#I think he’s the one I’ve drawn the most from jojo

[amusl02]

stars are beautiful

#star platinum #kujo jotaro #jojo’s bizarre adventure #jjba #jojo #my art #can y’all tell I love him sm #I think he’s the one I’ve drawn the most from jojo #aside from josuke #those two are my favorite #like everything #especially their design #they are really fun to draw #also #I’ve noticed my jojo posts (almost) never appear on tags :) #:’)))) #anyways he thicccc

[floatingcatacombs]

Go Nagai was insane for this one

12 Days of Aniblogging 2023, Day 8

I like to always have manga of dubious quality on tap for when I’m having trouble sleeping. Ideally, reading a few chapters will distract me, but I won’t want to stay up late shotgunning volumes. Devilman Lady was the ideal manga for this, and this is maybe the last time anyone will ever describe Devilman Lady as "ideal".

An extremely brief introduction is in order. If Osamu Tezuka is the godfather of manga, then Go Nagai is manga’s weird horny uncle. He’s arguably just as influential, the two of them just moved in different circles, each reifying entire genres. Nagai is more or less responsible for magical girls, super robot, and ecchi, and also spent a lot of time in the sphere of supernatural and post-apocalyptic manga. These are fundamentally genres of extremity and ridiculousness, and Nagai dials every one of his works up to 11 by the end, one way or another. Devilman is probably his most famous work over here, and it’s a stone-cold classic for a reason. Nagai has kept revisiting it over the years, with side stories, alternate universes, manga cameos, and even entirely new series that function as stealth sequels such as Violence Jack. But his most notable attempt is Devilman Lady, which is far more than a simple gender-swap of the original.

Devilman Lady is about swimming deep in filth. It’s easily the most disgust-provoking manga I’ve read, with pretty much every content warning under the sun applicable. This is a truly rotten and conspiratorial world that Nagai is depicting. Societal decay manifests in countless forms, including rape, child abuse, homophobia, militarism, and hatred towards immigrants. Anything that could be potentially understood as fanservice is placed right next to or directly within the atrocities at hand, and it's genuinely unclear how much Nagai intended that as commentary. His intentions throughout this whole manga are a bit of an enigma, but what's clear that he is firing on all cylinders.

This is an extremely zeitgeisty 90’s work, with intelligent design debates, the mapping of the human genome, new age paranoia, religious zealotry, and anxiety over pollution all playing out on the pages. Where it breaks from many of its contemporaries is a decisive rejection of the end of history. This is the kind of thing you write when you’re still reeling from the subway sarin gas attacks and your country's role in the Gulf War and subsequent militarization. It’s the perfect manga for capturing a time period when ten to twenty percent of Japan’s population were estimated to have belonged to a new religious movement.

The punchline to all of this is that he doesn’t know how to draw women.

By the back half of Devilman Lady, Nagai’s depictions of hellscapes and grotesque monsters reach near-Berserk levels of detail and technical competency. And yet his female protagonists are still drawn in a drastically simpler 70's style, only now with giant spheres grafted to their chests. Either humans and the infernal are two completely different skillsets, or this was a deliberate artistic decision, and both are difficult to swallow. Either way, we just have to accept the juxtapositions.

one of my favorite pages to show people devoid of context

The finale is just nuts. Go Nagai makes textual the homoeroticism and gender deviance of the original Devilman manga, as the world burns in both nuclear warfare and demonic hellfire. The story starts accelerating at an unfathomable pace, the most inscrutable double mobius reacharound yaoiyuri occurs, and the universe resets once or twice. It makes the endings of Jojo Part 6 and 7 look tame by comparison. There is no way to parse this like a normal manga with a plot and narrative. It is raw id.

This has been a year where I’ve tried to deliberately broaden my comfort zone by engaging with more potentially upsetting works if I think they'll have something interesting to say. This was like jumping into the deep end. Devilman Lady may very well be Go Nagai’s magnum opus. It’s not nearly as tight as the original manga, but it’s a glorious mess, just as radical to its own time as Devilman must have been in the 70s. It made for spectacular insomnia reading. And there’s no way in hell I can ever recommend it.

At age 19, Nagai went through a bout of diarrhea so bad that he convinced himself it was colon cancer, and that he was at death's door. He vowed to leave something behind for the world to remember him by, and began laboring away on manga. And for the last 60 years of his career, he’s written and drawn with the fervor of a man who’s about to shit himself to death. Maybe that’s the real secret.

#12 days of anime #devilman #devilman lady

[quibbs126]

So I decided to try and make references for myself on how to draw the Berserk characters, since translating more realistic designs (at least in how they’re drawn) into my cartoony style can be a bit of a leap, and I started with Guts and Casca

Honestly it’s kind of fun trying to translate that

Probably could have added Griffith, but I didn’t care enough to. Also he doesn’t have the eye problem, his eyes are consistently blue

I’ll probably do the other members of the Black Swordsman party at some point (and probably only them)

But yeah, as illustrated by my comments, I had a hard time figuring out what their eye colors are, at least from what the manga tells me

I swear, I have multiple prints saved to my iPad and I’m just staring at them, trying to figure out a consistent color for them

Yeah I know there’s both the animes, but I want to use the manga colors (I think that’s a habit from Jojo’s, in which I’d read the manga so I went with manga colors). And like, neither of them are the definitive manga adaptation, so I’m sticking with that

I’m still not sure if Casca’s eyes are supposed to be brown or grey, so I just went with some sort of middle option

And if I’m being honest, I had a way harder time with Casca than I did Guts, trying to figure out what expression to give her (and truth be told I just went with whatever), as well as how her hair looked. Which surprised me because Guts was the one I was dreading. Maybe it’s because I’ve attempted to draw him before?

Maybe that’ll change when I have to draw his armor. Probably will

But yeah, I think I’m satisfied with these. I think I just wanted to show y’all because I’m struggling with figuring out their eye colors and I wanted to complain

Also random other things I want to mention that I don’t know where to put

I used Casca’s Golden Age design, mostly since it’s her most iconic. But only later I decided to draw current day Guts (I think I was planning on drawing him with both eyes), since it’s his most iconic, and now it’s inconsistent. I mean, not as inconsistent as it could be, but still

Gut’s jawline is something I struggled with, since he doesn’t have a sharp bottom of his jawline, there’s some flatness in the middle. So I couldn’t decide between angular or flat (and the in between looks weird). Eventually I just went with angular, and I guess it looks good

I did draw Gut’s Brand of Sacrifice, but I’m not sure you can see it with the shading. But the shading is stylistic thing I always do, so I guess I just have to deal with it. Usually I don’t have to deal with things on the neck I guess

#problem with looking at Guts prints #either they’re too far away from his eyes or it’s too dark to tell #or both #and I had to pull up another ref for his white hair #but yeah #I forgot what I was saying here #berserk #guts berserk #casca #my art

[skyloftian-nutcase]

Okay hear me out:

I’ve seen a couple posts about the “knights of hyrule,” and they usually include Wars, Sky and Wild—BUT, correct me if I’m wrong: Legend is a knight, too.

Jojo has clarified that the games Legend is from include Oracle of Seasons. In the manga version (the art and story of which are done by Akira Himekawa herself, thus making them canon), Zelda dubs Legend a hyrulean soldier/knight of hyrule:

So why is everyone skipping out on the canon reality that Legend is in fact a knight of Hyrule? Was there some fandom wide agreement I missed out on? Or has everyone forgotten? Or do the books (again, written and drawn by the creator of LoZ herself) not count?

I mean, I haven’t ready any of the mangas and don’t plan to, so I go off the games I’ve played and LU, that’s my excuse 😂🤷🏻‍♀️

I think with the way Jojo has portrayed Legend so far, particularly with the one comic where he (and Twilight) grumbles about the knights of Hyrule being a joke, most people have assumed he isn’t one. But that’s just my two cents. 🤷🏻‍♀️

He looks so cute jumping in the air all excited awww

#you ask skye answers #lovely snakeskin sketches and stories #lu legend

[corpsoir]

Ooooh these Vento Aureo tarot cards are to die for… The new stone ocean eps were pretty disappointing honestly and this gave me that Jojo fix I’ve been craving. Can you tell me about the meaning behind The Fool card?

thank you! ^_^

yeah so i actually don't know a lot about tarot from the beginning but i tried doing some googling about what the most common interpretations of the card is and also got help from some friends with deciding every card hehe. i will put all of this under a cut because its quite a lot because i'm insane about my tarot cards okay 👍 if you don't want to read into my details about these cards and just prefer to look at them and think about their meanings for yourself don't read this hgjkghsjk

im mostly going off of tarot.com with this lol because . well idk if there's any better sites to use but this is basically what people told me when i made these anyways so! yeah as far as i understand it (and people are free to add onto this if they feel like it and if they know more and just want to chip in with knowledge i do not have) the fool is a card that nowadays symbolises "[...] an innocent soul before its fall into matter, untainted by contact with society and all its ills." and "The Fool reminds us to recognize the path of personal development within ourselves -- and the stage upon that path where we find ourselves -- in order to energize our movement toward deeper self-realization".

and also the fool reversed: "When the Fool card is reversed, you are encountering an unfinished side of yourself, a part still caught in the shadows of ignorance or immaturity."

kinda fitting for them and their story isn't it? this scene is just so. idk. both Giorno and Bruno are determined about their goals and they have no idea just what's ahead of them.

i also thought it was fitting that my card for the world (which is the last card in the major arcana) has Giorno on it, and when the deck starts over with 0, the fool again, Giorno is there too, so like. idk i just thought the like, narrative of him being the driving force in the story together with Bruno in the beginning, unaware of whats to come just. felt right. looping narratives and whatnot. he's there in the beginning and in the end and he's centre of it all or whatever.

anyways. onto the visual elements of my card (can you tell i think too much about the stuff i make)

on my the fool card i have drawn the scene where Bruno is introducing Giorno to the rest of the gang, and Bruno's pose is inspired by the Rider-Waite tarot deck

on the Rider-Waite card the fool is holding a white rose, and i have no idea what that really symbolises but in the scene with Bruno and Giorno i noticed there are white flowers in the background that sorta look like roses, so i decided to keep them on my card.

on my card, Bruno is also holding a flower like the Rider-Waite fool. at first glance it might look like a rosebud from the vase, however, its not a rose, its a tulip. because Trish places a white tulip on Bruno's grave in the bonus chapter of Purple Haze Feedback

i just thought it was fitting that at the start of this entire story, at the start of this deck, there are still one central element of whats to come. specifically the ending of the story, and like. the ending of Bruno's story. i just love stories where the characters are doomed from the start, and i love it when the narrative is blatantly open about it and that there's nothing the other characters can do to stop it.

i thought about drawing Bruno in the exact same pose as the fool from the Rider-Waite deck but i decided i wanted to keep his hand and arm in the same position as he has in his own card, the hermit, where he is holding the knife he stabbed those two guys with when he was 12

i'm just so normal about vento aureo and about these kinds of narratives. yeah sure i might be putting in way too much effort into things i just do for fun but. oh well.

i love visual storytelling, symbolism and visual elements that follow along several images to tell the viewer something. i used to study visual storytelling, comics and art and being able to do something like this with a story i love just. idk i think it was very fun and again, these 22 drawings i've made mean a lot to me! i'm happy people enjoy them as much as i do, if not more!! :)

#hi im not completely back i just. had to answer this because the fool card and the hermit are 2 of my faves i made #someone asks me about my favourite art project i've made i just have to write an essay and entire analysis of my work lmao #i think too much #vento aureo #ask

[pey-no-attention-to-me]

Jjba and mp 100 for the ask game? (If you don't wanna do both, then choose from whatever one you want to do more!)

OKAY FINALLY IM DOING IT LETS GO

as you know I like the silly’s known as serizawa and okuyasu ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

women? Uhhhhhhh hmmm 🤨 for mp100 I’d definitely say tome kurata because ALIENS for jojo I have no idea but I’ve drawn yukako before she’s pretty cool

my least favorite character. STEELY DAN. STEELLY DAN FOR SURE HES JUST SO ARGGGHHHHH for mp 100 I never really hated everybody but Mogami keiji is pretty ARGGG too

I LOVE PRETTY PEOPLE GAHHHHHH Ermes Costello . She’s. She’s just so. HANDSOME!! and ohhhhhhhh pretty people in mp100. Men. Specifically teru I- HES just so. So teru.

UH FUNNY CHARACTERS ARE LITERALLY THE ONLY THING KEEPING MY LIFE TOGETHER RN I LOVE TGEMMM would recomend reigen as a silly and same goes to polnareff like. Have you seen their faces. They are silly.

