info about pacts.

cause with darcy i assumed it was just a bahram thing

and i mean bahram looks evil

probably smells evil

but then in the astral blair gets kind of snippy cause that other witch also had a pact

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Rio used to be taller, perhaps.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

so if theres a huge stigma whats even the benefit

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Someone to chill with on Sunday evenings?

snuffysam

yeah, what sort of power do demons or whatever actually give you? and can you break off a pact if it isn't working out?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Maybe if you give them someone else to pact with?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

like for that matter what do the spirit demon things get. cause bahram at least must be after something

is this a selling of the soul sort of thing O_O

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

He gets someone to nag, I suppose.

snuffysam

he gets to cause someone pain

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Just want to say, I like Quinn. Maybe in part because she reminds me a lot of a character in one of my stories, but also the whole idea of being a Sea Witch who doesn't like water feels like an interesting take.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

im more interested by the fact her cast card says she used to be a former council apprentice

cause i want to know what happened there

did she leave

did they kick her out

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Oh, that's interesting. Maybe was rejected due to the not liking water thing?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah that could be. also could be she left on her own. maybe after the incident

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Or spread too much gossip?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i also just want to point out that avery mentions that he and his boyfriend also have been doing witchcraft for 3 years

so there seems to be a theme of everyone getting into witchcraft around the time of this mysterious incident

snuffysam

a lot of 3 years stuff, yeah. a lot of new witches came about in december 2013.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

so either a lot of ppl died or maybe a lot of people became aware they could be witches.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Maybe that's when the first Elixcer got out. So they need this second one to fix the damage that one caused.

Also, I cannot for the life of me spell elixer. I think I've gone through 5 variations this chat.

snuffysam

it's elixir

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Well done.

snuffysam

maybe there was a big witch fight in a public place? somewhere where a lot of people would have found out about witches, and that's why their numbers grew?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

But then why wouldn't Akiva have heard about it? (Wait, when did Seth pass on again?)

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

im not sure the story mentioned a when on that

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Could be there's a connection then.

Maybe THAT'S why Akiva's senses got turned back on. Seth dying was just a coincidence.

Or it's totally related, because he was dating Alexis in secret.

snuffysam

yeah it's hard to think of an event that enough people would have heard of where there would be an influx of new witches, but not enough where akiva or her family & friends would have heard of it

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

may need more data on the event in question.

so if we assume eden is a vampire, do you think the other survivors have been left in the same state?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Doesn't seem to be a vampire who needs blood, at least? Maybe he was one of the lucky ones.

Or the others are werewolves instead.

One thing I want to squeeze in here - I find it neat that some of the word balloons have these little loops in them at times. (On the part that goes from mouth to words.) I thought that was a nice little touch, not something I've really seen.

snuffysam

yeah i really like how the shape of the word balloons' tails is influenced by the character and the emotions of the scene

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Nice art details.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

COMIC TEA PARTY END!

Unfortunately, the scheduled Comic Tea Party time is now up~! Thank you everyone so much for reading and joining this week’s chat~! We want to give a special thank you to Kaz Rowe, as well, for making Cunning Fire and volunteering it for our reading queue. If you liked the comic, please be sure to support Kaz Rowe’s efforts however you’re able to. All that being said, if you would like to continue discussing this week’s comic, we highly encourage you to do so~!

For next week, Comic Tea Party will focus on The Guide to a Healthy Relationship by Dani. Please note the comic is fairly mature, including both mature subject matter and mild nudity. As always, please use the next several days to read as much of the comic as you would like. We hope to see you next Thursday on July 12th from 5PM to 7PM PDT for the chat~! Until then, happy reading~! Comic: https://tapas.io/series/TGtaHR