#found out in the next episode of Wild Blue

[cthulhusstepmom]

Fae!Soap Superstitious Bastard! Ghost: Gifts

(Just a heads up this got way more intense than I meant it to but that’s kind of the Fae for you.)

TW: mentions of torture, human remains

Soap is a collector, though not of any one thing that Ghost can discern. He’s seen the man pick up anything from an abandoned rolex to a nondescript piece of broken glass. It doesn’t seem to be about size, it’s not shape and definitely not value; Ghost had thought he’d pinned it down as things that caught the light a certain way but was swiftly proven wrong when Soap went on a spree of collecting pebbles and sticks. He’d glared sullenly at the first jagged gray rock when Soap had picked it up before swiftly changing the subject when he was noticed. There was no apparent rhyme or reason to any of it… well not quite. There was one singular pattern that stood out in his mind, a single thread that held firm no matter how much he rearranged or plucked at it.

 Anything that Ghost gave him, Johnny kept. 

The first had been a bit of pretty blue ribbon that was a close enough approximation to Soap’s eyes. It’d snagged on a bramble bordering the clearing where Ghost had set up for overwatch. Without even thinking he’d snagged it on his way to RV down the hill, offering it to Johnny in the armored car taking them back to base. Soap hadn’t said a thing. It was then that Ghost realized maybe giving your subordinate a piece of trash you’d found in a bush perhaps wasn’t the most well adjusted way to express affection. He’d been about to play it off with a quip, beginning to retract his fingers ever so slightly, when Johnny snatched it lightning quick from the palm of his hand, holding it close to his chest for a moment before stuffing it into his chest pocket next to his journal. Soap had given him a small strangled “Thank you” as they sat the rest of the ride in an awkward but warm silence. Johnny disappeared almost immediately after they got back to base but Ghost could see light in the space under his door so he wasn’t too worried that he’d done permanent damage to their relationship.

After that his eyes just seemed to catch on things that he assumed Johnny would like. He couldn’t help it. Little glass marbles, a river stone with an interesting marking, a large brown feather; Somehow it all made its way into the hands of his Sergeant. Usually with a gruff “Here”, barely waiting for Johnny to hold out his hands before he dropped his small offering into his gloved palms. Soap has also gotten over whatever his episode of silence had been, responding with a blinding smile and enthusiastic gratitude and a happy quip. (“Thanks Lt!” a piece of antler, Montana “Y’ shouldn’t have!” an old toy car, Finland “Find this on sale?” a scrap of pink fabric, Brazil “Ghost you’re spoiling me.” green river stone, India etc.(no he didn’t catalog all of them that would be creepy. He only wrote down his favorites.))

The next time Ghost thinks he’s permanently damaged their relationship and scared Soap off for good comes after an operation sweeping out an AQ base in Afghanistan. 

It’s stuffy and dark, the blistering heat of the day beginning to fade into the bitter chill of the night. The compound has long since been abandoned by all but the stubbornest of rats, slowly being reclaimed by the wild desert it carved its blackness into. They roll into the courtyard through the open front gate, the outer walls have seen multiple breacher charges and calling them walls at this point is more out of respect than any dedication to accuracy. The whole place has already been swept by drone and Laswell has had satellite eyes on it for months confirming just how fucking dead it is. They’re here for information, the drone identified documents left behind as well as at least two hard drives. 

The 141 has split off, each clearing their own section and radioing in at even intervals, they’ve learned the hard way that it’s better to be safe than sorry. Beyond extra caution, the whole place has an eerie, black aura that drags forth memories of scorpion stings and dull knives biting at his flesh. Assisting in his nightmarish stroll down memory lane, Ghost is assigned the lower levels of the compound. Each room is another scene from a past he tries to forget, filled with rusted over implements of pain and brown stains no one cared to clean. 

Something in the last room makes him pause. 

A small barred window allows light from a waning moon to pool into the room, catching on something on the table. Small, most no bigger than his fingernail, a collection of about five objects sits in a tray on the corner of the table. Brilliant white patches shine in stark opposition to the bed of rust brown they lay on. 

Teeth. Human teeth.

His mind is acting on autopilot when grabs them and stuffs them in a pocket, so similar but so different to his first experience with the ribbon months ago. He finishes his sweep of the room, conveying his findings back on comms (“Seems like we’re late for the party.” “If only you didn’t take so long to get ready.”-Soap “Shut the fuck up the both of you I just saw a rat the size of a terrier.”-Gaz “I’ve got the hard drives if any of you fuckers remember why we’re here.”-Price), and turns back to rendezvous, his mind now firmly on finding his comrades and getting the hell out.

As they start readying themselves to duck into the humvees they arrived in, Ghost’s muscle memory kicks in to complete his self assigned mission objective. He turns to where Soap stands almost expectantly at his side. It’s not every mission that he has something he’s decided is a worthy offering but it has become more often than not. Mind already halfway back to base, a gloved hand chases down each tooth where they’ve burrowed themselves in the pocket of his tac vest, collecting them and dropping them in Soap’s proffered hand with a grunt. His brain turns back on when the bloody bones hit his Sergeant’s glove, panicking because what the fuck did he just do? What kind of fucking sociopath gives his friend(more?) human fucking teeth as a souvenir. Much less human fucking teeth that were pulled forcibly out of some poor bastard’s skull during a bygone torture session. 

His hand is trembling. 

Ghost forces himself to look down and meet Soap’s assuredly outraged and disgusted gaze. 

Only he doesn’t.

Johnny is staring down at the teeth in his palm with a look of fucking reverence. His pupils are dilated beyond just the darkness surrounding them and Ghost’s detail oriented eyes catch the slight flare of his nostrils on every inhale. Soap slowly tilts his head up to meet Ghost’s eyes and a gasp lives and dies in his throat.

“Oh Simon, you treat me so well.” His voice is gravelly and thrumming with an emotion that Ghost doesn’t know the name of. But, god if this is the look he gets after bringing Johnny desiccated human remains?

He’ll rip the teeth out of some unworthy son of a bitch himself.

#Soap may be the one who is inherently Other but Ghost is fucked up too #I adore deeeply fucked up Ghost™ #almost as much as soft Ghost #Soap is one lucky man #he's just sitting here happily obsessed with his human and then Ghost just up and gives him a courting gift #in folklore giving fairies gifts is a 50/50 chance to get them to go away #i however would like to introduce you to a secret third option: love #Also I'm like 60% certain I'm going to do sort of a mix of snippets here leading up to like a three shot culmination posted on Ao3 #would yall like that? would you prefer all on tumblr? do you even want story or just more little drabbles? #Fae!Soap #superstitious bastard!Ghost #cod mw2 #soapghost #tw torture #tw human dentition

[tearsucry]

Sub step-sister Anika kayoko?

— °˖ ⊹ ꒰ 🧩 ꒱ loving your step-sister ; anika kayoko (scream vi)

#.                   it sounded sick to be in love with your stepsister, but some things are just undeniable and out of your control

content warning;      MDNI, nsfw and dark content, female-bodied reader, stepsister! anika, step-cest, reader and anika are not actually blood-related, bottom/top dynamics, very sappy something, fingering, couch sex

a/n.               I got a little sappy and loving in this, idk what triggered it but I let it flow so I hope you guys like it !!!

out of pure curiosity, that’s how it all started back a few years ago when the both of you were just inexperienced teenagers, seeking help of how to kiss, how to explore the body of the person you were drowning in love with. the tree house was the best place to do it, no parents, no neighbors being able to see, and your parents would be nothing but happy knowing that the two of you are bonding instead of fighting all the time.

this moment brings back many memories, as you stand under the now withered tree house, just gazing at the rotting wood panels and ladder, the green and yellow spots of tree mold climbing up and around the branches and the footing of the house.

and so, when inside you spot her on the couch, trying to fall asleep during her tv show as it was a filler episode you have already seen when it came out a week ago. you watch her eyes, half lidded and struggling to stay open, head tipping over from her palm like she is a second away from passing out. dilated pupils, burning fingertips, and a lungs heavy with the weight of rushed breaths, you tip toe over her side like a creep, standing over her tantalized by her beauty.

“anika…” you breath, eyes stuck on her stomach for a second before climbing up to where her crop top creased, stopping just below her breast but still revealing that she wasn’t wearing any bra under.

it takes a second for her to realize you are there, breathing over her like she is a rabbit, and you are a fox, ready to catch her, snap her neck like a dried twig. “what’s up?” she asks innocently, eyes almost shining with anticipation while she reaches onto the coffee table so she can put the remote down and make some room for you.

“do you remember out first time up in the tree house?” you ask, flushed cheeks should already be a hint at what you are talking about, but you guess that the innocent and boring episode pulled her mind out of the connection making mode. “yeah, we started fighting about what color the inside should be. I wanted flowers and pink and you wanted blue and clouds.” she laughs a little, rolling onto her back as you take a seat next to her. you chuckle alongside, wiping your forehead as you struggle to express what you really mean.

“no I meant… that first time.”

anika chuckles once again, nodding her head before pushing herself up to sit and lean against the arm rest of the couch, her hand coming to take yours and rub a few gentle circle into the back of your palm with her thumb. she hums, biting her lips before taking a deep breath but not looking at you just staring forward. it’s that you realize that she thinks about it too, once in a while if not all the time and everyday like you do. every little detail, every little move, and sound that you made when up there, so young and so naïve, so reckless.

“i think I can never forget it.” it didn’t sound eager or egoistic, it was sincere and heartfelt, coming from deep in her chest as she muttered every letter. a shiver rans down your spine, shaking your very core as you feel her touch climbing along your arm and up to you neck, cradling it ever so gently before bringing you down for a kiss.

it was odd, for so many weeks and months you found it so odd when you looked at your stepsister there wasn’t an overwhelming anger towards her but rather your heart clutched, and stomach filled with butterflies. the smiles she gave you drove you wild in every sense of the word- animalistic, crazy, drunk on lust, out of control, and overcame with happiness.

you take in her lips, the warmth of the air she gasps when the two of you pull away before embracing each other against the giant pillow on the couch. you move on top of her, knees on either side of her as one hand kept you above her and the other palmed her through her top. anika shudders, moaning into the kiss and letting you slip your tongue past her lips.

what does this mean? that was all that you could think about when you first let her kiss you, when it wasn’t just curiosity but the first time you knew exactly what to do. she needed help after her breakup with this girl- you never really liked her anyway, she was too pushy, too stand off-ish- and you helped her a lot, through out a few days, every next one riskier than the one before. you never complained, not even when you were too tired to do anything or was still cramping from the previous session.

but now you knew everything you needed to, everything that wasn’t just to please her but please you too because whatever you had now was unspoken, forbidden from everyone else but the two of you. they would never be able to understand how much you felt for each other, how much it mattered to stay by one another’s side in this cruel world that led you to each other. this wasn’t obsession or an opportunity to feel something more than the creeping feeling of mortality- it was love.

“I love you…” your mouth moves to her throat, murmuring the confession for the hundredth time as your hand finally reaches from her chest to her jean shorts to unbutton and clumsily push it down just barely revealing the heat between anika’s legs.

“I love you too.” she is more confident than you are, her words doesn’t shake like yours even when your fingers dip under her panties and start rubbing her clit in slow, tight circles.

you are still awake, still coherent, and she could see you were still thinking hard about something you want to say but cannot find the right words to say, which makes it that much harder for her not to smile. you keep kissing her skin, her hand rubbing your back, making sure you will be okay enough to tell her what you want to.

it didn't matter if you said this is a mistake, or that you cannot control this desire that is so unorthodox that if people knew none of you would have any family or friends left.

"i know i am not supposed to be saying these things to you but..." your voice chokes back a bit as your head falls onto her shoulder, sighing deeply. "i think i might actually die from wanting to be with you."

“i will never leave you.” she says, pressing a small kiss to your exposed skin. it’s the first time you hear those words come out of her mouth. it's a little shaky now, anika's skin blooming with goosebumps as your hot breath fans her ears when you move your head.

you don't waste any time now and slip your finger inside her, only just one and pump it inside her, long trusts in and out, spreading her slick over her lips.  she lets out a groan, hands coming up to tug on your hair, pulling on your locks and moan out the words she has been holding in. “fuck.” she breathes, her hand tightening in your hair as you continue pumping your finger in and out, moving fast and hard, surprising her by pushing another finger inside her.

“please...”  she whispers, hips bucking as her toes curl, her thighs clenching tighter around your wrist. “please don’t stop.”

the thought of having your first time in the tree house was supposed to be the last thing on your mind, following the memory of your clumsy strokes inside her.  you wanted to keep this memory close to your heart, keep it forever locked inside. you couldn’t explain how much it affected you, that it still affects you and yet you don’t feel any disgust, no remorse.

"oh, god..!” she moans as you hit her sweet spot. she grips tightly onto your wrist, her nails digging deep as she arches her back. “yes. yes, fuck me...” she cries out, begging you to give her what she wants without hesitation. the way you were pounding into her was driving her insane, her body tingled as you continued, and your name fell out of her mouth like a prayer.

“shit, fuck, anika.” you choke out as you feel her grip on your hair release, arms wrapping around you so you are pressed flush against her front as she collapses against you, her body going limp as she tries to steady her breathing. your own heartbeats pick up a beat and you look up at her face, seeing her eyes closed in pleasure. you fall next to her on your side, trying to not fall off the couch as you pull your fingers out of her.

“thank you.” she mumbles, resting her head against your chest and squeezing you tightly. you lay there, listening to her breathing for a moment as you hold her, wondering what in God’s name happened to the person that used to get mad at you because you were let out at night and she wasn't, that you had to move into the new room that was promised to her, and all sorts of little things.

you wonder where her patience ended up, where her kindness took over; how did a girl who always stood tall and strong become someone who was afraid to lose someone she hated so much before? you weren’t ready to ask yet because you aren’t sure if she was gonna satisfy your need for acceptance with another "i love you." and get you to stay with her. but all these were such little things and you decided just to relish in this moment while she was in your arms, basking in the same warmth you were until something was gonna disturb you.

#— created by 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐚 ☆ #scream x reader #scream x reader smut #anika kayoko x reader #anika kayoko #anika kayoko x reader smut #anika kayoko smut #anika kayoko x female reader #anika kayoko x female reader smut #scream anika x reader #scream anika x reader smut #scream 6 x reader #scream 6 smut #scream smut

[renatogpadilla]

THOUGHTS ON CR3E92 IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER:

- FIRST EVER CR CROSSOVER EPISODE?!

LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

- Dariax said "This Flute doesn't play itself anymore." Doriax canon offscreen?

- "After all the handjobs, this is what we mean to you?!" Damn... I mean, I'm glad Opal and Cyrus found a way to relieve stress, Gods know they're both stressed, but damn.

- Ending the episode on Opal Twice-Crowned hitting phase 2 of the boss fight was EVIL!

I love it, @quiddie ! I feel like when this gets animated in a decade or so, we'll get this fight and the fight with Otohan Thull overlayed one on top of the other for a Season Finale or something!

- Raven Queen going two for two on Rogues turned Paladin! Which is great, but now I have to replan Morrighan's moveset for that imaginary Critical Role fighting game that only exists in my head (somebody ask me about it please, I NEED to talk about it!) but at least she gets some Smite options out of the Bunny Hop command jump!

- Dariax is a Bard now too! That's honestly so perfect for Matt! And the fact that both Sorcerers and Bards are Charisma Casters makes me feel like the Synergies are gonna be great!

- Oh, Dorian, wonderful blue king... That's a lot of strength that your Dice will never agree to let you use for anything cool. I missed you SO MUCH!

- Speaking of that imaginary CR fighting game, this just solidified Opal as a puppet character. The tag combos with Ted would be WILD! Think Kenshi from MK1!

- Fy'ra Rai... Just... FY'RA RAI! Gods, I've missed Anjali at the table! Her memory with Opal, her tug-of-war with her thoughts about her sister... THE LAVA WHIP! Nothing sexier than Monks! Except a pissed off Wizard or Druid.

- On the other side of the table, I LOVE the moment the girls all collectively remembered they had to break the news to Frida... Oh, that's gonna hurt BAD!

- Anyone else noticed that Ashton is BURNT OUT and laying on the ground after his Titan form wears off, but Fearne just says she's really tired and just KEEPS GOING? Ashton is DONE for now, but Fearne needs to keep moving forward... Fuck, I love these two.

- Orym... Just... Orym. If you take a level in Barbarian after this, I wouldn't blame you.

- Side-Note: This means Dorian DID get Orym's last message before they went to the moon! He just didn't/couldn't answer! Which means, through the static and everything, Dorian COULD hear Orym! And now he's probably gonna get this message once the battle is over... Jesus, if they get to Zephra and Keyleth went to the Lodge next to the lake that's gonna be a problem...

