#pixie writes: family formations
Note
you putting “megumi needs his mom rn” in the cw makes me wonder how he and the family reacted to yuuji dying after the detention center mission (and also what was the reaction to him coming back since i’m assuming gojo told reader before they revealed it to everyone else)
Family Formations - Part Eleven
Summary: Deja vu visits you when your son loses his best friend.
Warning: swearing, angst, acc kinda soft too, mourning, mentions of blood and vomiting, canon typical violence, MDNI
A/N: I had already started this fic when this request came through so loving the telepathy going on here. Also. This is sad. I’m sorry. I’ll make it worth it dw dw.
Recommended Listening:
Daylight - David Kushner
No Surprises - Radiohead
Ghost of You - 5 Seconds of Summer
Sparks - Coldplay
Your doorbell chimed, glancing at the clock hanging above the fireplace from you’d spot on the sofa, 8 pm? Satoru wasn’t due home until 9 pm plus - he just warped inside your home. Did he order your flowers again? You check the baby monitor and see your 4-month-old is still sound asleep in his crib.
Walking up to the door, you sensed a very familiar cursed energy. Megumi? What’s he doing here, it’s Wednesday.
You could hear the rain and thunder pouring and hitting your windows in waves.
You open the door, and you see nothing.
A whimper emanates from beside you, and on the ground – slumped against the doorway is your eldest boy.
You fall on your knees beside him.
“Megumi! Baby, what’s going on? You’re going to catch a cold.” You brush his hair out of his face, and you are stricken with the realisation that he is crying. His angular face is so devoid of any emotion, but the tears scream otherwise. You could count the number of times you’ve seen him cry in 10 years on one hand and you hadn’t been prepared for this tonight.
“Jesus, baby what’s going on?” You try to heave him up from the ground and he’s as limp as a rag doll as you try to guide him inside the door. The hallway is as far as you can manage his weight before you give in and shut the door to the outside world. He’s now just leaned against your sage green wall, if he wasn’t breathing, you’d think he was comatose.
Only now do you realise he’s bleeding. His lip is busted, and his eyebrow is too. But what type of curse would elicit this reaction?
“Megumi? Honey? Talk to me - what’s happened?” You kneel beside him, one hand on his shoulder, the other on the top of his head.
Empty eyes, now a dull blue, look up at you through lashes soaked with rain and tears.
“He’s dead.” The tiniest voice, again, void of emotions.
Satoru? No – you had been on the phone with him 20 minutes ago.
“He killed him.” His eyes are facing you – but they’re looking straight through you.
“Who’s dead, Megumi?” You probe – anxiety gripping your stomach like a vice.
“Sukuna – ripped his heart out. In front of me. Just ripped it out. His heart. He’s dead.” The words are barely intelligible in the mumbles that come from his out and you’re still as confused, Sukuna? How could- oh my god Yuuji is dead.
Yuuji Itadori.
Dead.
“Oh my god – fuck. Megumi, my sweet boy.” At this point, he turned to you.
He looked into your eyes.
He turned his head and vomited on the floor beside him.
You pull him into you, tears flooding your face as you think about that sweet, sweet boy – a soul too good for this world so brutally ripped out of it.
You wipe his mouth on your sweater sleeve and once again haul him up into your grasp he almost falls but you pull on every muscle fibre you had – you needed to get him dry and cleaned up.
A memory played in your mind, a sense of déjà vu – Satoru vomiting and sobbing and you shaking with tears curled up together – the loss of another best friend. The fates were cruel masters to make you relive this scene again.
Once he was up the stairs you lay him on his bed. Where he just sat on the edge, legs still on the ground and stared at his shoes. He went to vomit again, and this time you caught it with a bucket you’d retrieved from the closet.
“I need to get a cloth. I’ll be right back.” He didn’t acknowledge this. You just needed a moment to gather yourself before you went back in - you’d be no good to him if you continue to try to help in the state you're in, a mess of shock and grief and anger. White hot anger.
You shut the en suite door of his room behind you, and you rush to the toilet and heave up all of your remaining food at the mental image of that darling boy laying cold and dead and gutted on the ground.
You give yourself a moment – your son and you breathe so that you can deal with everything later – wait, does Satoru know?
Grabbing a cloth – you go into the room, laying the cloth down for a moment, you go into your and Satoru’s room and grab one of his sweatshirts. In Megumi’s room, you pull sweatpants from his wardrobe and look at your son. He’s dripping rainwater onto the carpet and there’s blood from his injuries mingling, tinging it pink.
You think some of the puddles might be tears, his or your own, you don’t know.
You stand in front of him, remembering the times when you’d do this to help him into his frog pyjamas - he was only 6 back then – 16 now and 5ft 9 – almost a whole foot taller than you. You lift his arms and unzip his jacket – his T-shirt underneath is soaked through too. You peel them both from him and check for cuts on his torso – bruises, old and fresh – but no blood.
You pull Satoru’s sweatshirt over his head, and he doesn’t even seem to notice that you’re moving him. He’s just limp in your arms, and you swear to anyone who’s listening to if you could take that pain and shoulder, it yourself then you would.
You peel his slacks down, pulling his sweatpants (a Christmas present from your brother) onto his lanky legs you tuck his hair behind his ears and dry it with a cloth. You then dab at his bleeding wounds, they’re clotting now, and the bleeding is stopping.
You throw the cloth away to the far side of the room.
He’s seen enough blood for today.
Tears are flowing freely from you both as you sit beside him on the edge of the bed.
Your proximity must trigger him back to this plane of existence and he looks at you.
“I couldn’t save him.”
“I know sweet boy, but it’s not your fault. You did everything you could.”
“It was a special grade – he, the curse had a finger. Our mission didn’t say any of that.”
“A special grade? Was Satoru there?” He couldn’t have been, he was in Osaka today.
“No. Just me and Kugisaki and Itadori.” His voice quavers.
You knew exactly what happened. It was clear from even the bare minimum you had heard.
But – now was not the time. Willing yourself to push the thoughts aside. Megumi doesn’t need that right now.
“You did everything you could, ‘Gumi. There was nothing you could have done.”
This was his kryptonite. A heavy, choked sob broke through the air and his body collapsed onto you.
“His heart – he ripped it out. He was right there and he just – momma, he’s dead. I couldn’t save him, Momma.” You broke down, sobbing yourself, cradling this boy – this poor broken boy, into your chest as you hugged him so tight you could feel every shake of his body in your own. You carefully moved. you both so you could sit against his headboard with his sobbing head laid on your stomach.
You are so grateful that Akio is a heavy-sleeping baby because you need to focus on your oldest son now. He needed you, and you were his to protect him, 100%.
You stroke his hair and whisper placating nothing into his ear. Nothing will fix this. Nothing will make it easier or make it feel better. You just need to be here; you just need to hold him now. You can tell him until the cows come home that he did all he could, he couldn’t have stopped Sukuna, that it was not his fault – but all these worlds will refuse to sink in until he’s ready to hear them. Yet, you tell him anyway. Over and over again.
You’ve no idea how much time passes. Your tears mingle with the lingering water on the side of his head as you cry with him but eventually, the sobs turn into heavy breaths, and you realise he’s passed out. Sheer exhaustion has taken his body hostage and for a second, you’re put at peace knowing at least right now – his mind will be quiet.
You slip your phone from your pocket, without moving or disturbing the boy on your lap.
‘Please call me.’ A message from Satoru.
You ring him.
The phone barely dials once before you hear his voice – hoarse.
“Y/N. I –”
“I know ‘Toru. Megumi came home.”
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t there.” He sounds so broken.
“You have no reason to be sorry baby, we both know how this managed to come to pass.” You hated that he always still felt the weight of the whole world on his shoulders.
“I’ll kill them all.” He says, and you know he’s serious.
“You could, but you won’t. Maybe 10 years ago – maybe then we’d have done it together. But not now, not anymore.” You reply, voice still thick with tears.
There’s silence.
“Where are you, ‘Toru?”
“The morgue.”
“Shoko?”
“On her way in.”
“I can’t leave the boys.”
“I’ll be home soon.”
“I love you.”
“I love you.”
He hangs up the phone. Nothing more needs to be said. These feelings are sadly all too familiar to you both. You realise Shoko will have to do the autopsy.
She delivered Akio 4 months ago. Now she’d be cutting up the corpse of the boy who waited outside of the labour ward for 16 hours.
You lean your head back – closing your eyes. Flashes of a pink head tossing back in laughter and strong arms hugging you in thanks, of meatballs served to you as you nurse your newborn and the Spider-Man lamp being plugged in making you smile at the giddy teenager. The faces change, now they’re old and wrinkled and whisper words with serpentine tongues laced with deceit and heartlessness in their actions. They knew what they were doing. Satoru wasn’t in Osaka for no reason. They knew.
They all fucking knew.
They sent him to his death, knowingly and intentionally. They sent three children into a trap all because they are scared. Cowards who hide behind words of ‘the good of society’ and the guise of ‘the greater good’. Satoru and you had screamed and pushed and threatened to stay the execution, but they found a loophole anyway.
They risked Megumi and Nobara – did they think you wouldn’t piece together the big picture? Did they think that you wouldn’t realise?
You don’t know how long you sat there but your phone buzzed again.
📲Satoruuuuu is Calling… ✅⛔️
You pick up.
“He’s alive.”
“What?”
“He’s alive. Yuuji’s alive. Sukuna woke him up…” There are so many tones in his voice and so many thoughts in your head you have to close your eyes.
“Are you sure?”
“Well - he’s talking and walking so unless The Last of Us was accurate then…” he attempts a joke – relief clear in his voice.
You softly lift the head from your lap, and place it on the navy pillow. He doesn’t stir.
You walk out into your room, sitting on the balcony – the air was what you needed.
“I don’t know what to say.” That is all you can manage.
The torrent of emotions your mind went through was making you so dizzy you sat on the wooden chair looking at the sky.
“He’s not safe here, they’re going to come for him.” Satoru’s voice comes, quiet through the phone.
“What will we do?” You say.
“He needs time, he needs to train and learn to manipulate and use his cursed energy. If he can protect himself…” Satoru begins.
“We need to hide him. He can’t stay at school or come here.” Your sorcerer’s brain was switched on now.
“I can’t bring him to the Gojo estate either, the elders the family visit too much.” He speaks.
Lightbulb.
“They visit your family… but they’d never think to visit mine. Satoru, bring him to my mom’s. I’ll call her, you can train him there every day, and if we’re being watched it’s not suspicious to visit our own family. She’ll take care of him.” You say, you knew that your family would protect this boy with their lives, he was family to Megumi, family to you.
“Y/N… we can’t tell anyone. The only people who know are me, you, Shoko and Ijichi.” He says, and your heart stops.
You’ll have to lie to Megumi.
“Fuck. It’s too dangerous for him to know – if they catch wind of this, and they find out he knows…” you say.
“He’ll be branded a traitor. Who knows what they’d do for information.”
“He’s going to hate us.”
“He’ll understand. He’s a smart kid.”
“Come home to me, to us – ‘toru. Bring him to my parents and then please come home.” You whisper to him.
He agrees and tells you he loves you.
The weeks fly by as you feel yourself crumbling from the weight of the sadness spilling from your son, Kugisaki isn’t much better and Satoru is still reeling from the elder’s deceit. You stormed to the council meeting the following day and threatened to burn the place to the ground if they so much as considered harming a hair on the head of the other kids.
“Unfortunate circumstances occur on missions. Nobody knows the outcome of these situations.” They fought.
“Oh – you knew the outcome of this one. You knew full well. All of you, every single one of you knew and you allowed it. In legal terms, that’s murder. You’re all sociopaths and whatever awaits you in the next world, I hope it hurts even a fraction of the pain you’ve all caused. Endanger my family again, and I’ll deal with you all personally – never mind Satoru.”
The training was going well – you had gone to your mother’s house two days after his resurrection, after the water cooled and you were sure you weren’t being surveilled.
You had run to Yuuji, running your eyes and hands over every bit of him, checking for wounds and crying into his shoulder. He had died, and somehow you were being comforted by him.
Satoru and you explained the situation, taking turns to train with him. They came up with a ridiculous idea of Yuuji playing Jack in the Box at the exchange event all you could do was allow it.
Back home – you explained to Megumi that the mission had been a nefarious plot concocted by the elders and higher ups to get rid of Yuuji, since you and your husband kept getting in the way – they took the opportunity of your maternity leave to send Gojo to Osaka and place the kids in the path of a Special Grade Curse. You hoped being armed with this information would help him understand why you and Satoru had lied to him, and allowed him to grieve. It hurt you, but his safety was paramount.
When the day came and Yuuji was released, you stood beside Megumi as he and Nobara watched him return from the dead. Jaws hanging open, they couldn’t tear their eyes from their friend.
Reunions and rejoicing complete, you and Satoru pulled Megumi by the sleeve away from the scene, into your classroom.
When the door shut, you began to sob.
“‘Gumi, I’m so sorry. We didn’t have any choice but to keep it a secret. It –” Satoru wraps you into his chest.
“We had to keep it secret, because they would have killed anyone involved if they found out, kiddo. We had to keep you safe.” He says hand on Megumi’s shoulder and a crying wife clinging to him.
“It’s okay.” Megumi shrugs.
You freeze, you thought he’d never forgive you.
“What?” You and Satoru say in unison.
“I get why you did it. Thank you, guys, – for helping him, and uh – for protecting us all.” He says and God this boy will never fail to amaze you. His maturity was something you and Satoru could only have dreamed of at his age and even rarer was hearing such genuine praise from him – he was softer with you, but this was directed to you both.
Wordlessly, you and Satoru wrapped him in your arms and he begrudgingly and awkwardly reciprocated the affection.
Over his head, you looked at your husband. His crystalline eyes filled with relief and love for you and your patchwork family, and you pressed a soft kiss to his lips – a silent thank you for everything you do. The road was never easy, but God was it worth it.