For mp100 I think the second season but that’s kinda only cause the ova and JOJO PART 4 OBVIOUSLY I LVOE IT L LOVE IT MUCH

whewww remember how I like Okuyasu yeah my favorite jojo episode ever is let’s go get Italian food. No need to explain any further. And UHHHH ONE SECOND I’m back mp100 is a hard choice but I guess season 2 episode 5 ‘Discord~Choices~’ because when I first watched it I SOME HOW SKIPPED THE MOST IMPORTANT EPISODE AND WHEN I REWATCHED IT I WAS SCREAMING LIKE WHAT WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN JUH

HAHA IVE BEEN WAITING FOF THIS!! ROMANCE‼️‼️i can say this with all the certainty in my body that MY FAVORITE SHIPS EVER are JOSUYASU AND SERIREI YOU DONT UNDERSTAND I WANT TO RUN THEM OVER I WANT OT PLAY WOTH THEM LIKE DOLLS AND MAKE THEM KISS AND I WANT TO PIT THEM IM THE OVEN FOR THEIR LAST MOMENTS I WANT TO EXPLODE THEM BU WRAPPING THEM IN TINFOIL AND PUT THEM IN A Solwave Stainless-Steel Commercial Microwave AND I WILL THROW THEM IN A HOLE FULL OF TIGERS AND BEARS AND 10 DIFFERENT THINGS AND

family ship??? huh?? uh I guess shou and his father(president suzuki??(idk his name 😭)) cause they end up like.. working together it’s cool ig and LOVE JOSEPH AND GRANNY ERINAS CONCEPT I know they didn’t get much screen time together but I LOVE THEM

My favorite friend ships uhmmhhhhhhhhhhhhhHAHAHHHA WAITWAIT JOSEPH AND SPEEDWAGON because like… the kid saves him right and speedwagon just what is happening what NO JOSEPH DONT POKE HIS NOSE and I rlly like shou and ritsu’s friend ship(even tho I romantically ship them too) because loud extrovert with no friends + constantly annoyed introvert that also has no friends is the best concept ever

JONATHAN X DIO I DONT EVEN WANT TO SAY THE SHIP NAME ITS SO BAD AND DIO IS NOT HIS JOBRO ITS SPEEDWAGON AND YOU CSNT SAY ORHERWISE AND MOB X REIGEN?!! NOOO?? IDC IF THEIR AGED UP REIGEN MET MOB WHEN HE WAS LIKE NEGATIVE YRS OLD PLEASE STOP

like you said before, jotakak is pretty overrated LIKE KAKYOIN ISNT A BIRD AND HE DOES NOT LAY EGGS for mp100 I wouldn’t say there’s a over hyped ship but I guess serirei but.. I love them.. so they’re fine.. right..

Underhyped is definitely koichi and yukako like they’re cute okay they’re happy and then shou and ritsu because.. lost of ppl like them but nobody draws them or writes about them(or I’m just bad at finding stuff 😭)

unpopular opinion? I don’t like part 5. Like I literally like part 1 better. There’s no specific reason all the characters are cool(i love fugo) but it just feel so rushed and you never get to learn anything about the characters ig and mp100- uh I don’t know 😭 let me think OH!!! Onigawara is the most amazing best character he needed more screen time and why did he have to leave to high school whywhyeheyehywhy I miss him(sobs)

#time for tags #IM SORRY ITS SO LONG FRICK GAHHH #I ramble and ramble when it’s about my favorite shows. GREHAHHHHH #jojos bizarre adventure #mob psycho 100 #skelliont #ask game response #ask reply #there we go. #anyways thanks for asking me I loved doing this

[zippityzap]

Sonic Tarot Card Project: explanations for character picks

Recently I completed a summer-long project where I created Sonic themed versions of the tarot major acana. I put a lot of research and thought into what characters to assign to which cards, and I wanted to explain my rationale behind each one! (Everything’s under the read more cut because this is a very long post!)

To start off, let me explain why I did this project in the first place. This summer I watched Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure for the first time, and in Part 3, Stardust Crusaders, the majority of the stand abilities are named after the tarot major arcana. Thanks to cultural osmosis I vaguely knew the meanings of a few of the cards and I realised that one of the characters suited his assigned card pretty well. I was curious if this matched anyone else and so once I finished watching that part, I did research on tarot and found that yeah, a lot of them do match! That got me interested in tarot and since I like combining things I’m interested in, I decided to make Sonic versions of the cards.

I do want to note that while Jojo did inspire this project in a lot of ways, I tried not to let my character picks be influenced by Stardust Crusader characters, although there did end up being some picks that did coincidentally happen to match nicely anyway. Also, I’m not gonna lie, ever since picking these card choices I’ve been highly tempted to draw Sonic as Polnareff.

Anyway, on to my explanations for character choices!

0: The Fool (Charmy Bee)

The Fool represents innocence, spontaneity and recklessness. I believe Charmy’s happy and carefree nature, along with the simple fact that he’s essentially just a little kid who likes to have fun makes him a great fit for this card

1: The Magician (Infinite)

The Magician represents creation and strength, but also manipulation and narcissism, a good match for Infinite and the powers of the phantom ruby. (I was also very pleased to notice that the traditional art for the card has an infinity symbol- everything lined up very well!)

The Rider Waite version of the card also depicts a sword, a wand, a cup and a pentacle; the suits of the minor arcana. I have attempted to depict these with various objects from the Sonic series, namely Infinite’s sword from the IDW Forces prequel comic, the sceptre of darkness from '06, a chaos emerald, and a ring respectively.

2: The High Priestess (Princess Elise)

The High Priestess represents secrets, repression, and the unknown, which I believe fits with Elise’s initial desire to control her emotions and her sadness. (Admittedly this is one of the looser character/card connections for this project, but my two other picks for this card I felt were better suited to different cards)

3: The Empress (Vanilla the Rabbit)

The Empress represents nurturing, fertility and childbirth, all traits that I believe make this card a good pick for a kind, caring mother like Vanilla

4: The Emperor (Dr Eggman)

A card fitting for the leader of the Eggman Empire! The Emperor represents authority, power, and tyranny, all traits Dr Robotnik desires, if not possesses in many continuities.

5: The Hierophant (Espio the Chameleon)

The Hierophant represents wisdom and tradition, and in both upright and reversed forms it has large connections to the concept of social conformity. Perhaps I’m drawing more from the various comic versions of Espio, but he comes across to me as someone who is hyper-aware about how he presents himself.

Fun fact: a hierophant is essentially another word for a religious leader, although I’ve never seen it used outside the context of tarot. I assume the religious connection is the reason why in the OST of the Jojo part 3 anime, Kakyoin’s theme is called Noble Pope.

6: The Lovers (Amy Rose)

The Lovers represents love, communication, and passion; and Amy is certainly a character who wears her heart on her sleeve! She’s a good example of a character who I feel fits a number of different cards, however there are no other characters who suited The Lovers quite as much as her.

7: The Chariot (Sonic the Hedgehog)

The Chariot represents journeys, wanderlust as well as the ambition and willpower to achieve your goals, which I believe is the perfect match for Sonic’s adventurous and heroic spirit. This was one of the first cards I decided on and it’s probably the one I’d defend my interpretation of the most.

If you’re wondering why there’s dark and hero chao in the artwork too, it’s because the original card art depicts the titular chariot being pulled by black and white sphinxes, and this is my way of calling back to that.

8: Strength (Maria Robotnik)

This card pick might seem unusual at first if you take the word ‘strength’ at face value, however considering the original card art depicts a maiden peacefully taming a lion, perhaps the Strength card represents inner strength, courage and determination rather than physical strength. These are traits that I believe Maria possesses.

9: The Hermit (Knuckles the Echidna)

The Hermit signifies awareness and independence but when reversed can mean isolation and resignation, traits that parallel well with Knuckles and his duty to be the protector of the Master Emerald

10: The Wheel of Fortune (Big the Cat)

The Wheel of Fortune represents fate, karma and luck! This is admittedly a bit of a cheeky dig at myself since I’m awful at the Big fishing levels in SA1 and mostly got through them through luck. But that’s not to say the card doesn’t apply to Big himself! His frequent cameos do have a bit of a fate/destiny vibe to them and in IDW Big is lucky enough to manage to avoid the metal virus for quite a long time.

11: Justice (Vector the Crocodile)

The meaning of the Justice cards is… pretty much what it says on the tin: fairness and clarity. Of course the Team Chaotix detective agency represents this as a whole, but that trait especially shines through with Vector himself. He may be a little money oriented, but doing what is morally right always takes priority.

12: The Hanged Man (Shadow the Hedgehog)

The thing about Shadow is that he’s a fairly complex character which means there are a number of cards in the Major Arcana that match him well, but I knew early on when tackling this project that I wanted to assign Shadow to The Hanged Man. This card represents change, release and sacrifice, which all align well with the character arc that Shadow goes through during the course of SA2 and beyond.

13: Death (Tikal the Echidna and Chaos)

Despite the morbid name of the card, (and the admittedly macabre scene I’ve depicted) the Death card is not an inherently negative card to draw. Yes, it can mean endings and grief, but it can also mean letting go and new beginnings. The story that Tikal and Chaos go through in SA1, their anguish and how they later find peace, is something that I think pairs well with this particular card.

Fun fact: this is the only card in this project that has two significant characters on it rather than just one. I felt I needed both of them to be on the card in order to fully represent its meaning

14: Temperance (Blaze the Cat)

The Temperance card signifies balance, harmony and patience, which matches Blaze’s very poised and graceful demeanour. Admittedly I had a little bit of trouble deciding on a card for Blaze since the High Priestess and the Hierophant are also good matches for her.

15: The Devil (Rouge the Bat)

The Devil card represents temptation, seduction, and materialism and well… look, Rouge is one of my favourite Sonic characters, I’d be one of the first people to tell you that there’s a lot more to her than what initially appears, she is so much more complex than just sex appeal and a gemstone obsession. However, I felt there was no other character that matched the traits of this specific card better than Rouge, and so my choice was decided by that.

16: The Tower (E-123 Omega)

The Tower card represents a number of things; disruption, disasters, sudden changes etc, however the trait that made me believe that Omega would be the best selection for the card was violence.

17: The Star (Miles ‘Tails’ Prower)

Tails’ character arcs normally centre around him gaining independence and self-confidence and learning to believe in himself. He is also largely characterised by his unyielding faith and trust in Sonic. These traits are the reason why I believe The Star card represents him well, as it symbolises hope and faith.

18: The Moon (Shade the Echidna)

The Moon card symbolises mysteries and the unknown, and when Shade is first introduced in Chronicles, she and the rest of the Nocturnus Clan are certainly presented as mysterious. The Moon can also represent misconception, which fits well with how Shade was initially unaware of the true nature of Ix’s plans.

19: The Sun (Cream the Rabbit)

The Sun, when drawn in an upright position, has a lot of positive meanings! Freedom, fun, happiness, good luck etc. Cream’s cheerful and optimistic disposition makes her a good match for this card

20: Judgement (E-102 Gamma)

The Judgement card symbolises liberation, awakening, redemption and second chances, all of which I believe represent Gamma and his character arc in SA1 well

21: The World (Metal Sonic)

In the upright position, The World card symbolises triumph, completion, strength and happiness while in reversed position can mean failure, anxiety, lack of self-confidence etc. I had both positioning of the card in mind when connecting it to Metal Sonic; he is devoted to the tasks given to him and is self-assured in his belief that he is the true/superior ‘sonic’ yet he repeatedly finds himself at the hands of failure. But he doesn’t let previous failures hold him back, thus starting the cycle anew. (Another connection to the World card as it also symbolises cycles)

#sonic the hedgehog #tarot cards #I'd be curious to hear if people agree/disagree with my choices

[mistyaria]

Hello, fellow LinkedUniverse fan! You’ve been randomly selected to start a random, fun little questionnaire! You can answer these questions and tag however many people you want to pass it on!

1. Who is your favorite Linkeduniverse character? 2. Why are they your favorite character? What drew you to them? Be as detailed or as short as you want! 3. Have they always been your favorite character or has it been hard choosing? 4. What do you like least about your favorite character? 5. What do you like most about your favorite character? 6. What do you like most about your favorite character’s design? 7. What interaction/relationship with your favorite character do you like most, or that you want to see more of? 8. What’s your favorite Zelda game and is your favorite character from that game? 9. One a scale of 1-10 with 10 being most likely, how much would you die for your favorite character?

Wow, okay, anon, this looks like fun!

1. ☁Sky☁

2. Oof, where do I even begin?

Getting the obvious outta the way, he’s adorable. Both when I first played Skyward Sword and when I first read Jojo’s comics, I just got drawn to how kind he is. I love that he’s one of the more expressive Links compared to the others, and I had such a great time playing the game with that being one of the reasons why, other than having such a fun storyline to go through. He’s so friendly and gives off those mom friend vibes. He's just so huggable-looking.  Plus, some of my real life interests kinda mirror his aesthetic. He plays a harp, and that’s been my favorite instrument since I was little and I’ve always wanted to play it (but those things are just so damn expensive y’know?). I have a lyre and I practice on that until I’m able to afford an actual harp. As weird as this sounds, I love going outside just to watch the sky and clouds, especially in the fall (who else is excited for fall other than me?). I do this for hours. I also love pumpkins and pumpkin flavored foods, and those things are all over Skyloft.

3. He’s always been my favorite ^w^

4. What’s not to love about him? He’s got low stamina??? Idk I had a hard time answering this. Also, this kinda sounds weird but I actually have a hard time portraying him, Legend and Four the most when it comes to writing stories. 

5. That he’s just the sweetest thing on a normal day but would f*cking gut you the moment he gets angry. This guy has the power to kill a god!

6. I love that he uses his sailcloth as a cape. He still wears his fireshield earrings instead of his regular blue ones and I also think that’s neat.

7. Sky/Four, Sky/Twilight, and Sky/Hyrule. I don’t see these pairings often and I can literally feel the potential of good interactions in all of them.

8. Skyward Sword and Twilight Princess are my favorite Zelda games, so absolutely yes.

9. 100/10 I'd f***ing jump off Skyloft with no sailcloth for this guy, no question about it. I’d get my lopsided ass beat in the silent trials for him.

I’ll tag @kokiri-clori, @bringingtherain, @cupofcoca, @lyrabythelake, @basilsghost and literally anyone else who sees this and wants to participate!

(oh crap sorry Clori I already see you got tagged lol!)