- Side-Note Side-Note: Anyone else hoping to GOD that Allura called the Nein to help? Cause Beau and Caleb were involved, but now it feels like an "All Hands on Deck" situation, and we could use Kingsley's small army of pirates right about now...

- So much happened this episode between the grieving and the flashbacks and the rolling for handjobs that I didn't have time to process the splinter cell of Xhorhasians that split their soul in twain until I woke up... Opal may have forgotten, but maybe Ted hasn't? Though if they're the same person, maybe they both forgot...

- Aabria, the corrupting of the Memories was FOUL, I LOVE IT!!!

- Somebody needs to tell Essek about the soul-splitters. In fact, let's get to that while we deal with Ashton too!

- IF OPAL DIES, AMY CAN COME OVER AS DENI$E! Like, I don't WANT her to die, but Westruun isn't that far... 👀

- I just realized this is the first ever FULL episode of CR without Sam at the table... Fuck, man, when it hurts it hurts. Glad Marisha brought back the fan.

"Forgot the Consonants?" "No Letters." OUCH, MISS RAY, WHAT THE FUCK?!

- Raven Queen Paladins hasting themselves first thing in the fight. Vax is back, and he's a Bunny Girl now!

- I like that the Crownkeepers are a two-way Overwatch reunion (McCree Cassidy and Symmetra) and a three-way Persona 5 reunion (Yusuke, Ann Futaba and Akechi).

- Everything was so fucked this episode that everything with Liliana got knocked to the background for me, THAT'S how good it was!

- The SECOND Evoroa said Ludinos was on Exandria I knew EXACTLY where he would be! Now we HAVE to get the Nein involved, right? Unless the bastard makes the city float again...

I cannot WAIT for the next episode! And if Sam brings a new character when all the groups are together, it would be SPECTACULAR! I'm guessing he's going to play one of the moon races, because that just sounds cool... Either that or Tary!

#Critical Role #CR #CR3 #Bell's Hells #Exandria Unlimited #ExU #Crownkeepers #Crown Keepers #CR3 Spoilers #ExU Spoilers #CR3E92 #C3E92 #SO MANY TAGS! #AND WE HAVE TO WAIT TWO WEEKS FOR THE SECOND PART OF THE CROSSOVER?!?! AAAAAAAAAARGH!!! #critical role #cr #cr3 #bell's hells #crown keepers #crownkeepers #exu #exandria unlimited

[onomatopagu-et-cie]

The Killing Vote (ep. 7 notes)

The Killing Vote (ep. 1-5 notes) The Killing Vote (ep. 6 & overall notes) The Killing Vote: more on Joohyun, Kwon Seokju & Kim Muchan

I don’t know if you saw, but they announced episode 8 will be out next week on October 5th……….. After THIS preview no less, you’ve got to be kidding me aaaaaaaa (PД`q。 ) ·。 ' ゜

This got again really long, sorry again!!!!

Have a nice week!

(SPOILERS UP TO EPISODE 7!!!!)

Let Jihoon, Joomin, Joohyun, KMC & KSJ get their happy found family ending (இ﹏இ`｡) Put them in a slice of life, far far away from this noir genre plsssssss

I appreciated the fact that no explicit violence (except when BWT was beaten up by Min Jiyoung's family & KMC) was shown on screen ie. for Narae nor her dog ; the violence implied from all the scenes were more than enough already (eg. the video on KSJ ; the audio recording Narae’s voice)... ! And by the way, Park Sungwoong's acting in this episode!!!!!! I also loved how KMC’s character was shown trying to maintain a composure/restraint (his voice damn) in front of KSJ’s grief.

And the Jihoon & Joohyun scenes were GREAT!! Joohyun sounds like that sister you can naturally rely on!

(She needs to live, you hear me?!)

(Don’t read the new OST’s lyrics you are warned haha, it was beautifully played for Jihoon’s scene and the lyrics could also very well apply to KMC & KSJ in KMC’s pov!)

♦ September 15, 2015 (Lrae091515)

Narae disappeared on September 15, 2015… Just like how the video test is titled!

OH and something I missed!!! In the first post I mentioned the video test title, I wondered if it could refer to both Narae and Dies Irae (since Mozart’s Requiem was played in ep4):

As for the ‘Lrae’… It could be a wild WILD guess but ‘Lrae’ could be ‘irae’ as in Dies Irae/day of wrath (capital i looks like a lowercase L), which is a sequence in Requiem mass!

But the capital L could also stand for the korean letter ᄂ/니은 (nieun), which is the first letter for Narae/나래. Added to the ‘rae’, it gives ‘Narae091515’.

♦ The items in LMS’s room & his ring

Some of the items that were in the display case in LMS’s hidden room were revealed in this episode (from left to right):

KSJ’s suitcase

KSJ’s book he signed for LMS

KSJ’s mug, which is seen carried in the present by:

Jihoon (we only see him retrieve it from the deliveryman)

LMS (a whole collection)

This Gaetal in ep4 with this particular red mug when they rage as the public opinion is shaken because KMC was believed to be dead.

The picture with Narae seems to have been taken the day of the conference shown at the beginning of the episode. LMS probably stole the picture because it was a significant day to him ie. when he met KSJ in person.

Also, about the ring, LMS had it even in the flashbacks (picture to the right). Could it be some device to send him a reminder to take his medicine?

♦ More on shame

Something I wanted to add to what I said in a previous post (‘On the frames facing down (ep. 1 & 6), shame and guilt’): when KSJ visited his house in the present thanks to Joohyun, he only dusted off Narae’s picture to face her stuffed bunny.

Ep7 showed the other frame was a picture of KSJ and her, so it could show how he still strongly feels he failed her as her father:

♦ Narae, Joomin and Jihoon

FINALLY a bittersweet but hopeful? (I don’t care if it’s wishful thinking, let me hope okay ;;) parallel that’s clearly the opposite of ep4 & 6’s framing, the new OST (Aalia, Blue) was a perfect addition, it was soothing:

♦ The third person meeting with Narae and KSJ

(1) « She »

At the beginning of the episode, Narae met KSJ and said a ‘she’ couldn’t join them for dinner according to the subtitle translation when I watched.

(I’m unfortunately not able to watch on Prime, so I’m not sure if it’s fansubs or the Prime translation ; I wanted to use my free trial to watch the drama and other series, but it’s region-locked in my country and I don’t have a VPN ;;)

The gendered pronoun is an addition of the translation as the original exchange omitted any indication on the subject.

Most of the time [in Korean] the subject is implied, and you would rather address someone by their title or name (with an honorific if need be) depending on your relationship eg. Joohyun calls KMC 팀장님/team leader and KSJ 교수님/professor, Joomin calls her sister 언니/big sister. Note: but it can also be used by a female speaker for an older woman she’s close to eg. a friend, a girlfriend (like 형 = younger man -> older man ; 오빠 = younger woman -> older man or 누나 = younger man -> older woman).

This is how Narae and KSJ’s conversation went:

« — 왜 혼자 왔어? / Why did you come alone? — 또 먼저 갔지. 오늘도 할일이 엄청 또 많대. / [They] left early again. [They] said [they] had a lot of things to do today too. — 셋이 같이 저녁을 먹을랬는데. (…) / I’d hoped the three of us could have dinner together. »

Nothing in this exchange hints at the identity of the person that accompanied Narae. KSJ only mentions the three of them (셋이), nothing else.

(Of course, translating this exchange could be really tricky because it’s about a context that only Narae and KSJ are privy of and we’re unfamiliar to, how to introduce a character we potentially know nothing of?)

But the conversation shows:

— That person usually accompanied Narae to see her father (and probably picked her up from school first & walked the dog together) ; that explains why the subject is omitted in the conversation because it’s implied from their daily life.

— They sounded like an adult habitually swamped with what looks like a usually time-consuming work (which excludes Jihoon)

— They seemed close enough to both Narae & KSJ (who jokingly says it’ll be a father-daughter date if they don’t come), dinner with them sounded customary.

— We know it couldn’t be about KSJ’s ‘late wife’ as Min Jiyoung comments ‘It must be hard for him to raise a girl by himself’ as they’re driving home from the conference.

— It has been highlighted twice already how hard, to society/KSJ’s surroundings, raising a girl by himself must be: first with Min Jiyoung’s housekeeper in ep5 (‘They felt sorry for me for raising my daughter alone, so they would share food with me sometimes.’), then Min Jiyoung herself in ep7. Whoever that was, this person also might've helped KSJ to raise Narae unbeknownst to everyone else.

So it was supposed to be someone close to the two of them.

(2) Kim Muchan?

In the same episode, when KMC said Choi Jinsu knew what kind of relationship he had with KSJ, CJS later described it as a ‘close relationship’ (가까은 사이), the same adjective KSJ uses to describe KMC in the present (see in a previous post the notes on 가깝다).

KMC is also the one shown in the very next scenes working hard to bust drug scenes (to the point of eating those painkillers like it’s popcorn). It’s also highly likely the other cases we saw on the news were also recklessly solved by him. (Also the ‘Lives Here.’ on the mirror is a fitting detail to his workaholic side!)

He's still the same in the present and brings work at home. Even though he gets around the law to arrest culprits, the reputation he has now can also attest to the fact he’s still relentlessly absorbed by his work.

This was indeed how Jodan described KMC to Joohyun:

« (…) aka. Wipeout. Pressuring criminals to admit more crimes. Making a case bigger to take more credit. He somehow makes cases into special ones. That’s how he made his way up to Seoul from the south. The master of promotions. (…) Based on his arrest rate, he should be at the top, but those up there must hate him. »

And KMC was close enough to KSJ and Narae to firmly believe Narae would never run away from home, like family would say ; KSJ was the only person he trusted and looked up to.

Not to mention KSJ was completely tensed as Choi Jinsu interrogated him but relaxed once KMC took over, letting out a sigh of relief and dropping his guard to cry.

EDIT: KMC also knew calling KSJ 'hyung' instead of 'Professor' would eventually make him react, as he was lifeless and caught in his thoughts so far.

(3) How long did KMC know KSJ?

KSJ began teaching at KNPU in 2008, which means KMC and him must’ve known each other for at least 7+ years (it’d be 15+ years in the present): ‘Have you forgotten? I said I’d be your number one fan. I said that at your first lecture at KNPU.’

Also KSJ is 44 years old btw, I missed that detail in ep4 when KMC checked his files!

♦ Relationships conveyed through pictures

It’s interesting how the drama keeps highlighting the importance of KSJ and KMC’s relationship, but there’s (yet) no picture to materialize this truth in people’s eyes, while the other significant relationships are framed in the drama:

-> Joohyun’s family portrait and a picture of Joohyun and Joomin in the present.

-> KMC picture with someone who might be his mother.

-> Many pictures of KSJ and Narae filled the house’s walls and the furniture and there was a picture of Narae and Jihoon with the handmade bunny toys hanging on their backpack.

And even though nobody might’ve heard of KSJ adopting Jihoon soon at the time (except KMC), he was present in Narae’s drawings by her and KSJ’s side. And he also drew the three of them together.

-> Min Jiyoung’s family portrait was ostentatiously exhibited in the past & is still used to build her image for her campaign. But there’s also a small portrait with only her and LMS at her apartment in the present.

KSJ and KMC’s relationship evades common portrayal. (Not to mention family portraits are often shown in dramas to foreshadow underlying dynamics between its members!)

The only picture we were shown of them was on the day KSJ was sent to prison:

♦ KSJ’s health and military service

On KSJ’s resume (first picture), you can see he was exempted of military duty.

Indeed, what’s written on the left column under his military status is 미필 (incompletion, if he had been discharged after completing his military duty, it would be written 군필), and the rank and service term columns are empty.

I can’t quite make out everything that’s under the last column for the reason of incompletion, but I read 기형 (deformity), 친환 (one’s parent illness) and 변재 (accident) … ?

However what we learned when KMC checked his medical files in ep4 (third picture) was that he’s got asthma (천식) and primary spontaneous pneumothorax (일차성 자연기흉) ie. occurring without an apparent cause when there’s originally no known lung disease while there’s a preexisting lung disease when it’s secondary.

« Until now the cause of primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) has not been identified, however; several risk factors have been identified such as; smoking, male sex, and a family history of pneumothorax ».

So he was probably exempted due to his long-time health issue (asthma, lung collapse), and maybe KSJ’s family had a history of pneumothorax.

♦ Who is Gaetal?

Is LMS really Gaetal? Are Fan no. 1 & Gaetal different people?

As I said in a previous post, the drama plays with the bias that everything must’ve been done by the same individual/a same group with the same intentions, so it’s possible:

Gaetal in the video test

Gaetal in the prerecorded votes, at least the first one (because the tone, gesture and expressions seemed different compared to the two next votes)

Gaetal broadcasted live (for Cpt. Oh’s vote)

Fan no. 1 who wrote the letters to KSJ

Fan no. 1 JJW said he was working with who described KSJ as the one they admired the most but also said they destroyed the person he loved the most, so he must hate them

Are different people in some cases, meaning:

— The ‘Fan no. 1’ Jung Jinwook worked with might not be LMS, since they never met each other

— It could be Jihoon, or at the very least, he’s an accomplice (there’s this exchange with Joohyun about the shift from an accessory to an accomplice, it could be foreshadowing). He’s well-versed in hacking, he most likely ‘admired’ KSJ and feels guilty over Narae’s death (and probably over BWT’s murder by KSJ), as KSJ said to KMC:

« — [Narae and Jihoon] were supposed to meet that day. — Yes, he thinks all of this happened because he was late. He’s still in shock. »

(He could’ve been the one to have faced Narae’s picture down!)

We don’t know his whereabouts for these 8 years but he must’ve been in contact with KSJ at least once since what happened and given KSJ’s reaction when KMC asked him if he contacted him.

Also Jihoon was definitely searching for KSJ before Joohyun interrupted him when he was at the Police Agency at the end of the episode.

He looked like he definitely knew the content of the ‘video test’ too (or recognized the room), he seemed dumbfounded to learn Joomin found it in ep3:

Determined to help, a part of him could’ve held KMC guilty of the chain of events 8 years ago. KSJ entrusted his handmade bunny toy to KMC and said:

« He said he made them himself, so there are only two of them. Whoever has Narae’s is the murderer, so he told me to use this to catch him. He left this with me. I’m counting on you. »

And KSJ must have some part in whatever is happening now with the Killing Vote: after all, we never got the reason KSJ went out of prison in ep4 (‘If they find out what I did instead of performing labor, they might believe the suspicions are true.’).

-> This scene in ep3 (the first set of pictures on the left): of course this shows his relief because he still cares for KMC but it seemed like he somehow already knew for a fact KMC was out of danger, even before the janitor said he was barely hanging on and not off the hook at all.

— This was even before the video of KMC was revealed to the public in the next episode ;

— The present Gaetal might have informed him in advance a police officer got involved in the bombing against their will, without revealing it was KMC. This would explain why KSJ seemed genuinely surprised when the janitor said it was KMC (the last two pictures of the set) ;

— Someone else could have informed him even if it seems difficult from the prison (but we know he got lots of privileges there and we still don’t know what he did for the warden ; the visit register could have been fabricated and someone indeed met him) ;

— It’s worth pointing out KSJ was convinced KMC was Gaetal up until ep6, which adds another layer to this scene.

-> His reaction in ep5 was also curious (the second set of pictures on the right), he only got perplexed for the video test, as though he was well-acquainted with the rest of whatever was going on except for that one detail (which adds to the theory that Gaetal in the video test ≠ Gaetal in the Killing Vote/Fan no. 1).

Curiously, as I said just above, while KSJ seemed unaware of the video test's existence, Jihoon looked familiar with its content on the contrary.

KSJ never outright denied he was Gaetal eg. his interview with Joohyun in ep2:

«  — ‘Devils who were deemed innocent.’ The phrase that the killer used… You were the first one to say it, weren’t you? I think the killer has something to do with you. — The two people who used the same phrase must be connected. That’s such a naive approach. »

Ep6 only showed KSJ hoped KMC was Gaetal.

And you wouldn’t say KMC’s ‘I’m a cop.’ is a real answer too. Hate to admit it, but KMC stayed silent when KSJ wanted to confirm he was sincere: his feelings might be genuine, but denying he’s Gaetal could very well be a lie.

As for KMC’s front ie. keeping silent when asked about his relationship with KSJ, I guess it comes from his determination to solve all this by his own hands this time: he knows they would take him off the case otherwise. (And for some reason, I can’t help but also suspect Joohyun aaaaa we still don’t know anything about her past!!)

