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heartslobbf · 8 months

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hater alert! far too many people say that juri’s character arc ‘isn’t about her being sad about being gay, it’s about being sad about unrequited love that happens to be gay’ and. well. that is not true and by saying that you are completely flattening the brilliance of juri’s character arc which literally culminates in her being able to accept her own lesbianism despite her unrequited love, despite all her shame and self-loathing, despite this pursuit by Some Fucking Guy to try and ‘save’ her from these feelings. like if you think juri’s entire character is just ‘sad about shiori’ how do you appreciate even a modicum of the emotion packed into that final juri duel. it is both about shiori and, even broader, her lesbian identity and what that means to her intrinsically as a person, removed from romantic relationships and just purely as like. you know. Who She Is. the idea that even when juri’s locket is cut from her neck she is still a lesbian that’s still who she is and she cant change that and, crucially, she doesn’t want to even as she is agonised by these feelings. that’s why she forfeits the duel!!!! she’s clocking out she’s quitting she’s saying no!!!!!! this is me and ive got to be ok with that this is me and i can accept that this girl might not love me and i can keep living despite that. like. god im so normal arisugawa juri im so sorry that no one understands you and your intrinsically unapologetically lesbian storyline like i do

#ok got that out of my system now (rewatched ep 29 duel too many times)#revolutionary girl utena #rgu #idk i just see that argument so much and it makes me so sad #bc i get where ppl r coming from there r a lot of unnuanced ‘sad bc gay’ narratives out there #but juri’s whole arc is about actively challenging and deconstructing that idea #and it deals with the sadness that comes with being closeted with knowing youre gay and not really liking that about yourself #and eventually she does accept and embrace that aspect of herself but CRUCIALLY she doesnt do it via romantic validation #in fact she does it in the face of like. All Opposition Ever #no one says hey juri if you were gay that’d be totally fine actually haha #ruka tries to save her from her lesbianism!!!!!!!! like!!!!!!!#it is juri and juri alone who makes this resolution and that is just So Fucking Important to me #shes so. she is the queer character of all time to me i literally dont care no one else will ever come close #LIKE!!!!!!! THE CASTLE WEEPING ON HER WHEN SHE MAKES HER CHOICE!!!!!!!#accepting that part of yourself and having the symbol of matrimony and heteronormativity WEEP over you #no one ever validates juri’s choice to accept her queerness but she keeps making that choice #and her in episode 37…….. god i just might keel over and die girls when juri utena touga parallels……#anywayyyyyyy love and light i love juriposting #shut up daisy

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intobarbarians · 3 years

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i’ve never seen the sailor moon influence more strongly in rgu than when the black rose duelists forcibly take their swords from the chests of their ‘beloved’.

in the last three seasons of sailor moon, ordinary people are sought after by the arc villains for some manifestation of their hearts, their dreams, or souls: a pure heart crystal, a dream mirror, a star seed. the implication is that anyone and everyone contains these embodiments of the intangible. unless they are returned quickly, the person they are stripped from will die.

the arc villains usually choose a potential victim based on their passion, their talent, and in many cases their beauty, as they search for an extra special version of the thing everyone possesses: the talismans, the golden mirror, the true star seed belonging to a sailor senshi.

sometimes the arc villains feel a particular connection or attraction to a victim, and it makes their inevitable grab for the victim’s soul that much more bitter when the villain is spurned. in other words, some episodes depict the theft as a task performed at the behest of the season’s big bad, an objective to be accomplished in near complete detachment in spite of the victim’s pain, but in other episodes it’s a deeply personal act--the pain is the point. if the victim cannot love the villain, then their souls or their hopes will be stolen in recompense.

sailor moon, of course, comes to the rescue, restoring the victim and triumphing over the villains. hardly anyone ever seems traumatized by what happens to them. instead, they usually come out of the experience invigorated, ready to keep pursuing their dreams.

it’s not so simple in utena. the duels often leave the defeated duelist in a strange kind of limbo, rather than granting a full catharsis. none of the student council members truly confront the people who took their swords, even though the pull is depicted as painful. the black rose duelists seemingly forget they ever were duelists.

we come to the next arc, and it’s the same dance arranged differently. saionji appears without a bride, mickey chooses his sister, and ruka seems intent on humiliating shiori.

utena duels them all to protect anthy and her own place as the engaged, but also to ‘restore’ her opponents, much like sailor moon does.

but utena’s optics are often incorrect. scattering the rose petals isn’t the same as returning a pure heart crystal. where usagi is symbolically leading a person back to themselves, utena cannot unveil truths to her opponents because she herself does not see them. her wins don’t alter the anguish that drove her opponents to challenge her in the first place on the same restorative level. the growth achieved in her victories is fragile, easily snipped at the root. akio is waiting in his observatory, ready to use the defeated duelists all over again.

#rgu

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you-are-my-neverland · 4 years

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Positive Self Analysis Challenge

Rules: Post an excerpt you are proud of, and talk about why you’re proud of it! Choose a few sentences and talk about why you like them/what you were aiming for while you were writing.

Tagged by @commasinsidequotes ! I know it’s been like a month or whatever, but I kept getting distracted from writing.

I’ll tag @semblanche & @landfillmp3 & @acrimoneous if you guys haven’t done this already ;-;

This excerpt is from Fairbone and there are, like, kind of major spoilers mentioned, and I couldn’t edit them out without messing up the scene. It’s also long, because I couldn’t find a good place to cut it lol.

“For the dead.” Aurelius raised his glass into the air and clinked it against nothing. “No one asked me to go into the fire, Xanthe. No one asked me to let your brother burn alive either.” Xanthe flinched at how crudely he said it, let your brother burn alive. “No one asked me to leave Ashe behind. No one asked me to make any choice I made, but I made them, and now I’m paying the price and it’s fine, I’m fine with that. It’s just karma, right?” His eyes were red rimmed, from exhaustion, from pain, when he looked at her with his smile twisted in all the wrong ways.

“Aurelius.”

“Don’t say anything.” The words were a whispered plea. “Don’t say anything. I don’t—I don’t even want to be speaking to you right now. I just want—” He trailed off, voice wavering, and dug both his hands into his hair. The glass dropped to the floor and shattered apart, Xanthe watching it fall as if in slow motion and making no move to attempt to stop it.

“I want it to be quiet,” Aurelius whispered into his hands. “I want to die.”

Xanthe’s heart constricted, painfully. “Aurelius,” she started, but he turned away from her before she could even begin to reach out to him.

“I think…” He paused, looking up at her from between his spread fingers. “I think I want to go to where I belong.”

“Where is that?” Xanthe asked, but she thought she already knew.

Aurelius looked at his thin wrist and traced the empty space there languidly. “Someplace not where you are.”

Her heart squeezed even tighter. “I understand,” she whispered, but the words tasted like sawdust in her mouth. “I don’t know when you’ll be able to, though. Ruka’s been imprisoned.”