TAGLIST: @vesta-ro @lilithlunas @mialexandruh @sassy-cat-in-town @madam-ri @cjm-cookiethief
#gojo satoru x reader#gojo x reader#gojo satoru#jjk#jjk x reader#gojo fluff#anime#dad!gojo#megumi angst#megumi fushiguro#itadori yuuji#pixie writes: family formations
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My WIPs (or at least the ones I can remember)
Portal:
"Opera Beneath Aperture": Where the Geekenders version is vaudeville, mine is more pop-opera in the style of "Phantom" or "Wicked". Basically just remixing the soundtrack and adding lyrics. There will be comedy, but at the end of the day, playing the melodrama of "Portal 2" straight is just easier. (Progress 30%)
"Rat Race": An homage to the US "The Office", but one by one the characters are axed off as Aperture becomes a more and more dystopian place to work. (Progress 10%)
"Portrait of a Lady: A Romanticized Horror": Prequel character-study on Caroline, obviously. She's preppy like Kim, but being born in the 1930's she's more sexually repressed, and therefore even more of a manic-pixie-nightmare-girl. She blacks out and murders her gynecologist for malpractice in Chapter 3; yeah it's that kind of a story. Also she's pretty racist? To the extent that any person from that era running a dystopian secessionist megacorporation would have to be. (Progress 50%)
Better Call Saul:
"Sheepdog": A traumatic event causes Kim to question the nature of her own reality. We the fans love Kim... but we do not respect her. (Progress 50%)
"Slippin Kimmy": This is my SERIOUS entry for what I think should happen next in the story. Basically a lot of white-hat Heisenberging around. She stops a shooting at a Planned Parenthood in episode 2; yeah it's that kind of a story. If that's what "WYCARO" ends up being, I'll be happy. If not? Hey it's free money, Vince. I'll just leave it on the table 'til you're done being done again. (Progress 5%)
"Last Clear Chance Doctrine": In 6x05 Jimmy calls Kim to say he's going to be late; Howard wants to fight him in the ring. Kim says she'll be right over. (Progress 0%)
"Just Take the Money": Parallel "Breaking Bad" timeline, where Walt accepts Eliot's hand-out. It'll make you wish he had stuck to cooking meth. I'm probably going to include a subplot where Saul bangs Skyler cus it makes me smile. (Progress 0%)
Crossovers/Other:
Steven Universe: "Warp Congestion": Steven figures out how to remove his gem and live as a normal human for extended periods of time. And if you think this sounds like a contrivance to write Rose Quartz back into the story... it is! Pearl was supposed to hold onto the gem for the day, but as the administrative headaches of helping to keep Little Homeworld organized pile up, Rainbow Quartz starts to revert back to v 1.0. (Progress 5%)
Steven Universe: "Roughhousing": You ever have those moments with your spouse, where one minute you're joking around and everything seems fine, and then one little comment gets taken wrong and suddenly everything gets a bit ugly? Even Ruby and Sapphire have those moments. And it made for one hell of a night at Beach City Underground Wrestling. (Progress 100%... but it's in the format of a Torts practice exam. Yes really)
Barry: "A Plan for Sally": My OC, Rita, has been going around to various netflix shows and selling life-insurance and family planning policies to the love-interest characters in crime dramas. Well, Rita will call them "insurance policies"; what they really are are Faustian bargains. If you thought the ending to "Barry" was weird, rushed, or maybe even a little saccharine, Rita is why. (Progress 0%)
Midnight Mass: "The Girl Who Ate the World": Erin Greene wakes up lying in the grass to find herself - not just alive - but sparkling in the sun like a million little diamonds. It's a miracle! Second only to the bad-miracle of news that the Angel survived and is transforming people in the Portland subway system as we speak. Rita is in this one too. (Progress 50%)
"Crack Fic: Torts and Torts": Kim Wexler, Dolores Abernathy, and Love Quinn attend a mobwives convention in Napoli. After a few drinks, Kim and Love get into a tense conversation about dead brothers, and more specifically when/how a spouse is at-fault for the death of a brother-in-law. Kim forgets the argument after she sobers up, but Dolores warns her to watch her back. Sure enough, Love attacks Kim with a katana and they must battle it out as frenemies. (Progress 2%)
"300 Million Cowboys": I re-write Better Call Saul as a pulpy beach-read about vampires. With enough changes to the plot that it can be legally sold on Kindle. Kim is now named Jean Troy. Jimmy is now named Sammy McCormick. Mike and Chuck have been merged into one character. Kevin and Howard have been merged into one character. (Progress 2%)
#portal 2#better call saul#kim wexler#slippin kimmy#wycaro get hype#breaking bad#gretchen schwartz#caroline portal#steven universe#rainbow quartz#barry hbo#midnight mass#love quinn#netflix you#westworld#wip#current wip#my wips#better call saul vampire au
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Randomly and for no reason at all, a list of stuff that always come up in my writing and characters:
- falling in love with an idea of a person someone built in their head, ultimately leading to disappointment and heartbreak
- being presented with prospects of adventure, mystery, fantasy and "being special", only for the character in question to choose their everyday life instead because it is more fulfilling
- bonding through having fun together / repressed and/or stoic character A learning to have fun alongside free-spirited dorky character B (aka manic pixie dream dork)
- related to the last point, a theme of coming out of one's shell and achieving one's true self
- a band of various misfits forming a found family
- everyone can sing and do so, always, all the time
- a Glee/Smash!/jukebox format of delivering music: diegetic but eerily convenient and relevant to the circumstances XD
- a fun-loving chipper goof being utterly crushed by the weight of responsibility, circumstance and their own poor decisions
- said goof trying to cope with their trauma and slowly healing over time, but never quite achieving their former goofiness and easy-going disposition
- mutual pining (sometimes voluntary: characters choose to prolong the pining period willingly for a variety of reasons)
- Crouching! Moron! Hidden! Badass!
- nobody's a kisser, everyone's a hugger
- characters growing up with no father figures
- a jolly kind middle aged/older gentleman who becomes a father figure for the character in question later in life
- teenage friends with a quiet mutual crush being separated and out of touch for many years only for them to meet again and fall for one another even harder than before
- the beauty of mundanity
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[Download] (Books) Straight On Till Morning (Twisted Tales) By Liz Braswell
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What if Wendy first traveled to Neverland? with Captain Hook?Sixteen-year-old Wendy Darling's life is not what she imagined it would be. The doldrums of an empty house after her brothers have gone to school, the dull parties where everyone thinks she talks too much, and the fact that her parents have decided to send her away to Ireland as a governess-it all makes her wish things could be different.Wendy's only real escape is in writing down tales of Never Land. After nearly meeting her hero, Peter Pan, four years earlier, she still holds on to the childhood hope that his magical home truly exists. She also holds on to his shadow.So when an opportunity to travel to Never Land via pirate ship presents itself, Wendy makes a deal with the devil. But Never Land isn't quite the place she imagined it would be. Unexpected dangers and strange foes pop up at every turn, and a little pixie named Tinker Bell seems less than willing to help.But when Captain Hook reveals some rather permanent and
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Rewinxing Timeline Pre-Series
Keep in mind that between events and events can pass centuries. The average experience of a person is 10,000 years. and if you have magic and you know how to use it... Because I love Belgariad Chronicles so magic MAY makes you inmortal because yes.
WARNING: LONG. AND SURE I'M MISSING SOMETHING. OR CROSS SOMETHING. AGGG. MY HEAD.
And yes, in my rewinxing there is racism, selfishness, "human" idiocy and other nonsense. Why do The Ancestresses ALWAYS fight together?
PROTOHISTORY
Ethereals Fight - Big Bang
They actually do it two more times -Nobody says the must be AllIntelligents. So, Out Life, Big Bang Again.
They decide that they better stop and see what could happen to the result of their first and third fights: "life" they decide to call it, it would be interesting if it were allowed to develop.
Planets are formed, they become habitable.
The first intelligent creatures are born (Clariel -female human races, Carabossa -male elven races, Kristjana -female mermaid/triton races, Oros - male centaurs races, Ninfea -female pixies, Laufey -female gigant races, Danu- hermaphrodite selkies). They all talk funny. They all are old as dust.
TIME OF LEGENDS - ANCIENT TIMES
Skips and happens a millennium or two of advance in all systems and their planets.
Magic flourishes. But technology also, the native giants of Xenia are particularly advanced in it.
Darkar, previously knows as Lord Argulus of Larisa, Fae of Birds (one now uninhabitable planet from Hercules, aka Domino system) borns.
All the Mythix members are born already.
Solarian witch Selemisa meets Lumeria and Lumen race (also, first Cosmix user).
Acheron, Wizard of Memories begin to writes the Legendarium.
The days of the groundhog begin.
The Ancestral Witches have born.
Mythix comes together and decides to confront Acheron and his allies.
The Legendarium is closed and the Mythix Ones get separated because people are scared of their association.
THE WAR - THE DARK AGE
Sparks (First Queen of the planet that would become Domino) has born.
Carabossa Acrypta, as soft as dangerous his thorns; finds, keeps safe and educates said the ancestral witches maybe too early in their magic.
The InterRealm Wars starts. Nobody remembers anymore why - which is SHAMEFUL - because wars are stupid. Some energetic or magical resource. It will last for centuries.
Darkar gets both Morix and Shadow Phoenix Blessing.
Many of the planets and kingdoms reflected in the Legendarium no longer exist, Many histories and cultures that will be forgotten. Solaria, Andros and Romulea, among others, can boast they are ancient and have stood on their feet. But even they don't remember everything.
Many other planets, like Domino, Titania and Zenith, have flourished from the remains of previous ones.
The three witches begin to go “a little” crazy - Only Carabossa and his near ones know them at this point.
Darkar is one of the biggest detractors of peace. Something about "new beginnings". Most people take for granted that the Ethereal's blessing and the destruction of his planet drove him crazy.
Acrypta and Arcadia, along with other Mythix and Elders are offered position in the Golden Kingdom. Almost all reject. The Mythix faes and witches in the end they die by age, minus Arcadia because the Ethereals need someone who knews about the Legendarium and forces her. Ninfea escapes on a tiny technicality (but she can no longer move from Hike's remains), Laufey and Carabossa use their magic to go on the run and Danu melts into the Infinite Ocean [[So yes, the Council of Elders don’t actually likes that much the Ethereals but they are not foolish enough to be rude from the front]].
Somehow that includes that it’s the little bricks that make up a castle, the war actually ended. The Peace Accords are signed and their symbol is the Monastery of Roccaluce. Day celebrated on all planets.
The Council of Magic Realm is created with its headquarters in Monastery of Roccaluce in the rest of the planet Hike, Magix.
Alfea, Cloud Tower and Lymphea College are founded. There were already other schools being founded in each pleant, but these have the approval of the Council.
The connection of the Earth/Terra with the rest of the planets is cut abruptly JUST WHEN ALL THE AGREEMENTS WERE FINISHED AND after they played a significant role in the Peace Negotiations.
The Three Witches disappear. Along Darkar. They actually go to Omega and whatever Darkar teach the Three Witches, is such that the planet has been claiming the magic of the visitors to try sustain itself ever since.
MODERN AGE - NEW TIMES
The Major Earth Fairies (Morgana, Diana, Nebula, Sibylla, Aurora, Tinkerbell, Eldora) are teenagers right now.
Overlapping with the Peace Accords, the Wizards of the Black Circle (a minor section of Terra magic user who went their own way). They begin to hunt the fairies as soon as said fairies begin their formation (which is when the wings are solid) and tear them off. This forces all the fairies on Earth to back down and all the negative magic users to hide for not wanting to join them. The Earth soon forgets about magic. The Earth, with the ley lines cut (because in its crossways, now closed, are the last refuges of the fairies, this includes Neverland, El Dorado and Tir Nan Og among others ) it got stuck, lost its quality, and the terrans, quantity of life. But it never got to the Omega level, because, well, something there. The only way the fairies had to get out were the ones able to cast White Circles, only half of the Major Fairies on Terra are capable of doing them, and usually the visits did not turn out well or did not like what they saw outside and the Wizards were destroying them very time they could.
Acrypta keep missing to THE ETHEREALS SIGHT, still searching his kids. ALSO Laufey, whether they are together or not, no one knows, but the Council take for granted that they are in the Golden Kingom, and no one there is going to deny that. Because, while the Elders don't hate the Council, they don't endorse it either. Council of Elders against the Universe.
The Three Witches visit for first time Domino. Tharma and/or Liliss tricked the King of Domino and tried got part of his Dragon Flame - but they couldn't store it all because of how the Blessing works- This visit will become a recurring and increasingly destructive thing, something personal.
Lord Darkar dirty kills Carabossa before he reaches the Three Witches... I... I just tried to redeem the The Ancestresses... NO. Not on my guard... well maybe, they are CRAZY. But he is the first Wizard and kinda blessed by ethereals too. The guy respects that. If Ninfea, bonded pixie to Carabossa didn't die then was by Ethereals dis-grace, I mentioned before. But two ethereal-blessed dudes could "cancel" the other blessings (in Carabossa not the typical blessing but Golden Kingdom inmortal membership blessing)
Almost all people from the Company of Light has born and started or almost finished school at this point. Faragonda switches from Witch to Fairy, Kalshara things happens,
Marion borns and receives the Dragon Flame from her father.
Valtor is “born”. Physically his appearance is a carbon copy to Carabossa, but sadly not my adorkable one and composed of the flesh and blood of the three sisters, Carabossa and the King of Domino Ninfea and Carabossa's pixie tie influences the birth of Valtor (I'll leave it there). AND HE FUCKING ACTUALLY GETS THE DRAGON’S BLESSING. Twisted universe and Ethereal Dark Sense of Humour.
Valtor is sent to mingle with the people to conquer the planets "by wordiness" and get allies, while the witches try “by force”. Griffin joins Valtor, not the Ancestresses. Daphne and Politea borns sometime around here.
The Lord of the Templars Gareth seal Darkar back in Omega BEFORE the destruction of Domino hoping that the fact that according to their latest reports the Ancestresses have abandoned it and the planet now absorbs magic will keep him locked up. It begins to be used as a prison in general. Also he sends Darkar to Omega because their current Boundless Oblivion Keeper, Mandragora had switched sides and he preferred to finish ensuring that everything was in order and check any what she could have done.
With an unexpected, but welcome freedom, the Ancestresses become more agressive and forces Valtor’s political hand. All politics in vain but for all this policy and such is that in season 3 Valtor moves so fast in the theft of spells between planets.
Griffin lefts Valtor, the Company of Light is officially founded. YAY!!! -F*CKING FINALLY. They had suspicions against Valtor until then.
Bloom (named Ariadne in Domino) and the main cast and others around their ages are born.