KMC or KSJ, one of the two might be related somehow ; if so, I guess they’d be trying to plan something without the other knowing in order not to involve them and also because the other would disapprove (eg. KSJ to put an end to KMC’s guilt ; KMC to offer some peace to KSJ after all the tragedy and his past mistakes).

— Plus, the Gaetal of the first vote sounded suspiciously like KSJ (his silhouette and gait too) eg. t h a t tremulous voice when he gets angry (the actor plays a lot with that in his roles overall).

— The first vote was prepared from a redevelopment area and BGC was murdered there (pictures on the right).

In ep7, in addition to the video accusing KSJ of being dubious and the witness statement, Narae being found in a redevelopment area was what made the police suspect KSJ of murdering her, since he was known for standing up against said building’s demolition:

« You’d been to the place where the body was found, right? Don’t even think about lying. We know you protested against demolishing that building. »

(Even before Joohyun showed him the Gaetal video test, KMC must’ve had his suspicions from BGC’s murder scene and the broadcast after the body was found eg. recognizing KSJ’s tone, 'the devils deemed innocent' or the ‘rational justice’!)

Narae might’ve been found in the lower part of the building BGC’s vote was prepared in: even though the first story doors were repainted in red and handrails were added to the bridge, the overall architecture and the sort of electricity meter/letter box on the ground floor look the same.

And even without it being the same building, it holds enough resemblance for it to seem like a disturbing recall of the events 8 years ago, combined with Gaetal’s keywords.

— LMS could’ve killed BGC’s wife as Gaetal's copycat at first but that still wouldn’t explain his involvement to the Killing Vote, saying he would give it to his mother as a present.

(But his conversation with KMC when he interviewed him in the present really gave me the impression he knew something about KMC we were not shown, and that could foreshadow what'll happen in the next episode!)

— About LMS’s true perception of justice: we never got to hear his opinion, Narae came running to her father and KSJ interrupted the conversation. So far, the drama didn’t show if his ideals align with Gaetal’s for example, but some elements in the flashbacks clearly show it could be the case.

In fact, his notes about ‘proper justice’ could align with Gaetal’s concept of vigilantism to make up for a failing official retributive justice.

And his ‘If you pass judgment without looking at things clearly, it’s not being fair. It’s being indifferent.’ clearly parallels KSJ’s opinion in the present (ep6):

« Lady Justice wears a blindfold because she’s afraid of bias in decisions. That always bothered me. If you don’t look at cases and the people involved clearly, how can one pass fair judgment? Can judgments without experience be right? Only after losing my daughter did I realize I was qualified to judge others. »

KSJ’s past self would’ve been moderate and warned him however: ‘Relying solely on your experiences can also lead to bias. Experiences are gained through situations and conflicts. They can’t be absolute truths.’

But this detail is something KMC doesn’t know, he instead focuses on LMS’s elitism because he didn’t have those kinds of exchanges with him.

♦ ‘No. 1 Fan’ & LMS

So…………………… You mean to tell me « No. 1 Fan » was originally a memory both KSJ and KMC held dear? That LMS chose this very nickname as a penname for the 5 whole years he sent letters to KSJ? That LMS described KSJ to JJW as the man he admired the most, just like KMC said in that exchange.......... ?

There’s literally no way in hell LMS didn’t listen KMC and KSJ’s conversation ; « no. 1 Fan » could be common in any other cases but not in this one: LMS made everyone around KSJ gone from the picture, it wouldn’t surprise me KMC was/is meant to be the next (LMS even describes him as a ‘cockroach’ hard to kill in ep5).

As to how he got to learn all that, bugging one of the two’s communications/belongings/Narae’s room (eg. that ‘My Daddy My Hero’ seems to be the only thing taken from the house, or the device Jodan found in the ceiling, as it’s totally covered with dust) or even hiding in KSJ’s house that day and listening to their exchange wouldn’t be that surprising given what he did and how he seems to enjoy playing recklessly.

What Jodan found looks like the kind of device that transmits frequencies to another device (eg. cell phone, a recorder prepared to this end).

In this episode, we saw LMS watched everything among the crowd each time (when Narae’s body was found, when KSJ was sent to prison), there could very well be times he watched unnoticed from KMC or KSJ.

I guess he learned about the ‘rational justice’ the same way: he could’ve heard the ‘devils deemed innocent’ from his mother or some other way (eg. if he hacked the court’s archives, he could’ve found the trial transcripts), but ‘rational justice’ was something only KSJ and KMC knew about (at least, at this point of the drama).

Given his obsession for KSJ, LMS could benefit from deliberately using a precious memory that KSJ could only attribute to KMC and posing as KMC: that would finally make him assume a special position in KSJ’s eyes (and it worked: that’s probably why KSJ firmly believed Gaetal and/or the one who wrote him letters was KMC).

And he probably deludes himself into believing it was originally his by right, not Narae’s, not KMC’s nor anyone else’s (I don’t think he knew Jihoon even if he observed the house): he considers himself KSJ’s only entitled Fan no. 1.

At the same time, becoming Gaetal, a figure that would finally bring the justice to KSJ which KMC failed to do, gives him the opportunity to finally ‘judge’/destroy KMC as he wished. Eg. making him the next Killing Vote target by showing people he was deceiving them (his ‘Wipeout’ reputation) ; or distorting facts about his involvement in Narae’s case (just like the video Min Jiyoung/LMS made on KSJ to divert the attention off her son).

And this seems to be the case in the preview:

The screen on the left side of the shot displays an edit of KMC (which looks like those Gaetal did for the previous targets ; the picture seems to come from when the journalists gathered at the prison when they learned he was alive), and if I’m not mistaken you can read on the banner « 속였습니다 » (‘I/He deceived/lied to [the people maybe?]’), which might be a reference to what he said in ep4 where he also used 속였습니다.

♦ « This house had good natural lighting »

Losing Narae left KSJ lifeless. In this episode’s flashback, his profile, livid, is blinded by white light, like a ghost.

Even though he stood in Narae’s room, he was perhaps longing for the house that was already not there anymore and that initially had ‘good natural lighting’, as Joohyun said in ep4. It symbolized all the happiness he shared with Narae.

And KMC could only witness, helpless, KSJ’s grief.

In retrospect, on the second set of pictures to the right, the sight of KSJ’s silhouette in a similar setting and lighting (when KSJ was transferred to the Police Agency, ep5) might’ve reminded KMC of this memory.

The drama highlighted this theme in other previous scenes too. They have in common a silhouette shot in an overall dark setting facing a strong backlighting.

[And you can notice the shots get gradually brighter as the drama progresses and KSJ gets out of prison!]

Joohyun's scene on the top right was so beautifully shot... !

-> When KSJ is transferred to the Police Agency ;

-> When Joohyun interviews KSJ and makes him listen to Mozart’s Requiem in ep4. And also KMC’s reaction we could better understand in retrospect as he listened (the pictures on the bottom right) ;

-> When KSJ enjoyed the light from the prison in ep4 ;

-> When he looked outside from his cell’s window while meditating in the first episode ;

-> When KMC wanted to visit KSJ but he refused to meet him in ep2 (and we can once again better interpret his expressions in retrospect to ep7).

Note: in ep3, KMC’s reaction to the tagged wall (‘the 13th was wrong’) and the news articles about the case from 8 years ago could also now be interpreted as pained in retrospect ; his surprise upon discovering this also shows it’s at least not him who messed the room that way. If he cared for Narae as this episode showed, he probably wouldn’t have damaged her room. It's also maybe relevant to note again that the video test didn't have the tagged wall!

♦ Min Jiyoung’s classism

Whatever Min Jiyoung found on KMC was something she did not approve according to her standards: she went from ‘that detective’ when she first met him to ‘bastard like you/the likes of you’ at the end of the trial.

I get BIG classist undertones when she speaks to him, and it's not the sole occurrence:

-> When she fired her previous aide because he advised her in a way she deemed unsatisfactory, she commented: ‘촌스러운 새끼’ which was translated to ‘What a loser.’ The adjective she used is 촌스럽다 (unpolished, countrified, dowdy ie. « one’s attitude or taste being unsophisticated and looking like that of a country person »).

The Naver Dictionary also gives the expression ‘촌스러운 사람’ and translates it as ‘a lout, rustic, clodhopper, boor’.

새끼 means offspring (cub or child/kid), but it’s often used as an insult to mean someone’s a jerk/bastard/etc. which is the case here (eg. 개새끼, SOB/bastard).

-> The housekeeper: KSJ described her as ‘도우미’ (assistant, helper) and was getting along well with her and her husband (‘They felt sorry for me for raising my daughter alone, so they would share food with me sometimes. (…) Though we didn’t know each other very well, we were quite close.’).

And Min Jiyoung, who lives with her and her family, calls her…… an expense (‘비용’) if I’m hearing well (at the very least, it doesn’t sound like any of the words commonly used for housekeepers eg. 가정부, 도우미, 파출부, 하녀…), and it could explain why KMC made her repeat.

-> She used 너 같은 새끼 to insult KMC (‘bastards like you/the likes of you’), right after calling LMS his son (아들), which could imply the latter qualifies more as a person than him. She even deems him a taint/테인트 threatening to spoil their status/reputation.

-> She said to LMS in ep5: ‘[KMC] must be trying to make ends meet. You better stay away from those vermins.’

And be it a coincidence or not, Jihoon’s grandmother was also judgmental towards Joohyun and her sister (ep4, first set of pictures).

Her reaction to KSJ’s idea (she was taken aback and raised her eyebrow then looked embarrassed as she tried to answer) could also be explained by some distance she wants to put between her and disreputable people (ep6, second set of pictures).

Gaetal targeted the rich so far (‘The law that is more harsh on victims than on criminals… It feeds like a parasite off of money and power, so the ones who deserve to die are still alive.’), like some sort of Robin Hood as KMC commented.

♦ « Hyung »

(breaking my silence once again…) KMC and KSJ were lovers/KMC was in love and they were in their domestic life bubble (and ngl that ‘… [and the one] I look up to.’ delivery with that hesitant interruption felt like a left out confession)

The scene in Narae’s room was paralleled in the present at the end of the episode:

You can notice with this comparison that most (if not all) of KSJ & KMC’s scenes in the present are submerged by blue tones in the prison cell and at the Police Agency, just like in the lyrics of the new OST with the wordplay on the color blue and feeling blue! eg. 눈을 감아보면 I see blue — 그런 너의 모습에 feel so blue (When I close my eyes I see blue — At the sight of you feel so blue) 네게 가려진 난 I see blue — 몰랐던 너의 모습에 feel so blue (I’m covered/obscured by you I see blue — This side of you I didn’t know feel so blue)

♦ Gaetal, masks and dogs

Gaetal could be translated as ‘dog mask’ (개, dog + 탈, mask).

GAETAL AND MASKS

Gaetal’s excentric and playful, Robin Hood-esque character and their theatrics could be a reference to the traditional Korean masks.

« [Korean masks] were used in war, on both soldiers and their horses ; ceremonially, for burial rites in jade and bronze and for shamanistic ceremonies to drive away evil spirits/illness/bad luck out of an individual or a village (often horrifying or grotesque to invoke fear and humor), to remember the faces of great historical figures, and in the arts, particularly in ritual dances, courtly, and theatrical plays. The present uses are as miniature masks for souvenirs, or on phones hung as good-luck talismans. There are two ways to categorize masks: religious masks and artistic masks. »

Indeed, KSJ had a glass display of Korean masks in his house (it’s a limited Seoul 1988 Olympic Games Korean Masks Collection):

Masks are in fact known to be used in talchum/talnori (mask dance/play), an art developed after a cultural shift in society: masks were initially used in religious activities, but entertainment and festivities factored in through time.

« An ensemble of musicians accompanies masked performers who humorously explore social issues through dramatic combinations of cheerful, energetic and rhythmical songs, dances, movements and dialogue. »

They mostly originated from the pre-modern society of the Joseon dynasty. The country was governed by a rigid social hierarchy (eg. the aristocracy and the buddhist monastic hierarchy) and a strict patriarchal system. They sharply criticized contemporary society with satire and witty humour, depicting the falsehoods and hypocrisies of the upper classes (eg. decadent noblemen, apostate/depraved monks, patriarchal husbands) but also mocked stereotypical versions of annoying personalities within the lower classes (eg. the drunkard, the gossip, the flirt of the complaining grandmother). It offered people both catharsis and important life lessons, and masks are a key means to do that.

On the nobleman mask (Master Kim Dongpyo, maker of Hahoetal): « yangban noblemen prioritize dignity and saving face above all else. The gentle curves of a Hahoe yangban mask embody this character. » In other local traditions, noblemens’ masks may express greedy and pretentious personalities.

Talchum offered an opportunity to commoners to unleash their pent-up emotions, their suppressed anger and for the governing class to hear the people’s complaints, ultimately promoting greater unity within society. Their will for resistance is voiced.

Gaetal's apparent intentions correspond to all this to a great extent.

« Once a person dons a mask – men and women, young and old, nobility and commoners – all are freed from social conventions and restrictions. The appearance of the Korea mask itself is also liberated by convention. Nevertheless, everyone manages to find a part of the mask with which they can identify. In this way the mask is truly the face of the heart's hidden desires. (…) Korean masks are grotesque and vividly colored. Masks are painted in vivid primary colors, representing both the individual personality and social class of the character as well as his or her age and gender eg. black & dark for an elderly character ; red & bright for a young character ; white for a young female character. In terms of personality, a red, darkly-colored mask represents recklessness and aggressiveness; a yellow or lightly-colored mask characterizes foolishness and incompetence ; and a black or darkly-colored mask exemplifies an anxious, socially marginalized character. To symbolize a character's duplicity, masks are sometimes painted half red and half white. »

[For posterity, in the drama, Gaetal’s mask is fully white ; we also don’t know Gaetal’s gender, Joohyun evokes this possibility, it could very well be herself, Min Jiyoung or her assistant, even Jihoon’s grandmother ; Min Jiyoung’s attention to her clothes also reflects the good/evil duality with her outfit at BWT’s final trial.]

Professor Heo Yongho, Korea National University of Arts: « Korean mask-dance dramas deal with such universal themes as freedom and equality. However, they present these common subjects in a distinctively dynamic and exciting way. »

All these emotions, ambitions and desires can therefore be put on display without fear or shame. The characters mock and satirize the duplicity and foolishness of the ruling class and pray for a new world and a better future, like Gaetal does in the Killing Vote.

This page even theorizes 탈 derived from the Chinese character for ‘to rid/free oneself from something’.

« Korea adopted Chinese characters prior to the invention of their own, unique alphabet under King Sejong (1397-1450), and still use Chinese characters extensively. Thereby, the original meaning of the talnori or talchum, is a play or dance that helps shed ones stress and grief. Originally talnori was performed at night, often in a clearing around a fire and the exaggerated colors and expressions on some of the masks reflect a time when such vibrant colors and expressions were necessary to make them visible in the poor light. » [This bit could be relevant later on in this point when I’ll talk about the moon and the fire symbolism!]

The interaction with the audience is important, it completes the performance. As the UNESCO page describes: « talchum performances do not require a formal stage: any empty space can become a venue. The audience plays an essential role, contributing to the production with their cheers and jeers as the drama unfolds. »

Talchum players improvise their lines and actions in response to the spectators, quickly forming a bond together.

In a distorted fashion, the Killing Vote seems to strongly rely on the country’s participation to vote for the ‘judgement’ of the culprit, introduced as corrupt and deeply irredeemable people (even though we know the reality is more ambiguous: two broadcasts were pre-recorded and pretty compelling cases were deliberately chose to obtain an unanimous vote, not to mention Gaetal’s true intention eg. if they’re LMS).

The country even becomes an entertained audience in addition to their participation: each vote brings its fair share of debates, cries of support, admiration, disgust, anticipation or emulation. The Killing Vote becomes an outlet to everyone's fears, anger, frustration.

Gaetal's judgment of 'devils that were deemed innocent' by a failing legitimate system which would even condone their deed inflames passions: revealing the culprit's corrupt side in a sarcastic, unfiltered fashion the conventional society would (or could) never dare to do makes people look up to Gaetal.

It also makes people relate to Gaetal because the votes serve as an example that they wish was applied to their own tragedies eg. Joohyun, KSJ, Joomin & Jihoon. Exemplifying the 'judgment' of their cases could be seen as a prophylactic step to 'exorcise' the deep-rooted evil and appease the tormented souls of their victims.

And Gaetal engages with the people with a witty and sarcastic speech, and sounds deeply concerned with people’s opinion (again, it could be false pretenses) eg. when they cautioned sensitive souls to close the video as its content might be too violent ; when they got angry as they read forums after KMC was thought dead ; when they broadcasted the video revealing KMC was alive.

