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aizawasbrazybaby · 2 months

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❥𓂃𓏧 Feel My Touch

𖦹Warnings: Gyno!Nanami x Fem!Reader, p in v sex, Oral sex (fem receiving), fingering, mention of spit, pet names (reader is called beautiful), Squirting, Multiple Orgasms, Overstimulation, Choking

𖦹Word Count: 1.7K

🫧: So because of my job and random ass hours my upload days are Saturday. I’m working on my SDV fics too ʕ-᷅ᴥ-᷄ʔ.Btw this is barely edited so sorry for any mistakes

ᐕSummary: You’ve never experienced an orgasm but a new doctor has you feeling new things…

Beads of sweat threatened to slide down your temples as you waited. Anticipating that new nerve riling sensation that’s been eating at your lower abdomen for the past week. When you first felt it you assumed it was one of those normal infections women usually get. But the symptoms weren’t the same in the slightest. There was no itching, burning while urinating or thick white substance. This feeling was foreign and indescribable.

Your ears perked as you heard your name being called. The lady flashed a smile, her short brown hair pulled back, “right this way.” She led you to one of the rooms further to the back and passed you a gown that was commonly used in hospitals, “change into this and the doctor will be in shortly to assist you.”

You sent her a curt nod and a smile that didn’t quite reach your eyes, “thank you.”

Once the door clicked shut an eerie silence you were used to fell over the room. You stripped down to your skin, stuck your arms through the sleeves and tied a bow with the loose strings. Music blasted through the speaker of your phone from the tiktok videos. Minutes passed, longer than you expected, before three knocks echoed in the room and your posture straightened.

“Good evening,” Nanami smiled.

One glance at him and that feeling. That fucking feeling hammered throughout your body. Stronger than you’ve ever felt. Traveling from your quick beating heart all the way to your cunt. Your hand absentmindedly touched your belly attempting to pinpoint this emotion, “hi.”

“______ ______ right?” He closed the door behind him and sat in the round rolling seat, “Dr. Nanami, nice to meet you.”

“Where is Dr. Shoko? I made an appointment with her.”

His eyebrows twitched as he refrained from saying what really came to mind first, “she asked me last minute to stand in for her for more hands-on experience as I am no longer training under her. Shoko claimed to have sent an email to all of her patients last night.”

You grimaced internally knowing it was mixed in with the other hundreds of unopened emails, “oh..”

“For obvious reasons if you don’t wish to continue with this appointment that’s completely understandable and you’ll be refunded in full.”

“That’s okay I don’t mind,” you said, unable to look away from his breathtaking features. You attempted to partially explain how you felt without tripping over your words and stuttering. Yet there was no luck in that department.

He stood to lean your seat back, “are you pregnant or think you might be?”

“No.”

“Have a husband or partner?” His eyes shot to your ringless finger.

“Single.”

“Now ____ when was the last time you’ve had sex?” He guided your legs apart, securing each calf in the raised holders. He couldn’t stop his eyes from wondering low enough to see the slick on your thighs.

Your hands rubbed you eyes, which he was thankful for, as you answered the question, “bout eight years ago..I think…I’m not quite sure it was one time with one guy and I didn’t really enjoy it.” Which was true. The guy who’s name you didn’t care to remember snuck you to one of the rooms during a house party full of drunks. The only reason you agreed to lose it was because you wanted to see what the hype was about. Why all your friends enjoyed fucking people.

Nanami passed you a square hand sized mirror, “according to Shoko all of your tests from last month came back clear and it says you scheduled due to odd sensations, tell me what’s going on with that.”

Your eyes hit the ceiling and you took a deep breath, “it’s complicated. There’s this clear liquid that keeps coming out and a strange feeling down there. It aches but not in a painful way. It's gonna sound weird but it kind of feels good.” The doctor sat quietly.

assessing maybe?

“I can explain but I need you to hold the mirror so you can see what I’m doing..I like for new patients to watch so they have a better understanding.” Gloved hands snaked to your hips pulling you lower. His thumbs rubbed up and down your spread lips smearing the essence around and stopping before your clit. A low hum of pleasure escaped, causing you to cover your mouth. “It’s fine to make noise, it's normal..no one will hear you except me.”

“What is that?” a thin glistening line connected to your body and his finger.

“Arousal,” his middle finger rubbed circles on your clit, “that sensation you keep feeling. Sometimes it’s for no reason, other times it’s because you come across something or someone you find sexually desirable. Miss._____ ,” your pussy clenched around nothing and you sucked in a hard breath, “do I happen to suit your taste?” You nodded knowing a moan was at the tip of your tongue. “That’s very good, because you suit mine.”

“That feels really n-nice.”

The wheels on the chair inched him close enough that you felt his breath on your messy cunt. Removing his gloves he worked two fingers into you, watching them disappear slowly. His other hand pawed at the growing tent of his pants, “do you ever pleasure yourself?”

“N-no,” you hummed, “I d-don’t know h-how never tried.”

The corner of his lips rose ever so slightly. One blink and you would miss it, “There’s different ways to go about it. A lot of women like to finger themselves like this,” he pulled his hand back and drilled them in deep. Curling the tips in the process. Your moans drowned out the white noise from the old office light above head. Nanami’s thumb met your clit again, finding the pace that made your eyes roll to the back of your sockets. A white cream gathered in the nook of his digits.

“What,” you tried to catch your breath, “what the fuck was that what just happened?”

“That was an orgasm,” he pushed the ugly gown higher, “do you need some water we still have a few more things to go over?” His mouth wrapped around his fingers licking them clean.

“No,” you spat wanting nothing more than his hands all over you. Wanting him all over you.

He chuckled, “another way you could do it is oral sex. Even if you don’t have a partner to perform it on you there are toys designed for this purpose.” Nanami released his erection smearing his precum round his tip. From the mirror you watched him touch himself. God did you have the perfect angle. Spit fell from his mouth straight to his pretty cock head and his pale hand pumped agonizingly slow.

“Doctor,” you whispered not expecting him to hear you. His blond locs were the last thing you saw before his lips were latched on your pussy. Devouring every last drop. He moaned as your cold fingers ruined his neat hair. “Just like t-that Nanami,” your hips were uncontrollably grinding into his tongue. The last guy didn’t try this but merely pounded your pussy sloppily only caring to get himself off.

Sweat gathered at your hairline and your heart quickened. A coil formed and only grew tighter as Nanami sucked your clit. He gripped the base of dick stopping his pace altogether. He picked up all the indicators that you were so so close to cuming for him. And he wanted to time it perfectly. “Fuckkk Nanamiii,” your body tensed and accidentally scrunched up his hair a grip too tight. He let out a deep long moan that pushed you over the edge. Your cum coated the inside of the doctor's mouth making his eyes widen. Globs of his release splattered on the floor. More than he has seen in a while.

Nanami rose to his feet, planting a foot on a protruding part of the chair. To his advantage the medical seat was low enough to align his dick to you. His cock slid between your saturated folds milking the last couple droplets of his pleasure.

“The last way,” he grunted, “dildo’s but nothing beats the real thing. May I?”

“Put it in,” you stopped short of begging for him to fuck you. It slipped in with more ease than you expected despite his size. His hands felt up every inch of your body making sure not to miss a spot. He hunched over and slipped his tongue in your mouth relishing in the remnants of yourself.

Nanami’s teeth grazed down your chest, “did he feel this good fucking you? Did he touch you the way I did?”

“Uh uh,” you writhed under him, holding on to his white jacket as his hips bucked into yours. He pushed deeper, holding himself in place. He was getting close to cuming again. Too close. And by the way you were wrapping around him he wanted to last as long as possible with you. A caressing hand stroked your cheek then slid down to your neck. Your eyes filled with white for the third time. Though you pushed him weakly he pulled out completely. Watching in absolute bliss as you squirted all over him and leaving visible wet marks on his light colored clothing.

His mouth hung open in amusement. He’s never hooked up with a woman who squirts only dreamed of it. And how he felt so foolish to think you’d last long after never experiencing an orgasm. To hell with making himself last.

“So fuckin beautiful,” he said before choking you, sliding his cock into your gushing cunt. He fucked himself so deep in your pussy the only way to move was back. Retracting his hips he pounded quick but it was enough to send you into overdrive. Squealing from the overstimulation. “Squeeze it beautiful,” he panted through the strokes. You did so and in an instant you felt his dick emptying itself. Neither of you moved for a minute or two until he placed a gentle kiss on your cheek. He sat up fixing the both of you before pulling a clipboard off the small desk.

“Miss._____ I’m going to schedule you for another visit in exactly two weeks from today for…some test.”

#nanami x poc!reader #nanami x black!reader #poc reader #black women #black reader #dark skin #brown skin #light skin #black female reader #black writers #jujutsu kaisen x black reader #poc writers

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murderofcrow · 5 months

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Transcript of Will Ramos' essay on Sleep Token for Rock Sound magazine

I might play in a metal band as part of my job, but I don't listen to much metal music anymore.

A few years ago though, I remember one of my friends saying to me, "Dude, you've got to check out this band Sleep Token… They're pretty cool".

I'd never heard the name before, but I'd listened to 'Hypnosis' and a couple of other songs from the band's second album, 'This Place Will Become Your Tomb', to see what they were like.

Hitting play for the first time, I was caught off guard. You hear the guitar and these slamming instrumentals and instantly you think, 'This is about to fucking kick ass'. You're so sure that the vocalist is about to come in with some gnarly screaming, but then you hear this man singing, and he's singing so beautifully. I didn't see it coming at all, and as soon as I heard it, I knew that it was exactly what I needed to hear.

At the start of a long drive that I had to make on my own, I hit play on 'This Place Will Become Your Tomb' from the beginning for the first time. As the record began with 'Atlantic', I was vibing to the sound of the music, but as it rolled through each track I started to get more and more caught up in this incredible sonic journey. By the time it was over, I realised that I'd been on this emotional roller coaster of love, pain, happiness, sadness and nostalgia.

Boom, that was it - I was hooked on that album. Every single song on that record was so freaking incredible to me, and I needed to know more about Sleep Token. Believing that my friend and I were the only people in on this hype, I spoke about it to my band one day, and they said to me, "You need to listen to 'Sundowning'!" I was so mad that they knew about this band the whole time, and nobody ever told me, but I went back and listened to Sleep Token's first album like they suggested.

I remember thinking it was very different. It's not as polished, but it's very dynamic and so beautiful. I think it definitely says something when you can see the progression of a band from just their first and second albums. From then, I knew they were onto something incredible.

It feels like more and more people have been catching onto that hype over the last year, and now it seems as though their name is impossible to ignore. I remember when they released 'The Summoning' at the start of 2023, the day after they'd released 'Chokehold', it felt like it all went crazy. They had something like 4-million hits on that song in just two days, and now, it's got over 70-million plays on Spotify. It was the beginning of a huge explosion for Sleep Token, and the first time I heard it, I was genuinely confused by it. It's so ridiculously versatile, and on my first few listens I felt like the super jazzy outro didn't fit at all, but the more I listened the more it began to click. I remember at the time I showed it to Elizabeth Zharoff, a vocal coach from The Charismatic Voice, and the outro was immediately one of her favourite parts.

She's from a completely other world of music, so to hear her approval showed me how capable Sleep Token were of reaching people outside of the metal scene.

I might not listen to metal music anymore, but Sleep Token are revitalising heavy metal. It brings back the nostalgia that I felt when I was a little kid listening to this type of music for the first time and being like, 'Holy shit, what is this? This is so cool'. I had started to lose that feeling over the years, but every time I listen to these songs, all those emotions come flooding back. In my opinion, there's no band out there that sounds like them - and that's a truly impressive feat.

Merging metal with pop, R&B, and rap influences, and bridging all these different gaps that many artists have historically been afraid to explore, there's something here for so many types of music fans. For a long time, metal bands have been putting themselves in a box. There's been this idea that a metal band needs to be heavy, that you need to have a breakdown in every song, and that you need to tick all the boxes in order to succeed. It's been so refreshing to see the evolution of the genre over the last few years, and to see bands like Sleep Token bring all these different sounds to the forefront of metal.

It brings a whole bunch of unique people into the fold. People love to say that metal is dying, but it's music like this that keeps it alive. It doesn't just move the scene forward, it expands it.

Now, there are all these people who didn't listen to metal before listening to Sleep Token. R&B and pop fans are coming into this as fans of Vessel's singing voice and hearing all these metal influences along the way. The second verse of 'Take Me Back To Eden' has this great rap-inspired singing part, and it's these little things that speak to different people in different ways. All of this feeds into our community in some crazy way, shape, or form. It's welcoming people into a genre that they may never have been exposed to otherwise, and I think that s a beautiful thing.

As a vocalist, one thing in particular that draws me to Sleep Token is Vessel's voice. I have always been a screamer, but I've always wanted to be a singer at the same time. I always practise on the side of Lorna Shore, but in my mind I'm like, 'This isn't very good. My voice is not fit for metal at all, as far as singing goes'. When I first heard Sleep Token though, one of the first things I noticed was that Vessel and I have a very similar range. Hearing him lay down all of these incredible parts, it makes me realise that I can actually sing metal vocals.