#anonymous #linkeduniverse #linked universe #linked universe sky #lu sky

[reality-maybe]

Rachel!! 👈✨ Hermit Purple, Magician’s Red, Hierophant Green, and Justice for the JoJo ask prompt, please! I love these. 💖

https://just-another-self-shipper.tumblr.com/post/677558803792904192

Joy!! ✨👉 thank you for sending in the ask! This one was so clever I love jojo so much lol. I hope you’re continuing to have a great day 💗✌️

💜⚡️Hermit Purple: (imma do the latest pic and gif for this one ❤️)

I HAD NO IDEA THAT THERE WAS A LEADUP CLOSING CARD TO THIS ONE I MADE A POST ABOUT HERE and AHHHH!!! They all look so cute 😭😭😭 I need more chibi Knuckle in my life and I think about this happening in canon. Like Ikalgo just comes back from almost dying and Killua’s like “hey we need you to complete our star of friendship” in the middle of them trying to find fight and kill the king lmao. Who’s idea was it to even do the star in the first place? It was probably Knuckle look how proud he is ♡

This was the last gif I saved of him. Cause like. Knuckle + puppy = depression b-gone the puppy is so excited to see him 😭💕 and the fact that it REFUSED TO LEAVE HIM and CLIMBED IN BED WITH HIM why can’t that be me big strong scary man holding tiny puppy and crying he’s so soft!! I also just love how he’s so expressive with his faces and animations cause it just shows so much character 💗 like when he’s surprised his eyes are drawn so wide and his mouth gets kinda pouty. And he’s animated with some really silly faces and that just adds so much depth to his character when he lets up his hard delinquent personality. UGH I love finding the little animated details in characters that show their personalities ❤️

🔥🐓Magicians Red: What’s something about your F/O that makes you feel all warm inside?

I just love how caring Knuckle is. He’s brash and aggressive and has a really short fuse but he cares about everyone and everything around him, even when he’s tsundere and says he doesn’t. Ever since the first time we meet him he picks up after a random dog saying to “keep our parks clean” and just him VOLUNTEERING to be on the extermination team to learn about the chimera ants and not just outright kill them. Then to him essentially mentoring these two kids for a month to prepare them for the NGL, which he didn’t have to do. Then helping find Kite for Gon, he could’ve easily said no and just focused on his mission, but he promised Gon he’d find Kite, and kept his word. THEN befriending Meleoron despite him having major doubts about Knuckle at first just cause of how aggressive he looked then changing his mind cause he figured out Knuckle was feeding and caring for the stray dogs he found abandoned. THEN risking and essentially thwarting the mission and almost his life for Shoot and Morel and THEN taking such gentle care of Komugi as a hostage when she went with the extermination team, since he was against it. Just. The level of care and compassion in this man’s character is beyond belief despite his aggression and intimidating nature as a fighter. Like he’ll break femurs for days but he’ll never break anyone’s heart ❤️ I like to think I’m a bit like that too, I’ve been told I’m extremely compassionate. I really want a partner like that. Truly. It’s so hard to find that kind of selfless compassion in reality so I’m so glad I can find it in Knuckle. Makes me soft even though he isn’t real 💕

🐉🍒Heirophant Green: How long has your relationship with your F/O been?

Oooh this is an interesting one to answer. Cause it honestly changes based on what scenario I do for Rae and Knuckle. They started having feelings for each other after they and the others all meet up at the NGL. Rae helped Knuckle with his little animal orphanage and they spent a lot of time bonding and getting to know each other from it. It’s clear to the other (mainly Rae lol) that they like each other by the end of the Chimera Ant Arc, but as much as they want to confess and just sink into each other , they both don’t want their personal feelings to get involved with their mission. They’re both very emotionally driven, and they knew that they would impulsively go out of their way to help each other at all cost, so as much as it pained them, and Rae made the final call that the two of them should not be paired up together for the final fight. Knuckle got upset at first, intensely arguing and trying to justify with Rae that they could work together, he’ll protect her and they’re strong and work as a single mind together. He was actually just really scared of losing her, he wanted to have her in his sight making sure she came out of this alive. He couldn’t bare to think of how He’d react if he had to hear a delivered message of what had happened to her, He’d rather just be with her and have her there in his arms and sight if it came down to their final moments. He was crying through his arguing when he brought it up. Rae was firm though, even though it hurt her so bad to see him like that, and softly told him that that was exactly why they couldn’t, while wiping his tears away. Rae just wanted to come out with it and just tell him how much he meant to her, how she saw him as more than just her very good friend, and honestly, Knuckle did too. The looks and closeness they shared in that moment did the talking for them. But they both knew that once it was out, they wouldn’t be as focused, so Rae just told him to stay alive, telling him that they had some unfinished things to talk about, and would when they saw each other again. they didn’t see each other for a while actually after the chimera ant stuff because Rae was badly injured and had to recover, but Knuckle accidentally confessed his feelings to her a month or so after a new chairman had been picked and others were celebrating her and Shoot’s full recovery. in some scenarios, they had only been dating for a few weeks or months, but in a lot of them they’re already in an established relationship, I’d say maybe a year or two after his confession. There are also some a few years down their road, i feel like they would take a break from being hunters for a little bit, just to enjoy some time and life for themselves. But I feel like Rae and Knuckle would wait quite a while to get married, though they would already act and go through life like a married couple. they loved the idea of marrying each other, but they knew their lives as Hunters may interfere with that. It’s not like they have eyes for someone else, or can’t see them in a relationship together down the road. They do. Just maybe putting the label of marriage on the back burner for now. so even though they are exclusive, and they are gonna spend the rest of their lives together, they feel like marriage puts a bunch of pressure on them to settle, Which neither of them want to do for a while. But they have their own vows and ways to celebrate and look back on how far they’ve come in their relationship. They agreed that when they’ve retired as Hunters, then the real thought of settling down and getting married would come up. But for now they’re just happy to be together going through their life adventure with the other by their side regardless of rings or labels. But who knows when and how the tides of life change for them, it always happens to in the most unexpected ways. They’ll take it on together, though ♡

💀💨 Justice: If someone ever wronged/hurt you, how would your F/O react?

Oh GOD. If Knuckle figured out someone hurt Rae, or made her deeply upset he would make sure they woke with stitches and maybe something missing at the very LEAST. Knuckle is very protective of anything or one who is important to him, and Rae is at the top of list for sure. If he was willing to throw away an important mission for the sake of his teammate’s life, he wouldn’t even bat an eye if he had to watch the universe crumble for Rae’s own. She was just too important to him. He’d let his emotions defensively get the better of him, and it would take a LOT of counseling from his mentors and peers to reason with him if it got to that point, if at all. It didn’t take much for him to reach that point honestly, even if he simply saw someone make Rae cry, there was a potential that they could leave with a few broken bones….if they could even walk. Rae would take his face red from anger in her hands, and talk to him, reassure him that she was alright and that he sure showed them, just to get him to calm down. He always calms down faster when she’s with him, letting him come to his senses. He would, quelling his anger and focusing more on comforting her, which calmed him down even more. In more extreme cases, like how Rae was severely injured after the chimera ant stuff, he would have to be physically held back and subdued by Morel to keep him from seeking his vengeance on whoever hurt his love. He would fight all sense of reason, screaming and cursing just feeling the need to destroy something. If he truly does go rage mode there’s nothing stopping him. But he hadn’t gotten to that point in a long time thanks to Morel hammering some sense into him, telling him how Rae would feel if he went off and did something like that, would hurting something heal her truly, remember the times when he did go rage mode and how miserable he felt afterwards, just let time and doctors heal her. He eventually just broke down in his Master’s arms, crying to him about how much he wanted to see Rae get better, how much it hurt him to see her go though pain like that even though she’s so strong. How he just didn’t want anyone to take away the light she brought into his life. Morel would just hold him as he spilled his tears and emotions, seeing how he’s never acted like that when it came to someone else. He really did love her. and Morel being the incredible teacher and father figure to him would just let him cry it out, giving him words of reassurance that she’ll be alright.

#thank you for the ask! #this jojo one was so much fun!!! #himbo king #knuckle bine #self ship #f/o x s/i #f/o imagines #joyandeggs #rECH #❤️❤️ #i really want to make some of these into fics 💗 #if there are and fics or scenarios you wanna see if Rae and Knuckle please feel free to ask! i love writing for me and him 💕 #Rae and Knuckle

[kingk8art]

hetalia rant

pls ignore how I won't use any proper punctuation or capitalization because my arms and fingers all hurt from volleyball :( Edit: My arm’s are better now so I’m actually using proper capitalization and punctuation (special thanks to my friends for proofreading and also Google autocorrect.) Special thanks to my friend for helping me out with writing this.

so i'm one of those people who joined the hetalia fandom like REALLY late, having first watched the anime in like 2017 or 18. Nevertheless, when I heard about how the anime was coming back in 2021 I was really excited!! I’ve been reading world stars lately but there’s just something in the hetalia anime that made me love it so much. the voice acting and how it’s animated and everything, it really brings the characters to life! out of curiosity I searched up hetalia on twitter. keep in mind that i’m pretty new to the fandom so i never really got to see the shipping wars, or really any toxic part of the fandom, since i wasn’t there when hetalia was at its peak.

What i saw was really different from what i expected to see. I kinda expected twitter threads hyping up the new season, or things like that but most of ones I found in the top section were hate comments about hetalia, and things about why it shouldn’t come back. I was reading these and I was like, wait why? Some of them actually made sense, and the others had flawed logic. Here are my rants on why hetalia ISN’T anti-Semitic or problematic (as of now).

Misconceptions About Hetalia

1. Hetalia is About Nazi Germany or the Holocaust

If you’ve actually watched the show/read the manga, it’s quite obvious that although some of the events take place during WW2, it never mentions Hitler, Nazis, the Holocaust, or anything like that. and there’s a good reason for it. In the first place, hetalia isn’t meant to be a serious comic. The manga only focuses on subjects like funny things that happened to historical figures/occurrences during a war, weird inventions; generally those kinds of things. It focuses on the cultural differences between countries, or wholesome moments in history (such as when two enemies stopped fighting on Christmas day to play soccer.) Hetalia itself is antiwar. Consider the main character himself: he absolutely hates fighting. I don’t see how hetalia can be anti-Semitic or pro-war at all. But what I will say is fucked up are those certain cosplayers that did the Nazi salute, posed in front of a Holocaust memorial, etc. But I can still guarantee that the MAJORITY of the fandom is not like this. Every single fandom has its bad apples, some more than others. It’s not right to generalize the entire fandom as anti-Semitic, racist, disrespectful shits.

Do people realize that Germany’s character in Hetalia isn’t Nazi Germany?  In the first place the Holocaust wouldn’t be Germany’s responsibility — the depictions of these characters are meant to portray the people as a whole, not their systems of law or government. It’s stated in the series that nations MUST obey orders from their “boss” (which probably refers to the country’s ruler, president, prime minister, or other leaders at the time. Nations can’t choose what their superiors do, or what those under that control do. Saying Germany is humanized Nazi Germany is like putting that label on all German people without considering factors like time period or representation. Hetalia characters are a mere representation of each country’s people, nothing else.

How does mentioning WW2 in a comedy make it offensive? There are PLENTY of movies, novels, and other kinds of media that take place in WW2 and yet are in the comedy genre. Ever watched Jojo Rabbit? If you thought Hetalia was offensive, have you ever watched South Park or looked at CountryHumans? I do get why some people dislike Hetalia, but why does it receive so much hate for something that was never in the series (or generally speaking, for the wrong reasons)? It may have flaws, but there’s a strong definition to what those flaws actually are. It doesn’t revolve around antisemitism or Nazism. 

2. Hetalia is Racist and Stereotypes People

Now this is a pretty controversial topic. Being a comedy about personified countries, stereotypes are really something that HAS to be used at some point to make the characters funny. But does that automatically make it racist? No. I saw this on a YouTube video comment section somewhere, but stereotyping (generalizing) that all stereotypes are ‘bad’ (or have negative connotations/associations) is literally stereotyping. Not all of the stereotypes are bad. Like the way Britain acts like a gentleman or likes drinking tea, which in a way, is a British stereotype. That’s not a bad thing, just funny to see in the show — played for comedy purposes, and not necessarily offensive.

Although Hetalia characters are sometimes influenced by stereotypes that revolve around the actual countries and represent the people in general, they DO NOT always represent what those country’s people are actually like. Also, I’m pretty sure the point of comedy about personified countries is to use some of those generalizations. Specifically, stereotypes that the Japanese have about foreigners. France is portrayed as a flirty man because in Japan France is known for being a “romantic country.” But that doesn’t mean that they think all French people are like that — it’s just a lighthearted joke. And now, Hetalia characters have grown to be more of their own character rather than simply a humanized country at its base. Despite being a personification, they’re like their own person, not just used to depict stereotypes. Just because a character has a certain personality trait doesn’t mean Hima believes that everyone from that country has the same trait. It’s not meant to be racist, and isn’t. 

What I Think Was/Is Problematic

As much as I love this show, there were DEFINITELY some problematic things that people tend to ignore.

1. Korea Controversy

As a Korean American, I have to say that I was quite disappointed when I learned about how Hima portrayed Korea in the manga. I won’t go that deep into this one since it’s not that relevant to what I'm talking about now, but it was definitely a HUGE problem and I’m glad that he was removed from the series.

2. Iron Cross on Germany

The iron cross that Germany wears in Hetalia (in every time period) is a military decoration that was used since the King of Prussia until the time period of Nazi Germany in WW2. Today, it’s considered a hate symbol, similar to and alongside the swastika. To be fair, it wasn’t just a decoration used purely for the Nazis, unlike several other examples of Nazi symbols and memorabilia, so I suppose it could be up to each person to judge whether it should pass or not, despite the surrounding circumstances — it isn’t up to me as part of the fanbase. But personally, I think it should have been removed/not used in the first place. I mean, it wasn’t that necessary, seeing all of the military uniforms drawn in Hetalia were simplified anyways. Perhaps it would be much less problematic if Hima didn’t draw the iron cross, and the same goes for the other presented issues.

