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loki-da-gay · 5 months

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Okay so I've half asleeped explained t.a to someone over msg and its the most bat shot insane thing so I'm going to grace you all with it

The magnus archives startes with this posh prick(jhon) who has just been assigned head archivist of an institute that studys the paranormal and he reads the one of statements and he notices a few connections but ignores it as he is a prick and pretends it's all nothing and then some fucking worm bitch attacks the institute and trys to kill everyone there, then a monster replaces one of the wimom there and no one fucking notices and on top of that the person who was head archivist turned out to be murdered. Also there's tunnels under the archive

Thats s1

So then the head archivist starts to see to many connections in the statement and is freaking tf out as yes. He decideds that he is going to stalk his coworkers as obviously one of them killed the old archivist and he is paranoid and shitty. At first he is suspicious of everyone except the Co worker who has actually been replaced by a monster because obv she is just normal sasha. He then eventually gets a fucking hint and relises sasha is actually a monster and explores the tunnels. He than breaks a table and releases the monster who then trys kill him but some old book guy saves him and tries to explains there are these entity's that are pure fear that are leaking into our world, creating monsters and collecting followers and giving them power(avatars) to cause a fear apocalypse. Jhons boss kills the old book man and is actually evil and a twink(he also killed the old archivist). Jhon is accused of murder and fleas from the police

End of s2

So jhon lives in his exs house as the police want him and he is being mailed statements by his boss as he apparently now serves one of the entites that is based on the fear of being watched. He talks to some of the people that follow the fear entity's and have powers. They all Try to hurt or kill him. The police womman finds him and tries to kill him. He proves his inconce and blames his boss. They prove the boss did it and the boss traps the police wommans gf into working with him(btw of you work there you can't quit as magic ig). Also one of the entity's are trying to end the world. Jhon got kidnapped 3 times trying to get information to stop it and finds explosives to stop it with after a crown forces skin care on him. Everyone goes to stop the world ending ritual and most of them die except jhon, martin(a main character who I just haven't mentioned as all he does is pine after jhon and make tea so far) mel(and angry lesbian) and the police wommans gf. Big evil boss goes to jail as Martin is kinda a bad bitch

So that's s3

So new boss is also evil and jhons in a comma. New boss is trying to manipulate Martin into worshiping another evil entity as he "is the only way to save everyone from a new entity" and the angry lesbian I very angry. Jhon wakes up, he isn't human anymore and is a monster. The angry lesbian is extra angry and the police wommans gf is sad there is no police womman. Jhon does non consensual surgery on angry lesbian to make her less angry, she was more angry. Also turns out police womman isn't dead and is in box. Jhon goes in box to save her and nearly dies, he doesn't die and police womman is here, but less murdery. Turns out Martin isn't the only way to save everyone and he guessed as insecuritys and it turns out the old boss escaped jail and is extra evil, they try to stop evil boss replacement and evil boss and a monster is released for some reason, police womman is now extra murdery again so everyone has to go in hiding. Jhon and Martin are gay and hide in scottland.

End of s4

So big evil boss causes the apocalypse by almost possessing jhon. Jhon is like God in the new world and everyone is terrified except him, avatars of the entity's and evil boss. Jhon also knows everything now as fear god gifts. Jhon and Martin try to go kill evil boss man In London by walking there, they see a lot of scary shit. Turns out angry lesbian is alive and dating jhons ex from s2, their lesbians. They have a cult as they arnt effected as jhons ex doesn't feel fear as one of the entity's scared them till there was no fear. They end up saving the world and jhon and Martin die whilst doing it.

End of TMA

Also there is a being called Michael/Helen. We love them buy they where chaotic evil

*added note evil boss and evil boss replacement are married and keep having divorces

#what the fuck #the magnus archives #TMA #tma #jon tma #jon sims #martin blackwood #tma martin #sasha tma #tma season three #tma season one #tma season five #tma season two #tma season 4 #elias bouchard #peter lukas #elias and peter #micheal distortion #helen distortion

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perky89 · 1 year

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Arthur Cantabella tried to murder Layton, Phoenix, Luke, Maya, and Barnham. Hear me out.

***Spoilers for Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright***

Recall this cutscene from the epilouge:

This is a murder attempt, and here's why. Phoenix and Maya came to Labyrinthia from London, meaning that's where the airport to take them home is. Layton and Luke live in London. All 4 of them will want to go back to London. See the map below:

London isn't by an ocean. And as we can clearly see, Barnham is taking them out across the ocean. Arthur even mentions in the final trial that Labyrinthia receives regular imports by sea:

What's going to happen is that Barnham's going to drive them out into the ocean, eventually run out of gas and get all 5 of them stranded out there, and I don't see any food in that boat.

Here's a question I'm sure several of you are asking, and one of the reasons I don't blame Barnham: Why are they happily going with him? Surely they, especially Layton, would have noticed they're not being taken to London. I think they did and they were playing along to make Arthur think they fell for it. What does that have to do with Barnham?

Barnham most likely doesn't know where London is relative to Labyrinthia. He's been locked in Labyrinthia under hypnosis - which he can't even say for sure he's left at this point- for 10 years.

But who does know? Who would know for a fact that this was a trap? That the 5 of them are going to die out there? 2 people: Darklaw and Arthur. Why do I blame Arthur?

__________

Motives. See the following:

The top two are from Unwound Future. It's extremely likely that Layton was assaulted on Bill Hawks, the head of the British Government, orders. Hawks is willing to attack people to shut them up, and Arthur is working with him. Arthur works with the government, on likely more than just Labyrinthia.

But he's not a part of that government, as far as we can tell, so why do I think Arthur shares a similar mindset to Hawks? He gets several suits of armor with swords to attack Layton and Luke just for interfering in his story. That's not magic, that's not silver knock out bells, those are several sharp and heavy swords being swung at Layton and Luke's heads. Actual attempted murder of 2 people. Arthur did it once, it's very much possible that he'll do it again.

Can you imagine what he'd do if he thought they would spread word that he was helping to mind control people?

Now, you may be thinking: "He's the one who told them he was helping mind control people!" Yes. Because he had to.

Why was Labyrinthia built? How did the Story start? It's the same reason he told them the purpose of the research, the same reason he came to the trial in the first place: Espella. He only spilled the truth to save her.

I don't see why Eve would want to kill any of them after 1, she just figured out that she'd killed a bunch of people, 2, her childhood friend who she misunderstood and was torturing just attempted suicide, and 3, Phoenix just spent a long time defending that friend and Layton and Luke saved her life. The only one of the two who has a motive is Arthur.

Now, you may note how grateful Arthur acts towards them in the epilouge.

As for Barnham? He was someone to blame for their deaths.

A few of you will notice this is a repost, I forgot to put the hashtags on the last one, so only like 8 people saw it (or at least, only 8 people voted). Tumblr wouldn't let me edit the post, so....yeah. I did actually change a few things in this repost, so I guess that helps some.

Now, quick poll. Do you think my theory is plausible?

#professor layton #hershel layton #phoenix wright #plvsaa #plvspw #ace attorney #professorlayton #professor layton vs ace attorney #zacharias barnham #barnham #Arthur Cantabella #espella cantabella #eve darklaw #eve belduke

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burlveneer-music · 1 year

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Dur-Dur Band Int. - The Berlin Session - return (after decades) of a top Somali band

The first studio album of its kind since the golden days of Mogadishu came to a halt three decades ago. Glamorous discos and beachfront stages disappeared as the city was bombed to the ground. Like a sleeping giant patiently awaiting its revival, we can finally hear a new recording by the living representatives of that distinct era so far heard only on reissues. This record captures the historic reunion which took place in 2019 in Germany’s capital. London-based Dur-Dur Band Int. - itself an eight-piece powerhouse of Somali live-music - is backing three legendary singers. Sounding equally Asian as it does African, a definitive proto-Reggae groove channels the titans as they devotedly draw the bridge between the sorrow of all that was lost and the delight of a magic which survived. So Why Did We Have To Wait So Long To Hear This Album? By the end of the 1980s, Somalia’s capital (Xamar as the locals call it) was dancing its final dance. The musicians strived to keep it up as the country fell apart, but when the war eventually entered the capital, exile was inevitable. The national theatre was a battleground and the hotels became the backdrops for destruction, many remaining in ruin to this very day. Dur-Dur Band for example was then active in the 90s in nearby Addis Abeba, yet most of the scene was eventually dispersed over 4 continents. For a decade, Mogadishu’s veteran musicians remained dormant. For Xabiib, the glamour of stardom and Gucci had been replaced with an occasional wedding - singing alongside a backing track. In 2003, a fund-raiser was held in London for the reconstruction of Hargeisa’s National Theater which had been bombed to the ground during the war. Somali singers, actors and comedians from all over the diaspora were invited. A new Kooxda was formed around Dur-Dur’s founding member Abdillahi Cujeeri - calling itself Dur-Dur Band Int. Yet for the last twenty years they’ve been performing mostly within the Somali community. In 2015 Berlin-based Nicolas “Çaykh” Sheikholeslami was enticed by Somali music. Little did he know that his mixtape Au Revoir, Mogadishu Vol. 1 - Songs From Before The War would end up sparking a massive international interest in Somali music. Soon he was approached by Ostinato Records with the idea to create a legit compilation featuring those sounds. Thus, Sheikholeslami went on to co-curate ‘Sweet As Broken Dates: Lost Somali Tapes from the Horn of Africa’ which received a Grammy nomination in 2018. Berlin’s prestigious HKW took notice and granted him an opportunity to put together a concert with artists from the golden era. Luckily for us, Nicolas sensed the chance for a recording session to be arranged - and that is how we got this album.

Text by: Nicolas Sheikholeslami & Omri S. Shmulewitz of Spiritczualic Enhancement Center Vocals: Xabiib Sharaabi Vocals: Cabdinuur Alaale Vocals: Faadumina Hilowle Drums: Saciid Xuseen Congas: Saalax Xariiri Bass: Cabdillahi Cujeeri Keys: Yusuf Naaji Guitar: Nabil Sacaani Guitar: Cumar Teesiyow Saxophone: Morton Zakaria Claves: Akila Artwork: Muhyadin Sharafo (oil painting) & Ventral is Golden (design) Recorded: 21.02.2019 & 22.02.2019 Berlin at Butterama Studios in Neukölln by Daniel Nentwig Producer & Mixing: Nicolas Sheikholeslami

#Dur-Dur Band Int.#somalia #afrobeat #ethio-jazz #2023 #Nicolas Sheikholeslami

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weepylucifer · 4 years

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crack-treated-seriously fic where Nightingale actually becomes the genius loci of the gays without even noticing at first

#rol fandom #rol shitpost tag #and then eventually magical london does notice #with all consequences that entails #posts by me

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rere-the-writer · 3 years

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hey!! If it’s not too much to ask, could I request a kol x reader where the reader is a witch and a doppelgänger? Like somehow the reader and Elena are both doppelgängers, but after Klaus broke the curse the reader was able to live a fairly normal life in New Orleans, that is until Esther comes back. Maybe because of Klaus’ presence in Nola the reader has allied with Marcel for protection, resulting in her befriending Davina and encountering the newly resurrected kol? Kol attacks her when he sees her because he thinks she’s Elena, but when she overpowers him with her magic he realizes she’s not Elena. They eventually become friends and start to develop feelings for each other maybe? I hope that isn’t too specific. I really just would like something a little angsty and fluffy with witch! Kol. I really admire your work. It’s very uplifting and comforting, especially, your kol content. He’s my comfort character but I’ve exhausted the supply of fluffy kol fics 😅 Thanks! Make sure to take care of yourself, love ❤️

I'm glad you like my Kol. Time for some fluff for my baby boy.

Warnings- Fluff, Kol be simpin', A bit of angsty

You had been living in New Orleans for a year now to be away from Katherine and Elena as you were a different doppelganger and still carried the Petrova family name. You were a powerful witch and didn't care that Elena was like your long distance cousin because of the bloodline you shared.

Once you had heard Klaus was spotted in Mystic Falls, much to Elena's disappointment you got the hell out of dodge not wanting to be used by the Original as you knew your family's history with the Mikaelsons. Marcel had took you under his wing much like Davina as you help teach the younger witch to control her magic.

You were angry that your life had been fucked over because of Katherine but after Klaus broke his curse you were able to life a normal life in New Orleans that was until a pregnant wolf and Esther coming back.

"The Originals are in town be careful." Marcel told you knowing if Klaus knew of another doppelganger you would be in danger. But Elijah knew about you as he came to you about Davina and you managed to tell him she wasn't a threat.

"So your family has history with the Mikaelsons?"

"You could say that De."

You could feel Esther's magic as it was heavy in the air even more after Davina told you she brought back Kol. It happened in a blur you were held against a wall by your thoat.

"You killed me litt...." Kol was cut off holding his head as you looked down at Kol with a glare as your hand was in a fist.

"I am not Elena, vampire." You growled as Kol felt like his head was on fire as the pain was unbearable. Kol could see that you may have the same face as Elena, your hair was cut short and curled as you got tired of people mistaken you for Elena or Katherine.

"I see....that....now....you're a powerful....witch." Kol panted as you let him go and Kol couldn't help but stare at you. You were attractive and Kol cursed to hisself now seeing what his brother's saw in the Petrova women.

"And you are annoying Kol Mikaelson."

"Forgive me but I don't know your name."

"And you won't." You say walking away leaving Kol laying there as he got up before deciding to ask Elijah.

"You ran into Y/N Petrova?" Elijah questioned his younger brother putting down his book catching Klaus's attention. Kol had got to Elijah to see if he knew anything and was glad.

"Yes so she is a doppelganger?"

"Yes, it surprised Niklaus when Katherine threw her under the bus. Y/N is the last pure blood Petrova witch." Elijah says as Klaus smirking sitting down remembering when he found you on the third day of him being New Orleans. Unlike Katherine and Elena, you didn't fear Klaus as proven when you made his heart stop when he tried taking you from Marcel.