Back when I first discovered them, I wanted to cover their songs in the hopes that more people would hear them. Now, I just want to cover them so that I can sing something that is in my range.

Obviously though, his voice is much more dynamic than mine because he's been polishing it for a very long time. He does a crazy vibrato and can switch between his head voice and chest voice super easily. It's crazy stuff, and as someone who has been a vocalist for so long, I can appreciate the techniques he's using. I love to hear the different ways he's able to blend his voice into the genre.

Another thing that makes his voice so unique is that it's so emotional. When I hear Vessel sing, I can truly feel the emotion behind his words. He might be this otherworldly figure singing about an ancient deity, but there's a distinct humanity to his vocals. You can sense his sadness and pain, and whether people realise it or not that draws a lot of people to Sleep Token's music. They're the band that you can listen to at two o'clock in the morning when you're driving down the road alone. They're the perfect companion for those moments where you're upset about something, and you just need to listen to something that feels like a release.

That's a beautiful thing, because when you write music, you want people to feel the same emotions that you're feeling when you're writing it. The way that Vessel translates all of that is so incredible, and it's arguably my favourite thing about the band. Between his vocals and the instrumentation behind them, you feel exactly what they want you to feel. Even before thinking about what I knew about Sleep Token, when we were thinking about what we wanted to do with Lorna Shore, that was the goal. We wanted to bring a little bit more emotion into heavy metal music, and now they've done that and brought the singing into it too. Metal's now even more emotional because of the way he uses his beautiful voice, and I think that's what this genre has needed for a long time.

The truth is, from the moment I first heard Sleep Token, I knew they were one of those bands. Between their studio quality, their musical skill, and their ability to conjure up their own lore to incorporate into the music, I could see that they had the potential to be something truly special, they just needed that little push.

As soon as they got that with 'The Summoning', that was it - they were taking over.

First impressions are a big thing, and I think 'This Place Will Become Your Tomb' will always be my favourite album because of the way I first connected with it, but 'Take Me Back To Eden' is phenomenal. They have been able to get all of their emotion out in so many new ways on those songs because there's even more happening from a musical perspective. They've managed to strike the balance between heaviness and beauty perfectly and that's what we strive to create with albums. The goal is to create an album you can sit with, front to back, and feel the waves of emotion. A record to let yourself feel those things, and an opportunity to sit in isolation whilst you experience that journey.

It's a feeling that's amplified within Sleep Token's live shows, and I was able to catch them at Blue Ridge Rock Festival in Virginia. Lorna Shore were also playing, and we had a meet and greet scheduled for that day. It was scheduled to take place from 7pm until 7:30pm, and Sleep Token's set started at 7:30pm. I was a little antsy, because I know that meet and greets always overrun by half an hour or so, and they were the band I was most desperate to catch.

I was sitting there, it was 7:29pm, and the meet and greet line was still as long as it had been when we'd started. I started to hear 'Chokehold' playing in the distance, and I felt so sad.

People online were messaging me to tell me that Sleep Token were playing, and I was like, 'I know! I can hear them, but I'm stuck here!'

That's where it started to set in how freaking massive Sleep Token were becoming. They're one of the biggest metal bands that I'm aware of right now, and there were so many people watching that set. They refer to their live shows as rituals, their fans are the congregation, and the stage as a place of worship. It's something that could easily seem tacky if a band did it with little consideration for the details, but they're so committed to what they do.

After about three minutes, as I heard 'Chokehold' coming to an end, I stood up and said, 'Alright everybody, I've got to go. I'm so sorry, but if you know me, you'll understand'. The people who come to our meet and greets know how much I love Sleep Token, so they were like, 'Dude, go!' I sprinted out of there, leaving the rest of the band still doing the meet and greet, and made my way over to the stage. I thought I was the only one who wanted to see their set, but ten seconds into running I turned around and saw Of Mice & Men's singer, Aaron Pauley, following me. We started running through this huge crowd together, and everybody was so excited. I'm not the type of guy to leave a meet and greet early, but I needed to witness that set. It was an act of true love!

Even when they post on Instagram after shows, the captions are always like, 'The ritual has been completed in Copenhagen'. They totally absorb themselves in the spiritual aspect, physically, visually, and sonically. It's a brand, and they completely own that brand. They've made it exactly what it is, and they stick to it.

When I saw them, they had four people onstage doing harmonies with them, and they just stood there in their cloaks.

They didn't move throughout the entire set, and I began to picture it as a church choir at the side of the ritual. The whole experience does feel super spiritual, and they don't just give 50 per cent to the theming, it's 100 per cent. People feel the emotion, see the way they embody this ideal, and hear this incredible music - and I think that's why people are so ready to absolve themselves in this spiritual moment.

Everybody has a different connection to every song because of the different things everyone goes through in life, but they get to experience all of that in a place where everybody else is feeling something too.

Vessel's vocals translate into their live experience so perfectly, too. His screams are even better live than they are in the studio, and he still sings beautifully, which is so impressive. I was genuinely doubtful that he was going to be able to hit all of those vibratos and do all the other crazy vocal work he does on the albums, but he hit every note. Sometimes, he doesn't even hit the notes that he does on the studio versions, but he hits another note that is equally as stunning. He's a true performer.

You can tell a lot about a band from their live performance, but as a band in the modern age you also have to put a lot of thought into your promotion. The way you come across on social media is important, and the way that people perceive you is largely down to how you come across online. That's why I've always been fascinated by Sleep Token choosing to keep the identities of their band members a secret, refusing to do interviews and placing the focus on their visual identity.

I definitely think that's played a part in their success, because it's allowed the music to take centre stage. I remember when I was first talking to the rest of Lorna Shore about Sleep Token, they told me about the lore behind the band and that the members are all anonymous. That was before 'The Summoning' came out, but since people have caught on there have been some serious investigative deep dives, so l'm pretty sure the internet has found out who Vessel is.

I didn't look that up though, because personally for me, I always really appreciated the fact that they were totally anonymous. I like the feeling that Vessel is just a voice in the ether. You can hear it, but you can't classify it as being the voice of any one person, it's just this intriguing mystery. I've heard a lot of people say that it reminds them of when they first got into Slipknot because when a lot of people I know first listened to that band, nobody knew who was behind the masks. They were just a bunch of dudes making music with no outside perceptions, but then obviously people found out. I think that Sleep Token have that similar allure for a whole new generation, but sadly for me that mystery was shattered when I met them after a show.

It was great to meet them, but I also really didn't want to know who they were. I loved not knowing and I think that the anonymous aspect of what they do plays such an important role in the impact they're having on the heavy metal world.

It's a bit of a double-edged sword because everyone wants to know their identities, but once you do know - you miss the anonymity.

There's something special about the way they're putting their music out into the world with no need for individual validation, and I think it takes a lot of guts and confidence in what you're creating to do what Sleep Token are doing.

Usually, you almost want everyone to know who's in the band, because often that helps push you forwards. If you have someone in your line-up who's been in a well-known band before, you want to use that name to get yourselves out into the scene more. Sleep Token aren't anybody, and that takes a lot of courage and humbleness to do. There's no predisposed idea of what their music is supposed to be or what it's going to be, and that's part of the magic.

It's something that also comes out in the lore, the symbolism, and the cryptic clues that Sleep Token scatter throughout everything they do. There are Reddit threads dissecting every single word in the songs and analysing each pixel within their visuals, but it's not something I've had the chance to fall into just yet.

When I first listened to 'This Place Will Become Your Tomb', I could only find one or two articles about Sleep Token online.

They were basic articles explaining the idea of the band and what they were trying to do, which I thought were cool, but I never really looked it up again.

Over the last year or so, it seems that these conversations have spiralled. People are coming up with these different ideas about the band's story, and there are all these hints appearing constantly. I don't know any of the Easter eggs yet. I'm still just fascinated by the music and their wicked aesthetics, but I love that they've got people talking. It's become this kind of community around the band, and as someone who grew up in this scene, seeing artists who are able to foster that feeling amongst fellow music fans is such an incredible thing.

I think that's one of the reasons why Sleep Token have been able to find success on such a wide level so quickly, because there's a constant conversation about them. If people aren't talking about their music, they're talking about the lore and the stories behind it, or they're talking about the potential identities of the band members. They have this perfect package in place that lends itself to a world class metal band, but they're achieving it at such an incredible speed.

They thought out every single element of this band before they even started, from how the melodies work with the vocals, to the emotion and the quality of the sound. A lot of people put out music that sounds like they're hitting a trash can, and whilst they might have really good singing over the top of it, you can't ignore that trash can. Sleep Token have got incredible production value though, which is even more impressive when you consider how versatile their sound is.

It's so well thought out that you hear new things in each song on every listen. If you listen to 'Take Me Back To Eden', the title track of their third album, there's an allusion to a particular part of 'Chokehold', and it's details like that which make their production so unique. They wanted to make sure that it came out perfect, and maybe - like all musicians I know - they think they could have made certain parts of it better in retrospect, but I honestly can't imagine how.

Between the versatility, the emotion that people feel when they listen to it, the heaviness, the quality, and the songwriting, Sleep Token don't cut any corners anywhere. That's why they're already playing these huge, career defining shows, and putting out music that's changing people's perception of heavy music as a whole. It's so exciting to be a Sleep Token fan, and I just want them to write even more mind-blowing music and play even bigger places because they truly deserve it.

The bigger the places that they play, the better they're going to sound live. They're already playing arenas over in the UK, and with the size of those venues I just know they're going to sound absolutely incredible. They're reaching heights much higher than most metal bands that I know, and the bigger they get, the better their production value is going to be all round.

'Take Me Back To Eden' only came out earlier this year, but I already can't wait to hear them put out more music. lf what we heard on album three is the direction that they're going in, I'm very optimistic to see what the future holds for Sleep Token. I imagine at one point, they're going to make it on the radio - and honestly it could happen sooner rather than later. I knew it when I first heard them, and I'm even more certain of it now - they're going to be huge.

#tumblr if you don't post this again after i've spent over two hours on this so help me istg #sleep token #sleep token worship #will ramos #lorna shore

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the-girl-in-the-high-castle · 1 year

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The absurdity and stupidity of all shitflix cancelations lies in one simple question: How many of those canceled shows have you actually heard of before they got canceled?

- Warrior Nun - never heard of it until the moment I started seeing its fans spamming every shitflix post. And that was its second season. It had two seasons, for fucks sake, and most of us have never heard of it. You wanna know whose fault that is? Let me give you a hint. No, it's not the viewing numbers.

- First Kill (or whatever its name is) - Never heard of it until, once again, I saw people complaining about the cancelation under shitflix posts. Once again, guess whose fault that is.

- Santa Clarita Diet - Never heard of it. Didn't even know it was canceled until it made it to the list of pissed of people counting how many of them they axed. Whose fault is that?

- Inside Job - Yeah, never heard of it until it got canceled. Also, canceled after they renewed it. Shitflix: guess we changed our minds.

- Archive 81 - Heard of it when the cancelation was announced.

- The OA - Remember just hearing about it through the fog, even though it came out years ago.

- Sense 8 - know about it only thanks to fans' videos and fanart. I don't remember shitflix ever mentioning it.

- Lockwood & Co - I know about it thanks to fans spamming posts asking for renewal news.

And the list goes on with, I assume, shows I have never heard of.

I've never seen any of these shows, but my open wound is 1899 that I believe got treated the dirtiest of them all.

I have heard of it two years before the premiere, thanks to a 50 seconds long teaser that got me patiently waiting for years because it was my cup of tea. It came from the people who proved themselves before by creating a critically acclaimed show that you can find on a top 10 list of greatest shows of all time. Those people have spent years developing a new filming technique for shitflix. What a way to say thank you.

8 out of 10 people around me have seen 1899. Those people haven't even seen GoT or LotR for fucks sake, the most famous show and movie ever, but they have seen 1899. But not because shitflix promoted it, but because people did.

There was zero promotion, zero cast interviews, zero mentions after the release. It was still watched and talked about by so many people. It has more viewing hours than their hit shows running for 3+ seasons put together. It's a show you can't just binge and forget, you have to actually turn your fucking brain on. It was released in the most busy time of the year, during the damn World Cup and winter holidays. It was still number one for weeks. It was given less than 30 days. They decided to cancel it before it even premiered. They deleted the trailer with 10+ million views from YT.

The same goes with other shows. I have seen zero cast interviews, zero promotion or mentions by their own platform and they still have loyal fan bases that didn't stop talking about them.

But then you have dogshit shows like the Night agent that is getting hyped by shtflix every single fucking day. Fake numbers, pumped up to get people to watch a generic, a hundred times seen before, piece of crap. It got more hype than fucking GoT, and yet I know zero people who have actually watched it. Yep, there is no one I know, in real life or online, that has actually watched this show. So you figure it out.

People who have watched the shows I've mentioned probably have the statistics for them, and have probably seen the viewing hours being blamed for it, which was bullshit.

The latest nail in the coffin was Lockwood & Co. They kept fans waiting for months, and then they announced the cancelation during Eurovision so that fans wouldn't be able to go viral about it because everyone talked about fucking Eurovision.