3. Japanese Imperialism

The way Hima portrays Japanese Imperialism was pretty offensive in my opinion. An instance is the presentation of the Japanese invasion of Korea. It wasn’t just like how the colonies were under Great Britain’s rule. It limited much more of Koreans’ rights and was much more gruesome. I don’t know about anyone else and can’t speak for each individual, but as a Korean, portraying all of this as Japan merely patting Korea on the  head is fucked up. This ties to the controversy of Korea’s character. From what I’ve seen, Hetalia is pretty close to a rightist (in Japan, not the US) series. I won’t dive too deep into that, but rightist — or in Korean, 우익 — animes are animes that glorify their country’s past/country, or  use content to make fun of or criticize other nations. Actually, it’s probably much more complicated than that, but as of now I don’t know much about it. It mostly ties to the tension between Koreans and the Japanese, so if you’re not either, there’s not really much to worry about. But (maybe because I’m Korean) I found it weird that the manga seems to give every single character a bad/negative characteristic except Japan. I guess it’s only natural, since the creator is Japanese. But then again, France was basically drawn as a rapist/pedophile, but I have never seen a French person complain about it. Or maybe they just completely avoid Hetalia? If anyone knows about it, I would be glad to listen. Perhaps it’s just a bias that I have as a Korean. It could also be a cultural difference too, since we tend to be very patriotic.

4. The Title: Axis Powers

Although the main character is Italy, and the story revolved (emphasis on the past tense) around the 3 countries that were part of the Axis, Hima should have been more considerate with the title of the show, thinking about what the Axis Powers actually did during WW2. Just “Hetalia” would have been fine. But it also should be considered that when Hima started drawing the manga, he did not expect it to become a long-term thing or for it to blow up so much. Thankfully, only the first two seasons of the anime were titled as Hetalia: Axis Powers, and later seasons were titled more acceptable things, like World Stars (manga) or The Beautiful World.

5. Seychelles

Personally I don’t find a problem with there not being that many African/South American countries in the show. Africa’s country borders (and all of that related material) were very different from what they are today, and it would be really fucking hard for Hima to keep track of all of those while still writing good characters. And unlike Europe, Africa’s history was not transcribed much, and is a lot less-known. The problem with Seychelles was her skin color, which wasn’t accurate. But that’s since been fixed.

Is Hetalia Really Problematic?

My most straightforward answer for this question would be no, it is not problematic as of now. Something I realized while listing all of the aspects of Hetalia that I personally thought were wrong to put in was that most of them don’t exist anymore. Besides Germany’s iron cross, all of them were removed from the show. Korea was banned from the anime, and he no longer appears in any of the manga strips. The manga strays further and further away from topics like Japanese Imperialism or WW2. Most of the time in the manga, countries do not wear their military uniforms anymore, but stick to more casual clothes. The characters stray further away from stereotypes that Hima used to use as a comedic effect when he first started drawing. My point is: Hima learned his mistakes. Which only makes sense, considering all of the criticism he probably received when the series first started. I think that’s a good thing. Now back to what I was ranting about earlier. I don’t get why people are saying Hetalia shouldn’t come back! The new season is most likely going to be based off the most recent Hetalia manga series, which is Hetalia World Stars. If you’ve ACTUALLY READ THE MANGA AND DIDN’T JUDGE THE ENTIRETY OF HETALIA BASED ON ITS FIRST FEW SEASONS, you would know what World Stars is about. It’s about all sorts of things. My personal favorite strips are the ones about ancient Rome! It’s not just drawn to give readers a laugh but it actually teaches you some history. Other than Rome, the manga is also about the trends of clothes in certain countries/time periods, industrial revolutions, or just the interactions between the characters in general. I really don’t see how animating these would be harmful at all. The subjects don’t revolve around what a lot of opposers say/negatively connotate the series with. If you think bringing Hetalia back is a terrible thing to do because the fandom would return and start doing toxic/weird things, I really don’t know how to respond to that. The fandom already died out around the time the last season was released. Now newer fans will come around, and the former fans would return (hopefully) matured up. It's already been 5 years since the last Hetalia season aired, after all. And like I said earlier, toxic fans never represent the entire fandom. If you really hate the fandom that much, I recommend not getting involved at all.

#hetalia #rant #hetalia 2021

[yrpreciousmoon]

Morioh Hi-Fi (6/25)

Title: Morioh Hi-Fi (6/25) All Chapters Here Ongoing Playlist Here Fandom: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Pairing: Josuke x Okuyasu; Rohan x Reimi; Koichi x Yukako; more. Rating: T for now Description: In an AU where Part 4 never happened, it seems Stand users are still  drawn to each other.  Rohan Kishibe runs Morioh’s coolest record store,  along with the  world’s okayest employees: Koichi, Yuya, and Okuyasu.  They live happily  in their bubble of obscure music references and  hipster style points  until the fateful day when Josuke Higashikata  enters the picture. AN: YAY STANDS! Sort of. I mean it is an AU after all. Thank you for your comments + kudos + whatever! Your support keeps me going~

.

Track 05 : Pieces Form the Whole

.

A few days had passed, the requisite time for Josuke to “sit with” new music before Okuyasu would allow him to return to the store to receive his next offering. Now Josuke was flicking through a milk-crate of records, occasionally pulling one out based on artwork or title or some other unseen force, and then placing it gingerly in a pile. He'd been given this task by Okuyasu, of course, and whenever the stack would get a few deep Oku was sure to appear at his side, quietly thumbing through and removing an album or two with a head shake or a tut-tut. If Josuke was really lucky, Okuyasu would enthusiastically tap on the record, thump him on the back, and give him a thumbs up before leaving him to it again.

This easy friendship they'd somehow stumbled into felt good, real good if Josuke was being honest with himself (and frankly, being honest with himself was something he'd been trying to do more often lately.) Though he hadn't yet been elevated to the status of One of the Guys, the friendly, wordless rhythm he'd fallen into with Okuyasu had him feeling confident that he could – and should – take the step to start hanging out with the aforementioned Guys outside of the role of 'customer.'

And sure, he'd seen a lot more of Koichi lately, but that was a gimme; knocking the lights out of someone's high school bully had a tendency to assure you at least a baseline level of friendship for life. But now he'd also gotten a toe in the door of Rohan's elusive good side, and Yuya seemed to respect him, at the very least, as a fellow man of refined taste.

Josuke shifted his weight, hesitated for a moment in his musical excavation. He'd never admit it, of course, but before wandering into the orbit of the record store he'd been feeling awfully... lonely. A strange thing for someone like him, someone who seemed to get invited to every party, get hit on at every bar. But lately he'd been thinking that maybe he could use a friend or two who wouldn't mind spending a night in. Who would ask him how he'd been doing without using it as a segue to talk about which party drugs they'd ingested most recently.

He kept his head lowered toward the records, but his eyes flicked upwards, hiding under long lashes as he observed Okuyasu.

The other man was currently leaned against a pillar, arms crossed, lips pursed in an unimpressed expression as two customers bickered over some rarity release he'd managed to acquire.

“Please, I've been asking you to sell to me for weeks,” crowed one of them, a guy with a bad flat-top and a jacket covered in patches and pins from foreign lands. “Nijimura! Have you no heart? I'll die if I don't get that record.” He pleaded with beady eyes, hands clasped in front of him.

“Hmmmm...” Okuyasu tapped a finger on his chin, pretended to be considering the appeal.

“I'll give you 4000 yen,” said the other, a man with straight black hair and an outfit that wasn't far cry from Yuya's usual wardrobe.

“Sold,” said Okuyasu, casually pointing to the latter fellow.

“What?!” cried the first, “That's not fair! Why would you sell it to him and not me?”

“Because you're a nerd, Tamami,” Okuyasu replied, flinging his arms out to the side, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. At this Josuke burst out laughing, quickly clasping a hand to his mouth to stop himself, but the damage had already been done; the flat-top guy whirled on him and glowered for a moment before storming out of the shop. Okuyasu, on the other hand, grinned wide and shot Josuke a wink, then ushering the victorious goth guy over to the register. Josuke couldn't help but smile back, even when his friend turned away.

Yeah, that word felt right – friend – even though they'd only known each other for a few short weeks, and not yet seen each other outside of these four walls.

But today Josuke hoped to change that.

He'd felt some kind of draw to Okuyasu, something there since the beginning that made Josuke want more. He wanted to lie on the floor with him and talk about music for days. It didn't matter if Josuke had no idea who the bands were or what in the hell “post-grungecore” meant. There was just... something about Okuyasu, and he wanted – needed – more of it.

He supposed, however, that at least part of the draw was that he found Okuyasu to be tremendously cute – an internal confession that made red spring into Josuke's cheeks. He'd already told himself, very sternly, that he was not going to mess up this potential friendship with a one-night-stand or drunk makeout session. But still...

Josuke stole another quick glance.

One could hardly hold the crush against him. “Tall, dark, and handsome” was a cliché for a reason, after all. And who didn't have a soft spot for that whole “bad boy” vibe?

He shook the thought from his head, returned to his search, fingers dancing anxiously along the edge of the record he'd stalled on moments earlier. Crushes aside, it had just felt so refreshing to meet someone as authentic as Oku. Someone unabashedly accepting of himself, and who seemed to have an honest interest in learning about and helping Josuke, too. And Josuke reveled in being able to just be himself, no feigned social niceties or white lies. He didn't have to pretend to like Okuyasu, and didn't have to pretend to be someone Okuyasu liked. It was completely unlike his vast circle of quote-unquote friends, unlike his relationship with...

“How's it going?” came a voice in his ear, and he let out an involuntary shiver at the realization that Okuyasu's chin was resting on his shoulder.

“H-hey,” Josuke replied, voice catching, “It's going good, I was, um...”

Okuyasu's arm brushed against his own as he reached to examine the album currently in Josuke's hands.

Dammit. How the hell was he supposed to avoid nursing a crush when this guy had no concept of personal space?

“Oooh, Josuke, this is the one!” Okuyasu exclaimed, leaning into his friend just a bit in his excitement. Josuke bit his lip, ignored all of his flirtatious intuition telling him to roll his hips backwards at the contact.

“Here, let me...” Okuyasu snatched the record away and seemed to be back at the turntable in the blink of an eye. Josuke let out a small breath, half-relieved and half-disappointed.

The music that had been playing came to a sudden stop, eliciting a small sound of complaint from Koichi. Okuyasu urgently reassured him: “Dude, I promise you Something Corporate will still be here in fifty-three minutes and twenty-one seconds. But we just discovered–” He held his hands out in front of him to stress the importance of the words, “The Top Five Albums to Blow Josuke Higashikata's Mind: Number Four: OK Computer.” His voice was even, resolute, and full of solemnity, not unlike a preacher.

Koichi appeared to consider his sermon for a moment, then responded with an equally stoic nod.

A hush fell over the store. A soft crackle as the needle hit the spinning record. Then all at once, the sound of electric guitars crashed around them, giving way quickly to gentler strings and an ethereal melody. Josuke put a hand on his hip, stared up at the drop-ceiling, bobbed his head as he took it all in. He knew the other boys' eyes would be on him, and he'd have to say something soon.

“It's haunting,” he called out to them, the first word that came to mind, “And that bass is really amazing.”

Okuyasu slammed a palm on the countertop. “Hot damn, he's learning, Koichi!”

Turning down the volume – just a tiny bit – Okuyasu jogged back to Josuke, his hands tucked into his jacket pockets. “Alright, so here's the thing,” he said, eyes shining, “You don't really wanna listen to this one here. I mean, ideally you wanna listen to it floating in space, but short of that... this is a religious experience, you'll wanna give it your full attention.”

Josuke nodded, looked down at his pristinely polished shoes. This was his chance. “Would you wanna... join me? Being my, uh, spiritual guide on this journey 'n all.”

Okuyasu tipped his head to the side. “What d'ya mean?”

“Like, hang out with me while I listen to it. The way we did a few days ago, but, y'know... not at your job. Maybe at your place?”

“M-my place?” Oku paled a bit. “Um, I dunno, my place is kinda a shit-hole, and I live with my brother, who's not exactly a fan of having company over...”

Oh shit. Was he bailing? “Well, okay, what about my house?” Josuke blurted out, “I, um... I live with my mom right now, just until I save up enough for my own apartment, so it's not exactly the coolest place in the world, but–”

“Okay!”

“Eh?”

“Yeah! Your place sounds great! When did you wanna do that?”

Josuke blinked at him. That had been easier than he expected. “Um. Well... when do you get off work today?”

“Pfft. I was off an hour ago.”

“What?!”

“I was helpin' you, man!” Another playful thwack on Josuke's back. “I couldn't just walk outta here without arming you with some flowery love-making music.”

“Okay you have to stop calling it that, and also, you are a total dumbass. You should have told me!”

A shrug. “Why? The fuck else would I be doing right now? Drinking a beer with my cat?”

“That... actually sounds pretty great.”

“It is. But getting to see you experience Radiohead for the first time is better. C'mon!”

.

The walk back was a pleasant one, Josuke riding high on having successfully invited a guy over to his place without any kind of ulterior motive. The pair babbled on and on, pointing out their favorite places in town, making vague plans to go with each together some time, and cracking wise about each others' taste in bars.

Finally, Josuke stopped and nodded to the understated home that stood in front of them. “This is me,” he announced.

Okuyasu gripped him by the shoulder. “Dude. What? Are you serious?” He spun Josuke around and pointed eagerly at – well, Josuke couldn't exactly tell. “I live like, three blocks that way. You ever seen that piece of shit house on the corner, the one with a scary-lookin' gate?”