The Killing Vote also seems to touch on people’s duplicity, hidden desires and ambitions in society eg. especially KSJ, KMC, Min Jiyoung, LMS and people’s ambivalence in the face of good and evil (everybody has in them the risk of becoming a ‘Gaetal’ or one of their targets if faced with certain opportunities and circumstances) as I talked about it in a previous post (’The Killing Vote and a vigilantism built on a twisted basis’).

The hahoetal (Hahoe [Village] masks) are one of the most known Korean masks, designated as national treasures.

They were used during a kind of mask dance called 하회별신굿탈놀이, dance drama of Hahoe Village: it’s a shamanic dance drama passed down from the mid-12th century & performed to appease the local deity, pray for the village’s peace and wellbeing as well as a good harvest. It is said to be one of the oldest mask dances known in Korea.

It's a play in satire and humor directed at the ruling class from the religious perspective of praying fortune. The masks represent 12 stock characters needed to perform the roles in the ritual dance dramas included in the ceremony (eg. the monk, the scholar, the bride, the aristocrat …).

Their origin is not clearly known, but a legend about their original design exists.

« In the middle of the Goryeo Dynasty, there lived a craftsman, Heo. For years his village suffered from misfortunes but no one knew why. One day, he dreamt about a mountain god, receiving an oracle message that the misfortunes would disappear if the villagers danced with masks made by Heo. The god said he was not to have any contact with anyone until he finished. Heo then had a straw rope wound around his workshop to allow him to work undisturbed and immediately set to work. One hundred days had passed. A young woman named Kim was in love with Heo and was growing weary of waiting. She broke her vow to leave him undisturbed for one hundred days and peeked into her lover’s workshop to see what he was doing. He was carving the last mask, the scholar's foolish servant, Imae. The moment she glanced inside, Heo collapsed spitting blood and died. The mask was left unfinished, without a chin. Out of guilt for causing his death, the young woman committed suicide. Afterward, the residents of Hahoe village decided to serve the dead woman as a tutelary god and held annual rituals to assuage her soul. »

An annual winter memorial rite is held at dawn of the first full moon of each new year to console their unrealized love, appease their tormented souls and honor them. They would also pray for the well-being of the village and for its protection against evil spirits.

This also seems relevant:

The word 탈 also includes a second meaning of misfortune, illness and difficulty. Eg. when someone becomes sick or runs into trouble, you can use the verb 탈나다 (an accident happens/have a hitch/run into trouble/fall ill/get out of order or go wrong) or the word 탈 which is a homonym of the mask.

« The word for masks represents something that people hope is only a passing event. Interestingly, people were reluctant to hold onto the word 탈 in its meaning of a mask. In the past, they believed that if they kept a mask nearby, they would be in trouble due to the bad luck attached to the mask. Therefore, they stored the masks in a village shrine or burned them immediately after the ritual for which they were created. People regarded masks as religious objects, something that should be feared, worshipped and enshrined. »

But masks were also considered by ancient Koreans as a sacred symbol of the gods (or a particular god): as such, it was especially valued and worshipped, and always kept a certain distance away from living quarters.

In the drama, the mere existence of Gaetal calls for trouble and the police force endeavors to catch them. Gaetal nicknames themselves 'the citizens' watchdog' who will protect them from evil, and is compared to many heroic figures (eg. Robin Hood, Batman, …) but also to God. For example, Jihoon says to Joomin:

« That devil was set free by our incompetent legal system. If he wouldn’t be punished by the law or by God, I thought he should at least be punished by the people. »

The sight of their figure 'should' be feared by the culprits but only Uhm Eungyeong was really scared ; BGC and Cpt. Oh challenged and dared them to actually murder them. But in the end, the latter begged JJW for his life and promised him money, the thing he cared the most for.

This also ties well with the overall Christian symbolism exhibited in LMS’s room or Saint Michael (see the next point!).

GAETAL AND DOGS

As for the dog part, since one of the main plot points is a commentary on justice and the good & evil in people, it might be a reference to the haetae/haechi (해태/해치), a Korean mythological creature often associated for example to the Chinese guardian lions (also called shishi, lion or fu dogs) or the Japanese shishi/komainu.

Symbol of justice and law, the haetae is a hybrid beast: a mix of a lion, dog and dragon covered in scales or fur, wearing a bell and baring its canines, sometimes winged, sometimes with a reptile tail. It possesses the ability to divine and distinguish the true character in people, right from wrong, truth from lies in people.

The horn on its forehead was used to ram into the guilty in an argument.

It is said to feed off fire ; under Joseon, its statues were placed at the entrance of official places like palaces to protect the capital Hanyang (now Seoul, eg. at the National Assembly and the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office) from natural disasters and fires.

« Haetae statues lie on high pedestals at each side of Gwanghwamun, the main gate of Gyeongbokgung Palace (…) [they] represent the Joseon rulers’ political and philosophical ideals of protecting the nation’s dignity by applying the laws strictly and justly and providing peace and stability to all the people without allowing bias or personal feelings to influence decisions. »

This article explains how the Chinese characters for law (법, 法) derived from the ideogram for haechi.

What I gathered from this page is that law was initially written as 灋. Looking at its structure:

— The radical to the left, 氵, is associated to water (水): which means that the law must be as fair as water — The character 去 is placed under the character ‘chi’ 廌, which depicts the haechi. Making a creature said to judge right from wrong a part of the law character brings out its meaning even more.

The character was later simplified by removing the 廌, thus written 法.

[And as I said in a previous post, the hanja 橅, which means law, can be used for the Mu of Muchan!]

The haechi was also closely associated to the Chinese judicial system eg. on decorations and paintings, embroidered on the robes, crowns with a horn. The judicial officers were also named after the haechi.

It has become Seoul’s symbol since 2008.

The haetae is also mainly assimilated to the Chinese xiezhi, a mythical single-horned creature (a sheep, goat or ox) commanded during imperial criminal proceedings to ram into the guilty in the same manner.

Since Gaetal chases after evil, it could also be a reference to a breed of dogs native to the Korean Peninsula, the Sapsali/Sapsalgae.

Their name literally translates to ‘one that roots out evil spirits’ or ‘drives out devils’. Due to their appearance, they’re often associated to the haetae and sometimes called ‘Lion Dogs’.

Lion dances are indeed performed because it was thought lions contained the power to expel evil spirits and bring good luck.

Sapsali are also nicknamed ‘Ghost Hunters’ or’ Sunshine Dogs’.

Some aspects of the drama also involve dogs:

-> Gaetal used a mail address titled ‘watchdog’ that the journalist wanted to use as a catchphrase for her broadcast ;

-> KMC called KSJ their ‘hunting dog’, urging Joohyun to ‘get him off the leash’ ;

-> Narae’s dog LMS killed and all the past dogs of his family ;

-> The scene at the beginning of ep7 shows BWT beaten by Min Jiyoung’s family as his parents watch powerless. The next shot shows the Dalmatian puppy sitting quietly by his neat doghouse as the violent scene continues to unfold before it off-screen. The absence of pictures of BWT’s family in the house unlike the Dalmatian puppy could be interpreted as a further highlight of the family being poorly treated by Min Jiyoung’s family, even worse than a dog. It also aligns with the classist behavior of Min Jiyoung & co.

-> Indeed, 개 is often used as a prefix to an insult (or to emphasize words in slang, but it’s not used in the drama so far eg. 개싫어, ‘[I] freaking/really hate [it]’).

For posterity also, the word ‘mask’ (탈) is also the homonym/paronym of 달 (moon/month) and 딸 (daughter, perhaps a reference to Narae, since the video test seems to be titled after the day she was missing?).

For the 달 (moon/month), the most relevant connection to the Killing Vote is that they’re held every 15th (new moon) and 30th (full moon) of each month. It also ties up with how the talnori/talchum were originally performed at night.

If there’s also some symbolism with the moon, combined to the fire and dogs, the mythical dogs Bulgae (불개, lit. fire dog) might come to mind:

« According to a myth, one of heaven's realms, the kingdom of darkness, was called Gamangnara, the Dark World. Its king was concerned and weary with the perpetual darkness and desired the light of the sun and moon for his kingdom. He sent one of the gigantic fiery hounds, the Bulgae to chase the sun to bring it to his realm. However, when it tried to bite the sun, the sun was too hot, which made the dog unable to hold on to it, resulting in him giving up, and running back to the king, angry at the failure. He sent another more ruthless dog to steal the moon. When the Bulgae tried to carry it in its mouth, the moon was so cold, that the mouth of the dog was icy and frozen, and caused the Bulgae to drop it. The Bulgae tried many times to grab the moon in its mouth, but eventually gave up and ran back to the king in disappointment. The king never gave up this mission though. He continued to send fire dogs that were fiercer than the others, but none were able to collect the sun and moon. According to the Korean eclipse belief, during a solar eclipse or lunar eclipse, the dark sections are the parts where the dogs are biting. When the eclipses are over, the dogs have given up and run away back to its kingdom. »

Noting it down if it’ll hold meaning in the next episodes, we’ve got two scenes shot in the moonlight:

In the first episode when KSJ looks out from his cell’s window and moonlight enters the room ;

Right after KSJ got his health checked by Jihoon’s grandmother in ep6 and Joohyun gets in LMS’s car!

♦ Saint Michael and Kim Muchan

Following the previous point, in the nightclub KMC was investigating, a big statue right behind where he sat sometimes showed up.

It looks like a reproduction of the St. Michael bronze statue by Peter Anton von Verschaffelt on top of the Castel Sant’Angelo in Rome (the set of pictures in the middle).

There are other examples of similar iconography (the two pictures on the right):

— St. Michael defeats Satan by Guido Remi — Fontaine Saint-Michel in Paris (Bvd. Saint-Michel) by Gabriel Davioud, the sculpture, Archangel Michael and the devil, was designed by Francisque-Joseph Duret

I’ll quote this interesting page from EHNE, an online encyclopedia project developed in 2012 by the Sorbonne University.

« Saint Michael was a unique saint. As an archangel, he acted as the preferred messenger between Heaven and Earth. His struggle against the forces of Evil allowed him to serve as both a guardian and a warrior angel. » He’s also depicted as a champion/guardian of justice and a healer of the sick.

'Who is like God?' mmmmh

[What I didn’t know is that he was also considered the patron saint of the police, justice, military and many other trades and places, which is why he’s represented on the Saint Michael pendant!]

« As a victorious angel, defender, overcomer of evil and leader of heavenly armies, Michael the Archangel is often depicted in medieval art as an armored soldier [eg. pteruges, Byzantine armor or a fully feathered body or a mix of both] carrying such arms as a cross-inscribed shield, cross-staff, or the sword or spear he typically employs to fight the dragon during the Apocalypse. Outside of the apocalyptic combat scene, Michael also may be shown trampling and piercing the dragon as part of his overall iconography.  (…) He's also featured in other important episodes, such as the biblical narrative of the Fall of Angels and the Last Judgment [Day of Wrath/Dies Irae, where the just will be welcomed to eternal bliss, separated from the wicked, cast into ‘eternal fire’.]. In Last Judgment scenes, Michael the Archangel is often shown holding the scales of justice laden with good and bad souls. »

This thesis (p. 287 ss.) on Saint Michael’s italian iconography by Clémentine Denèle was also interesting:

[It could align with KMC’s restraint in front of KSJ most of the time, his mainly unreliable narration and expressions you could only interpret in retrospect. The same could be said of KSJ, but it’s less apparent to me: it was strong in the beginning of the drama but by now, KSJ feels less ‘cryptic’ than KMC who’s been hazy the whole time.]

Most of the time, Saint Michael's representations depict him with a neutral expression, totally disconnected to the threat and tension of his whole body engaged in his battle against evil that belie no hesitation: no emotions pass through (eg. compassion, anger, fear, remorse, hesitation, pride, judgment/disgust against the evil’s deeds or the violence he executes), only a solemn severity can be seen. Even for other angel figures of the Christian iconography, feelings were initially expressed through their gestures and hands. This changed at the end of the Middle Ages: angels were depicted with emotions and expressions eg. smiling to suggest their angelic gentleness, especially when represented suffering next to the Christ being crucified. But Saint Michael stays depicted with an impassive/calm expression, at most with a discreet rictus. Clémentine Denèle comments it could be explained by his ethereal nature and superior quality as an angel unlike humans & the overall idealistic representation of angels. She quotes the art historian Jean Wirth: he says the immobility and the impassibility are characteristic of the superior beings, because they convey an abstraction and reflect the stable order of invisible things. To materialize their constant presence by God and humans’ side, angels make themselves visible to the humans by assuming a human form as well. Vivid expressions were exclusive to the damned and the demons. It aligns with the attitude he exhibits in the Epistle of Jude 1:9: « But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” » Passing a partial judgement on the evil is not his mission, Clémentine Denèle says he only assumes his role as God’s armed wing and as such, his faithful obedience and trust in God command quietude under any circumstances: as the executor of divine justice, he knows for a fact his mission is devoted to the good and it must be fulfilled. She reports there were only rare occurrences depicting him with anger and aggressiveness or fear (he’s most of the time confident in the battle’s aftermath), and he’s also rarely present to mourn the Christ as he is crucified: it is not his place.

On a related note, Narae’s name (나래) is the synonym of wing, spelled 날개. 나래 was officially admitted as an alternate orthography for the word in 2011. But from what I gathered, it’s only used in a literary/poetic context, while the common spelling stays 날개.

♦ More on names & hanja

After all these episodes, some hanja that could be used for KMC, KSJ and Joohyun’s names now seem relevant to note:

— For Kim Muchan

-> Mu in Muchan Law (橅 & 膴, 법) as I mentioned in the first post: it aligns with his ambiguous position on justice on the past (‘a rational justice’ that doesn’t follow the official law if it’s unfair) and in the present (manipulating evidence and proceedings to arrest culprits but still handling them within the law, rejecting Gaetal’s ways)

Deceive/lie (誣, 속이다) & fog/mist/haze (霧, 안개): his unreliable narration, the way he deceived people to catch Gaetal in ep4 & the edit that appears in the preview ; KMC now seems even more ambiguous than KSJ.

Full of rumors (楙, 무성하다): his ‘Wipeout’ reputation

Rough/violent/tough (蕪, 거칠다): his overall reckless and violent behavior as he works

Work hard/try hard and strive/work/endeavor ie. devote oneself and contribute to doing sth (務, 힘쓰다): self-explanatory given what we saw in this episode, combined with the shots of his house and the first episode that explains his reputation!

Stroke/touch/caress with hands and figuratively soothe ie. calm down sb with warm words and acts (憮, 어루만지다 and 애무하다 which can have a romantic tone = caress, stroke affectionately ie. for sb to gently stroke the one they love): his overall restraint to reach out to KSJ and guilt over being too late to save Narae. The new OST’s lyrics also refer to those kinds of feelings (whoever the narrator is), especially ‘Let me hold your hand, 더 가까이 너를’ (‘Let me hold your hand, Closer to you’), ‘익숙치않은 이런 내 모습 미안해’ (‘I’m sorry for this unfamiliar me [I showed you]’) and ‘Oh, please tell me why — 더는 네게 — 늦지 않게’ (‘Oh, please tell me why — I won’t be late for you anymore’).

EDIT: also, some shots indeed focus on KSJ's hands as he buries himself in them to cry in front of KMC!

House (廡, 집): KSJ’s house he seems to know pretty well and possibly holds precious memories to him, and his own house he doesn’t seem to tend to, probably out of guilt (see a previous post, ‘On the frames facing down (ep. 1 & 6), shame and guilt’)

Warrior (ie. person who learns martial arts and practices it as a job) & soldier/military/army (武, 무사 & 병사 respectively): his potential association to St. Michael who led heavenly armies + for posterity, if they reveal later in the drama he also knows martial arts and it somehow involves him with the Killing Vote (the first episode & ep3 at least showed he was quite agile)

Shaman (巫, 무당 ; though the word is mainly associated to female shamans, male shamans can also be called mudang): a shaman « employs magic to effect cures, to tell fortunes, to soothe spirits of the dead, and to repulse evil »

Dance (舞, 춤추다): like… the talchum… masks… in addition to the shaman... you know… haha

— For Kwon Seokju

-> Kwon [You can also apply relevant meanings to Narae, since it’s her last name]

Prison (圈, 감방): both physical and figurative ever since Narae died and he murdered BWT

Abstain/refrain from ie. be careful about one’s speech or behavior (惓, 삼가다): his overall behavior in the present

Tired/exhausted/weary (倦, 고달프다): what he wen through these whole 8 years

Take care of/look after/oversee, heartfelt/caring (惓, 정성스럽다) & warm/friendly: self-explanatory about his character in general when we see his past self with Narae, Jihoon & KMC, and other people in general (BWT’s parents, LMS, his students) before Narae’s case

Loyal/devoted (惓, 충성스럽다): devoted wholeheartedly to his family

Look back/reflect on the past (睠, 돌아보다): also self-explanatory

-> Seok in Seokju

Untie (釋, 풀다 ie. return what has been tied, bound, or twisted back to its original state)/relieve anger or sorrow/get rid of one’s agony by handling it : he’s still waiting for the accomplice to Narae’s murder to be arrested to find some closure after all those years, he perhaps also wants to put an end to it all for KMC to stop feeling guilty over the case.