Shitflix has canceled 26 sci-fi/fantasy shows in the last 3 years. 26! Do you all remember when we couldn't even name 26 shows of all genres put together, let alone watch them?

What all these shows had in common is that they were original and more or less unique and creative, not something you can find at least 6 copies of in either streaming or network TV.

It's like they created all these shows just so they can cancel them, because they are doing their best to actually burn every trace they ever existed.

Shitflix is killing creativity in every form, but in the end, that will be their undoing.

#shitflix #1899 #1899 netflix #warrior nun #first kill #santa clarita diet #inside job #the oa #sense 8 #archive 81 #lockwood and co #fuck you netflix #i hope the writers strike will be their death

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incorrect-ikevamp-quotes · 6 months

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Comte 7th Birthday Story Event Translation

Hey everybody! Been a bit of a hectic month, but you know the hype never stops for Comte in this house. I've translated the first parts of this story, with more to come as soon as I complete the rest.

Without further ado, jpnese story event spoilers below:

One day, at the beginning of October, just as the signs of autumn were beginning to deepen-- I was enjoying tea time with Comte under the pavilion of the mansion. MC: There’s no mistaking it, clear skies and the sun high in the sky…it’s nearly autumn. Comte: Yes. It’s pure bliss to be able to have tea time outside on such a pleasant and sunny day. Comte, who was sitting across from me, suddenly frowns at the oncoming breeze. Comte: But the wind is a little chilly. Are you cold, MC? MC: No, I don’t mind it…[sneeze sfx] (! What a moment for me to sneeze of all times…) Comte: …

MC: I-I’m sorry. But really, I’m okay. He suddenly smiled and stood up as I anxiously tried to reassure him. Comte: --Don’t push yourself too hard. Comte, who moved to sit next to me, unfolded his coat and hugged me from behind to wrap me up in his warmth. MC: Th-thank you very much Comte: You’re welcome (It’s warm…) While I’m ticklishly happy and delighted, Comte spoke as if he had remembered something.

Literally????? That's so cute. No notes that is the sweetest thing I've ever witnessed. It's hilarious because as I was reading I was so 👀 why don't you warm her up, then, Comte. And then he immediately did and I was like AAAAAAAA BEST MAN!!!! KING!!!!!!

I have decided my new eternal location will be within Comte's coat, no I don't take criticism. This is my happy place

Comte: I’ve heard that my aristocratic friends have decided to hold a birthday party for me on October 25th this year. MC: Oh my, that’s wonderful Comte: If you don’t mind, I’d like to go with you Comte: --Will you stay by my side as my partner, MC? I couldn’t help the way my cheeks burned as he looked intently into my eyes. MC: If you’ll have me, then with pleasure When I nodded Comte beamed, his eyes sparkling with delight. Comte: Thank you, I’m looking forward to escorting you that day.

At the risk of calling him adorable 18 times in the course of this process, I will now be communicating telepathically--

(If it’s a party explicitly for him, it’ll probably be more luxurious than usual.) (If it’s on his birthday, I want to do something to celebrate him too…) What on earth should I do, what can I do to make Comte happy? (...there’s still some time. I’ll think it over.) It remained on my mind-- (What should I do? I was still mulling it over, despite his birthday only three days away…) (The time limit served to make me more anxious, and I couldn’t seem to think straight. As I walked down the hall worrying…) Leonardo: What’s wrong, cara mia? There’s a deep furrow in your brow

I love Leonardo so much sometimes, "ayo your face is all messed up, what's the matter?" this is just classic him, 11/10 never gets old

MC: Oh… Leonardo was walking by and stopped me, which was enough to make me come to my senses. (Yes, I might be able to get some good ideas from Leonardo…!) MC: Leonardo, could you give me some advice? Leonardo: Hm? I don’t mind… Leonardo blinked with surprise for a moment, before turning his face and smiling. Leonardo: Does cara mia’s problem…have something to do with ‘Comte’s’ birthday? MC: How did you… (Was it written all over my face?)

Oh MC, we really in it now--

As my voice lowered from the embarrassment of being seen through, Leonardo laughed with good humor. Leonardo: Actually, just a moment ago, Comte wouldn’t stop gushing about how excited he was to go to his birthday party with you. (Oh, I’m in love with you…) I was beyond happy--but also feeling shy about it--and all of a sudden I went pink from the neck up. Leonardo: So, what is it that you’re worried about? MC: …I wanted to be able to congratulate him in my own way, but given Comte is a man with everything at his fingertips I have no idea what to get him. I’ve been wracking my brain. MC: You’ve known him for a long time, haven’t you Leonardo? Can you give me some pointers? Leonardo: I see, that’s a very cute problem Leonardo laughed lightly as he answered.

Literally that part with MC where she goes (Oh, I'm in love with you...) had to be one of the funniest moments of identification I've ever had while playing an otome. The way she really went SOBS WAILS CRIES HE'S ADORABLE AAAAAAAA because g o d, same. I love how Comte is just that guy who gets married and is like HAVE YOU SEEN MY WIFE. I LOVE MY WIFE. WHERE'S MY WIFE--deadass it's like that one reddit guy meme (mywife is soft nd ilikeher...) from a while back.

I also think it's so cute that Leo's just watching all this from afar like ":> good for them." It just gave me such warm fuzzies!!

Leonardo: All I can say is Leonardo: Even if you have everything…that doesn’t necessarily mean you feel fulfilled/satisfied in every way possible. MC: huh… (What does he mean?) Leonardo squints his eyes a little at me when I tilt my head. He looks calm, but also like he’s looking somewhere far away. Leonardo: Why don’t you ask Comte what it was like, on his birthday, before he met you. (What was it like on his birthday before he met me…?) As I was deep in thought, Leonardo patted me on the shoulder as the corner of his mouth went up a little. Leonardo: Well, in the end, I think even if you don’t--he’ll be happy with whatever present you think of.

Honestly this is something that's frequently on my mind, and really timely in the context of the 5th bday story that just came out. Because I really do think Comte values sincerity of feeling and consideration for him a whole lot more than he does anything material. I've also been thinking about his upbringing and how it created a basis for that feeling, a kind of vacuum in his interactions with the world--in which a buried and silenced yearning keeps resurfacing despite his best efforts to smile and keep moving. Namely because he met people and had mentors who were earnest and heartfelt in their care for him, who raised him like a human child. Then he was more or less told at like 12 with zero warning: yeah you're never going to feel that again. Perform to survive and that's the most you'll ever get out of life. (Fellas...)

How to broach the topic. On the one hand, I could see how this is a reflection of a warped understanding--arguably even a kind of deeply embodied hopelessness--that his family/other purebloods imbued into him. But on the other, I can't help but feel that's just so many levels of effed up. It's not really hard to imagine how Comte lost himself, became so conflicted and distanced from his own desires. It's interesting too, because when Vlad tells him in the main story route "So you’re not going to do anything, as usual?…You’ve always been uncertain and indecisive, Comte…Even when you lost ‘her’ during the war…" and more or less goads him, I don't think I fully appreciated the meaning behind Comte's silent answering wrath at the implication. Because to be honest, Vlad was hitting an extremely sensitive point; that Comte wants more, but genuinely struggles acting on it with confidence because of his experiences and conditioning.

One thing I love about Ikevamp is that it is quintessential good writing in the sense that, even years later, I go back and I see dimensions to what's been said/felt and more layers of nuance than I'd ever imagined. Certainly Vlad's sentiment is insensitive on the surface level: he's making light of someone who died horribly, someone who died unjustly, in front of someone who felt real love for that person's life. But even deeper than that, Vlad's mocking a profound insecurity and point of prolonged pain for Comte that he struggles to talk about with much of anyone. To know that, and to use something so deeply private, is like the twist of a knife already embedded beneath the skin. It's no wonder Comte has a moment where he's inches from retaliating against his better judgment.

I feel like I also identify with this notion of feeling like something is deeply wrong, but not having the scope to be able to fully understand why or how to break away from it. I find it really realistic that Comte needed time and input from others to move away from that conditioning, to start seeing the world in a different light. Maybe even more apt, it all started with an act of courage; messy, well-meaning, imperfect--but true to who he wanted to be for the first time in his long life.

As I was spending time with Comte later that night, I couldn’t get Leonardo’s words out of my mind the entire time… Comte: --MC. [the way i hid my face STOP READING MY MIND S I R] Suddenly, Comte looked over from where he was sitting next to me. Comte: You look like there’s something’s weighing on your mind…did something happen? MC: Well… At the sound of his gentle probing, I find the courage to ask. MC: Earlier today, I was talking to Leonardo about attending the birthday party. Along the way I started to wonder what it was like for you on your birthdays before we met. MC: Could you please tell me about your birthday…before you met me?

Okay but like. I am seriously such a sucker for a couple knowing each other long enough where they just. Glance at the other and are like "aight wtf happened." It's beautiful. 100/10 hits every single time. No notes, poetic cinema.

I also love this sensibility between them where they're very good at giving each other some time to process things first. Like I can think of so many instances where Comte knew something was wrong immediately, but he waited to bring it up out of respect for her 🥺💜

Comte: … He blinked a little in surprise, but then his face clouded. Comte: …my birthday, before I met you? Comte: It’s such a boring/trifling story it wouldn’t even be worth telling as a bedtime story. MC: I’d still like to know…please, if you could tell me. I stared at him, and he let out a small sigh after I asked. Comte: --What I’m going to tell you now, it was a long time ago. Comte: There were many, many occasions in which other aristocrats threw big birthday parties for me.

Okay, I wanna talk about this mainly because I was so genuinely shocked by his sheer...vehemence? And self-derision regarding who he perceives he used to be. Because I feel like he usually just tries to elide it, or make light of it--not the visceral contempt here that startled me. In some ways, I feel like it might be because he feels more comfortable expressing the extent of his unhappiness with how his life used to be, and that's a good thing. On the other--;-;. I just want to hug him so bad...Comte don't deride the man I love, he's doing his best and is very special to me and lovely 😭

(Flashback begins) --Music plays at a spectacular venue and various meals were provided to entertain people dressed to the nines. Comte, who was the star of the night, was surrounded by many gorgeous women… Noble’s daughter: Congratulations, Comte Noblewoman: Congratulations! Blessings, mountains of gifts, and laughter echoes throughout the venue. At first glance, it did indeed look like a gorgeous birthday party, but in reality it was just a pretense. (No matter who I look at, this place reeks of barely disguised avaricious ambition.) No matter how many well wishes I receive in a place where such vapid desires swirl, my heart will never be satisfied-- Comte: While it may have been a birthday party, ultimately everyone was there for the sake of my wealth, status, and power…. Comte: --No matter how gorgeous the evening party, every corner of the room dripping in vanity left my heart more unsatisfied than ever.

Literally I am torn between two feelings. The first being, oh Abel. King. You would have loved My Chemical Romance, you were robbed as a young vampire. Second, the sheer unabating passion I feel for his emo dismissal of their vapidities is enough to make me explode. Comte I want you carnally. There's something very real and hilarious about even rich people hating other rich people that makes me wheeze.

(To be fair, there were likely a few decent folk among them as it often happens in any demographic of people--I just think it's very growing pains mood to kind of lose hope in others. We all have that phase.)

MC: … I was speechless, and kept staring at him in silence. His profile took on a blank, empty look; it was hard to believe he was talking about his own birthday party. Just looking at that expression makes my heart tighten… Comte: On the surface, I made an effort to look like I was enjoying myself. But deep down it just wasn’t the case-- Comte: With one of my pureblood friends, I accidentally let it slip when I was talking to him that same night. Comte: I feel so…empty (returns to the flashback)

Not the dissociation taking over, king 😭😭😭😭😭😭

Although this next part gets so unhinged I was literally screaming, it's a miracle Comte is some degree of normal after exposure to whatever the hell this is.

Pureblood friend: In that case, it might do you some good to fall in love. It would be nice to fall in love with another pureblood…but it would be especially nice with a human. Falling in love with a human will fill your heart with more warmth than ever before. Comte: Why would you go to the trouble of falling in love with a human…? Pureblood friend: They are truly beautiful, incandescent in the short lives that they live. They have the spark of life that we lack. I was intrigued by the “love that transcends kind” that my friend talked about so enthusiastically-- Comte: And what happened to that human lover…? Pureblood friend: …We broke up My friend shrugged his shoulders, looking rather sad. Pureblood friend: I knew I couldn’t stay by her side forever. So I said goodbye before it became too hard. Pureblood friend: Besides, if we stayed together for too long, people would eventually realize who we really are. We are different creatures, after all. Comte: …I see. [he looks so openly upset about this ;HDSGLKHDJFGHLKSJH] Pureblood friend: But I have no regrets. Even if it was only for a short while, I was able to love someone so deeply.

Where do I even begin with this one. What kind of advice is this.

Comte: feeling the existential dread more acutely with each passing day. will the emptiness ever end? His friend: go have a human fling and that'll make everything better. just let someone else fix you

He really said "bestie it's time for hot girl summer" and I really just don't know what to say here. Like. Please don't try this at home????? That is not remotely the correct answer but also that's lowkey so insane it loops right back around to being uproariously funny. The absurdist humor just writes itself here honestly.

