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a-supernatural-writer · 3 years

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Lost in the Shadows Pt.4

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Word Count: 2801

FemOC x Poly Lost Boys

A pink and blue sugary sweet entered Vanessa’s mouth. She hummed in enjoyment as the cotton candy instantaneously melted in her mouth. She loved the treat. Anything cotton candy or even a sweet that had the pink and blue color combination sent her into a giddy state of being.

She was leaning against the railing of the boardwalk with a set of stairs leading down to the beach right next to her.

It’s been a very long time since she’s been to a beach town. The group's previous home was New Orleans. Filled with swamps and bayous, smoke filled bars, and jazz playing almost every single night.

Vanessa didn’t dislike their previous home, it was just starting to become too repetitive for her. She loved jazz but was soon losing her mind hearing the same things over and over again. Their own rock band that they formed was at the bottom of the totem pole because of the music genre.

So, that’s when Vanessa suggested that they moved. Find somewhere new where their band would be appreciated. And what better place than California? Especially a small beach town that was always looking for performers.

Santa Carla was perfect. It was a hub for strange people. People like them. Well, not entirely like them but close enough.

Not to mention, more often than not, she was feeling a strange pull towards the beach town. Over the past few years it was getting stronger and stronger. She talked to the others about it and that convinced them even more to move to Santa Carla.

The others had a theory that made Vanessa practically itching her skin. The theory that her mate could be roaming around. And that freaked her out to no end. Her and her group have been around for over a few hundred years and only now she was getting a pull?

The group chalked it up to whether her own mate either turned into a vampire or it was a desire that both her and her mate wanted. Companionship.

Vanessa didn’t outright ever admit she wanted companionship in the sense of love or romance. She was perfectly content with her own coven.

But having a mate was a romantic situation. Sarah and Danielle are mates and so is Timothy and Luis. They were already all together before they changed, so not much changed to their dynamic.

Vanessa only guessed that deep down, she wanted it. She wanted what her friends had. Someone to be with and to rely on in a different way.

Vanessa frowned as she finished the last bit of her dinner, leaving nothing but the plastic bag behind. She crumpled up the plastic in her hands and tossed it into the trash can down below on the beach.

She still had a little time before she had to meet up with her friends. And the night would end with them maybe grabbing an extra bite to eat down at the beach.

She reached into her back pocket, pulling out a pack of cigarettes that was slowly dwindling and would have to get a new pack by tomorrow night.

A single cigarette was plucked from the pack and Vanessa held it in between her lips as she put the pack in her back pocket and fished her lighter out in the other one. It was a gold lighter with her full name and a butterfly engraved on it. It was a present from her parents when she changed completely.

Cupping the cigarette with one hand, she flicked the lighter that was at the tip of the nicotine. Vanessa started to growl in frustration as the lighter wasn’t igniting. She stopped her attempts to get it to work and shook it up against her ear.

“Fucker.” Vanessa groaned when she couldn’t hear any lighter fluid sloshing about. She was so busy bringing everything into their new place this morning and getting all the necessary paperwork done that she forgot to refill it.

She reluctantly placed her lighter back into her pocket but kept the cigarette in her mouth. Maybe she could find someone with a lighter on hand?

“Need a light?” A lighter was held up by a leather gloved hand.

Vanessa’s eyes that were hidden behind her black sunglasses trailed up the arm and then landed on their face.

If that pull wasn’t strong before, it was now. She could feel her inside turning and twisting. The pull was much stronger, but it still seemed incomplete. Like it was waiting for more.

The owner of the lighter was a guy around her age. He had a platinum blonde mullet that almost looked white but it was nowhere close to her own white colored hair. He had stubble of the same color and icy blue eyes that looked like it could pierce through her heart. Thank god that her heart was half dead so it wasn’t beating like a drum.

Not only did the leather gloves surprise her, but his whole wardrobe did. He had two coats on which was a leather jacket underneath a black trench coat. Weird combination but it really worked for him. She saw a black shirt underneath those layers but she couldn’t tell what kind of shirt it was because it seemed to be hidden. A pair of leather pants that anyone can salivate over and ankle boots that had… Were those spurs?

Vanessa hid a smile behind her cigarette. She only concluded that he was old enough to have lived through the old western days. Maybe it stuck with him so much that he carried that piece of his life all these years.

She knew he was a vampire, a fully turned one cause she could not only smell it on him, but she felt deep within her blood.

“You have no idea.” Vanessa answers him. She cups her hand around the lighter as he ignites it, lighting up the end of her cigarette. She pulls back, inhaling it deeply, the ends of it burning as she breathes it in.

Vanessa watches as he himself takes a cigarette he had placed behind his ear, placing it in between his own lips and joining her. She breathes out smoke, tapping the ends of ashes over the side of the railing, “Thanks. I thought I was gonna lose it for a second.”

He smiled a little, breathing out his smoke, “I saw you struggling, and wanted to help.”

Vanessa smirked, she felt him trying to prod her mind. But since she was much older than he was, she had much more experience in the field of mind games than him. She closed her mind to him, not letting him get past any of her defenses. And instead put out some fake thoughts that would appease him.

But she was easily able to gain access to him without him knowing. And that’s when she learned that the pretty platinum blonde’s name was David. And so far, he thought she was human. He felt that same pull towards her. They both knew that they were each other's mate, but he thought she was oblivious to this pull. Just a naive little human.

“Why do I feel like that’s just an excuse?” Vanessa asked, taking in another puff.

David followed her actions, she will admit, guys who smoked like her surprisingly always put her off. But with David, it was a nice sight to see.

David smirked a little, “Don’t know what you mean.”

Vanessa wanted to laugh. Fucking tease. “Name’s Vanessa. I’d like to know the name of my hero of the night who encouraged my addiction.”

“Vanessa…” David repeated her name. If he wasn’t dead, maybe his heart would’ve skipped a beat. His mate's name was Vanessa. It wasn’t a name he heard often, but it would soon become his favorite.

David leans against the rail next to Vanessa, his coat covered shoulder just barely brushing against her bare ones.

Vanessa blinked and then continued to smoke as if the slight touch didn’t affect her. Which was a huge fucking lie. It almost felt like a shock and damn it felt good. David was on the same page. Suppressing his urges.

“My name is David. Hero of the night?” David smirked at Vanessa’s choice of words, “Such a compliment.” He continued to smoke as well, watching as the white haired female exhaled.

Vanessa rolled her eyes, “Take it. Don’t give them out much. But seriously, thanks. Nerves have been crazy.”

David nodded in agreement. His own nerves have been in a frenzy ever since he felt the pull towards her. He hid it well better than the others, smoking like a chimney ever since his mate set foot in Santa Carla.

He felt it even more when he sensed her at the Boardwalk. His coven could feel her too. But being the leader of their group, he broke off first, trying to find her through the crowds of people.

And when David saw her struggling with lighting her cigarette, the pull that he felt all but dragged David to her. He seized the opportunity and he was successful. He had control.

Once again, Vanessa wanted to laugh. So he liked control? Interesting. But what amused her the most was the fact that he thought he was in control. He was strong, she gave him credit where credit was due. Hell, he was close to being on par with her. Just some more practice and he would be stronger than her.

Vanessa was half vampire. She was strong in some areas but if a fully fledged vampire had enough time, they could easily beat her.

“Been in Santa Carla long?” David asked. He already knew the answer to that but he wanted to hear it from her.

Vanessa tapped off the last bit of ashes, taking her last puff, but before she could answer three news faces made their way over to the two of them and that’s when Vanessa almost lost her shit.

That pull that felt with David grew in tenfold as the new faces came closer. And it felt complete. Vanessa wanted to let out a string of curses. She didn’t just have one mate, she had four.

“Who’s the babe?” A guy with long blonde hair that was teased asked David as he hopped up to sit on the rail on Vanessa’s opposite side. He had sharp facial features and he had a blonde stubble as well, but not as noticeable as David’s. Pretty blue eyes that looked down at Vanessa with eagerness. He wore a black jacket that had some random pins and chains attached to it, a mesh tank top and white jeans that left very little to the imagination, brown worn out boots, and a bunch of random bracelets.

One of the other ones who had a mop of very long golden blonde curls that he had tied back was standing next to the other blonde, smiling devilishly at her. Which was opposite of his angel face looks. He was the only one with a clean face which pushed his innocent soft look even more. His eyes were a shade of light brown that held mischief. A very colorful jacket filled with different pieces of tapestry, pins and patches was placed over a white crop top to which Vanessa thought was a nice choice for his body type. A pair of jeans that was covered by chaps, boots and fingerless leather gloves adorned his hands.

And finally, a guy to which Vanessa thought fit every aspect of the phrase, tall, dark and handsome, stood next to David. Long dark brunette hair cascaded over his shoulders. He had a little bit of a stubble but not much. Deep brown eyes that were staring Vanessa down intensely. What shocked her a little was the fact that only a leather jacket with a jaguar on one sleeve and a necklace made from random items were the only things that was covering up his upper half. His tanned torso was just out in the open for everyone to see and Vanessa was very happy that she pretty much always wore her shades. He had a simple pair of black jeans and boots to finish off his look.

Vanessa then noticed that all four of them wore a single dangling earring in their left ears. They were a coven.

Vanessa and her coven had a similar jewelry accessory. All five of them had simple gold rings on their right thumbs. Things like that symbolized that you were part of their family, and that rule applied to most if not all vampire covens.

Vanessa stomped out her finished cigarette as David introduced everyone to each other, “This is Vanessa. Vanessa, that’s Paul, Marko and Dwayne.”

She nodded in acknowledgement at their names, “Hey.” She simply said. She wasn’t really trusting herself to say more at the moment. Four god damn mates. This was highly unexpected.

David finished his own and repeated his question from before the others interrupted.

Vanessa hummed, “Just got here today. My friends and I moved into our new place this morning.”

“Oo!” Paul exclaimed, throwing his arm over Vanessa’s shoulder. For a second, she thought she was going to push him off from the shock she felt when their skin touched. She wondered if it affected Paul as much as it did her.

“Where you from?” Paul continued. Paul did feel the same shock that Vanessa did. And it made him grin even more down at her. She was pretty, really pretty. The white hair looked hot on her and he so deeply wanted to see her eyes that were hidden from them.

Vanessa felt her hand twitch, wanting to reach back and pull out another cigarette, “Not really from anywhere. We just moved from New Orleans.” She decided to go with the last place she called home. In reality, she hasn’t been home in over thirty years.

Marko moved a little bit closer to Vanessa, desperately wanting to feel the same shock that David and Paul felt. He was itching to just even hold hands with his mate.

“Pretty big move.” Marko comments, placing his thumb nail in his mouth and biting down on it.

Vanessa couldn’t tell if that was a nervous tick of his or just something he repetitively did. She was leaning more towards being nervous just from his own thoughts. The action was cute though.

“Very.” Dwayne grunts out. Vanessa could feel her chest tightening at how deep his voice was, her jaw even dropped a little. Oh his voice is not fair.

The boys snickered among themselves at Vanessa. If she didn’t know any better, she would’ve thought they were amused at her jaw dropping, but she did know better. She put that thought out in the open for all of them. Purely by accident.

David’s pointer finger pushed up Vanessa’s jaw, drawing her attention to him. “So, what are you doing here all alone?”

David’s finger gently trailed down the side of her neck. The leather making Vanessa involuntarily shiver.

That question snapped Vanessa back to reality, “Actually, thank you for reminding me.” Vanessa pushed off the railing, parting from David’s touch, “I have to go.”

Vanessa only made it two steps away from them when Marko’s hand snatched Vanessa’s wrist, “Where are you going? We could have some fun?”

Vanessa looked back at Marko, a shock running up her arm and spreading through her entire body. Marko’s grip on Vanessa’s wrist tightened a little from the same shock.