Night (夕, 밤), tide (汐, 조수 ie. seawater flowing in and out from the shore because of the gravitational pull of the sun and moon) & tideland (潟, 개펄 ie. wide expanse of mud revealed when the tide goes down): [if the moon and sun imagery holds some meaning in the drama] ; also, most of KSJ’s scenes in the beginning were shot in the dark compared to the bright scenes with Narae and Jihoon

... The Mont Saint-Michel is known to be a tidal island and for its fog haha

-> Ju in Seokju [You can apply the relevant meanings to Joohyun too]

House (宙, 집): the house that had good natural lighting (Narae, Jihoon and perhaps KMC) he cherished is now gone, it is derelicted after all these years

Bear/endure/put up with ie. endure sth for a long time, resist (拄, 버티다): self-explanatory too

Sunlight/sunbeam/sunshine (晭, 햇빛): the shots of him mourning or basking in the light

Timely rain but also heavy rain/downpour (澍, 단비 and 폭우) & wick and burn out ie. burn and eliminate sth (炷, 심지 & 불사르다) as I mentioned in the first post!

The fire imagery is also present with Joohyun’s character and her scar.

It’s associated to the tragedy she had to live, and we could project the same theme to KMC & KSJ who went through the same, all linked by this ‘terrible rage’ still waiting to be put out.

The hanja 火 (which is what 炷, the hanja for wick/burn out is composed of) is associated to anger (화, anger, fury) and fire (불).

Given the previous posts, you can also link it to the haetae (symbol of justice which feeds off fire, is said to prevent fires) or the eternal fire at the Last Judgment.

— For Joohyun

-> Hyun in Joohyun

Snoop/nose around (俔, 염탐하다): self-explanatory hahaha

Bright ie. a place being light as a result of getting a lot of sun/light or brilliant (adj.)/break or dawn but also fig. cheerful/bright (炫, 밝다), sunlight/sunbeam/sunshine (昡, 햇빛 and 晛, 햇살) and kind-hearted/benevolent (賢, 어질다): self-explanatory for this lovely character!!

Wise/sagacious/sensible (賢, 현명하다): she has a soothing and mature side to her eg. as she talked to KMC & Jihoon

Clever/bright/intelligent (儇, 영리하다): self-explanatory too!!

Connect/link/join (縣, 연결하다, can also be used for people): she seems to connect with people around her with ease, and she looks like she’s trying to reconnect KMC to KSJ

♦ « The person Kwon Seokju cherished the most »

I don’t know where this will lead, but KMC JJW’s quote in ep6 as he relayed it to KSJ: initially, it was about ‘the person KSJ loved the most’ (가장 사랑하는 사람 ; 사랑하다 = love/care ie. cherish, value, and care for sb with all one’s heart).

KMC quoted it as ‘the person KSJ cherished the most’ (가장 소중한 사람 ; 소중하다 = valuable/precious/cherished/dear): while the two adjectives almost mean the same thing, ‘cherished’ feels more personal than the general ‘loved’ (사랑하다 is also used a lot) and conveys the invaluable dearness better in this situation to me.

#국민사형투표 #the killing vote #tkv #kdrama

[blysse-and-blunder]

in lieu of a commonplace book

saturday, jan 27, 2024

*brennan lee mulligan voice* heeeeeeeelllllllllllllloooooooOOOOOOOOO one and all and welcome back for another thrilling episode of...whatever this is. thank you for being here.

It's 2024! Say hi, intrepid heroes!

reading recently finished:

-orwell's roses by rebecca solnit (audio) - glad I listened, ultimately very gratifying - history, criticism, extremely lush garden-filled prose and love for growing things - nona the ninth by tamsyn muir - felt so much about [redacted] it made me cry. i can unblock ALL THE TAGS NOW - the blue sword by robin mckinley (audio) - catching up on old school fantasy continues -when the angels left the old country by sacha lamb (audio) - beautiful. not not in conversation with good omens but doing something different.

recently begun: -the ministry of the future by kim stanley robinson - can't decide if it's a scifi novel or a policy brief about ways to combat climate change- reading on my mom's recommendation -babel: an arcane history by r.f.kuang - withholding judgment, but i know you probably want me to hate it and so far i don't, really! to my own surprise -the shadow of the wind by carlos ruiz zafrón (audio) - spooky, post-modern but incredibly good at sounding like it is of the time it depicts. many thoughts on the audio book narrator's accent work, most favorable -one corpse too many by ellis peters. wild that i have only just begun reading the cadfael mysteries

listening last week was about discovering and putting on continuous loop the group trousdale on the recommendation of @m2pixie (!) and other trusted friends; the energy, the harmonies! they fill a girl group void i didn't realize i had, it feels like the best kind of throwback, like old chicks or something, some desperately needed bops. exhibit a: bad blood.

today my daylist introduced me to joy oladokun and i'm so glad it did. love her vibe, love this cover art. had to take a picture of my desk, the visuals were so satisfying.

watching the newest series of netflix's lupin!! so far i'm really, really enjoying where this season has been spending most of its time-- the new characters, the new heists, the new stakes. especially fun to watch with friends where we can all shout about the mrs doubtfire of it all, the betrayals, the misdirection, the 'he can't keep getting away with this!.' the original lupin series will always bring back memories of watching it in early lockdown; i'm glad that there's this now to think about and remember instead.

playing hollow knight hollow knight hollow kniiiiiiight. bought it a few months ago when it was on sale, after hanging out and watching @dimir-charmer stream for us a bit, but playing it yourself is a different game. i'm having a blast. it's becoming a problem. i'm having to be so so good and mature in how much i let myself just get suckered in to a full day spent in my little buggy maze adventures. the temptation to keep going until i've made a meaningful advancement of some kind (today: got the longer nail! last time: beat hornet! saved zote the mighty, got the baldur shell charm, and beat the gruz mother!) is very, very real. have also gotten around this by listening to lots of lo-fi hollow knight beats to relax and study to while being 'productive.'

(found this screenshot online, and holy extra health batman)

making pancakes. lots and lots of weekend pancakes. sent a bunch of mail since new year's, and have some new arts and crafts (charcoal pencils!! those little paper cone blender guys! better paper) to fuck around with next time i want to get ~artistic. watch this space.

working on teaching is so all-consuming. it's great, i love it. the course (maps class! if you see that tag, this is that) is going well, i think! first three lectures down. the students i've gotten to know i really like, the material has yet to get old (see one - do one - teach one is so real. i understand this class now, finally, in a way i don't think i did just being the TA, even after three times). it takes so much longer to just copy-paste-change color and font on slides than it should! i've regularly been getting four-five hours of sleep on monday nights before teaching on tuesdays, but it has meant that i don't have the brain space to be self-conscious while i'm 'on', i just. go. having fun selecting teaching 'fits, having (less) fun handling all the students who joined in the second or third week and need help with catching up, but it's not their fault there was a waiting list and lots of turnover.

(petrus roselli - portolan chart of the mediterranean, 1466)

non-teaching: - student letter of recommendation for dental school (DONE) - conference panel proposal (due 1/31) -submit revised conference paper for that prize (due 1/30) -send draft of grant application to A for her to be able to write a letter of recommendation (due IMMEDIATELY WHY ARE YOU ON TUMBLR) (you have until 2/15 to fix it but she needs the draft!) -chapter 3 edits (lmao) -read for that other course you're meant to be the TA for (oops) - give i. feedback on her thing (tonight) -RAship hours (c'mon these are actually paid work, please do them)

#in lieu of a commonplace book #phone didn’t autocomplete that tag which just proves it’s been a MINUTE #ilcb #weekly roundup #Spotify

[burnwater13]

Concept art by Christian Alzmann. The Book of Boba Fett, Season 1, Episode 3, The Streets of Mos Espa. Boba Fett stands next to the rancor running his hand over it's head, while the creature lies down.

Din Djarin appreciated that Boba Fett had learned to respect the rancor and treated it like he would have treated a massif or a Loth cat, but he couldn’t imagine doing the same to such a large critter. It seemed to him that whenever he and a huge critter crossed paths, the bounty hunter was always the one who ended up the worse for it. 

The ravinak on Pagodon had damaged the Razor Crest’s port side landing strut. That had cost a packet to fix. Then he nearly got stomped by the blurgg and shamed by the Ugnaught for his trouble. Of course there was that mudhorn. It destroyed his armor and all he got for all that was the opportunity to buy back the parts of his ship and the pleasure of repairing it without proper garage facilities. 

Then he’d had no choice but to bring the kid back to the client. He needed that camtono of beskar to put his armor right. Neither he nor the Ugnaught could fix it. That had to be done by a Mandalorian Armorer and the only one he knew was back on Nevarro. So he goes back there and those Kowakian monkey lizards were always too close. If you were missing something on Nevarro odds were even that one of those monkeys had grabbed it and you’d have a hell of a time getting it back. 

At least when he went to Sorgan the critters were small and blue. Spotchka blue. His first layer was that color now thanks to the time he spent in those damn krill ponds waiting for the marauders’ AT-ST to take it’s final, fatal step.  He was glad that he wasn’t part of a Mandalorian tribe or enclave after that. The amount of harassment he would have gotten was more than the value of having others of his kind around to remind him how easy it was to fall away from the Creed. 

And the kid, the kid loved all of those critters. Even the mudhorn. Which, Din Djarin, considered was just the sort of thing he would have liked at that age. Whatever age the kid really was. He certainly didn’t act like any fifty year old the Mandalorian knew, but then Din Djarin knew so few of them. Maybe they were like children and he’d just never noticed. He supposed that he could ask Bo-Katan. She knew more Mandalorians than he did. 

But that wouldn’t change the fact that Grogu found the critters fascinating. The reptavians on Nevarro, the massifs, bantha, and Krayt dragons on Tatooine, even the ice spiders on Maldo Kreis. Neither one of them every wanted to see those critters ever again, but  they had been fascinating from a couple parsecs away. Much like the mamacore and it’s offspring. Awful up close and personal, but fascinating when you were reviewing their biology, habits, habitat, and population from the nice safe interior of a starship on the other side of the galaxy from them. 

There had been times when Din Djarin had wondered if Grogu just attracted the critters. He knew there were people like that. They could walk through the loneliest place on any planet and every critter, person, life form, what have you, would find them. He remembered meeting one of them on the Wheel. 

The space station shouldn’t have had any ‘wild’ critters on it. But when he walked into the tavern on the lower ring, there she was, a young woman, surrounded by all sorts of critters. Scurriers, ysalamiri, gorgs, and all manner of tiny rodents. She seemed to be talking to them and when she noticed him looking at her, she said something and they all zipped away. All but one ysalamir, which wrapped itself around her ankle.

She had nodded at him and paid attention to her drink and he seemed to just forget about her. He did whatever he was there to do, but when he went back to his ship he noticed that ysalamir laying near it. When as asked it where its friend was, the creature ran across the docking bay and he noticed the young woman just moving out of sight, with a long line of small critters following her. Maybe Grogu was like her?

It was funny that he remembered her while thinking of the critters. He’d tried to remember that strange meeting that wasn’t really a meeting on The Wheel for years, but it was just the critters that brought her back to his mind, where she seemed to disappear just as easily. Maybe that’s why Grogu and Fett and even that young woman, whoever she was, liked the critters. Large or small, terrifying or delicate, if you remembered the critters, then you remembered the people who had met them.  

After all, Din Djarin was never likely to forget the Krayt dragon and all the people he’d met because of that critter. Or the blurggs. Or the reptavians. Even those wretched spiders would always remind him of Niebla, the Frog lady and her husband and children. And he and Grogu would be bound together because of that mudhorn. It had become their clan name and would be part of their line for generations. 

Perhaps that was why Fett liked the rancor. Together they were unforgettable. 

#calendar prompt a day #din djarin #grogu #the book of boba fett #boba fett #the rancor #unforgettable

[kylejsugarman]

syd you are destroying me over here. what the fuck. what would “down” look like in au squared? would jesse’s parents take baby when they kicked him out, or would he just be left to navigate his. Unstable housing situation with an infant daughter and no support? im like i dont even know which one i would prefer you to say… down in au squared universe just Does Not feel good thank you for bringing it to our attention :-(

(frolics around cutely while i make everything worse for everyone) "down" never feels good ever tbh, between walt hitting his ableism victory royale and jesse getting his shit absolutely rocked by fate, its a miracle any of us survive that episode. au squared jesse of course fights his parents tooth and nail about kicking him out since ginny left him the house, but as soon as his mom says that they'll be taking baby too since he's not responsible enough, he backs down and is like "fine take the house, take whatever u want, but baby's coming with me". he obviously doesnt want to be homeless, but being homeless and not having baby is more than he can bear. she tries to reason with him, then threatens to get the law involved (i imagine saul helps jesse secure full custody of baby in addition to helping him buy his parents' house in season 3 :) besties), but jesse doesnt budge and takes off with her and their essentials, only for his ride to get stolen while he's in the drug store buying formula. they'd probably end up spending the night in the impounded rv (no blue tho. if i can spare my guy one suffering, it'll be the blue) with him genuinely not knowing if its Worth It anymore because hes literally laying in a mobile meth lab next to his crying baby who's too upset for her nighttime feeding, unable to provide for her but also unable to let her go. it feels so awful and selfish: she deserves better but he doesnt trust anyone to give her that. he breaks the rv out of the impound the next day the second clovis threatens them and drives straight to walt's place to get his money, riled up from walt ignoring his calls and clovis fucking threatening him in front of his infant daughter. "down" of course is a parade of walt being a dickhead because skyler has totally stopped buying his shit, so when jesse pulls up in person to beg for the money, walt snaps at him and tells him that jesse wouldn't even be in this situation if he were more responsible and that a real father would have found a way to provide for his child, which is not only vile but the fucking Wrong Thing to say to jesse after the last 24 hours. this is what provokes their fist fight and walt finally hands over the money, then tries to make some "look. we're both in this for family. we have to work together" comment to amend things as if he wasnt just yelling at his own son for using the car pedals wrong. having the money and getting out some of his rage and misery by pounding walt makes jesse feel better, but more than that, it gives him this adrenaline rush in terms of being a dad. sure it was a fucking nightmare, but he did all of that for his baby and he won. he fought to provide for her and he did. he didn't give in and just hand her over to his parents like she was some stranger that just happened to live in his house: he kept baby, he protected her through a disaster, and now he's never going to let her go. as he gets them a motel room for temporary housing with his cash and goes buck wild in the infant section at walmart and ends the day watching a happy, fed, clean baby play with her new stacking rings, jesse thinks about what walt said and feels a bitter kind of pride. "a real father would've found a way to provide for his child." well he did. he's baby's father and he's going to provide for her.

#anonymous #ask #syd squeaks #its genuinely not that bad actually i just hate seeing a little guy be soooo sad #au squared #jesse pinkman #baby ayuluk #walter white

[kolbisneat]

MONTHLY MEDIA: January 2024

I know folks say January feels like a long month but it kinda felt normal to me? I dunno. Anyway this is how I spent the last 31 days.

……….FILM……….

Asteroid City (2023) The artistry is top notch and spoke the loudest but I feel like I'll need to watch it a couple more times to take in the quieter voices. I can't tell if it's me or specifically this film, but it felt...sadder than Anderson's other work?

Saltburn (2023) A lot of false starts, or rather a lot of pivots from what I thought the movie would be. And then also a lot of false endings? I dunno. I found the whole thing...indulgent (take that for what it's worth). A lot of beautiful and memorable imagery.

Spice World (1997) Technically a New Year's Eve watch and a great way to wind down 2023. Truly a wild ride and so many great cameos. And for anyone who doesn't know the Spice Girls I actually think it'd be a pretty great introduction to them.

……….TELEVISION……….

Delicious in Dungeon (Episode 1.01 to 1.04) Digging this adaptation so far! If you haven't heard me ramble on about how great the manga series is, this is your chance to see if you dig the tone and concept.