This is what people mean when they say those born rich and powerful are just severely out of touch with basic tenants of humanity.

I’m torn between feeling disappointed, but also understanding where he’s coming from. No matter how hot the flame of love burns--it takes but a moment to extinguish between purebloods and human people. (No, it’s not limited to love…that’s how it always is, with humans. Every interaction is destined to end sooner or later.) Every time it happens, I feel the sadness pile up in my heart. How long will I go on living like this? The only answer I ever get is that it’s eternally inevitable. I lived in fear of that loneliness, seeking to avoid it by indulging in momentary pleasures-- (End of flashback) Comte: I figured the day I would feel fulfilled would never truly come… Comte: I lived as I pleased, such was the nature of my decadent birthdays.

Rest assured, Comte demonstrates how much he took this advice with a grain of salt throughout this event--which is honestly something I love so much about him. It's clear he really only agrees on the level of how difficult it is to be close to humankind, not really the idea that flings are the universal stopgap to his despair. I do think it's true we need support from others to grow and change, but I don't think this nuance is quite captured by his pureblood friend. I think Comte felt it didn't serve as an answer that was satisfactory to him, so he did what made him feel safe until he could understand how to act on what he wanted.

MC: Oh… I get a glimpse of him as he was all those years ago, buried in the emptiness of his past. I naturally hugged him close to me where I was sitting beside him. Comte: MC… Comte murmured in surprise, wrapping his arms around me and stroking my back. Comte: …While I was reminiscing about my birthday, it seems I got a bit carried away with the conversation.

EVERYBODY SAY THANK YOU MC FOR HUGGING COMTE, BECAUSE GOD SAME. THIS POOR MAN :(( 💜💜💜💜

Comte: You can rest assured. It’s already a thing of the past, that I would spend each birthday mired in such dissatisfaction. MC: Then, what about now…? When I looked up, even from this close proximity his eyes only reflected me. Comte: --my thoughts from that time have changed ever since I met you. He touches my cheek and strokes it as if to seek out my warmth. Comte: 'Even if I fall in love, this emptiness will never be filled…' Comte: What’s more, I’ve given up on the idea that it’s futile to fall in love with a human, that I would only suffer from the distance between us… Comte: MC, you’re the one who changed everything for me.

Screaming, crying, wailing, barking, etc.

But also I feel something so real and raw in the idea that he was just tired of being forced to hide all his life. The earnest yearning for someone who can love and accept you as you are, rather than for all that you feel you have to be. The difference between love that is perpetually conditional, versus unconditionally gifted in perpetuum.

MC: Me…? Comte: Yes Comte smiled and looked up gently, leaning closer. Comte: I met you, and I fell in love with you from the bottom of my heart. Comte: In you, I found meaning in building up the “present” that we share together, accumulating into eternity. When I closed my eyes, soft lips pressed against mine lovingly. Comte: …you filled up the emptiness in my heart. The shadow that had crept into his eyes vanished just as quickly as it had emerged, filling me with relief. (“Even if you have everything, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re satisfied with it all.”...) (I think I finally understand what Leonardo was getting at…) When this occurred to me, something came to mind that I wanted to give him for his birthday…--

--It was the day of Comte’s birthday celebration. We were heading over to the party. Comte dressed me in fineries, from dresses to jewelry to accessories, for today. MC: Thank you for such a wonderful dress and accessories… Comte: It was my pleasure, thank you for indulging my selfishness. Comte: I was especially excited to dress you up to my liking, tonight. Comte, who was sitting across from me, narrowed his eyes that were tinged with love. Comte: You look stunning, every bit as much as I thought you would. It’s going to be a challenge keeping you away from everyone who falls madly in love at the sight of you, once again.

MC: Th-there’s no one like that, don’t be silly Comte: Yes there is. In fact, he’s sitting right in front of you…a man who sees only you. When I looked down, shy from all the words of praise and his unabashedly passionate gaze, the stone on my bracelet caught my eye. (This is…) I didn’t notice it when I was changing into everything, but when the setting sun’s light shone against it, the stone turned the same amber color as Comte’s eyes--a sparkling gold. At the same moment, the carriage came to a halt. Comte: It appears we’ve arrived. Now, MC, allow me to escort you. --When we entered the venue, everyone was already gathered and waiting for our arrival. The eyes of the guests turned toward us in unison. Aristocratic woman: Comte! Happy birthday! Daughter of a noble family: You look very handsome tonight, Comte! Just like the story he recounted to me of birthdays past, many beautiful women began to gather around Comte. However, Comte’s eyes were on me…. Comte: Come here, MC

"He's sitting right in front of you...a man who sees only you."

However, Comte's eyes were on me...... "Come here, MC"

S T O P KING, it's a wonder MC didn't disintegrate from the attention, I know I would straight up perish 😭🥺💜

#ikevamp #ikemen vampire #ikevamp comte #ikevamp saint germain #the way this story made me melt even more than ever before #leo's fondness to see them so happy together #mc giddy with comte's open affection and her real desire to reciprocate #comte's earnest love for mc and deep internal conflict #literally every moment comte is tender like this i think i gain actual years of life #splendid breathtaking extraordinairy perfect in every way humanly imaginable #i will die on this hill #and god dont even get me started on the next few parts im going to scream #he is so much. SO MUCH.#comte propaganda #fangdad propaganda #baguettosaurus #like i know he's always s o sweet on mc and that's wonderful and it makes me so happy #but i am ECSTATIC that we finally get to comfort and love him in return A U G H THANK GOD

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sabo-has-my-heart · 10 months

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Hi hi!

I saw you open for request and I want to drop something for our donut/ mochi man kata.

We all know his scarf in the anime but how did he get it? So I was thinking if you could maaaaaybe make something that his girlfriend gave it to him, seeing how his Former one being >loved<, but is between happy and sad.

Sad, that He has to hide his face but happy, knowing she is the only one allowed to see?

That would be so sweet 🥰🥰

Yes, I'm still currently open for requests. As a note, there is a bit of crack/comedy towards the end. I thought it would be fun and it would tie up the ending nicely. I hope it's okay.

Warnings: WCI spoilers, Brulee getting hurt, minor crack

Word Count: 1220

It had been years ago that he’d first put the scarf on, so long that most people didn’t remember what he looked like under it. Some of the few people who remembered were Brulee, Oven, Daifuku, and Perospero. There were a few others in his family that remembered, but not many. There was, however, one person outside his family that remembered what he looked like. A little girl, about his age, who’d had a crush on him. Most people mocked him for his ‘eel-like’ mouth. His mouth that could stretch, his sharp teeth and scars. But he hadn’t cared, hadn’t cared until they’d hurt Brulee. The bullies had gotten revenge on him by hurting his sister.

Running up to a young, 9-year-old Katakuri, you smiled. As with every morning, you held out a box of homemade donuts for him. Your parents ran a bakery so every morning, no matter what the day looked like, you would give him a box of 6 donuts. It’s how the two of you had met. He’d heard of your parents’ bakery and decided to see what all the hype was about. It had been well worth the trip, finding that the donuts were some of the most delicious he’d ever had. When he’d walked up to the counter to tell your parents, they’d just smiled and called you in. It had been your first ever batch. Granted, you’d gotten a lot of help from your parents in making the dough, shaping it correctly and, of course, frying it, but you’d still been so proud of yourself. Being so young, you hadn’t cared what he looked like as you ran over and hugged him. You’d been 7 and he’d been 8. From that day on, he visited as often as possible until you started bringing them to him every morning. But more importantly, you were always the one who’d made the ones he ate.

Whenever he was free, he spent time with you. As the second son of Big Mom, there were certain expectations of him, but he saw you as often as possible. You’d also gotten to know his little sister, Brulee. You loved the little girl, often hugging her whenever you saw her. Your crush on him grew and grew, even as a little girl, finding that he was particularly kind to you. While he could be cold or even mean to others, he was always kind to you. When you’d heard about what had happened to Brulee, you’d been horrified, instantly running to the girl to see how she was doing. She’d been laying in a hospital bed, her face bandaged, but still smiling. It was a sad, pained smile, but she was clearly trying to be strong.

Once you’d found out about who had done it, you’d approached Katakuri. He’d been furious. So much so that he’d very nearly hit you as you approached him, stopping at the last second as he realized it was you. He told you about how he wanted to protect his family from now on, about how he needed to get stronger, how he needed to find a way to make sure that the bullies didn’t attack his family in order to attack him. His only solution was to hide his face. They’d attacked Brulee to get back at Katakuri, they’d wanted to get back at Katakuri for beating them up. They’d only harassed Katakuri for his mouth, meaning his mouth was the problem. You’d disagreed, but knew you couldn’t change his mind, so you’d asked him to give you 2 weeks. For the entire 2 weeks, you’d done nothing but work on the item. You didn’t make donuts, you only left the house to check on Brulee, all you did was sit there working on it. Finally, you’d presented him with the gift. A scarf, black with white fur lining. Wrapping it around him, it covered his mouth, hiding it away.

You hated that he was intent on hiding his face away, that he wouldn’t ever show his face to anybody ever again, but it was okay. It was okay because it meant that you could give him the most meaningful gift you’d ever given anyone. Hours and hours of sewing by hand, making sure each and every stitch was perfect, that each centimeter of the scarf was perfect. That was the day he’d first shown you how he felt about you. He’d pulled down the scarf just enough to show his mouth, placing a gentle kiss on your cheek before pulling the scarf back up. You soon became the only one allowed to see his full face.

At first, his meriendas were taken in his room, the both of you locked away in his room as he enjoyed his treats. You’d nibble on a single donut that he always gave you, being the only person he’d ever share a donut with and you’d let him lay his head in your lap, making his meriendas all the more enjoyable. If he wasn’t in the middle of singing it, you’d often hum his donut song while nibbling on your own donut, bringing him more peace and contentment. While you were still sad that he had to wear the scarf, it was made better by the knowledge that you were the only one who got to see his face. As he got older, grew in size, you’d make him a new scarf to fit him properly as needed and each time it was just as special as the first. Every scarf you’d ever made him was carefully hung in his closet, hidden away from the world, just like his mouth, but kept close to his heart. He’d asked you out on a date a couple of years after you gave him the scarf, becoming your actual boyfriend. He’d made a special house of mochi, the first time he’d successfully done so, and had the chefs bring in a fine dinner. The two of you had enjoyed a sweet dinner together.

It soon became a rumor that he didn’t relax even during his meriendas, that Katakuri used it as ‘intense concentration’ and ‘nutritional intake’. At first it had taken everything you had to not laugh, knowing how Katakuri truly spent his time. You’d been asked a few times what it was like to join Katakuri during his meriendas, to be allowed to witness such a sacred moment. You’d thought it would be funny to further the rumor, saying that he communed with the gods of battle, that it was such a divine moment that even the heavens bathed him in a holy glow!... Katakuri hadn’t been amused. While you’d never thought of Katakuri as petty, he’d managed to get his payback. Saying that the time was sacred to you both. That you had been blessed by the gods of battle, that you were his oracle and blessed icon. From then on, you both spent his meriendas together, not that you minded. You were more than happy to join him during such a ‘sacred moment’ as his ‘holy idol’. More than happy to be the only one to see his handsome face, to see him truly enjoying himself. It was sad that he couldn’t show his face, but it was okay, because it was a special, rare, and ‘sacred’ moment meant only for you.

#one piece #one piece kata #one piece katakuri #op katakuri #katakuri x reader #katakuri #katakuri charlotte x reader #charlotte katakuri x reader #charlotte katakuri #katakuri charlotte #wci spoilers

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decafdoodlez · 2 months

Note

Have you played any other Yandere dating sims? Like BTD/TPof but not those, if you haven’t I think you should check out some of these if you have time and want to ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ Broken Colors, John Doe, Something’s Wrong with Sunny Day Jack, Mushroom Oasis and My dear hatchet man (honorable mention 14 days with you) I just think these are really cool games and they’re like btd/topf. there are tons more yandere dating sims I think are super cool too! ✨🥺✨

I’ve played a few, but not many!

When I was much younger about 10 years ago, I think the first dating sim I ever played was this indie otome called “Seduce Me” on steam. I’m not too certain if I remember there being yandere elements to it, but I thought it would be worth the mention, haha!

The one I’m for sure had yandere elements was the otome, Amnesia! One of the dateable candidates, Toma, locks you in a cage, and I think that ultimately made me change into the person I am today and shaped my taste in questionable men, sahjfkhfkasfkjlf. There was another bachelor in the game that stalked you too if I remember correctly, and I was drawn to him as well, haha.

But in all honesty, I’m still very new to yandere dating sims!! I only just dipped my toes into it with BTD/TPoF this past October! So I am still essentially a baby to the murdersim/horrorsim genre. As I mentioned in a previous post, I have played a bit of Lover’s Trophy, but that and BTD/TPoF has been the extent of my VN library so far! I have however heard of at least most of the games you listed, so I will HAVE to check them out soon to see what all the hype is about. 🤍✨ Something’s Wrong with Sunny Day Jack has got me the most curious, but I will need to bookmark the rest you listed!