"She is a little feisty witch. Rebekah likes her better than Katherine and Elena which is saying something."

"Oh?" Kol said standing smirking as Elijah and Klaus knew that smirk this crazy boy was going to try to date you.

"Be care Kol. If Marcellus doesn't kill you then she will."

When you got a call from Klaus saying he needed a powerful witch to weaken the hybrids under mother's control you thought he would talk to Davina.

'I need a Petrova witch love.' Was what Klaus told you and you walked into the compound annoyed when Kol smirked following you up stairs.

"Any plans this weekend?"

"Non of your business." You said annoyed hoping that Kol would have lost interest in you by now but the wildest Mikaelson just fell harder with every name calling and magic sent his way.

"Maybe I could take you out."

"No." You told him glaring but it didn't stop Kol from trying to ask you out or buying you flowers and gifts.

"De! I AM IN LOVE WITH AN IDIOT!" You shouted one morning scaring Davina when you came into your shared apartment. You founded yourself falling for Kol which to you was an idiot and didn't know why. You spent the day ranting to Davina that you couldn't love Kol because he was a Mikaelson and you were a Petrova.

"Hello darling."

"What do you want idiot?" You asked working on a spell to help Elijah when Kol had came over and stepped up behind you. You looked up at Kol and your breathing hitched seeing how close he was and your eyes flickered to his lips.

"I was....hoping that...you would finally. " Kol muttered leaning in as your cheeks flushed moving in also and his lips were on yours. The kiss was explosive as sparks flew and you moan against his mouth kissing back.

"Does this mean you like me and we can see one another?" Kol asked sounding unsure his cheeks tinted red as you smiled softly for the first time since he met you.

"Yeah, you goof." You whispered as Kol brighen kissing you again and let out a whine when you pulled away.

"I need to finish this spell." You tell him letting the vampire cling to you watching you work.

It didn't take Marcel and the other Mikaelsons to notice that Kol and you were seeing one another a lot more. You had managed to mellow Kol out as he now turned all of his focus on you. But one thing you and he agreed on was not tell anyone that he proposed eight months into your relationship as you both didn't know how Klaus would react.

"Cute place."

"What do you want Katherine? I thought you didn't want to be anywhere near Nik?" You questioned walking in to your apartment seeing Katherine sitting in a chair drinking your good wine.

"You cut your hair."

"What do you want?" You asked glaring as your magic was stirring up as Katherine huffed before spotting the engagement ring on your hand.

"You're engaged?"

"Yes now Katherine what do you want?!"

"Fine....I need help and you are the only powerful witch I know. Elena had turned off her humanity and I know you have a spell to get her to turn it on."

"Since when did you care about Elena?" You questioned pulling out your grimoire as Katherine watched you huffing sipping her wine.

"The brothers are boring and all angsty over it. It is annoying but I hear you and Kol are a thing."

"That is non of your business." You tell her getting to work then dropped a small bottle in her hand.

"Have Elena drink that it'll compel her to turn it back on." You tell Katherine as she smirked thanking you before leaving and while she was at it sent a text to Klaus that you were engaged to Kol.

Klaus was angry when he learned of you and Kol ever more angry when learning that Kol was going move out of the city with you after your marriage. In Klaus's eyes you were taking what was his while both Rebekah and Elijah was happy for Kol.

"Go warn her. I'll hold Niklaus back." Elijah told Kol hearing Klaus growled throwing things. Kol was quick to head to your place which smiled brightly seeing him walking in.

"So what kind of cake....Kol are you okay?" You asked seeing how terrified your future husband looked. Kol cupped your face tearing up as if to commit your face to memory.

"Nik knows and is coming for you....you need to run and hopefully he'll calm down and we can marry."

"Kol.....I....don't want....to live...like Katherine had.....please don't." You whimpered as he kissed you gently and helped you pack. That night after using magic to hide your tracks, Kol went to blows with Klaus while Katherine suffered at the hand of Elijah when he learned the vampire was the one to ruin Kol's slice of happiness.

"Come on Elijah, the little witch could use so....." Katherine was cut off when Elijah slammed her against a wall hand warped around her thoat.

"If Y/N dies in the hands of Niklaus, I will not be merciful Katerina."

Four years you were on the run visiting Kol's favorite places which made you feel closer to the Original while learning new magic's getting stronger. You sat in your London flat watching the snow falling gently while unconsciously playing with your engagement ring while thinking about Kol.

"Darling can you let me in?" You heard Kol ask making you rush to the door tearing it open letting him. You jumped up into his arms kissing him deeply pulling a deep moan from Kol.

"You're here! Oh my god I missed you. Never again idiot." You said inbetween kisses as Kol smiled looking up at you with adoration.

"I missed you too darling. You did a better job at hiding than Katherine."

"Wait.! But Klaus?"

"It took three years but Elijah and Rebekah calmed him then I spent a year looking for you." Kol said kissing you again as he took you to your bed relearning one another's body.

"You kept it."

"Yeah....ask me again." You tell him taking the ring off as Kol slipped out of your bed getting on one knee.

"Please marry me? You gorgeous, beautiful woman that I would be honored to be her husband."

"Yes....a thousands times yes." You said tears falling as Kol smiled putting the ring back on your hand. Kol rushed up kissing you again as you both fell back into the bed.

"I love you, my beloved."

"I love you too, Kol." You whispered back as you both finally got to be happy.

#rere's stories #kol mikaelson fluff #kol mikaelson imagine #kol mikaelson x reader

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tinyhistory · 3 years

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Hey! Love your stories so much I just had to ask! Do you have any favorite drarry authors/stories? I sometimes compare the quality of other stories to ROA (oops!) because ROA is just that good. My personal favorites are ROA (of course!), the Foundations Series (saras_girl), the ordeal of being known (louisfake), denouement (the_never_was), Good to Me (And I'd Be So Good to You) (AWickedMemory), and To Hurt and Heal (cassisluna). Have you read these? Have a wonderful day! :)

Thank you, so glad you’ve enjoyed my stories! And thank you for so patiently waiting for a reply. I haven’t been online much in the past couple of weeks. Unfortunately I haven’t read any of your recs, but I’m always happy to add another fic to my to-read list.

I did a rec post a few months ago, but I’ll post an updated version now. The Skyhawke Archives appear to be down, which is crushing news. I’ve had to update a lot of the links.

So here are my favourite Drarry fanfics:

And We Are At Our Apogee (PG-13) by angelgazing

Summary: Draco wanted revenge, but it didn't work out that way.

My notes: Californian beaches, supermarkets, road trips, and a bittersweet ending.

A Reckless State of Mind (T) by Lomonaaeren

Summary: Draco is a Psyche-Diver, and his newest patient is Auror Potter, who’s been a pathological liar for over a year—and has just tried to violently end his own life.

Notes: The plot alone guarantees inclusion on this list. Probably the most creative fic I’ve ever read, and the twists and turns will keep you guessing.

Berlin, In the Year of Our Lord (PG) by Are

Summary: Harry is a green-tea addict. Draco stalks him.

Notes: Probably my all-time favourite fic, along with Blue Vase. It’s sparse and minimal and I love that writing style.

Blue Vase (M) by ivyblossom

Summary: Let’s pretend.

Notes: Draco finds an amnesiac Harry and befriends him, pretending they were once lovers. It’s pensive, short, and bittersweet.

The Boy Who Only Lived Twice (E) by lettered

Summary: Harry Potter is an Unspeakable. Draco Malfoy is the wizard who shagged him. Adventure! Intrigue! Secret identities, celebrities, spies! It's all right here, folks.

Notes: Action-heavy fics are damn hard to write, but lettered nails it. The action scenes are breakneck speed, the conversations are threaded with double meaning, and even the silences are tense.

Draco in Darkness (T) by Plumeria47.

Summary: Following an accident in his seventh year, Draco loses his eyesight.

Notes: This is one of the first fics I ever read (when it was over on FF in 2003) so it’s probably here just for nostalgia points alone. I read it when I was a kid and just thought it was a lovely golden fairytale, the best romance I’d ever read in my (very short, thus far) life. I love reading it again, even years later as an adult when I can see the tarnish on it; the things my childhood eyes didn’t notice. I don’t care. It’s my soft and fuzzy comfort fic.

The Flesh is Frail (NC-17) by wildestranger

Summary: None

Notes: Draco has injuries from curses and spells, and Harry keeps him company. Draco is angry; Harry is stubborn. They argue their way into a grudging relationship. It’s a short read and well worth your ten minutes.

Good-bye to Yesterday (NC-17) by furiosity

Summary: Draco felt ready to face even a million years in Azkaban as long as it meant that at the end of it all, he would make Potter pay.

Notes: It’s not a dark fic, but it certainly dips in and out of the shadows. If you like your romance to be sharp as a razor and bitter as black coffee, give it a read.

Hymn to Color (PG) by Lomonaaeren

Summary: Months after Draco cast a curse that took Harry’s eyesight, Harry is still trying to come to terms with it. Draco still wanted forgiveness, which was probably the problem.

Notes: Probably my very inadequate idea of “fluff”. It’s a quiet, introspective fic. Draco and Harry are well-written.

Kings among runaways (PG) by enderxenocide.

Summary: Later, the toast will be slightly overcooked, Draco will burn the eggs, and there will be another fist fight in-between the living room and the front door, but they’ll eat breakfast with second-hand plates and Draco’s great-grandmother’s silverware.

Notes: Dreamy descriptions, abstract scenes, and the characters are lovingly delineated. Beautiful writing.

On Broken Glass (PG-13) by coffeejunkii

Summary: After the final battle, Draco is holding the shards that are left of his and Harry’s life.

Notes: Established relationship. Harry’s forgetful and seems to suffer both short-term and long-term memory loss; Draco stays by his side through six years of post-war amnesia. Very short, just a tiny ficlet. There’s sequels (in bite-size pieces) but I prefer to read the first ficlet and leave it there.

Paper Dolls (M) by cupiscent

Summary: In the final year of the War, Draco gets a letter, makes a choice and pays the price.

Notes: Short, succinct, and packs a punch. No character deaths, in case the summary has you feeling nervous.

Portrait (PG-13) by Silent Blast

Summary: None.

Notes: Dorian Grey, but Drarry. Of course it’s going to be good.

Shattered (NC-17) by femmequixotic

Summary: One damned accident involving one too-lucky curse, and suddenly you'd think he was five again, with their Harry, be carefuls and their quick Levitating charms ready the instant the potion gives way and his rebelling hands lose hold of whatever's in their grasp.

Notes: Draco’s an artist. Harry’s intrigued by his sculptures and paintings.

Snatch (PG-13) by didntyoupotter

Summary: Harry is comatose, Hermione and Ron aren’t much help, and Draco isn’t sure about anything anymore.

Notes: The opening scene fools you into thinking this will be a light read with a streak of good humour. Don’t fall for it. By the third act, you’ll be hanging onto every word and feeling a lot of emotions. Also, back in the day, this was one of the Draco/Harry fics. Everyone knew of it. Pay your respects to your fandom history and read this beloved classic.

The Stages of Acceptance (T) by Lomonaaeren.

Summary: Harry, already happily married to Ginny, receives the news that he's Draco's mate. Law and custom don't give him the option of ignoring the news. The stages of his reaction, one by one.

Notes: This is not a romance, and I love that the author just casually chucks all the Veela tropes in the bin and says “nope”. In Lomonaaeren’s own words, this fic is more practical than romantic. Harry is unfamiliar with the Veela concepts and hates the very idea of being “shackled” to someone; he rejects Draco at once. Draco is miserable and lonely. They do eventually come to understand each other better, but it’s a huge struggle with lots of setbacks. The general air of pessimism and misery does make the small glimpses of compassion and empathy feel so well-earned. I love a fic that rations out its happiness.

The Stately Homes of Wiltshire (E) by waspabi

Summary: Malfoy Manor has mould, dry rot and an infestation of unusually historical poltergeists. Harry Potter is on the case.

Notes: This one needs no introduction. The writing is polished, the characterisation perfect, and the dialogue is fun. I love the humour woven throughout it.

Then Comes a Mist and a Weeping Rain (E) by faithwood.

Summary: It always rains for Draco Malfoy. Metaphorically. And literally. Ever since he had accidentally Conjured a cloud. A cloud that's ever so cross.

Notes: Another one that most of us know. It’s a lighthearted and fun read.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow (M) by novembersnow

Summary: In the war-torn years after Hogwarts, one man has no knowledge of his yesterdays.

Notes: Another classic back in the feverish heyday of the Harry Potter fandom, when books were still being released and everyone had worked themselves up into a shipping frenzy. And no wonder this fic was an instant hit. Draco has lost all his memories and Harry’s investigating as an Auror, but the longer you read, the more you start questioning everything. Good twists and turns that lead to a tender ending.

Turn by Saras_Girl

Summary: One good turn always deserves another. Apparently.

Notes: An inevitable inclusion on any favourites list. I think my favourite thing about it is the characterisation. Everyone is so well-rounded; the characters are brought to life and feel like old friends. All their habits, styles, mannerisms, even the way they walk or talk. While I love everyone in this fic, I have to admit that Blaise is just amazing. Of all the thousands of Blaises imagined by fanfic writers, I love this one the best. “Old bean” indeed.

Under the Ivy (PG-13) by coffeejunkii

Summary: It is impressive how much you can learn about someone by simply sharing a few rooms. They don’t spend time together, not really, but Harry still knows that Malfoy prefers raspberry jam over strawberry, that he hums along to the Wireless when he thinks no one is around, and that his leg is bothering him more than usual when the temperatures drop below freezing.