Biting her lip, Vanessa gently pulled away from Marko only to be stopped by Dwayne from behind.

Vanessa flinched a little as Dwayne’s torso collided with her back, a shock coursing through both of their bodies at the touch, “Vanessa?” Dwayne asked, placing his big hands on her shoulders.

Taking a moment to collect herself, Vanessa removes Dwayne’s hands and is fully able to back away from them. Disappointment flashed through their eyes, not wanting her to leave.

Vanessa smiles softly at them. She knew they wanted to get to know her and be around her. Once a mate touched a mate, it was hard to even separate five feet away from each other. She just needed a breather. Four mates was a lot and she just needed one day to fully take it in.

“I’m we could have a lot of fun…” Vanessa said to Marko, causing him to smile. Vanessa directed her attention back to David, “But, I’m afraid I have previous engagement.”

“Nessa!” A female voice that belonged to Sarah called out in the distance.

Vanessa wanted to kiss the ground she walked on. Her friends had perfect timing. Vanessa smiled, looking over her shoulder at her incoming friends, “Speak of the devils.”

#the lost boys #the lost boys 1987 #the lost boys oc #poly lost boys #poly lost boys x oc #female ocs #lost boys marko #lost boys paul #lost boys david #lost boys dwayne #OC #the lost boys x oc #the lost boys x reader #vampire #half vampires

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ichigopanhpff · 4 years

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BNHA Fic: Blink! Ch. 24

Read Ch. 23 | Masterlist

Hope everyone had a good holiday season and a great New Year! The next few chapters will be posted sporadically. I need to concentrate on finding a new job the next few months.

As fun as it is to write “Blink!”, I’ve been finding the lack of motivation to post since it’s not getting much reads. This was to be expected considering it’s not a reader insert and it takes place in S4.

The grandiose ball room was brightly lit with a crystal chandelier at the center, with decorative sconces symmetrically placed on every wall that wasn’t a full on window with breathtaking views of the Tokyo nightscape. Waiters dressed in white jackets and black vests served glasses of champagne, cocktail and hors d'oeuvres to the self-important adults chatting away incessantly with some top tier heroes and other ambassadors. A live 3-piece jazz band could be heard playing to give the party some ambiance. Ren spotted her mom talking with Aizawa and two other unknown faces.

“I guess I should go say hi,” Ren sighed. “Let’s meet back at this spot in an hour, then we dip. I really want that ramen.”

“It’s a plan.” Seri gave her a thumbs up and all the luck, watching her friend walk off.

“Kubo-senpai...” Todoroki softly called. “About what we were talking about before...”

She looked up at the red and white haired boy, her gaze falling more on the cautious side.

“While it’s true I need to sort out how I feel about Ren-senpai, please know I intend to be honest and the last thing I want to do is hurt her in any way. And… I really do care about her. It’s not much, but that’s the most reassurance I can give you at this time.”

Seri softened her expression at Todoroki and sighed, closing her eyes in understanding. “You two really are alike. She’s doing the same with you.”

“Is… she?”

Seri watched Ren’s side profile in the group of adults, looking attentive to their conversation. “So, does she know your story?”

“The timing was never there,” Todoroki said. “But I get the feeling she knows some parts already based on what I could tell her.”

“It should come from you, not from her assumptions.”

“Seri. There you are,” a man’s deep voice called, making her let out a soft, tired breath from her lips.

“The shackles are here in the form of my father,” the owl-faced girl lamented. “See you in an hour, Todoroki-kun.”

And then there was one.

Casually walking around, he grabbed an hors d'oeuvre from a moving platter and took a small bite, immediately grimacing at the sudden taste of freezer burn. Quickly finding a napkin, he vacated the vile item from his mouth onto it and balled it up in his fist. He now understood why both his upperclassmen were looking forward to ramen. Looking around the room, he recognized a few heroes, even though they weren’t in costume.

Was this what being a pro hero is?

Rubbing elbows with powerful people who do nothing but desk work and mindless chatter?

No wonder his father didn’t like coming to these events.

Having other important government people and heroes approach him in the span of half an hour, he politely excused himself and made his way out to the restroom to center himself.

He is representing Endeavor, the number one hero of Japan, after all; he’ll have to be at these events again when he’s older. As annoyed as he was to be here, at least he’s able to get some form of experience from this. Plus, the company helped.

After a series of extremely mind-numbing adult conversations about the current state of government policies on heroes and such, Ren was able to recuse herself to get some air. The moment the door gently slammed shut, she walked a few steps and let out a huge breath while taking off her draped blazer and slid down the wall.

Were she to do this for another second, she’d literally suffocate. She was mentally reminding herself she’s doing this for the ramen

And it was damn well worth it.

“Senpai?”

She looked up to see Todoroki.

“Are you okay?”

“Just taking a breather.” She patted the carpeted floor to get him to sit next to her, to which he did. “How are you doing?”

“The food is horrible and these shoes pinch my toes,” the bi-colored haired boy groaned out.

“Tell me about it.” She lifted her right foot up to show her 3-inch pumps.

The two chuckled listlessly and sighed, letting the serene silence sit. The two closed their eyes.

“Ren-senpai?” “Hm?”

“If you’re not too tired tonight, do you have some time… to talk?”

Ren slowly opened her eyes to turn her head to Todoroki, who still has his closed.

“Um… sure.”

A short beat soon after, he slowly stood back up and patted his backside off from any possible dirt from the carpet.

“I guess we should head back in.”

“Do we have to?” she whined and slowly made moves to stand. The duo-quirk wielding boy held his hand out for her to grab for support, to which she accepted.

“Unfortunately, yes. They’ll notice we’re missing.”

Standing back up with a short grunt and feeling the pressure on the balls of her feet, she dusted herself off before thanking him. As they turned to go back in, a deep voice called out to Ren.

“Shit...” she mumbled out and furrowed her brows with drooped shoulders before turning to meet three tall and sharply dressed boys who looked older than her.

“You know them?”

“That’s… one way of putting it.”

“Thought that fine ass was you, Takahiro,” the boy with messy black hair and glasses arrogantly belted out and looked her up and down with lecherous desire. “Damn, you filled out nicely.”

“And hello to you too, Edogawa,” the pink haired girl greeted in a terse, monotone voice.

Behind him stood two more boys; one was tall and boxy with his brown hair done up in a pompadour, the other a slender build with his blue hair in a swooping quiff. They were all wearing expensively tailored black suits with their own accessories. “Goto, Hattori. You two look well.”

Hate is often a very strong word she would never use other than on Chisaki Kai; but she hated these three boys with a passion.

Edogawa Ken. Goto Daiki. Hattori Kyosuke. The sons of three high-ranking embassy officials. Having been childhood friends, they were thick as thieves by the time they could walk, talk and quirk. Some would say they were the male counterparts of her, Seri and Tomoe; only difference was they were extremely rich assholes.

Todoroki was quick to catch on as to who they were: The Preppy Posse.

“Heard you got into U.A., Takahiro,” Hattori remarked with a snobbish tone. “Tryin’ to be a hero with that weak ass quirk of yours?”

“She’s already one,” Todoroki stepped in to defend her honor. “She has her provisional license.”

“Oh, my apologies then, Miss Taka-hero,” the blue-haired boy mocked with a bow and chuckled at his own pun.

“Wow, they really give that shit out to anyone nowadays,” Goto sneered and crossed his arms. “The pro heroes must be desperate since All-Might retired, huh.”

Ren quickly gripped Todoroki’s forearm as he tried to lunge at them. He quickly turned to look at her lightly shaking her head, reminding him to not engage.

“You… Two-tone boy.” Edogawa took three steps toward him, analyzing his face. He put his hand up to cover up his right side and focused on his left only.

“Holy shit,” he chuckled out in disbelief and took two steps back. “You’re Endeavor’s kid.”

“And if I am?” His voice was deep and rough through gritted teeth. The gentle hetero-chromatic eyes Ren was used to seeing were now intensely harsh and cold, glaring at the ring leader.

“Bro, no disrespect.” The black-haired boy held his hands up in neutral. “Just an honor to meet the son of the number one hero, is all. No need for the fire, my dude.”

He held his hand out to shake as a friendly gesture, only to come up empty from the dual-quirk wielding boy.

“If you have no more business with us,” Ren quickly stepped in to diffuse the situation, keeping up with the curt act. “We really should be getting back to the party.”

As she spun and grabbed Todoroki by his wrist to make their escape, Akahiro immediately stretched his arm and grabbed her waist, yanking her away from the bi-colored haired boy. She forgot his quirk was Nobi Nobi* and inwardly cursed at herself for it.

This was going to be troublesome.

“Ah-ah,” the messy jet-black haired boy tutted with a menacing grin on his thin lips. “Actually, we have business with you. Personal. Business.”

He leaned in close enough to Ren to shy away to gain what little personal space she could get, catching a whiff of her sweet perfume.

“Ooh hoo, you even smell nice,” he growled out and flashed a toothy grin at her.

He hungrily licked his lips as his free hand stretched around and caressed her backside, forcing her closer to his body and felt something halfway hard press against her thigh. Todoroki was seething with rage.

“Let go of her!” he growled out and summoned ice in his right palm.

“Todoroki, stop,” Ren commanded. “Just stay calm.”

She made solid eye contact with him, mentally projecting him to trust her.

“Yeah, Todoroki. You should listen to her,” the boy jeered with venomous elation. “We’re in the Embassy building at the heart of Tokyo. You let your quirk loose here, your hero career will end faster than you can apologize. Not even your dear ol’ dad can help you out.”

Clicking his tongue in anger, his logical side kicking in to assess the situation, released the ice in his hand.

“What a good boy you are,” Edogawa commended in a vindictive manner before turning back to Ren, leering at her through half-lidded hungry eyes. His gaze then went further down and leered at her breasts, imagining all the things he was going to do with them.

He tilted her chin up at him and spoke softly in his deep voice. “Now, if you don’t want your mom to get in trouble with, say, having your asylum status revoked, you’ll be a good little kitten and come with us.”

“You wouldn’t do that,” she arrogantly stated with a matching smirk.

“Oh?” His interest was peaked. “And what makes you so sure?”

She leaned in and whispered, “Because I know about ‘Remedy.’”

The boy’s grin immediately dropped to a scowl. The hand wrapped around her back slipped to the front and roughly slammed her onto a nearby wall by her neck, knocking the wind out of her lungs and grunted.

“Senpai!” Todoroki exclaimed. As he made moves toward her, Goto and Hattori stood in between.

“Not so fast, lover boy,” Hattori tutted.

“You fucking bitch,” he growled out with dark, angry eyes. “How the fuck you find out ‘bout that?”

“Oh, I have my sources,” she laughed wryly through strained breath. Her rebellious hazel-green eyes didn’t leave his and saw panic flicker in his irises for a second. “You’ll let me go right now if you don’t want it leaked by accident at, say, an important event where mommy and daddy are at tonight.”

Growling with dissatisfaction at the fact this nobody damaged his pride, Edogawa crudely released his grip.

“We’re leaving,” the boy hastily barked. “They’re a waste of our time.”

Edogawa stomped off angrily, with Goto and Hattori following not too far behind. Todoroki immediately ran up and held onto her for support as she placed a hand on her chest and gasped out loud, lightly wretch coughing.

“That was reckless,” he scolded. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine…” she wheezed out and rubbed her neck. “Guys like that… You gotta use your brain rather than your quirk to beat ‘em.”

“What did you say to him?”

“I know something that’ll get him into a lot of trouble. Call it insurance.”

“Senpai… I’m glad you’re on our side,” he blurted out. “You’d be a pain to deal with as a villain.”

“I almost get choked out and that’s what you say?”