If I can add one more indie Yandere dating sim to your list, another one I want to try is Symptoms of Deceit! I’ve become recent mutuals with the creator and I have been meaning to check out their demo on itch.io, I can tell they put a lot of love into the game, story, and characters, and I would love to see them do well with it and succeed! 🤍✨

Please check it out if you can! :D 🤍 -> https://strawberrysquid0.itch.io/symptoms-of-deceit

Thank you so much for the recommendations! 🫶

#decaf answers #yandere #symptoms of deceit #BTD #TPoF #swwsdj #john doe #mdhm #mushroom oasis #14 days with you

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vikenticomeshome · 1 month

Text

Cyberchase - The "What's Hacker's Secret?" content (part 2)

Alright, let's try this again. Here is the second part of the content that was promoting the "Transformatron" arc. We can see an issue of Cyberspace News here. The main story is Buzz and Delete being interviewed about Hacker's upcoming plans. They know nothing. We knew this already.

I'm going to transcribe the interview in full.

What's Hacker's Secret? Sam Vander Rom's EXCLUSIVE Interview with Buzz & Delete

Sam: Buzz and Delete, you're the Hacker's henchmen. His simpering sidekicks. How come you're talking to me?

Delete: Well, the boss isn't talking to us much these days. We're lonely.

Buzz: Yeah, he's always shut up in his secret lab. ays we can't come in. That we'll ruin everything.

Sam: Maybe you guys should talk to that Cybertv talk show host Dr. Bill. He's good at helping people.

Delete: We should do that, Buzzy!

Buzz: Yeah, maybe we should, Dee-dee.

Sam: So what do you think Hacker's doing in his secret lab?

Delete: I think maybe he's making something.

Sam: Like what?

Buzz: Maybe a machine. He's always hammering and it sounds like he's putting stuff together.

Sam: Interesting. A new Hacker contraption.

Delete: Remember, Buzzy, how he got so excited when he found all those tiny bits of paper? He made me go get some tape. Then he taped them all together.

Buzz: Yeah, that's right, Dee-dee. The paper had a picture of a big machine. Like they were plans or something.

Sam: What does this new machine do?

Delete: Maybe it makes donuts, Buzzy! You'd like that.

Buzz: I dunno. I think it's more important-like. The boss is a pretty smart borg. I bet it'll do something no one's seen before.

Delete: We better not say anymore. The boss might get mad!

Sam: You heard it here first, folks. The Hacker's up to no good! This reporter fears we'll see a new Hack Attack very soon! The interview with Buzz and Delete ends

I think The Hacker would have been okay with this interview. Buzz and Delete really just served to hype up his latest invention, while giving no useful information about how to stop it.

Anyway, I'll transcribe Erica Ram's piece about Slider and his missing dad.

Personal & Up Close by Erica Ram

Heartbreak Kid

There is no sadder story in Cyberspace than the tale of a teenborg from Radopolis named Slider. His father, the brilliant and talented Coop, was forced to flee his home years ago after a disagreement with who else - that old meanie Hacker. Coop hasn't been seen or heard from since, but we have it on good authority that young Slider is still looking for his dad. "If anyone can find him, it's Slider," said our source. When reached at his garage for comment, Slider said, "I'll find my dad some day, and that's a promise!" Good luck, Slider! We're all rooting for you!

Erica Ram's article ends

I would have used a stronger term than "meanie", given that The Hacker forced Coop to abandon his son. I'm still surprised that Cyberchase went that hard back then.

Anyway, I figure I should transcribe the other articles as well as the in-universe advertisements.

Penguin Hockey Hoopla

By Olli

Penguin hockey season is about to begin! Hockey hopefuls have been lining up at try-outs all across Cyberia. In Penguia, Coach Bluewing says he's happy to have Flash back for another season. "She's got the best aim in Cyberspace," he said. A bright young fan named Fluff said he wanted to play penguin hockey because "it's the best sport ever!"

The hockey article ends

Health Watch for Borgs & Bots By Dr. Marbles

Borgs & bots are warned that there have been many reports of late about magnetite. This mineral is very dangerous and can have strange and unpredictable effects. Everyone gets different glitches. Some borgs and bots lose their memory. Others break out in spots like chicken pox. I have even heard it can make you grow old or give you big feet. Everyone is urged to proceed with caution around magnetite.

The Health Watch article ends

Spoilers, magnetite exposure caused Coop to age into an old man, though he is able to be put back to normal with the cure. I really need to do a separate post about Coop's long exile. Magnetite causes Slider's feet to grow to a massive size, which is great for The Hacker, as it stops Slider from being able to lift his foot to kick his ass.

I'll transcribe the four in-universe ads at the bottom.

Ad #1

Special Cryoxide Sale Today!

Buy a case, get 1 can free!

Call Mr. Cryoxide

Ad #2

Ms. Fileshare is pleased to announce that Chef Digit Le Boid will be at the Cybrary tomorrow to sign copies of his new cookbook, Chef Digit Le Boid's Party Planner.

Coming soon

Manny the Medium reads from his new book Mysteries of the Manatee.

Ad #3

Aquari-Yum Picnic

All are welcome to the Prince's Picnic in Aquari-Yum next Saturday. It will take place on Hot Dog Hill. Cybersquad superstars Matt, Jackie and Inez are expected to attend, said Stringie, close friend to the Crab Prince.

Ad #4

Wanted: 1 bunny

I will love him and keep him and call him George.

Signed, Delete.

And that's all for the ads.

I like what they did here. It covers all of the important points for the series of episodes in this arc, and it doesn't spoil anything. We just get hints.

We're going back to Penguia for hockey tryouts

The Hacker is building some grand machine in his secret lab

Buzz and Delete are going to be on Dr. Bill due to The Hacker not having any time for them

Cryoxide is going to factor in again

We're heading back to Aquari-yum to meet the Crab Prince

The magnetite is going to come back in style

We're going to meet Slider's missing dad

#cartoon #cyberchase #inez #2000s #jackie #matt #nostalgia #pbs kids #digit #2000s childhood #What's Hacker's Secret?#longpost #archived web content

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cerakuro · 7 days

Note

what did u think of the digimon tri movies if u dont mind me asking guys (゜゜;)

hmmm. i’ve been a digimon fan for as long as i can really remember, so when i first heard the movies were coming out i had been beyond hyped!!!!!! i even bought the first two movies for myself to watch and tried to force my sister to watch them as well. and i think i’ll always be able to appreciate tri for the things it brought with it as tri has some of the most beautiful promotional art i’ve seen, and I still listen to a bunch of the character songs. eternal puzzle and WHICH are STILL some of my favourite digimon songs that i’ll always hold dear. and hearing the all cast version of butterfly is able to make me cry almost every time i listen to it. but….…. i really can’t say i enjoy tri at all haha

i’m trying to say this in a really civil way lol but i can’t say i’m a fan. if you had asked me this like…. three years ago or so i would have had some choice words to say about the series for “ruining” everything but i’ve now just kind of accepted and ignore its existence because in the end, it really doesn’t matter. i can just not watch it if i don’t like it. but in general, it doesn’t make sense when you put it along with where any of the character’s development that we saw in 02, the cast has mostly regressed or have been turned into something unrecognizable. and i don’t mean that in a light way. characters like mimi or sora were especially done bad. i will always hold a grudge against it for that

digimon adventure as a series was built off of the fact that the characters themselves were so strongly written and the series was able to very competently convey multiple darker and complex topics. despite that incredibly foundation, tri misunderstood the adventure series at its very core in almost every aspect. lore wise, it doesn’t make sense. character wise, even less so. whenever i tell people to watch the digimon adventure series i almost always tell them to skip over tri because of how much it confuses things up and to avoid people’s perceptions of characters getting muddied by tri

i’ve spent a long time being upset about it, but like!!!! it is what it is. reading the production notes of tri, it’s been easier to understand how things got as messed up as they are. they really wanted to make a good series but revision after revision messed things up. so i’ve learnt to be more forgiving with the series, but in my eyes it kind of exists as a separate thing altogether

a lot of other people have been able to explain the issues with tri way better than i ever could. i can recommend @/shihalyfie in particular for incredibly in depth analysis and summaries on the issues with the series that i think about a lot. including being able to see more on the behind the scenes stuff that u don’t normally get. check them out if you’re curious!

but yeah <:) all that is to say…. i can’t say tri is my favourite series

#asks #not art

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pokequirks · 12 days

Text

idol

todoroki shoto x idol!fem!oc

synopsis: katsuki getting serious, trip to korea and his concerns.

word count: 3.2k

warnings: none.

note: oc is at least 2-3 years older than shoto, however i do not mention it hehe. hope u like it.

Todoroki trained alone, he would do it in complete silence until he started wearing those headphones that Jiro recommended to him some time ago. He liked music, his only problem was that speakers often burned down or completely frezzee. Having the headset was so much better.

Being the quiet man he is, he often just puts on any playlist with the most girly song. However, he did like to listen to some songs on repeat. The songs from that girl group that he someday came across were his favorites. And she was the member he liked the most.

He remembers the first time he saw her. It was a video of one showcase of her gruoup; mesmerizing light blue eyes and a pair of short white fangs showing with her smile, gracefull dance and stable vocals during her time on camera. The perfomance ended with her in the center, white ribbons around her body making the scene even more ethereal, an irreproachable ending fairy. Shoto was left speachless.

He had turned into a pro hero, making his debut at the ninth place of hero ranking, not so long he was obligated to attend a variety show as a special guest in order to increase his acceptance, he was glad some of his former school classmates were attending the show.

"So, guys, do you have some ideal type or celebrity crush?"

"Nymphia," he said directly.

Red Riot, Deku, Charge bolt and Dynamight agreed she was pretty, just like everyone would. Next day, the internet was full with news and forums commenting about the variety show and the revelation of the hero. Fans shipped the hero and the idol, some even gave Shoto merch during patrol or any sort of encounter with him.

When the hero ranking came out he had turned into thrird place and just a year later, after the shipp hype went off, he keeped that place.

Now, he patrolled every so often, reserving some of his time to investigate underground criminals. Doing his patrols was nothing out of the ordinary, people saluting him, others asking for an autograph and every so often some high schooler would give him some photocard of Nymphia. He gratefully took it and when he arrived at his house he put it on a designated album for his repeats. Since he already had every photocard and every version avaliable...

There was some problem when he heard someone screaming 'thief!' from the café down the street, It was his surprise when he arrived at the place and saw the already known couple of white ribbons all over the thief.

"Please give it back, I have some important things in it" Soft voice speaking.

"Uh... y-yeah, sure" the thief handed the bag and the person with the ribbons offered him a coffee. "Not really, I think I should go..."

"Sorry, sir..."

"Shoto!"

"I think you should come with me to the police station" The hero said. The owner of the ribbon quirk put down their sunglasses.

"He already gave me my bag and I don't want to press charges, I'm sure he learned he should not steal from people," Smile with short fangs "Let me invite you a milkshake and cheesecake".

"A-Ah sure..."

And now he was on the second floor of the café, chocolate milkshake and oreo cheesecake for him, and strawberry milkshake and cheesecake for her. Somehow scared of the woman in front of him.

"This place is nice, really private," she said, taking down the sunglasses and bucket hat, then taking off the jacket. "Thank you for not taking us to the police, this is my free day and I decided to explore cafés while my friends are shopping..."

Shoto was enchanted. Enchanted by those light blue eyes and ribbons on the hair, sweet and harmonious voice on his ears as he drank from his milkshake and eated his cheesecake.

He actually wondered how she was able to speak that much...

"Are you Shoto?" she asked. He nodded. "Is your agency nearby?" Another nod from Shoto. "I knew you weren't much of a talker but I expected you to be more active."

"Uh, just impressed," she tilted her head. "Didn't expect this."

"I supose eating with your celebrity crush ain't an everyday activity," the woman jokes and Todoroki's cheeks blushed "you cute"

"Thank you”

She giggles. "What do you do for fun?"

"Well I..."

Light blue eyes fixed on the heterochromatic ones as the owner talked. The pro hero is indeed handsome. She had already seen pics and videos of him in battle and outside battle. Nymphia wondered how many scars decorated his entire body, the vestiges of them still on his young face.

"Got something friday night?"

That day is her performance, he thought.

"Not really."

"Great. Have this, hero Shoto," she handed a couple of tickets, one for the perfomance and the other for the meet and greet event only for owners of the fanclub membership.

The woman put on the hat and sunglasses, standed on her feet under Shoto's gaze.

"I'll see you there."

A couple of days after and Friday has arrived as fast as a lighting.

"I'll be out till night," Shoto says to his sister.

"Have a date?" His father asks "Because I can set you up with so..."

"No need, father." He declines and bows before heading out to the agency.

Fuyumi and Enji shared a look.

"He's having a date."

And yes. Probably the only one really clueless about that was Shoto.

After having one of the best places for enjoying the performance two people came to him and asked to join them backstage. They claimed Miss Nymphia asked them to do it. So naturally he accompained them. He was left in a small room with a TV and snacks. The members of the staff told him to wait and they will take him to the meet and greet when there were few people. Shoto hung out there for a bit, even chatted a bit with Fuyumi who asked how his date was going.