Notes: Another old, old favourite of mine. It’s like snuggling into a soft blanket. Remus owns a cottage and Harry moves in after the war. Later, Remus lets a room to Draco, who is an outcast after the war and has limited housing options. Harry isn’t happy at first with the new lodger, but he eventually warms up to Draco. A slow and gentle romance.

Vale Sanare (M) by rurounihime

Summary: Draco’s world gains a new component, just when he thought he’d sorted everything out.

Notes: London nightclubs, one-night-stands, loud music and lonely nights. Draco has seizures due to a curse from the war, and the seizures have led to a fear of intimacy. Short and sweet.

The Way Down (T) by lettered

Summary: Malfoy’s all, “Come out of there,” the way you say to a cat who is badly behaved. And Harry’s all like, “No, what, I’m a hermit! And I have a chest-monster! And I am crazy magically powerful!” and Malfoy’s all, “We all have problems, bub.” (thoughtfully) “You are crazy though. I’ll give you that.”

Notes: I just adore this fic. The fic starts well-grounded, giving you a solid backstory and matter-of-fact context, but as it goes on, it slowly unravels into dreamy scenes, lush settings, and repeated motifs. It’s just such a beautiful story.

When Love beckons to you, follow him (PG-13) by megyal

Summary: Draco wakes up, lost, somewhere in a forest. He has no idea where he is or how he got there. As he is blundering around trying to find his way home, he hears Harry's voice in his head, telling him what to do.

Notes: I generally like my fics to be bittersweet or with a bit of heartache — but this fic is just a little cloud of softness. If you need something light and lovely without being syrupy-sweet, this is a good choice!

The World of the Living (M) by fourth_rose

Summary: A traumatised war hero and a convicted criminal under the roof of an eccentric journalist make for a rather odd ensemble, but Luna has never had a problem with oddities as long as they make sense.

Notes: The story is told from Luna’s perspective, which gives everything a lovely dreamy quality. She takes in a couple of strays after the war — first Harry, who is avoiding his other friends and has quit his Auror job — and then she offers a room to Draco right after his trial. Draco is rude, angry, and ungrateful; Harry is churlish, withdrawn, and moody. Luna doesn’t seem to mind in the slightest, and over the course of the next few months, her house guests slowly warm up to each other.

Voices From the Fog (E) by noeon

Summary: After years of running away, Harry crosses paths with an all-too familiar face and follows him to Amsterdam.

Notes: Harry drifts across Europe, trying to forget the war. He ends up in a woodworking shop in Amsterdam, alongside a moody Draco. Atmospheric settings and solid characterisation.

#draco/harry fanfic #drarry #drarry fic recs #drarry fic #answered asks

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forabeatofadrum · 2 years

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Hi, hi @you-remind-me-of-the-babe thanks for the tag. It’s a national holiday in the Netherlands, but I’ve never celebrated King’s (or Queen’s) Day, so I am enjoying my day off. The real MVP today is Charlie Spring. Screw the king of the Netherlands, happy 27th birthday Charlie Spring!

I once again come bearing the gifts of Klaine and Snowbaz. First, some Ebb and Flow. I hoped to have finished it by now, but it is still coming together. One more chapter left, folks!

Blaine’s waiting for the door to open and fuck, what is he doing? He’s mentally trying to find a swift escape route. He can move a couple of feet to the right, to his own door, and just bolt. But then Mr. 21 might wonder who knocked on his door. And they live on the fifth floor of an apartment building, so Blaine can’t make Mr. 21 believe that it’s a couple of kids playing around. Besides, he knocked, instead of using the doorbell, which makes it even more obvious that someone is actually in front of the door-

“Oh, hello neighbour.”

Blaine was so stuck in his head that he didn’t even notice Mr. 21 opening the door.

The escape plan is definitely a no-go.

Second, I posted my @co-wipadoption fic Call Me Maybe which I’ve written with/adopted from @captain-aralias, but I actually have a little deleted/alternative scene. I’ll put it under the cut for possible spoilers, together with an explanation and the tags.

This takes place on the day Penny and Shepard went shopping in London. Penny calls after their ramen dinner and Agatha is at her own flat in San Diego, scrolling through Instagram. The call originally went like this:

“Hi!” I hear, “We’re walking back to my flat. Shepard’s here too. Say hi, Shepard.”

“Hi Agatha,” Shepard’s voice is clear and I won’t be surprised if Penelope used a spell for that.

“To answer your question, the fall and winter collection is currently on sale, which is why I am looking at knitwear.”

“Well, that and the whole demon thing,” Shepard says and Penelope hisses at him to be quiet. I think she said something like ‘not in front of Agatha’, and I bark out a laugh.

“Sorry, we know you don’t want to talk about magickal stuff,” Penelope says.

I am home alone, so I don’t have to hide my surprise. Penelope keeps doing all these things for me. I am not used to it.

“It’s fine,” I say, “I actually did some household magic yesterday. Merlin, I forgot how nice that can be.”

“Really?” Penelope sounds surprised.

I automatically get up to retrieve my wand.

“Does this mean we can talk about the curse?” Shepard asks.

I fling my wand without magic.

“Well, I still prefer to live a more Normal life, so I don’t really want to know what kind of trouble you two have gotten yourself into, but,” I sigh, “I am still a mage. I just don’t want every conversation to be about magic.”

“So… no demon?” Shepard asks.

“Preferably not,” I answer, “So. How was the ramen?”

“Fan-tas-tic!” Shepard exclaims.

The main reason I cut this is because of Shepard. In the final scene, Penny tells Agatha about the whole curse thing alone, because they’ve gotten home and Shepard is taking a shower. I decided that I wanted Agatha, Penny and Ginger to be the only characters in the story that got a big role, so I pushed Shep back to the background, where he’s chilling with Simon and Baz. I wanted to focus on Agatha and Penny instead. This is also why I kept writing Shepard out of the story when Agatha and Penny are calling after I cut this. He’s showering! He’s at Pret-A-Manger! He’s out with Simon and Baz!

The reason I added Shepard in the first draft was because I wanted Agatha to pick up on some romantic tension between them during the call, and that would lead to the big ‘are you and Shepard a thing?’ question. But I was very much struggling with how Agatha would pick this up, especially since my aroace ass has difficulties with that too. (Hence why I asked the people on the CO Discord for the eventual Stormchaser scene.) So instead I moved the whole Shepard thing AFTER the events of AWTWB, where Penny can just outright tell Agatha that they’re together. I think this works better.

And another change is the magic thing. In the final scene, Agatha does agree to listening to the curse story. Now that it’s just Agatha and Penelope, they get to talk about how Agatha is opening up to magic again. I didn’t really know how to do that with Shepard around, since Shepard doesn’t know Agatha’s history with magic.

That’s why I changed it and I think the final scene is better. I got really stuck on this snippet, so I just decided to throw it in the bin all together.

Tagging @quizasvivamos @blurglesmurfklaine @coffeegleek @esperantoauthor @redheadgleek @urban-sith @mostlymaudlin @captain-aralias @dragoneggo @otherworldsivelivedin @bookish-bogwitch @caramelcoffeeaddict @thnxforknowingme @sillyunicorn @ivelovedhimthroughworse @wellbelesbian @cutestkilla @urban-sith @excalisbury @takitalks @bazzybelle @tea-brigade @martsonmars @facewithoutheart @captain-aralias

#wip wednesday #tagged in

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atzaria · 3 years

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Lovely

masterlist

summary: basically just yunho and aria fluff :D

note: i love this pair already </3

also requests are open! and talk to me in my inbox, i don't bite!!

“Thank you, New York!” Hongjoong cheered, taking Seonghwa and Mingi’s hands and bowing to the crowd. The 9 members ran off stage, drenched in sweat from the concert and high off of adrenaline. The USA leg of their tour was now officially over, as so far, it has safely been one of the best experiences of Aria’s life so far. There was a completely different buzz of performing at a concert, compared to the feeling after performing at a music show. Hearing the crowd, the fanchants, seeing the lightsticks, knowing that all the people in the crowd are here for your group. Aria wanted to do this forever.

“What. A. Show,” Jongho smiles, taking a drink out of a water bottle. He threw his arms over Wooyoung’s shoulder, leaning his head against the older member. It hadn’t been easy for the group these last few weeks, the media work and interviews they had to do whilst over in America wasn’t easy in the slightest. All the members thanked their lucky stars that Aria and Hongjoong were fluent enough in both languages to translate.

As fun as touring is, the constant travelling and living in hotel rooms has come at a cost. Yunho and Aria hadn’t spoken about the kiss, or the confession of mutual feelings at all. Not that they didn’t want to, they just had no alone time. And when they did, they had a few minutes before a member interrupted them. They had 2 days off now before they left for London, it was now or never for him. He didn’t want things to be awkward between them, especially since she had been looking forward to returning to the UK for such a long time.

Soon, the hype wore off and a wave of exhaustion hit the group. It wasn’t a long journey back to their hotel, but nonetheless Aria still found herself falling asleep against Seonghwa’s shoulder, wrapped up in an oversized coat.

“Ari- psss- Aria,” The eldest member whispered, shaking the younger slightly. But it was to no use, it didn’t wake her up in the slightest. Yunho’s lips curved into a smile, she looked so peaceful when she was sleeping. He’s not afraid to admit that he has let his guard down since that day in the practice room, knowing that she feels the same way towards him and the feelings were reciprocated. He just desperately wanted the time to ask her out, to be able to go on dates and eventually, become an item. It was hard in their line of work, although being in the same group wasn’t the worst of circumstances.

“She needs the rest. Can someone carry her up?” Hongjoong spoke out, without a second thought the tallest member lifted her into his arms, as gently as possible to not wake her up. The other members took no notice, they were a group who did a lot of skin ship. This wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. But to Yunho, it felt like his heart was beating at a million miles per hour. Her head found its way into the crook of his neck, her arms wrapped around his shoulders. Although she was light, Yunho was glad he took the time to work out his upper body muscles a few days ago.

Eventually, he arrived back to Aria’s room (that she had the blessing of not sharing with anyone). After being let in by their manager, who had the spare room key, he gently laid her down on her bed, pressing a soft kiss to her cheek, before going to the other side of the room and retrieving the girl’s makeup remover and skincare items. This leg of the tour may be over, but no way was he going to let her skin break out.

“Ari?” His soft voice spoke, shaking her lightly. “Ariaaa,” he dragged out the ‘A’ and shook her a bit more. Although Aria’s eyes remained shut, she broke out into a wide smile, a clear indication that she was no longer asleep. “RiRi? I know you’re awake,” Yunho now laughed, following the urge to place a sweet, loving kiss to her forehead.

Her eyes opened, the smile still plastered across her face, although now accompanied by a redness to her cheeks. “I’m going to take your makeup off, ok? Sit back and relax, lovely.” She didn’t think it was possible, but that nickname made her blush even more. Yunho had such an indescribable affect on her.

Aria did just that, sitting up and leaning against the bed frame as Yunho worked his magic, removing all makeup, and also moisturizing her face, before brushing through her long, orange hair and styling it just how she always does when sleeping, a messy bun at the top of her head. “The princess is ready for sleep,” he said, kissing her hand. “Wooyoung is probably wondering where I am, I should probably-”

“Stay with me? Please?” Aria asked, eyes full of plead. He knows he shouldn’t, there are still unspoken feelings between them. But he couldn’t resist her. Not a chance.

The elder sighed dramatically, “I suppose you’re better than Wooyoung,”

“And I’m sure you have one of my t-shirts in your luggage,” the girl nodded eagerly in response.

Yunho felt like he was dreaming. This couldn't be possible, right? He changed into a top she had stolen from his wardrobe, climbing into the bed with her.

“Do you want to look around the city tomorrow?” Aria asked, resting her head against his chest. “Grab lunch, go sightseeing, you know?”

“Lovely, are you perhaps asking me out on a date?”

“Maybe I am,” the younger girl hummed.

“Well then, I would be the happiest man on earth.” With a genuine smile permanently engraved on his face, Yunho pressed a quick kiss to her lips. And in the utmost feeling of bliss and euphoria, the two drifted off to sleep. Together, never wanting to be separated.

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ajwamiju-archives · 3 years

Text

Chapter 14

Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, kidnapping, harassment, swearing, a lot of it, manipulation, slow-burn (?), eventual romance, eventual smut, enemies to allies to lovers, coercion, slight dub-con, minor character deaths, depictions of assisted suicide (basically), character death

Mafia boss! Kita Shinsuke x Spy! F! Reader

Summary: For as long as you’ve been on God’s blue earth, you’ve been taught to help your family by gathering information and spying on other crime syndicates from all over Japan. To say you’re good for your age is an understatement, you’re one of the best out there with all of the information you’ve managed to gather.

Once you turn 20, you are to be given your first official mission as a fully grown adult, retrieving the important documents the Inarizaki clan has managed to steal. You’re confident you’re able to do it, but a lot of things don’t exactly go according to plan...

PLEASE READ THE WARNINGS BECAUSE THIS CHAPTER MIGHT BE MORE TRIGGERING THAN THE PREVIOUS ONES

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Unexpectedly, Ito finally calls you some four days later and talks it out, you clear up the problem easily and fall back to your old routines. Still, something is wrong. It has nothing to do with gut feeling or intuition, rather, you notice some inconsistencies in how Ito’s responding to you, one day he’s especially clingy and others he’s much more distant than usual, and the fact he accepts whatever bullshit you threw at him so easily is suspicious to you.

From years of experience, you know it takes much more than what you did to convince someone of something unless you have manipulation powers obtained from black magic or something similar. So, you keep an eye on Ito much closer during your dates, as the date of Ito’s death approaches closer and closer, you can’t have him escaping last minute.

But surprisingly, Ito makes no move to escape you, from the times you visited his apartment, everything is in place, even the sofa he treasures so much as it’s a gift from his father. Even more surprising is the fact that Ito is asking you to come over on the day of his death.