With Valtor as the most obvious and localized target, they easily send him to Omega and one less problem.
Politea betrays Daphne.
Roxy is born with Morgana visit to Terra. She stays with her family for a bit.
The Ancestresses attack Domino in retaliation knowing that "his daughter" had a lot to do with this. No, not because he was their son, but because he was their toy. The witches first attempted to attack Domino across the Infinite Ocean, so only Daphne was able to defend it. Quickly changing the scene, they attacked her sister and and even faster than them she jumped to protect her, then Daphne transferred the Dragon's Flame to Bloom, a moment that they took advantage of to defeat but actually not kill her (because having a fairy who had obtained the Nymphix could be useful later to dissect).
All this time it served to reunite the Company of Light who totally went with the intention of -kill- seal them in Boundless Oblivion since they are not as nice as The Templar Leader (specially with Oritel and Marion leading and their missing daughters), and there are many so they can actually do the spell quickly (Gareth went one on one with Darkar, go Gareth!!) But the witches did not leave without a fight and all Domino went with them to Oblivion.
PRE-SERIES
Faragonda becomes Headmistress.
Morgana witnesses Bloom's arrival on Earth and gives a super-ultra-mega-fast advice to Mike and Vanessa. She didn't even get a chance to properly introduce Roxy and Bloom or learn Bloom's name.
Sadly, Bloom arrival also triggers the one of the Wizards of the Black Circle. To the trash the years Morgana spent being careful! So, placing on both girls a little glamour that would prevent their still-developing magic from being detected she had to put on a great little performance to make the Wizards thinks she was the only magic user there, and returned to her Kingdom.
Said spell in the future would prevent Eldora from detecting Bloom's magic.
#rewinxing timeline#winx#winx club#rewinxing#timeline#rambling about winx#winx timeline#worldbuilding
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List of prompts available to claim for the Good AUMens AU Fest
(Please note: unique write-ins are also accommodated on the sign-up form. Claims open on March 1. See this post for more details on the claims process.)
The list is huge, sorry! Tried to spoiler-cut it but editing this list in HTML to properly format it is eliminating the option for the cut.
1920s
1980s Club
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Japan
Ancient Rome
Android/Cyborg
Angry customer/employee
Animal Rescue
Antifascist
Aristocrat
Arranged Marriage
Art Heist
Arthurian
Artists or Artist/Muse
Specific settings will be suggested in the survey, along with a write-in area. Too many to list here.
Bakery
Barbershop
Beach/Island
Bodyguard/Guarded
Chauffeur
childhood friends
Children's Entertainers
Circus
City/Urban
Club owners
Co-Workers
Specific settings will be suggested in the survey, along with a write-in area. Too many to list here.
Coffee Shop
Cooking
Cop/criminal
Cyberpunk
Dating
Blind date (setup via friends)
Online/Dating App date
Write-in
Desert
Edwardian
Elders
Elf/Fairy/Pixie
Elizabethan
Ex-couple reunion
Exchange Student
Fairy Tale
Fake Dating (broken out by participant-submitted premise)
Fake Married
Immigration/Legal/Insurance reasons
To appease family
For bet/spite/convenience
Write-in
Fairy Tale (broken out by specific fairy tale)
Farm/Countryside
Fashion
Models
Designers
Model/designer
Write-in
Fishermen
Flower Shop
Forestry
Park rangers
Lumberjacks
Write-in
Future setting
Ghosts/Supernatural
High Fantasy
High School
Traditional High School
Boarding High School
Write-in
Hitmen
Hotel guests
Identity Porn
Identity Theft
Insanity
Internet
Virtual world
Podcasters
Streamers
Vloggers
Bloggers
Write-in
Jailhouse
Jailed/Jailor
Fellow Inmates
Write-in
Language barrier
Library
Mafia
Magic Users
Medical
Medieval
Meet at wedding
Meet on vacation
Mermaid/Ocean Setting
Monastery/Nunnery
Musicians
Composers or composer/performer
Rock/Pop band
Jazz band
Write-in
Mythology (broken out by specific mythological tale)
Neighbors
Newspaper
Non-detective noir
One character human, the other angel/demon as in canon
Opposing Lawyers
Pen Pals
Pet Shop
Pirates
Pokemon
Politics
Priest
Private Detective (noir)
Private Detective (non-noir)
Professors
Rival professors
New Professor meeting Tenured Professor
Different departments meeting for the first time
Meet at conference
Write-in
Psychics
Public Transit
Quarantine
Reality TV
Red Thread of Fate
Regency
Reincarnation
Renaissance
Road Trip
Roommates
Royalty
Scientists (not professors)
Secretly Married
Family would disapprove
Non-family group would disapprove
To get around work/employer restriction
Write-in
Sex Workers
Single Parent(s)
Soulmate (broken into identifying marks/other means of reveal
Space Adventure
Spies (broken into modern or historical)
Sports (broken out by specific sport)
Stage Thespian/Broadway
Standup Comedians
Steampunk
Sugar daddy/baby
Summer Camp Counselors
Superhero
Survival
Tailor
Tattoo Artist
Time Looping/Repeating
Time Travel
Treasure Hunters
TV/Movie Stars
TV stars
Movie stars
Porn
Write-in
Underworld
University Students
Vampire
Victorian
Wartime (broken out by which war, historical or fictional)
Wedding Planner
Werewolves
Western
World Travelers
Wrong Number
Zombie
Write-in
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So when I started What You Need To Know About Nature, I promised myself it wasn't going to become just another "talking animals" nature comic with a punchline at the end of each. It's a fun format and I very much enjoy reading them, but I wanted WYNTKAN to primarily be educational and informative. However, a while back I was looking at some photos by Trish Carney of a river otter following a coyote along a river bank. Even though I know that the otter was actually harassing the coyote to try to get it to go away, it looked a little like an over-eager, dweeby otter was tagging along behind a very annoyed coyote who was just trying to play it cool. That of course expanded into the idea of this otter thinking she could be the coyote's partner, in the same way that coyotes sometimes team up with American badgers.
So here, have something a little more character driven; if people like it (and, more importantly, if I have fun with it) I may create one every so often mixed in with the usual informative comics. I do want to give a shout-out to a few comics artists whose style and writing inspired this diversion from my usual fare: Roberta Gregory (Bitchy Bitch, True Cat Toons, and many more), Ben Hed (Pixie and Brutus), and, of course, Walt Kelly (Pogo).
Species portrayed: Coyote (Canis latrans), North American river otter (Lontra canadensis)
Transcript under cut.
[Title: Latra & Lontra]
[First panel: A coyote walks along a river bank while a river otter peeks out from the grass nearby.]
[Second panel: The otter jumps out with a smile on her face, startling the coyote.]
[Third panel: The otter sits behind the coyote, who is now looking at the otter.]
Coyote: What are you doing?
Otter: I’m being your hunting buddy!
Coyote: My. My what?
[Fourth panel: Close-up of the otter’s face as she speaks.]
You’re hunting buddy! You know, I flush out prey from underground and you grab it and then we feast like queens! And since you don’t have a hunting buddy we should team up!
[Fifth panel: The coyote shows three different very confused expressions.]
Coyote: *sigh* Look, I know you mean well, but...
[Sixth panel: The coyote sits and looks at the otter, who is now standing.]
Coyote: You? Are an otter. Not a badger. You swim in the river and catch fish and nag me when I get too close to your family. And you certainly do not chase prey underground.
[Seventh panel: The coyote tries to walk away with the otter following her.]
Coyote: And I am not looking for a...hunting buddy!
Otter: But...
[Eighth panel: The otter dances around the coyote, who watches her in confusion, until the otter falls into a hole in the ground.]
Otter: Oh, come on! We’ll be great! Like Thelma and Louise! Laverne and Shirley! Sonny and Cher--oop!
[Ninth panel: The otter peeks out from the tunnel, visible as only a pair of eyes in a black hole, while the coyote trots away.]
Coyote: Hmm. See? Tunnel’s no place for an otter. Oh, and Sonny was male. Toodle-oo!
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“Fuck the Mage” – a look at the politics of Carry On’s most and least popular characters
I’ve written this not to try and make anyone feel bad about liking Baz, or Fiona, or Natasha, or any of Baz’s family (I like Baz and Baz’s family). I haven’t even written it to try and make it OK to like the Mage, or to stop it being OK not to like him. (It’s OK to not like him – he’s a bad guy.)
But we’re coming up to another general election. Today is actually the day of the Conservative party manifesto launch! And I said I would write this to @basic-banshee, who I like and admire, and who was right to say Baz is a Tory earlier in the week.
It feels like the right time.
I should also say now that I don’t closely follow politics. This isn’t my specialist subject. I’m just British and I live with a hardcore socialist.
I also think I said all of these things in The Mage’s Heir already, so if you want you can read that instead. It has vampire sex too, which this doesn’t.
(Keep reading will take you to an essay that is almost five thousand words long. So strap in.)
---
"One will come to end us; and one will bring his fall” - the narrative drive of the Chosen One story
It is a truth universally acknowledged that ‘Carry On’ is based on ‘Harry Potter’. More than that, though, it’s specifically a challenge to the kind of book that Potter is – in which a hero is chosen and fulfils his destiny defeating the big bad. It purposefully subverts the expectations of readers familiar with that sort of story.
That means that, where the villain in ‘Harry Potter’ is a racial supremacist who is obviously and actively evil, the supposed big-bad villain in ‘Carry On’ doesn’t really exist. The Humdrum is just an echo of Simon, who by the end of the book identifies himself as the villain as well as the hero. This is a neat twist on the format. It isn’t supposed to be an argument that all heroes are actually the causes of their own destruction, although you could read it that way.
The real villain is the Mage. Who in classic Dumbledore fashion left Simon to be raised in horrible conditions and never gave him enough information to make his own choices. He also murders Ebb, locks Baz in a coffin in inhumane conditions, and let vampires into Watford – an event that directly or indirectly led to the death of Natasha Grimm-Pitch.
This is again a twist on the format. The Mage fills the role of the wise mentor and we find out as early as ‘Fangirl’ that he’s Simon’s father. Even though there’s a strong movement that argues that Dumbledore is a manipulative dick who used to date a Nazi, I don’t think anyone would call him the villain of Potter. He’s still far more good than bad and he’s still absolutely necessary in helping Harry work out how to defeat Voldemort.
That’s why the Mage has to be the villain – it’s because you wouldn’t expect it of the person in his narrative role or with his political views. (I’d guess it’s not supposed to be a statement about all wise mentors, though it could be. Or even all socialist reformers.) It’s also because the kinds of things that Dumbledore did to Harry are worse when viewed through the more personal lens of YA romance, rather than the more traditional school-story fantasy of Potter.
Fandom is essentially united in its absolute condemnation of the Mage as a character.
He’s almost always written as an abusive father in fic. (This is particularly noticeable for me in non-magic AUs where he often physically and mentally hurts Simon outside of the fantasy genre where sending a child to take on a dragon is loosely acceptable.)
Penny tells us that he’s sexist (although Agatha – who also doesn’t like the Mage – points out that it’s possible the Mage just hates everyone). Penny tells us that anyone can call themselves the ‘Great Reformer’ and she’s right. The Mage’s Men are actively equated to Nazis through their raids, which is backed up by other familiar emotive language like ‘banned books, banned phrases’.
But the thing is, the Mage really was a great reformer. And Baz’s family really were a bunch of privileged, self-centred assholes who deserved not to be in charge, no matter how much we like them. We don’t talk about it much, beyond how Malcolm’s (very standardly conservative) homophobia affects Baz on a personal level, because the emotions of the story lead us down a different path.
Baz is the romantic hero, Natasha Pitch is his dead and wronged mother, and the Mage is the villain. Not because he’s a Nazi (he isn’t). Not even because he killed Ebb or imprisoned Baz.
It’s primarily because, unlike Natasha, he isn’t a good parent.
Which is fine. It makes sense for all the reasons above, and the Mage is a bad parent
But the problem with ‘Carry On’ being an inversion of the tropes of traditional narratives is that we end up with a canon that (even though it’s full of POC characters and gay characters and disabled characters) almost asks us to be OK with the politics of Baz’s family and class, because we like Baz and we don’t like the Mage.
And they’re not really OK.
“Not one of ours” – the Old Families as Conservatives
I’ll talk more about the Mage later, but he exists as a reaction to the Pitches, so let’s talk about their political leanings first. Specifically, I’m going to talk about Loyalty, The Other, Vampires, and Taxes.
Ban wrote a nice and also brief description of what Conservatives/Tories are to start you off, if you didn’t read it. Later an anon (sorry if this was you!) said that Rainbow would never have really meant for Baz to be read as a Tory.
But I’m pretty sure she did and I respect how much she didn’t shy away from it.
In fact, the only way I can imagine Baz and his family not voting Conservative/Tory is if they just didn’t vote at all, because they thought Normal politics were unimportant. Which is also a highly privileged position to take as it assumes that none of them will ever need to take advantage of Normal public services and that it’s no concern of theirs what happens to everyone else in the country i.e. this is the one situation where not voting Tory is actually the most Tory thing you could ever do.
1. Loyalty
Now obviously Baz’s family do care – passionately – about the people they care about. This is one of their most appealing characteristics as characters. It’s very likeable and understandable. Rainbow has suggested Baz is a Hufflepuff. Hardworking – and (this is the key) loyal. I see it, although I think he would have turned out very differently if he’d been told from the age of eleven that this is who he was, rather than being essentially told he was a Slytherin. But that’s a detour.
The problem with being loyal is that there are people you aren’t loyal to, and you can see this clearly in the Pitches. The people they love must be protected, even at the expense of everyone else. Its barely a choice. Although the Pitches would never betray each other, they’re famous betrayers.
I adore Fiona, she’s one of my favourite characters. But she is also – as Rainbow stated recently – ‘a dangerous lunatic’. She is hardly bothered when the specific action that she insights Baz (a child) to take against Simon (a child who hasn’t done anything to her) causes Philippa Stainton (another child who really hasn’t done anything to her) to be permanently disabled.
Baz is almost unable to comment on how this event makes him feel even in his POV - probably because he’s loyal and he doesn’t want to criticise Fiona. Although we know it causes him to stop trying to kill Simon, so I’d guess that it troubled him, even if it didn’t trouble Fiona. (We’ll come back to Baz as part of his family later.)