Aurelius raised his eyebrows, eyes darkening. “Bluespeer?” he guessed.

“How did you know?” Xanthe asked, tilting her head.

“The righteous are the most ruthless,” Aurelius responded. He looked up at her, and Xanthe could see the wheels turning. “Luckily for us, we’re neither.” Xanthe didn’t know if it was a compliment or an insult.

“I won’t see you for a while,” she said softly.

“You won’t,” Aurelius acknowledged. “Not unless you plan on leaving.”

Xanthe touched the place where the rose was tattooed over her skin, and felt it burn beneath her thumb. “I can’t,” she told him. “Not yet.”

Aurelius’ lips twitched, almost. “It’s probably for the best,” he said, more soberly than he had spoken before. “We probably shouldn’t see each other for a while.”

“What does that mean?” Xanthe asked, feeling a lump in her throat. She felt like she was being slowly torn to pieces this whole conversation, each word from his mouth another piece of her being thrown to the wolves.

“It means that you’re painful for me, right now,” Aurelius answered. “And I don’t think I can look at you without remembering Ashe. I don’t...I can’t heal if you’re here with me every step of the way.”

Xanthe swallowed, but it got stuck. She hadn’t been expecting him to say it so bluntly, like something had been stabbed between her ribs and stuck there.

“Am I the problem?” she asked, so softly that she thought, for a moment, it had gone unheard.

Aurelius looked away from her. “I think we’re both the problem,” he whispered. “Because whenever we’re around each other like this, people die.” Xerxes, Xanthe thought, back then, what had broken them apart. Ashe, breaking them apart now.

She couldn’t even argue with him and say that it wasn’t true, because that was a lie she would be unable to say. The girl that had seen the death and the man who had led them into it. They were both a pair, weren’t they? A type of dysfunctional that had worked when they were younger and didn’t have to suffer the consequences as much, but now the blood had found their hands and dried there.

“Okay,” she whispered, sliding off the counter, her bare feet touching the cold ground. “But if this is the last time we’ll talk, can I do something?”

“What?” Aurelius looked at her.

Xanthe swallowed. “This,” she whispered, and then she kissed him as hard as she could. He stumbled back, against the counter, and Xanthe pressed forward, trying to feel anything, but he was unyielding, shoving her off. She broke away from him, gasping, and wiped at her mouth sloppily.

“What the hell, Xanthe,” Aurelius said fiercely, his words biting.

She shrugged, feeling tears in her eyes. “I’m not sorry,” she whispered, and his eyes softened. He took a half step towards her and then he was kissing her instead, lips soft against her own. Xanthe felt heat in her body, tingling in her nerves, as if her blood was on fire. She felt the counter behind her, scrambling for balance against it, the edge digging into her back. She leaned forward, to deepen the kiss, only for him to gently pull away from her again.

“We shouldn’t,” he whispered, shaking his head. “It’s grief.”

Xanthe looked away. She felt guttural and raw. She felt like something had been ripped apart inside of her. “It’s fine,” she whispered, but the words stretched her tongue the wrong way, made her feel all wrong, because it wasn’t fine, it wasn’t fine.

“Why…” Aurelius broke off. “It was my mistake,” he said instead, pressing his lips together. “It was my mistake, I’m sorry. A lapse of judgement.”

“I don’t want to be your lapse of judgement,” Xanthe whispered. She couldn’t raise her voice. “I’m in love with you, Aurelius. I’ve been in love with you for a long time. I was going, I was going to tell you at the River of Forgetting, but I couldn’t, so I’m telling you now.”

“Go, Xanthe,” Aurelius said, rubbing at his temples. He sounded tired, looked exhausted, but Xanthe was unwilling to let the conversation simply filter off. Not when her words were in the air, not when they had finally been said.

“Is that all you have to say?” she asked bitterly. “No comment? You can’t even reject or accept me?”

“It’s your feelings towards me, I shouldn’t have anything to do with them,” Aurelius retorted, a snap in his voice. “What, you need me to validate your teenage love for me? Even if I feel the same, even if I don’t, that won’t erase your feelings. It’s not my responsibility, Xanthe.”

“Fuck you,” Xanthe whispered.

“Too late for that.” His eyes were ice cold chips. “You don’t get to fucking say you love me, Xanthe, not after we both nearly died and Ashe did die and she died because of us.”

“That’s not our fault!” Xanthe cried. “If you were me, Aurelius, you would understand that I can’t accept responsibility for every death that happens just because I had a vision about it!”

“And what about your brother?!” Aurelius shouted back. “You’re telling me you saw Xerxes was going to die and you did nothing to stop it? Because I was the one who dragged you out of there, Xanthe, and you were screaming to go die with him.”

She felt tears in her eyes. Everything was hot and bitter and burning. “Don’t bring him into this,” she said.

“Xerxes is as much of a part of us as the two of us are,” Aurelius responded. “He’ll always be there.”

“So what, that’s why this will never work?” Xanthe questioned, hands curling into fists where she held herself tight. “Because of my dead brother?”

“You tell me,” Aurelius said with his dark eyes and his golden hair and his ruination, all over him. She said nothing and he turned away from her, looking somewhere that was not her, somewhere that did not have her. “Go, Xanthe.”

She left.

Analysis

When I first wrote this scene, I wrote it all at once, and I didn’t exactly feel that good about it, but I liked it all the same, because I kind of just like Xanthe and Aurelius...anyways, it was a lot of raw emotion, and when it comes to raw emotion, I tend to write it, well, rawly (which can sometimes be re: messy). So I wasn’t really sure how much I actually liked this scene, but I kept coming back to it, and it still really jumps out at me, now.

Mostly, because this is, in a way, the ending to Xanthe and Aurelius’ story. The whole theme of them throughout the book is that they keep coming back to each other, even after everything that happened, but here is where they end, this is where they know they’re not coming back to each other.

“So what, that’s why this will never work?” Xanthe questioned, hands curling into fists where she held herself tight. “Because of my dead brother?”

Xanthe saying this kind of encapsulates their whole relationship - even if they have feelings for one another, they never acted on them. At first, when they were teenagers, because Xanthe was his best friend’s sister, and then because Xerxes died and neither of them could save him. Even when they reconnected, after three years, Xerxes is still there, in the empty space, even when they’re not thinking about him.

“What, you need me to validate your teenage love for me? Even if I feel the same, even if I don’t, that won’t erase your feelings. It’s not my responsibility, Xanthe.”

I’ve always liked the concept of someone...not being responsible for your feelings, if that makes sense, and not having to reciprocate feelings. Aurelius and Xanthe deal with their feelings and emotions for one another in slightly peculiar ways; they’ve never really confronted them, even if they’re definitely there. There’s always been a sort of understanding between the two of them that they are more than friends, but it’s never something they’ve acted on, due to external pressures and circumstances. This scene is basically Xanthe considering why not and going for it, but once again, circumstances hold them apart.