He’s extremely quiet, his greetings towards you are curt as he avoids making eye contact with you. You’re suspicious, truthfully you are. What if he’s decided to kill you before you could kill him? He’s quite ballsy if he decided to do that, really, even if in terms of strength he might have an advantage against you, his opponent would be a seasoned spy, trained in various fighting fields.

You discreetly place your hand next to your gun as you sit on the cushion next to his kotatsu, watching his every move like a hawk, you scoot your hand closer to your gun until—

“You don’t have to do that, Chitose-san.” Ito speaks up.

“Excuse me?”

“Your gun, you don’t have to reach for it. I have no intention of going against you.”

Ito sits on the cushion next to the one you’re occupying, sighing as he picks at his fingers. “Chitose… please be honest with me.” He starts, sighing once more. “Who are you, really?”

“What… do you mean?”

“Please don’t lie to me,” he says, pursing his lips. “I know I’m dying today; I know you have a gun on you to kill me right now, and I know you’re not who you say you are!”

“I’m—”

“Chitose, please… as a dying wish… just… tell me…”

“… My real name is [Surname] [Name]. I’m 20 years old and I work for the Inarizaki clan… not as a tutor as I told you before.” You start, fumbling with the hem of your shirt. “I’ve been sent to kill you if your father doesn’t pay his debt.”

“Does that mean you know where he is?”

“Are you sure you want to know?”

“… I want to know everything. I’ve got nothing to lose anyway, so let me have this moment as closure before I die.”

“I understand…” You mumble, turning off your phone to give Ito your full attention. “Your father is currently residing in London. He didn’t contact any of the members of Inarizaki back nor did he give us any money… which is why we’re here now.”

“You don’t seem like someone whose job is to kill people.”

“Because it’s not.”

“Then what is your job? Why are you here to kill me?”

“My usual job is a spy and informant. I… well… I wouldn’t say I took pity on you; I was the one who researched you and I just thought… you were someone I related to. I wanted to… I don’t know, at first, I thought I was just using you as a therapist of some sorts but… as I got to know you, I feel like you could also use someone to hear you out. For some reason, I couldn’t just let my clan send an assassin who would’ve killed you by now without giving you the closure you deserve.” You explain, chewing on your bottom lip once you’re done.

“Then… am I your first victim? You know… your first kill?”

“No, I’ve killed before.”

“How many?”

“… Maybe… 10? I’m not sure…”

“Um… the things you told me… your problems… were those faked?”

“No.” You answer, keeping your gaze to your lap. “I was born and raised in the yakuza world. Up until half a year… ish ago, I worked under my biological family’s clan. I was kidnapped into Inarizaki because I botched my first ever official mission. My father didn’t try to rescue me, my mother holds no power, and my siblings aren’t able to save me because they’re still strictly following my father’s orders.”

“Siblings?”

“My twin sister and my little brother. My twin sister’s a hitwoman, though she often leads turf wars and whatnot, so her kill count is much higher than mine while my brother is the heir to the clan.”

“I see…” Ito mumbles, taking your hand in his and squeezing it, as if to comfort himself. You let him, even squeezing back in hopes it might help him in some way. “The guy you’re in love with… who is he?”

“He… he’s Inarizaki clan’s leader. Funny, really. I fell in love with the leader of my old clan’s nemesis. It was hard trying to tell you without revealing my real identity, but I still got the answers I needed. Thank you for that.”

Silence envelops you two as you continue to alternate from staring at the floor to your lap. It’s awkward, tension is running high between you two and you don’t know what to do anymore. Should you just end he conversation here and now and kill him? Should you wait more? Should you—

“When… when you accepted to be my girlfriend, did you mean it? Actually, did everything we went through together mean anything to you?” Ito asks, cutting of your train of thoughts.

“Yes, Souta. You were someone who listened to me and heard me out. I may not have developed romantic feelings for you, but know that I view you as a very close friend of mine and that the things I’ve told you about myself are… incomplete truths. If I have to be honest, I even got reprimanded by my leader as he continues to watch over me.”

“The… the guy—”

“Yes. Him.” You answer, cutting Ito off. “He came along to watch over me because… this is my first ever mission where I have to kill someone in a longer time frame. He thought I was getting attached to you and that I wasn’t able to kill you. It’s true, I did get attached to you, and telling you all this is heavy for me… but I will do it.”

Ito is silent for a few beats before he chuckles, hopeless, bitter, making the guilt weigh heavier in your stomach. “I guess it really is hopeless for me. Don’t worry, I won’t blame you, [Name]. You’re just here to do your job right?” He asks, squeezing your hand once more. “Even if you were to let me live somehow, my life would’ve probably gone downhill again. You would have had to disappear abruptly and cut off all contact with me. Now that I think about it, death is the better option.”

“… You… don’t…” You sigh, as if the situation isn’t devastating enough.

“It’s okay. It really is.” Ito says, cradling your cheek with his free hand to make you look at him. “Hey, the fact that you even thought about giving me closure at this very moment is enough for me to die without holding grudges, especially towards you. I’m in this situation now because fate destined this for me, think of it this way, I have nothing left to lose and what you’re doing for me is a favour.” He explains softly.

As you stare into his tired eyes, devoid of a will to live, you can’t help but let a stray tear fall down your cheek. Ito doesn’t deserve this, he deserves much better, why did he meet this fate? Why are you the one fated to make him meet his end prematurely?

Ito’s smile widens as he wipes the tears falling down your cheeks, scooting closer to you and squeezing your hand again. “[Name]… hey now… I know this is where we part ways, but won’t you pray for me? Pray that I’ll get a better life once I get reincarnated?”

“Of course I will! I just… I’ll miss you… I know we’ve only known each other for four months but… these four months have really changed me.”

“And me being remembered by you is enough, the fact you’re crying for my death is enough. [Name], I can’t ask for anything more.” Ito says and lets go of your hand, opting to wrap his arms around you instead. “I could have been killed without much thought, I could have been killed without getting the closure I’ve always wanted, I could have died unhappy, completely alone. But I was lucky enough to have these moments with you before I die and I couldn’t be more thankful.”

You nod and hug Ito back, knowing his death is drawing nearer as the seconds tick by. Funny how things end, Ito is the one dying yet you’re the one being comforted. “Souta? You knew for quite some time that I was sent to kill you, right? Why didn’t you say anything? How long have you known?”

“I’ve known for a week. The night we got wasted, you talked on the phone with someone, I couldn’t remember much about what you said but I remember seeing a reminder from someone to finish your job in two weeks, not only that, every single one of your unread texts are reminding you to finish your job in two weeks.” He answers, pausing for a moment. “I pieced together what that meant when I visited last week, when I saw you had a gun hidden in your apartment and cyanide hidden in one of your food containers. I wanted to ask you, I really did; I thought, what are you doing with a gun or cyanide? How could you lie to me? But I decided to withhold that and ask you without sounding so accusatory.”

“You were right about everything though…”

“Yes, and as unfortunate as it is, I’ve come to terms with it even as I desperately want to deny the fact that you’d kill me.” Ito sighs, rubbing your back comfortingly. “Say, can you fix me a drink, [Name]? I need to do something for a moment. Your boss probably can’t wait all day, right?”

You nod and let go of Ito, standing up and walking to his kitchen as you wipe your tears. You decide to make him some tea, mixing in the deadly amount of cyanide for him to drink. Your movements are slow, as if wanting to prolong Ito’s life as much as you can, but as you walk back to where Ito sits with a pen and a few pieces of paper scattered about, you know you’re unable to prolong it any further.

Ito smiles when you place the cup of tea on the table, reaching over for two neatly folded pieces of paper and taking your hand to gently put the paper in your hand. “Just so you’ll remember me, oh, and send the one with my signature in black to my dear old dad, yeah? The blue one is for you.” He says before he lets go of your hand and takes the cup, drinking it until nothing is left.

It doesn’t take long for the poison to take effect, you watch as Ito’s body starts to react to the cyanide, it’s painful to watch, so much so that you have to grip the fabric of your trousers so hard that your knuckles turn white. A few minutes later, Ito finally takes his final breath, slumped over the table; you reach out to him and close the lids of his lifeless eyes, caressing his cheek to feel the warmth of his body for the last time.

You don’t know how long has passed, as once you finally got back your sense of reality, Kita is already standing next to you, draping his jacket over your form as he holds your arms comfortingly. He doesn’t say anything, not the ‘I told ya this mission ain’t for ya’ or the ‘Ya shoulda listened to me’ you expected. He simply sits beside you and holds you until you’re ready to leave Ito’s apartment to pack up the things in your apartment and head back to Hyogo.

You stand up and look at Ito one last time, swallowing the lump in your throat. You’ve never felt anything when you had to resort to kill someone, not even the first time you took someone’s life, yet… seeing Ito’s body, you’re washed with grief. He looks so peaceful, as if he’s just taking a quick nap after he finished a week’s worth of work, yet there isn’t the steady rise and fall of his back, he looks peaceful, maybe a bit too peaceful that it’s making you feel unsettled.

“Souta gave me this to send to his father.” You say, breaking the silence as you hand Kita the letter for his father. “I don’t know what he wrote in there, and I don’t want to read whatever is in there.”

“I understand.” Kita says, standing up and placing a hand on the small of your back. “Let’s head back, any longer we stay here and the police will have an easier time trackin’ us.”

“Won’t they pin me for a suspect anyway?”

“I believe even if they do, they’ll release ya soon. I can see Ito truly loved ya, I’m assumin’ he left that other letter to try and make it easier for yer name to be cleared. I’ll check it before we leave though.” Kita assures, subtly urging you to go. “I’ll catch up to ya soon, I just need to check the place in case ya left behind crucial evidence.”

You simply nod and walk away, slowly making your way back to your apartment. Admittedly, you don’t have much in your apartment, seeing as you rented it fully furnished, you’d be done by the end of the day and are able to escape to Hyogo by tonight.

When you finish packing everything up, Kita enters your apartment with his luggage in-tow. He goes up to you and extends a hand for you to take, you stare at it for a few seconds before taking it, walking out of the apartment and leaving it as if you were never there in the first place.

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Taglist: @youracidqueenmina @shinsou-rii @kris-1 @kenmaslov3r

Comment or ask if you want to be included in a taglist!

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the-gilbird · 4 years

Text

so i haven’t really posted anything like this before. but fuck it, because good omens is amazing, and i just shared this with the discord server, and they encouraged me to share it here, so. let’s-a-go, i guess

anyway. so. here it is.

so, we all know crowley is capable of massive feats, in terms of miracles. he can stop time on a whim. he can make a car make it through a ring of whatever the fuck kind of flame surrounded london via the m25, and then have it continue to function for several hours after that. he can pull two other entities (including the fucking antichrist) into what i can only assume to be a pocket dimension or something similar outside of time when one of the most powerful entities in the goddamn universe was approaching their location. and we also know why he is capable of the things he does: his imagination. crowley's creativity and imagination are one of the most powerful forces in the goddamn universe and that's not even an exaggeration. now, the other thing. aziraphale. he's smart, and cunning, and the biggest thing working against him is his lack of confidence in his abilities. he deciphered a large portion of agnes nutter's notoriously fucky riddles in one night. he figured out how to possess someone, despite no angel having done it before. and the reason he isn't higher in the pecking order in heaven is because he's kind, and loves the way angels should; and he is told for six millenia that he is not a good angel, which feeds into the lack of self confidence. but after ain'tmaggedon, he's free of heaven's influence. in fact, the only influence he really has now is crowley. and crowley's loved him for that six millenia, and probably sings his praises as often as he can now that crowley is likewise free of hell's influence, because he is a dumbstruck loveass. so aziraphale is more confident in his own abilities and traits, now. and aziraphale is intelligent. agnes nutter's final prophecy got them out of heaven and hell's line of view, and gave them time. but they won't stay away forever; crowley acknowledged that, right after the switch back in the garden. and aziraphale knows that it's only a matter of time before someone notices some discrepency, and they get caught (there's ten million angels and ten million demons, after all. someone's going to notice). so aziraphale begins to plan.

the first thing he does is plant the seeds, if you'll pardon the pun. after things have been settled for some time, he starts researching. pulling out the oldest ethereal (and occult) texts he owns (which are very old, and very numerous), and researching everything he can about the nature of angels and demons, and the nature of holy water and hellfire. and this takes up some time (seeds need to take root, after all. crowley needs to see him doing the research, after all). and occasionally, exactly as aziraphale knows he will, crowley will ask aziraphale what he's looking into, and aziraphale will say he's looking into protections against hellfire and holy water, for if heaven and hell ever figure out their little misdirection. (and crowley will hem and haw at him for referring to deceiving the entireties of heaven and hell, one of the greatest wiles ever pulled off in all of time, with the same language used to talk about magic tricks. and aziraphale will smile, because he loves every part of crowley.) and this will continue. and eventually, aziraphale will tell crowley that he's made a breakthrough. of course, aziraphale won't actually have made that big of a breakthrough. he has everything he needs by day three. but crowley needs to believe it. crowley needs to believe that aziraphale spent that entire time researching and plotting and planning and reading, because aziraphale is the smartest person that crowley knows, and if anyone can figure it out, his angel can. but what aziraphale tells him is that there wasn't any need of a plan at all, really. all this research has essentially been for moot. well, not for moot, because now they both know, but they didn't actually need to do anything with the information, aziraphale explains, because they're already safe, and have been for some time.