Ren could only chuckle as Todoroki huffed a sigh of relief from his lips and slowly drew her into a one armed hug. Her limbs stiffened up at his touch, stunned by his action.

“I couldn’t do anything to help...” he spoke into her shoulder, feeling his hot breath cascade down her arm. “I’m sorry...”

“But you did.” Ren relaxed and reached her right hand up to pet the back of his head, consoling him. “You trusted me.”

Before they could continue with their conversation, they were interrupted with someone clearing their throat. The two turned to see Seri staring intently at them with her yellow and black owl-like eyes with her hands on her hips. She was clearly unamused.

“This isn’t a love hotel, you know,” she flatly pointed out. Realizing how close they were to each other, Todoroki suddenly released her and looked away shyly, remembering their talk earlier. The owl-faced girl then noticed the now formed bruise on her right forearm and red marks around her neck.

“I-I’m gonna use the toilet real quick,” the pink haired girl muttered and sped walked into the bathroom.

“Todoroki...” Seri spoke in a growing dark voice. “What did you do?”

He inwardly panicked as her eyes started glowing and felt his body going numb.

“It’s not what you think,” he calmly explained. “The posse approached us.”

The girl immediately stopped and asked him to explain while Ren was fixing herself up to look presentable again.

“Those bastards...” she angrily hissed out as their friend emerged from the lavatory. “Ren, let’s go fuck ‘em up.”

“We don’t need to,” she calmly replied and went to pick her blazer up off of the floor to dust it off before draping it back on her shoulders. “I got collateral on one of them.”

“What kind?”

“I think I heard her say something called ‘Remedy’?” Todoroki spoke up.

Her eyes grew went wide when Ren’s train of thought quickly hit Seri.

“I hope you took extra precautions, you idiot,” her snow owl friend scolded.

“Of course I did,” Ren defensively huffed out as a matter of factly. “Who do you take me for?”

“I’m sorry.” The red and white haired boy interjected in confusion. “What are you two talking about?”

“Ren-Ren used the Dark Net to obtain her information,” Seri revealed and crossed her arms. The boy quickly glanced over at his upperclassman in shock. “Talk about high risk.”

“It was a calculated risk and it paid off,” she briskly corrected. “Would you rather have me end up being their plaything and calling ‘em ‘master’? I sure as hell don’t.”

“So what is ‘Remedy’ exactly?” Todoroki asked. “And why was Edogawa so scared by it?”

“Our lovely stretchy worm has been secretly investing in overseas quirk-boosters and playing the black market,” Ren explained in a hushed voice. “And here’s the kicker: the money’s partially from his inheritance to which he laundered through ill-gotten gains in other drugs and firearms. I’d say the only smart thing he did was doing it through an alias, but little did he realize the money trail he poorly covered up.”

“So why can’t we report him now and have him arrested?”

“Diplomatic immunity. That’s why,” Seri bitterly spat out and crossed her arms. “We need substantial physical evidence to catch him.”

“Gotta love government loopholes,” Ren irritably lamented and sighed. “You’ll learn quickly not everything’s black and white in their eyes, Todo-kun. As much as heroes think they’re in the right in dealing with villains and doing a service to law-abiding citizens, there are situations that call for dirtier tactics to justify the means. I’m sure Uncle All-Might and even your dad’s got stories to tell you about.”

“And this is the stuff school tries to shelter us from to prevent cynicism from spreading in the budding hero community,” the owl-girl mentioned. “It was inevitable for us due to our upbringing.”

“So why tell me about this?” the bi-coloured haired boy finally asked.

“Because you’re capable,” they both said in unison.

“You’re the type who calmly analyzes a situation in order to decide the best course of action,” Ren praised. “Like you did before with the posse.”

“And you’re well aware of your status so you don’t act brashly,” Seri added.

“You speak too highly of me.”

“You have two of your senpais acknowledging your intelligence, Todoroki-kun,” the snow owl girl firmly stated with a small smile. “Now’s not the time to be humble.”

“Anyway, we should head back in,” Ren finalized. “I’m sure our respective parents would’ve noticed we’re gone by now.”

“Hurray,” Seri unceremoniously cheered and rolled her eyes.

The boy stood by himself for a moment to collect himself from their words of encouragement, watching the two girls walk back to the ballroom entrance. Ren stopped in her steps and turned back to him.

“You coming?”

Rejoining the group, the three re-entered the ballroom without fanfare.

“Ren! There you are,” her mom called and walked up to her daughter, noticing the marks on her neck. “What happened there?”

“Huh? Oh! I think I may be allergic to the perfume I’m wearing,” she quickly fibbed. “Couldn’t stop scratching.”

“Be sure to get that checked out tomorrow okay?”

“’Course mom.”

“Seri,” Ren’s mom warmly greeted and drew the girl into a hug. “You doing well in U.A.?”

“Of course, Aunt Victoria,” the owl girl responded with a small smile after releasing. “Who else will keep Ren-Ren out of trouble?”

“I’m actually offended you see me as a problem child,” Ren feigned betrayal by splaying her right hand over her chest and fluttered her eyelashes.

“Oh and who may you be?” Victoria turned to Todoroki and asked. “I didn’t see you on the video call last time.”

“I’m Todoroki Shouto, ma’am,” he politely introduced himself with a light bow. “I’m here in representation of my father Endeavor tonight as he’s still recovering from his injuries. Very pleased to meet you, Mrs. Takahiro.”

“No need to be so formal, Shouto-kun,” Ren’s mom disregarded with a wave of her hand. “Victoria’s just fine.”

“T-Then I will greet you as you wish.”

“How is your father by the way? The injuries he sustained looked pretty serious,” she asked with genuine care in her tone. “I do hope he’s not pushing himself too hard.”

“Thank you for your kind words, but my father will be fine,” he reassured in an almost robotic manner. “He’s gone through worse scrapes.”

“While that’s true, I still do worry about all the pros out there...” The elder Takahiro trailed off and looked at her daughter. “You all put your lives on the line everyday and anything can happen that’ll turn a minor situation into a major one.”

“It’s an occupational hazard, mom,” Ren stated and rolled her eyes. “We’ve talked about this before.”

“I know but I still worry,” Victoria firmly stated and drew her kid by her waist to hug her.

All her daughter could do is sigh, knowing anything she’d say wouldn’t quell her doubts. As conversations continued, Ren noticed something amiss from her peripheral. Hattori came in stumbling about like he drank too much whisky; he was sweating profusely and tugged at his tie to get air, his eyes bloodshot. She quickly scanned the room and the other two were no where to be found. To prevent making a scene, Ren excused herself and stealthily approached him from the side.

“Hattori,” she called softly to catch his attention. “You okay there?”

All he could hear was gagging and she looked down to see his form hunched over and foaming at the mouth. She pulled his collar down to see a reddened puncture wound at his jugular and pulled him up to support his heavy frame.

“What did you take?” she whispered. “Get it together, man.”

“I-It’s a-a-all your fa-fault, Taka...hiro,” he stuttered out and slowly turned to meet her shocked expression. His eyes started gradually glowed red and charged up.

Oh shit.

She pushed him away in time as his eyes shot out lasers that hit the hangar loop of the chandelier. The decorative centerpiece snapped and made its way down, drawing party goers to run for cover as it crashed down with scattered crystals flying across the marble floor.

“This… is your doing, Takahiro!” Hattori huffed out and stared at her with glowing red eyes and shot at her again, not caring about the patrons around. The moment she dodged, Todoroki quickly created an ice wall in between the startled guests to absorb the laser attack. The slender boy roughly gripped his now messy blue hair and screamed, peeking the tip of his now blackened tongue.

She tapped her bangles to transform into T-clubs on instinct.

Seri immediately jumped to her left side and asked, “Hattori, is he...”

“He’s boosted,” she huffed out, watching the boy’s form wreath in pain and clawed at his chest.

“Leave this to us,” Aizawa came up from behind them and prepared his Capture Device. “Help with the evacuations.”

“He’s after me,” Ren stated. “I should take respon–”

“That doesn’t mean you ignore your other duties as a hero,” the ebony haired man firmly lectured and walked past her to shield the three U.A. students. “We’re the pros here, not you.”

Before the pink haired girl could even move, Hattori charged at full speed toward her, only to be intercepted by one of Fourth Kind’s brutish strength from two of his four arms.

“You’re not goin’ anywhere, young’un,” the four-armed hero gruffly spoke and rebounded his body back.

“Be careful of his quirk,” Ren warned. “His ability is to absorb attacks and recoil it in the form of kinetic energy through his eyes.”

“You kids and your troublesome quirks,” Aizawa blurted out and clicked his tongue. “Thanks for the intel. Now go.”

Ren knew they could handle it and gritted her teeth. Both Seri’s and Todoroki’s voices brought her back as they ran to assist Gang Orca and Kamui Woods with clearing the building before it went on lockdown. Within the maelstrom of panicked party goers, Ren found the back of her mom’s head.

She was safe.

One less thing to worry about.

Moments later, they were all out in the main driveway of the embassy building, all looking up in hopes of seeing what’s going on. Ren could only wait with baited breath and scanned the growing crowd for two certain boys.

“Ren,” Seri called with a hushed voice by her side. “Goto. Four o’clock.”

God bless Seri’s owl quirk. The pink haired girl gingerly moved backwards to not attract attention and immediately teleported behind the person of interest. He let out a light gasp upon feeling her locking his left wrist.

“Move and I snap it,” Ren spoke in the shell of his ear in a low voice. “You will answer my questions in the form of head nods. We clear?”

Goto swallowed thickly and nodded, with beads of perspiration rolling down his temple.

“Is there a booster in Hattori’s system?”

Goto nodded once.

“Did he inject it in himself?”

The stocky boy shook his head furiously.

“Is Edogawa still here?”

He hesitated to answer and saw his shoulders visibly shake.

“Is Edogawa responsible for this?”

The brown haired boy bit his lower lip and clenched his free hand into a fist, fighting crocodile tears. They were both his friends. He couldn’t possibly out them! A sudden thought crossed her mind: Could Hattori be involved with Remedy and this was a fallout situation?

“Goto, you need to tell me now,” Ren’s growled out. Her patience was running very thin. “The longer you hesitate, the more danger Hattori’s life will be in; he can die.”

The boy finally conceded and choked out, “After we left you, Ken… checked something on his phone. He was pissed about something he read and popped some kinda pills before getting into it with Kyo,” Goto whimpered. “Said something about being snitched on.”

“So he thought Hattori betrayed him.”

“Kyo didn’t know what he was talking about and next thing we knew, Ken...” He stifled his words and softly dry sobbed. “I’ve never seen him this angry before. The drugs he’s been taking’s been making him more paranoid than usual.”

“Do you know the booster dosage that’s in Hattori’s system?”

Goto furiously shook his head no.

“L-Look,” he stammered out. “I-I’m sorry for all the shit we said about you, but please...” The boy desperately pleaded. “Save Kyo. Because I can’t. Not with my quirk.”

Goto Daiki’s quirk is Machina, where he can communicate with and fix anything machine-based. As much as he hated it, it’s been proven useful in becoming the go-to I.T. person in his circle of friends and family, albeit annoying and tiresome. However, he can only activate this only if there’s something wrong with its functions and can’t hack.

Releasing his wrist, Ren said nothing more and zipped away from him to regroup with Seri and Todoroki. She didn’t like the boy, but you can’t fake that kind of desolation.

“Did you get anything out of Goto?” Seri hurriedly asked.

“Hattori and Edogawa had a fallout. Stabbed a booster in him, so we’re on borrowed time,” Ren summarized.

The penthouse windows immediately shattered, raining glass down below. Todoroki summoned a giant iceberg to shield the people from being hurt as they ran further away from the entrance. They saw a small dot jump out with the debris; it was Hattori.