Xanthe and Aurelius are basically the definition of two people who might be destined for one another, but keep meeting at the wrong time, if you know what I mean? There’s a quote or something that could explain it better, but I can’t quite remember it...anyways.

This scene focuses a lot of emotions. I wouldn’t call any of the characters in Fairbone to be particularly emotional people, besides maybe Ashe and Thieu, and while Xanthe and Aurelius have practically clashed in all their scenes, here is where it all overflows. Aurelius, on one hand, finally lets it all out:

“I want it to be quiet,” Aurelius whispered into his hands. “I want to die.”

Aurelius, in a way, has been like this the whole book. He’s broken. He’s suffering. He’s lost. But we as the readers might not really understand this so explicitly until he finally admits this: that he’s tired. That he’s so tired. And he’s been tired. Now he’s just plain exhausted.

This turned out long and I kind of just talked in circles, but in conclusion, it’s an emotional scene, if not a good one, and I like that.

#wip: fairbone #lovely mutuals #writers on tumblr #wip excerpt #my writing #writing #commasinsidequotes #me: comes out of the woodwork to post fairbone and then disappears #you can maybe avoid the spoilers if you don't read close enough but they are mentioned #this is the beginning of part four so it's near the end...#all xanthe and aurelius do is hurt each other is that kind of toxic?#maybe but it's their own personal issues getting in the way..#xanthe's power #xerxes being dead #ashe dying now #star crossed lovers in the worst possible way #8.17.2020 #yeah it's been like a month or so i am so sorry

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shima-draws · 5 years

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OH HEWWO here’s the two new characters for ATS I’ve been gushing about nonstop!! Their refs have actually been done for quite a while, I wanted to draw more of them before I shared but I just got so excited I couldn’t wait!!

Their inspiration is probably pretty obvious lmao as stated several times by my pals but well, Albion’s been planned to look smth like that for a long time now so :’Dc

Albion’s on the top!! And Ikaia’s on the bottom!!

Their backgrounds and story details are under the cut, but be warned, it is LONG lol

Albion Kerrigan Age: ??? (Physically, early twenties) Hair color: Black and white Eye color: Black and white (Dual-user) Element: Light and Darkness

Remember when I introduced Edan and Valdis way waaaay back? Well, Albion is one of their companions--the Grandmaster of Light and Darkness! (His name was Alva previously, but I changed it.) He’s existed within Kishuniia for countless millennia, ever since that world was created. However, unlike his Grandmaster brethren he doesn’t like to play by their rules, and goes to interact with humans despite the fact that it’s strictly forbidden by Astraeus (the Grandmaster’s leader and the only existing tri-user (besides Kaz, who is a special case)). Because of his Grandmaster status, he serves as a pillar for Shima’s world, being an existence that keeps it thriving. If a Grandmaster were to be killed, the entire world would collapse instantly, for those seven pillars are needed to keep it functioning. And that is the reason why they conceal themselves from humans, spending thousands of years avoiding humanity or just in hibernation, and why Astraeus, being their leader, is so cautious about interacting with humans, who could easily abuse them for their power and unknowingly cause the world’s destruction.

Even so! Albion has always been an outsider within the Grandmaster group--not because he doesn’t get along with them (Edan’s his closest friend among them) but because he doesn’t like being tied down by their rules. Humans fascinate him and he’s always seeking knowledge on how they function and evolve, and he’s sorta inherited their mischief, always getting into trouble with people. But that’s just because he’s playful! Being a very curious and energetic person, he easily falls into misunderstandings, and also enjoys playing pranks on people lol

Astraeus is a really calm and laid back person, but with Albion they’re kinda strict--they pretty much act like a parental figure lmao and Albion HATES it. Astraeus kinda treats him like a kid, mostly because they don’t believe Albion is capable of understanding just how important of a being he is, being a god of this world, and it frustrates them. They’re quite protective of all of their Grandmaster allies, especially Albion since they know he attracts trouble and will disobey them no matter what they say. Albion’s constantly just like “Go away” and Astraeus is like “If I don’t keep an eye on you, who knows what will happen” so they’re just constantly arguing. Family squabble. Mkdmasdas

Ikaia Belcour Age: 23 Hair color: Blonde (very subtle pink gradient at the bottom) Eye color: Pinkish-red Element: Water

Ikaia is my newest baby...I would and can die for him...he’s a good soft boy that doesn’t allow any bullshit and pretty much does whatever he can to achieve his goals. He’s also trans!!

He actually met Albion when he was 8 years old, after finding him collapsed in some bushes outside his house--apparently Albion had irritated some of the boys in town and gotten into a fight with them (but of course, he pulled his punches, letting them get out their anger and trying not to inflict too much damage). Ikaia then tended to his wounds and started asking all sorts of questions. Albion found him immensely entertaining. When Albion asked for his name, Ikaia hesitated because he didn’t like the name he was born with--so Albion gave him the name Ikaia, and he’s stuck with it ever since!

Albion stays around town for a little while, and he slowly starts getting attached to Ika along the way. Ikaia, being the youngest of a large family, is ostracized by them, especially since they’re all gifted with elemental abilities and can use them brilliantly while he fails to master his powers of water. The only person who really cares for him is his older sister, but it’s hard for her to protect him when everyone else is essentially out to get him. Ikaia tells Albion he dreams of running away and being free from the ties of his family, and doesn’t have to put up with their misgendering and bad treatment of him. Ikaia excitedly suggests traveling with Albion, who sorta just goes with the flow and travels to wherever, being the adventurous type he is (which is smth Ikaia dreams of doing), and Albion jokingly says maybe he can one day.

By mistake Albion realizes that Ikaia’s elemental gifts lie more on the side of ice rather than just water--as elementals tend to specialize in different fields of their element, down to specific battle styles and practical uses. Once Ikaia discovers that he’s able to control his ability EASILY--he realizes he’s better at freezing things, developing a knack for it right away! Albion trains him a bit and teaches him a few Grandmaster tricks that only he knows. Ikaia excitedly goes home to show off to his family--they are proud at first, but immediately turn around and start using Ikaia for his powers, which makes him miserable. They also start noticing Ikaia hanging around Albion, which they find VERY suspicious, and punish Ikaia for meeting with him. Albion feels immensely guilty for getting Ikaia in trouble, and even worse, a very furious Astraeus shows up and berates Albion for interacting with humans, fearing that the secret of his Grandmaster status might leak.

Astraeus threatens to erase Ikaia’s memory of Albion, to which Albion protests, saying it isn’t fair to erase all the happy moments they had together just to preserve their secret. (Also they’d have to get Valdis to come do that who is like halfway across the world anyway.) Because of how close Ikaia and Albion had become, Astraeus says they won’t erase the child’s memory, but that Albion has to leave town and never look back, and forbids him from ever seeing Ikaia again lest Ikaia realizes that Albion’s immortal. At this point Albion’s been driven into a corner and can’t really oppose that decision, so he goes along with it, reluctantly, because he’d actually wanted to see the type of person Ikaia would grow up to be.