because, aziraphale says, holy water and hellfire can't affect them anymore. because crowley loves him with all of his heart, aziraphale explains, and he loves crowley with all of his. (don't technically have a heart, crowley says, still a bit blown away, what on account of them having corporations and not bodies, and all. oh hush, you know what i mean, aziraphale says back, and gives crowley a kiss on the forehead for his trouble.) and if a demon loves an angel, really loves them, hellfire won't burn them, because hellfire is the creation of demons, beings of destruction, generally, fueled by the hatred of their opposition, and so if a demon doesn't hate angels, it won't burn as strongly. and if a demon loves an angel, just one, then the angel won't be destroyed. and it works the same the other way 'round with holy water, aziraphale says, more excitedly, as crowley watches him enraptured, because holy water is blessed by angels, used to wipe out the opposition which they hate. and so if an angel loves a demon, that demon will be protected from the blessing, even blessings created by other angels. because love is a powerful force, it is the basis of the creation of humanity, when god first whispered the idea of them into being. when you love someone and have that love returned, you are giving yourself, wholely and completely, to another, and everything you are protects them with everything you have. it just so happens, aziraphale finishes by saying, that the respective weaknesses and strengths of angels and demons balance out rather nicely. humans put this phenomenon into very nice words, once; you must be subjected to the mortifying ordeal of being known, in order to get the rewards of being loved. and so they are ready. when they come (and they do come, they were always going to come, eventually), they take aziraphale first, just like last time. but unlike last time, aziraphale and crowley are together when their respective former head offices come to deal the killing blows. holy water said to be blessed by the almighty herself, and hellfire harvested from the deepest pits of hell, fueled by satan's everlasting rage. the strongest stuff there is, just so there is every guarentee. (the water fizzles gabriel's skin lightly, even, as a drop falls out as he carries it over, and the fire roars with a heat that even beelzebub inches away from.) it is volatile, it is deadly, and there is absolutely no hope for the traitors now. (or there wouldn't be, if aziraphale weren't so smart.) and crowley is shackled to the ground, his shoulders restrained by... demons? angels? he doesn't know, and he doesn't rightly care at this point, they're all the same to him, forcing him to face aziraphale, shackled and bound just as he is, being led into a roaring inferno of the hottest hellfire crowley has ever seen. and he knows, he knows they're safe, aziraphale looked into every possibility and he trusts aziraphale, trusts him with everything, trusts him with the name he had before the Fall and even with that he can't help struggling, and snarling, and doing everything he can to get out and run to his angel, trying every trick in the book but it's not working because there are too many enemies abound, too many hands holding him down and restraining him as his head is pulled back by his hair and he is forced to watch as aziraphale is shoved into the flames.

(aziraphale knew this, too. crowley is the heart, out of the two of them, he always was, and heaven and hell want every bit of revenge they can get, they want it to hurt. they know it will hurt worst if crowley is forced to watch the love of his life die in front of him, unable to do anything, and for aziraphale to die knowing that he can't protect crowley from what is coming next.) (really, it's no wonder aziraphale figured out agnes nutter's prophecies so quickly; for being two completely different entities, they think with remarkable similarity.) but aziraphale has already protected crowley. he has already protected both of them, because he is the smartest being crowley has ever known, and because he knows crowley, just as crowley knows him. and he knows crowley is, hands down, one of the most powerful beings in all of creation, and crowley's imagination is a force never to be reckoned with. all that stuff aziraphale spouted, about how a love from a demon can protect an angel, and vice versa? bullshit. complete and utter bullshit. aziraphale found what he needed to in those books he researched, and what he needed was just enough solid evidence for him to convince CROWLEY that it was true. it is the biggest, boldest, most daring lie aziraphale has ever told, and he will never tell crowley the truth because he can't. (he has practice, with this whole lying thing. he's lied to humans, he's lied to heaven, hell, he's even lied to crowley before. and he promised crowley he would never tell him another lie again but this one, this one he really can't help, not if it means keeping them both safe, and aziraphale will keep this close to his chest until the end of time. and he will only regret it for a single instance, and that is when he hears crowley's scream as he is thrown into hellfire.) the hellfire doesn't touch him. it can't touch him, because crowley believes it won't. despite being made of the purest anger the universe has ever known, it wraps around aziraphale like a warm embrace, like a gentle smile, like a 'welcome home.' and as crowley sees aziraphale's figure unwavering in the fire, his cry cuts out, and he smiles even as he is drenched, because it worked, just like aziraphale said it would. (and it worked. just like crowley thought it would, aziraphale thinks, as he smiles and sighs a breath of relief that they are finally (finally) safe.)

#good omens #aziraphale #crowley #ineffable husbands #character study #i think? maybe? a bit of one anyway #draws on elements of headcanon and assumption #but overall aligns with canon i think #aziraphale is a genius #crowley has an imagination #lmk if you want me to tag something else #uh #the mortifying ordeal of being known #the rewards of being loved

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spencers-renaissance · 3 years

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🔖soft and domestic penemily please!!

a sort of part two to a bough of fruit falls from the sun

945 words // ao3

"Penny?" Emily calls as she steps into their flat, arms loaded with the supplies her wife had sent her out to retrieve. It's been four weeks since Penelope finally gave birth, four weeks since she cried like the baby she was holding in the delivery room, so overwhelmed with the feeling of finally belonging somewhere, finally having a family.

Penelope doesn't reply, so Emily shuts the front door quietly and dumps her shoes and jacket in the hall to go searching for her wife, and inevitably, their daughter who will no doubt be in her arms. After a brief nosy around the flat, she eventually finds them in the armchair in Winnie's room; their daughter fast asleep in her mommy's arms as Penelope looks adoringly down at her.

"Hey, baby," Emily whispers, leaning on the doorway as she smiles warmly at the scene in front of her.

Penelope looks up briefly, before her eyes return to the baby in her arms, as though they can never stray away from her for long, always drawn back by some instinctive magnetism Emily couldn't hope to compete with. "Hey, Em."

Emily has always thought that Penelope was utterly beautiful, she's been in love with her from pretty much the day she met her, but something about her being a new mom has her looking more ethereal than ever. Despite the lost sleep and the tiredness from feeding and the disrupted routine, she glows constantly, an aura of happiness and contentedness shrouding her every minute of the day, no matter the pitifully few hours of sleep they've managed to get.

"She fell asleep while feeding," she says quietly, still smiling down at Winnie before looking up at Emily again. "Did you get them?"

Emily nods and pushes off the doorframe to quietly put away the diapers in the chest of drawers, leaving the food she bought for them in the bottom of the tote, bar one item which she lifts out with a flourish.

"I know you still don't want to drink while you're breastfeeding," Emily says, "but that doesn't mean you can't have a big fat bar of Cadbury's chocolate."

They'd both become addicted to the British chocolate bars when they visited and lived in London respectively, and Emily knows how much Penelope's been craving it ever since.

"Oh my God, Em, how did you get that?" Penelope gasps, reaching out to take the bar from her with one arm while still holding Winnie close to her breast with the other.

Emily chuckles softly. "Spencer signed us up for the British Chocolate Club, but the first order mistakenly went to his and Derek's, so I went to pick it up on the way back from the store."

Penelope looks up at her in wonderment. "Does that mean there's more?"

Emily waggles her eyebrows, grinning. "So. Much. More."

She knows her wife well enough to know that she is very much holding back an excited squeal for the sake of their sleeping baby right now. "Have I ever told you how much I love you?"

Emily smiles softly, looking down at her wife. "All the time, my love. You tell me all the time."

"Well, that's good," Penelope sighs, shifting her hold on Winnie slightly as their daughter starts to make the quiet snuffling noises she always does when she starts to wake up. "You need to know these things."

Emily hums. "Well, since her majesty is waking up, how about we go and sit on the sofa for a bit and cuddle? I would like to hold both of my babies, please."

Penelope beams up at her. "That sounds like a plan."

"Okay, sweetheart. Let me take Winnie while you stand up," Emily says gently, taking hold of her slowly waking daughter, immediately feeling that sense of completion she always does when she has her arms around Winnie or Penelope.

"Oh, I know, you had a nap with Mommy, didn't you?" she coos quietly at her yawning daughter as Penelope shifts herself up off the chair awkwardly, the aches and pains of pregnancy and her post-partum symptoms still lingering around.

When Penelope's up, they make their way slowly into the living room, Emily choosing one of their go-to comfort movies as she lets Penelope get comfy on the sofa before pulling Winnie's day bed and mobile closer to them on the floor so she can put her down easily when she starts to get restless.

Once that's in place and Penelope's comfortable, she sits down next to her and leans against her side with Winnie still firmly in her arms. "Okay, Pen?" she asks, pressing a kiss to her temple. She knows that she'll be asleep within minutes, and Emily will be left alone with Winnie for some quality Mama-Baby time, but right now, she's just thankful for her family being all together, safe and comfortable in their bright and spacious living room.

"Yeah, I'm all good, Em," she mumbles sleepily as the opening credits begin to play, her head falling onto her wife's shoulder. "Love you. Thank you for being the best."

Emily laughs. "Oh, shush. We both know it's you who's the best, you're the one who created and birthed this little munchkin after all."

"Yeah," Penelope sighs. "I am pretty awesome. But so are you."

Emily smiles, resting her head on top of Penelope's. "I love you, sweetheart," she says, but Penelope's already fast asleep, and all she's left with is Two Week's Notice playing on the TV and the gurgling, blinking, bright little face of her daughter staring right up at her. In this exact moment, she doesn't think she could possibly be happier.

taglist: @makaylajadewrites @iamrenstark @hotchseyebrows @temily @enbyspencer @criminalmindsvibez @suburban--gothic @reidology @spencerspecifics @hotchedyke @marsjareau @oliverbrnch @physics-magic @thataveragenerd @anxious-enby @kuolonsyoja @reidreids @sapphic-stress @wifeyprentiss @cmily @notevanbuckley (add yourself to my taglist)

#CJ #mutuals #maja celebrates 1k #this is more of a drabble than a blurb I'M SORRY #I've been wanting to write a p2 to a bough of fruit falls from the sun and this seemed like the perfect opportunity #moms penemily 😌#penemily #penemily blurb #penelope garcia #emily prentiss #penemily fic #penemily drabble #userpenemily

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up-to-some-good · 3 years

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Part 1: 5 times I fixed it...

When Remus arrived home the flat was empty. Sirius’s boots were missing from their spot by the door. Sighing, he ambled to the kitchen. He had been away for three weeks. Now that they had finally repaired their relationship, all he had wanted to do was cuddle up with Sirius on the couch and watch muggle television. Apparently, this would not be happening today.

In the kitchen he found a note from Sirius, left next to a magically warmed cup of tea.

Last minute mission, won’t be back before you. Tell you all about it when I’m back. Love you

The last few words were squished in the corner of the small piece of paper. Remus smiled at Sirius’s handwriting, the pureblood cursive he had tried and failed to get rid of back in school.

He grabbed his cup of tea and moved to the living room. Wrapping himself in a blanket, he tried to imagine Sirius was there with him, asking how everything had gone with the werewolves.

Despite Dumbledore’s explicit orders, he had told Sirius about his spying missions. Six months of losing trust in each other after a spy was discovered in the order had almost destroyed their relationship. It had taken him a long time, but eventually he told him in the middle of a fight, two days before he had left for another three weeks.

The fire sparked a bright green, drawing Remus from his thoughts.

“Pads…” he started, before noticing that it was not his boyfriend, but the Potters.

Lily, normally quite pale, was whiter than usual and James’s dark skin was ashen. He quickly ushered them over to the sofa and made them each their own cup of tea before joining them.

“Moony,” James said hoarsely. “Where’s Padfoot? We need to ask him a favour.”

“He’s on a mission, didn’t say when he’d be back. What’s wrong?”

Lily looked up from her tea. She had tear tracks down her cheeks.

“Voldemort… He’s… he wants to…”

She took a deep breath before starting again.

“We have to go into hiding,” she whispered.

“There’s some sort of prophecy,” James continued. “Voldemort thinks… he’s going to try kill Harry.”

Remus couldn’t breathe for a moment. Harry Potter was only a month old. He was likely back at the Potter Manor with Effie and Monty, blissfully unaware of his parents’ worries. Everyone in the Order had been delighted when he and Neville had been born, the first bright spots in the war since the Potters’ wedding.

“What does this have to do with Sirius?” he asked eventually.

“Dumbledore suggested we use the Fidelius Charm,” James explained. “We want him to be our Secret Keeper. He’s my brother, there’s no one I trust more.”

“We know he’ll protect us,” Lily said, pulling James’s hand into her lap. “He’d do anything for Harry.

Remus felt like someone had poured a bucket of ice water on him. Sirius protecting the Potters would make him a target for Voldemort himself. He’d have to hide too and even then; he may not be safe.

“He’d die for you,” he said quietly. “Pick someone else.”

When he looked at the Potters again, his vision was blurry. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to stop himself from crying.

“What?”

“Moony…”

“He’ll jump at the chance,” he continued. “But everyone will know it’s him. He’ll be a target, Prongs.”

James reached froward and grabbed Remus’s hand.

“He’s the only one we can trust to protect us,” he said quietly, like he was comforting a child.

“And who the fuck is going to protect him?” Remus yelled, standing up. “What’s the plan for when they come after him? When they torture him for your location? What’s the plan?”

No one responded. Remus left the room. He started to make himself more tea. He heard the Potters muttering between them before he heard the door opening, and James run to Sirius to explain the situation. No one came to get him.

When he returned to the living room, Sirius immediately pulled him into his lap and wrapped his arms around him.

“I’m okay, Moons,” he whispered gently. “I’ll be okay.”

“We may have a solution,” Lily said after a few moments of silence.

Remus looked at her but didn’t say anything. She exchanged a look with James before continuing.

“We need to put this flat under the Fidelius as well,” she said. “Then we can hide, and so can Sirius.”

“I’ll be the Secret Keeper,” James continued. “That way none of us can be found without finding the others first.”

“We’ll all be okay, Moony,” Sirius whispered to him. “You can stay here with me, and we’ll all be safe.”

Remus couldn’t speak, but he nodded his consent and kissed Sirius’s forehead. He wasn’t making progress with the werewolves anyway. He would leave the Order if he had to. This was more important.