Daisy Jones & The Six (Episode 1.01 to 1.10) Gotta love the Fleetwood Mac fanfic. Feels both familiar and wholly unique and the brief documentary-style character moments are a lot of fun too. I strive to be Warren the drummer.

Blue Eye Samurai (Episode 1.05 to 1.08) Really great season of television. The last episode stuck the landing in an unexpected way and while I didn't looooove it, I respect it. Still suffers slightly from "just wait til next season" but one misstep amongst a season of perfect steps is okay by me.

The Crown (Episode 6.07 to 6.10) Having not watched the rest of the series (outside of a few eps of the Diana-centred eps this season) I really found the finale...moving. Elizabeth and Philip really do feel like the end of an era.

……….YOUTUBE……….

This Candyman Makes a Wonka-Style Candy Feast | WIRED by Wired Certainly didn't realize how interested I'd be in the process of making candy, but here we are. Really great breakdown and watch it if for no other reason than to learn the backstory behind the "drops" in "lemon drops". VIDEO

How YouTubers Can Avoid Burnout by Extranet Shaquille While specifically talking about YouTubers, this succinctly captures my approach to working in the creative industry: push yourself but not for the sake of exponential growth. Any creative could benefit from hearing this alternative to those pushing the grind mindset. VIDEO

……….READING……….

Full House by Zeke Masters (Complete) Picked this up randomly at a thrift store and it didn't disappoint. Not quite as horny as I expected an "adult western" to be, but that's okay. An easy read and if I see more of "Zeke's" books I'll definitely pick them up.

There Is A Tide by Agatha Christie (Complete) Plenty of twists and I think it all played fair as everything Poirot revealed made me think "oh yeah that was mentioned earlier". Great introduction to Christie's work and excited to pick up more!

Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton (Complete) Heart-wrenching. Such a deeply personal reflection and perspective on Canada's relationship with oil and the people who take it from the ground. While the entire read is a blend of very fun and deeply sad, I found the written epilogue to contain the biggest gut punch. Should be required reading for anyone who drives a car.

Richard Stark's Parker: The Score by Darwyn Cooke (Complete) It's incredible just how cinematic Cooke's work is. So much style and substance with such little brushwork (and only two colours)! If you haven't read any of the Parker retellings then know each pretty much stands on its own and are all worth checking out.

Delicious in Dungeon Vol. 3 by Ryoko Kui (Complete) Really enjoying this reread while also catching the Netflix series! It's interesting to see the little details peppered in that really shows the whole thing was developed from the beginning. Go watch the show and if you like it well enough then the books are, as cliche as it is, even better.

……….AUDIO……….

God is Dead by Twin Temple (2023) Satanic doo whop? Heck yeah. Their first album was great but something about this follow-up really clicked for me. Maybe it's the the track "Be a Slut (Do What You Want)".

……….GAMING……….

Oz: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) My Tuesday crew is knee-deep in Ozian politics. They're allied with a few different parties and many of those parties are in conflict with each other. Classic. Anyway you can read all about their antics here!

And that's it. See you in February!

#Monthly Media #Andrew Kolb #Kolbisneat

[insurrection-writes]

SINCERELY | TVD

"i would live this life a thousands more times just to meet you."

"i wouldn't."

Two.

Parts : ONE TWO THREE …

a/n: this part really sticks with me still, even though I wrote it many months ago. the emotions I tried to convey with a little shitty poetry seem to work, so yay! i have a few little unfinished “chapters” after this that I’ll start working to finish on my next day off. not promising anything consistent but i feel the itch to write at the moment.

Sunlight dwindles into dusk. Blue fades into hues of pink and orange, only to be extinguished into the darkness of night. With twinkling stars reflecting into dripping wetness from her eyes, Mauve cries.

Soft, inaudible sobs. Lightly bubbled in her chest, yet heavy weighing on her soul, spilling out between the hands clamped over her mouth to quiet sounds that no one would hear either way.

She cries for what she has lost. She cries for what she will never gain. She cries for everything and nothing all the same.

That anxiety would never fade. The fear and paranoia of being found would stick, even after death. In a house so silent you would swear to hear imaginary things, the thought of breaking this silence was stricken enough.

She cries, yearning for physical touch. She cries for comfort. She cries for everything.

The memories that still haunt her. The routine thoughts and actions that kept her safe, not needed but still followed. The first of many times, and the last of many failures to protect herself.

She cries, starving for validation. She cries for reprieve. She cries for nothing.

Cries fade, tears dry, a stuffy nose and tired eyes. Trained on the wall, unfocused, she gets a sense of deja vu.

The realization of yet another depressing episode commencing startles her.

It shouldn't be this way. She should be fixed.

Shes not.

A radio stationed on the window sill, it's sounds bleeding out into the garden. Soft melodies a constant, never an ad or talking voice.

The rush of water from the hose, being directed over the plants. Soaking into the soil, trails of water following its own paths into the planting bed.

Leaves rustling in the wind, branches swaying from the force. Whispers of squirrels and other woodland creatures chattering in the distance.

In this peace, Mauve settles her mind. It's been 36 days since her break down. 508 days since she arrived here.

Some days are better than others. She has stopped wondering how and why. She's just thankful for the quiet.

Her quiet oasis. Floating in the rift between worlds. Peaceful and soul healing. Something of a cosmic joke and miracle rolled into one.

Her quiet oasis. Until it's not.

She hears it before she sees it. The ruffle of feathers and squawking of birds hitting the sky. The thunderous hooves of wild deer rushing through the forest.

Trees grounding from added weight and tumbling to the ground. Underbrush being ripped from it roots.

It last for many seconds until it quiets. Unsettling silence. The paranoia ticks in Mauves brain. This is different. Unwelcome.

Until something breaks the silence. Branches snapping, leaves rustling against something large. It breaks the tree line.

A wolf. A very large wolf.

It's almost comical in size. She's watched enough animal planet in her time to know that wolves are larger than dogs, but certainly not this large. It's towering over her, it's shoulders above her five foot six inch head. At almost 15 yards away and separated by a fence, a thrill of horror still bites down Mauves spine.

This cannot be real.

It sniffs the air, it's heavy claws tearing the grass beneath it. She sucks in a slow breathe, her mind entering fight or flight.

Slowly backing up, cautiously, to the kitchen door. She stumbles, mistaking the number of steps, and brushes against the gnome on the bricks. Sending it toppling over, clattering to the ground. Splintering into tiny pieces as the wolfs head snaps in her direction.

It's hackles raised, teeth bared. As Mauve wrenches open the door, throwing herself inside, this beast takes into a full sprint, crossing the distance in seconds before slamming itself into the invisible barrier.

She watches from the window as it tries again and again to slip past some magical force just feet away from her fence that would've been just a step to this monster.

Still staring outside, Mauve wonders why she seemingly recognizes it. She wonders why a random wolf would seem so familiar.

When it stops and breathes heavily for a few moments, it's pounding breathes slowing as it sits, turned to face the window she occupies, that she realizes.

Electric yellow eyes meeting her stormy blue.

She knows those eyes.

#elijah mikaelson #tvd elijah #tvd stefan #tvd damon #tvd fanfiction #tvd klaus #klaus mikaelson #klaus #Elijah #the vampire diaries #damon salvatore #stefan salvatore #soulmates #soulmate!au

[fancoloredglasses]

Star Trek (Hard to believe I hadn't reviewed this yet), Part 1: TOS

[All images are owned by Paramount. Please don’t sue me]

If you’ve been living under a rock for the past nearly 60 years, this will all be news to you. Otherwise, you’ll be wondering why I’m deciding to review this of all things. Some may even cynically be thinking I’m running out of things to review.

The answer is simple: I don’t review episodes of series I haven’t done a review of, and I’ve recently found a bunch of YouTube clips of scenes I don’t remember seeing. (Not surprising; in every Trek series since The Next Generation I went in with enthusiasm, but then Life Happened and I fell off until I found out the series was ending and HAD to see the finale)

Now, as I’ve stated, I don’t like to review series that are ongoing. For that reason (and the fact I don’t have Paramount+), I will not be touching ANY Trek that debuted (or premiered) after 2009. Also, to give each “era” of Trek its own spotlight (and NOT, as some of you may be thinking, I’m short on ideas!), I will be doing each series separately, starting with The Original Series (or TOS).

(Thanks to dinadangdong)

Star Trek was created by Gene Roddenberry, who was previously known for TV series set in the Old West. It should be no surprise that (a) the show was dubbed “Wagon Train in space" (a Western series that ended the year before Star Trek debuted) and (b) the show at times felt like the Wild West in terms of brawls and playing fast and loose with the law (in particular, the Prime Directive: Do not interfere in the development of less advanced civilizations)

The series tells of the potential of humanity: a utopia where Earth is united and everyone gets along, so now they’ve decided to bring their influence to the stars by forming the United Federation of Planets (or “the Federation”) and exploring the galaxy in the 23rd century.

Now, let’s meet the star of the series…

The USS (short for “United Space Ship”) Enterprise (designation NCC-1701), a Constitution class starship, which boasts cutting-edge technology for the Federation…

…despite the fact that the interfaces look outdated compared to “modern” technology less than 10 years after the series ended.

The Enterprise boasted advanced technology such as…

Warp drives that enable craft to travel faster that light (according to publications that were released following the end of the series the speed was the “warp factor” cubed, so Warp Factor (or simply Warp) 5 would be 125 (5 x 5 x 5) times the speed of light (The only issue with this is timing: the closest star to the sun is Alpha Centauri (about 4.3 light years away). At Warp 5, it would take the Enterprise almost 13 days to travel the distance. Yes, I’m that big of a geek) The Warp drives are also the power source of the ship, using a matter/antimatter reaction that’s controlled using a substance known as dilithium crystals (much in the same way cadmium rods are used to keep nuclear power plants from melting down)

Energy fields (known as deflector shields) able to mitigate the impact of an enemy’s weaponry

Transporters that are able to disintegrate matter, then nearly instantaneously reassemble it several miles away (if it’s a living being, not only are they still alive, but they retain all of their memories!), but are unable to penetrate deflector shields (this closes the plot hole that says enemies can board a ship during a battle using transporters) FUN FACT: Roddenberry devised the transporters because he couldn’t figure out how a ship designed like the Enterprise would be able to land.

But enough about the ship, on to the crew, and what a crew it is! (over 400 personnel, to be exact)

First off, the crew has three designations, each with a different colored shirt: Gold represents operations division (including command, helm, navigation, and fire control), blue represents sciences (including medical), and red represents service division (including security and engineering) In cases where a member of another division is in a command position, that division’s color is worn (which explains why the Enterprise’s First Officer (also its Chief Science Officer) wears blue)

The Enterprise’s commanding officer is Captain James T. Kirk (played by William Shatner) [FUN FACT: Kirk’s full middle name (Tiberius) isn’t mentioned until a few years later; in addition, Kirk’s middle initial was R in the second pilot (more on that later)] Kirk is a seat-of-his-pants space jockey who tends to play fast and loose with the Prime Directive.

(Thanks to Memory Alpha)

Despite this, Kirk cares deeply about his ship and crew (as long as they’re not wearing red shirts (more on that later as well))

Kirk’s First Officer (and Science Officer) is Commander Spock (played by Leonard Nimoy), a member of an alien race known as Vulcans (actually half-Vulcan, as his mother is human) Vulcans show no emotion, relying on logic to dictate their actions (in the original pilot (I promise I’ll circle back to all of this) Spock showed emotion; the lack of emotion didn’t come into play until the second pilot) In the course of the series, Vulcans became more defined (usually suggested by Nimoy), including a nerve pinch that knocks out its victim (because Nimoy couldn’t see Spock cold-cocking someone), the Vulcan salute (shown above, which is from a Jewish ritual Nimoy observed as a boy), and the mind-meld, which allows a Vulcan to share memories with another (and vice versa)

Rounding out the main cast is the Chief Medical Officer, Lt. Commander Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy (the nickname “Bones” refers to an old Earth nickname for surgeons as “Sawbones”, since most field surgeons were forced to amputate injured limbs to save their patients) McCoy is a curmudgeony individual who enjoys teasing Spock about his Vulcan heritage (almost to the point of bigotry), but there was no doubt there was friendship between the two (and Kirk)

There are two phrases that McCoy utters repeatedly in the series that have made nearly any reenactment of the character seem almost a parody…

(Thanks to Scott Cole)

(Thanks to RichardIsBig)

As far as the supporting cast, it was years ahead of its time, showing a diversity never seen in the 60s!

The Chief Engineer is Lt. Commander Montgomery “Scotty” Scott (played by James Doohan) FUN FACT: Doohan tried several accents in his audition before the Roddenberry settled on the Scottish one.

The Chief Helmsman is Lt. Hikaru Sulu (played by George Takei) Following the series, Takei came out as gay and used his status as a sci-fi icon to became an advocate for gay rights.

The Chief Communications Officer is Lt. Uhura (played by Nichelle Nichols) No first name was ever given until almost 50 years later.

Nichols had two inspirational stories about her time on the show she liked to share at the conventions. The first was how she wanted to quit the show due to her character not really doing much of anything, but was inspired to stay by a certain black comic that no one really wants to talk about any more. The other is about a famous black actress who was inspired by her character and eventually got a role on the Enterprise herself! (I’ll discuss her in a future review)

There were also two recurring supporting roles that had importance to the series..

Ensign Christine Chapel (played by Roddenberry’s wife Majel Barrett) is Dr. McCoy’s chief nurse. She also has a major crush on Spock (FUN FACT: This was Barrett’s second role for Star Trek. The first was First Officer (known simply as “Number One”) in the first pilot of the series. Yes, I’ll be discussing this later)

Crewman Janice Rand (played by Grace Lee Whitney) was Kirk’s Yoeman (personal assistant) and was intended to be a love interest as the series progressed, but the network wanted to see Kirk be a “ladies man”, so her character disappeared following Season 1 (though her character would return as cameos in the films)

The second season saw not only the reassignment of Crewman Rand, but the assignment of a permanent Navigator (it’s never explained why the ship needs a navigator when the computer could easily do so)

Ensign Pavel Chekov (played by Walter Koenig) is of Russian heritage (there are two stories as to why the character was added (either, both, or neither could be true): Roddenberry said that the Russians complained that they weren’t represented on a show that talks about a united Earth, while at least one book said that Koenig was cast to appeal to a younger (female) audience, which explains why his early haircut resembles Davey Jones’s)

I would be remiss in my review if I didn't mention the trope that endures to this day: Redshirts!

Because Security's uniform top is red, and the fact that Security are often targeted (and tend to die quite often) when the ship is boarded or a landing party is attacked, the term "redshirt" became used for the extras whose job it is to die messily in any sci-fi series.

(Thanks to comedy4cast)

Of course, every shining beacon of hope needs people casting shade. There are plenty of threats against the Enterprise and her crew, but there are a couple that seem to show up quite a bit.

The Klingon Empire is the main antagonist against Federation expansion. They are a warrior race bent on conquest.

(Klingons are often cast using black actors…at least I hope they’re black and not using blackface!)

The Romulan Star Empire is another war-mongering people (funny how two aggressive races managed to sandwich a peaceful coalition between them) Like the Klingons, their ships are equipped with cloaking devices making their ships invisible to visual and sensor identification (fortunately, they have to drop their cloak to fire of they’d have conquered the galaxy by now)

As you can see, the Romulans are distantly related to the Vulcans, but they retain their emotional, savage side instead of relying on logic.

The series often dealt with rather weighty topics (such as racism and nuclear war), but also had its share of goofy episodes (such as dealing with space Nazis, space gangsters, space Romans, and evil doppelgangers)

The series almost didn't get off the ground, as the original pilot (with Captain Christopher Pike commanding) was rejected by NBC as "too cerebral", but a second, more action-oriented pilot with Kirk commanding was accepted and the rest is history.

The series lasted three seasons before it was abruptly cancelled. Saturday Night gave the fans a fitting sendoff.

(Thanks to Saturday Night Live)

This should’ve been the end of Star Trek’s story, but fan support kept the series alive years after its cancellation. Enough so that the Enterprise got another shot at the small screen years later.

…but that’s a tale for another review.

If you would like to watch the series, it’s available on Paramount+, PlutoTV, or behind your favorite paywall. If you would like to see an episode reviewed, please let me know!

Before I go, I would like to offer up a little ditty about what happens when the crew of the Enterprise are allowed a break from exploring the galaxy, courtesy of Leslie Fish…

(Thanks to Songs from the Stars)

#star trek #tos #william shatner #leonard nimoy #deforest kelley #james doohan #george takei #walter koenig #nichelle nichols #majel barrett #uss enterprise #Fan Colored Glasses

[imagionationstation]

“A China Town Ghoststory” Rewrite

(I deleted this post and the two others associated with it from my account because it continually made me anxious to look at, after all the negativity that came with, and my mental health tends to stay my top priority.)