Finally, Albion resolves to leave town. Ikaia is absolutely distraught, of course, not wanting to lose the only friend he has, and the person who’s taught him so much. Albion tearfully says he’ll come back one day, and Ikaia makes him promise to take him with on a journey across Kishuniia and show him everything he knows once he’s grown up and mature enough for the journey :’) Ofc this is a lie but Ikaia doesn’t know that;;

Years after Albion has left, Ikaia becomes stronger and trains more often to master his elemental abilities--and also lashes out more frequently against his family. At this point, he’s become a bitter sort of person, under his family’s control and the promise that Albion never came back to fulfill. His sister gives him encouragement but Ikaia tells her there’s no point in believing in lies, that Albion had probably just been humoring his childish fantasy. Still though, he finally leaves home at age 16--sick of his parents and siblings’ manipulation, he starts traveling around and participating in tournaments to hone his skills.

And then, 15 years after Albion had left--Ikaia is in his early 20s at this point, and has become a renowned champion of local tournaments, going under the name “Ruka” because he doesn’t feel super comfortable using his actual name, especially because of how important it is to him, being the one big reminder of Albion he has. People refer to him as the “Frigid Prince” because of his use of ice and his cold personality lol. It’s at one of these tournaments that Albion stumbles upon him again, completely by accident 👀 Ikaia is shocked to see him from the audience and almost loses his match but he uses his irritation at Albion to win lol. He honestly thinks it was just a hallucination for a while, but he runs into Albion again outside of town--who had been avoiding meeting him--and just. Shit hits the FAN LMAO. Ikaia is absolutely FURIOUS at Albion for breaking his promise, and ofc is very confused as to why Albion still looks exactly the same. Albion refuses to reveal his identity as a Grandmaster, since he knows the truth would put Ikaia in danger with both Astraeus and any other humans looking to take advantage of them. But it becomes clear to Ikaia that Albion definitely doesn’t age, and probably isn’t human like he’d assumed--and he realizes that was the reason Albion never came back, and slowly but surely forgives him. (He’s still irritated for a long time after tho lmao)

With that said, Albion’s finally able to fulfill his promise and take Ikaia with him on a journey :’D They do a lot of catching up and they spar against each other occasionally, tho most of the time it ends in a draw since Albion’s afraid of hurting Ikaia despite the fact that Ika’s definitely strong enough to handle his blows lol. To Albion, Ikaia feels like an entirely different person, and it takes him a while to adapt to how snarky he’s become, and slowly begins to realize that Ikaia definitely doesn’t smile as much as he used to when he was a kid. (He then starts blaming himself for this drastic change in his friend, wondering if Ikaia’s become such a bitter person because of Albion’s “abandonment” of him.)

It takes a long time for Ikaia to finally start opening up to Albion, but when he does, and when he finally discovers Albion’s status as a Grandmaster--he resolves to protect Albion no matter what, and even stands up to Astraeus and challenges them to a fight in order to prove he’s worthy enough as a human being to stand by Albion’s side :’) Before this Ikaia had kinda been going through life without any real purpose, only wanting to get stronger without knowing why--but when Albion crashes back into his life again, he realizes that Albi’s been the driving force behind everything he’s done in his life, and finally knows what he wants to do from then on out. Seeing Ikaia stand up to Astraeus moves Albion tremendously, and that’s when he starts Catching Feels >:3c (It also doesn’t help that Ika looks REALLY good in thigh highs. Albion’s very weak for them fnadkald)

Ikaia’s pretty popular with his fans--especially the girls, who find him to be very handsome and charming with his cold and quiet demeanor--and Ikaia’s ignorance of them usually makes them freak out over him more lmao he just can’t avoid it :’D He doesn’t really care about fame particularly, and is disinterested in the affairs of his peers in the tournaments, but he does appreciate the support he gets! He’s a very careful battler and strategist, preferring to think first before charging in, while Albion is the exact opposite lmao. Being so cold and calculating gives him an air of arrogance, but he’s not like that, not at all! Deep down he’s still the excited, kind child he used to be, and he still really looks up to Albion a lot and is inspired by him! He likes teasing Albion a lot; they’ll get into friendly arguments and bicker over silly things. Ika thinks Albion’s an idiot despite being an all-powerful immortal being and sorta appoints himself as a babysitter for Albion under Astraeus’ instructions and Albion’s fury at that lol. Ikaia teaches him a lot about the human world, what humans are like, and how they function--which is something Albion’s always been extremely interested in.

They do fall in love, eventually! But it takes a long time because Albion’s never developed feelings for a human before, due to their lifespans being so short and him never being super attached to any of them in particular. He’s curious about them and he likes them, but human lives are fleeting and fragile, so he doesn’t really allow himself to get really close with any out of fear of losing them. After he starts getting closer to Ikaia he becomes very...overprotective of him, and worries constantly about his health and his state of being, and nags at him to be more careful when he gets hurt. Eventually Ikaia snaps back at him and tells him to stop coddling him and acting like a mother hen lmao. He does understand Albion’s fear, as Ikaia feels the same, worried that someone will take Albion away and try to use him against his will, and does his best to reassure him...!

A long time later when they finally get the balls to confess to each other, Albion pleads for Astraeus to let Ikaia become an immortal (who had already considered his options and decided yeah, spending an eternity with Albion would be really nice), and Astraeus, having seen how important they are to each other and viewing Ikaia as Albion’s only true friend, grants him immortality!! (Which they can easily do, being the Grandmaster of Time, Space AND Stars--) And then, Albi and Ika begin their eternity together. Insufferable partners to the end. LMAO

There’s this whole thing where people do eventually find out about Albion and there’s a huge battle arc where they fight to get him back and he turns into a raging demon and unlocks his Grandmaster Destruction Powers or something after Ikaia gets hurt and. Yeah. That’s a story for another time LOL

WHEW sorry that got long but that’s the gist of it!! I love my boys very much and would lay my life on the line for them, yessir

Bonus screencaps from me blabbing on about them in Discord:

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ladyloveandjustice · 5 years

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Utena thoughtdump

Sometimes I see posts I disagree with but don’t feel like taking the time to rebut them, even indirectly, but then years later they come up in my head and I feel like writing a sort of thought dump.

THIS IS ONE OF THOSE TIMES.

So I once saw a post that was like “Utena and Ikuhara are bad because dudes get away with being manipulative and sexual, don’t get majorly punished for it, while girls who do similar things get “knocked down a peg”, using Shiori and Nanami as examples of this, vs like, Touga and co.