One week later, they cast the charms and the four went into hiding.

Over a year later, Voldemort was defeated in a historic battle, preceded by Regulus Black’s destruction of his horcruxes. The Potters celebrated in Godric’s Hollow with their baby. In London, Sirius started crying when they received the owl.

“We’re safe, love,” Remus whispered, holding him tightly in his arms.

#five times i fixed harry potter and one time i absolutely did not #marauders #godric's hollow #fix it fic #harry potter #harry potter fic #marauders fic #harry potter fix it #marauders fix it #lily potter #james potter #sirius black #remus lupin #wolfstar #5+1 fic

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kindlyones · 3 years

Text

Diary of Baldwin Montclair

Dear Diary,

I haven’t written in you in quite some time! But I found you in my hiding place at Sept Tours and I have a lot on my mind and would like to organise my thoughts. No one has managed to crack the code Pater and I devised when he orchestrated the death of Caesar, so I feel safe enough confiding in you.

What’s bothering me today is the continued pattern of “vampire murders” in the news. I hope to the Gods it isn’t Matthew. He seems happy enough holed up in his laboratory. Miriam swore to look after him and she would speak up if something were really wrong.

Strong armed Knox into giving a statement to the press saying there was nothing supernatural about the murders. He seems more receptive to Gerbert than myself, so I had to convince Gerbert to approach him. Gerbert gave me the go around, but eventually agreed to do it, as if our entire way of life didn’t depend on this.

Dear Diary,

Saw an advert for some Hercules musical production on Broadway. Thinking about Pater. I wonder if he really thought of Matthew as his son?

Dear Diary,

Saw Katerina. Feeling much more relaxed. I’m keeping an eye on China today. Looking into steel futures.

Dear Diary,

I’m in London. It rained a lot and now my house smells odd. I shall need to call someone to check for mould.

Dear Diary,

There is mould in my wine cellar. I repeat, there is MOULD in MY WINE CELLAR. As the youths on Twitter say, this is not a drill. I need to call in a specialist. My London wine collection cannot simply be moved as if they were bottles of Coca Cola.

Dear Diary,

I refitted my Thames penthouse for my most precious and delicate bottles of wine. Going to bid on the ‘45 Romanee-Conti from Drouhin’s cellar. I drank the last one when I thought it was at a risk of mould. Matthew sent me an email about it. He likes me to know he still has spies watching me.

Dear Diary,

Mixed news today. I got the ‘45 Romanee-Conti, but some cunts from China drove up the price and I had to pay $558,000 in USD. Absurd that I have to pay that much after all I did to set up trade routes to introduce wine to France in the first place. Everyone keeps asking me what I’m going to do with it. Obviously, I am going to drink it by myself while I pull my hair out over Matthew’s latest drama. He has abducted a witch. I can’t contact him. Everyone looking to me for answers, as if I understand one ounce of what’s in that libertine’s brain.

Dear Diary,

It is so much worse. He didn’t abduct her. They are in love. Marcus claims they are mating. He is usually reliable, but barely over three hundred. What the fuck does he know. Going to Sept Tours. The witches are very keen to speak to this woman, so I’m going to use her as a bargaining chip to stop them from seeking retribution against Matthew. They get their witch and Matthew gets to live another day to ruin my life yet again. Everyone is hell bent on some mythical quest involving the Book of Life. As if. I remember when we didn’t even have books, we had scrolls and tablets. If it were that important, it would be written in stone, like all important documents. How could a book tell us about something that happened thousands of years before I was born? If he had wanted to know of our origins, he should have spent more time with Pater. I saw more in his blood than any “book” could ever tell me.

Dear Diary,

What the actual fuck. I went to get the Bishop witch from Sept Tours, aka MY HOUSE on MY LANDS that I earned from TWO THOUSAND YEARS OF SERVICE TO MY FATHER AS HIS ONLY SURVIVING SON only to find she had already been taken by a flying witch. Why do I even bother showing up for Congregation meetings if this is what is achieved. Matthew was flailing. I had to talk him through it and remind him that witches don’t fly that far and he built most of the castles in the area himself. Finally we ended up pulling the witch out of an oubliette in the Cantal. No one was guarding her. Extremely suspicious. There is nothing particularly special about her. She can barely do magic. I suspect she might be spellbound, but she doesn’t seem insane enough. The best and easiest course of action would be to simply eliminate her from the board, as it were, but Ysabeau managed to find some semblance of her old terrifying self and put her petite foot down. I gave the witch the best advice I could and left. She is even less of a strategist than Matthew. If she listens to me, perhaps she will have a chance. Perhaps I should have just left and let her get herself killed, but Pater made me promise to protect the family when he made me paterfamilias and that includes Matthew. At least the witches’ trespass on de Clermont land has given the Congregation something else to talk about and now they no longer have the moral high ground as the injured party.

Dear Diary,

I am tired of everyone acting like being the de Clermont family head is something I just love doing. Like I want to be up in everyone’s personal business, managing them like children. Pater gave me a job to do. Pater never gives easy jobs, least of all to me. Wonder how long before the killing starts.

Dear Diary,

Thinking of Eva. I always thought I would see her again before I died. Does she think I didn’t pay dearly for what I did? Does she think I am not still paying for it now? I live under the weight of the consequences of my actions every day. I wrote her an email and deleted it before I sent it. She is in America now, close to New York. I wonder if she ever comes into the city.

Dear Diary,

Well, it’s started, and first on the docket is ME. Had to vote against my own execution today. That’s a first. They wanted to behead me and burn me, presumably still alive. Why did we never update that part of the charter? I’m going to replace the librarian with someone I can trust. That was too close for comfort.

Dear Diary,

Matthew and the witch have vanished. I am trying to locate them. Had the damnedest time getting into the Bishop house. No matter which way I turned, it kept showing me to the door. Regardless, I found no trace of them leaving the property recently. If I can’t follow them, at least no one else can.

Dear Diary,

Matthew must be enjoying playing the Boy Scout for his witch because there has not been a whiff of them anywhere. Where could they possibly be, the caves of Afghanistan? I would very much like to speak with them about whatever developments they’ve made with the Book of Life. If it will restore witches to their former power, I don’t want anyone else having it.

Dear Diary,

I dyed my hair grey. I must be having some sort of crisis. It’s nice to look somewhat as old as I feel. These past few months have aged me more than the last hundred years. I’ve taken to wearing all black. I have a right to be a bit angsty. I can’t even manage to lead the way Pater did on my own for a measly hundred years without our entire way of life falling apart as well as the legacy of our family. I keep asking myself what he would do. People obeyed his orders because they loved him. Nobody loves me. Philippe was everyone’s hero, and when I do exactly as he did, I’m a tyrant and a bully. Ysabeau told me she hated me to my face for the first time. I wish I could get drunk but it’s really not the time. I could be needed at a moment’s notice. They don’t love me, but they still need me. And I made Pater a promise.

Dear Diary,

Bloody Marcus is the head of the Knights of Lazarus. The child takes part in a single revolution and thinks he is some beacon of hope to the world. Meanwhile, the vampire murders have stopped. I really hope it isn’t Matthew. That would be the last thing we need right now. I am a veteran of hundreds of wars, let alone battles. I should lead the Knights. Marcus wasn’t even alive when there were knights. He isn’t a knight. He just plays at one.

Dear Diary,

My house has been overrun with daemons and witches. I try to turn up at unexpected times to see if I can catch them plotting against me. The revolution is being fomented from inside my own house. No word on Matthew.

Dear Diary,

Gallowglass and Fernando have materialized. Verin is headed for Sept Tours for the first time since Pater. My jet is fueling up and I am on my way home. The family isn’t gathering without me for no reason. I will gather them all together and exercise my rights as head of family and make them tell me what is going on. This has gone on long enough.

#baldwin montclair #a discovery of witches #adow #baldwin de clermont #baldwin montclair fic #fan fiction #it was supposed to be funny until it wasn’t #goes through s2 so no BOL spoilers

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immaturityofthomasastruc · 3 years

Text

IOTA Reviews: Furious Fu

Well, I'm surprised this is here so quickly, but here we are. The first episode of Season 4. While I was on the fence about reviewing it even though it isn't in English (though there’s one in Spanish with English subtitles), but it seems like there are people that want to see me do it anyway, so who am I to let them down? Hopefully, I won't be regretting my decision to go over every episode of this season later on.

Will Marinette's new position as Guardian lead to more storylines other than her suffering? Will the show actually resolve the whole Love Square debacle this season? Why am I asking you all these questions?

Let's dive right into the first (actually sixth because of course it is) episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fourth season, Furious Fu.

We start off with all of the Kwamis under Marinette's care asking to see Former Master by Default Fu, before Marinette reminds them, and by extension, the audience, that he erased his memory during the events of last season, making her the new Guardian. They continue to act like hyperactive children until Marinette finally caves in and carries them in her backpack, although not before they give us one of the most unintentionally creepy images in the entire show.

I apologize in advance for your nightmares tonight.

The only Kwami who stays is the Dog Kwami, Barkk, who looks like she's going to see if Marinette's parents have any wine in the kitchen once she leaves.

Marinette heads down to the train station, where she meets up with Fu and Marianne, a former confidant/old flame who he recently reunited with. It turns out that inbetween Seasons 3 and 4, not only has Fu been living in London with Marianne while taking up painting as a hobby, but they've actually gotten married. So yeah, while Marinette has to deal with the stress of protecting some of the most dangerous artifacts on the planet, Fu's just been chilling in London, oblivious to the fact that he forced a teenage girl to do his job for him. Nothing but the best from this show's wise and lovable “mentor”.

After heading back home, Marinette sees a strange man who has broken into her room and demands to know where she got the Miracle Box from.

This is Master Su-Han, the former Guardians before Fu accidentally killed them all. He's naturally not happy with the “improper” form of the Miracle Box (he's not the only one) and wants to know how Marinette got in in the first place. When she says she got it from Fu...

Yeah... while it isn't as obvious as “Animaestro” and “Felix”, you can kind of tell that this is a “turn the critics into enemies” episode. Even though the criticism towards Master Fu isn't as prevalent as the criticism those episodes were meant to call out, there have been some fans on Tumblr and Reddit who have criticized Fu's actions in the show, calling out his decision to make Marinette a guardian in particular. Likewise, Su-Han is meant to be a strawman to mirror the complaints, and show why they are ridiculous. Though ironically, Su-Han's dialogue and rules also unintentionally highlight how incompetent the Order of the Guardians was, but we'll get to it later.

But because the script says she has to, Marinette defends Fu's decision to make her Guardian. She even refers to Fu being the reason the Guardians were all killed in the first place as a “mistake”.

NO HE DIDN'T! How was what Fu did in any way a sacrifice? When he made Marinette the new Guardian “Miracle Queen”, All Fu really did was make the box float for a bit before it immediately landed back in Chloe's hands. If the box had magically floated over to Ladybug in the process, I'd see why Fu would have done it. It'd still be reckless, but it would be a good way to escape from Hawkmoth and Mayura's trap. Hell, the Kwamis had already refused to let Chloe transform when she had their Miraculous, so there was no real threat there. We don't even know if Hawkmoth knew how to transform with the other Miraculous. So again, I raise the question: How was Fu forcing Ladybug to take his job while he gets to paint in London a heroic sacrifice? How can you even frame that as anything but cowardly?

Su-Han notices a few of the Kwamis are missing, and takes notice of Plagg, who was shown to devastate Paris with a single tap to the ground, being missing in particular. He's even more horrified to see Marinette's earrings, because, get this, Guardians aren't allowed to wear Miraculous.

You're telling me that if someone gets their hands on a Miraculous and goes rogue, the Guardians are supposed to fight them with their bare hands? They don't even explain it by saying something like how the Guardians aren't supposed to be tempted by the power of the Miraculous, we're just supposed to accept that rule as fact. How are you supposed to fight someone with superpowers like illusions, shapeshifting, teleportation, and time travel on your own?

So Su-Han orders the Kwamis back into the Miracle Box (still don't get why they have to listen to him) and lists off some of the rules Marinette broke like he was a Ferengi reading the Rules of Acquisition. He does all of this while voicing several concerns fans have about Marinette being Guardian, but rather than being out of concern or compassion for her, it's condescension.

It's pretty easy to understand Su-Han's side of the story, and if the episode actually acknowledged it, I wouldn't mind. But no, everything he says is automatically supposed to be wrong, because when has anything with a different viewpoint portrayed as a good guy in this show?

Su-Han orders Ladybug to take him to see Cat Noir before demanding they both hand over their Miraculous, and we learn something interesting about the Order of the Guardians.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?

Of all the stupid Guardian rules Master Fuckup didn't blindly follow, it's the rule that Miraculous are ONLY SUPPOSED TO GO TO ADULTS!? Why the hell did he even recruit Marinette and Adrien in the first place if Miraculous for adults to use? What did he even see in them? All they did was help him once!

And again, we're supposed to see Su-Han as wrong for doing this. Why can't Ladybug simply tell Su-Han about Hawkmoth and ask for his help before she returns her Miraculous to him? That way, Hawkmoth is defeated, and Su-Han gets the Miraculous back. And it's not like Ladybug doesn't try to talk things out with Su-Han, so you can't say she didn't consider it. Oh wait, that would imply Su-Han is supposed to have a point in his claims.

Though to the show's credit, Su-Han's words do get to Ladybug, causing herself to doubt herself and her ability to stop Hawkmoth, but Cat Noir helps to reassure her, saying he'll only return his Miraculous only if she asks him to. It's a brief moment, but it's nice to see him place his faith in his partner in a platonic way.

Less nice to see is Cat Noir finding out that if Ladybug gives up her position as Guardian, she'll lose her memory like Fu. Except... Cat Noir was there when Miraculous Ladybug failed to restore Fu's memory, so why does he see this as new information? Did he only think it would happen to Fu? Did he lose some of his memory at the end of the last season?