Summary of my thoughts on this ep is here.

I asked if you guys thought I should rewrite the part directly after Casey launches the pizza, and 4% is a pretty low no-count, so I found the time, and I went for it!

Note: This is not necessarily how the episode should have gone, as much as it is something that I would have liked to see. Enjoy!

Casey fires.

Three pairs of glowing eye dart after the pizzas and Donnie allows himself to release the breath clogging his lungs, trying to get his pounding heart to stop its assault on his ribs. He desperately hopes they'll dive after the pizzas the same way that they would after a long patrol, and stay distracted with them long enough for him and Casey to make their way to Ho Chan. 

Too many factors could go wrong with this plan, but it's honestly the best they got. 

He can't take his brothers. They're fighting to kill. 

They don't mean to, he knows they don't; they'd never-

Donnie swallows thickly. They'd never. And he knows he can't.

A dense thump and then footfall behind him. Donnie's barely conscious of the fact that Casey must have left his place at the manhole canon, more focused on the way that Leo's gaze shoots to them, the flickering glow covering his eyes brightening as blue sparks travel down his arms. 

The muscles are taunt, telling Donnie exactly what's coming next, and his heart skips a beat as he realizes that their shell-less human ally can't take the same beating that he can.

Electricity crackles in the air and goosebumps rise on Donnie's arms as he makes his choice, ignoring the way Mikey and Raph look up from where they'd been wrestling next to the pizzas. He rocks to his feet and breaks into a rapid stride, acting as if he's making a wild dash for the warehouse hiding Ho Chan and his captives. 

Leo jerks towards him, and he launches the power at Donnie.

It's an easy dodge since Leo doesn't have time to properly aim the strike, but Donnie doesn't see Raph's follow-up coming, barely avoiding a blow to the brain before a gust of wind knocks him into the wall on his left. He cries out when his shoulder slams the bricks, the shock loosening his grip on his staff. 

Mikey's wind knocks him in the plastron and he stumbles back, stopped mid-lunge when a lightning bolt crosses the area between them. A few of the bricks slip free, clouds of yellow catching them and then slamming them into his plastron and arms. He's thrown off his feet, carapace scratching the concrete when he skids.

"Donnie!"

Mikey's head jerks to Casey's cry, lifting a hand in the direction of his voice. Donnie doesn't see what he does, scrambling back as his older brothers leer over him, eyes glowing the ominous blue as electricity crackles and the sky booms. 

"Guys?" 

It's no more than a whisper with the obvious choas around him, but Donnie still can't quite believe this is happening. It's like a messed-up stress dream, and he wishes desperately to wake up from it, but if pinching would have woken him up, being tossed from a tornado definitely should have.

He can barely breathe, background blurring around the edges as his vision trains on the older brothers prepared to finish the job, and he leans on the only means of defense that he has left. 

Running his mouth.

"Leo- Raph- wait- WAIT! It's me! Guys, you don't want to do this!"

The thunder shifts into a makeshift bolder of booming yellow and Leo glows his signature blue with the collected energy. 

"It's Donnie! Donatello! Please, you don't want to do this! Ho Chan and his ancient arts- they're controlling you-"

Mikey returns, threatening winds blowing around him and bouncing mask tails. Donnie knows he's cowering, unable to get up with the weight of horror and defeat weighing him down. He can't even take them during a friendly spar. There's no way he can defend himself when they have super powers!

He's going to die.

"Guys, please, it's me! Donnie! Your brother!"

Their bodies tense, arms swinging to strike.

He's going to die!

Donnie drops on his side, instinctively curling into the fetal position.

He's going to DIE!

Trembling hands uselessly wrap around his skull.

He's going to-

THEY'RE GOING TO KILL HIM- 

"NO!"

He doesn't get any further, choking on the horror that's corrupting every nerve on his body, unable to accept this fate. He expects the blows to land at any second, shaking as if the air around him lacks any warmth, but the pain never comes. It takes a few minutes for this to fully sink in, and then trembling hands lower from the pale face as he raises his eyes.

His brothers are still next to him, exactly where they last were, but their choas has disappeared, arms slack at their sides. The glowing blue under the hats is faint, flickering as they stare down with blank expressions, and then Mikey moves. 

Donnie flinches as he drops beside him, and his little brother's voice is nothing like his own as he mutters, "Dee?"

The terror rushes away in a wave, and Donnie might have burst into tears if that wouldn't make him look more pathetic than he already does. "Mikey?"

A moment of silence and then Mikey whirls around to bark, "What the heck, dudes!"

Leo and Raph snap to life, both incredulous, "Us?"

"Yes, you!" Mikey gestures to the turtle coming down from an adrenaline high, shivering as round eyes dart between them. "Look what you did!" 

"Woah, woah, woah!" Raph defends in his garbled voice. "That was all Leo!"

Leo rears back furiously, "Says the guy throwing bricks!"

"They barely touched him! 'Sides, Mikey messed up his shoulder!" 

"Did not!"

Donnie unconsciously lifts a hand to brush against his shoulder, mutely glancing down as he realizes that it's bruising. He blinks once, looking between his brothers as he tries to process the unexpected change. He doesn't want to pull more attention to himself, but he can't help the weak correction. "It was more of a... Team effort?" 

All three faintly blue gazes turn to him, and then Leo's hands spark, trails of light moving up his arms. His voice is almost monotone, the flickering blue strengthening. "You only brought it upon yourself by coming back."

Donnie shrinks away and Mikey snaps, "See! He's scared of you!"

A theatrical gasp, and the fury returns. "Is not!"

"Oh, he so is, bro!" 

"Don't make me blast you-" 

"Like you scare me!"

"OH YEAH?!"

"YEAH!" 

Donnie yelps when a hand grabs his arm and hauls him to his feet, and this interrupts the war about to break out between the eldest and youngest. They snarl at Raph as he drags Donnie back, snapping, "Both you shell-heads are scarin' him!"

Donnie's face goes red. "I'm not-!"

The wind picks up. "Hey! Give him back!"

Thunder sounds in the distance. "Why!? So you can slam him into more walls?!" 

Electricity crackles. "Like you're any better!"

If Raph has a response to that, it's interrupted when Mikey shoots a blast of wind that forces him to release Donnie's arm, curling his hand into a fist and pulling it to his chest. A brush of wind shoves the startled genius to his younger brother, but Leo intercepts, pushing him to the side and firing at Mikey, only for the youngest to duck-and-roll out of the way. 

Just as Raph predicted, Donnie hits the wall for the second time that evening, and spins to keep an eye on his mentally unstable brothers. Leo stands in front of of him, electricity coming off his being in waves, and their brothers look ready to pounce. "You can't be trusted with him!" 

"What?!" Raph all but screeches. "We were just following your lead!" 

"Don't you pin this on me!"

"It's the truth, ain't it!?"

Leo growls like a feral predator, and Donnie presses himself to the wall before the flaring bolts can touch him. He cautiously extends a foot to the side, scooting away from his volatile siblings, because he doesn't trust himself to walk away unscathed under any of their respective 'protection'. 

The spell obviously makes them aggressive, willing to attack anyone or anything for any reason at any time. As jarring as it is to watch them go from aggressive to possessive, it's possible they just latch onto the first excuse for battle that they find.

In this case, it's Mikey's accusation. 

As dumb as the argument clearly is, he doesn't... hate it.

His eyes dart between his brothers as their faces come into better view, and he thinks he can see pieces of them underneath the spell. The way Raph's jaw locks when he knows he's not going to win. The way Leo unconsciously slips into a protective stance- evidently still under the belief that there is a turtle behind him. How Mikey's hands flail as he argues, never quite able to stay still.

They- They are his brothers. They know who he is. And they're upset at one another for hurting him, even if the spell won't let them understand why, or how close they came to-

To…

His shoulder slump in relief. 

But they didn't, because as long as even a scrap of his brothers have control, they would never let that happen. Not to each other, and not to him. Those mindless warriors were not his brothers. These guys...

Raph dashes forward, using his thunder to deflect Leo's lightning, and tackling him to the ground with a guttural growl. Mikey is quick to follow, and Donnie watches in a deadpan as they tussle on the ground, rolling and shoving as the main object of their squabble is entirely forgotten. 

…These guys are definitely his brothers.

"Don?"

Donnie's gaze shoots to Casey, and finds their human friend leaning against the Shellraiser, one hand cupping his side and the other tightly gripping his hockey stick. Before Donnie has a chance to process the worry about the state of his ribs, he realizes that the cries of battle have stopped. 

He looks up and spots the warriors hovering in the air, switching back into guard-dog mode now that a perceived danger is close to the warehouse. Donnie doesn't think that Casey will be able to reach them in the same way that he can, and he realizes that he has to draw attention away from him. 

So, Donnie does something that he'd be loathe to do on any other occasion. 

He plays the part of the weak, injured, and vulnerable sibling. 

With a decent amount of flair, he crumbles to his knees and grabs at his shoulder, making eye contact with Casey while angling his head away from his brothers. The human had taken a step forward, something that could be mistaken as concern visible, and Donnie gives his head a quick, pointed shake to warn him to stay away.

"Ow...!" He whines, goosebumps rising as he senses three pairs of eyes turn towards him. "Ow-ow-ow- that really hurts-!" 

Maybe it's not an Oscar-worthy performance, but it does the trick. 

Leo is predictably the first to land at his side, examining his arm as Raph lands as a wall between them and Casey, with Mikey still hovering, slanted towards the human lest he make any threatening moves for them or the warehouse.

"I told you!" Leo snaps as Donnie continues his act of agony, pulling his arm away from the eldest before he realizes that it's perfectly fine. "You hurt him!" 

Wind picks up. "He was fine a minute ago!"

Donnie winces when an electric spark zaps him. "You can't be trusted with him!"

"Yeah, sure!" Thunder booms. "We're the problem here!"

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Donnie scoots away from his sparking brother and realizes that Mikey's eyes are brighter blue than their brothers', suspicion written into his sneer as he takes in how close Donnie's gotten to the warehouse. 

Donnie swallows. Whoops.

Need a distraction to distract from him too.

"You know what would make me feel better?" He asks nervously, praying they don’t notice how shrill his voice has become. "Pizza! Yep, definitely pizza!”

Mikey's eyes flicker. "Pizza?"

Donnie nods weakly. Leo and Raph look at him, at each other, to the pizzas on the ground, and then back to each other. 

"I got it!"

They both take off, and Mikey, who is not about to be left behind when there's pizza involved, immediately tears away from Donnie to charge after them. 

"Phew. Close one." Donnie mutters as he gets to his feet, watching his brother go nuts over one pizza when there are very clearly three pies to share. He makes his way over to his discarded staff as Casey hurries to his side, shooting the human teen a side-glance when he hisses, "What the heck was that?"

"Nothing." Donnie dismisses, ignoring the embarrassment swirling in his gut. "You good?" 

Casey pats his side and then puffs out his chest, "Mikey threw me around a bit, but Casey Jones still came out on top."

"Great." Donnie resists the urge to whack him over the head with his staff. "So I get the privilege to beat you for that last minute change of plans you tried to pull." 

"Aw, come on." Casey scowls. "Give a guy some credit! My plan totally would have worked if you hadn’t-"

Donnie swats the complaint away. "Let's just focus on rescuing April." 

"Whatever."

Casey takes off for the building. With one last glance as his super-powered brothers to make sure they're faced away, Donnie spins the staff in one hand, feeling some of his buzzing nerves settle. "I'll be right back, guys." 

 Then he sprints after their human ally, hoping they aren't too late. 

#ImagionationStation’s Ficlets #tmnt 2k12 #teenage mutant ninja turtles #teenage mutant ninja turtles 2012 #tmnt donnie 2012 #2012 donnie #donnie 2012 #tmnt donatello 2012 #leo tmnt 2012 #tmnt leo 2012 #leo 2012 #tmnt leonardo 2012 #raph 2012 #raph tmnt 2012 #tmnt raph 2012 #raphael 2012 #tmnt mikey 2012 #mikey 2012 #michelangelo 2012 #2012 tmnt #2012 mikey #2012 michelangelo #tmnt 2012 leo #2012 leo #tmnt 2012 raph #2012 raph #2012 donatello #tmnt fanfiction #tmnt fic #tmnt 2012

[respectthepetty]

609 Bedtime Story: Ep. 4 - KH Edition

Theory Tracking - Introduction, Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3

The amount of times BLs have given us the blue + red = purple color scheme this year is wild!

But bringing the title cards into this is next level. Please let the episode where their worlds collide have the font in purple. PLEASE!

Timeline

We got an hourglass shot similar to the one we got in episode one in Mum's apartment.

We are STILL on the 8th in Mum’s universe, and the 21st in fantasy Dew’s universe, but now we see the 8th in Dew's universe.

We began the episode in Dew’s blue world from the 4th – 8th which we were shown the similar time period in Mum’s universe in the first episode. All Dew's friends were at a party including Mint.

Theory #0 – There is an unedited version ✔

Confirmed last week that they aren’t edited versions, but the scenes we're missing are part of the flash forwards/flashbacks.

The gaybors were not pleased about this ruckus in the hall.

Theory #1 – Mum is dying

Minimal Mum this week so no progress on this theory, and when we did see him HE DIDN’T LOOK AT THE PICTURE!

But that STOP sign in the background lingers too much for it to not be a warning.

Theory #2 – Dew is Mint’s boyfriend ✔

Not only does Mint want to date Dew in Mum’s universe, but also in Dew’s universe, and she is getting rejected in BOTH.

Baby girl, he's gay.

Theory #3 – Games knows something

He pulled Mum away right before Mum and Dew could see each other. He excused it away by stating Mint was there.

He said he already had a backup person, but why would he already have one if he didn't know something was going to happen?

Yet he still seemed freaked out being around Dew and called Dew “Dream.”

He sent the picture of Dew and Mint together to Mum.

I think that Games didn’t want Mum and Dew to meet alone. He is trying to make Mum aware of Mint and Dew’s relationship, and knows that Dew is the ones from the dreams. Games has to know SOMETHING! Maybe it's tied to his green love for Vee.

Theory #4 – They exist in each other’s world but are different ✔

Proven last week. The Mint and Dew in Dew’s universe aren’t speaking. The Mint and Dew in Mum’s universe are speaking.

Theory #5 (new entry) - Mint is the killer

Mum scribbled "Girlfriend" on the "Who Killed Dew?" chart without knowing that Mint is/wants to be Dew's girlfriend. We know from the flash forwards that she's crying about something, but could that something be that she shot Dew or that she found out about Mum and Dew and is so upset that she's willing to kill?

Theory Recap

Theories proven - 3-ish last week

Theories squashed - 0 squashed this week

Theories added - 1

Questions answered - We know Dew's friends are mad at him because they think he is playing with Mint's emotions, but we didn't find out who Jake is. Is that the uncle? I thought the uncle's name is Pratin because Mum circled the name on his "Who killed Dew?" chart. When Dew spoke about Jake with Mum, Mum said Jake was a bad friend not an uncle. But on the note of the uncle, who was that man he was talking to?

He could lurk in my shadows too.

#609 bedtime story #kimlock holmes is on the case #dew x mum #episode 4 #vee x games #I have theories for days #mint x dew #<- at least in her dreams #please let Mint be the murderer #And let Games me a universe traveler

[twotales]

Radar

Fandom: Stargate Atlantis

Characters: Rodney McKay, Radek Zelenka, (One line Elizabeth Weir)

Pairing: Rodney McKay & Radek Zelenka

Rating: G

Word Count: 741

Tags: Ficlet, Between Episodes, Developing Friendships, Lists

Summary: He was never on Rodney’s radar, just a face among many and really he had better things to do than remember the name of one bespectacled, scruffy-faced, wild-haired scientist.

Notes: I HC Rodney as a list guy, he doesn't write them down but he catalogs certain information that way.

Read On AO3

He was never on Rodney’s radar, just a face among many and really he had better things to do than remember the name of one bespectacled, scruffy-faced, wild-haired scientist. Because names didn’t inform you of anything. This is why Rodney typically thought about people in terms of what they could do, their focus, their professional traits, and their talents (if they had any.) And this scientist came with only one note preprogrammed onto his list, “Engineer."

Two weeks later he added, “turns research in early.”

Three months in and it was clear the man was not just an Engineer but a gifted engineer, and Rodney added “Eighty percent likely to get the machine to work." (Well, eighty-five if he was being completely honest.)