So like, the most obvious thing to bring up here is that one of the central themes of the show is how girls will get punished for doing stuff guys do and guys will use them as human shields and get off scot free. Anthy takes the swords in Akio’s place while he fucks around doing what he wants, that’s the major reveal. It’s fairly straightfoward as Utena metaphors go. So like...the show demonstrating this doesn’t constitute an endorsement of it, since the show pretty clearly presents that as fucked up.

I don’t think we’re meant to be HAPPY or take satisfaction in what happens to Nanami and Shiori. It is supposed to be pitiful that they get so screwed over by these dudes. who had the advantage on them from the beginning.

This take also completely ignores Kozue who actually is pretty manipulative and sexually active but isn’t ever significantly “punished” for it moreso than anyone else. I mean, she becomes a black rose duelist and is clearly pretty fucked up, but she’s not “bought low” or anything compared to anyone else. Miki is the one who gets owned more explicitly.

It also ignores that Saionji IS one of the shows biggest laughing stocks and punching bags, right up there with Nanami. Him being humiliated and punished for his actions is like. a running thing. And takes a more serious form when Touga betrays him and he’s reduced to hiding back in Wakaba’s dorm.

It’s notable Saionji is able to grab some power offered by another man and do some shitty things to get out of that situation, and hurts Wakaba to do it- and we’re pretty clearly supposed to sympathize with Wakaba here. He gets opportunities she and the other girls wouldn’t, and has no problem casting the girl who supported him aside upon getting them, and that’s not great.

IIRC, the post also went in hard on how Ruka is treated vs Shiori too, complaining about how fucked up it is he gets to “free” Juri from Shiori, claiming it’s like he “fixed” her being gay, etc.

The Ruka storyline is pretty thorny, and I can absolutely see having problems with it- it’s probably the part of Utena I have to MOST difficulty with- but we shouldn’t obscure the facts of that plot.

Ruka is treated like a martyr for helping “free” Juri from Shiori, but like, being a martyr means you die. which is a pretty big consequence.

(Also,slightly off topic, thanks to Utena being so full or weird stuff and open to interp, there’s like, a lot of ways you could take that narrative and what it’s “trying to say”. Here’s a good post on an interpretation contextualizes Ruka well for me personally- that he’s not 100% ‘real’ but a projection on Juri’s desires, something she created- It really works for me, fits perfectly into the show and irons out the parts of the that two parter that seem contradictory to the rest of the show and makes more sense on a smaller scale as well.)

But, whatever your interp of Ruka is, whether you think he’s a projection of Juri or a real boy, it’s just plain right there explicitly in the text that he doesn’t really “free” Juri from all of her feelings towards Shiori either. She explicitly says she still has them later on, just that she’s you know. moving on a bit from being eternally torturing herself over it (”I can’t set my feelings free”). The fact she says “yeah still have feelings for her” and then jokingly asks Utena for her picture because maybe she’ll put HER in a locket next is pretty explicitly the show going out of it’s way to say “she’s still gay btw just not as hung up on Shiori and willing to move on”. So any claims Ruka “fixed” Juri being gay are pretty hardcore contradicted there. Also, Juri did not leave Ohtori after the thing with Ruka, which means she still has stuff to work out, all her problems were not fixed thanks to that duel.

Shiori survives, and gets to a place where she seems more content and friendly with Juri (from that tiny snippet post-revolution) while Ruka does not, which is something to take into consideration when looking at how the show treats the two characters as well.

Moving on to Touga- he does pretty much get away with everything, but he also doesn’t get what he “wants”- Utena- despite developing apparently genuine feelings for her, because he’s still shitty and possessive towards her. His feelings for Utena are presented a bit sympathetically but...they don’t pan out, and it’s explicitly because of how badly handled the situation, challenging her to a duel and all, like she straight up tells him that.

He’s the person who’s standing there with Saionji saying “if u believe in true friendship ur a fool” near the end, and Utena being like “lol yeah im a fool.” That says something incredibly empty about Touga. He’s here still not believing people can ever genuinely have connections. He’s standing there with his “friend” basically saying “yeah i still don’t really have any genuine connections to anyone, all my friendships are still fake”. In some ways, that’s so much worse than where Shiori and Nanami ended up.

Yeah anyway so. Just a mess of thoughts there, but the tl;dr gist is: there are things you can criticize about Utena (and SO many things you can crit about Ikuhara’s other work, but I don’t think it belongs in a convo about Utena especially since he isn’t the sole creator there) and it’s wildIy open to interpretation by design, but I don’t think “it demonstrates the bad thing that the show is pretty explicitly focused on critiquing” is a really strong argument.

#revolutionary girl utena #my meta

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dragonheartedx · 4 years

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@breakthecage

Tenten wasn't a liar, not really. She was usually pretty blunt and straightforward. Usually being the keyword here. When it came to her feelings for Neji, lying was something she had resorted to whenever people or the man in question got close to figuring it out. That's when she turned downright evasive. She pouted. "I'm not proud of it." Thankfully, he didn't seem to be holding it against her. She hadn't wanted to risk destroying what they shared together. A strong friendship, a bond she was sure would transcend lifetimes even. If it hadn't already and they just couldn't remember. "I will hold you onto that promise." Tenten longed for that, to fall asleep and wake-up next to Neji. They could silence each other's demons, put them to sleep.

Her cheeks reddened. In the span of less than an hour, ever since they had a moment and became aware of how deeply the other has been feeling this entire time, he must have complimented her at least four times. To say she wasn't used with it, it'd be her putting it mildly. Deadly. The word had a nice ring to it. Combine that with how she didn't expect him to downright say he had fallen in love with her...Tenten fought the sudden urge to kiss him again.

They were no longer alone but in public and she knew her teammate well enough to steer clear of blatant displays of affection, though. "Ah, Neji...the sentiment is mutual." Tenten could recall in perfect detail the first time she had seen him fight. She didn't remember much of the fighting she had done that day, or even Lee's, but the way he had moved, so effortlessly, with unrivalled grace and an aura thick with danger...it was glued to her memory. "Your precision with the Jukken, it mirrored mine with weaponry. I can fight from all ranges but you had me stuck in long-range for quite some time." No close or mid-range weapon of hers stood a chance against his taijutsu. Not at first. It had taken her hours, days, weeks as well as plenty of creativity and training to get to the point where she'd fare well against him and not have her chakra points instantly be neutralized.

"You challenged me every day, directly and indirectly. Ruka-san, my caretaker at the orphanage, gave me a sound piece of advice that rang true the more I stood by your side." she paused, expression softening as she glanced at him. "If love doesn't make you grow as a person, if it doesn't shake your foundations, makes you question things you thought were absolute...then it isn't love. You did all of that, Neji."