“How are you at using your flames, Todo-kun?” Ren quickly asked.

“Not good enough to propel us mid-air to catch him.”

“But you can get into air?” Seri chimed in.

“Halfway.”

“Good enough. Let’s go.”

“Seri! You will stay here,” a booming voice rang out. The three turned to see a tall, portly man glowering down at them. It was her father.

“I don’t care what you think of my choices, father, but there’s a life that needs saving right now,” the owl-faced girl angrily snapped. “I need to be a hero.”

“Where you need to be right now is safe and away from harm,” he firmly demanded.

“Mr. Kubo, with all due respect, I need Seri,” Ren cut in. “Time’s of the essence and she’s essential to our plan.”

“Ren, let’s go,” Seri dismissed her father’s request and sped walked away to Todoroki’s side. “He’s too stubborn to understand.”

Her pink-haired friend stood stationary for a beat, facing her friend’s dad.

“Ren?” she called.

“She’s not as weak or fragile as you think she is, Mr. Kubo,” she softly spoke within an earshot, firmly meeting the man’s aged brown eyes with determination. “Watch her.”

Seri’s heart swelled with pride and purpose hearing her best friend’s praise. Rejoining the group, they made their way to the curved frozen structure the two-tone hair colored by created before. The two grabbed onto Ren’s shoulders and teleported them halfway up the ice.

The grayish white-haired girl closed her eyes and took a breath, spreading her arms out as they transformed into white spotted owl wings; her hands morphed into sharp, black talons. Reopening her yellow tinted eyes, they were focused and ready to go.

“That never gets boring to watch,” Ren gushed with a smirk. “Let’s go, Hedwig.”

“The name’s Athena, zippy,” she blurted out and flapped her wings a few times to prepare for take off. “So what’s the plan here?”

“Todo-kun’ll use his ice to restrain his movements and eyes while I try to knock him out cold. Your job’s to bring him down safely,” Ren briefed and tapped her bangles to transform them into T-clubs again.

“How will you get down?” she asked with concern.

“I’ll figure something out. He’ll be with me.”

Seri took a running start and flew up at an incredible speed, causing blow back from her wings. Ren shivered slightly only to feel something warm immediately envelop her.

“Your lag will get bad if you’re too cold right?” Todoroki held his flame engulfed left hand out to her. Ren hastily rubbed her hands and hovered over it.

“I’m good now, thanks.”

“Hold on tight,” he instructed as he turned his hand back. She gripped onto his torso, with his right arm snaked around hers. “I can’t do it like Bakugou or my old man, but I’m gonna try.”

Torquing his fire to near maximum output, Ren and Todoroki blasted up into the air at an awkward angle and neared Seri’s flying form. As planned, he cut his fire as Ren zipped across the sky like a zig-zagging shooting star to get close to Hattori’s falling figure. The dual-quirk user immediately gripped his shirt and encased his body in ice and let out a white breath from his lips. Ren released her grip and struck the laser eye boy at the base of his neck, knocking him unconscious. Seri then swooped on by and caught him with her back with a soft grunt before making her way down to the ground.

The spectators screamed as they watched Ren and Todoroki free fall at an alarming speed. The two strained to grab each other’s hands before succeeding seconds later. Unable to see where she could teleport them to safety due to the blistering cold G-force winds blinding her, the dual-haired colored boy angled his right hand down and conjured ice from his palms, creating a makeshift bumpy slide. They roughly landed on the slippery surface and descended at an alarming velocity. The boy then created an ice cushion at the bottom and grabbed Ren to shield her with his body from the collision. They hit the ice wall with a thud and knocked the wind out of his lungs.

The two heavily panted and felt their hearts pound out of their chest from the adrenaline; their hair a disheveled mess from the wind and fall.

“You okay?” Ren finally spoke between breaths.

“Yes...” Todoroki swallowed hard and gulped up air, releasing a large white breath from his lips. Parts of his arms and face had remnants of ice lingering. “You should plan better next time.”

“Noted.”

They gingerly got off of the ice and back up on their feet to make their way to Seri, who was with an unconscious Hattori by her side. Todoroki walked up to him and shielded his eyes with ice in case he woke up and went berserk again. Moments later, Aizawa and Fourth Kind emerged from the crowd to take care of the rest with the now arrived authorities. Goto could be seen with his parents and talking to detectives. Todoroki melted the ice he used to restrain Hattori before he was slapped with a pair of cuffs and goggles on the gurney before tending to the other structures he made. Edogawa was still no where to be found.

“Ren!” her mom cried and ran at her to tightly embrace her daughter. “Are you hurt anywhere?!”

She released and looked at her mom with a small smile of reassurance. “I’m fine. Todo-kun used his ice to cushion our fall.”

“Never scare me like that again, you hear me?!” Tears were flowing freely from her aged green eyes and drew her back into a tight hug before making her way to the bi-coloured haired boy.

“Todoroki-kun, thank you.” She firmly gripped both his hands into hers. “You were brilliant.”

He shyly looked down with a matching blush and softly smiled.

“It was Ren-senpai who came up with the plan–”

“But you saved her,” Victoria added. “Knowing my daughter, I’m sure she didn’t think that far ahead.”

“Wow, you guys are just on it with the insults tonight,” Ren blurted out with exasperation and crossed her arms.

Their celebration was short lived and sensed something launching in their general direction. Ren immediately tackled her mom to the ground to shield her. Todoroki ducked below and was on high alert. The police and other pro heroes jumped out and aimed their weapons at the hidden assailant.

“You… You fucking told them didn’t you?!” a hoarse voice shouted from the shadows and out emerged a disheveled looking Edogawa. His hair was a mess and his once neatly tied tie disappeared. The boy obsessively clawed at his own throat and smiled manically.

“You bitch, you did this...” he muttered out and dryly laughed to himself. “You’ve ruined me!”

“Stand down, Edogawa,” Aizawa told him and prepared his device in his hands. “You’re surrounded by cops and heroes. There’s no where for you to run.”

“Oh, that’s where you got things wrong, hero,” he tittered out in frenzy.

The boy took out a vile of black substance from his jacket pocket and aimed to stab it into his neck. Ren teleported over just in time to hold his wrist back by force and twisted it far enough for him to loose his grip on the booster. Aizawa timed her moments perfectly and used his quirk to disable the boy from using his.

“Whatever’s happened, it’s not worth your life.” Ren tightened her grip on his wrist, her eyes focused only on his bloodshot ones. “Not like this.”

Edogawa could do nothing but whimper and collapse on his knees, completely breaking down. As the authorities closed in on him, she held out a hand to stop them in their steps. This wasn’t what he needed right now. She released her grip on his wrist and knelt down beside him. Fourth Kind slowly approached her and placed one of his hands on her shoulder, allowing him to take over.

“He’s… fragile right now,” she softly spoke to the four-armed man. “Take care of him.”

“Friend of yours?”

“Not particularly,” she flatly blurted and took a few steps away. “But he still deserves some kind of sympathy.”

Slowly making her way back to her mom and friends, Ren suddenly got hit with an overwhelming sense of vertigo and staggered. Unable to control her motor functions, she fell into Seri’s feathery arms, who rushed in on time to catch her. Victoria and Todoroki followed not too far behind.

“Ren!” The owl girl gripped her friend tightly. “Did he do something to you?!”

“Think I… “She swallowed hard and squeezed her eyes tightly shut, letting out a light, shaky breath. “I overused… my quirk...”

“My God, woman. You’re more trouble than you’re worth.” Seri let out a sigh of relief and gently set her arm around her shoulders for support.

“But did I die?” she lightly scoffed.

“Part of me thinks you’re only alive for the ramen.”

“Damn right.”

#bnha fanfiction #mha fanfiction #bnha oc #mha oc #todoroki shouto #bnha todoroki #eraserhead #bnha aizawa #mha aizawa #fourth kind #bnha fourth kind #mha fourth kind

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biofunmy · 4 years

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Sean Spicer gets thrown overboard

“SNL” gives voice to the military dog that helped take down an ISIS leader. A previous version of this video mislabeled “Dancing with the Stars.” USA TODAY

This story discusses the results of week 8 on “Dancing With the Stars.” Don’t read if you don’t want to know.

There was something in the air in Monday’s Episode 8 of “Dancing With the Stars.”

There was clear frustration over Sean Spicer, the perpetual dance underachiever and fan underdog story. The former White House press secretary drew sharper-than-normal criticism from the judges — who seem to be tiring as fans continue to overrule their low scores and bring Spicer back on the dance competition with their votes.

Meanwhile, most of the other dancers stepped up to another level, as the judges handed out the first perfect score of the season, a 10, and proceeded to throw 10 scores around like they were candy with each successive stunning number.

But who went home at night’s end? Read on.

What happened last week: Sean Spicer’s Frankenstein scares on Halloween Night

Sean Spicer and Jenna Johnson

Sean Spicer went into the water with his dance, featuring pro dancer Jenna Johnson. (Photo: Kelsey McNeal, ABC)

Spicer took a step back last week with his Frankenstein dance, which was drubbed by the judges. This week, more bad news as Spicer was dealt an additional setback when his pro partner, Lindsay Arnold, had to pull out of the competition at the eleventh hour due to a death in the family. Her best friend Jenna Johnson filled in for Arnold, and Spicer dedicated the dance to his grieving partner. The naval reservist danced what he knows, with his jazz number to “Come Sail Away.” He even donned a colorful sailor outfit.

There was the usual Spicer effort over poor dancing, the never-fading smile, this time with jazz hands. But the judges are running out of ways to pan his routines.

“We keep throwing you out of the boat, and the viewers keep throwing a lifeline,” said judge Len Goodman. “The mermaid had better feet than you.” Goodman ended the critique with his usual mantra of respecting Spicer’s effort.

“Dory in ‘Finding Nemo’ has a better sense of direction,” said judge Bruno Tonioli before giving the admitted nondancer encouragement. “When it comes to fish out of water, nobody does it better.”

Only judge Carrie Ann Inaba gave positive feedback saying, “I’m proud of you and I hope Lindsay is proud of you.” She gave a 7, matched by Goodman. Tonioli gave the lowest 6 score, putting Spicer immediately at the bottom of the leaderboard.

Total score: 20/30

Lauren Alaina and Gleb Savchenko

Gleb Savchenko and Lauren Alaina went back in time for their spirited number. (Photo: Kelsey McNeal, ABC)

Alaina showed a positively ’50s vibe with her jive to Elvis Presley’s “Hound Dog.” She started out like an uberconfident teenybopper, shimmying with a ponytail and bright pink heels. But during the routine Alaina faltered, standing still on the dance floor until she found the steps. The judges noticed.

“The King himself would have loved the performance,” said Tonioli. “It really had the ’50s feels, bright, optimistic. But you made three mistakes.”

Goodman noted that “the competition is getting so intense and there was a few mistakes. I’m just hoping tonight isn’t ‘Heartbreak Hotel,’ because you deserve to be in the competition.”

Alaina took the criticism and teared up before getting the scores. The marks were remarkably high (straight 8s) considering the falter.

Total score: 24/30

Kel Mitchell and Witney Carson

Mitchell has been stepping up in the competition and continued to show utter dance floor mastery with his salsa to “This is How We Do It.” He was so confident that he mouthed the opening words as he danced solo and then proceeded to lead the entire way, twirling Carson around the floor. She ended up draped around his left leg.

“You’re on a roll. There was plenty of junk in the trunk, those hips were moving,” said Goodman. “You were large and in charge.”

Tonioli called the triumphant routine “a star turn,” praising Mitchell’s solo dancing. “You are the main attraction.” He backed it up by giving the duo the first perfect 10 score of the season. Goodman and Inaba gave 9s and Mitchell celebrated.