This information is enough for Cat Noir to start a fight with Su-Han, with Ladybug abandoning any attempts at diplomacy by declaring that Cat Noir won't lose his Miraculous. It's a little frustrating to see them engage Su-Han, but again, this is meant to show Cat Noir trying to protect Ladybug so she doesn't lose her memory. This scene still does a good job showcasing the bond the two heroes have. It's far better than anything we got from the New York special.

Su-Han is trained in... Oh God... Mirakung-Fu, which somehow gives him the ability to predict Ladybug and Cat Noir's moves before they make them, comparing it to his rage “adaptating and always finding a way”. Translation: Astruc ripped off something else from Dragon Ball, Ultra Instinct. Ladybug distracts Su-Han and gets the Miracle Box, while Cat Noir gets his staff. After briefly trapping him under some rubble (which I guess doesn't kill him because of his “Mirakung-Fu”), the two heroes escape.

Meanwhile, Shadowmoth, the upgraded form of Hawkmoth that I'll talk about in his debut proper, senses Su-Han's negative emotions and sends out an Akuma after him. Su-Han sees Fu painting in the park, and steals his cane, thinking it's a Guardian's staff he can sue to track down the Miraculous. When the Akuma reaches him, Su-Han uses a technique to repel the Akuma completely. I like this idea. It makes sense that a monk would find a way to mask their emotions and achieve enough of a state of zen to ward off an Akuma. The Akuma instead reaches Fu, turning him into Furious Fu.

I like the design of this Akuma. While I personally thought it could have made for a more interesting fight if he was still short (like Yoda's fight scenes in the prequels), I think it's really clever to incorporate Fu's Hawaiian shirt into what looks like a Chinese gi. Furious Fu's powers are kind of like Evilustrator, only he has to draw down a Chinese character on a talisman before the power takes immediate effect, and lacks the weakness Evilustrator had with his tablet being easily breakable, with the corrupted object, a paintbrush on his ear, being harder to reach.

Ladybug and Cat Noir retreat to the unnamed stadium that the local school has gym class in for some reason, where they're confronted by Su-Han, who in turn, is confronted by Furious Fu. This leads to a three-way fight for the Miracle Box, which they all kick around like a soccer ball. Cat Noir even gets a goal. All around, pretty fun bit, though not for the Kwamis, I guess.

As soon as he sees Furious Fu get the Miracle Ball, Su-Han hides while Ladybug and Cat Noir get beat up by the Akuma. While he does get up eventually, he's still taken out by Furious Fu. Apparently, Su-Han's “Mirakung-Fu” is only useful against Miraculous holders, not supervillains created with the powers of a Miraculous. How the hell does that work? That's like being a trained soldier in the Marine Corps who's terrible at laser tag.

Ladybug uses her Lucky Charm (again, I'll talk about the suit change for its proper debut episode), and gets a pair of wire cutters. She uses them go get a soccer ball from a nearby container while Cat Noir keeps Furious Fu busy. Furious Fu, in turn, uses one of his talismans to predict Ladybug's plan, and manages to immobilize both heroes, but not before Ladybug traps the soccer ball underneath Cat Noir's arm before Furious Fu can use his Cataclysm against him.

How do they stop him? By having Marianne casually walk up to him and break the paintbrush while he's distracted. Honestly, that's a pretty funny payoff. Not “Puppeteer” or “Bakerix” funny, but it's still one of the funnier Akuma defeats I've seen. Another funny joke is Cat Noir using his Cataclysm on a soccer ball before he accidentally uses it on Ladybug and Marianne for their post-victory fist bump.

Later on, after Marinette sees Marianne and Fu off while the latter continues to avoid responsibility, Su-Han apologizes to her, and decides to trust her. He'll still take away the Miracle Box if she screws up, but it's a start to someone Marinette can at least consult Guardian to Guardian.

And honestly? I think this episode is a pretty good start to Season 4. It really feels like the writers are learning from their mistakes in Season 3.

Yes, Marinette is blamed by Su-Han, and while it is frustrating to turn Su-Han into a strawman, unlike other Season 3 episodes where Marinette is blamed, the blame itself is unwarranted, and by the end of the episode, it looks like Su-Han is willing to change, as he apologizes to Fu after he's de-evilized. That's a lot more than I can say for Astruc's other straw characters like Chloe and Felix. Sure, some of Su-Han's concerns are brushed off, but it's still a start.

From what little we saw of him, Cat Noir is also a lot better, really showing the character development promised towards the end of “Miracle Queen”. He's thankfully turned down the flirting, and I can only hope he keeps his promise as the season goes on. I hope we get an episode or two showing his perspective on Ladybug becoming Guardian, and how he feels less like her actual partner now. You know, something that can reinforce their bond as partners.

My biggest complaints from the episode really come from the way Fu is portrayed, and even then, it's only because of events that happen because of what he did last season and how much of a screw-up he is, despite the narrative trying to tell the audience he isn't. Then there's the revelation that Fu's cane has the ability to track down Miraculous. So... we're seriously learning this now? Why didn't Fu use it earlier to look for the two missing Miraculous? He literally has a Miraculous detector! But hopefully, the consequences of Fu's actions won't affect this season too much.

So yeah, I'm actually feeling pretty optimistic about this season so far. Maybe Season 4 won't be that bad after all.

Oh.

Oh no...

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sevenkittensinatrenchcoat · 3 years

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Modern Munkustraps and Why 2016 Misto Is Boring (And Also Why Tugger Is Less Good Now)

So, yeah, this is a very long, poorly edited essay that is basically just me writing down a bunch of feelings about the Broadway Revival and why it doesn’t work for me. Of course, it’s not the worst thing out there and everyone can like what they like, but here’s one big reason why I don’t like this particular thing.

So, I’ve mentioned that, having seen the whole thing, I don’t particularly like the 2016 Broadway Revival of Cats. I adore the cast, I appreciate the effort everyone clearly put into it, and some individual numbers work well enough out of context, but it’s a case of strong parts forming a weak whole.

One of the problems I had with it was with the character of Mistoffelees. It should be clear to anyone looking around this blog that Mistoffelees is my favorite character in the show. I hate insulting any Mistoffelees, which is why 2019 Mistoffelees frustrates me so much. The moment I realized I’d become a fan of Cats was when I was genuinely angry when I learned that Tom Hooper cast a non-dancer as Mistoffelees. Basically, problems with Mistoffelees will motivate me to rant.

In 2016, the problem with Mistoffelees isn’t the choreography. I prefer the original to the new stuff, but Misto’s material was fine. Ricky Ubeda completely nailed the dance part of the role. Broadway Revival Misto is still worlds above Tom Hooper’s Misto in every way. Really, the problem with 2016 Misto is that it often feels like he isn’t there. He has very little presence. His dancing is impressive, and his dynamic with Tugger is cute and fun, but he has no real personality outside of it. I don’t know how he feels about any character other than Tugger. There are no moments that center around him other than his dance solos. He doesn’t seem to have much of an arc when it comes to saving the day at the end. Is he already confident in his magical abilities? Is he still unsure of himself? Is he trying to prove himself? How does he feel about anything that happens to or around him?

As a show with a large ensemble cast, it’s impossible for every single character to feel fully developed. But, in shows/stories with large ensemble casts, there are always a few characters who stand out. Instead of a single protagonist with one big arc, you have several main characters with their own small arcs. Munkustrap is the group’s leader who has to fight to defend his tribe. Demeter has survived an abusive relationship and she confronts her abuser and starts to move on, finding a potential partner who she can trust. In the 1998 film, at least, Mungojerrie has an interesting arc. He used to work for Macavity, but he left. When Macavity shows up, Jerrie’s terrified of him. He knows what he’s capable of and probably witnessed some really messed up shit. But, when Munkustrap is wounded and Alonzo is struggling to fight Macavity on his own, Jerrie is the first cat to join the fight. He doesn’t do very well, but this inspires other cats to help out as well, and Macavity is eventually outnumbered and forced to flee.

Mistoffelees is another character with an arc. He’s coming of age, no longer a child but not really an adult either. He’s trying to prove himself and be seen as an adult. He has magical powers, but he still struggles to control them and doesn’t know exactly what he’s capable of. Outside of magic and dancing, he’s awkward and doesn’t fit in socially with neither the kittens nor the adults.

When Old Deuteronomy is kidnapped, and everything seems hopeless, Mistoffelees really isn’t participating in the action. Although he’s publicly done magic before and other cats have noticed, Tugger’s suggestion that Mistoffelees might be able to help is dismissed by most of the group at first. But, Tugger is completely confident in Misto’s abilities. He’s the first cat to believe in him that much. Tugger hypes up Misto and his confidence builds until he’s willing to try using magic to bring Old Deuteronomy back and succeeds. He’s a hero now, and he’s known to have a skill that no one else possesses. He’s respected by the tribe. As someone who can be consulted in emergencies, Mistoffelees can now be seen as an adult.

Now, Mistoffelees didn’t always have this arc. The Originial Broadway Misto comes across as completely confident in his abilities the whole time. Actors who played Misto in the 80s tended to play him as the same age as Munkustrap, already one of the adults and already established in the tribe. But, starting in the early 90s, some actors started to play Misto younger and less secure. By the time the filmed 1998 production was done, that had become the standard way to play Misto. I think the actors cast in the role wanted to make things more interesting, since Misto getting Old Deuteronomy back is a bit of an anticlimax. There’s a problem. It’s solved immediately. On with the show. But this was a big, spectacle-heavy number near the end of the show. It feels like it should mean something, but it just doesn’t. Old Deuteronomy is easily returned to the tribe and then Memory happens and makes everything else seem meaningless.

But, what if Mister Mistoffelees wasn’t about getting Old Deuteronomy back? What if Mister Mistoffelees was actually about Mister Mistoffelees. Having the song be a moment when a young cat comes of age makes it feel like the song means something, even if the stuff with Old Deuteronomy is anticlimactic. Since it happens late in the show, there’s plenty of time to build up to it. Misto is on stage for most of the musical. His character can be established. We can see him trying to prove himself and failing to socially connect with the other cats. So, when he does prove himself and he does gain the approval of the cats who dismissed him as a weirdo, it’s satisfying. The song has a bigger impact when Mistoffelees is portrayed as a young man coming of age.

So, what does any of this have to do with the Broadway Revival? Why does the title of this essay mention Munkustrap when the essay itself is mostly about Mistoffelees?

Well, it’s because Revival Era Munkustraps have stolen Misto’s character arc.

The Broadway Revival isn’t the only version of Cats to do this. Tecklenburg actually constructs the story around it, making Munkustrap the protagonist. It seems like the changes to Munkustrap’s character started to appear when the show started getting revived. When I say Revival Era, I mean every version of Cats put on after the London Revival in 2014, though there are naturally some outliers. This was when Grizabella was redesigned and rewritten. This was when an attempt was made to redesign and rewrite Tugger, which was thankfully abandoned soon after.

Before this era, it wasn’t really confirmed to the general public that Munkustrap and Tugger were Old Deuteronomy’s sons. They were still often portrayed that way, but it wasn’t something anyone thought viewers needed to know. The dynamic between Munkustrap and Tugger began to change now that everyone was expected to view them as siblings. Tugger, instead of messing with every authority figure on stage, now tends to single Munkustrap out. He wants to annoy his older sibling. The Tecklenburg non-replica didn’t even bother showing anyone but Munkustrap being frustrated with Tugger’s antics. The vibe you get in these productions is that Munkustrap is the older sibling who is left in charge while Dad’s not home and he’s trying to be responsible, while Tugger, as the younger sibling, is constantly messing around and annoying him.

Compare how Munkustrap and Tugger interacted during Tugger’s number in 1998 vs. 2016. In both versions, Tugger crashes the party and Munkustrap is not amused. But, in 1998, Munkustrap stands back and waits for Tugger to basically get all that rebellious energy out of his system. If he has a few moments to run wild, he’ll calm down and act up less later on. So, Munkustrap just waits it out. As for Tugger, he never directly targets Munkustrap when he’s messing with the authority figures. He targets Jenny and Jelly, and Skimble by proxy, but he leaves Munkustrap alone. Both brothers have some silent agreement not to get in each other’s way.

In 2016, most of the moments where Tugger messes with an authority figure have Munkustrap as that authority figure. He’s more focused on annoying his brother than anyone else. He and Munkustrap are sort of bickering throughout the song, with Munkustrap being one of the cats who gets the “terrible bore” line. 1998 Munkustrap wouldn’t do this. He doesn’t get the “terrible bore” line because he’s too mature to insult Tugger like that. Instead, Misto, a more immature character does it.

These two different dynamics imply that Munkustrap and Tugger are in different age groups. 1998 Munkustrap tries to take the high road when Tugger crashes the party and Tugger has enough respect for him not avoid targeting him personally. The only exception is with the bagpipes in The Pekes and the Pollicles, and he was mostly doing that to entertain the others. He starts a dance party and then gets disappointed when it doesn’t work a second time. Munkustrap was already being annoyed by everything else that was going on as well, so Tugger’s antics don’t stand out in that regard. The vibe you get is that, though Tugger does like teasing Munkustrap a bit, they have a mutual respect for one another that they both take seriously. They’re both adults, too mature to bicker.

When Tugger targets Munkustrap with his antics and Munkustrap tries to argue back, they come across like two kids bickering. They both seem younger. This means that, in general, 2016 Munkustrap is played younger than 1998 Munkustrap. 2016 Munkustrap’s arc is about him learning to be a good leader, probably hosting the ball for the first time. He wants everything to be perfect so he can prove himself to his father. His defending the tribe and being willing to give Grizabella a chance are moments when Munkustrap begins to come of age.