Shoto arrived at the line when there were already 4 people. He could see Nymphia smiling and signing some albums and of course recieving gifts. The hero had a paper bag from some store where Natsuo had bought him some shoes, there he got the gift for the girls and some things he wanted signed.

"You came," Nymphia said, recieving the album from Shoto's hands "Only one? I thought you were a huge fan."

"It would be rude if I didn't show up and the rest didn't fit on a regular bag," the woman giggled, he is really honest and transparent "here, I got you this."

Shoto handed the keychain with two crochet charms, the head of a cat and a rabbit. The woman smiled and looked at it.

"It's really pretty! I'll put it in my bag," she said, handing back the album and standing "Well, the event is already over... Do you have a driver's license?"

Few moments later and Shoto was driving a black rental car, Nymphia sat beside him. The hero is talking about some minor villains and she is talking about work. They stopped to eat some ice cream and walk in some calm park, still she had to wear a cap and glasses.

"Uhm, those aren't sunglasses," Shoto said walking beside her.

"Yeah, my eyes are kinda sensitive, since my pupil is white I see more bright colors and my eyes get tired really easily," she explained "Even if it's dark I use glasses because of farols and car lights."

"That's not public information," Shoto added, knowing his bias and crush database didn't contain any of it.

"Uhm, yes, I wear custom contacts on red carpets and things that actually don't need much emotion," she continues, licking her cherry ice cream, "You turn, tell me something no one else knows."

Shoto thought for a moment. He usually told things to Fuyumi or Yaomomo, Deku, Kirishima and sometimes even Bakugo. He really was with a blank mind, until he remembered.

"Nymphia and I have spoken before," the girl tilted her head, letting him know she was totally unaware "To-do-ro-ki, Tokki."

"Like rabbit in korean? OMG Are you really Tokki?" Shoto nodded and she oppened her mouth in a surprised smile, "Tokki is so kind, I mean, you're so kind, you always ask me how I'm doing and told me to eat well."

The half and half nodded while eating his ice cream. He felt warm on his cheeks as the woman thanked him for his attention.

"Oh, so the keychain, it's you! Tokki!" She realized and Shoto felt something wrapping his arm and he looked down, it was Nymphia's ribbons "Sorry! When I'm really happy they just wrapp around something."

Of course, she omited the fact that her ribbons wrapped around the object or person that generated that happiness.

"But if we have chatted there that means you're paying the most expensive membership!" Shoto nodded, again blushing. He was actually lucky that she was shorter than him, that way she probably couldn't notice. "And that means you already got the ticket for the show and the meet and greet."

"Yeah, your tickets were still better than mine. I got to be seated during the line and had an awesome place for the show," he remarked "Why did you give them to me?"

"I was gonna send them to your agency and that day we meet, and I always have some spare tickets," she explained and Shoto nodded, again wondering about what were the odds of both running into each other "Give me your phone."

Shoto handed it without any question, she tipped something and then gave it back with a contact card.

"Min Jinhee, who's she?" he asked, reading his phone.

"It's me, Shoto!" She said, “Just call me Jinhee.”

Night went just fine. Chatting about anything and sharing memories.

"Should we have lunch tomorrow?" She asked.

"Sure."

"Can I go to your agency?"

"If you want to."

"It's a date then," Jinhee smiled widely while looking at the street.

Currently Shoto was driving her to the hotel where the staff and group members were staying. After having a light dinner of street food and ice cream both had thought that was time to call it a day.

"See you tomorrow," she said as both took off the seabelt "what you doing?"

"It isn't my car."

"Go home and tomorrow you'll give it to me, don't worry, Shoto," The woman went down the car and gave him a last look "Bye~."

The pro hero waited for her to be completely inside the building and then started driving back to his house. He thought about her eyes, it sure was uncomfortable having lights all over her face at the end of a performance. He thought about the ribbons, how they actually worked and what they could do.

Shoto left the car outside his house, since it wans't actually built for keeping a car. He left the car keys in the same place his siblings and father left their house keys.

"You bought a car?!" Fuyumi exclaimed as she passed by and noticed the keys.

"Shoto bought a car?" Natsuo asked from the kitchen.

"SHOTO!" His father yelled from his room.

He gave quick explanations about the car as his family sat on the tatami getting ready for an interrogation.

"How was the date?"

"It wasn't a date."

"Then what did you do?"

"We had food and ice cream."

"It was a date."

"What's her quirk?"

"Don't think I should tell you that."

"Then who are her parents? Are they heroes?"

"Don't know, she's a foreigner."

"What's her name?"

"It's Ji... Nymphia."

"The idol?" Shoto nodded. Fuyumi, Natsuo and Enji looked at each other and laughed, "You cannot be dating her, Shoto."

"But I am, tomorrow we're having lunch. If you excuse me, I have work tomorrow."

Shoto headed to his room, took off his casual clothes and took a quick shower. After drying his hair, he laid on the futon, the night replaying on his head as he looked at the ceiling. Her laugh when he made a joke, god how he loved that laugh, her way of telling his things, how she would get closer to him. Shoto wondered, was it fan love? Or genuine love? And well, he wouldn't call it love, after all they had just known each other.

So, he just fell asleep. Waiting for tomorrow.

Next day he did as it was normal for him. Only thing different was that he had to drive the car and left it at the parking slot of the agency street. The sidekicks wondered about the car just when he entered the agency. The hero did his normal activities, patrol in the mornings and do some paperwork till lunch. It was already past the time he usually had his lunch but he had a date. It would be rude if he just ate before Jinhee arrived.

"Sir, there is a woman saying she's having lunch with you," The sidekick entered the office and made the announcement. Shoto nodded.

"Let her enter."

Few moments later the sweet voice of the idol greeted him with happiness. He stands up and gives a little tour of the office for the curious blue eyes he loves so much.

"It was my father's before his retirement."

"Really? Your father is Endeavor, right?" Shoto nodded, "Well, Shoto, I brought the food."

"I thought you'll want to go to a restaurant," Jinhee gestured with her head, taking out the disposable containers with food and leaving them where Shoto indicated.

"I like private places."

"Well, then we should eat," Shoto took a seat in front of the woman "Thanks for th..."

"SHOTO!"

"Father?"

"I told him to not do that"

"Fuyumi?"

"We brought food!" His father anounced walking towards the table.

"Excuse me for a second," he standed and Jinhee laughed a bit, "What are you doing here?" Shoto asked his sister.

"Well, father wanted to come to see her and I thought we could have a nice lunch together, Natsuo couldn't make it so it's just us," Fuyumi explained, handing Shoto bags with plastic containers "Don't be mad."

"I guess it's okay, and dad?" The younger one looked for him, his father seated beside Jinhee, both chatting like a pair of old friends.

Fuyumi giggles as both siblings walk towards Jinhee and Enji.

"So, what's your quirk?"

"Dad, c-come sit with me," Fuyumi said, impressed by the beautifull idol in front of her. Enji changed places.

Now, Shoto sat beside Jinhee and Enji next to Fuyumi.

"Jinhee, this is my sister Fuyumi and my father," Shoto introduced.

"Y-You really are Nymphia," The white haired woman remarked.

"It's a pleasure getting to know Shoto's family, I'm Min Jinhee," She introduced herself, "Answering Enji's question, my quirk is called Ribbon Harmony. I can create and control ribbons that emit calming waves and when wrapped around someone help me understand their feelings."

"Your ribbons are super pretty! Shoto and I always watch your performances and they are awesome!"

"Oh, thank you, Fuyumi."

The next couple of hours all of them enjoyed food and a good chat. Until the idol recivied a message.

"You'll have to excuse me today, Enji, Fuyumi. My manager has already arrived."

"Oh, you really have to go?" Enji asked.

"We flew back tomorrow and we have a live interview at night," she explained.

"We'll be watching! Bye," Fuyumi said and Enji said goodbye too.

"I'll go with you," Shoto standed and walked with Jinhee out the office, "My family came by surprise, I'm really sorry if you felt uncomfortable."

"It's okay, Shoto. They're really cool," She smiled and looked at him with those bright light blue eyes.

"Jinhee... You said this was a date, are we dating?"

"I don't feel good asking you to date me because of my work and distance. I think it would be selfish.”

Shoto already knew what he wanted. He knew how he felt. Just one night was enough for him to fall head over heels for her. Jinhee was so much more than a pretty face. She was caring, sweet and thoughtfull, and so much more that Shoto still needed to know.

"I want to know you better, if you let me," Jinhee smiled and nodded.

"Godbye, Shoto," Jinhee stood on her toes, barely reaching Shoto's cheek, where she landed a soft kiss, "Don't forget to write me!"

"And now we're going to see what the girls have been doing during her stance here," the man said, "They went shopping and exploring caffés!"

"What did I miss?" Shoto asked, returning to the living room.

"The MC followed your girlfriend," Natsuo said, pointing at Nymphia reacting to the pics.

"We're not a couple," Shoto remarked.

"Yet."

"And Nymphia even meet the prohero, Shoto, maybe a date?"

"Shit, they really followed her!" Natsuo exclaimed.

Pics of Shoto and Jinhee eating ice cream and chatting started showing up on screen. The wide smile of the woman on the screen now is a subtle smile while listening to her friend's whispers.

"So, Nymphia, are you dating Shoto? We know you're his type."

"No, we're not dating. We just met," she explained.

The faces of the four other girls being a blank expression, looking at the sides of the set, clearly uncomfortable.

"We'll come back after commercials, stay with us!" The other MC announced and the program changed to publicitary space.

Shoto's phone rang. The family locked their eyes on him.

"It's Jinhee."

"Go, go answer my daughter in law," Enji said and Shoto excused him from the room.

"Dad!"

"Shoto, hi," she greated, "I'm so sorry, I didn't knew."

"Don't worry, how are you?"

"I'm really upset, I should have known."

"Don't say that, if someone should have known it should be me. I'm the prohero..."

After that Jinhee didn't come back to the program.

"What happened after that mama?" the pink haired boys asked. "Well, your dad went to the airport before I left and my agency had to release a statement. After a few years we married and now we have you both and your sister," Jinhee said, touching the nose of both boys and the baby on her lap.

"Boys!" the voice of Enji sounded across the rooms. It was the exact same scream he calls Shoto even to this day.

"It's grandpapa!"

They boys runned to the man outside the room as Jinhee holds the baby and walks to reunite with her father in law and her husband.

"Hi, honey," Shoto says, leaving a kiss on her lips and holding the little baby, "hi there, baby."

Jinhee returns to the bedroom, enters the bathroom in order to prepare a bath for Shoto, who came back from hero duty. Just a few minutes later, the man embraces her from behind, slowly falling into his knees.

She smiles, a hand running over his face as his head rests on her lap.

"Sometimes I feel guilty for you staying at home," Shoto says, "I know you chose this, but I can't help this."

"I can always launch an album, Milfs are a hot topic, ya know?" Jinhee jokes and Shoto laughs a bit.

"I shall get you pregnant again," he whispers, head now in between her breasts.

"The kids?" she asks, Shoto kissing her neck.

"With grandpapa."

"Then I guess we can play a bit..."

#todoroki shoto #bnha #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #todoroki family #todofam #shoto todoroki #boku no hero academia fanfic #pokequirks

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sumire-no-nikki · 6 months

Text

To Be Here

October. My beloved October. The kotatsu blanket is back on, the indoor plants don't need as much watering, the fallen leaves in the backyard need sweeping and the Summer clothes have been put away. Funny how many friends I've recently chatted with about the bliss that comes with October. It's a burst of orange ochre and apple red in my head. When the season turned, the sun who has since made herself scarce is a warm embrace whenever she pokes her head out. The wind and clouds are constant companions. The evening is perfect for mysterious reads under candlelight. What a splendid month.

As I am typing this, however, October is nearly done. Something this good always leaves too soon, doesn't it? I love the first taste of cold after the pesky Summer heat and September’s false promises of colder days. October is where it really gets going. But it's always nearly done before I feel like I can properly savor it. How melancholy!! But isn’t that how it always goes? Love is more deeply felt after only the crater it left is the one thing you’ve got to remember it by? Love defined by the lack, the absence, the loss? There will never be enough Octobers for me. I’m a creature of want in this way, yearning is an instinct for me. I watch the days go by and the thought that there won’t be another October until next year is like quicksand for my mind.

That said I’ve spent the month working diligently and on the whole being rather productive in both work and personal matters. There’s this project I’ve started and making good progress on! Once completed I promised myself a trip where I can apply what I’ve learned and I’m so excited to reach that goal. I’ve also read a lot this month. I really surprised myself. I’ve read six books and the month isn’t over yet! I read two Agatha Christie books, all three of the Toshikazu Kawaguchi series (the fourth one is coming out next month!! And I’ll have to read the fifth one in Japanese because I don’t want to wait for the translation to come out!!!) I also read Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library as recommended by a friend and I'm so glad she brought it up! I've had a copy of it for ages but just never managed to pick it up due to associated memories (it was given to me by someone during a bad period in my life!!) I swear that book might've just saved my life. I also finished two manga volumes in Japanese this month. It's a series called Yotsuba&! which is just the most wholesome series. Maybe I'll talk about it someday on here. But that series is such a light in my life. I picked it up on one particularly tough day last week and it instantly revived hope in my heart that there's still good out there no matter what.