Faced with his confusion and a good argument against what she had said, despite the obvious misunderstanding, Tenten couldn't help but laugh softly. "I can't blame you for reaching that conclusion. I explained it poorly." the bun-haired kunoichi knew that she had to delve into quite the intimate subject for him to understand. "Make-up isn't supposed to help you fake sickness or crying..." Kami, how did she put this delicately? She hoped Neji wouldn't be scandalized by the path their conversation had just taken. "But sexual arousal and or the end of intercourse. The first can be achieved through kissing, which is what we, did earlier. As for the second, well..." A nervous chuckle went past her lips. Surely she didn't have to explain what an orgasm was, right? Tenten wished the ground would split itself open and swallow her whole. Despite that, she kept going. If she started it, she might as well do it right. "Make-up is...a preview. A glimpse into what the woman wearing it would look like if the mentioned actions were to take place. I'm talking about natural looking makeup, not the stuff Geishas apply. That is another story."

Which she didn't feel like explaining at the moment.

Tenten grimaced at the question. Did he have to ask? It was a valid concern, she supposed. As they walked towards the hot springs, she thought of how to voice her answer. Half of her wanted to retain an air of mystery, see whether Neji would react or not. "Kunoichi had been established with that sole reason in mind: to carry out seduction missions." That much was fact, something he must have been aware of. Not a pretty reality but little could be considered pretty or fair even...as far as their ninja lifestyle was concerned. "Tsunade-sama hoped to abolish the practice during her reign but even she couldn't deny the importance of it."

Thinking that she had tortured her boyfriend (was it alright for her to call Neji that?), enough, Tenten nudged his side gently, brown hues serious. "I was approached at some point and ordered to go on one." she revealed. It had been some time after her seventeenth birthday. "There were certain risks involved that I couldn't ignore, however. So, I refused." She'd rather die before she let any man that wasn't him, touch her. "I wanted my first to be you. My last too." she confessed in a soft murmur, looking away from him. Stupid, stupid, stupid. What was wrong with her, dammit? Saying that? And so soon too?

#@breakthecage #v; post war tenten

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alldempretties · 6 years

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Utena Special Chapter #2 - Beautiful Thorns (LQ raws & summary)

The new Utena chapter in this month’s Flowers is too beautiful not to share. It contains a bit of an alternative take on the historical events of the anime; Ruka takes on the role of several amalgamated characters to very nice effect. There’s a little something for everyone, I think--Ruka fans, Juri/Shiori fans, and even Utena/Anshi fans.

I don’t have time to do a full translation, but I’ve written up a long-ish summary to tide everyone over ‘til some kind soul has time to translate the chapter. I’ve also uploaded some lazy LQ raw scans, which will be available for a few weeks. You can download them here or view them here. The summary is below the break.

La Belle Épine (Beautiful Thorns) - Utena Special Chapter 2

The chapter begins with a surreal dream Juri has of drowning. In the dream, she wishes to be saved. An unknown hand reaches down to catch her wrist, only to tell her she won’t be forgiven.

Juri awakens with a start. She reveals the dream has been recurring over an unknown period of time. She touches the scar on her chest and mentions she has a bad feeling.

At the Tokyo Fencing World Cup, Juri’s facing a challenger in the ring. Miki watches from afar. Her opponent is strong, and is on the defensive when lightning strikes the arena and the lights go out. The match is put on hold due to the disruption, and it’s decided the two opponents will have a rematch at a later date.

Juri’s opponent is revealed to be male—the audience will recognize him as Ruka. Juri is astonished to see a man in the women’s games, but she doesn’t know him. He flashes a rose crest and tells her she narrowly escaped her loss, but next time she won’t be so lucky. As he walks away, Miki mentions that he’s never heard of Juri’s opponent before. Juri asks Miki about the man she just faced, and Miki laughs and says her opponent was a woman. Something supernatural is going on.

At Ootori Academy, Juri is taking part in a photo shoot. Her manager, Shiori, looks on from the crowd. As she works, Juri becomes lost in thought, musing over her male opponent and wondering why a man was facing her in the tournament, and also why his face seems so familiar.

It starts to rain, and the shoot is cancelled for the day. Shiori remarks that it’s been a long time since they last took photos at Ootori, and that Juri’s career began here. She reminisces that there are so many memories wrapped up in the academy. Juri’s not really listening, and she blurts out that she lost the match against her male opponent. Juri says she’s been successful in her matches over the past few years, but her time is running out. She insists that she’s going to retire. Shiori can’t believe it, but Juri reiterates that she wants to save herself from an inevitable fall from glory.

This upsets Shiori. She reveals Juri hasn’t been returning her calls lately, and declares that she’ll be honest now too. Juri isn’t sure what she means but immediately gets distracted by the sudden appearance of Ruka behind Juri. Juri demands to know why he’s there and if Shiori is the one who asked him to come. Shiori doesn’t know what Juri’s talking about (making it likely she can’t see what Juri can),and she reveals she’s been talking to another fencer about becoming their manager.

Ruka chimes in that he’d been looking for a manager, and Juri’s decision saves him the trouble. Juri becomes agitated and pulls Shiori away from Ruka, demanding to know why Ruka’s getting in between her and Shiori. She wants to know what his real objective is. Ruka smirks, but doesn’t get a chance to say anything before Shiori yanks her wrist from Juri’s grip. She declares she’s fed up with putting up with Juri’s attitude and bids Juri farewell. Ruka leaves with her, placing his hand on the small of Shiori’s back with a knowing smirk at Juri. Juri silently begs Shiori not to leave her.

She reveals that she needs Shiori, because she’s always loved her. She then takes a trip down memory lane to their junior high days, in a new variant of their time together growing up. Shiori was a wealthy shining girl, and in comparison Juri felt diminished and unworthy. One day, Juri overhears Shiori declaring that she loves fencing because fencers are like shining princes. Juri feels that princess naturally love princes. If that’s what Shiori wants, then Juri has to become a prince for her sake. With this inspiration, she takes up fencing and thanks to dedicated practice by the riverbank, she begins to win.

Sometime later, Shiori acknowledges her efforts by saying Juri is as strong as a prince. But on the very day of Juri’s victory, Shiori introduces Tsuchiya Ruka as her fiancé. Ruka mentions they’ve been engaged for seven years and compliments Juri on her match. Shiori comments that Ruka is a fencer as well. Juri’s hopes are crushed, because here stands Shire’s true prince, and she’d never had a chance to begin with.

Later on, by the riverbank, she loses her locket with Shiori’s picture. The one who finds it, of course, is Ruka. Juri asks for the locket back, but Ruka playfully tells her she’ll have to chase him down to get it—he’ll acknowledge her sword arm, but he won’t lose to her in sports. He races off with her locket in tow, and shortly afterward she’s too winded to follow him. She mutters to herself that she hates him and that she hopes he’ll disappear from Shiori’s life. She thinks things would be better if he was dead.

Back in the present, it’s the day of the rematch. Miki wishes Juri good luck, and Shiori watches on, worried. Juri declares she won’t lose to that man, which confuses Miki again. Ruka and Juri face off in the arena. Their fight increases in intensity; they’re equally matched. A crack of lightning kills the lights again. Juri wonders if it’s a coincidence, but Ruka says there are no coincidences, only inevitability. He says he called “it” here. As Juri is wondering what “it” is, a familiar castle and dueling arena appear in the sky.