So, 2016 Munkustrap’s arc is that he’s a young man, just coming of age, trying to prove himself, and eventually doing so. It’s not identical to Misto’s arc, but it’s pretty close.

And this is why 2016 Misto fails to stand out. Munkustrap’s arc makes Misto’s feel redundant, so he doesn’t have it. 2016 Misto already has Tugger supporting him from the very start and never feels like he lacks confidence. But, with Misto’s arc given to Munkustrap, nothing was put in its place, so Misto no longer has an arc. You don’t have scenes of him trying to appear mature and sophisticated around Bustopher, or his awkward attempt to help Old Deuteronomy and Munkustrap defend the tribe when Macavity’s around, or any of those other little moments that give Misto personality, because he no longer has the arc that those scenes are part of. There’d be no pay-off.

Honestly, the biggest problem with this isn’t that Munkustrap is different, but that his character was given this story and the expense of another character’s arc. Munkustrap already had a smaller arc that took a backseat to his role as storyteller and protector. He’s already the perfect leader, with his only flaw being his grudge against Grizabella. The main thing Munkustrap has to learn is the moral of the entire play. Outside of that, he’s the narrator and the straight man in the more comedic numbers.

This change also isn’t very good for Tugger. Tugger is not really a character with an arc. He doesn’t change any more than anyone else does. What changes, is how the audience, and some of the other characters, perceive him. In his own number, he’s fun, but he also comes across as a bit of a jerk. He doesn’t care what other people think of him, but that means he doesn’t seem to care about upsetting them either. His interactions with his fans sometimes demonstrate this. He just casually knocks over Tumblebrutus and Pouncival, briefly uses the latter as a chair, and then knocks them over again. Tumblebrutus and Pouncival both think Tugger is awesome, so they don’t mind, but that’s not a very nice way to treat kids who look up to you, even if they don’t mind.

But, then we get to Old Deuteronomy. Tugger appears again, interrupting Munkustrap, apparently being rude again, but then you hear what he’s actually saying. He’s also narrating about and praising Old Deuteronomy. At first, it’s kind of funny, because he’s just talking about how Old D got around, but then you get this line:

And his numerous progeny prospers and thrives And the village is proud of him in his decline

When he mentions “numerous progeny” he gestures over the crowd, ending on Munkustrap. He’s one of those numerous progeny, but he never gestures to himself. He never references himself as Old Deuteronomy’s son, but he does mention Munkustrap. This is followed by “and the village is proud of him”. After the “numerous progeny” line, it’s an awkward circle back to the main topic. But, Tugger seems to address Munkustrap as he says this. In his own way, he’s telling Munkustrap that he’s doing a good job and that everyone’s proud of him.

And then, when Munkustrap and Tugger duet, Munkustrap looks so happy about it. He didn’t expect Tugger to behave and he’s thankful for it. It’s a heartwarming moment and it shows Tugger in a new light. He was inconsiderate during his own number, but now he’s showing nothing but sincere respect for his family.

But, Old Deuteronomy is the ultimate authority figure of the tribe. Everyone loves him and he outranks Tugger. Having Tugger be so sincere here, in contrast to his attitude before, is mainly to show just how beloved Old Deuteronomy is. Even a cat who delights in pissing off authority figures has nothing but respect for him. The real stand-out moment is Mister Mistoffelees.

So, after the fight with Macavity, the tribe is in pretty bad shape. Their leader has been kidnapped and their protector is wounded. And, the kittens witnessed all of it. They saw Macavity kidnap Old Deuteronomy while they could do nothing to stop it. Macavity actually attacked Etcetera and Electra, who both tried to stand up to him. Jemima was right next to Etcetera when she was hit. Then, their protector, the strength of the tribe, someone they probably saw as invincible, gets beaten up in a fight. Munkustrap, when knocked unconscious, lands right in front of Electra, the kitten who seemed to have the closest relationship to him. Electra and Rumpleteazer try to wake him up, but they can’t. Mungojerrie can’t stand it and goes to take on Macavity himself.

So, there was a lot of violence and the kittens had front row seats. Now they’re all sitting in the dark with no idea what to do.

Then, Tugger speaks up. Right away, he has a solution. Tugger starts up a musical number and you can see the kittens getting into it like they’re at a rock concert. Not only does he have a solution to the big problem the tribe is facing, but he presents it in a way that distracts the kittens from what just happened.

And this is all without mentioning the subject matter. Unlike Old Deuteronomy, Mistoffelees doesn’t outrank Tugger and he doesn’t have the universal respect of the tribe. Tugger just thinks Misto is awesome and he’s singing an entire song about it. Misto was the cat who casually insulted him during his own number, but Tugger’s ego was unaffected. Tugger responds with absolute faith and support.

And Misto needs that faith and support. Throughout the entire ball, Misto has been trying to impress the authority figures of the tribe. Tugger, with how popular he is with the younger cats, has a lot of influence over the tribe. He’s an authority figure, in a sense. But, he was the only one in that category who Misto not only didn’t try to impress, but straight-up rejected. He doesn’t care what Tugger thinks. With everyone else in his generation either wanting Tugger or wanting to be Tugger, he stands out. Tugger respects that. And, Misto gets the approval he was looking for in the one place he didn’t bother to look. Misto finally getting that approval is what builds up his confidence so he can bring back Old Deuteronomy. And then Tugger gives him all the credit.

So, the audience is introduced to a character who seems egotistical and inconsiderate. But, he’s not. He never was. Tugger does things for the lulz sometimes. He likes to make a scene and he likes to make a mess. But, the Rum Tum Tugger is artful and knowing. He pays a lot of attention to the other cats and he cares about them. He loves his family, he looks after the kittens, and he gives support to those who need it. He’s actually not that different from Munkustrap.

But, the younger Tugger who bickers with Munkustrap comes across as more genuinely immature and it makes the more sincere moments feel out of nowhere. It’s hard for someone playing a younger Tugger to remain in character during the more serious moments. It just feels like whiplash.

Tldr: So, yeah, the point of this very long essay is that 2016 Munkustrap’s character arc, which has spread to pretty much every production of Cats done in the last five years, has the side effect of making Mistoffelees boring and Tugger obnoxious. It’s an alright arc for Munkustrap, but it sacrifices the arcs of other major characters in a way that a show with an ensemble cast can’t afford to do.

#cats 2016 #cats 1998 #munkustrap #mr mistoffelees #rum tum tugger #artful and knowing #i did an essay #a very long essay #someday i'll do an essay on how 2016 fails at comedy #especially the pekes and the pollicles

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malfoygrass · 3 years

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I never talk about an ot3 for Draco and Astoria, so...I interrupt my regular programing to talk about my first ot3 Headcannon for Draco and Astoria and Harry. Because I figured if Draco and Astoria ever decided to go in that direction, Harry would be 100% there with them.

Hear me out:

At first they don’t have anything in common, there’s Harry who feels so out of place in a world that practically worships him that it’s funny. Draco who’s coming to terms with the fact that he needs to change his old ways and Astoria, the morally ambiguous girl who was suffocated by her family's hypocrisy and refused to let Draco wallow in self pity.

Astoria was trying to run away from home when she accidentally found Draco hiding in her train compartment, they're not even friends, just two perfectly sad people who feel better together than apart after the battle of Hogwarts. But they run away together, because he's an ex death eater and she's a broken pureblood, both trying figure out how to build up their lives from scratch, now that Voldemort is dead.

Just two halfway rebellious teens trying to make sense of a present in which they are called adults. (Astoria refuses to call herself or Draco blood traitors, since there was nothing to betray in the first place)

And that’s how they find Harry Potter, in between house hunting in Muggle London, shopping in muggle malls, Draco's panic attacks out over his dark mark and the hallucinations of her survival guilt. they find Harry Potter, who goes to the same cafe each afternoon and also has a lost look in his eyes that Astoria is familiar with. Harry who for reasons of his own also wanted to run away from a world that doesn't really see him. Harry who feels alone after losing so much and yet finds peace in his own company.

So being the person she is, Astoria invites him over to Draco’s new muggle house for posh tea and crap takeout and when the night is over and the mutual apologies are exhausted. Draco tells Harry he's welcome to stay in his guest room whenever he wants.

Astoria's presence is a joy to find comfort in, a blank slate of opinions for Harry to talk to, she makes it easy for Harry to adapt to Draco, to understand his former arch enemy and find himself in places he never thought to look. their lifestyle isn't demanding or ambitious. To Harry, it seems like all they want is a quiet place to heal and figure out who they are, before the future Lord Malfoy and the youngest Greengrass heiress, can assert their true voices in Magical Britain again, and so he stays... because he needs to figure that out too.

Harry teaches Draco how to use a coffee maker and discovers a new appreciation for every old museum in the UK. Once Astoria learns to sew clothes with magic, Harry and Draco find themselves in too many fancy suits for their liking and being made to judge between all her dresses. They visit all the dance clubs Harry ever wanted to try. Draco proves to be an excellent dancer in every type of muggle music much to Harry's amazement, while Astoria makes them both laugh whenever she tries.

Harry exhausts himself teaching Draco and Astoria about the joy in the simple things of life. While Draco and Astoria try to convince Harry that using money to make life easier is the Muggle version of magic. And the thing is that, the three of them don’t notice when love comes into the mix.

Sure Astoria likes Draco, he’s dramatic and stoic and he’s the closest thing she knows to a mirror, he can read her entire volumes of pretentious books and never gives in to her whining when she’s sick, and she likes Harry, because he’s funny and down to earth and a fierce protector over the people he loves, which includes her, she knows Draco enjoys it, she enjoys it too, how Harry makes them feel safe. She likes them both and they are attractive and she knows they like each other so it’s okay to love them like a friend, until it’s not. (And she doesn't know what to do)

And sure Draco likes Astoria and Harry, Astoria because she’s soft and forgiving and she’s got hope enough for the two of them and he’s pretty sure she’d support him even if he turned into a monster and Harry because he’s Harry and past history aside, Harry is just as forgiving as Astoria, he doesn’t put up with Draco’s moods and he gives as good as he gets, Draco likes Harry’s raw honesty, his sarcasm, his sense of humor, if Astoria feels like home, then Harry feels like adventure without leaving home, they both make him happy, Harry and Astoria know enough about muggle culture to lose themselves in London with him, pulling him out of his shell and tag teaming his defenses until he gives in, he is happy to have them both, until he wants more (but he doesn't know how to tell them he wants them both)

And Harry, well he feels like Draco and Astoria are a perfect combination of kindness and spite. He likes Astoria, probably more than he should, given that she’s the archetypal white princess to Draco’s black prince, she’s understanding and patient, warm, mischievous and strong in her fragility, and Harry has never met someone who can speak about caring for one’s enemies like Astoria does, she’s simply the kind of girl who brings comfort wherever she goes and Draco, Harry has learned to like Draco, underneath the pretentious idiocy, there’s actually a good person. Draco is mean, and stubborn, but he’s also smart, ingenious, terribly generous and stupidly indulgent with people he cares about, which are not many, so Harry likes him. They are both more innocent than they should, too prone to overspending, he always feels like they don't know enough of the Muggle world to avoid being swindled, he finds it endearing, and it’s okay to be their friend, until it’s not (he knows he's inlove, but nobody's ever told him it's okay to love two people at once)

It starts when Astoria's nightmares return. Dreams of dead people blaming her for surviving the carnage that make her scream herself awake, Usually Draco is used to awkwardly climbing in her bed and soothing her until she falls back asleep. But this time Harry gets there first and he's much better at it than him (Astoria responds better to Harry's reassurances than she does to Draco's). So Draco lets her calm down in Harry's arms untill she's well enough turn around and seek Draco's more stable and familiar presence.

It's a dynamic that neither Harry or Draco mind, much to Astoria's embarrassment. Truth be told the three of them have nightmares, but only Astoria is held and cuddled by the two of them anytime she so much as whimpers in her sleep. So when Harry wakes up in cold sweat and pretends to be checking up on Astoria only to find that Draco had the same idea, they don't make a big deal out it.

Because Harry has PSTD episodes almost as often as Draco and turning the house into a safe place to heal is what they've been trying to do since the beginning.

Harry needs Draco to remind him how to act normal and sarcastic and he needs Astoria to soothe him into a state of calm. Draco knows they need each other a little bit more at night, and Harry thinks it's nothing to be ashamed of. So Draco isn't. Astoria is weak, Harry is a protector and Draco is a provider. Aside from falling inlove with a classmate's little sister, It's natural to be so close with the boy who used to be your school rival...right?

Astoria's room becomes neutral ground. It eventually gets filled with Harry's things and Draco's things of course. After all her room was meant to be the biggest anyway (Since Draco in all his sexist assholery thought Astoria owned a wardrobe as big as his mother's so she should have the biggest closet) besides it's saves them all time to have Draco's hair products on hand instead of going trough all the trouble of stealing them from his room

Eventually Draco's room turns into an office for Harry and the guest room becomes the potions lab Draco always wanted....

Aaand after a few months of living together, healing together and learning to fit in the muggle world. They decide it's time to go back to face the magical world and their responsibilities.

It turns into a panicked discussion about everything their families and friends are going to expect from them once they rejoin the real world, and in a true Griffindoor fashion Harry makes the first move and tells them he wants to stay together.... But romantically, because at least he is trying to be brave cue the two emotionally constipated Slytherins admitting their feelings.

So there's a lot of talking and more than some kissing involved in that whole emotional confession time. They decide that if they are going to be together then it's going to be them against the world and thats going to be an uphill battle but they're willing to, if it's with the other two.

And yeah that's how I imagine an Ot3 between Draco Harry and Astoria would go

Ps: could someone tell me what this ship is called? Drastroriary? Drarryoria? Haroriaco?

#Drastoria #astoria greengrass #draco malfoy #Harry Potter #draco x Astoria x harry #ot3 <3 #ot3 au

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