2. The Other
If Natasha were still in charge of Watford, Trixie wouldn’t be allowed to attend. Gareth wouldn’t be allowed to attend. Simon wouldn’t be allowed to attend. The Minotaur worked on the grounds, since ‘creatures weren’t allowed on the staff’ (which is horrifically racist language, even if it’s true.)
Oddly, Simon is able to voice this within the text (probably because he’s been hanging around with the Mage so much), although his opinion is disregarded because it sounds naïve and because even he tell us that he doesn’t understand what’s going on.
“I still don’t think it’s a war,” Agatha insists. “It’s just politics, just like in the Normal world. The Mage has power, and the Old Families want it back. They’ll bitch and moan and cut deals and throw parties---”
“It’s not just politics.” Simon leans towards her, pointing. “It’s right and wrong.”
Agatha rolls her eyes. “But that’s what the other side says, too.”
…
“It’s not just politics,” he says again. “It’s right. And wrong. It’s our lives. If the Old Families had their way, I wouldn’t even be here. They wouldn’t have let me into Watford.”
“But that wasn’t personal, Simon,” Agatha says. “It’s because you’re a Normal.”
Firstly – it probably was personal, let’s face it. But secondly – even if it wasn’t personal-personal, it’s still an example of a prejudice that echoes the distain people like the Malfoys have for ‘Mudbloods’. Just because Simon could be the first Normal to gain magic, doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be allowed to join Watford. The Mage shouldn’t have to give him a title and a sword just to get him in.
Simon’s right, even if he doesn’t mean it this way. Politics affects people’s lives.
“Ask Natasha Grimm-Pitch about suicide rates among low-magicians,” the Mage tells Mitali Bunce – who is right that killing people isn’t the answer, but also not nearly as progressive as she thinks she is. “Ask your Coven what they’re doing to fight pixie sticks and every other magickal disease that doesn’t affect their own sons and daughters.
3. Vampires as a specific example of the Other
Natasha and the Old Families were in charge when Nicodemus Petty joined the vampires. It wasn’t the Mage who struck Nicodemus’s name from the book and pulled out his fangs. Which we’re told is fine, actually, because it’s against Mage Law. Even though the idea of this happening to Baz is horrific and unthinkable, and even though we have no evidence that Nicky ever killed anyone. Just that he wasn’t human.
If you’ve read ‘The Mage’s Heir’ you’ll know I think Nicky is a very interesting character to bring into this space. He’s powerful and he’s innovative, inventing spells Baz has never heard of even after he has his magic taken away from him. He’s like the Mage, and like the Mage (who is from Wales, which is traditionally a very poor area of the UK), he’s clearly from a low-class family. The accent that both he and Ebb have is East-End London, which means they’re poor. Even though they’re powerful magicians and therefore theoretically as valid as the Pitches in the Pitch-world order.
Yes, he chose to become a vampire and Baz didn’t but partly he’s punished for being poor and trying to become more powerful in a way that the Pitches don’t understand. He wasn’t necessarily going to kill anyone.
Are vampires even bad?
Because Baz isn’t bad – or not just because he’s a vampire, anyway. We see Simon wrestling with this in ‘Wayward Son’ and he struggles because of his personal hatred for Lamb.
Even (and perhaps especially) under the Mage, the World of Mages just uniformly accepts that a whole group is evil. I think ‘Wayward Son’ begins to trouble this, even as Lamb betrays Baz and vampires are the enemy. But we find Baz actually thinking: “I’m not used to thinking of vampires as fellow victims.”
What he means is that he’s not used to thinking of them as people.
It’s completely appalling to keep Baz in a coffin – I’m sure we all agree with that. If it was another vampire, would the Old Families and the rest of the World of Mages feel the same way, or would they think that was a proportionate response?
When we talk about the death of Natasha Pitch we talk about the Humdrum having killed her, or the Mage having killed her. The vampires are presented as a random instrument of death (which if they had been taken over the Humdrum they would have been), rather than people who were paid by the Mage to do something.
The way the situation is presented to us in the Record, by Natasha herself, and by popular memory is that monsters broke into the nursery and would have killed Baz and Natasha if she hadn’t responded as she did.
However, Nicky says to Baz: “For what it’s worth, I don’t think he meant for your mum to die – but I don’t think he minded much. Made everything a lot easier.”
So it’s at least worth contemplating a reality where this is what happened:
The Mage paid vampires to break into Watford and cause a disturbance. He didn’t think anyone would die.
One of the vampires bit Baz but didn’t intend to either kill or Turn him, which we know is now a possibility but which nobody in the World of Mages had ever bothered to find out.
Even if the vampires did intend to Turn Baz, it could easily be a political statement – an opportunity to show that even a Pitch could be a vampire and that the World of Mages might like to reappraise its choices.
When Natasha arrived, she saw her son being threatened, acted on her prejudices and didn’t ask questions. She murdered a large group of people who had broken into her school, but who otherwise hadn’t necessarily done anything wrong.
I don’t say this is what happened, just that it’s a possibility.
Even if these vampires are evil and this was a terrorist attack (a phrase I’m using deliberately) the fact that presumably most of the others aren’t evil is still relevant. We barely scratch the surface of what this means for the World of Mages even in ‘Wayward Son’.
One of the things I think that’s most interesting about the Mage’s rise to power is that he does using the same hateful speech that the Old Families use, just exclusively directed against the Dark Creatures, rather than all creatures and low-powered magicians. It probably made it easier for him to gain support because these are views that everyone holds, but it’s completely at odds with his whole stated reason for being in charge.
Definitely not ideal. We do deserve better.
4. Taxes
Baz also tells us that his family are against the idea of taxation, which the Mage has introduced largely to benefit people who aren’t like Baz.
‘Taxes to cover all the Mage’s initiatives; most notably to pay for every faun bastard and centaur cousin, and every pathetic excuse for a magician in the Realm to attend Watford. The World of Mages never had taxes before. Taxes were for Normals, we had standards instead.’
I’m writing this post in November 2019, about a week after the Labour manifesto has dropped. It has this to say about taxes:
Universal public services, collectively provided through general taxation and free at the point of use for all, are how we guarantee the right to a good life.
Public services do more than make sure everyone has the basics. They create shared experiences and strengthen social bonds. They make our lives richer and more fulfilling.
A decade of Tory cuts has pushed our public services to breaking point. Labour offers real change – we will make Britain’s public services the best and most extensive in the world.
We will pay for this by creating a fairer taxation system, asking for a little more from those with the broadest shoulders, and making sure that everyone pays what they owe.
We will reverse some of the Tories’ cuts to corporation tax while keeping rates lower than in 2010.
We’ll ask those who earn more than £80,000 a year to pay a little more income tax, while freezing National Insurance and income tax rates for everyone else.
We will end the unfairness that sees income from wealth taxed at lower rates than income from work. VAT is a regressive tax that hits the poorest hardest and we guarantee no increases in VAT.
The Conservatives have launched a rival site called https://www.labourmanifesto.co.uk/ It has this to say about taxes:
“Hardworking taxpayers would have to pay an extra £2,400 each year in tax on average to cover Jeremy Corbyn’s reckless spending.”
The language of the Conservative party is about how higher taxes will negatively affect you the voter, rather than benefit the whole country. It’s also about tradition and how brilliant it is.
We Will Put You First
Getting Brexit done. Investing in our public services and infrastructure. Supporting workers and families. Strengthening the Union. Unleashing Britain’s potential.
The future is there for us to grasp. Not a future in which we endlessly refight the battles of Brexit and the Scottish independence referendum, or in which Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell – propped up by Nicola Sturgeon – lead a Government which rejects everything that has made the UK great.
I’m not saying traditions aren’t important (unless they’re bad traditions – like imperialism, which made the UK great, for sure), but they’re definitely less important than helping large groups of people through public service. Also Brexit sucks and is incredibly bad for the economy the Tories claim is so important to them.
If you aren’t from the UK (as I’d assume most readers aren’t), it may not be so cripplingly obvious that Baz’s family are rich therefore Conservative. But they’re also conservative – and therefore Conservative.
“a Tory vampire” – Baz’s own politics
Baz is a version of Draco Malfoy, who calls Hermione a ‘Mudblood’ and supports Umbridge and then Voldemort, although he later regrets it.
I haven’t really read any Harry/Draco (I was in Wolfstar), but I’m guessing that a lot of the fic builds on the fact that Draco cries in a bathroom, is unable to go through with murdering Dumbledore and Harry, and that his family ultimately decide to leave the Final Battle rather than support Voldemort. I’d guess that we argue that he was young and stupid, didn’t understand the full impact of what he was doing until it was too late, and then had to stay with the Death Eaters because he was afraid for his life and the lives of his family.
Baz, I am arguing, comes from a similar upbringing and has similar beliefs, even if he never got to the murdering Mudbloods stage. (He’s given an out in a way by never being in power when we see him.)
I’d also argue – because I really like Baz and I don’t want him to be ‘racist and speciest’ – that his actions and beliefs are, like Draco’s, massively affected by situational factors outside of his control. And that he, too, was young and stupid. I find it almost impossible that he could arrive at Watford with any other ideology – and I say this as an ex-Remus/Sirius shipper, who clearly found it totally reasonable that Sirius would hate his family and side immediately with a bunch of do-gooding Gryffindors.
The key there, though, is that Sirius hates his family; whereas Baz and Draco love their families and are (see above) incredibly loyal to them. One of the reason it’s easy for me to sit here and say ‘voting Conservative isn’t a thing I would ever do’ is that my family are hardcore ‘Not Conservative’ voters. If I ultimately decided I didn’t agree with them, I could do that, but I started out thinking they were probably right. This is the case with Baz and Draco – they have further to go than someone like Penny who was raised by Mitali and still tells Shepard that imagining being a Normal is like imagining being a frog.
I think Baz is a more sympathetic character than Draco Malfoy by a long way, but Draco has a strong justification for being more evil in that Voldemort will literally murder him if he doesn’t perform hateful actions. Baz merely worries that the Mage will “drive his whole family out of magic” if he doesn’t fight Simon, which is a bit of a weak argument when you think about it.
What has the Mage actually done? He’s forced the Old Families off the Coven – of course he did. They would have voted against his reforms. He’s raided their houses for dark objects that they do actually have. He doesn’t let them meet in large groups – which is an edict that they’re clearly ignoring given that the Club (so Tory) exists and also that the Old Families do actually have a Consortium that meets to try and work out how to seize power through potentially illegal means.
Are these actions designed to win the love of the Old Families? Of course not. Could there have been better, less repressive strategies? Yes, absolutely.
But how empty are Baz’s coffers really? They still have at least two massive houses that we know about. They’re not exactly on the streets.
All that aside though, Baz does have a very good reason for acting the way he does, much better than Malfoy. His entire life that has been warped around his mother’s death.
The fact that she’s dead, and that she died in (arguably) heroic circumstances, makes it very difficult for Baz to think of her as anything other than completely perfect and right about everything. Even when he thinks about how she’d probably kill him for being a vampire, even though he knows that he’s never hurt anyone and therefore does not deserve to die, even then he still thinks that she must be right and that he is a monster who deserves to die. Fiona has exactly the same reaction.
Because he thinks his mother was perfect and because everyone around him tells him what a good headmistress she was (and because the Mage is presumably very bad at this part of his job), he also has to regret the fact that she isn’t in charge of the school anymore. Education is important to him.
And the timing of Natasha’s death is also specifically and strongly linked to the loss of power, and the two are inextricably bound together. If Baz is to love and honour his mother, to regret her loss, he must also regret the loss of the things that she stood for.
Now the Mage isn’t in power anymore, and Baz’s mother is at peace, he probably can start to think differently about the way the society is structured.
I believe that ‘Wayward Son’ – in which I don’t think Baz thinks a single racist thing, and instead queries the idea of going to America given the ‘current political climate’ – shows that he’s already starting to consider his view on the world differently.
Part of this is because of who he is personally. He’s gay – and of course he’s a vampire, both of which wouldn’t normally be acceptable to his family. (Although you can be gay and a powerful Conservative, of course. It’s much less unacceptable than being poor.) (Incidentally, I know you didn’t ask, but I don’t think the Mage would care if Simon was gay. He’s a liberal. He’d want to be OK with it, even if he wasn’t. But he’d care that Simon was dating a Tory and would definitely try and forbid it.)
Baz has more reason than any other Pitch to reassess his family’s politics, because they negatively affect him personally.
The trick will be to see if he can look outwards from himself, and care about things that don’t help him at all. Which I think he can.
“He’s still more good than bad, I think” – the Mage and his poor decisions
OK, here we go. The most controversial part.
So, the Mage is the villain and is also a bad guy who left Simon in a home, tortured Baz, killed people, and incited hate against vampires. As I said right at the beginning, I’m not going to argue that you should forgive or even like him because ultimately I can’t if eighth year plays out as it does in canon.
But Lucy tells us that we shouldn’t take him as a straight-forward villain and if we’re willing to give the Pitches the benefit of the doubt over some things, I think we should at least give it a try for the Mage.
Here’s what I’ve got.
1. The political situation at the start of ‘Carry On’
In a story where the Mage was the hero, the book would have finished where he got into power. We’ve defeated the evil oppressive empire and now it’s a chance for reforms, hurrah! Everything will probably be good.
What we actually find at the beginning of Simon’s eighth year is that the Mage has been fighting the Old Families solidly for the last twelve years. They’ve resisted absolutely everything he’s tried to do, and far from being powerless now they’re not in charge, they’re actively and effectively using extreme wealth to obstruct the process of normal government:
“Half of Wales has stopped tithing. The Pitches are paying three members of the Coven to stay away from meetings, so we don’t have quorum. And there have been skirmishes up and down the road to London all summer long.”
“Skirmishes?”
“Traps, tussles. Tests – they’re all tests, Simon. You know the Old Families would seize the reins if they thought for a moment I was distracted. They’d roll back everything we’ve accomplished.”
“Do they think they can fight the Humdrum without us?”
“I think they’re so shortsighted,” he says, looking over at me “that they don’t care.”
Now, obviously, this is the Mage’s viewpoint on what is happening and so can’t be trusted in terms of the Old Families motivations. We also can’t ask them because we only hear from Baz (and once, briefly, from Fiona) who has his own view of the world which is coloured massively by his relationship with Simon and his mother.