A few days before General O'Neill was scheduled to arrive Rodney found his blueprints while searching for a pen. He held one page up with a reverence he didn’t typically show to most things. Eyes running over the color-coded inner workings, the easy-to-follow pathways, and, oh god, perfectly legible labels. It was just so beautiful, so logical. It wouldn’t do to compliment the man on something he had found on accident, (not that he would anyway.) So he added, “logical,” to his list, put them back where he found them, and moved on.

But when they were lodged halfway inside an active stargate his list sprang to mind and he ran through it at lightspeed, combining them together and for once he wished he knew a scientist's name because a logical engineer who does things quickly and gets the machines to work eighty-nine percent of the time sounded like the perfect fit.

“Alright. Let me put Kavanagh, Grodin, and Simpson in a room; see what they come up with.”

“That's good. And the Czech, the Czech, um,” he snapped, “the Czech whose name I can never remember.”

“Doctor Zelenka?” She said and what kind of stupid name was that anyways? Of course, he never remembered something that ridiculous.

“That's him. We'll work it at our end.”

It turned out that Zlemka WAS the right person for the job (of course he was, it was Rodney’s idea after all) and he wasn’t surprised in the least to find the Czech on his back, elbow-deep in a puddle jumper once the ordeal was over and it looked like Major Sheppard would be fine.

“How long have you been at this?” Rodney held back a laugh as the man startled.

He glanced at Rodney warily before looking back at his work. “How long has it been since you were trapped in the Jumper?” His glasses slipped down his nose, “that is how long.”

Rodney tried not to smile because dammit that was the best answer he could have given. It made the most sense and is exactly what he would do. He watched the man tap another conduit then pick up a small journal and jot down a few notes. Rodney moved closer to him, peeking over to try and get a look.

“Is there anything you need from me, Dr. McKay?”

It was Rodney’s turn to startle as ice-blue eyes watched his reaction to his notebook, confusion marring his features.

“I need you to move over.”

The man's look of confusion increased. However, he complied, his face flashing in surprise as Rodney kneeled down, rolled up his sleeves, moved to his back, and slid in next to him.

He clapped his hands together, “Alright Zlinka, show me everything.”

His tone of voice as he said, “Zelenka,” bordered on insubordination but he sighed and held the journal out to him before pointing at the current pathway he was mapping. “I have discovered much.” He pushed his glasses up his nose as his voice bled into excitement, “everything in here can be controlled from back of the jumper.” A smile spread and Rodney added “dimple,” to his list. “I am creating a manual to prevent these things from happening.” He raised his brows, “It is a good idea, yes.”

Rodney flipped through his journal running his fingers over the diagrams, and god if he were a lesser man it would have stolen his breath away because the drawings, albeit currently crude, made such beautiful, logical sense, and although he knew Zelemka wasn’t actually asking a question, because duh, of course, it was a good idea, it’s exactly why he came up here, he still found himself smiling and saying.

“Yes, it is.”

#sga #stargate atlantis #rodney mckay #radek zelenka #twotalesff #radek zelenka & rodney mckay #twotalesgifs #mygif #fanfic #myfic #sga fanfic #and a beautiful friendship is born #and later on it turns into something more #zelenkay #rodek #geek love forever

[waitmyturtles]

Couple of dorama notes to help me keep track of things, woop!

1) THE NEW EMPLOYEE NEW EPISODE, EEP!: I’m not going to peep the tag until after I watch it tonight. Now that I binged the manhwa, I think I know the direction of this episode, but I’m still looking forward to the NYS flashbacks and seeing how Jong Chan handles it.

2) The Makanai: Cooking For the Maiko House: A couple of IRL friends recommended this to me because they know I love shows about food -- I started it yesterday and I’m in full binge mode. It’s directed by the legendary Koreeda Hiroyuki, who directed After Life in the late 1990s and who now has the film Broker out (which is making its way around the awards circuit).

I hadn’t heard of this manga (Kiyo in Kyoto) before, but I understand it to be quite popular -- I even think NHK aired an anime of it. I want to take some time, if I can find it, to research the background and popularity of the manga, because I think the drama is a bit darker than it’s set up to be on the surface. Quickly: two 16-year-old girls leave Aomori Prefecture to apprentice as maiko, or junior geishas, in Kyoto. One of the teens is a natural at her training; the other teen (Kiyo) is expelled from the school and becomes the cook for the okiya (lodging house) (wild wild wild).

I admittedly know next to nothing about maiko/geisha culture, but it struck me as surprising that young teenagers can still leave school to apprentice and live in an okiya. (EDITING TO ADD: Phew, okay, this part is fictional, according to this interview.) I think there are a few stories being told underneath the surface (but I’m only on episode three) -- rivalries between friends and students, unrequited loves, and this undercurrent about young girls doing labor for the lodging house and for clients, including teenage maiko accompanying clients to bars.

I’m kind of in a whirlwind headspace to understand it all. BUT: THE CINEMATOGRAPHY IS SPECTACULAR, and there are some great names acting in it, including Lily Frankie (I love this guy’s name so much), Morisaki Win (a darling from Three Star Bar in Nishi Ogikubo), and Makita Aju, who is simply killing it as an antagonist against maiko culture (and who also played an amazing foil as Micchan in Okaeri Mone). Also, Hashimoto Ai and Matsuoka Mayu going head to head -- their competition is totally sizzling.

I’ll have a bigger review of this, but it looks like this dorama is extremely popular in Japan, so I’m glad I’m catching up with it in real time. 

3) Besides my real-time BLs (The New Employee, Ameiro Paradox), I’m going to start on Bad Buddy later this week as part of my essential BL series, once I’m done with The Makanai. 

4) But ALSO: I found a three-part NHK miniseries called Ototo no Otto (My Brother’s Husband), from 2018 -- and I’m seriously excited for it, because I am a huge stan for NHK’s boundary-pushing work on discrimination. The show is about a Canadian man who comes to Japan after his same-sex Japanese partner passes away. The “widower” meets his late partner’s twin brother and the twin brother’s kids, all to learn more about his late partner’s life in Japan.

The show looks like it focuses on current issues regarding LGBTQ+ discrimination, including the homophobia that the late partner’s brother himself has -- which may have led to estrangement between the twins.

There’s only a few posts about this show on Tumblr, but the posts say the show was seriously good. I’m so glad I found it, and I think I’ll need to watch it before diving into Bad Buddy.

And after Bad Buddy: Dark Blue Kiss, to prepare for the eventual GMMTV adaptation of Cherry Magic, which damn it -- I still can’t shake. 

5) FINALLY: Um, we may be getting new The Novelist/The Pornographer material?! (cc @gillianthecat). According to Twitter, there will be an announcement about something related to the franchise on 1/24. Let’s see -- the very last short film hasn’t been translated or released internationally, so maybe that’s the update? Give us SOMETHING, FUJI TV. 

YAY, updates! I honestly love writing these posts when life gets crazy, because it helps me set my priorities!

#drama accountability! #the new employee #the new recruit #the makanai cooking for the maiko house #hirokazu koreeda #turtles catches up with thai BLs #turtles catches up with the essential BLs #bad buddy is next #ototo no otto #otouto no otto #the novelist #the pornographer

[re-alku]

Mortals AU (Comic Aurora)

Paragraph time baybee!! (Characters are from @comicaurora​​) The Mortals AU is an AU where the gods (excluding any race gods and a few handpicked idea gods) have become mortal characters. This story has a significantly lighter tone than the canon and would follow an episodic format.

I separated the gods I liked into three groups for their mortal versions, while there are other gods who are characters and just not prominent (I will be listing those):

Our Main Duo:

Vash, a Crucible who is missing one of his arms after burning it off when he was younger during a storm. He is searching for the forging god Tahraim so that he can make him a sword. Caliban is just watching him take on a wild goose chase while they stay in Tahraim’s forge. They haven’t told Tahraim yet. He is an oddity due to him having blue eyes, I made that correlate with his fire for aesthetic reasons. His eyes also always are flaming because I wanted him to resemble himself in canon. Zuurith, a hedgehog ferin who serves under the Paladins and has a desire to protect the ones around him. Boy is a little bit angsty. He can pass as an elf with rather unkempt hair. I decided that he figured out how to weaponize his spines but when he was younger the paladins who raised him constantly were getting scratched, those scratches remain to this day. These two are our main two who are both. a little bit of dumbasses and funny little guys. They are definitely less of rivals in this AU and are pretty evenly matched in fighting. Vash is more carefree and Zuurith is trying his best to keep him out of trouble. Zuurith likes to pretend he’s the reasonable one of the duo but he’s just as much of a dumbass (Affectionate) as Vash.   Next we have Tynan, a metalcaste who was struck by lightning after being born near the Elemental Storm before he could ever have thoughts of his own and when he was sparked he ran off only to fall into a life of underground fighting. Thank god bc this boy hasn’t killed anyone yet out of fear of ruining the shows for his audience, our boy travels alone. Tynan, Vash and Zuurith met after Vash had been curious about the underground fighting, while reluctant, he managed to drag Zuurith along. We have the classic anime trope of an unbeatable fighter getting beaten by our protagonist and since Tynan isn’t a god damn murderer in this AU, they became sort of friends? Zuurith does not like the guy but since he hasn’t technically done anything yet, he can’t really do anything.

The next characters I do not have art for but I do have some brainrot. This is our third group which is a travelling group composed of:

Ilia, an elf of Sekrai descent who is a powerful water mage. I looked at Ilia in canon and went “Yeah she probably would be a focused and practiced fighter”. Ilia is one of the strongest out of the cast and I gave her a neat little tattoo on her upper back that glows when she fights. She wears a lot of clothing made of Windsilk that is similar to that of the clothing that Elven nobility wear, along with a lot of her clothes having an open back. Gleicann, he is a Gladestrider with a goat bottom half and serves as sort of a replacement for Alinua in terms of power. He is a life mage who Ilia found one day while travelling and from that day onward they decided to be besties. He is a lot less volatile than Alinua and is more relaxed, also I did keep the big guy design that he has currently, even if he didn’t have it always. I am a sucker for big guys with big hearts. Skieron, my boy! He is a swampstrider and while a lot of things aren’t known about him in canon, I still made a few guesses. Skieron is basically what connects the entire main cast together, he became friends with Vash after he had come from the Ignan Deserts and is what brought Vash and Zuurith to know Gleicann and Ilia. After that he met Tynan through Vash.

Side characters!

Asera is an elven and scientist scholar, Zuurith knows them through paladin work and Ilia does too. They are known in the scientific community for their unorthodox methods but they have gathered knowledge on some of the most important discoveries and have gone through a lot of effort to build connections to as many groups as possible Shayansi and Sennaia are both of stygian elf descent and are a travelling duo of a storyteller and a scholar. Shayansi spins the truth and stretches it, both to make a better story and to infuriate Sennaia, while all Sennaia can do is look angrily on as their partner decides to fuck up history. The Twins! I am indecisive about them! There are two possible routes I can go with them, but for the sake of simplicity I am just going with the idea that they are a pair of mysterious artists who hide away in the mountains and are rumored to resemble the gods that made the world. Vash and Zuurith meet them on their travels and spend the majority of their visit not seeing them because shock and horror, they don’t have enough time to split between commissions and talking to guests.

#comicauora #aurorafanart #comicaurorafanart #mortals!AU

[nkatr84]

Happy New Year! 2023

Once again it’s New Years Eve and my yearly tradition of wrapping up the year by reviewing things that have come out but I haven’t had time to write about. Here we go!

Doctor WHO: Wild Blue Yonder and the Giggle

Wild Blue Yonder was just the perfect amount of creepy, mysterious and suspenseful with pure nightmare fuel. And Neil Patrick Harris was perfection as the Doctor’s old foe the Celestial Toymaker. Plus a great regeneration scene to introduce Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor without having to say goodbye to David Tennant’s 14th.

The Marvels

I liked Captain Marvel and Ms Marvel so I knew I’d like this one. Is it a perfect movie? No. But it is fun. But you do have to watch Ms Marvel and Wandavision to know who everyone or it’s hard to follow along. As my parents found out. They still liked it enough but you have to be a super fan to really enjoy it.

Doctor Who: The Church on Ruby Road

I am so hyped for Ncuti Gatwa’s fifteenth doctor! This was a fun episode and a great introduction to a new companion with a great mystery set up and I can’t wait to see what is next!

Migration

This was cute. Not amazing or super funny but cute. The little duckling Gwen is the best part. That’s it.

The Color Purple (2023 Musical)

It’s well performed and all the musical numbers are great, but if you saw the original you know it’s better. I do like how Sug and Celiy have a stronger friendship and I even like how Celiy forgives Albert in the end here. And the explanation of how she inherits her mother’s house and gets her business is better handled.

Wonka

I loved this. It’s so fun and whimsical with just enough of a dark edge to tie back to the original book and moreover Gene Wilder’s sarcastic chocolate maker in the 71 version. It’s not a direct prequel but it definitely feels like this story could lead to that one. Plus Timothee Charlamet surprised me by how good of a singer he was! And he’s very charming and ties the whole movie together. Plus it’s written by Simon Farnaby of the BBCs Ghosts so it’s got that clever writing in it.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

I don’t know why but I like this movie more than the first one. Maybe because I can feel how much fun Jason Mamoa had making it. Maybe because I’m a sucker for a reformed villain that helps his older brother defeat the ancient evil threatening their family (which is weird that’s it’s happened twice) but I do like the story and the action and that it’s got a happy ending.

What If Season 2

Here we go…the big one…one Episode at a time…

What if Nebula Joined the Nova Corps?

This was a fun neon noir mystery with one of my favorite new characters. And it really proves that one way or another Nebula was meant to become a hero.

What if Peter Quill attacked Earths Mightiest Heroes?

Or what if the Avengers assembled in the 1980’s? Basically Peter Quill is taken to his father Ego as a child. But once Peter realizes what his Dad is making him do, he returns to Earth because he’s still a good kid. He’s still a kid so he uses his new powers to make Coney Island his own playground so Hank Pym Antman, Goliath, Bucky Barnes Winter Solider, the Black Panther (Tchallas Dad) and Wendy Larson Mar Vel and Thor come in to take him in. It’s a fun team up. Especially when you add Peggy Carter and Howard Stark.

What if Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?

I’ve never seen Die Hard, but I’ll be happy to watch this every Christmas! This was fun seeing Happy be the hero for once. With a great return for a villain that we haven’t seen much of.

What if Iron Man crashed into the Grandmaster?

I loved this one! It was great seeing Tony taken out of his comfort zone on Sakarr. The Grandmaster does have that affect on people…lol. It was face paced and clever with jokes and story. Just great.

What if Captain Carter Fought the Hydra Stomper?

This whole episode was a sequel to Captain Carter’s story in season one. Basically it was her version of Captain America:The Winter Soldier but with the Red Room instead of Hydra. Captain Carter is always great and seeing her lose Steve again was sad but then the season plot comes a calling and she gets pulled into it.

What if Kahori Reshaped the World?

This was a great story and it features a new character! Basically Asgard gets destroyed before Odin can hide the Tesseract but it ends up in North America where a Mohawk Indian woman named Kahori winds up getting powers from it. And she’s a great character who I’m sure fulfilled a power fantasy for native Americans and gets to see a superhero like them at last.

What if Hela Found the Ten Rings?

I liked this one too. This basically has Odin banish Hela to Earth instead of locking her away. And while she starts off her usual villain self, we see her change into the hero she could have been. Plus Odin is back to being the worst parent in the MCU since we learn Hela just wanted to rule to gain her freedom since her Dad made her a weapon against her will.

What if the Avengers Assembled in 1602?

Okay I loved this one too. It was fun seeing an Elizabethan version of the Avengers with Captain Carter pulled from her universe to save there’s. And after she meets Steve Rogers, our hearts get broken all over again when they don’t get together again. Basically I really hope they’re building up to having Captain Carter finding a happily ever after with another Steve Rogers that lost his Peggy.

What if Strange Supreme Intervened?

Which brings us to the finale. So this season’s storylines aren’t quite as intertwined as last seasons, but when Strange Supreme showed up in Kahori’s story and then at the end of the 1602 story I knew something was up. And sure enough he tricks Peggy into finding Kahori for him after she escapes him. Turns out he’s been collecting villains and heroes to power a spell to restore his universe. He just couldn’t escape his grief. It’s got a bittersweet ending and Captain Carter has more adventures in store…speaking of which…

Hey Peggy? See that big tree there? There’s a really cute God of Stories in there that needs to be rescued. Just drop him off on Earth 1218 and I’ll take care of him. Thanks Doll.

Happy New Year!

#disney + #tv thoughts #doctor who #the marvels #wonka 2023 #migration #the color purple #aquaman and the lost kingdom #marvel what if spoilers #what if season 2