Juri wonders if it’s a dream, but has no time to ponder further as Ruka is ready to continue the match. Juri is shocked to find they’re holding real swords now. Ruka says Shiori had said she wanted to see the final outcome of the match, and Shiori appears in the Rose Bride gown. Shiori holds out a rose to Juri and declares that she likes strong people who resemble princes. She places her rose on Juri’s lapel and explains the rules of the rose duel.

Juri attacks Ruka. The fight furiously until he nearly swipes her rose, but she dodges to protect it. Juri thinks that she can’t let him take Shiori, that she hates him, and that she wishes he’d disappear. As she thinks this, Ruka gets the upper hand and pins her to the ground. Desperate to not lose, Juri wishes for the power of a prince, even if only for a moment.

Her heartfelt wish summons familiar flower petals from the castle, but it is not Dios who descends—it is a dreamlike Utena. Juri doesn’t recognize her, and she asks who she is. Utena responds with only a simple, “The power to revolutionize the world.” Juri notes Utena’s rose crest ring. She asks what it is. Utena says it’s the prince’s ring.

Utena directs Juri’s gaze over her shoulder. When Juri looks, Ruka and Shiori fade into the background and a mansion on the waves is revealed. Suddenly Juri is back in her junior high days, in a memory. Juri mourns that she’s never been able to reach the place, and that she’ll never be able to. In the distance, she catches sight of Shiori peering into the turbulent water. Shortly afterward, Shiori falls into the water. Juri jumps into the water to save Shiori. As she swims, she declares to herself that she’ll become a prince and save Shiori. Her wish is granted, and she manages to get Shiori back to safety, but the tide snatches her away before she can climb up herself.

As she sinks into the waters, she thinks it’s all over. Then a hand grasps her wrist, and a voice tells her that it will never forgive her, that she can’t give up here, that her life has only just begun and she must not die. On her savior’s hand is the prince’s ring. When Juri awakens in the hospital, she realizes she was saved, but doesn’t know by whom. In the bed next to her, she hears Shiori weeping, asking Ruka why he had to die to rescue Juri. She asks if there was something Ruka had wanted to say to Juri. But Ruka is no longer there to be asked; he died saving Juri.

Stricken with guilt, Juri staggers down the hallway of the hospital, letting the reality of what Ruka did for her sink in—and what his sacrifice has cost her in regard to the girl she loves. She wanders through the halls wondering why, and they transform into the church where a certain girl once crawled into a coffin with her parents. A voice responds to Juri’s mental questions, saying, “Because he was a prince.”

Juri comes face to face with a child version of Utena, and she asks if she’s the same girl who descended from the castle. Predictably Utena ignores her and instead says that she met Ruka, and he told her that he had fallen in love with Juri when he saw her practicing hard on the riverbank when no one was watching. He’d wanted to save Juri. Utena says that’s why she gave Ruka her ring. Juri thinks back suddenly to the time Ruka stole her locket and blushes with realization. Utena continues, and as she speaks, she is “possessed” by Ruka (implying that the other manifestations of Ruka were also possessions of regular people), who declares that Juri is beautiful and the goddess of battle. Juri is touched, and she thanks him because she’s never been praised like this before.

Ruka touches her hand and leans his head on her shoulder for the briefest moment before he moves away. As he turns, he leaves Utena’s body, leaving her behind. Juri asks where he (and Utena) are going. Utena says that she is going to meet a certain girl. Juri cries in response, and suddenly she’s back in the middle of the match. She defeats her opponent, and she waits with anticipation as her opponent removes their mask. But instead of Ruka, it’s a young woman—the very young woman who has been her opponent all along, and the reason Miki was always confused when Juri called her a man.

Juri clutches her chest and finds the locket has at last been returned to her. Inside the pendent, on the opposite side of Shiori’s picture, the words “Fight Juri” have been scratched into the surface.

After the match, Shiori congratulates her and they embrace. Shiori says Juri was shining during the match, and that she was as like a prince as ever. Juri tells Shiori that her words have always given her courage, and she’s grateful. Shiori asks if Juri’s really going to leave the fencing world, but Juri ignores her and says that she will no longer fight for Shiori’s sake. Juri says that she had kept on fighting in order to protect Shiori as a prince would, and also for Ruka who’d died saving her, but from now on she’ll fight because she likes the fight. That alone is enough for her.

Shiori mentions that she had a dream about Ruka that morning. In her dream, he thanked her for finding him and watching over him. With that, he smiled and vanished. Juri looks at the inner lid of her pendant and smiles as she and Ruka symbolically part ways forever.

#revolutionary girl utena #shoujo kakumei utena #utena #chio saitou #saitou chiho #utena summary #spoilers #utena spoilers

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kyuketsukiwi · 5 years

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wow my first real post

and it’s abt chopsticks

can they done did use chopsticks

no ; uses a fork onion | rye | milo | lee | ganymede

yes ; uses a fork anyway damian | cas | julian | nora | maison

no ; stabs w the chopsticks finn | ali | arwen

yes ; stabs w the chopsticks anyway rune | ruka

yea this is exactly the sort of stupid fucking content ur gonna get here

> extra hcs

arwen: im not losing to CHOPSTICKS

rune is angry ruka says it’s more fun to stab

uses a fork anyway gang: why make eating harder w chopsticks

mika had 2 teach hira and it took. Months

a lot of them can use chopsticks bc a) theyre from a vaguely asian continent (alveryion) or b) lis is a weeb (and, u know, asian descended) so her fam had 2 learn to use chopsticks or die. the others just got good

(fable and asym kid might also have asian ancestry but(?) debatable)

lee lives on alveryion too and ironically Is The Daughter Of The 2nd Mate but she just. she’s bad. cant do it. doesnt get it

lee, loudly: if u make fun of me for not being able 2 use chopsticks, i will throw knives at ur fucking head bc that’s something i Can do

ganymede agrees but all he can do to u is like. challenge u to a dance battle and win ig

finn and ali r just children honestly

#oc hcs #full era #fix the names someday

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syrupwit · 7 years

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Letter for Chocolate Box 2017

Hello! Thank you for considering making something for me. I am not that great at letters, so please contact the mods or send an anonymous ask message if anything is unclear. Also! I’m probably not as picky as I sound.

In general, I like:

Femslash, slash, and gen (most of these prompts are f/f or m/m but I also like gen a lot!)