Shockingly Simon again said it best: “That’s the problem with all the Pitches and their allies – it’s impossible to tell when they’re up to something and when they’re just being people.”
I sort of expect that the Mage is right, though, based on everything I know and feel about the Old Families. The Humdrum hasn’t directly affected them – or it doesn’t until the hole in Hampshire – meanwhile the Mage “will drive them out of magic.” (Will he though? Or will taxing people who earn over £80k a year not actually affect their lifestyle all that much?)
To be fair, I think the Mage probably thinks that the Old Families are the greater threat as well - they were the threat that he summoned the Greatest Mage to fight – although it’s the threat of the Humdrum that drives him to try and take Ebb’s magic.
I’m not saying that if they cooperated the Mage would have been able to work out what to do about the Humdrum, but their refusal to acknowledge that fighting the threat is important is probably infuriating.
2. He’s alone, overworked, and doesn’t trust anyone
The Mage has the two most important jobs in the World of Mages. It’s strongly implied that these were held by separate people before he took them both. And the reason he took them both is that I doubt he thought anyone else could be trusted, because until he became a political figure, only one person had ever treated him as anything other than a complete lunatic. After that, he gets people like Premal and the Mage’s Men (and Simon and Lucy) who obsessively and unquestioningly follow him, which also can’t be good for him.
He probably wasn’t very old when he worked out how to summon the Greatest Mage, probably 22-23. He doesn’t go to university and took power before he was 30, well before most Normal politicians. (Natasha, obviously, also wasn’t very old, so take that as you will.)
He’s doing two incredibly difficult jobs at a time when there’s a world-level threat (that admittedly he caused, but by accident) as well as a constant political threat. Of course he’s shit at both of them. Of course he didn’t think he could take care of a child on his own while this was happening.
He doesn’t have Dumbledore’s excuse of ‘Old Magic’ keeping Simon safe during the holidays, but I think he probably thinks it’s for the best and doesn’t see many other options when he’s so time-poor himself.
He doesn’t have any friends and never has done, because he’s never valued the personal over the global. He doesn’t have time for friends and family; finds it impossible to forgive the lightest of slights, like Mitali valuing tradition as well as wanting change; and even if he did have time for friends and found someone to be friends with, he wouldn’t be willing to spend time enjoying himself while what he perceived to be injustice was going on. People have headcanon-ed Simon as autistic before; if he is, it’s not impossible he got it from his father.
By the time we see him in ‘Carry On’, I assume the Mage is exhausted and angry and making the worst decisions of his life in an attempt to try and stop the Humdrum from destroying the world.
That doesn’t justify any of them, but I think it puts them into perspective. And for me – it means he is redeemable in an AU if you avert Baz’s kidnapping, which is unforgiveable even if you assume he didn’t know how the numpties would treat him.
It doesn’t mean he will have been a better father to Simon, though. Simon will still have had to have grown up scared and hungry and alone, for the greater good.
So it depends what you think makes a villain.
The end:
This essay was a lot longer than I thought it was going to be. It took me some time to write, and presumably longer for you to read than you might have expected, so thank you for getting to this point.
I think that’s probably all I have to say right now. Please read ‘The Mage’s Heir’ and ‘Keep Calm’, if you found this interesting. I’m also turning over a thing in my head where Natasha is still alive, which will almost certainly be a lot gentler than this, because I barely talk here about the good things about Natasha and the Pitches of which there are many. But which will show a lot of the above playing out – like Penny’s roommate just won’t be Trixie anymore.
I hope ‘Any Way the Wind Blows’ has something to say about politics that isn’t just tied to the Mage!
I think it’ll be easier to tell what’s really going on without him being there.
And please, if you live in the UK - even if you want to vote Conservative - register to vote before the 26th of November.
But also - consider not voting Conservative.
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Family Formation - Part Ten
Summary: The school’s exchange event endangers your family, but it’s okay, mom and dad are here to help.
CW: swearing, fluff, found family stuff, canon typical violence, I guess some angst ? megumi needs his mom rn
A/N: so!! It seems like nothings showing up in tags!!! If anyone can help pls do i am dumb and confused!! But ! Here is part 10 I have absolutely no impulse control and now you get 2 parts in one night bc adhd. I like this part nd pls don’t forget that requests are open and I love getting them!! Also! Just send shit idc I’m lonely man
Recommended Listening:
In The Woods Somewhere - Hozier
Masterlist
Nothing felt right.
You couldn’t sit still in your chair beside your husband.
There was a twisting in your gut. Akio, now 6 months old, was safe and sound with your parents – Grade One sorcerers and your home were hidden by your husband – so you knew Akio was safe.
But call it mother’s instinct – one of your kids was in danger.
You tried to pay attention to the exchange event, watching the fights but the feeling grew and grew and was soon confirmed when all the student’s lights burned red.
You sprung up from your chair and vaguely heard Mei Mei and Yaga speaking – you gripped Satoru’s arm and soon you, him and Utahime along with Gakuganji were running toward a descending curtain. Gojo reached out only to be violently rejected by the curtain, you frowned in confusion but realised a second too late as you too, were blasted backwards.
You looked at Satoru.
“An anti-Gojo veil, I just don’t think it specified which one.” He said, as you realised this was meant to keep you both out as Utahime managed to slide her arm through the veil.
Panic seized your stomach. Megumi. He was in there, he was in danger. Nobara, Yuuji. What about Maki and Toge, Panda too? All the Kyoto kids? You needed to get in. That anger panic soon turned to anger as you realised someone intentionally made this veil to keep you and Satoru from the kids.
“Utahime, gramps, you two go ahead. Protect the kids. I can break this down, but only with Y/N’s intellect.” He waves a hand at them, he may be calm but you can sense his frustration.
Utahime looks at you.
“Hime, please, get me, my kids.” She only nods and they disappear through the curtain.
“Okay, Satoru. What do you see?” You ask. You and your husband work together like a well-oiled machine by now – techniques working in perfect unison after so long of working together and the intimacy of marriage.
“Veil, the cursed spirit made, specifically meant to keep us both out. 2km radius.” He recites, knowing what you need.
“Okay, I’ll create a diversion – then red?” You don’t even realise it by now but you working on sheer instinct and muscle memory. Trying to clear the emotions swirling through your gut right now is taking everything you have.
“It’s a deal, sweet cheeks.” He replies. God, where would you be without this man beside you?
You activate one of your techniques, one of the more durable and as teenage Gojo when training said ‘damn annoying’ ones, Fae Conjuration, and shape an ancestral spirit’s cursed energy into a gigantic elephant.
“I love your flair for drama, princess,” Gojo says, kissing your hand.
“Go big or go home, right.” You reply, which makes him laugh.
As you send the elephant charging into the barrier, just as it hits and bursts into thousands of small blue petals, Satoru sends a bright red burst of energy into the curtain and you see it shrink back into itself.
You both immediately begin running toward the smoke and dust emanating from where you know the river lies. You pray to whoever might be listening that your kids are safe and that you weren’t, once again, too late.
“Y/N, get them out of the way,” Satoru says from behind you, before branching off behind you. You knew what he meant immediately.
Not far away, a series of flashes come and you see, your Yuuji, sweet, kind, loving Yuuji – has hit the curse with four consecutive black flashes. Pride swells in your chest and a giggle at how Kento will react. Next comes several confusing images which you recognise as Todo switching everyone’s places and before you know it the curse has greatly increased their cursed energy output. Yuuji comes running to Todo and just as the energy reaches its peak, you slid into the riverbed in front of the boys, using your cursed claws as anchors and shouting.
“Cursed technique: Wall of Thorns” comes tumbling from your voice, raw and powerful and the magnitude of energy pulsing from your technique quells the curses own but also wraps it up in piercing tendrils of impossibly thick, strong vines.
You look at the curse, a spirit imbued by nature – a being similar to yourself. You smile sadly at it.
“The Dryad. The monk warned me of you.” The curse speaks in a shockingly gentle voice.
“Hanami. I’m sorry it came to this. Return to the earth, and be at peace.” You say as you’ve spotted a shape lingering in the sky.
You turn as fast as you can, as you spot a figure in the sky and grabbing Todo and Yuuji by the arms you shout again.
“Cursed technique: comments flora.” And with that, you and the boys are standing, by a camellia bush about 100ft away.
“Why have we run? Y/N-Sensei?! Todo?! It’s not dead!” Yuuji shouts and leaves to run but Aoi grabs his arm.
“Hold it, brother!” Todo says.
“Do not go closer, Yuuji. Satoru has it from here.” You say.
“Don’t take another step closer, or you’ll get caught in it.” Todo and you push Yuuji behind you both and just in time as a rumble comes through the ground and you’re all soon swathed in a deep purple light.
You giggle a little, Satoru has had a chance to play a little rough today, he’s probably in heaven.
“Ha, he’s as nonstandard as ever,” Todo says.
As the light clears and you release Yuuji from your grip, you look at them both.
“Where is Megumi? I can feel his cursed energy. Is he safe, is he hurt?” You say, patting them both down and spinning them to assess injuries.
“He’s been taken to Shoko Sensei, he was injured, along with Maki. Panda has escorted them to safety.” Todo informs you as you squeeze the (much taller than you) Itadori into your chest.
“Well, maybe I should have Aoi here as your Sensei if he managed to get a black flash from you.” Coke from behind you, as your husband floats down to stand beside you all. Yuuji immediately starts spouting at him about how cool the ‘purple neon flashy thingy’ was and how he’s ‘so OP Sensei’ and Aoi claps and agrees and admires his panache.
“Satoru – Satoru! Megumi! He’s hurt, Shoko has him.” He whips around and grabs your arm and the next thing you know you’re warping into Shoko’s office and you realise the last time you did that your waters had broken and Akio was on his way. But now, it’s your other son, and it’s fear – not joyous apprehension you’re feeling. Satoru is stock still and stiff beside you. You know you’re both worrying you didn’t get to him in time. Your darling boy.
But much to your relief, sitting up with a scowl in front of you is the spikey-haired boy – seemingly unscathed, with Maki opposite him.
You dive into him, wrapping him in your arms.
“Shoko! Ieiri Shoko! Come here now! SHOKO!” You’re shouting through the room and Megumi is hushing you Satoru is pulling at every limb on Megumi checking for damage and Maki is laughing her ass off at the look on her cousin’s face.
“Jesus, Y/N chill the fuck out, your kids fine. He got a nasty gash in his stomach but it’ll heal fine, was more of a cursed technique issue than a health one. 2 weeks bed rest and some painkillers and he’ll be all good.” Shoko says, wiping her hands on her doctors coat and rolling her eyes at you. A flash of a memory of you and Gojo fussing like this over an injured Geto back in the day with her only learning to heal passes through her mind as she witnesses the scene.
She’s soon knocked back by you tossing your arms around her neck and kissing her hair.
“Thank you, I chose the best best friend ever, thank you I love you.” You finally let her go and then begin to fuss over Maki and Megumi together. Telling them that you’re taking both of them and whoever else needs recovery time to you and Gojo’s house and you’ll take care of them.
Shoko raises an eyebrow at Gojo, wondering how he’ll react to this decision.
“What my princess wants, I’ll give her. And if it’s time to look after her kids, then that’s nothing I’ll object to.” He shrugs, grabbing a candy from her desk.
Shoko leaves to check on Inumaki and Noritoshi Kamo and Maki is given permission to leave back to her dorm, with an open invite to the Gojo Cottage to recuperate if she wants.
You sit beside Megumi, with Gojo sprawling his ridiculously long limbs over the legs of the chair he’s on, playing candy crush with one eye and observing you two with the other.
“You okay, ‘gumi?” You say.
“I’m good, don’t worry Mom.” He says, awkwardly patting the top of your hand.
“You did really good today kid, saved a lot of people. Proud of you.” Gojo says, beaming. “You really take after your old man, and by that I mean me, in your levels of extraordinary talent.”
Megumi rolls his eyes and you just laugh at the two boys. You text your mom that Satoru will be home to take Akio to bed tonight, but you’ll both be staying the night in the chairs beside your eldest before you can take him home to rest tomorrow. She replies, after crying for 10 minutes over him being hurt asking if ‘her darling Megumi needs his Nana’ and he blushes and says it’s okay he’ll see her when he’s home. She tells you she loves you, tells Gojo she loves him, and tells Megumi she loves him the mostest and then you hang up. All of you drifting off, you and Gojo curled together on the armchair beside your kid’s bed.
You guys would be okay.
TAGLIST: @vesta-ro @lilithlunas @mialexandruh @sassy-cat-in-town @madam-ri @cjm-cookiethief
Requests open <3
#recommended#gojo satoru x reader#gojo x reader#gojo satoru#jjk#jjk x reader#gojo fluff#anime#gojo smut#dad!gojo#pixie writes: family formations#jujutsu kaisen megumi#jujutsu kaisen yuuji
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FAMILY FORMATION - PART SIXTEEN
Summary: Begrudging (but not really) Uncle Nanami, and some of his moments with the family. Request from @psychicai ‘uncle Nanami - uncle to the gojo baby and/ or begrudging uncle to the other 10 adopted gojos’
CW: heartwarming, nice memories, mentions of Geto’s absconding, pregnancy, babies, Satoru gojo and how much he loves his wife
A/N: shout-out to @psychicai for this idea and how much SUPPORT they pour my way ily also this is HAPPY TIMES NO SADNESS EVER HAS HAPPENED EVER NO.
MASTERLIST
FREEZEFRAME ONE
“I’m sorry, I think I’ve misheard you, Gojo brought home what?” The tall blonde leaning on your counter asks.
“Children.” You reply.
“Children?”
“Toji Fushiguro’s children.” You respond, setting a glass of whiskey beside him.
He’s silent for a beat.
“To do what with exactly?” Nanami replies.
“Oh, we’re thinking of a Hansel and Gretel situation.” You smirk in response.
He raises his eyebrow at you.
“We’re hoping to raise them, Kento. They’ve nobody – the boy has the Zen’in technique, Toji sold him to the clan – so Satoru stepped in.” You respond, shrugging.
Silence again. You continue to potter around the kitchen, it’s 5 pm on a Friday and you had been starting dinner when Nanami arrived.
“Well. Fuck. If this was just Gojo I’d ask if you knew what you were doing, and tell you that it’s crazy but, it’s you too. Y/N, I know you’d do anything for him, follow him to the edge of the universe but – you two are only 19 and fuck, now Geto’s gone - you’re the two most powerful sorcerers in the world.” He says, crossing his arms as he sits at the dining table.