“I’m feeling so good, that’s all I can say,” he said. (The duo were further aided with two points from a dance-off.)

Final score, with bonus 29/30

Ally Brooke and pro Sasha Farber

Brooke owned her paso doble to her own song, “Higher.” She had her game face on (as well as a stunning silver dress) and started singing behind a large microphone. Then she began the dance with Farber, working her long metallic skirt like a disco-loving matador going in for the kill. Farber spun Brooke out dramatically across the dance floor in the final moment and the crowd went wild. The judges followed the excitement.

“Excuse me, Miss Silver Lightning,” yelled Tonioli. “There was a moment where she was not just dancing, she was conducting the orchestra.”

“Right now you just proved to me that you are a freaking superstar,” said Inaba. “My mind is blown.”

The judges gave their first perfect scores. All 10s. Brooke broke out into happy tears backstage.

Final score: 30/30

Hannah Brown and Alan Bersten

Alan Bersten and Hannah Brown go all-American. (Photo: Kelsey McNeal, ABC)

After last week’s zombie prom queen, where the “Bachelorette” star mocked her beauty queen past, Brown went back to embracing everything about her Alabama roots. Her quickstep to “American Girl” was light and perfectly executed with a beauty queen smile that never faltered, all with an American flag lit up on the board behind her. Brown ended the jubilant number with her arms in the air as fireworks went off behind her. The judges were also lit up.

“That was a game-changer,” said Tonioli, saying the action through her feet was just beautiful. “You were in orbit.”

Inaba, who has been a tough critic, gave Brown a hug. “You were openhearted,” said Inaba. “I’m so proud of you; that was the comeback of the season.” The two judges gave 10 scores, with Goodman giving a 9.

Total score: 31/30

Kate Flannery and pro Pasha Pashkov

Kate Flannery kicked off a tribute dance with Pasha Pashkov. (Photo: Kelsey McNeal, ABC)

“The Office” star was in trouble last week, in the bottom two and spared by the judges. Flannery paid tribute to her sister Nancy, who died of cancer the week that Flannery found out she was going to be on the reality show. She dedicated the number to “the joy and the pride of being Nancy’s sister.” The dance to “Heatwave” lacked any sense of sadness, as the ponytail-wearing Flannery kicked out in red, black and white patterned pajamas and a beaming, pro-actress smile. The judges noted a few out-of-sync steps, however. A potentially fatal falter.

“I felt that celebration,” said Inaba. “I’m sure your sister Nancy is watching.”

“That is such a joyful performance,” said Goodman. “It’s not your best, but certainly not your worst.”

Flannery received straight 8s from the judges. (The couple received two bonus points during a dance-off.)

Total score: 26/30

James Van Der Beek and Emma Slater

The talented Van Der Beek brought full drama to his contemporary dance, with his shirt unbuttoned to his navel, his hair slicked back and a dreamy look in his eyes. A giant, cloudy moon floated on the screen behind him as fog machines churned. The “Dawson’s Creek” star and Slater rolled through “Don’t Stop Believing,” pulling off complicated move after complicated move together. One Van Der Beek lift had him spinning while holding up Slater by the hips. It had the judges floored and his family crying in the audience.

Goodman said the dance was “like a good book” that had people guessing what was going to happen next. “And I think you’re going to find it has a happy ending.”

“We have never seen an exquisite lift with such fluidity” said an emotional Inaba, who said the dance showed “pure artistry in motion.”

The judges gave their second perfect score of the night, all 10s.

Total score: 30/30

So what happened?

After a spirited bonus dance-off, the business of elimination got serious. To cut any drama, Sean and Jenna were the first couple spared, so Spicer’s nondance winning streak continues. Hannah and Alan were also quickly pulled out of danger.

In the end, the final two couples were Ally and Sasha, with their perfect scores, along with Kate and Pasha. It was pretty clear where this was going, even with the judges upset with the final result.

Inaba summed it up saying she was “confused” and “irritated” that she had to ax Kate and Pasha. Tonioli delivered the final blow, sending the couple home for good.

But Flannery was undaunted, smiling broadly and lifting her hands in the air in joy for a successful run. She was carried off the dance floor by the other dancers.

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thecheekybrunette · 7 years

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Honestly, I actually like having a lot of information about something before I really get into it. So please, hit me with everything you've got, I really don't mind giant walls of text. :) BTS fandom introduction anon

tOkay, kid, well I guess I’ll give you a run down on each of my babies (MY BABIES). I am just gonna give a quick run down, but like... these are my perceptions, so some people might see them differently. And I am sure they see themselves somewhat differently. So. Take everything with a grain of salt.

Seokjin/Jin: Seokjin is the oldest member of the group. At his most basic level, he’s known for liking the color pink, telling dad jokes, and being bad at dancing (though he’s gotten much better!). Fans of Seokjin tend to really love and support Seokjin, almost aggressively so, because he isn’t given many lines. And by many lines, I mean any lines. So it’s really hard to be a Jin fan, which is unfair because he’s great. Like, he’s head visual, so he’s the most objectively hot (lately people have been calling him “Mr. Worldwide Handsome” because of a response to an interview question about all the attention he got at the Magenta Carpet). He does a really good job caring for the younger members. He’s the one who drove Jungkook to high school in the mornings, and Jimin has called him “mom” on multiple occasions. Also, he loves food. Like, first, he makes videos called “Eat Jin” where he just records himself eating. But also he’s a great cook. And like... he’s the kind of cook where it’s really intuition based. I feel like most Asian cooking isn’t really about recipes and more about feeling it out? But I’m still impressed during the rare opportunity I get to see him cook. He’s often shipped with Namjoon? And it’s like probably the most mutually agreed on ship, like I don’t know if it’s the most popular, but I don’t think anyone adamantly has ever disagreed with it.

Yoongi/Suga: Okay, so Yoongi used to be my bias wrecker, and if anyone knows me, they know I’m loyal as hell to my biases, but like... I keep going back and forth between Yoongi and Namjoon because they’re both so great. But okay, so the thing about Yoongi is first, he’s an amazing rapper. I think Namjoon is more lyrically gifted, but I think Yoongi has a much better delivery if I’m being honest. You don’t have to understand what he’s saying to know how he’s feeling. His mixtape is straight bars, like fuck. Which is wild because Yoongi typically isn’t very expressive? He usually looks tired or bored, and he sounds tired or bored, all while giving these impressive one-liners. He’s got a dry, sarcastic sense of humor, that I’m obsessed with. He also is one of those people who acts grumpy when they’re secretly having a great time? So, like, a good moment of this was once the boys were all in Malaysia, and Yoongi was alone with the camera talking about the trip, saying all these good things like, “I really like it here. Did you know Malaysia doesn’t have any natural disasters? I think I will take my parents here.” And then as soon as other people shows up, he’s like, “Ugh, I guess it’s okay here, it’s not any better than any other resort I’ve been to.” LIKE WE ALL KNOW YOU’RE FULL OF BULLSHIT, YOONGI. He also cheats really blatantly during games. But he’s also super responsible? Like he watches over the money in the first Bon Voyage series. And he’s had to suffer a lot for his music. And he’s secretly the cutest little peanut ever, and you should love him, he deserves it.Also, he ships himself with Hoseok, so you should support their wonderful romance (I’m being a dweeb, but Yoongi really does make a big deal about it.)

Namjoon/Rap Monster/RM: My current bias wrecker. The love of my life. The leader of BTS. Namjoon is really lyrically gifted. He plays a big role in making most of BTS’s music. He has a baller mixtape. But I’m not here to talk about the musical genius that is Kim Namjoon (because I could go on for days). No. I need to talk about how big of a dork, Namjoon is. Because first, this kid is unbelievably klutzy. recently, he wasn’t able to dance in a concert because he stubbed his toe on a piece of hotel furniture and ripped off his pinkie toenail. Idiot. Also, I once watched him attempt to put on sunglasses and break them on his face. Just shattered them apart in his hands. He breaks everything he picks up. He breaks everything he leaves alone. He breaks the world. Once, he tried to cut an onion and did such a bad job that as a segment on a variety show, they asked him to cut an onion for the camera. Jin and Jimin had to step in to make sure he didn’t cut his fingers off. God bless. Also, okay, as the leader, he is so sweet about trying his best for the other members. He’s also not well known for dancing, but just like Jin, he’s doing much better! He and Jin usually get teased for having a relationship similar to a married couple. Also he was an underground rapper (so was Yoongi!) before BTS. Also he’s really obsessed with Ryan from Kakao!

Hoseok/J-Hope/Hobi: I personally feel like Hoseok might be the most underrated member of BTS. Like... Jin doesn’t get recognition by the company, but I don’t feel like Hoseok gets recognition from the fans? But it’s more quiet. Idk. BOTH DESERVE MORE LOVE AND ATTENTION. ALL OF THEM DESERVE MORE LOVE AND ATTENTION. But okay, so that being said, Hoseok is the head dancer in BTS. He makes a lot of choreography decisions, and he’s also known as the “mood maker” of BTS, which is probably true. Like, Hoseok visibly cheers up the other members and he’s really vocal about supporting them, which is so cute. But when he’s mad, his mouth makes a triangle, and everyone is on edge. But because he’s usually pretty upbeat, he’s part of what’s called the “Sunshine Line” which is like... Hoseok, Taehyung, and Jimin, and it’s just the most smiley members of BTS. He’s also just like... so nice. And so funny. And I can’t emphasize how upbeat he is. Like fall in love with him, it’s easy. Also!!! He is same-age friends with Namjoon!!! And I just! Love! Their friendship! Please! Appreciate it!

Jimin: Okay, the most precious wonderful, amazing boy in this world. Like, he has the cutest little baby hands, and the cutest little smile eyes, and the cutest little face. He’s short and he used to have super chubby cheeks, and he’s just an angel sent to us from above. (But also, don’t let him fool you, he’s kind of quick to be snappy or grumpy, and also he’s fast to make an innuendo or naughty joke, God bless. A demon in disguise.) Jimin used to be really insecure, and he’s still hard on himself. He also seems extroverted? And he talks a lot with the members, so I think it seems like he’s really outgoing, but you’ll see in interview and even on stage sometimes, he’s much shyer. He’s very nervous about performing, but does a bomb ass job, and like you’ll be surprised by how sexy this boy can be. Also he’s a phenomenal dancer and vocalist! 10/10 on both fronts.Also so you know in advance: Jimin used to love bothering Jungkook, and calling his name, and babying him, and being annoying. So a lot of people ship them together. But Jimin and Taehyung are also really close and same-age friends, so people ship them together. And people ship Taehyung and Jungkook together, so that’s a hot mess, and sometimes fans can get really angry about it. My advice if you want to ship within BTS is to ship everything, be impartial, and avoid the drama because it’s not worth it, especially when they’re all obviously close and best friends and none of them are actually dating. Also Yoongi/Jimin is a very popular pairing. It’s everywhere, but I don’t see it as much as some other people do? (But like I said, I multi-ship everything, so I’m not here to tell you it’s not a good ship. They all are. They’re all close, they’re all best friends, this is just for fun, and anything works.)