Other things I've been up to: I've been running a lot these days and I'm actually surprising myself with how much I enjoy it. Earlier today (I'm typing this before bed) I went on a run while it was drizzling. I felt like a kid playing in the rain. I couldn't stop smiling!

Also, the podcast show I mentioned some entries ago!! Case 63!! It has a season 2!! Actually, I found out it's originally by a Chilean writer, so the version I listened to is an English adaptation. Anyway, I'm so happy there's more of it. Season 3 is the final season in Spanish so I expect the English adaptation of that will also be made (since they went so far as to continue with season 2). Fingers crossed! I'm so intrigued as to how it will end!!

As for TV, I started and finished watching HBO's Barry in like a week. I was absorbed!! All four seasons! Mind you, each episode is only 30 mins so it wasn't really that long. It's such a funny and dark show I love it so much. I've heard good things about it through the years but I never found the time to get into it. Plus I have this terrible illness of "I-Can't-Get-Into-Things-When-It's-Super-Mainstream-I-Need-To-Wait-Until-The-Hype-Dies-Down-itis" lol. No, seriously I just didn't feel like getting into a new show until this month apparently. But I'm so glad I watched it. The show is a goldmine, the best Hollywood/LA culture satire I've seen in ages. The way it highlights the gender gap in the workplace, how a writer must compromise on truth in order to sell something, even the way a woman needs to be a "perfect victim" in order for her story to be worth anything! It's so witty!! And the central question of can people truly change--I'll be thinking about this show for a long time. It's so good. Watch it if you can.

Early this month I also managed to sneak a quick trip to Croatia and Slovenia which was so relaxing and peaceful. Trips can be quite stressful for me especially when it's a big city full of tourists due to my OCD (I'm looking at you Paris, and literally all of Italy smh... jk jk) But this trip was restorative and gave me a genuine sense of discovery and wonder, which is what I aim to travel for.

I've been listening to the new Mitski album and rethinking my home library's organisation system! I haven't decided yet but I mainly want my Classical Mythology books, both fiction and non-fiction in one area. Also wishing I bought two Caryatid statues in Athens last year instead of one! Would've been nice for her to have a buddy!!

Now, the title of this entry comes from a realisation I had this month--a very important one. As someone whose nature is to think and think and think, it's difficult to be in the present. I'm always in agony over the past, and anxious about the future. I can be quite dismissive of what's in front of me as a result. This is a chronic issue of mine. But while reading The Midnight Library, tucked in my reading chair, savoring the scent of a pumpkin pie candle, all the pieces of advice I've read both online and in person suddenly clicked.

When writing a first draft of a novel, it simply needs to exist.

When making art, it simply needs to be there.

When yearning to do something, I must attempt it

When wanting to exist, I simply am.

I just need to be here in the most literal sense. To be. Not in the past tense, not in the future tense. There's no need for qualifiers. There is no standard to fulfill. I know this is neither new nor revolutionary, but in the embrace of an October evening, digesting this advice and accepting it made me feel so brave.

It hit me like a sucker punch. I thought, I need to untangle my sense of self and my worth from anything external. I cannot keep on doing this to myself. Because the truth is if I don’t stop this constant self-flagellation, I have simply replaced my mother in adulthood. I will have been no different from her and her constant need to criticise me. This is something I've been actively trying to improve recently and I can feel myself getting better. I feel, somewhat ironically, that by being present, I'm regaining a sense of hope that I haven't felt since childhood. Like somehow my past is healed and my future is assured.

So despite how much I've gone on about loving October at the beginning of this entry, as much as I know I will miss it, I have to be where I am. That means accepting that all things end--good or bad. That means being in November when it comes. That means understanding that what I've lost, while dearly missed, is out of my grasp now. That means what will happen to me is tomorrow's business.

This entry's song I've repeated to death (which is a very good thing) this month. It's by an artist I really enjoy. I cannot wait for new material from her and this new single is a sign of really good things to come!

I leave you with a photo of a friend I made while out on a walk. What shall I name him?

Have a wunderbaaahhh rest of Octobaaaahhh! 🐑

#diary #sumire-no-nikki #Spotify

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kingpippthe2nd · 8 months

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This is going to be a Neil Gaiman appreciation post. Not because I think, the internet needs another person babbling on about how good an author Neil is. There is enough of those. This one is purely egotistical, because I have too many words rattling in my head, and they want out. So, settle in and let me tell you a story. I promise, it will make sense in the end. Or go read something interesting. I’m not your parent.

I used to read a lot as a kid. The library in my town was open on two afternoons each week: Tuesday and Thursday. So, every Tuesday I would go there with my stack of read books, swap them for a smaller stack of books, which I would devour in the next two days, return them on Thursday, leave with a bigger stack and so on and so on. I couldn’t read enough. I loved disappearing into all the different worlds, all the different adventures. I was the kind of kid, that would read until the middle of the night, illuminated by a flashlight, be exhausted all day in school, just to go home and do it all again.

I don’t know when this changed, exactly. Only that it did. Something about growing up took away the wonder of printed words. Or wonder in general.

I remember telling my therapist a year or so ago how I remember being able to see so much beauty in the world. How the tiniest thing could spark so much joy in me. Make me imagine entire worlds. And how I couldn’t find this kind of joy anymore. How I felt that something in me was irrevocably broken. She reassured me, that this was normal. All part of growing up. Childlike wonder at the world is not for adults to have. Never have the words a therapist felt so fundamentally wrong. I was heartbroken leaving that session. My worst fears had become true: I’d never find that joy again.

Over the years, I never lost my love of stories. I started listening to audiobooks, a form of media which I used to despise. Why listen to a book when you can read it? Hold it? Smell it? I watched movies and series and listened to podcasts. But I didn’t really read. I had lost the patience for them. Don’t get me wrong: I still loved my books. I have some beautiful editions of my favourite books that I loved showing off to people. I bought new books as well. New stories. And I told myself I’d get around to reading them soon. But I never did.

I used to write a lot, too as a kid. I wrote diaries, though I never kept up with them for long. I wrote short stories and even started writing a book, which was not very good and is now lost forever. I wrote loads of poems. One of them I wrote sitting on a roof in a night gown while the full moon shone behind the church tower. I still have that one. It isn’t half bad. But I stopped writing years ago. It left me, when I left the books.

Some years ago, my partner at the time introduced me to a new book. Theyread it aloud to me in the evenings. It was called “Neverwhere” by a man I had never heard of: Neil Gaiman. I fell immediately in love with the story and the writing and the characters. Soon enough I owned all the Neil Gaiman audiobooks I could find and listened to them ravenously.

Within the last year I have tried to read four books. I finished one of them. Not a big one. And it took me multiple months. I had to force myself to finish it, even though I loved the story and the writing. The other three I abandoned halfway through, feeling terribly about myself and my apparent inability to read.

And then Amazon Prime released season two of Good Omens and I found myself swept up in a maelstrom of emotions and hype and fan theories. I started reading fan fictions for the first time in my life. Long ones too. I started telling anyone and everyone about how much I loved and missed the show. About how genius a writer Neil Gaiman was. How I had loved his way with words and worlds for such a long time and that he was my favourite author.

A week ago, I had a realisation: I had never actually read a Neil Gaiman book. I’ve had them read to me. I’ve listened to hours and hours of audiobooks. But I had never ever actually sat myself down and read a book by my favourite author with my own eyes. Held it. Smelt it.

So, I picked up one of the “I’ll get around to it books” from a stack on my hallway book shelf and started reading. A little thing called “The Ocean at the End of the Lane”. I finished it within three days. I read it on my way to and from work. One night, I walked all the way from the tram stop to my flat whilst continuing to read, phone flashlight in hand, so the darkness wouldn't steal the story away from me.

And as I finally looked up from on the pages again and looked around, something else happened. It was as if the words had given my mind a little nudge. The world was spinning slightly differently. And all over sudden I could see the world as I had as a kid. There are more colours now. Everything is a bit more sparkly, more magical. I can taste stories on the wind, see them in the early morning sunshine. I have ideas rattling in my head that need writing down for the first time in what feels like forever. Ideas for short stories, for poems. Maybe even for a book.

I can’t even begin to express how thankful I am to Neil for giving me back something, I knew I had lost forever. Because childlike wonder at the world is not for adults to have. With nothing but his words printed on paper he remade the way I see the world. If that isn’t some kind of magic, then I don’t know what could be. And who wants to be an adult anyway.

#I'm rambling again #noone should read this #I didn't either #I just wrote it #who proofreads stuff anyway #I found a different #neil gaiman

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thisurlwasnttakenbutnowitis · 7 months

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Every Epic Rap Battle of History Ranked, Part 3

Part 2

29. Freddy Krueger vs Wolverine

Winner: Wolverine

Best line: "You're a pedophile from the Midwest, at least R. Kelly could sing."

I mentioned this earlier (like 50 entries ago), but this is probably the single most visually impressive ERB to date. If anyone had any doubts about ERB going independent after being under Maker Studios for so many years, this quickly quashed them. Costumes look amazing, the backgrounds and lighting are top-notch, and of course, the nightmare sequences are fun and creative. Love the part of Freddy turning into a magnet to pull Wolverine in. But how's the actual battle? Well, it's great too! Both performances are stellar, and there's some great lines - "that wasn't even my main diss, it was just a side burn", "that claw is like a strap-on: there's a pussy underneath". Really great stuff.

28. Theodore Roosevelt vs Winston Churchill

Winner: Theodore Roosevelt

Best line: "I'll bust a trust fund lush with my American muscles, so walk softly over here and give my big stick a suckles!"

This was a battle that was hyped up for a long time thanks to Teddy Roosevelt's frequent appearances on the channel to announce news, and I'd say it lived up to the hype. Lloyd is clearly having the time of his life finally getting to play Teddy, and I'd say it's one of his best performances to date. While a couple of Churchill's lines are duds (I always groan at "Any way you want to fight, I'll fight you and I'll beat you, see"), it's not enough to sink this battle.

27. Thanos vs J. Robert Oppenheimer

Winner: J. Robert Oppenheimer

Best line: "Cause you break and bleed so easy, I think I'll call you Oppen-hymen."

It's interesting that this battle came out shortly before the Oppenheimer movie was announced and subsequently turned Oppenheimer into a household name. Good coincidental timing. I remember watching this for the first time, hearing Thanos's absolutely killer first verse, and thinking "Oh, he's got this in the bag". But then Oppenheimer fired back with a killer verse of his own! Sadly, this battle isn't as close as I'd hoped it would be, since Thanos definitely falls off on his second verse, but overall, the fight is still packed with great lines.

Peter's Oppenheimer portrayal is also amazing - the fact that he manages to mix in the melancholic, regretful tone and mannerisms the real Oppenheimer was known for while firing off disses is nothing short of incredible. It's something that shouldn't work, yet he makes it work beautifully. Lloyd's Thanos is pretty good too, although I don't know what happened with the costume; it's pretty clear that Lloyd can barely move his mouth in the mask, so it's a little distracting. I feel like there had to have been a better way to make Thanos's face work, especially when they already made Freddy Krueger work better.

26. George Washington vs William Wallace

Winner: William Wallace

Best line: "Don't tee off with me, laddy. If you held my balls, you couldn't be my caddy."

I feel like this is a very overlooked battle. I've never really seen anyone talking about it, but it's actually really good. It was an interesting choice to make George Washington a more antagonistic and sadistic character, I honestly didn't think that's where they would go with him simply because as an American, I don't think I'd ever seen Washington depicted in such a bad light. But I'm honestly down for it; it makes sense when comparing the stories of both men - Wallace died a hero's death for freedom, while Washington survived long enough to show hypocrisy in his cause for preaching freedom but still owning slaves.

I love how Wallace's depiction in this is purely based on Braveheart, despite historians agreeing that it's one of the most historically inaccurate movies ever. Really sells Washington's "A Mel Gibson movie is your legacy" line, because yeah, that's basically the only reason most people have ever heard of William Wallace. It's funny, ERB obviously puts in a ton of work to research the real stories of their historical figures, but if the most prominent depiction of said figure is in a work of fiction, they will just go with that version of the person because that's what the audience is expecting to see - historical accuracy be damned. They did it with Wallace and that's also what they did with Leonidas and Ragnar Lodbrok. Not saying that's good or bad, that's just what I've noticed when viewing all the battles so close together.

25. Gordon Ramsay vs Julia Child

Winner: Julia Child

Best line: "Here's a nice amuse-bouche: take a poor abused youth, set a 30 year timer, voila! Huge douche!"