You freeze at Geto’s name. The wound was still fresh and gaping in your chest. This was the first time someone had verbalised it so casually, but of course, it would be Nanami.
“I – we, know what we’re doing, don’t worry Kento. Geto is… part of the driving force being the decision. We want to shape the jujutsu world afresh, healthy and stronger and that will be done through the next generation. Satoru’s been asked to teach and school and I’ve already taken the job. We want – we wanna prevent more sweet kids being butchered by this world.” You say, holding your weight against the counter.
“Well – and don’t tell him I said this – if there’s anyone out there capable of doing this, it’s you two.” He says, swirling the whiskey in his glass. He looks different, you notice. Not only is the signature haircut gone but he’s wearing a shirt and tie.
“Thank you, Kento. They’re good kids, really good. Megumi – he will be an incredible sorcerer. His sister Tsumiki has no cursed energy – but she’s a very bright young girl, and so precious. Satoru and I were saying that between him and me and you and Shoko, we have all the tools and balls to reshape jujutsu sorcery from the inside out. Imagine it – you could be Principal Nanami!” You giggle, imagining the bright future you all had together.
“Ah. Well. That’s part of the reason I’m here.” He says, settling down his glass.
“Oh god Kento, what, you gonna go commit some genocide and steal twin girls too?” Dark humour. Fresh sounds are being poked at.
“I’m leaving the sorcery world, Y/N. I’m going to university, then I’m getting a job. I can’t be part of that shit society anymore. The whole thing, I respect none of it.”
Your turn for silence.
“Are you sure?” Your voice cracks as you ask.
“I am.”
“Then, okay. I’m – proud of you Kento. I hope you know though, leaving jujutsu sorcery behind - doesn’t mean you’re leaving us! You can leave the six eyes and the Y/L/N heir, but not Sian and Satoru!” The tears in your eyes are pushed back with quick blinks.
The sounds of three pairs of footsteps echo through your hall – and if that hadn’t been sign enough that Satoru and the two kids were home then the ‘Oh honey! I’m home!” definitely was.
An immediate eye roll from Nanami ensues as you jump from your chair and fling your arms around your boyfriend's neck and pepper kisses on his face.
“Welcome home, ‘tour! Hi kids! How was school?” You say, letting Tsumiki hug your waist and tentatively patting Megumi on the head.
“Hi Y/N! It was fun! We had art today; I made a paper-mâché turtle!” Tsumiki says rummaging through her bag.
“That’s so fun Tsumiki! What about you Megumi?” You kneel at the boy's level.
“Fine, I guess.” He shrugs and then furrows his brow in Satoru’s direction.
“Okay, why are you mad at Satoru now?” You ask, lightheartedly.
“He keeps calling me a short stack. And he’s a dumbass.” The six-year-old replies.
At this, indignation from the white-haired man and a snort and a ‘here here’ from the blonde at the table.
“Satoru, stop calling him short-stack and Megumi, don’t call Satoru a dumbass.” You wipe the dust off your knees as you rise.
“Now kids, this is Nanami Kento. He’s one of our best friends. Megumi, he also thinks Satoru’s a dumbass, so you’ll get along great!” You announce to the room, sitting back down at the table.
Satoru emerges changed into a sweatshirt and sweatpants and you can’t ignore the swell in your heart.
The domesticity of the scene was so warm and cosy you almost felt tired.
“Tsumiki, Megumi. Pleased to meet you both.” He waves a hand towards the two kids who’ve placed themselves at the table too, with snacks and strawberry milk.
Megumi scowls slightly, ever wary of strangers. Tsumiki waves back, ever polite.
“We’re pleased to meet you too, Uncle Nanami!” She speaks.
Satoru immediately begins to cackle laughing at Nanami being called the kids’ uncle, and you elbow him.
Nanami just quirks an eyebrow and thinks it’s fantastic how quickly these two have taken to you both. It’s clear in how Tsumiki is pleased to chatter with Satoru and giggles at his silly antics and how Megumi shares an animal cracker with you and scoots slightly closer to you when feeling particularly exposed.
“So, what grade are you both in?” Kento asks as you rise to retrieve the lasagna from the oven.
FREEZEFRAME TWO
“Okay! I think that’s everything! Tsumiki sleeps in the dark, but she’s 10 and is kinda like a self-cleaning oven. Megumi sleeps with this nightlight, but don’t mention it, just plug it in and leave, his frog stuffy is in his bag too! I’m rambling, aren’t I?” Satoru speaks.
“Yes,” Nanami replies.
“Nanaminnnnnnnn! You’re meant to say ‘No Satoru I know you’re nervous but you’re doing great! You’re so amazing! Uncle Nanamin will take care of these darling cherubs while you hopefully change your life forever” Satoru says as he dramatically shakes Nanami’s shoulders.
Kento is unimpressed.
“Satoru. You’re being fucking ridiculous.”
“Not quite but you’ve got the spirit!”
And with that, Satoru strides into Nanami’s living room.
“Children! Be the absolute best tonight for your dearest Uncle Nanamin, and Tsumiki don’t let Nanamin around Megumi too much – they might form an anti-Satoru club and my poor heart just couldn’t take it, my two favourite men, hanging up against me! My best friends!”
Tsumiki giggles and agrees but her face turns deadly serious.
“Papa. Do you have everything?” She asks.
“Run me a checklist, assistant.” He replies crouching down to her height.
“Snacks?”
“Check.”
“Including all mom’s favourites?”
“Check.”
“The CD mixtape you made?”
“Check.”
“Um… Oh! Do you know what to say? Did you write it down?”
“Check and no, don’t need to.”
“Okay! Then I think that’s everything!”
“No, it’s not.” Comes with a voice hidden behind a Nintendo.
Three heads turn to the spikey-haired boy’s blue eyes visible over the screen.
A gasp from Tsumiki is followed by,
“What did I forget to list?!” She asks, almost frantic.
“The ring,” Megumi replies.
Another gasp from Tsumiki.
Satoru only smirks, he knew Megumi was excited about what was happening – it was obvious in the way he never left the room and even put his book down when Satoru and Tsumiki would go over plans. He liked this idea. That’s how he showed it.
He pulls a small dark blue velvet box from inside his coat pocket and flicks the gold clasp open. In the box, stood the item in question. The most stunningly beautiful, antique ring. Small and dainty in size, the gold filigree art deco setting with the most brilliant marquise cut diamond with two tiny sapphires beside them, it was just so you.
After shouts of good luck (they knew he wouldn’t need it, you were his the day he met you) Satoru says his goodbyes to the kids. Nanami walks him out, stopping him at the door.
He hands him a bottle of champagne.
“For when she says yes.” He says as he nods at him.
Satoru’s eyes sparkled and darted to Nanami.
“You’re sure she will?” He asks. This a rare moment of pure vulnerability from this man who needs his best friend's advice on proposing to his girlfriend. No six eyes. No sorcery. No 7:3 or salaries. Just two men, one hopelessly in love and the other quietly rooting for them for the last 4 years.
“Satoru. Of course, she will, you two have always been inevitable, it’s obvious to everyone. Now – go, get out of my house or you will be late for your engagement.” He says, shoving the taller man’s shoulders.
“Thank you Nanaminnnnnn! If we don’t ring tonight - don’t get worried! We will be otherwise engaged, haha! Get it?”
“Go, Satoru.”
FREEZEFRAME THREE
“So, Megumi – who do you want at your graduation dinner?” You ask – planning a family meal for the following week when Megumi graduated elementary school.
He shrugs.
“Uncle Nanami and Aunt Shoko I guess.” As hyper-verbal and enthusiastic as ever.
So you shoot off two texts telling them, not asking, that they’re coming for dinner on Friday night to celebrate.
At the graduation ceremony, you in a pretty white and blue dress and Satoru in a white button down and slacks wait with the two kids – Megumi scowling at his classmates and Tsumiki speaking to some of the older siblings, you spot Nanami’s car parking and he opens the passenger door for Shoko. The two make their way up the steps with Nanami in tan slacks and a grey shirt and Shoko in a navy pantsuit.
“There they are! Megumi, Tsumiki look it’s Uncle Nanamin and Aunty Koko!” Satoru points at the two arrivals.
He receives a quick thwack on the back of the head from Shoko who abhors the nickname, and she then leans in to kiss him on the cheek.
“Hiya Kento! Thank you two so much for coming today! We’ll go back to ours for dinner after if that’s still good with you guys. The ceremony is only 30 minutes. Between you and me, once Megumi has been up there we’re probably gonna bounce so he doesn’t scare the teachers.”
“Congratulations, Megumi.” Kento nods and pats the boy’s shoulder, then hands him a black box. Megumi raises his eyebrows at you silently asking if he can open it and you nod in encouragement. Inside the box is a black leather wallet, with M.F stamped into it.
“A wallet is a sign of a grown man, now, Megumi. Get a copy of Satoru’s black card and put it in there.” Nanami says, nodding to the boy whose chest has puffed out at being considered a ‘grown man’.
“Here you go, kid.” Shoko opens her wallet and pulls out a ¥5000 note and puts it into his hand. “Don’t spend it on girls or booze.”
“Jesus Shoko he’s 12.” You sigh at her, with a huff of laughter following.
“Hey Megs, you should ask Aunty Koko about how she got through school! Then do everything the exact opposite because she cheated her way into being a Doctor!” Satoru giggles and skips off to grab Tsumiki.
“How do you deal with him, Y/N?” Kento asks.
“Selective hearing.” You respond, but the truth was you dealt with him easily – given that he was one half of your soul.
The doorbell rings and you skip to the door, opening it to see the tall blonde salaryman waiting.
You fling your arms around his neck for a hug.
“Hiya Kento!”
Since Nanami had left sorcery, you and him had set up a standing plan that every second Thursday he would come over to the cottage and you would have Kooking with Kento, as Satoru had named it much to your delight.
On tonight’s menu was a delicious asparagus and lemon risotto, you two would always cook together with Satoru and occasionally the kids taking part from the table. Tsumiki would help you stir sometimes, but Megumi had proven himself as useful as Satoru in the kitchen so they were relegated to the table.
You loved these nights, you and Kento had always been close since you had gone on his first mission with him – your warmth and care as his senior was the foundation for the fact you act like his big sister. He never seemed as bothered by your chaotic energy as he was by Satoru’s – even though you were two sides of the same coin. He acted like he didn’t, but he truly cared for Satoru too, he’d also never admit it, but he was his best friend and 3 years ago when Satoru had very elaborately asked him to be his best man – he was very honoured. Hell, he’d even managed some vaguely complimentary things in his speech. Megumi also found a kindred spirit in Kento, he would speak to him about what he had been reading, and complain about Gojo to him, he was also definitely his favourite babysitter. Now at 13, entering the teen years – Nanami was beginning to be one of the only people who he could stand to be around. The last time he’d been in a fight, Nanami had pulled him aside and told him the correct way to launch his first to prevent bruising on your knuckles – you had heard even though you weren’t mean to. You hadn’t said anything, but you did think to yourself that it’s no wonder Nanami and Satoru were friends.
At the table that night, with food put away and the kids gone to bed, Nanami says he wishes to speak to you both.
“I’ve made the decision, that the 9 to 5 life is shit. Jujutsu sorcery is also shit, so in this case I’m choosing the one I am most adept at and so I will be returning to sorcery. I –” He was immediately cut off by your squeals and Satoru’s cheering and rendition of Return of the Mack but changing it to Nanamin. He just sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose at the fact his closest friends were you two and a woman chain smoking over cadavers and wondered what the hell he did wrong in a past life.
“Oh we’ll get to see you so much more! There’s an empty office beside Satoru’s, I’m in another building but still close by! We can all have lunch together!” You clap your hands and look to Satoru who is equally as delighted.
“I won’t be teaching. I’m returning to active missions.”
More cheering ensues.
It goes on for a while.
Kento is tired.
FREEZEFRAME FOUR
You lay on the hospital bed, Satoru almost on top of you, head tucked into your neck as you snuggled into him – tears on both your faces.
Shoko had left the room to give you both some space, standing in the hall she hears footsteps approaching – neat and fast.
Kento Nanami appears at the end of the hallway and as he approaches her a loud laugh and a giggle escape from the room behind her.
“Is that Y/N and Gojo? Why are they here, they have no active missions as far as I’m aware and it’s summer holidays?” He asks her, as her lips curl into a smile around her lit cigarette, she holds out her hand as he passes her the papers – he was here for her sign off on his monthly physical.
“Knock and ask ‘em yourself, Ken.” She shrugs her head toward the room.
He nods and tales the paperwork back.
He knocks on the door as your voice rings out telling him to come in.
“Nanaminnnnnnn!!! You’re here too! How awesome is this!” Satoru says, still not moving from his spot glued to you.
Your eyes are sparkling with glistening tears but your smile was lit up with the widest smile directed at your husband – eyes filled with pure love.
“Is everything alright? Is someone unwell?” He asks.
You giggle and swing your legs off the side of the table so Satoru can sit beside you and he wraps his arms around you middle and nuzzles into your shoulder.
“That would be me, but only every morning.” You hint.
Kento then notices the way you seem to glow and the placement of Satoru’s hand, protectively splayed across your lower belly.
Then it clicks.
“Shit – are you pregnant, Y/N?” He asks, aghast at the situation he didn’t expect to walk into today.
You nod and smile and Satoru raises his head.
“I’m gonna be a papa again! More babies for you uncle Nanamin!”
Kento can’t even bring himself to chastise him right now, the aura of joy surrounding you both is too beautiful to burst.
“Have you just found out?” He asks, a small smile on his lips.
“Satoru notices their cursed energy today, so we warped straight here. Who needs a pregnancy test when your husband is one, huh?!” You high five the man beside you.
“Of course I’d be the first to see it, I put it in there!” This makes you throw your head back and Nanami shake his.
“Christ. A combination of you both. I’ll be grey by the time the child turns one.” He smirks.