Josuke furrowed his brow in thought. “...The old duplex? It has a garden out front?”

“YEAH, DUDE!” Oku punched him in the arm, and Josuke laughed at the unchecked force of it. “The house is my dad's, the gate is thanks to my big bro, and the garden happens to belong to yours truly.” He flashed a sheepish grin. “...It started out just growin' catnip for my little dude. But then I figured I could try to make the place look a little more invitin', since no one else in the family seemed interested in that.” He paused, then Josuke could practically see the light bulb turn on in his head as he went on: “Hey! Whenever you decide to move out, I could totally cut you a deal on the other apartment! Then you wouldn't even have to come to the shop to get blessed by my musical taste.”

“Wow, okay. You just went from calling it a piece of shit to telling me to live there. You wanna take a breath and come inside for a minute?” Josuke smirked, raised a brow.

“Okay, okay, I'm just excited, we're practically neighbors,” gushed Okuyasu, blushing ever so slightly as the pair continued up Josuke's front steps. “Hope ya know you've just opened yourself up to unannounced drop-ins.”

“There are worse fates,” replied Josuke, opening the door and kicking off his shoes. “Oi, mum!” he called out, “I'm home and I brought a friend!”

“Are you telling me this so I'll introduce myself, or so I'll stay out of your way?” came a voice from further in the house.

“So you'll make enough dinner for three,” he corrected her.

“You are such a brat.” A moment later, Ms. Tomoko Higashikata rounded the corner, her hair pulled up into a messy bun and her sleeves rolled up. With the slightest pang of guilt, Josuke realized that she must have been cleaning. “Hello,” she breathed, “Welcome to our home. I'm sorry– I mean Josuke's home, I'm just the help.” She stepped forward, bowing.

Okuyasu, for his part, seemed frozen. Josuke elbowed him. “It's okay. She doesn't bite. But my jiji lives with us too, and he's an ex-cop, so that's another story.”

“R-right!” Okuyasu bowed stiffly. “A pleasure to meet you! I'm Okuyasu Nijimura, ma'am!”

“You can call me Tomoko,” she said with a smile, “Can I get you boys anything?”

The two politely declined, and Tomoko wished them well before making herself scarce. With a light shove, Josuke prompted Okuyasu to follow him towards the stairway, muttering, “You don't have to be so nervous! It's just my mom!”

“Sorry!” Oku hissed, “She just – I didn't expect her to be so young! And pretty!”

“Family resemblance,” came Josuke's cheeky reply.

“Yeah, I can definitely see it,” said the other, and Josuke was surprised by the seriousness in his tone.

“So anyway, this is my–” Josuke began, opening the door to his room, but Okuyasu burst past him without waiting, eagerly taking it all in. “...Right. Make yourself at home.” Josuke closed the door behind him and leaned up against it, watching the other carefully, observing his reactions to the quaint and tidy room. In truth, Josuke was quite proud of his own decorating prowess; he'd done his best to style everything in a muted purple palate, and tried to keep things orderly for drop-ins such as this.

Okuyasu pointed out various things in the room with “ooo!”s and approving nods. Here and there he'd stop to pick something up and admire it more closely, before something else caught his eye and he moved on.

“Oh? What's this, Josuke?” he asked, picking up a strange looking ceramic creature from Josuke's desk.

With a laugh, the other replied, “Something my mum got me years ago in Tokyo. We were visiting, and I don't even know why, but I started screaming for that thing. I was like, four, I dunno... but I had to have it. She bought it just to shut me up, but then I wasn't allowed to keep it in my room until I was thirteen years old. She said I would–”

Okuyasu whirled around. “Hey! Y'know I used to live in Tokyo, did I ever tell you that? Woulda been around that time too... I wonder if we ever–” He flourished his hands while scouring the depths of his memory, attempting to solve some impossible math problem that would determine if the two of them had ever crossed paths before. But between this sudden motion and his misplaced attention, his fingers quickly lost track of the delicate figure in his hands.

Crash.

The sound was remarkably soft for how devastating the damage was. A thousand tiny pieces tumbled across the floor in every direction, and both of them just stared for a eternity in silence.

Then: “FUCK!” Okuyasu exclaimed. “Oh my god – shit – I'm so fucking sorry!” He dropped to his knees and uselessly scrambled to brush the pieces into a pile with his hands.

“Oh! No, Oku, it's okay,” Josuke said, moving to kneel beside him. “It's fine, really!” When the other didn't reply, he added, “I'll find a way to fix it. Don't worry!”

Okuyasu stopped fumbling and turned to him, eyes brimming with tears. “How? How the hell are you gonna fix somethin' like... this?” He gestured toward the sad pile of splintered pieces. “God... Guess now you know what a fuck-up I am... I always ruin everything...” He shook his head and stood up quickly, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. “L-look, Josuke... Let me go grab a broom, okay? I'll clean this mess up so at least ya don't have to look at it like this. And then I'll figure out some way to make it up to you, I promise!” There was a beat. “Shit.” And with that, he bolted from the room.

Josuke stared after him for a moment. Once his friend's chaotic energy had dissipated, he sighed. What a pain. He returned his eyes to the remains of the figurine and picked up the largest piece that he could find, turning it over in his hands.

Yeah... he knew he should be grateful, but seriously, being an esper and having to conceal his abilities at every turn? Ugh. Truly a pain in the ass.

And with that thought, for probably the millionth time in his life, Josuke watched as a purple aura rose up from his palm and engulfed the shard of the mystery animal. His power wasted no time recalling each and every piece of the creature back into its rightful position until, after just a matter of seconds, it was restored to its former glory with not a scratch upon it.

“J-josuke...?”

He jumped at the voice behind him and the tiny ceramic beast flew into the air, arcing gracefully before smashing against the floor for the now one-million-and-one'th time. Josuke whipped around to face the doorway, meeting the gaze of a slack-jawed Okuyasu.

“Um. I was uh... gonna ask where you keep your cleanin' stuff...”

Josuke opened his mouth, but no words came out. Shit. He'd prepared plenty of excuses to get himself out of situations like this, but not for friends, not for someone he was actively trying to be honest with. So he just stared, completely at a loss, until Okuyasu's look of shock began to melt into excitement.

“Dude!” he hissed, rushing to join Josuke on the floor once again. He grabbed the other's shoulders. With as much restraint as he could muster, he whispered, “You have it too?!”

Josuke blinked. “I uh... whuh?”

“You've got the... the thing, I dunno, you've got powers too!” As if to elaborate, Oku held his own hand out between the two of them, palm up. All at once it began to radiate with a blue light.

Josuke's eyes widened. “What?!” he barked, “You've–? How did–? When did–?”

“Damn, dude, I knew there was a reason I was drawn to you!” Okuyasu raised his fists triumphantly. “Oh fuck yeah, this is awesome!” Josuke knitted his brow, his jaw still hanging open slightly. Okuyasu chuckled and went on, “Don't gimme that look! I just meant that I was drawn to you the same way I was with the guys at Dark Pink. ...They've all got it, too.”

“WHAT.”

“Okay.” Okuyasu put up his hands, motioning for Josuke to settle. “Sorry. This is probably a lot. It's just... It's been a while since I met anyone else with the thing.”

“No kidding,” Josuke mumbled, “I've hardly ever... I mean...” he looked away, “Apparently it runs in my family? O-on my dad's side. But I... they...”

“Hey, mine too!” Okuyasu's grin was at it's widest now. “I've heard most people don't get it 'til they need to use it. Like wakin' up some kinda animal instinct, y'know? Comes out when somethin' traumatizin' happens. Lucky for me, trauma ain't exactly hard to come by in my family.”

“Yeah,” Josuke agreed, thinking back to the conversation they'd had several days earlier on the floor of Dark Pink. The words they'd said, and the words they hadn't; They drifted through his mind as his eyes lingered on the faint markings on his friend's face. The two of them exchanged a dark look of understanding, not needing words now, either.

“So, like...” Oku went on, shifting into a cross-legged position, “They say people with the gift are drawn to one another. So when you find one, you're likely to find more.”

“That's... kinda cute. Like a found family, almost.”

“Yep. Right down to the fact that most of 'em are annoying as hell.” Josuke laughed, and Okuyasu smiled. “Hey, Josuke... Do your thing again, will ya?”

“Oh! Sure.” Josuke nodded before scooping up a piece of the figurine from the floor again, extending his hand outwards for Okuyasu to observe. He called on his power, the familiar purple aura returning and setting to its task with ease.

“Wow,” Okuyasu whispered under his breath, his eyes wide. “That is so cool. Can it fix everything?”

“No, not everything. It's kind of like... um, you ever used 'undo' on a computer?” Josuke handed the figurine back to his friend. This was hard; he'd rarely ever had the opportunity to talk about his ability, let alone have to explain it. Still, it was like a weight off his shoulders, having someone – other than a Joestar – to share his secret with. “It works on people, too. Mostly. I can heal physical wounds but... I haven't been able to get it to work on myself.”

Okuyasu nodded with rapt attention. “Does that mean you can cure people too? Can you stop people from dyin'? Can you–”

Josuke held up a hand to stop him. “I can't bring them back,” he said, voice sober, his eyes darting away. Oku tapped his chin in thought.

“So like... if you chopped my head off... you could put it back on, but I'd just be a corpse.”

“Gross, but yeah.”

“Huh.” Okuyasu was clearly turning the possibilities over and over in his mind. “It must be nice to have somethin' useful like that.”

“What do you mean? What does yours do?”

Oku shook his head. “You can help people with yours... Mine's just stupid.” He was frowning, now. “It's like, the opposite of yours.”

“Opposite? So it breaks things apart?”

“Not... exactly.” He rubbed anxiously at his neck. “I can make things... disappear. Here,” he said, and began rummaging through his jacket pocket. He located an old candy wrapper, held it up for Josuke to see. Then he balled it up, lobbed it across the room, and made a motion as if to catch it. His aura blinked across the room to envelop the wrapper, and then, just like that, it was gone. Josuke's mouth fell open again.

“So where does it go?!”

Okuyasu shrugged. “Beats me. But it's pretty goofy, compared to somethin' like yours. I guess I could be... the world's most depressing magician act...”

“And have the world's biggest bill for rabbits and playing cards,” Josuke agreed, “But seriously, that's really... impressive, when you think about it.”

“Scary, you mean.”

Josuke didn't argue.

“It is. I know it is! It could be real... eh, destructive. I try to be careful. Don't really like usin' it, if I'm honest.”

“Just 'cause it's dangerous doesn't mean you can't use it. Think about it like a samurai sword, man! You could train to use it really well!”

Josuke's enthusiasm seemed to get through to him. He raised his eyes to meet Josuke's blue ones, let another small smile peek out on his lips. “Well, there is one thing that I learned how t'do, that I think is kinda cool...”

“Mmmm?” Josuke hummed, inquisitive.

Okuyasu sat up straighter. “Okay. So it makes stuff vanish, right? And if I concentrate...” he began to look around the room, “I can make space vanish, too!”

“O-oh? Hang on, what do you–”

But Okuyasu's eyes had already locked on to something and he swiped at it; Josuke felt a rush of air and suddenly the picture frame from his bedside table appeared before them, easily caught and then proudly displayed by a grinning Okuyasu.

“Whoa,” Josuke gasped. He leaned in, eyes shining. “Just think of all the things you could do with that!”

Okuyasu mirrored him, leaning in as well. “Pffft! What you could do with yours!”

“What we could do as a team!”

“We could fight natural disasters!”

“Be emergency responders!”

“Stop criminals!”

“Stop assholes!”

“Prank Rohan!”

“Get extra food at restaurants!”

“Sneak into places at night!”

And just like that, the afternoon dissolved into sharing boyish dreams of how to utilize – or exploit – their abilities, setting aside for another time the discussion of how and why they'd been able to awaken these powers in the first place. Instead they fantasized about becoming a crime-fighting duo, and what they'd be called, and what their theme music would sound like, eventually coming to the very important decision of what to name these things of theirs.

Josuke didn't really get the name that Okuyasu gave to his (“Don't worry about it, it's a deep cut, you'll figure it out eventually”) but he had been given the highest honor (“sick Pink Floyd reference, man!”) for his own. The compliment had him glowing with pride.

As the afternoon grew long, Josuke found himself truly content, in a way that he hadn't been in so long. He was so content, in fact, that he wasn't even bothered by the chiming of his cell phone as it repeatedly tried to interrupt them. After the fifth or so time that it rang, he simply turned it off and tossed it aside – a problem and person that he wanted to keep as far away from this evening as possible.

#jjba #jojo's bizarre adventure #part 4 #diamond is unbreakable #au #fanfic #fan fiction #morioh hi-fi #high fidelity au #josuke higashikata #josuyasu

[lostinthe-jojos]

This might be a bit random, but as someone who knows absolutely nothing about JJBA, I am sincerely curious about what you find appealing about the anime/manga. It’s just something I’ve never been drawn into until I followed you. I still haven’t taken the plunge, so I wanted to ask you about it. :)

Oh, it's okay!

Hmm I watched the series mostly because it was the last month of the summer and my sister and I didn't have any more plans. We saw it was on Netflix (s1 only) and recognized it from a few memes we had seen around and gave it a shot. The first episode was intense and so much stuff happened. The second episode had me loving Jonathan, the "first" JoJo and wanting to see more of Dio, the main antagonist. Before we realized it we finished s1, which contains part 1 and 2 and. It's weird.

It's such a damn weird series but in that universe it somehow all makes sense? You are fed nonsensical battles and almost ridiculous characters that are just musical references or Italian food/plates? But you don't bat an eye anymore, because it all somehow makes sense as you watch it.