Pretty girls wearing pretty clothes

Supernatural creatures looking rad

Cool monsters

Humor and crack!fic

Supernatural horror, especially ghost stories and cosmic horror

Isolated or "outsider" characters finding true friends

Powerful people/beings who are unusually loyal and attached to less powerful people/beings

Pining

Sexuality angst, whether it concludes with gay/bi characters being hopeful or determined and more comfortable with themselves or getting further entrenched in self-destructive spirals

Women being really important to other women, whether their relationship is overall positive or negative or conflicted or whatever

Unconventionally attractive characters/couples

Domestic slice-of-life with a slightly weird twist

In general, I do not like:

Het as the main romantic pairing (unless it’s for Katanagatari)

BDSM (unless specified in a prompt)

M/f femsub. I know this is implied to be a DNW by the bullet points above, but this is a hard squick for me so I want to make sure that's made clear!

Romances where one character becomes a ghost over the course of the story (it's OK if they start out a ghost)

Issuefic

Onscreen rape/noncon (unless it’s Korse/Party Poison i guess)

Onscreen child abuse

Fandoms I requested:

Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys

“The Hound” (H. P. Lovecraft)

Katanagatari

Original Work

Revolutionary Girl Utena/Shoujo Kakumei Utena

Prompts/DNWs for Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys

The only pairing I’ve requested is:

Korse/Party Poison -- Hero/villain! Post-apocalyptic dystopia! Mind control! Do Killjoys really never die? Has Korse ever captured Party Poison pre-music video canon? Is post-comics Korse imprisoned by B/L/I/N/D and does he then meet a brainwashed Party Poison? Or perhaps the characters have another past together, one that either or both have forgotten? (If you have a messed-up idea, please feel FREE to run with it for this canon.)

DNW: Child abuse. Also, although I am well familiar with the variety of ways that bandom and Killjoys canon have been integrated over the years, I would prefer it if the characters of Party Poison and Korse were kept separate from their bandom counterparts for any fills or treats made for me in this challenge.

Prompts/DNWs for "The Hound” by H. P. Lovecraft

("The Hound" can be read in its entirety here.)

Narrator/St. John -- When they're not busy stealing cursed amulets, examining the treasures in their underground collection of sacred objects treated disrespectfully as Goth memorabilia, or discussing the finer aesthetic points of their mutual ennui, what sorts of activities do these graverobbing hipsters get up to in that big empty house on the moor?

DNW: Necrophilia, guro, het (m/f).

Prompts/DNWs for Katanagatari

I fucking love this anime, occasional fanservicey shots of Togame and all. If you aren’t familiar with it, and you like or at least don’t mind anime, backgrounds that have more definition than characters(’ noses), borderline-supernatural fiction set in historical Japan, and outlandishly dressed people having slow, lengthy, at times philosophical conversations while ostensibly doing sword things at each other, then I recommend that you try it out!

In any case, here are my pairing-specific prompts:

Togame/Yasuri Shichika -- Togame and Shichika being happy and enjoying time together ;__;

Hitei-Hime/Yasuri Shichika -- Post-canon, Hitei-Hime and Shichika are set upon by bandits and must dispatch them. These bandits don’t know what hit them!

Togame/Yasuri Nanami -- AU where Nanami, not Shichika, accompanies Togame on her quest.

Hitei-Hime/Togame -- Hitei-Hime and Togame matching wits pre-canon.

I also just think Hitei-Hime is super super pretty, and I love her character design. So... If you feel inspired to draw even a small or sketchy picture of her? I’d totally be pleased.

DO NOT WANT: Hitei-Hime/Togame/Shichika that posits Shichika as the focal point of the triad.

Prompts/DNWs for Original Work

My likes and DNWs are well specified at the beginning of the letter, so here are just prompts for the pairings listed:

Female Non-Humanoid Robot/Female Humanoid Robot -- Uh. Anything, honestly! What do they do? How did they meet? How did they fall in love? ...Robot sex?

Female Cryptid/Female Human -- Female Human gets lost in the woods and is rescued by Female Cryptid.

Barista/Vampire -- Hardworking Barista just wants to take out the trash so they can go home and wash the scalded milk smell from their clothes, but then they are attacked on the way to the dumpster. Who to the rescue but that slightly creepy customer who orders their own weight in coffee and sits in the darkest corner of the shop all day? (Why were they loitering in that alley anyway?)

Necromancer & Demon Summoner -- What is the relationship between these two? Are they friends? Friendly acquaintances? Professional rivals? Do they set up shop in different suites in the same aged, sparsely populated office building, and gradually come to realize that they work in similar fields? Do they totally fight a monster or some aspect of city bureaucracy together? Is there a regrettable incident where a ghoul called by the demon summoner wanders off and consumes some of the necromancer's employees? Or do they just trade professional anecdotes over a cup of tea?

Female Demon/Female Human -- A female graduate student, lonely and bored with being single, accidentally summons a succubus. But it works out!

Female Alien/Female Human -- Female Human is exploring some strange ruins when she encounters Female Alien. (If you wanted to make Female Alien a more Lovecraftian sort of alien, tentacles or gelatinous shapeshifting abilities or POWER TO INSPIRE INDESCRIBABLE FEAR or no, that would be awesome.)

Prompts/DNWs for Revolutionary Girl Utena

I love Utena! What a great show and character. I love the movie too, and could happily expound on why I think it functions as a sequel to the anime series more than an AU, but this is not the time or place for that.

Some general likes for RGU fic and fanart:

Surreal tone

Absurdist humor

Roses

Beautiful uniforms and dresses /o\

RGU-specific dislikes/DNWs:

Explicit sexual content -- not for this fandom please. Implied is welcome!

Works focused specifically on how characters recover from abuse and trauma

Noncanonical character death

Juri or Utena paired with male characters romantically (though one-sided crushes are fine)

Prompts for each pairing listed:

Anthy/Utena -- Utena is an enthusiastic but inept barista; Anthy is her favorite customer.

Anthy/Utena -- Anthy, Utena, and Chu-Chu have a nice time at the beach. Or anywhere, really.

Akio/Touga -- Akio reveals to Touga that he is dead.

Anthy/Kanae -- Angst! I requested this pairing because of this fan theory about Kanae being a former winning duelist who chose to become Akio's princess, and Anthy having bitterness towards her because of that: http://rosepetalrevolution.tumblr.com/post/152521898992/ You don’t have to go along with the fan theory -- anything angsty with Anthy and Kanae would be great.

Juri/Shiori/Ruka -- (Please no Juri-->Ruka or Juri reciprocating Ruka's feelings.) Shiori cottons on to Ruka's feelings for Juri and suggests they all do an activity together, hoping to shame both of them with her knowledge. Things do not go as planned.

Nanami & Tsuwabaki -- Nanami rents a house for summer vacation. Tsuwabuki accompanies her. It turns out the house is haunted... or is it?!

Utena/Wakaba -- Wakaba gave Utena chocolate for Valentine's Day. What does Utena give her for White Day?

Touga/Saionji -- Touga is a ghost, and everyone has forgotten him. Then Saionji starts having strange dreams...

#chocolate box 2017 #optional detailed letters for exchanges tag

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