In truth, he couldn’t have been happier for you both. You’d both done a great job with Megumi and Tsumiki, your attachment obvious at your constant quest to wake Tsumiki up since we sank into her slumber a year ago. More than anything though, he could not think of two people more deserving of welcoming a new little light into the world. The love you both share and the depth of the bond often renders Kento speechless. Seeing you both, was enough proof for the eternal skeptic to wholeheartedly believe that soulmates exist and you two were made to be together by whatever hand guides the earth. He will continue to joke about the combination of you both leading him to insanity given your chaotic nature and well, Satoru but he knew while all of that was true and the child would be as boisterous and wild as they come – the child would also be the most caring, bravest, most passionate, fearless and a true force to be reckoned with. Your love could create all that, and he was privileged to bear witness – and to later, be named godfather of Akio Ryu Tadashi Gojo.
FREEZEFRAME FIVE
A Thursday came about, and Kento walked up to the sage green door of the Gojo cottage. He heard voices inside and figured Satoru must have gotten home early – you were still on maternity leave and Satoru was coming home very early each day to see his wife and baby boy. Megumi was in school now, so he lived on campus.
He knocked and not 10 seconds later the door opened revealing you with the baby on your hip.
“Kento! Yay you’re here, and you brought wine. You are my lifesaver. I’ve had to get extra, because we’ve extra mouth to feed tonight.” You say, kissing his cheek and wandering back to the kitchen.
He follows you and your large wooden kitchen table is overflowing with people – the source of the voices.
Megumi, Nobara and Yuuji sit with Satoru at the table.
“Hello Nanaminnnnn!” came in perfect synch from Gojo and Yuuji. That was followed by a ‘Hello Nanami-San!” from Nobara and a wave from Megumi and a babble from Akio. He greets them all in return as Akio makes grabby hands towards his father and Satoru lifts him delighted from your arms, before settling him on his lap to play with the small panda plushy in his hands. The kids all coo at Akio and Kento then notices the dog, large and black and fluffy asleep by Megumi’s feet.
“The kids are all exhausted and a bit shaken from the exchange event last week, so ‘toru gave them the day off tomorrow so they can stay here for the weekend.” You say quietly. He’s reminded that under layers of bravado Satoru truly loves these kids – not just as his adopted son and students, but truly all three of them as part of he and his wife’s formed family.
“I did bolognaise for dinner tonight, and we’ve chocolate cake. But first things first, here’s a corkscrew Kento – crack that thing open. The grown ups want a glass of wine.”
He does as requested and marvels at the scene in front of him, you kiss the head of his godson and the lips of his best friend as you pass them whispering how handsome your boys are to them both, then mention to Nobara you bought some new nail varnish to try later as you pass her, then ruffle both the teens boys hair as you move past them and weigh in on their debate over the best Pokémon in the new game.
He might complain, but he’s happy to be Uncle Nanamin to this wonderful puzzle piece family.
#gojo satoru#jjk#jjk x reader#gojo satoru x reader#gojo x reader#gojo fluff#anime#dad!gojo#pixie writes: family formations#nanami kento#nanami x reader#platonic nanami Kento
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Now Available: MONSTER OF THE WEEK (The Rules 2) by F.T. Lukens
""The pace is fast. The writing is excellent and the characters amazing. Lukens has gifted the readers with a story that resonates with genuine teenage feelings, sharp, sparking dialog, and in some truly heartrending moments, recognizable angst and family drama to empty many a tissue box." — Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words book blog
Spring semester of Bridger Whitt’s senior year of high school is looking great. He has the perfect boyfriend, a stellar best friend, and an acceptance letter to college. Oh, he also has this incredible job: assistant to Pavel Chudinov, an intermediary tasked with helping cryptids navigate the modern world. His days are filled with kisses, laughs, pixies, and the occasional unicorn. Life is awesome.
But as graduation draws near, Bridger’s perfect life begins to unravel. Uncertainties about his future surface, his estranged dad shows up out of nowhere, and, perhaps worst of all, a monster-hunting television show arrives in town to investigate the series of strange events from last fall. The show’s intrepid host will not be deterred, and Bridger finds himself trapped in a game of cat and mouse that could very well put the myth world at risk. Again.
MONSTER OF THE WEEK
Price: $17.99 print / $6.99 multi-format ebook
Details: Trade paperback, 5.25"x 8”
Pages/Words: 320 // 78,000
ISBN: 978-1-945053-82-5 print // 978-1-945053-83-2 multi-format eBook
MONSTER OF THE WEEK is available from the IP Web Store, Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository, and an indie retailer near you.
Add it to your Goodreads TBR shelf
About the Author:
F.T. Lukens is an award-winning author of young adult fiction who holds degrees in Psychology and English Literature. A cryptid enthusiast, F.T. loves folklore and myths, specifically the weird and wonderful creatures of North America. She also enjoys sci-fi and fantasy television shows, superhero movies, and writing. F.T. lives in the mountains of North Carolina, a perfect area for sasquatch sightings, with her husband, three kids, and three cats. Her novel, The Rules and Regulations for Mediating Myths & Magic, won several awards, including the 2017 Foreword INDIES Gold Award for Young Adult Fiction and the 2017 IPBA Benjamin Franklin Gold Award for Best Teen Fiction.
Cover art by C.B. Messer
Editor’s Note: Some readers may find some of the scenes in this book difficult to read. We have compiled a list of content warnings, which you can access at interludepress.com/content-warnings.
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MUSIC MONDAYS!
A series where I recommend a book, review it, and create a short playlist to give a sense of what the book is about.
This review may contain spoilers.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Peter Bognanni and I have an emotional past. Mind you, the author himself doesn’t know that. When his novel Things I’m Seeing Without You was first out in ARC format, I was fortunate enough to receive a copy via the publisher. It just so happened that when I was nearly halfway through, my family suffered a tragic loss. If any of you have read TISWY, then you know how sensitive the topic of that book is (if you haven’t, I recommend it with caution because of the aforementioned sensitive topic). Ever since that summer, Bognanni has held a special place in my heart. The title of his prior work is also an inspiration for a future tattoo that I want to get because it just speaks so well to those who’ve lost someone.
With that long disclaimer-ish paragraph out of the way, let me say that This Book is Not Yet Rated is both very different from Bognanni’s prior work and still just as emotionally touching for me. Through witty and personable writing, Bognanni’s newest title will resonate with anyone who loves film, or has had a love for something that has greatly defined them growing up.
Ethan is the manager at the old movie theatre, The Green Street Cinema, that used to feature films for his dad’s college students. Nicknamed Wendy by the lost boys who work alongside him, Ethan has been using the theatre as an escape from his grief after losing his dad three years before. He’s also conveniently avoiding the pressures of growing up. But when a new face pops up with the threat of shutting down the theatre, Ethan must question what the theatre really means to him and his crew. As if these pressures weren’t enough, Ethan’s old friend and crush return to his life after she’s suffered a breakdown of her own. Will Ethan be able to save his sanctuary and will his friendship ever recover from the past?
For the most part, I enjoyed Ethan’s story and growth. I liked how his progress follows the obvious route that contemporary books usually take, but then gets derailed because life isn’t that simple. Bognanni shows us that anything important to us is worth the hard work. Simple solutions aren’t the answer and nothing in life is linear--despite how much we want to emulate film.
And that’s one of the interesting things I noticed in this book: the parallels shown between film and life. In order to escape from the difficulties and unpredictable nature of life, Ethan submerges himself into the intricate world of film where most stories have storylines that follow patterns, or eventually lead to a climax of some sort--something controlled by a director and editor. Up until the theatre is threatened, Ethan has been living a predictable life. This “shake-up” is where the story deviates from being film-like. Or, to play devil’s advocate, it could even be argued that Ethan’s life becomes more film-like because of the abrupt changes he’s experiencing.
This book being titled This Book Is Not Yet Rated is perfect because of all of the connections to film. The book itself is like a love story for film and its effect on people. I loved that at the beginning of every title Ethan explains various filmmaking terms that his dad must have taught him. His experience with movies makes the reader want to have a paper and pen ready to write down all of the recommendations.
Raina, Ethan’s old best friend, is in film as well and knows all about the importance of film in life. Though she at times falls into the unfortunate trope of being a manic pixie dream girl (something that affected my overall rating for this book), Raina is the character who helps Ethan see that it’s okay to dare to want more. She pushes him to stand outside of his comfort zone, while also trying to figure her life out. While her conclusion in the story was a tad convenient (and a little under-developed), I did like the effect she had on Ethan.
The other characters are like the perfect seasoning for an enjoyable storyline. They add flavour to a story that could have easily been boring or a little too formulaic. I loved that each had their own quirk that made up the feeling of a dysfunctional family. Their hijinks and commentary were some of my favourite moments in this book. Ethan on his own was at times depressing, so adding in these dynamic characters was a great touch. I do wish we’d have known a little more about them, but I’m happy we got to meet them regardless.
The emotional aspect of this book that really hit me was the dad’s death. While we don’t actively get to meet him because this takes place three years after his passing, he is like an honorary character hidden in every page of the book. His presence is what drives Ethan to do better and it’s what made me connect to Ethan in the first place. I almost teared up when Ethan finally explains how he died and the little quirks they had together, because it was like reading about me and my dad.
My negatives about this book would probably be the portrayal of Raina, the at-times one dimensional side characters, and the sometimes slowly paced writing. There were moments where I became stuck on a specific chapter and I felt drawn to other books.
Despite the things I wasn’t a big fan of, I did really enjoy this book. I strongly recommend it for anyone who loves film and a story about how film can help us grow and understand the world. Also, it’s a read I’d recommend for anyone who’s ever had to grieve a loss because Bognanni always touches on the unspoken things that grieving people often experience, and how our lives are affected by the death of a loved one.
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Age Recommendation: 14+
Genres: Contemporary, Death & Grieving, Family, Friends, Romance
Add it to your Goodreads here.
See the playlist on Spotify here.
The Playlist:
Dancing With A Stranger by Sam Smith & Normani
Ruin My Life by Zara Larsson
You & Me by James TW
Dust in the Wind by Kansas
Come and Get Your Love by Redbone
Figure It Out by Royal Blood
Hollywood by RAC & Penguin Prison
Have you read this book yet? Would you recommend it?
Happy reading!
#books#bookish#book review#book reviewer#book blog#book blogger#Features#Music Mondays#read#reading#reader#peter bognanni#yalit#yareads#young adult#this book is not yet rated#on books#on reading#review#reviewer#reviewing#my opinion#my thoughts#my writing#books for review#march#2019#bookworm#bibliophile#bookaholic
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Year-end list season may have concluded on this end, but that doesn't mean you need to stop discovering. We're fortunate enough to be living in a time where there's no shortage of great music to be heard, and as much as this one-human operation tries to stay atop of properly recognizing it all, the reality is that there isn't always enough time and brain space to let everything that comes out sink in fully before December rolls around. The release calendar is finally slowing down its gears until the ball drops on 2019, however, and probably won't be in full operation until February (although this time last year definitely kept these final few weeks on its toes...,) so if you haven't already, give listen to these 10 recommended albums from 2018's final quarter. Whether you're looking for that winter magic of the solstice sky brings, or just something to cozy up next to indoors, these make for good company as cold darkness slowly fades to warm light.
Adrianne Lenker - abysskiss [Saddle Creek]
Though we know her voice best as the fronthuman of Big Thief, Adrianne Lenker’s career as a solo artist precedes that of her folk-faceted indie rock band by a couple of years. abysskiss is her second album under her own name alone, and it gets to the foundation of her skill, pointing directly to many of the fascinating details we hear spindled out by six strings and her lyrics set to pen even if the gentle hum of electricity isn’t in supply to reverberate between the walls of the room..For that reason, this collection of songs feels more intimately constructed from Lenker’s creation even if the stories she weaves from words and ornate arpeggio lean more heavily into symbolic prose and transcending timelines. That Lenker allows emotion to lead the way of abysskiss’ sound around the room without having to commit to anything of the concrete world makes it no less a wonder from one of the craftiest songwriting hands of the now.
AFI - The Missing Man EP [Concord Music Group]
In the 27 years that AFI have been a band, one thing that hasn’t escaped the SoCal punk scene flag-bearers is there insatiable thirst to draw new blood, and their latest effort, the The Missing Man EP is evidence of that. It’s their first release in the extended play format since their days of the phoenix rising as underground darlings on Nitro Records, and suits what they’re trying to get across here perfectly in the short amount of time they have to do so. Across five songs, they pressurize their brand of hook-heavy pop-punk with a restless energy (”Trash Bat”, “Get Dark”,) experiment with textures of emo and post-hardcore (”Back Into the Sun”) as well as heavy and soft goth rock theatrics (”Break Angels”, “The Missing Man”.) Davey Havok’s vocals, be it wailing on edge or caressing every corner with a kiss of death, feels right at home in any setting, while guitarist Jade Puget, drummer Adam Carson and bassist Hunter Bergeron get equal time in AFI’s dark spotlight to showcase their contributions, in gut-wrenching rhythm and razor sharp scales. At this stage, should we be considering the possibility that AFI are ageless vampires?
Antarctigo Vespucci - Love In the Time of E-mail [Polyvinyl Records]
DIY scene heroes Jeff Rosenstock and Chris Farren came together as Antarctigo Vespucci five years ago in a Brooklyn apartment following the end of their own respective punk bands, and only knew that they shared similar ethos and a love of rawking out without much of an ulterior motive to it other than building community and art. A lot has happened in each of their lives as far as solo careers go in the years since, but having found their way back together with their third full-length effort Love In the Time of E-mail, a combination of knowing themselves better, knowing each other better, and just straight up being better at what they do has easily made this the duo’s most memorable effort yet. The thing with these two is that they’re both so great at writing a timeless hook , regardless of whether they’re bashing it into the ground or letting it ride out on a new wave of synthesizer keyboards, while their lyrics have a way of becoming basement anthems being screamed into the late hours of the night by a generation living their experiences of (dis)connection right along with them. It’s only fitting that Love In the Time of E-Mail finds a home as its first for Polyvinyl Records as well, seeing as though one thing about the indie label’s legacy are releases like this that warm the soul with the way they’re cobbled together with pure homegrown emotion.