All the characters are intertwined, one way or another, and each has their own tragic or dramatic life that makes you empathize with them.

The art style... Is just a bunch of buff guys and it changes a lot through the seasons. The author himself has said that he likes to draw muscular bodies, like those of Schwarzenegger or Stallone back in the 80's. And he sure damn does. Plus he gets REALLY creative fashion wise. I think the most iconic thing about the series is the outfits.

The story, as strange as it is, it gives you nice plot twists, good backstories and some of my favorite villains. (Pls i could write an essay on Dio or Kira, as much as I despise the latter)

And I'll be honest, I can't get myself to read the manga. I've tried, but I just can't. So kudos to everyone else out there reading the manga.

#ʕ ꈍᴥꈍʔ — asks

[quibbs126]

Ah right, I said I’d go more in depth with these guys, yeah? All right, let’s get into it

Also I’m sure you noticed this new fourth character, she’s a prominent character but still technically a side character. I’ll talk about her after the main three. There’s also other characters I’ve made, but I’m just gonna give the main rundown of these guys

Just a note about the drawings, the first one was my first drawing of them (well technically my second as I drew them on paper first, but I don’t have the sketchbook with me and those drawings, specifically the colors, aren’t that great. These are the more definitive original designs), and the second was me drawing them again with a more chibi art style that I sometimes used. I mostly used it for Jojo’s fanart, but I haven’t used it in a while. Great for easily drawing full bodies of characters though

All right, let’s start off simple with blue velvet girl, Cassidy, who’s sort of like the main character

So she’s around 20 or so, and has only been a monster hunter for a couple of years at most, I think it’s supposed to be her second year? Anyways, so she’s very much energetic and feisty, looking for her next target. She means well with her hunting, but she hasn’t fully grasped the dangers of her job yet and is more so just having fun, but over the course of the story she learns more about what it really means to be a monster hunter and matures as a person. A bit generic, but to be honest she’s the one I work with the least

In terms of backstory, so she was from this city that around 20 years ago, was attacked by a giant monster (these I’ve tentatively called kaiju (because I’m not sure what else to call them), they’re basically incredibly powerful monsters who are massive) and destroyed. Her parents died in the city and she’s never met them, given she was only a baby. She was taken in and raised by another family, but she does sometimes wonder who her original family were, even though nobody knows the answer to that

I feel like part of the reason she became a monster hunter should be because she doesn’t want others to be left all alone like her, but I’m not sure that jives with the immaturity I’ve established for her. I mean she isn’t just doing monster hunting because she thinks it’s fun, she wants to protect people, but I feel like that deeper reason may not jive. Eh, oh well

As mentioned in my last post, she has lightning powers as well as dual guns that she wields. I’m not very good at drawing guns so I haven’t drawn her with them. Actually I think Rasmus is the only one I’ve drawn weapons for

But yeah, she’s basically the baby of the group, given Rowan’s in his 30s and Rasmus at least his 40s, but she’s not clueless or anything, just not as experienced. She’s also the one with the most energy, and most likely to get them in trouble. Rowan’s sort of like a big brother to her and Rasmus, she’s not really sure. It’s not that she isn’t close to him, they’re very close, she’s just not sure if she sees him as a mentor, a father figure, or just an older friend. But all in all she enjoys being with them

Also, she’s friends with a guy named I believe Xenos (it’s been a while since I’ve had to recall his name), who has importance to the story, we just haven’t gotten there yet. I’ll explain in another post where I actually drew him (I was gonna draw him in the chibi art but never got around to it because of his design). He’s around her age and is honestly just as, if not more reckless than her. He can be a bit of a bad influence. He usually only shows up when it’s just her around though

Anyways, I think that’s it for Cassidy, now let’s get into Rowan, our red velvet goat like thing

Rowan’s a very chill dude. He’s a bit of a flirt, but not in an obnoxious or annoying way, it’s just casual, and he takes rejection very well. He mostly just wants to have a good time, but he’s also been in this business for a good decade or two, so he knows the seriousness of his job. He’s sort of the glue that holds the team together, as he’s the guy you go to when you’ve got something on your mind or when you have problems you need to deal with, he gives good advice. He’ll also keep your secrets if you ask him to, he’s all around a very reliable person. Though that doesn’t mean he’s not prone to shenanigans. He basically turns off his brain cells when he’s dealing with Cassidy and goes along with her crazy shenanigans, tending to enable her. Though occasionally he can be the voice of reason in these scenarios, usually it’s Rasmus that has to bring them down to earth. She’s basically like the little sister he never had. As for his relationship with Rasmus, well things get a bit more complicated. At first he wasn’t sure what to make of Rasmus, as he’s always keeping to himself. But as the story progresses and Rowan learns more about Rasmus as he slowly opens up, he grows to understand why Rasmus is the way he is and finds him a good person, while trying to help him with his issues. They also become rather good at fighting alongside one another. He wants to tell Rasmus he needs to actually find proper help, but knows that it’ll be a while before they get to that point, so for now he’s good with just being Rasmus’s confidant

So in terms of backstory, he actually has a bit of a deeper connection to being a monster hunter. See, his father was kind of a legendary hunter, being known for taking down kaiju. He retired when Rowan was a teenager (Rowan’s father was rather old when Rowan was born, there’s like at least a 20 year age gap between his parents), and when Rowan started out, following in his father’s footsteps, he had to deal with that immeasurable weight on his shoulders. He was eventually able to find his own way of doing things, not being anywhere near as remarkable as him, but finding enjoyment in what he does, though he does still feel that weight sometimes. He and his father are basically nothing alike, not even physically, Rowan’s father being grey and with a much different horn shape, so very few people nowadays even know they’re related. More people knew back when he started out, as they’d heard rumors that he was the son of the legendary hero (if it’s not clear, I don’t have a name for him), but nowadays it’s not very prevalent, which he’s honestly thankful for. Rowan and his father have kind of a strained relationship, of which Rowan’s not really sure how to approach, and frankly he doesn’t really want to. Nowadays though it’s just these two (I’m not sure what happened to his mother, whether she died when he was young or just left, but he spent most of his life with just his father around), and things get awkward quickly. But Rowan doesn’t hate him or anything

Okay, let’s move on from these two (because I’m running out of things to say) and just talk about Rowan’s skills. So he’s got water powers, another thing from his mother’s side as his father controls metal. I am playing with the idea that Rowan, despite his relatively scrawny figure (at least compared to his father), has inherited his father’s incredible strength, but I’m not sure if I should. I also have no clue what his weapon is. I was thinking a scythe, but I’m not sure. I was also thinking just a giant sword to go with his strength, but we already have a sword user. I dunno

I’m running out of things to say about Rowan, so I’m just gonna move on, and onto my favorite of the group, the chocolate lava cake, Rasmus

Rasmus is the oldest of the group, and unlike the other two he’s very reserved and quiet, being the serious one of the group and frankly, the only brain cell. Though that’s not to say he’s standoffish or a bit of a jerk, he’s actually very sweet. He’s just very withdrawn and tends to keep to himself. As said before, he’s the voice of reason in the group and is probably the reason the team’s still alive. But he also finds he can’t stay mad at them. He’s also probably the best fighter of the group, with his fire powers being a lot stronger than other Capra’s powers, even combining it with his sword. He’s been in this fight much longer than the other two, and it’s changed his life permanently. Also he’s depressed. Not sure how to work that in, but he is. However he doesn’t make it that known, other than just generally how he acts, being all reserved and stuff.

Alright, let’s get into his backstory. So first off, I’m not sure you can tell, given I haven’t shown you very many characters, but Rasmus doesn’t exactly look like a normal Capra (the lady too, but she’s connected to him), having little fur and his hair and fur not entirely matching. He also sometimes has glowing eyes and horns, as well as a particular strength of fire. Well, all of this is because he isn’t entirely a normal Capra, though he used to be. His name used to be Evan, and he looked very different back then, and acted different too. He was an absolute ray of sunshine (though that’s not to say he can’t be now, it’s just a much softer ray), and a bright young man working as a monster hunter, even if he never had much money. When he was young, he fell in love with a girl with a sharp wit and a bit of an adventurous streak (I believe I called her Periwinkle, but maybe that’s just because of her color scheme), though she was also from a family of high status, while he was just common working class. Regardless, the two fell deeply in love, and eventually they eloped and moved to the city Cassidy’s from, and soon were expecting their first child. Unfortunately, despite how deeply they cared for one another, money was a growing concern they couldn’t just ignore or run away from.

Evan was struggling to find work in this big city, until he came across a notice for some agency’s project, requesting able bodied monster hunters in exchange for a generous sum of money, though he would be gone for quite some time. Regardless, he took the job for the sake of his family, and was selected for the project. There, he learned that they were trying to essentially create super soldiers by making a Capra’s element more powerful (or something, never worked out the details), with the procedure also radically changing the subject’s physical appearance. He underwent the procedure, his fur and hair becoming singed with his fire, and became Subject #3: Rasmus.

He was tasked with several assignments, taking on monsters to see the difference in power, and he was indeed much stronger. However, another power he gained, as a way for his body to physically handle his new amount of power and retain its form, is that he could turn into a kaiju like being with terrifying power. As the months went by, more and more assignments started piling up, but Evan was becoming increasingly frustrated, wanting to go back and see his family, especially as his child’s due date grew ever closer, but the higher ups wouldn’t let him, though they were sending them the money. Evan wrote letters to his wife, trying to explain the situation, but unbeknownst to him, the letters were never sent. This eventually grew to a boiling point, when his child was about to be due, but still they refused to let him go back. They ended up giving him an assignment that was close to the city, and Evan, fed up with this project, was planning to desert afterwards, or at least escape for long enough to see his family. It was a mission that required his monstrous form. However, all of that pent up frustration and anger came to a head, and that combined with the fight itself, caused Rasmus to go out of control, his monstrous form becoming a berserk beast (admittedly I don’t feel like I have good enough reasoning for him going berserk, but just go with it, it’s important). He was in a blind rage, and when he calmed down, reverting to his normal state, he found the city in ashes, destroyed by his rampage. Horrified and in a panic, he rushed over to where his house was, desperately hoping he wouldn’t find what he feared, only to find Periwinkle’s lifeless body within its wreckage, him the one responsible. It was at this point that Rasmus reached his breaking point, and was consumed by his grief, sobbing for hours, not even noticing when the organization found him and took him back, lost in his own sorrow of the death of his family. Afterwards, he went in a near catatonic state, unable to do anything. So the organization moved on to Subject 4.

Subject 4 went horribly wrong. They were given the same kaiju like form as Rasmus, and they ended up going mad with power, killing all the members of the project aside from the other subjects, whom all came together to seal them away. After that, Rasmus was free to go, but he had nowhere to go back to. He eventually went back to monster hunting, never telling anyone of his true crimes (for context, the kaiju attack was actually very well known, as the city was huge. There were a lot of people killed and many left homeless and orphans), and feeling guilt for them every day

Let’s get into his relationship with the other two. With Rowan, Rasmus also wasn’t sure what to think of him, but he found Rowan to be a relaxing presence, and eventually decided to open up to him about things from his past. He tells him only bits at a time, but it makes him feel better. He also takes solace in the fact that Rowan will keep his secrets, and feels comfortable around him. As for Cassidy, he likes her well enough, she’s a bright girl with loads of potential, only needing time and experience to temper it, but he’s always felt something off around her. Nothing about her, but a feeling he gets while interacting with her. Once he finds out that she’s from the city that he destroyed, that feeling morphs into guilt. He knows by now that it was an accident, but he can’t help but feel like whenever he sees her that he robbed her of her chance at a normal life. But he’s grown attached to her, and doesn’t want to tell her the truth, at least not yet, because he doesn’t want to see her reaction.

Hoo boy that’s a lot about Rasmus. I worked on him way more than everyone else. Unfortunately despite it nearly being two hours, we still have one more person to go, and that is Hesperia

Hesperia, in contrast to the others, is very snappy and tends to be rather short tempered. She runs some sort of business (I don’t remember if it’s a monster hunting business or something else), and is a recurring side character. She’s a no nonsense businesswoman and does not tolerate buffoonery. She scares Cassidy and Rowan, but Rasmus is the only one not intimidated by her, and is probably the only person she tolerates due to their history. Also she melts, particularly when she gets emotional (aka really angry). She’s a good friend of Rasmus’s and she’s also a skilled fighter in her own right, commanding the shadows and beasts created from them

Now onto her backstory. So she happens to be Subject #2 in that organization’s project. However, a thing with Subjects 1 and 2 is that they hadn’t yet figured out how to properly contain their powers, and as such their bodies are unstable (hence why Hesperia melts). Another thing, and the biggest source of Hesperia’s general anger, is that she does not remember who she was before becoming Hesperia, her memories were wiped completely clean. In fact, this happens to be true with every member except Rasmus, I’ll explain things more in a bit. Hesperia originally thought she was simply created, but after learning that she was once someone, she became obsessed with trying to find out who she was, what he old life was like, only for her to be unable to find anything, nor would the organization tell her (if you can’t tell already, the organization isn’t exactly morally good). This led to her immense frustration and anger, not being able to know what she’s missing in life. And when Rasmus came around with knowledge of his past, she just became even more enraged. She hated him for having what she didn’t, and for trying to act all nice, thinking he was mocking her, despite him just trying to be nice

However, all that changed after the city incident. She saw how devastated Rasmus was, how he’d been destroyed by this tragedy, and she started to think about things. Was having her memories back really worth it? Look how much suffering it’s bringing Rasmus. What if she wound up killing someone she once knew? What if she already had? She started to doubt her motives. And in turn, she started to stop hating Rasmus, feeling sympathy for his situation and even trying to help him, to whatever extent she could. After defeating Subject 4 and Subject 1 leaving, Hesperia stayed with Rasmus, not wanting to leave him like this, and helping him through his grief, trying to help him get things back together. This was how they became trusted friends. In fact, technically speaking Rasmus still lives with Hesperia, just whenever he’s not doing a monster hunting mission

Edit: oh yeah I forgot, the differences in the subjects! Okay so, each subject was made one after the other, and changes were made to rectify the problems of the previous

Subject 1: too immature, refuses to listen. Get older subject

Subject 2: obsessed with remembering past life, has gotten too volatile. Keep next subject’s memories, and change the way of containing power

Subject 3: refuses to do anything after loss of past family. Remove next subject’s memories, but keep method of power containment

And yeah, I think that’s everything for these guys, other than some plot tidbits I left out. I’ve been writing this for nearly 2 and a half hours, I should probably go to sleep. But I hope you enjoy, provided you read this far!