Taehyung/V: THE VERY REASON I BREATHE. I THINK ABOUT HIM WHEN I’M AWAKE. WHEN I’M ASLEEP. ALL OF THE TIME. ALL OF THE TIME FOREVER. FOREVER AND EVER AND EVER AND EVER AND EVER AND EVER AND EVER. Okay, so Taehyung is the best, but he’s often gets distracted. When he’s talking or listening, you can literally see him stop paying attention and losing his place in the conversation. He makes weird comparisons. He finds weird things and carries them around. He’s a little out there, but in a really... eccentric, eclectic way? His style is super indicative of that. He’s into loud florals and cutting edge men’s fashion (but also he sometimes comes to events having just rolled out of bed in inside-out pants, so there’s that). Also he’s funny. Also he’s nice. Also he’s a cute little muffin, a muffin, a muffin, my baby. He’s really into jazz (he likes Chet Baker), and art (specifically Vincent Van Gogh and photography), and he’s learning to draw, and he’s a great actor who recently had a role in a K-Drama!I find myself having a difficult even talking about him because I’m too obsessed with him, so I’m just going to move on. But he’s really social, he makes lots of friends, and he’s both quiet and loud, like he has different personalities. Also if Taehyung starts crying, Jungkook will start crying, so watch out for that. (And Taehyung is kind of a crier, but to be fair, he’s having a crazy year.)

Jungkook: Head vocalist. Golden maknae. He’s the youngest of the group, and he’s bizarrely good at everything? Like once he had to take up archery for like... this little K-Pop olympics thing, and he got two bullseyes and one just outside the middle ring, like it was insane. He just picks up crap and is immediately good at it. He might be the youngest in the group, but he really likes acting older. Like, his favorite thing in the world (I CAN SEE IT IN HIS EYES) is when he beats the older boys at something and gets to give them a punishment, like I see you, Jungkook, I know you. I’m not sure if you follow me because you know BTS, but like... I think of him as Oikawa. Super talented. Super annoying. But even as I say that, he’s just... really objectively attractive. He’s also really adorable. He’s got little bunny teeth everyone says? So they’ll call him a bunny. He’s also usually everyone’s first favorite in BTS because he’s so good looking, and so good at everything, and has so many lines. But! It won’t take you long to realize he is a massive dweeb. He is really shy. He’s a muscle pig, he’s so strong. But like he’s dumb. Ugh. And he loves bowling? Like what a loser. I hate him. (But that’s a lie and I love him, I just refuse to admit it.) (But actually he says the cutest little things. Like once in this bon voyage episode, he was just like “I like this sweatshirt” and “I like hamburgers” and he just had all these happy things to say and he was holding hands with everyone, and like... a happy Jungkook is unreasonably adorable.)

Okay, I need to stop talking, I hope this was in some way useful.

#here you are anon #personal #Anonymous

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snarktheater · 7 years

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Movie review — Power Rangers

Say, did I ever mention I was a Power Rangers kid? Because I was. I was a little too young for the original generation, but when Zeo aired, I was so into it it was kind of embarrassing. I watched as religiously as a small child can when he doesn't know how to VCR a show and has to rely on his parents remembering to record the episodes. I played pretend Power Ranger a lot. I had (and…still have) more toy Megazords than I am fully comfortable listing. And I'm pretty sure I still played with them into my late teenage years, because I am exactly that kind of dork.

Ahem. Point is, a Power Rangers movie reboot came and I was…intrigued, but mildly scared too. This series is not exactly top quality, and the wave of nostalgia-driven adaptations hasn't really led to great stuff that often.

Does the movie hold up? Well, honestly…yes.

Mind you, Power Rangers the movie (does it have a proper name? I wouldn't know) isn't high art or anything. But it's probably better than anyone expected when they heard about this movie in the first place.

This movie does a good job at striking a balance between recreating the original show and doing its own thing. Part of that is due to the media transfer (we can't tell the same kind of story in a show and a movie), but part of that is clearly a creative effort on the part of the crew.

So, the aesthetic is something most people have been critical of. "The suits look bad", and so on and so forth. Honestly, I'm on the fence on this one, but I have to admit that it's the only Power Rangers we could have gotten in 2017. I mean, look at the Flash in those Justice League trailers. This is just what's in vogue. I don't mind the suits, honestly.

No, if we're going to talk bad aesthetics, I have to point out that this movie is another victim of the "MAKE EVERYTHING DARK" trend of this decade. And I don't mean "dark" as in "serious and gritty". The movie has a fairly light tone overall, if you look at it honestly, but the color palette is washed out and the brightness is dialed down way more than it needs to be. That's an issue.

But aside from that, the adaptation strikes in world building as well. And that's actually my favorite part of it. We get backstory for Zordon and Rita (which I fully approve of), they worked in the Zeo Crystal as a plot device that's more than a McGuffin to give the Rangers new powers. Oh, and of course, the Green Power Ranger is already established here (although saved for the potential sequel), and Rita is given a connection to it that she didn't have in the original show. They even thought to explain why the Zords are modeled after prehistoric creatures!

It makes the world feel a lot more cohesive, rather than the "let's just pick a Super Sentai series to adapt and invent a connection" method that formed the plot of the original Power Rangers seasons. Not that I don't understand why the original series had to do it, but it's good to see that they decided to up the storytelling game for the remake instead of relying purely on the franchise name and nostalgia value.

Speaking of storytelling, the plot. After some backstory to the time Rita first wreaked havoc on earth, we skip to present day, and meet our teenagers with attitude, all the while witnessing Rita's return. It's a pretty standard hero's journey, if we have five heroes who stand almost (almost) on equal footing and follow a similar path.

Most of the movie is spent with the Rangers first finding out about their powers, then, once they meet Zordon and Alpha (i.e. the mentor figures), trying to master them. All the while, we cut back to Rita's progress. It's better than it sounds.

Allow me to elaborate. First, we spend a considerable amount of time introducing the protagonists before they're even chosen to be Rangers. Second, they don't just get picked by Zordon; instead, they actively make their way into becoming Rangers, first by finding the Power Coins, then by seeking out answers as to why these coins gave them the abilities they have. Active protagonists! It's important to have them.

Third, while Rita's earlier scenes are fairly standard and mostly serve to establish her motivation, powers (and rules thereof), and the threat she poses, she doesn't stay separate from the Rangers forever. She does clash with them halfway through the second act, gives them a more personal reason to fight than saving the world, all that jazz. Not that they weren't on board beforehand, but it's important.

Because…see, these Rangers have actual characters instead of being blobs who each wears a different color. They have personal conflicts, and while they're not exactly all resolved by the end of the movie (which is probably a tad overconfident by counting on sequels), they do progress. The Rangers make the right decision to save the world, but giving them a personal stake is what gives them resolve to fight the final battle. This is good, it's exactly how you should blend character motivation with heroism.

Speaking of personal conflicts, let's talk about these teenagers for a moment. The phrase "teenagers with attitude" associated with the show (which I already quoted above) is much more applicable here, when…you know, the protagonists actually have issues instead of being perfect role models. I understand that different times mean different sensibilities and I guess the original cast was more palatable to the 90s, but I'm glad about the change.

So we have Jason, the red ranger and leader of the group. He's the gold star athlete student of Angel Grove—big enough to be in the local papers, apparently. His issue is…basically an existential crisis of "is this what I want, or what everyone else wants from me?" Well, kind of. He's already past this issue at the start of the movie, since we meet him in the middle of acting up. I guess his conflict is actually more trying to reconcile the two, putting the things he's good at (i.e. leadership) to the service of something he actually wants to do (being a Power Ranger) instead of something he's expected to do. It works…mostly because he's definitely a little more central than the rest of the crew. Which is a negative point on the movie. I'm sorry, but you have a diverse cast, and you choose to focus on the white boy? Boo.

But on the plus side, this is a conflict we've seen done a lot, and I think this movie manages to do something new with it. Mostly by being more subtle about it. It lets the movie avert clichés (you know, the "No, dad, it's your dream!" speech), and it makes the whole progression feel a lot more natural when it's all understated. When the Rangers bond together, he doesn't even need to say his problem, because everyone knows. Including us. It's almost meta in its self-awareness.

Moving on. Kimberly is the pink ranger, and while I mentioned that all out protagonists are flawed and have conflict, she's the only one who's actually done something bad. In two words: revenge porn. Yeah. It's pretty bad. But…she owns up to having done something terrible, and grows from it. It's sort of put aside rather than actively being resolved, but again, I think this is more because the crew expected sequels. Oh, also, that kiss between her and Jason from the trailer was cut out of the movie. No romance here. Apparently focus tests finally showed that an unnecessary straight romance wasn't something people wanted!

Zack and Trini, the black and yellow rangers, are the least developed members of the team, by virtue of being the last to even show up in the movie. Not that they lack personality, mind you. If anything, them being a little harder to decipher feels intentional, since Zack stays out of school to take care of his sick mother, and Trini is "the new girl" (who's been here a year, but that's just details) and kind of self-ostracized, in a "don't let them in, don't let them see" kind of way.

They're still both pretty enjoyable characters. Zack is the brash comic relief archetype most of the time, but seeing his sweet side with his mother was a nice addition to the trope (also, having him speak Chinese, I approve). Trini is implied to be some shade of not straight, although I think the cries of "yellow ranger is gayyyy" were a bit exaggerated. More importantly, she's the one Rita chooses to go after first because she's more guarded than the others…and Trini does the right thing and ask for her team's help. Just like with Jason, it's a subdued kind of character development that I like a lot. No one goes "wow, you trust us now?" like it's some kind of grand change. She just trusts her team, and the others accept it. I like that. Also, she calls out her younger brothers' casual sexism, that's cool too.

Which leaves us with Billy, who I think is pretty unanimously the audience favorite. One, he's a black autistic guy, unambiguously so, which is already pretty rare. Two, his autism actually feels…you know, real. It's consistent, it shows itself in symptoms that make sense, but it also doesn't define all of Billy's character. His interests are his own, even if they express differently because of his autism. And three, and perhaps most importantly, he's the group's emotional core. That's pretty groundbreaking as far as autistic characters go.

And I don't mean he's the poor autistic kid that everyone feels pity to and therefore stick together to help—he's an active participant in it. He's the one who discovers the Power coins and gets several of the other protagonists involved (he definitely brought Jason, attracted Zack's attention, and I think Trini also followed him to the quarry), he's the first to embrace that they're Rangers and a team and he's the one who works to make everyone else work together. So hey, that was nice.

As for Rita…she's a little bit of a mixed bag. First is the whitewashing issue, on which I will…choose to remain cautiously silent aside from mentioning that, yes, Rita Repulsa was originally portrayed by a Japanese woman by virtue of all her footage being dubbed over from a Japanese show, and the movie cast Elizabeth Banks as her. Make of that what you will.

She is the biggest aesthetic departure from the original, which is partly because of her retconned backstory, but frankly? I think it's probably for the best because of the aforementioned whitewashing. Maybe my standards are low, but at least she's not trying to pretend like she is Machiko Soga at all. If you get my drift. And if you don't: I mean Hollywood loves to pass white people as Japanese (or other Asian ethnicities).

Far from me to claim I have a final say on this issue, of course.

But as a character on her own, I actually liked her a lot. She felt threatening in a way show!Rita never really did, probably because, you know, she actually does things instead of staying cozy on the moon and sending monsters to do her work. They established her powers more clearly, which is good, because rules means we know what she can do and we can feel the threat she poses, instead of having her pull random shit at us.

And yet, in spite of having a more threatening villain (including her underlings) and higher stakes (i.e. world annihilation, more or less), the movie manages to retain its light tone I previously mentioned. Which is…hit or miss (the very first present-day scene includes a particularly tasteless joke, if you ask me), but it's still less cringey than the original show, while keeping with its spirit.

So overall, I'd say the Power Rangers movie is a pretty successful adaptation. If we must keep readapting everything in the name of nostalgia, I hope we get more work like this. I wouldn't be too optimistic about it, though.

#power rangers #power rangers 2017 #movie #movies #review #reviews #movie review #movie reviews #st: movie reviews

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mettamour · 7 years

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Mettaton’s Glambots: a subversive subculture

This semester, I had the pleasure of taking a class at my university called “Subversive Cultures and Performance” that allowed me to explore and create a new subversive subculture. Of course, with the opportunity to choose ANYTHING, I chose Mettaton, and centered around his “Glambots.” Below you will find an in-depth analysis of what Mettaton’s subculture would be like in today’s society. Enjoy! If you have any further questions or would like to exchange ideas, please message me!