Basement - Beside Myself [Fueled By Ramen]
Seeing how far Basement have come this year as a band has been one of the more remarkable, yet less talked about stories in the rock underground. The Ipswich, England emo rockers were a darling of the scene on the indie label Run for Cover Records, where they released their first three full-lengths, and while their efforts there promised everything you could hope for in a collision of dreamy, melodic drifts, grungy riffs, and sky-soaring anthems, it’s Beside Myself, their major label debut for Fueled By Ramen, that has brought them from the, er, basement, to the main stage as the opening act for scene bearers Weezer and the Pixies with their forthcoming spring tour. It’s fitting, too, as Beside Myself carries with it a perfect balance of radio-friendly hooks and polished arena production (credit the big band board hands of Colin Brittain and Rich Costey for that look...) reminiscent of Jimmy Eat World during in their mainstream breakout without abandoning any of the coming-of-age tales their listeners grew up alongside with.
Drug Church - Cheer [Pure Noise Records]
Drug Church have been around for the better part of this decade, but it’s on their third studio effort Cheer where it looks like more people are finally paying attention to the band as being something more than just a sideshow for its lead singer. That would be the always provocative punk lifer Patrick Kindlon, a prolific scene creator known primarily for his time in the cult experimental punk collective Self Defense Family, a.k.a. your favorite band’s favorite band. What’s probably the greater part of the whole behind Cheer’s hardcore glory is that it’s the Drug Church’s most focused album yet, with its production embossing the details of grungy static and ripples of synths in between all the way to the front, as Kindlon’s vocals reign in their aggression with a hook-heavy savviness that puts the quintet on the same plane of perfection as their subterranean guitar heroes in the ilk of Seaweed and Sugar. Top it off with Kindlon’s acid tongue sing-talking social commentaries of the modern social conscience, and Cheer makes a resounding noise.
Kelly Moran - Ultraviolet [Warp Records]
If you’re looking for your own musical equivalent of the Northern Lights during these winter months, then look no further than those illuminated through the sounds of Ultraviolet, the breakout third studio effort from Brooklyn multi-instrumentalist Kelly Moran. Signed to Warp Records -- the longstanding electronic label that has long been a haven to some of the more esoteric sides in that universe of music -- Moran’s instrumental compositions are an outlier in any of those those worlds, and even the classic ones which she has been schooled under for that matter. At the foundation is her perfecting experiment using the prepared piano technique while bringing in MIDI effects and synthetic production (in part, by Oneohtrix Point Never’s Daniel Lopatin) to create one of the more adventurous examples of synesthesia-inducing listens in quite some time. Song titles such as “Water Music” and “Halogen” induce feelings in just the manner that they suggest, bringing the senses to a whole never level with her singular sound.
Mister Goblin - The Final Boy EP [Exploding In Sound]
The stammering post-hardcore intellectualism of Two Inch Astronaut has found a suitable afterlife in their demise on The Final Boy, the debut EP from Mister Goblin, b.n.a. the solo project from the now-defunct Baltimore rock band’s frontman Sam Woodring. The intricacy in the way he writes music isn’t lost in his malleable indie rock formula, one which can equally hum melancholy in the vein of Elliott Smith’s folkish finger-picking as much as it can reverberate with strange twists in the static as J Mascis’ pseudo metal theatrics. The substance between each winding time sig and chord progression tells of an internal dialogue between that of a dude finding his footing again in a DIY scene that has (rightfully) shifted from being a bro-down to one that’s finally allowing voices other than that of its male creators to share their experiences (hence the EP’s title The Final Boy.) Woodring reexamines his inventory in a world where hopeful signs of progress are being found, but so are ones where darkness and death still threaten to undo it all as well. In survival mode, he’s finding his way into the light.
Pistol Annies - Interstate Gospel [RCA Nashville]
Miranda Lambert, Ashley Monroe and Angeleena Presley are three of the best storytellers in modern country music right now, yet when the three best friends come together as the Pistol Annies, their songwriting takes on a whole new life of its own. Interstate Gospel, the trio’s third effort to date, is their strongest yet, expectantly at that considering Lambert, Monroe and Presley only keep getting better at what they do individually (Monroe, for instance, put one of the year’s best country albums in Sparrow...) That they’ve each given themselves caricaturized nicknames (”Lone Star Annie”, “Hippie Annie”, and “Holler Annie”) isn’t just for show either, as they’re certified extensions of each musician’s personality in being part fact and mostly part fiction which helps dole out some relatable, small town tales filled that are either full of whip-smart humor or the desperate empathy for their fellow women. Maybe there’s some truths to be revealed about the three in those stories, too. The mark of a true wordsmith is making you wonder so...
Super Unison - Stella [Deathwish Inc.]
There isn’t a piece of the puzzle that is out of place with Super Unison. The trio -- which features vocalist Meghan O’Neil, formerly of PUNCH, drummer Justin Renninger, a remnant of emo act Snowing, and former Dead Seeds guitarist Kevin Defranco -- went into the studio with alternative engineer great Steve Albini and Deafheaven mixer Jack Shirley to record their sophomore effort Stella, and just as its title might suggest, the listen not only reaches for the sky, but takes you beyond the earth’s atmosphere with their post-hardcore fury. Guitars crackle and whirr through stardust, and their energy is a non-stop cosmic collision as O’Neil cathartically screams into black holes so loudly that they manages to echo right back at her. The aggression is obvious amid its rocky crater surface, yet so is an astounding melodic wind in Super Unison’s aura that radiates beneath candescent moon light even in the coldest, darkest air.
Thom Yorke - Suspiria: Music from the Luca Guadagnino Film [XL Recordings]
The soundtrack to Luca Guadagnino’s remake of the 1977 cult horror classic Suspiria is arguably one of those instances where its score bests the actual film itself, and you really don’t even need to see it in order to hear that. Behind the soundtrack is Thom Yorke who has created a haunting cinematic topography that floats through the atmosphere with only fragments of his other lives as the frontman of Radiohead, Atoms for Peace and his own solo work in tact. Though there are moments of mournful, ethereal balladry where Yorke presence is made known, his voice is only but a spectre in the far off distance of an another dimensional plane. What’s more so captivating across his score, however, are in the way Suspiria’s otherworldly elements enter his soundboard through buzzing synths, the breaths of alien beings, and new outlines in electronic experimentation that work perfectly not just to conjure up the film’s supernatural energy, but ones in Yorke’s own self as well.
#lists#adrianne lenker#afi#antarctigo vespucci#basement#drug church#kelly moran#mister goblin#pistol annies#super unison#thom yorke#features
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GENERAL INFO
❔ #getinthefunvee
❔ semi-private: will generally only write with mutuals, but very happy to meet new people.
❔ exclusivity: is pre-pubescent and used as a cliquey gatekeeping & ostracising mechanism 99% of the time. I do not practice character or ship exclusivity; I will side-eye you if you do, and I will not tolerate it on my dash, and I will lay the verbal smack-down if I see you using it to bully someone else. I've been playing with some muns for nearly 5 years, and at least one for more than a decade; if anyone was going to be an exclusive, it would be those friends, but exclusivity = possessiveness and it's really, really not the way to roll your adult relationships. Note: if you choose to make me your exclusive Tony for any reason (ie, if you generally hate Tony interaction and want to avoid it, emotional safety reasons, whatever) please give me a heads up. Please be aware that, as stated above, I will not do exclusivity in return.
❔ basic etiquette: human decency is expected. Do not attempt to god-mod (it's so 90s), force-ship, engage in pass-aggro nastiness, harassment, or any other asshattery. Thanks.
❔ Personals et al are very welcome to follow and 'like' RP posts and to reblog non-RP content. Please don't reblog RP threads you aren't participating in; it's creepy, and I will call you out on it.
❔ multi-muse, side & personal journals: I will not follow you back if you run a multi-muse blog or RP from your persona that heavily features muses from fandoms I’m not familiar withl; I really need to limit dash clutter in order to be able to focus. (ADD & autism are gr8 that way.) That doesn't mean I won't RP with you on your multi-muse blog, and I'm very happy to RP with side blogs, but I will not RP with personals.
❔ OCs, female characters, obscure canon characters: This shouldn’t need to be said, but: Yes please! I look for fully-formed characters whose creation you've put thought into; this goes for 'popular' canon characters in equal measure.
❔ crossovers: Please check with me first to make sure I'm familiar with your fandom.
❔ cut your replies: Please cut your replies & repost asks as new posts when replying. (note: this is not the same as 'read mores'; I'm happy to explain the difference.) I will not follow you if you never cut your replies.
❔ You must have rules or, at the very least, your age stated somewhere on your blog. I will always read your rules before interacting, and I ask that you please do the same.
ABOUT THIS BLOG
❕ est Dec 2012
❕ 21 or over for intermittent content which may not always be tagged; I will generally not play with you if you are under 21 as I may not be comfortable writing certain content [because I'll feel like a dinosaur]. I will not RP with anyone under 18 years old, regardless of thread content or your geographical location's 'legal age.' This is not up for discussion, though I'm happy to explain the legal ramifications (for you and your RP partners around the world) of lying about your age. tl;dr I'm not going to jail so you can have smut. Thanks.
❕ safe space: This blog is fiercely inclusive. I make a point of avoiding ableist or bigoted language and terminology. Please come talk to me in chat or send an ask and tell me if I screw up.
note: If you ever need to talk about anything, or if you're having a really bad day, I'm here for you & wouldn't want you to feel alone. Seriously. Come talk to me. I do have chat set to mutuals only thanks to the huge influx of spam messages I was getting, but you can always unfollow me after we’re done talking (I won’t be upset) or send me an ask if that's easier.
❕ triggers: I will tag genuine triggers when asked (please don't conflate squicks with triggers). I don't have any triggers, but I prefer not to see child abuse, domestic violence, incest, or pregnancy on my dash; if you regularly include that content, I will generally unfollow. Please see below for a comprehensive list. Triggers will be tagged 'triggery thing tw' and added to the tag dump post.
❕ formatting: usually no fancier than small text +/- 66x66 or 100x100 icon (depending on the size you use), but I will try to match your style. If you need any special formatting to make it easier for you to read, please tell me. I'm very happy to comply.
❕ pre-established relationships: I'm happy to discuss these.
❕ readmores: used rarely, but will always use for explicit dubcon/noncon content & graphic stuff.
❕ memes: generally mutuals only but will always be tagged as 'mutuals only', so if you don't see that, feel free to interact. I do my best to observe reblog karma but don't expect you to; it's all good.
❕ open posts: will be tagged clearly; generally open only to mutuals, sometimes character-specific (will specify in tags).
❕ shipping: multiship; not ship exclusive. Shipping is dependent wholly on muse interaction and never guaranteed. Tony is demiromantic and pansexual; he may or may not be open to poly setups depending on verse. He's experimental, inclusive, and flexible. Got a kink? Bring it. BDSM? He'll want to know your safeword. Three/four/eightway? He's probably into it. That in mind, I'm on the ace spectrum (see below) so mature-content threads aren't going to be that common and will generally, though not always, fade to black.
YES PLEASE
✅ duplicates, multiple 'canon' realities, AUs, cross-fandom, What Ifs
✅ crossovers, especially within Marvel & DC
✅ AUs: love, love, love. Give me your tropey coffee shop AU; better yet, give me your research-worthy Mesopotamian AU, time-travel AU, etc. I'm utter trash for Sentinel!verse (and if you don't know what that is, come at me).
✅ plot-development, complex characterization
✅ conscious, intentional, creative abuse of grammar/syntax
✅ any gender identity/lack thereof; sexual orientation/lack thereof; neurodivergent characters; disabled characters
✅ LGBT, non-cis/het, POC, or other minority versions of canonically white cis straight Christian etc characters
✅ female versions of canonically (cis)male characters
✅ dark, edgy, angsty themes up to and including psychological & physical torture, abuse, and character death
✅ complex and conscientious portrayals of trauma and mental health issues
NO THANKS
❎ self-insertion (omnipotent manic pixie Gary-Stu/Mary-Stu characters make me cringe)
❎ pages of ooc
❎ pages of graphic porn
❎ you RP nothing but smut of a variety that squicks me, such as (below) and don't put it behind readmores:
- A/B/O, especially if it involves 'mating'/'breeding', pregnancy (esp cis male or cis female pregnancy), etc. Really major squick;
- BDSM that uses an abundance of misogynistic language like 'slut'; 'daddy/mommy' themes; pet play; romanticising unhealthy abusive relationships ('50 Shades of Nope' comes to mind) by framing them as consensual BDSM.
❎ consistent grammar/spelling errors (note: ignore if English isn't your primary language; I’m happy to help if that’s something you want, and I speak a few languages so I might be able to RP in your language)
❎ lots of family/baby/child content
❎ 'child of'/'sibling of' & non-canon family member/friend characters
❎ anthropomorphic, furry, or 'real people' characters
❎ SuperWhoLock, anime
❎ gatekeeping, canon-snobbery, constant negativity
❎ erasure of any minority group (ie male versions of canonically female characters; suspiciously white FCs for canonically POC characters, etc)
❎ messianic anything; proselytizing
ABOUT THE MUN
✩ ari (aka kai), 30s, London (GMT)
✩ working in medicine, re-qualifying for med school entry; usually not around much Tue-Fri due to work (replies are sometimes queued & I'm usually happy to do short stuff like texts during the week)
✩ thoroughly spoken for; married to cap.co.vu (but thanks for asking *fingerguns*)
✩ introvert: very social at times (I tend to 'read' as an extrovert), but I need more distance when out of social energy. Feel free to ask me about this. I will love you forever if you respect the need for space, and will not like you very much if you insta-pounce 10x daily when I've gone quiet.
✩ jewitchy = unrepentantly jewish + low-key hedge witch (observant Reform/Conservative Jew; dash of pagan)
✩ grey-a + demi, greyromantic, as impossibly flirty as Tony Stark
✩ ADD, autism (psa: you can be super direct with me), major depressive disorder, EBS (epidermolysis bullosa), mild anxiety (when out of social energy)
✩ sharp-spoken, sharply-dressed, stickler for punctuation, polyglot, menace to society, method RPer, (mostly) good human being, guaranteed at least 80% carbon-based lifeform, will use elbows on the Tube, well-travelled, great ass (thanks, yoga!), hearts horseback riding, BDSM, dismantling the patriarchy
✩ ask box is always open, Discord available by request, IM/chat is gr8
If you feel like it, send me your favourite trope as a way of letting me know you've read these. I'm not going to ask for any sort of specific symbol, codeword, etc to prove it, but I will presume you have and act accordingly. If you feel compelled to acknowledge any specific parts that jump out at you or query something that doesn't sit right with you, we'll probably be bffs.
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