#I was actually drawing them again earlier before writing this #I’ll post it whenever I finish #then again I don’t seem to be able to post any art that isn’t related to a fandom I’m in more than once #I had more to say but I forgot what #original characters #my oc #rasmus #cassidy #rowan #hesperia #capra #character design #my art #old art #well only 1-2 years

[redbeanboi]

Guido Mista : ESTP [JJBA]

Excited to finally share this! One large bowl of mixed salad for the hungry beanie babies, as requested. :-)

As always—I’ll be looking at the Jungian cognitive functions.

And an extra big thank you to @string-bean-owo​ for helping me find some of these manga panels! :-)

Warning: Extended Spoilers ahead for JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Vento Aureo.

Functional Order: Se-Ti-Fe-Ni

Perceiving Functional Axis: Extroverted Sensing (Se) / Introverted Intuition (Ni)

Extroverted Sensing (Se)

Se is a perceiving function that relies on the five senses (touch, taste, sound, smell, sight) to interact with the environment. Se dominants like Mista prefer material, tangible things and don’t particularly like abstract ideas or concepts, as seen when Giorno first joins the gang and starts sharing his theories and strategies during enemy attacks (stuff that Mista cannot readily accept). Note Mista’s reactions to Giorno’s crazy hypothesis on the train:

Source: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Ch. 489

Mista finds it difficult to trust what his eyes (and ears, etc.) can’t perceive, and it’s only after Trish proves Giorno’s “theory” that he accepts it. Tangible, physical proof and evidence are things that Se dominants rely on when it comes to making their own conclusions. He handles solid, physical or simply real world information better than vague hypotheticals (which is where you often see him and Giorno clash).

Se dominants also love novel thrills, material items and creature comforts, which is one of Mista’s defining traits. Mista loves experiencing the world through his five senses because of Se and loves cheese, wine, sleep and good looking people. Se is a very big contributor to ESTP’s love of food, sports/physical action and/or sex (or any physical activity really). ESTP’s (and other Se dominants like ESFP) constantly seek out fun, sensory experiences to stay happy.

Source: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Ch. 508

Mista’s keen observation is yet another example of Se dominance; he’s quick on the uptake and uses his Se to process external stimuli. Whenever Mista gets into a fight, he takes mental note of his physical surroundings and uses his observations to make conclusions.

Source: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Ch. 464

ESTP’s are very physical and quickly respond to environmental demands, which is why Mista is able to think quickly on his feet and go with the flow on many different occasions. Wow!

Introverted Thinking (Ti)

Ti is more of a subconscious function in ESTP’s, but it’s what fuels their drive to understand the world and master their skills/talents. Like other ESTP’s, Mista uses Ti to analyze and process the ideas that his Se creates based on past experiences or any knowledge he’s acquired in his life. Together, these functions serve as a logical framework to help Mista determine which ideas/decisions are logical and which aren’t. It’s essentially a problem solving tool.

Though he’s not the type to overthink things, there are often times when Mista has to use Ti to make important decisions—betraying the Boss and organization being one of them. Knowing that Bucciarati is smart and having known him for a decent amount of time, Mista’s come to learn Bucciarati’s pragmatism as fact, and as Mista points out, Bucciarati wouldn’t betray the organization if it was a losing fight. Having seen Bucciarati make smart decisions in the past is what ultimately convinces Mista to join the band of traitors. He doesn’t necessarily cite protecting Trish as his primary motivation for betraying Passione, like Narancia—I think Extroverted Feeling played some role in this decision though, even if it was subconsciously—and Mista pretty much tells it like it is: he’ll get “filthy, stinkin’ rich” once this is over.

Source: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Ch. 523

This might be a sillier instance, but Mista’s theory on the tastiness (or lack thereof) of human flesh is another pretty good example of his Ti. He uses information he knows—”cats, lions, eagles, etc. are all carnivores and aren’t served in restaurants because the meat’s smelly, etc.”—to come to the conclusion that humans would taste pretty gross because they also eat meat!

Source: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Ch. 590 

Extroverted Feeling (Fe)

ESTP’s Fe is what ultimately drives them to use their keen observation and problem solving skills to help other people, as opposed to using these traits for purely selfish reasons. Mista is drawn to and strives to attain interpersonal peace, harmony and understanding (remember that he prefers to live a “simple life”), and I believe that this Fe is where his humanitarian side comes from. The most obvious example of his caring, compassionate side is his entire backstory.

Source: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Ch. 508

Mista’s Fe kicked in as soon as he saw this woman getting beaten in the car and acted on it, and although he is analytical and does make logic-based decisions (i.e. his decision to join Bucciarati and betray the Boss), Extroverted Feeling often drives him to do the “right” thing, most especially in the spur of the moment. In this instance, it’s killing a bunch of trashy men. 

In social environments, Fe works with Se and brings out Mista’s sillier, humorous side. 

Source: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Ch. 486

Source: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Ch. 590

Of course, at the same time, while Mista is extroverted and lively, he’s also perfectly fine with just enjoying his teammates’ company and doesn’t always need to take over the conversation and is okay with just making his little side comments. 

Source: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Ch. 456

Source: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Ch. 524

Of course, because Se is Mista’s dominant function, he usually shows his affection through action (rather than words) since it’s more comfortable for him; he’s not very good at explaining himself after the Rolling Stones incident, but Mista’s willingness to put himself into harm’s way to change Rolling Stones’ form is pretty indicative of the love and loyalty he has for Bucciarati.

Source: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Ch. 594

Introverted Intuition (Ni)

I know it’s easy to make jokes that Mista always ends up full of lead because almost all of his ammo gets fired back at him, but Vento Aureo is full of instances that show just how good Mista is at pulling information his Se has stored away and using that information to prepare an attack on his enemy.

We can assume that Mista’s dealt with a lot of other stand users at this point, especially since he knows the basics about Long-Range and Close-Range stands and keeps this info in mind when he’s looking for Sale.

Source: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Ch. 464

The White Album arc is my favorite to refer to when it comes to identifying Mista’s strengths as a member of Bucciarati’s team (also a good display of his Ni, both in its healthy and destructive forms).

Ni is sort of Mista’s “achilles heel,” since it’s undoubtedly his weaker function; it’s not nearly as strong as his Se and Ti, which Mista utilizes and relies on more. That being said, Ni helps Mista to pull from every single corner of his noggin and gets him to hone in on the evidence pulled from his Se. And from there, he looks for patterns in the information Ni gathers or just skips the thought process altogether and just predicts what might happen next (which you see when he kind of just jumps the gun—no pun intended). 

Mista’s good at keeping calm during moments of crisis and usually thinks things through, enabling him to make important deductions in life or death scenarios. “Obviously this weird enemy has to breathe somehow! I can attack from there!”

Sources: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Ch. 512 (above) and Ch. 514 (below)

At the same time, this Ni is a little dangerous when it gives Mista the idea that it’s alright to just “do first and think later”... and that’s usually when he forgoes thinking altogether. 

Source: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Ch. 512

Cue the ricocheting bullets. 

And it happens again during the Rolling Stones arc when Mista decides to jump outside of the apartment building with Rolling Stones—even though he doesn’t exactly know what will follow. He makes this decision without having thought it through carefully and it’s only after he falls (and survives) that Mista realizes he can’t change Rolling Stones, and in a sense, cannot change fate (oOoo).

Source: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Ch. 594

_____

A/N: This was super fun !!! Mista’s probably one of my favorite characters of all time, and I really think he embodies the ESTP type. At this moment in time, I haven’t gotten an Enneagram post for him planned in the near future, but I’ve typed him as a 7w8 if that helps. hope you enjoyed reading this !

#fictional character mbti #jjba mbti #vento aureo #guido mista #estp #man i love writing informal essays #:-D #stan MISTA #metas #? #does this count as a meta #idk

[recentanimenews]

FEATURE: The Top 10 Fight Scenes of 2020 According to YOU!

  One of the defining features of anime as a medium are the fight scenes. From their diversity of visuals and dramatic staging to their use in narrative development to the off-the-wall powers and techniques their characters employ. Watching weightless CG battles in superhero flicks, it’s hard not to feel like Hollywood is decades behind. Let’s fix that by letting YOU decide who gets some accolades.

  If you’ve read this article’s companion pieces on 2020’s OPs and EDs you know the drill. What follows is a list of the Top 10 fight scenes of 2020 as determined by viewership on the Crunchyroll Collection YouTube channel, weighted at 30 days so anime from earlier in the year don’t get an advantage and to balance flash-in-the-pan popularity vs iconic moments that will continue on in the fandom’s consciousness. It’s not a perfect metric but I’ve gotta say, the results do show some great taste ...

  10. Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? - Ais vs Asterius

    Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? has always been measured with its action, honing its greatest moments into dramatic peaks, so it was great we were able to finish 2020 with not only some of its biggest battles, but Ais finally stepping on the gas for the first time on television since 2017 by battling the legendary minotaur Asterius. Ais didn’t disappoint, as she shouldn’t with her place at the very top of the adventuring world and an unreachable ideal Bell aspires to. Also, opening the fight by shearing off her opponent’s arm may be the most brutal kickoff to a Danmachi fight we’ve seen yet. This battle topped 500k in its first 30 days and I’m confident will make a lasting impression.

  9. Tsugumomo2 - Kazuya vs Kyouka

    Tsugumomo’s second season delivered some absolutely huge battles, but I gotta say I’m surprised the top fight wasn’t Kanaka terrorizing the entire cast of the series with their hunt for blood. That said, Kazuya’s battle against Kyouka had some spectacular effects, a few creative obi adaptations, a divine possession, and a shorted punch to secure the victory so it had all the primary features that make Tsugumomo fights great … And for fans of the series, yes it also had that … This fight drew 600k views in its first 30 days to secure its spot on the list.

  8. A Certain Scientific Railgun T - Level 6 Mikasa vs Touma and Sogiita

    A Certain Magical Index and its various spinoffs have a penchant for going completely off the rails very quickly. This fight in spinoff A Certain Scientific Railgun T is every bit as absurd. Mikasa is pushed into Level 6, giving her godlike power and sending her into a berserk state that only Touma’s magic destroying hand can take down. We also get a guest appearance from one of the series' best side characters in Sogiita whose ability to literally turn guts into power is impossible not to love. 

  Basically, the fight was amazing, Mikasa’s Level 6 form and its absurd power were wonderfully adapted by JC Staff and Touma and Sogiita showed off some amazing combo attacks to prevents the destruction of the city. In particular, Sogiita’s “Super Amazing” punch and princess carrying Touma drew 700k viewers in its first 30 days.

  7. Golden Kamuy - The Stenka

    The most common phrase I hear from Golden Kamuy fans is that the series is underappreciated and, as a Golden Kamuy fan, I’m inclined to agree. This series is so violent, I’m constantly surprised by what it gets away with. I’m hard-pressed to think of another series that has aired in the past five years with the same level of brutality. Basically, I’m saying I’m overjoyed to see Golden Kamuy made the list, even if it's from one of its most tame battles that is simply a no-holds-barred free-for-all where everyone gets their nose broken by a berserk Sugimoto. 

  Might have been the JoJo's reference (not really) but this battle got 700k views in 30 days and just barely beat out Railgun T by ~1k views.

  6. JUJUTSU KAISEN - Gojo vs Sukuna

    Another series I’m unsurprised to see on the list but with an unexpected battle. I would have imagined Gojo’s battle against Jogo might have drawn more attention, or perhaps more recently, Itadori’s battle with Mahito. This clip does make sense after a fashion. It was a breakout moment where MAPPA showed they really meant business adapting JUJUTSU KAISEN and the fight was between two characters that have become fan favorites. 

  Definitely, a defining moment that pulled in double the seventh placer's views at 1.4 million in its first 30 days! Since JUJUTSU KAISEN is still attracting new fans and already topping popularity lists, I imagine it would have been even higher given a bit more time in 2020. Gojo vs Sukuna has continued its upward climb to almost 3 million views, putting it only a few days away from claiming the Number 4 spot in lifetime views. Not bad for an anime in the year's final quarter!

  5. Boruto - Sarada vs Sakura

    BORUTO: NARUTO NEXT GENERATIONS has delivered spectacularly animated battles for just about its entire run that prove this anime is no afterthought to the Naruto franchise. Despite a wide selection of quality battles that dropped in 2020, I must admit I knew this one would be at the top. What self-respecting Naruto fan wouldn’t be interested in seeing a less-than-friendly mother/daughter slugfest between Sarada and Sakura? Although theoretically a training match to help Sarada develop her Sharingan, the amount of destruction makes it clear that one wrong move and even Sakura’s medical Jutsu would have trouble putting either of them back together again.