Have you ever wished you could be a part of the world of glitz and glamour? Wearing every shade of pink on the spectrum and looking fabulous while doing it? Well that’s what the “glambot” subculture does. The name of Mettaton’s subculture, “Glambot” is a cross between the word “glamour” and “robot.” Mettaton is a robot from the game Undertale by Toby Fox. He is a robot that was built by Dr. Alphys, a monster scientist in the underground. But being glamorous isn’t the only goal of the glambot subculture. Bringing joy, happiness, and equality is a main component of their aspirations.

Mettaton is a robot performer in the Underground world of Undertale. The monsters in the Underground only have one source of entertainment, and that is Mettaton, the Underground’s #1 Idol. He works incredibly hard to perform for them and bring the Underground as much excitement and drama as possible. In one scene, a lion is seen wearing a dress that Mettaton wore in one of his in-game performances. He tells the protagonist that Mettaton recognized him, and gave him the dress. This act of kindness just starts to demonstrate what kind of personality Mettaton had.

And as it turns out, Mettaton wasn’t ALWAYS a robot. In fact, he was a ghost who had his body transferred into the body that Alphys built. As a ghost, Mettaton was “never really happy with his body.” However when Alphys granted this opportunity, he was able to be truly happy. For this reason, many transgender people rally around him and celebrate the experience described in the game, which was described much like gender dysphoria. The subculture of glambots is kind and giving, but is sure to look fabulous while doing it. They celebrate being happy in your own skin. Their political goal is to bring equality to all, and you can often see them frequenting equality rallies, dressed head to toe in bright pink heels and boas. Often, many of them dress up as Mettaton. They show their support of marginalized groups by parading as their favorite character. The glambots have protested at Congress by leaving rows and rows of hot pink heels on the steps of the Capitol Building. They held signs up that said “WE JUST WANTED A PLACE TO CHANGE INTO OUR HEELS” in solidarity with the transgender community when they had their rights to use their bathrooms of choice challenged. The photos were splashed all over the news, and the eye catching pink heels brought attention to their movement.

Not all members of the glambot community are transgender or suffer from gender dysphoria or body dysmorphia. To be a glambot, you just have to support equality, have the desire to be glamourous in each and every endeavor, and to love Mettaton unconditionally. However there is definitely a level of competition within the glambot community. There is constantly a push for bigger and better costumes. The consistent distinctiveness of glambots is their outrageous Mettaton inspired outfits. Often times you can see them wearing hot pink boots, even when not at rallies or events. They often wear sparkly eyeshadow, usually hot pink in nature. A common hairstyle is long bangs over one side, dyed black, with pink undertones. Glambots can be as subtle as wearing all baby pinks or as obnoxious as wearing a full feather boa, heels, a full face of makeup, and even a Mettaton cosplay. They aren’t afraid to make a statement, and if you see a glambot, you’ll probably know that they’re a part of the subculture.

(Source: http://www.deviantart.com/art/Undertale-Mettaton-Neo-Cosplay-589574265)

More lights, more drama, more hard work always means more respect in the community. If you spend more money on your cosplays, you will have more cultural capital. Wearing these advanced costumes are almost like a status symbol. Most of the leaders in the community have been cosplaying Mettaton since the game’s release on September 15, 2015. Since the game’s release, many rallied around Mettaton as a beacon of hope, and to them, he was their hero. These cosplayers then realized that many of them had the same interests, and decided to expand the group to include other goals.

There are a few symbols in the glambot community that are particularly important. Of course, Mettaton is the most important symbol in their community. They worship and look up to him. He is what they aspire to be and anyone who disses him is immediately shunned and ignored. You can expect ANY glambot to have his entire character analysis memorized, front and back. If you try to diss their “god,” you will certainly receive an earful from them. They recognize that he has flaws like any other character, but they’ll definitely explain to you exactly why that is necessary to his character. This is one symbol people should definitely avoid talking poorly about.

The second symbol is glitter. Glambots love putting glitter on everything. Whether it’s their hat or in their hair, on their clothes or on their shoes. They’ll get spray glitter for their skin and even paint their nails with glitter. For glambots, glitter is a staple. Some of the most devout glambots have gone as far as to even add glitter to things like smoothies, parfaits milkshakes, and even cereal. (The shakes with glitter in them are fondly called “Starfaits,” named after an in-game item you can purchase at Mettaton’s Resort.) These fans usually have thousands of followers on Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr. Social media presence is very important to Glambot subculture. Being able to get the Glambot message out to thousands of people is imperative to the encouraging more people to join. Even if it’s something as silly as posting a glittery smoothie, it catches the attention of people. And even if people are originally drawn in by their outrageous stunts, it might draw people in to learn about their cause.

The third symbol is hearts. This may seem obvious, but you can usually find Glambots with at least one heart somewhere on their clothing. This is to obviously symbolize love, but it is also a symbol of solidarity. If you see someone with a small pink heart pin, you can be sure that they are a safe person to talk to and help get you out of a bad situation. Glambots encourage all of their followers to wear a heart somewhere in some form or fashion. Glambot fan sites often sell pins or buttons that people can wear, even if you aren’t specifically a Glambot.

Creating music in the Glambot scene is HUGE because Mettaton is a musical performer! His in-game theme, “Death By Glamour” has been remixed so many times within the subculture. Many cross this theme over with electro-swing songs, electronica, dubstep, and even metal. It is a common idea to try to come up with the best remix of the song. However, most of the time, the subculture is seen rallying around electro-swing music, which is a mix of electronic beats and swing/jazz type music. Some of the top songs that people listen to are “Lone Digger” by Caravan Palace, “Looking like This” by Lyre le Temps, and Jamie Berry and Octavia Rose’s, “Delight.” The subculture is also fond of the Studio Killers, enjoying songs like “In Tokyo.” Lyrics of this song include:

“In a strictly guarded industrial facility In the outskirts of the city Where future is made of iron and plastic I experienced something fantastic Down in Tokyo I made out with a robot It felt gentle, but robust”

With lyrics like this, it’s no wonder that the Glambots rally around artists like the Studio Killers.

Being such a niche group, the group really has to create content for themselves. There are artists in the community that create MTT “fanzines” such as this one: mtt-fanzine.tumblr.com. These artists come together to create artwork of their favorite character. Fans can then purchase these fanzines and the proceeds go towards the artists and towards a fund specifically targeted to help transgender people get hormones, sex reassignment surgery, and any other help they may need. The group prides itself on helping queer people in need, while also fighting for the equality of these people. An important part of their mission is to be intersectional, focusing on how color, gender identity, socioeconomic status, and a variety of other factors can impact the experience of a person. The group has a fansite called “glambots.com” where they share fanart, fanfiction, photography, music, and art mediums of any kind on the site. The website is a place for planning rallies, events, and the main event of the year, METTACON. METTACON is a convention where glambots of all kinds rally together from all over the world. This convention takes place in Washington, DC. They celebrate Mettaton, and every cosplayer cosplays from the game Undertale, however most end up cosplaying some form of Mettaton. There are different versions, outfits, etc that people decide to dress up as. At this convention people sell art, music, and merchandise all dedicated to Mettaton.

In conclusion, my subculture could probably never be a real thing. Although it’s a good cause, there just aren’t enough people who love Mettaton to realistically be able to create a movement this large. I think there is definitely a space for a group of cosplayers that would love to use their work to help others, but I don’t think that there are enough Mettaton fans in particular that would be able to rally around him to create a social movement. Undertale has been out for almost 2 years now, and the fandom has severely slowed down on content. While it hasn’t completely died out, there just aren’t as many people who are interested as there were before. My subculture has an important place in my heart, as I absolutely love Mettaton and would love to be a part of a subculture of like minded individuals like myself. Wearing cosplay, supporting a good cause, making good music, and loving Mettaton all sound like an amazing thing to be a part of. For now I’m content with being a part of other subcultures that have the different aspects that I described in the glambot subculture. Through glitz, glamour, kindness, and awareness, the glambot subculture would make an amazing impact on the world, and look fabulous while doing it.

#mettaton ex #mettaton analysis #mettaton #undertale #subversive culture #subcultures #nonfmprg #ooc #transgender rights #gender equality