  The Uchiha family battle secured its place with 1.5 million views in its first 30 days. Sarada's family moments, even the ones without fighting, are always winners and Sarada vs Sakura is the third youngest clip on the list so I'm guessing this one is going to withstand the test of time.

  4. One Piece - Zoro vs Hitokiri Kamazo

    One Piece has been on a tear since the beginning of its much-anticipated Wano Kuni arc. Even after delivering a huge battle between Luffy and Katakuri at the end of Whole Cake, there has been a notable bump in the frequency and quality of standout animation in the long-running series, which is great to see since the Wano arc is a series of back-to-back skirmishes that can be elevated by some explosive visuals. 

  No moment this year stands out more in my memory than Zoro’s battle against Hitokiri Kamazo and it seems the fans agree. Zoro borrowing his enemy’s weapon to pull off an amazingly animated Purgatory Onigiri may be one of the coolest sequences in One Piece’s almost 1,000-episode long run. This moment also got 1.5 million views in 30 days, narrowing beating Boruto by about 13k views.

  3. Black Clover - Everyone vs The Devil

    Black Clover has grown as a production to develop a unique visual style for magic-heavy battles and really deliver some hugely impressive battles. It’s ramp up hit a peak in 2019 with the battle between Julius and Licht and it’s been riding high ever since. The top fight of 2020 is an obvious one, as the climactic moment of the series' insanely escalating arc kicked off by Julius and Licht’s battle. It seems like half the cast piled into Hell to take on the unnamed devil and his overpowered word soul magic. To be honest I was surprised the series kept going at all after a moment this climactic (I’m not complaining though).

  The final attack of this battle drew 1.6 million views in its first 30 days and now sits proudly in the Number 2 spot for lifetime views on this list at over 5.5 million!

  2. The God of High School - Jin vs Jaegal

    With its sheer number of lovingly animated battles, The God of High School was a shoo-in for this list and might represent 50 percent or more of its total entries if I hadn’t limited it to one entry per series. Jin vs Jaegal is a natural choice, as the climactic battle of the fast-paced fighting series which delivered on the much-anticipated reveal of Jin Mori’s charyeok. This one really put the god in the high school, jumping far past One Piece to pull 2.1 million views in its first month.

  1. My Hero Academia - Endeavor vs Special Nomu

    My Hero Academia had a huge climactic battle to cap off the winter season, so I gotta say I’m surprised to see it’s the other one that secured the top spot as the Number 1 battle of 2020. Deku vs Overhaul was a huge moment for the series and definitely sits in the upper half of this list, if not the Number 2 spot — but something about Endeavor fighting a Nomu really pulled in a crowd, even putting the clip on YouTube’s trending list. It continues to creep upward at 7.5 million views. One of the most-watched moments of the entire year!

  On reflection moments that show a theoretical power ceiling of a series are always impactful, such as Orochimaru’s battle with Sarutobi or even My Hero Academia’s own battle between All Might and All for One. Endeavor definitely pulled out the guns for this battle to leave an impression before the long wait until the next season ... Or maybe it was just because he said “plus ultra?” Regardless, Endeavor blasted past even the Number 2 spot on this list at 3.7 million views in its first 30 days.

  Those were the best battles of 2020 according to you and, consequently, the last of this series of Top 10 lists. When it comes to fights there’s a lot more to look forward to in 2021. Boruto, Black Clover, and One Piece have all been building toward their current arcs' big conflicts and each seems primed to pull the trigger early next year. If that weren’t enough JUJUTSU KAISEN is about to kick off its school event and MHA is set to make its return.

  That does it for 2020. Hope to see you all at the same time next year.

  If you feel the fandom has missed a great moment, feel free to share it in the comments below!

      Peter Fobian is an Associate Producer at Crunchyroll, writer for Anime Academy and Anime in America, and an editor at Anime Feminist. You can follow him on Twitter @PeterFobian.

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: Peter Fobian

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

[racebox-of-higgars]

Take Me Captive, Set Me Free - Chapter 6

Chapter 6 of my sprace pirate AU fic is now out. TW for violence and misgendering in this one. Updates will be moved to Wednesdays and Saturdays now! Enjoy!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/30592184/chapters/77412707

@angelslibrary 

When Race woke up, his whole body ached. Specifically his head, that was the worst part, but his arms and legs burned too. Memories of the night before were hazy, something about winning a competition, and the stable boy? Something to do with Spot? He remembered talking to him, though the details of the conversation were slightly foggy. God, how drunk had he been? Vaguely, he recognised that he wasn’t in his room, but instead was in Spot’s. How had he ended up in Spot’s bed? He flopped back against the pillows, arm covering his eyes. His head was pounding, and he just wanted to go back to sleep, but he figured that wasn’t an option.

Not long later, Spot poked his head around the door. 

“You awake?” He asked quietly. Race groaned. “I’ll take that as a yes.” Spot came in fully and Race pushed himself up on his elbows. 

“Why am I in your bed?” 

“I figured you’d probably have a killer headache and it would be quieter in here than your room.” He handed Race a glass of water. “Drink this, it’ll help.” Race took it gratefully. “Where did you sleep then?” 

“I took your bed.” 

“You didn’t have to do that.” Race slowly downed the water. 

“I know, but it’s okay. You probably needed the extra sleep.” He sat down beside Race. “How much of last night do you remember?” 

“Not much, just winning some competition, and us talking, but I don’t remember much of what we said.” Spot looked relieved and Race wondered for a moment why.

“Don’t worry, you didn’t miss much.” Race nodded, and immediately regretted it when pain shot through his head. “You should get up soon. Crutchie saved you some breakfast, but it’s gonna get cold if you leave it much longer.” 

“Alright, thank you.” Spot nodded and left.

“You like him, don’t you?” Jack said, materialising out of nowhere beside Spot. 

“Piss off.” 

“You do!” He insisted.

“What makes you think that?” 

“First of all, you let him stay here. If it was anyone else, you would’ve sold them on, but you didn’t. Secondly, Morris.” Spot opened his mouth to speak, but Jack cut him off. “And last night. You were looking at him like he hung the stars and moon in the sky. You don’t look at anyone else the way you look at him, you don’t smile at anyone else in that way. You like him.” Spot was quiet for a moment. Fuck.

“It doesn’t matter.” He mumbled. “Why not?” 

“Cus he won’t ever want me in that way, and even then, I don’t know if I can do the whole relationship thing.” 

“Judging from last night, I highly doubt that first part,” Jack pointed out. 

“Just drop it, Jack. Nothing’s gonna happen.” Jack’s face fell. 

“Alright.” He left Spot alone.

Truth was, Spot did like Race. A lot. However, relationships weren’t something Spot did. He had given his whole heart to his ship, and he couldn’t help but worry that if he allowed room for someone else, his crew would slowly slip away. After all, his crew always came first to him, they were more important to him than anything else. There was nothing else that could replace his crew, and nothing else would replace his crew. These people were his family, and he wasn’t going to risk putting them at jeopardy. He would hide his own feelings for Race, no matter what. He couldn’t risk losing the one thing that mattered the most to him.

Race left Spot’s room shortly after Spot, met by wolf whistles from Albert. His brow furrowed in confusion, but he shook his head. It probably had something to do with whatever he had won last night. He made his way to the galley, smiling at Crutchie. 

“Morning, Race!” Crutchie said cheerfully, handing him two buttered rolls and a glass of water. “How are you feeling?” 

“Like I’ve been trampled by a horse.” Crutchie laughed. 

“It’ll get easier each time.” 

“Oh, God no. I’m never drinking again.” 

“That’s what they all say. Just you wait, tonight you’ll be drinking again.” Race’s stomach turned at the thought of alcohol. 

“No thanks. Definitely not tonight, anyway.” Crutchie nodded slowly, almost as if he didn’t quite believe Race.

“You should consider yourself lucky, Spot doesn’t normally let people sleep in when they’re hungover.” Race frowned. 

“It’s probably because it’s my first time.” 

“I’m not so sure.” What was that supposed to mean?

Spot gave Race less chores than normal that day, which Race was more than grateful for. He still helped when turning the ship, but Finch took his place setting the sails and someone had done his chores for him. His bed was neatly made, his change of clothes neatly folded at the foot. When he noticed, he couldn’t help his smile. 

“Hey, Racer!” Buttons ran up to him. 

“Yeah?” 

“I made a load of clothes out of your old wedding dress, so you won’t have to keep borrowing Albert’s.” Race grinned. 

“Really? You didn’t have to do that.” 

“I kinda did, it is my job after all.” They laughed. “C’mon, we can make sure it fits right.” 

It fit him perfectly, no parts of it too loose, none too tight. It was warm too, but not bulky. Buttons was a wizard with a sewing needle. 

“How is it?” He asked, studying the fit. 

“It’s perfect, thank you.” 

“Thank you for letting me use the dress. I got enough material out of it to make new clothes for everyone.” Race smiled. 

“I just wanted to get rid of it to be honest. I’m glad it helped.” 

The crew lazed on the deck, taking in the sun while they could. Race stretched out, taking off his scabbard and setting it next to him. The ocean was still, and there was hardly any wind, just enough to keep them in motion. Race was grateful for the breeze, it was just enough to keep the heat from becoming unbearable. There was nowhere for them to be, so they allowed themselves to bask in the sun, letting the wind carry them wherever. 

“We got a problem!” Finch yelled from the crows nest. Spot, Jack and Al shot to their feet, running to the side of the ship. 

“Fuck, it’s the royals!” Al called. Panic shot through Race. They were looking for him, there was no doubt about it. If he was caught, he would have to go back to the castle, possibly have to go through the wedding. He would lose his family.

“Do you think they’ve seen us?” Elmer asked, fiddling with the hem of his shirt. 

“There isn’t a chance they haven’t, they’re heading right for us.” Jack ran a hand through his hair as he spoke, a nervous habit. 

“Is there any way we could escape?” Race asked. 

“No, they’re bigger and faster than us. This is going to end in a fight, and it ain’t gonna be pretty.” Spot said, face solemn. “We haven’t got long to prepare, come on.” Everyone ran into their dorm rooms, presumably to get weaponry for the oncoming fight. Race simply stood in the middle of the deck, completely lost. 

“Race!” Spot yelled. “What are you just standing there for?” 

“I don’t have a weapon! What am I meant to do?” 

“Fuck,” Spot muttered under his breath. “I have a spare cutlass in my office, take that one.” Race nodded, sprinting into Spot’s office. The cutlass from his very first day still hung on the wall. He didn’t take a moment to admire it this time though, instead pulling it off of its hook and sliding it into his scabbard. It was heavier than he expected and he briefly wondered how Spot expected him to hold his own in a fight against trained soldiers when he had never even held a sword before, but he pushed the thought from his mind. He would burn that bridge when he got to it. 

He made his way back onto the deck where everyone else had congregated. All of them were pale with panic, but their faces were hard with determination. Spot shouted orders from the front.

“Sniper, Albert, get downstairs and prepare the cannons. If we can attack first, that’ll give us a slight advantage.” The two nodded, disappearing down below deck. 

“Jack, Finch, Blink, Eclipse, you four are our best close range fighters, you’ll be our first line of defence.” The four of them nodded, one hand on their swords, ready to draw them and fight at a moment's notice. “Smalls, Crutchie, you two are our long-range fighters. Attack them from high up.” They both nodded, climbing the rigging. Smalls helped Crutchie up and both of them sat on the platform, slingshots ready. “JoJo, Buttons, Specs, you three will be our second line of defence. Race, Elmer, Romeo, Mush, you’ll be our third line. EVeryone got that.” Everyone nodded, faces stony. “They may have more manpower, and better training, but we have heart, okay? We have to win this fight, okay? Look out for one another.” 

One thing Race certainly did not anticipate was the way the entire ship shook as the cannons fired. He stumbled, almost losing his footing as Albert and Sniper set them off. Holes appeared on the side of the enemy ship, but not nearly enough to do damage. The crew watched in silence as more cannons were fired, this time falling short. The enemy ship drew closer with each passing second. 

Race drew his cutlass, hands shaking in fear. 

Men swung onto the ship, swords drawn. Immediately, Crutchie and Smalls rained down projectiles on them. The men looked up for a moment to see where they were coming from, and in the moment of distraction, Jack, Eclipse, Finch, Blink, and Spot launched themselves at the soldiers, swords drawn. There were shouts of pain and anger from both sides and Race watched, rooted to the spot as Eclipse sliced across a guard’s thigh. The man cried out, legs buckling and Eclipse kicked him, sending him falling off the ship. 

More guards took his place. Soon, each person aboard Brooklyn was fighting at least one guard, with some taking on two or even three. A small boy ran through a guard’s legs, laughing and shouting. 

“Why the fuck is there a kid here?” Race yelled over the noise of the battle, struggling against the guard he fought. 

“Hey!” The kid shouted. “I’m ten! ...almost.” 

“That’s Les, he likes to see how long he can pretend he doesn’t exist when we get a new crew member!” Spot explained, blocking an attack with his cutlass and kicking another guard in the chest. The guard fell back against Jack, who slit his throat. Race’s eyes widened as he recognised the guard, but he couldn’t focus on that. 

He made eye contact with his opponent, blocking each of his attacks. He was clumsy in his movements, but as long as he wasn’t getting stabbed, he was happy. The guard looked at him, eyes suddenly widening. 

“I found her!” Race froze. He tried to back away, but crashed into another guard. They surrounded him, grinning. Panic shot through him and his stomach turned. He couldn’t go back, he couldn’t. 

“Spot!” He screamed. “Jack, Albert, help!” Suddenly there were hands pinning his arms behind his back. “Spot!” 

A blow to the back of the head cut him off, and everything went dark.