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thecloudupblog · 5 years

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Q&A With Broke Face

1. Where are we talking from today? I am currently writing from the kitchen table as I've been gently nudged out of my home studio, dubbed Found Sound Laboratory, by my daughters and their friends while they have an impromptu jam session on drums, an old Casio (named Casios Clay), pink ministrat, and a cheap radio shack mic plugged into an even cheaper tremolo amp. It's polyphonic insanity that sounds better than anything I could spend months trying to perfect in GarageBand. 2. Where did you get your artist name from? BrokeFace is a name that came out one day while I was writing lyrics and I dug it. It's become a persona I can use to really get to the crux of something I'm meditating on. I personally might not be able to point out a very painful truth about me to myself, which I consider one of my responsibilities as a writer, but BrokeFace has that freedom and it's been quite liberating, if not a little harrowing. 3. Music-wise what are you working on right now? Are you currently promoting a single or album? I am currently finishing an album titled Dirty White. It's a mixtape of pieces I've been working on since I started writing my own music about 4 years ago. I've recently felt a very strong sense of what my sound is, which is something I haven't been able to grasp since I began to make my own music. As I was putting the album together, it was shaping up to be a chronicle of that journey. I was also able to find a through-line sound wise so, to me, the album sounds like one long song that goes all over the map but feels whole as well. I haven't figured out what to release for singles but Love Beast, Grasshoppers, and Swear Off are strong songs. 4. Who or what were the most significant influences on your musical life and career? Well, the Dirty White album is very much influenced by albums like Beasties Check Your Head, Radiohead's O.K. Computer, Kendrick Lamar's Damn, and to some extent Zappa and P-Funk as well as Prince. There's a Purple Rain cover on the album. As a child growing up in the Massachusetts suburbs near Plymouth, I first started piano then, wanting to be John Bonham, on to the drums, but slowly realized that John Paul Jones was the spirit of Zeppelin. Those discoveries, along with all of the music of the 50s and 60s (Rock (Chuck Berry), r&b (Otis, what?!), Jazz (Monk), country, (Dolly), et al.) got me wanting to learn all instruments so I picked up keys, bass, guitar and anything else I could get my paws on, including the accordion which made its way, almost unrecognizable, on to a couple of ambient songs on the album. In the 90s I was taken over by all the music coming out from Pixies to GnR to INXS to cheesy stuff too (I'll sing Seal's Kissed By A Rose at the top of my lungs if it comes on so watch out). At the same time, my brother gave me the Zappa albums Sheik Yerbouti and Chunga's Revenge which blew my mind. Then, I heard Rage Against the Machine which lead me to Public Enemy and Tribe Called Quest and there was no getting me back once I start down that road. Today, I have really opened up to everything and anything. I'm absorbing music at an insane rate and it's awesome, there is so much good stuff out there. 5. Who are your favorite musicians? Right now I'm going back to school to get a music composition degree so I'm deeply entrenched in the classics. It's cliche, but JS Bach was insane. Insane. You listen to his stuff and you hear Metallica's One, you hear Wu-Tang busting out polyphonic layers over some harpsichord beats. It's still in everything. Other than that, I'm listening to Kendrick, TV on the Radio, Lizzo! (New album is so good), my girls turned me on to Mattiel, Nathy Peluso, Ariana Grande. I think Cardi B's tunes are pretty good, the production is great on her stuff. And sorry but I like LilNasX's song C7osure (damn you Spotify for your algorithm!). I would like to say I hate Charlie Puth, but I don't have much say to what songs get stuck in my head. I really dig MF Doom and everyone he worked with like King Ghidorah (Tic, Tic is amazing). Black Star May have an album soon so I'm mostly freaking out until that happens. Vampire Weekend's new album is good. Kevin Abstract is good. I've also been going through old tunes I liked as a teenager and seeing if they hold up - Smashing Pumpkins were so good... that C&C Music Factory, though... 6. What have been the greatest challenges/frustrations of your career so far? I think it was the point at which I was writing music and not knowing what my sound was so I was all over the place but not finding a connection between them all. I found myself asking everybody around me if something sounded good or just completely hiding it away and not showing anyone. Which was extremely frustrating, like I was ashamed of just being me. It's a much longer connection to many things throughout my life where I looked to others to approve of what I did, when they said I probably shouldn't do something that I was getting into, I made the mistake of listening all the time and not knowing the right kind of person to listen to, or most importantly, not finding my inner will. Dirty White is very much a turning point from that unsure area to the "oh, this is my voice, it was here all along" and just owning it, which is so fulfilling. Dirty White explores a great deal of having a voice taken away, whether I watch it being taken from people most susceptible to the overpowering and unequal distribution of wealth, or I watch white men, like myself, take their own voice away as they slip into their own protective skin color and economic place. This album is really my own meditation on my feeling of impotence when it came to bringing needed change to us as humans. I joke sometimes, get a white, liberal man mad enough, he'll start a podcast. I made an album. It doesn't fix everything but it feels like a start and maybe it will help someone, who knows. 7. As a musician, what is your definition of success? Getting up every day and being aware as much as I can be; aware of when I'm present, when I'm not, of what my gifts are and how I can cultivate them so they can help me and others. Awareness affects everything I do; writing music, hanging with my family, friendships, work. It puts the quality of life into whatever quantity of life I may have left. 8. What is your idea of perfect happiness? Being awake for all of it, all of what life is, whether it is joyful or unpleasant, which goes in tandem with the success question. Happiness is a very interesting term that I spend a great deal of time meditating on - how it's defined for the purposes of consumerism, which controls our lives and the hot button political topics of today; economic racism, women's control of their body, wars with oil-rich countries, etc. Maybe another album is in there. 9. What is your present state of mind? I always have musical ideas happening in my head but I have, like any other person does, a very full schedule where I'm not working on music, so that can feel hectic, but at least I feel, right? I made the intro song on Dirty White, called Crazy Diamonds, as a wake-up song for myself. Like, literally something to wake up to. It is over the top in its good feelings and positive reinforcement, which kind of prepares the listener for an album that gets into some deep, dark areas. Like doing some cardio before going into therapy, get the blood moving. I need that positivity reminder because I can get overwhelmed and just want to be cynical and binge watch Netflix. That thing where you 'just say positive things until you feel better' works for me and that's where I am right now; calmly hectic with cynical positivity. It helps to have a rhythm and keep busy at all times. This album is built around rhythm, the first song is morning or springtime and it works through the darkest part of night/winter to the very last song being the sunrise of the next day/return to spring. It may sound like it was super planned but I'm not that good, it really fell together in that way naturally. 10. What is your most treasured possession? Two gifts every day when I open my eyes. Also, I really like coffee. 11. What do you enjoy doing most? Writing music while my kids make an insane amount of noise around me. I use their sounds to make ambient beats and all kinds of craziness. When you can't have silence, make music from the noise. 12. Where would you like to be in 10 years' time? Making music and being aware. That sounds boring. How's this; living on an Elon Musk owned space station with my family and friends, floating around the earth like that Fhloston Paradise cruise ship in Fifth Element and we get free lodging because I'm part of the house band. Mos Def, relaxing from his retirement, is the band leader and a still-alive Tom Waits provides spoken word and other noises while I, like some crazy Dick Van Dyke a la Mary Poppins, supply beats and ambient sound with the Roots and Keith Richards as a backing band. Keith is in better shape than all of us and the ship is propelled by our music. That sounds better. 13. Where you @ online? Instagram - @BrokeFaceMusic Twitter - @Broke_Face SoundCloud - https://soundcloud.com/user-920314086

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ismael37olson · 5 years

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Fascinatin' Rhythm

When I wrote my history book, Strike Up the Band, I had two primary agendas. One was to reject the premise of all other musical theatre history books, that the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical was the pinnacle of the art form. It wasn't. The other agenda was to include in the story of our art form all the people of color, the women, the people with disabilities who helped shape the American musical theatre but get left out of almost all history books. I hope I did a decent job of re-balancing our story a little. But the first draft of my book was about double the length they'd accept. I had to cut so much out of it, including a lot of early, little-known black shows. But I saved all that text. What really fascinated me was the musicals before the turn of the century. George M. Cohan essentially invented what we know as musical comedy in the first decade of the 20th century, with shows like Little Johnny Jones (1904); but there were shows before that, shows I guess I'd call proto-musicals, not exactly the form we know today, but something close. And there were a lot of black shows! As the 19th century ended, the first generation of African Americans born free in America finally was coming of age. Even though the U.S. Supreme Court had invalidated the 1875 Civil Rights Act in 1883, and then had upheld the controversial idea of “separate but equal” for African Americans in 1896, still for a short while, anything was possible for black men in America, especially in the North. Many became doctors and lawyers, studied classical music with the best composers, and became great poets and novelists. The good times only lasted a while, but while they did, great things were accomplished. There wouldn’t be another time like it until the Harlem Renaissance. And so in 1898, black performers finally joined the fun on Broadway with two all-Black musical comedies, A Trip to Coontown and Clorindy, The Origin of the Cakewalk. Of Clorindy, Bernard L. Peterson Jr. writes in A Century of Musicals in Black and White, “It was probably the first to fully exploit the possibilities of syncopated ragtime music in the theatre; the first to introduce the cakewalk (a staple of the minstrel stage) to sophisticated New York audiences; the first all-black show to play at a major Broadway theatre; and the first to have a white theatre orchestra led by a black conductor.” In fact, more than thirty all-black shows were staged in Harlem and on Broadway between 1890 and 1915, and for a while some twenty blocks along Seventh Avenue in Manhattan was commonly known as “the African Broadway” because of the number of theatres housing all-black shows. In the first decade of the twentieth century, black men were buying theatres in various parts of the country, eventually forming a black touring circuit of their own.

The big break for Will Marion Cook and Laurence Dunbar’s Clorindy in 1898 is described by composer Will Marion Cook in his autobiography, and quoted by Thomas L. Riis in Just Before Jazz:

I went to see [producer] Ed Rice, and I saw him every day for a month. Regularly, after interviewing a room full of people he would say to me (I was always the last): “Who are you and what do you want?” On the thirty-first day – and by now I am so discouraged this is my last trip – I heard him tell a knockabout act: “Come up next Monday to rehearsal, do a show, and if you make good, I’ll have you on all week.” I was desperate. On leaving Rice’s office, I went at once to the Greasy Front, a Negro club run by Charlie Moore, with a restaurant in the basement managed by Mrs. Moore. There I was sure to find a few members of my ensemble. I told them a most wonderful and welcome story: we were booked at the Casino Roof! That was probably the most beautiful lie I ever told. On Monday morning, every man and woman, boy and girl that I had taught to sing my music was at the Casino Roof. Luckily for us, Ed Rice did not appear at rehearsal until very late that morning. By this time, my singers were grouped on the stage and I started the opening chorus. When I entered the orchestra pit, there only about fifty people on the Roof. When we finished the opening chorus, the house was packed to suffocation.

The show was booked. Cook was born to college educated parents and studied music at Oberlin College in Berlin, and under the great composer Anton Dvořák at the National Conservatory of Music in New York. When his mother heard him working on the score for Clorindy, she came into the room with tears in her eyes. She said, “Oh Will, I’ve sent you all over the world to study and become a great musician, and you return such a nigger!” Like many other African Americans, she didn’t like the kind of “coon songs” Cook was writing, believing they denigrated the race and contributed to dangerous stereotypes that plagued African Americans. Despite the winning of the Civil War, lynchings continued in the South, the Civil Rights legislation passed after the Civil War was virtually ignored, and there was a major race riot in New York City in August 1900. But Cook justified his work by noting that it got black men on Broadway for the first time. It was a debate that would go on for a century. Blacks were finally on Broadway and, most important, not as minstrels and not in black face. Clorindy was the first show created and performed entirely by blacks in a mainstream theatre for an exclusively white audience. After Clorindy’s opening, Will Marion Cook exclaimed, “Negroes are at last on Broadway, and here to stay!” Cook had not just put blacks on Broadway, he had also put syncopation into Broadway’s musical vocabulary for the first time, something that would distinguish musical comedy music from opera or operetta, forever separating the two, marking perhaps the most important musical moment in the history of Broadway. Cook would go on to write scores for many more all-black musicals over the next fifteen years, including In Dahomey (1903), Abyssinia (1906), and Bandanna Land (1908), which the Dramatic Mirror called “one of the rare plays that one feels like witnessing a second time.” Cook became widely regarded as the leader in black musical in America. his show The Southerners in 1904 was the first musical on Broadway with an integrated cast.

Bob Cole and Billy Johnson’s A Trip to Coontown not only boasted an all-black cast, but also Broadway’s first black producer, Bob Cole. The title a conscious reference to the very popular A Trip to Chinatown, the show told the story of a black con man who tries to con an older black man out of his $5,000 pension. The show was written in August 1897 and opened in New Jersey for a trial run, before going on tour and then moving to New York. But the tour was no picnic. Because Cole and Johnson had defected from Black Patti’s Troubadours, that group’s white manager put Cole and Johnson through hell. He convinced black theatre owners around the country to boycott Coontown and convinced black performers that if they performed in Coontown they would be finished. So the show spent a year playing the worst, smallest theatres in the country, while the creators worked on the show. Still, when it came to New York in 1899, it had become such a hit, it suddenly was playing only the best theatres. The story of Coontown was only barely important, and the show only marginally figures in the development of the American musical, except for the fact that it was the first musical produced, directed, written, and performed by blacks. And producer Cole, after only modest success with Coontown, was determined to push black musical comedy into new, unusual, and exciting places. The show’s program described it as “the Roaring, Racing, Rollicking Musical Comedy.” One Boston review called it, “far and away, the most satisfying extravaganza, white, black, or flushing pink, seen in Boston this season.” Most people have never heard of these truly important artists, and that's a shame. The more I researched our art form while writing my history book, the more I discovered people of color all throughout its history -- people and shows who are left out of almost every history book. My Strike Up the Band went pretty far in correcting that problem, but like I said, there was so much more I wanted to write about. The first time my eyes got opened to the huge role in our history of artists of color, was when I first read Allen Woll's great 1989 book Black Musical Theatre, which I've now read three times over the years. Here are some other excellent books on this topic... Black Broadway: African Americans on the Great White Way by Stewart F. Lane The Strange Career of Porgy and Bess: Race, Culture, and America’s Most Famous Opera by Ellen Noonan Who Should Sing 'Ol' Man River'?: The Lives of an American Song by Todd Decker Show Boat: Performing Race in an American Musical by Todd Decker Reminiscing with Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake by Robert Kimball Beyond Lift Every Voice and Sing: The Culture of Uplift, Identity, and Politics in Black Musical Theater by Paula Marie Seniors They say of politics, if we forget history, we're doomed to repeat it. With theatre, it's more like, if we don't know -- and learn from -- our history, our artistic toolkit is only half full. And I can help. Long Live the Musical! Scott from The Bad Boy of Musical Theatre http://newlinetheatre.blogspot.com/2019/01/fascinatin-rhythm.html

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