This was a video I had actually completely skipped out on until needing to watch it for this list. I dunno, I just don't really personally like Gordon Ramsay and I wasn't familiar with Julia Child, so I was just never motivated to watch this one. But I really missed out on a gem, this one's great. Julia definitely steals the show here. It's kinda like Mr. T vs Mr. Rogers come to think of it, with one character angrily screaming at the other while the other just smiles and delivers cutting passive-aggressive lines. The part where Ramsay gets a whole kitchen crew running around behind him and they deliver backing vocals of "Yes, chef!" and "No, chef" to the beat is also a great moment.

24. Bruce Lee vs Clint Eastwood

Winner: Clint Eastwood

Best line: "Here's my two finger push-up: Kung F-U!"

Hoo boy, this has some of the edgiest jokes in series history - "I even squint better than you", "You don't belong in a fight, you belong in a sweatshop. So go ahead, make my iPod". Modern ERB would not go there if this battle was made today. That being said, it does fit who Clint Eastwood is as a person, so, y'know. This battle's great though - the person they got to play Bruce Lee has a lot of fun energy to him; his constant quick movements contrast nicely against the stone cold, slow and deliberate Eastwood. I also love the small detail of the background characters that both rappers are fighting switching between cowboys and ninjas as they cross from one side of the screen to the other.

23. Michael Jordan vs Muhammad Ali

Winner: Muhammad Ali

Best line: "McDonald's and underpants as corporate backers - You stay at the Ritz cause you sold out to crackers!"

And here we have one of the two appearances of special guest stars Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele. Considering this is the first time they're coming up on this list and we're this high up, it's pretty clear that I think they nailed both of the battles they had together. It's a shame they're not really working together anymore, so it's a lot less likely we'll ever get them again. Plus Jordan Peele's a lot busier these days I'd imagine.

But yeah, Key and Peele both obviously really know how to act in front of a camera and it makes for some great rap battles - Peele as Ali in particular is extremely expressive throughout his lines and it makes for a treat to watch. And I love the part where Jordan crosses over to Ali's side and directly gets in his face - both of Key and Peele's battles have a moment where the two rappers physically interact, and I'm glad they did this. A lot of ERBs have the two rappers film separately, but Key and Peele have such natural on-screen chemistry that it would have been a waste to not show bits of that. I was gonna say that moment does kinda break the illusion of Michael Jordan being tall in this battle since Key and Peele aren't too far apart in height, but uh, fun fact I just learned - the height difference between Key and Peele is actually greater than it would be between Jordan and Ali?? Muhammad Ali was actually pretty dang tall at 6'3", and Michael Jordan is relatively short for an NBA player at only 6'6". Meanwhile Jordan Peele is 5'7" and Keegan-Michael Key is 6'0". Truth truly is stranger than fiction.

22. Michael Jackson vs Elvis Presley

Winner: Michael Jackson

Best line: "Here's a tip: Don't swallow a bucket of drugs, so you won't die on the toilet dropping hunks of burning love."

This is the battle that Banner vs Jenner tried to imitate and failed miserably at - two characters with two distinct versions of themselves that they switch between halfway through the battle. This was such a great idea - they could have gotten away with simply doing the more modern versions of both characters, but showcasing how much the two changed their looks between the starts and ends of their careers was a genius move. My big worry with that would have been how difficult it would be to find a suitable child to play Jackson 5 Michael, but the kid that they did find was phenomenal. He looks the part, sounds the part, and has good dance moves to boot. I don't know how the hell they found this kid but his performance is easily the highlight of this battle.

21. Guy Fawkes vs Che Guevara

Winner: Guy Fawkes

Best line: "You're an ump-Che. That's Bay of Pigs Latin!"

Che definitely has some clunkers in his lines - "More like V for Very bad hat" would be a bad line even by season 1 standards, and the What Does The Fox Say reference was dated even when the battle first came out. That said, Che's actor does a great job, he's really charismatic. The face he makes and the voice he does during "Treat this battle like the gallows: Take another dive" is without a doubt the best line delivery in this battle. Also damn, Guy's takedown of Che by pointing out how his image nowadays is just a commercial product for capitalism, turning his legacy into the very thing he fought against, that was brutal. There was simply no coming back from that.

20. Gandhi vs Martin Luther King Jr.

Winner: Martin Luther King Jr.

Best line: "Flatten your style like bread: naan violence."

And here we have Key and Peele's other guest appearance. Just like I said before, these two have great chemistry and great screen presence. The ending of this one is what elevates it above Jordan vs Ali for me though - the two leading their armies of protesters together, all to finally meet face-to-face, and proceed to engage in the most passive-aggressive hug ever. Probably the most iconic ending in ERB history. Also can I just say that Peele's MLK impression is spot-on?

19. Terminator vs RoboCop

Winner: RoboCop

Best line: "They sent you back to kill a child, but he's defeating you still. They should have made a time-traveling morning-after pill."

I like that this video was sponsored by the actual Terminator franchise and they were still able to call Terminator 3 bad. This video has also invaded my psyche - whenever I see a farmer's market I can't help but think of "I take over these streets like I'm a farmer's market". Idk, this one is just good fun. Lloyd doesn't exactly look much like Arnold, but he sells the impression as well as he can. And hey, the actual Arnold makes a cameo appearance thanks to the sponsorship! Cool shit.

18. Jim Henson vs Stan Lee

Winner: Stan Lee

Best line: "M-I-C! I rock the mic properly! K-E-Y! Turning profits, I've got the key!"

This is an ERB with a message, probably the deepest one in the series - the legacy that an artist leaves behind after their death, and the tragedy of the magic of their original vision being squeezed dry by huge conglomerates in order to print more money. Hits even harder now that Stan Lee is also no longer with us. I gotta say, it was a fucking ballsy move for the ERB team to take such a direct shot at Disney while they were working at a Disney-owned studio. But man, did it make a memorable battle. I think Walt Disney may just be my favorite of the surprise third-party rappers across the entire series.

I also like how throughout the entire battle, Jim Henson basically only ever takes one real shot at Stan Lee, and it's just "you took credit for work Jack Kirby did". He's too nice of a guy to cut deep on his opponent. And I appreciate the small detail that you can still see Peter moving his lips when Kermit is speaking - I feel like just making Kermit lip-sync would have been an easy trap to fall into. I also love that they went through the trouble of making a custom Stan Lee puppet all for just one line. They totally didn't need to do that, but it goes to show the effort that went into making this one special.

17. Ronald McDonald vs The Burger King

Winner: Burger King

Best line: "Ask Rick and Morty who's the lyrical boss. I've got lines for days, call me szechuan sauce!"

I'll just put it out there: when it comes to food: Wendy's > Burger King > McDonald's. This battle had the advantage of getting a soft launch first on the secondary ERB channel (through the spinoff series Flash in the Pan Hip-Hop Conflicts of Nowadays) and getting a chance to incorporate fan feedback before releasing as a proper ERB. The lines about McDonald's broken ice cream machines and Burger King foot lettuce, as well as Wendy coming in as a third-party rapper were all fan suggestions. As such, I think this is one of the most tightly-packed ERBs in terms of great lines.

16. Napoleon vs Napoleon

Winner: Napoleon Bonaparte

Best line: "I'll whip you so bad, they'll make a virgin meringue. You're the only type of dynamite that's never going to bang!"

I don't remember where exactly he said this, but I recall Lloyd at some point saying that this battle was the first one made after he and Peter both quit their jobs so that they could focus on ERB full time, and that it was kind of a scary and uncertain time for them because of it. Well, clearly that gamble paid off, because they managed to create one of their best right after finally being able to put their all into the series. Okay, look, on a purely objective level, this probably isn't actually better than a lot of the battles I put below it. It's short, as season 1 battles tended to be, and it really doesn't go too deep into either character's history. But this is just ERB in its purest form - a historical figure and a fictional character tangentially related to them duking it out through rhyme. This battle is pretty basic, but that's okay. It does exactly what it needs to - gives you some laughs and gets out of your face. No flashy effects, no complex lines that you have to look up the meaning of in order to get the joke. Call it nostalgia, but there's just a certain charm to the simplicity on display here.

15. Einstein vs Stephen Hawking

Winner: Stephen Hawking

Best line: "I'm as dope as two rappers, you'd better be scared, cause that means Albert E equals MC squared!"

And here we go, the cream of the crop for season 1. Back when we only had the first season, this one was THE shit. If you were around during the early days, then "There are ten million million million million million million million million million particles in the universe that we can observe, your mama took the ugly ones and put them into one nerd" is probably burned into your brain.

You know this battle is good when it's freaking certified Gold by the RIAA, being the only battle besides Obama vs Romney to do so. And hey, it's also the very first appearance of our boy Zach Sherwin! The first of many great guest appearances he would grace us with.

14. Shaka Zulu vs Julius Caesar

Winner: Shaka Zulu

Best line: "Ask my kidnappers if I'm just a shit-talker. Doc J dunk on ya like boom shakalaka!"

For being possibly the most obscure historical figure ever depicted in ERB, Shaka Zulu certainly leaves an impression through this battle. His costume design is great, and his actor brings so much life to the role with his smartass line deliveries and faces. And of course, the fucking army formations that form behind both rappers at the end - masterful work.

13. Lewis and Clark vs Bill and Ted

Winner: Lewis and Clark

Best line: "We discovered bears and beavers and prairie dogs and weasels, rattlesnakes and catfish, owls, larks, and eagles. And plus flora galore, and according to our observations: these two dickweeds right here are severely endangered!"

And here we have the final appearance so far of Rhett and Link, and I think this is their best battle yet. I've always loved the little dance they do when they're listing off all the things they discovered, and of course, Sacagawea in the background constantly saving their asses is a hilarious touch. And on Bill and Ted's side, we get a bunch of cameos of previous rappers since most of their companions had already appeared in ERB (still waiting on that Billy the Kid battle though), so that's a nice treat for fans.

12. Zeus vs Thor

Winner: Thor

Best line: "Send you deeper underground than the depths of your Hades. Now make like your daddy, and swallow my babies!"

This was the first ever battle to be animated with Lego and I'm SO glad that it was, because this is just a treat for the eyes. Live action would not have done a battle between two gods like this justice. Of course, it being beautifully animated wouldn't save this if the battle itself wasn't great, but it absolutely is. I think "Who would ever worship someone as abusive as Zeus is? You're ruthless to humans, your crew is like the Clash of the Douches" is possibly the best flow in the entire series, it constantly gets stuck in my head.

11. Mother Teresa vs Sigmund Freud

Winner: Mother Teresa

Best line: "I can see right through you and you've got no flavor. I'm battling a communion wafer."

This is an absolutely slept-on battle. It's damn near perfect - almost every single line hits it out of the park. I never would have thought of these two figures as perfect foils for one another, but it works so much better than I ever could have imagined. A staunch religious figure versus a staunch atheist, with themes of physical therapy versus mental therapy and chastity versus sex. It's a brilliant matchup that they really get the most out of.

Mother Teresa's actress is amazing as well - I thought they somehow found an actual old lady dancer, but no, it's actually a younger woman whose entire specialty is doing super convincing cosplays of elderly women. She's great, the attitude she gives to Teresa elevates the entire battle.

S TIER

10. Steve Jobs vs Bill Gates

Winner: HAL 9000

Best line: "I'm coming out the socket, nothing you can do can stop it. I'm on your lap and in your pocket. How you gonna shoot me down when I guide the rocket?"

While Jobs dying mid-battle can be seen as a repeat of Billy Mays, there's a distinct difference in how the two battles handle the death of one of the rappers. Ben Franklin never even gets a reaction to Billy Mays's death, but in this one, Bill Gates actually gets to admit how he liked the rivalry, and that now he's lonely without Jobs. And that's true to life of the two actual men too - despite how competitive their companies were with each other, Jobs and Gates had deep respect for one another.

This was by far the most ambitious ERB of its time. I would say that it was the very first one to truly feel epic, and even more than a decade later, it still holds its own against even the newest episodes. Hell, I'd say it's actually just gotten better with time - that iconic ending with HAL 9000 to represent AI taking over just rings more and more true every year.

9. Steven Spielberg vs Alfred Hitchcock

Winner: Alfred Hitchcock

Best line: "Ask anybody, 'What's your favorite Sam Jackson part?', no one's gonna say 'What's-his-name from Jurassic Park'."

This one is a total treat. You have 4 of the most iconic movie directors in history battling it out… along with Michael Bay. Honestly I'm not a super big movie buff, but I can still appreciate how brilliant this battle is. I love the shifts in the music tones for each director - the grandiose Jurassic Park-like theme for Spielberg, the heart-pounding suspense for Hitchcock, the more funky beat for Tarantino, the dreamy space-like melody for Kubrick, and finally, the flashy, bombastic theme for Bay. And of course, each director having their own dig towards Michael Bay is great foreshadowing for when he finally comes in and proceeds to rap about how great he is. He doesn't even say anything about any of the other directors, but that feels like an intentional choice for his "I don't give a fuck" attitude.

8. Romeo and Juliet vs Bonnie and Clyde

Winner: Bonnie and Clyde

Best line: "O Romeo, O Romeo, wherefore you trying to flow, yo? Mofo, you soft as a froyo. Are those the drapes or your clothes, bro?"

The contrast between the two sides here is really fun - how ridiculous and over-the-top Romeo and Juliet act compared to the down-to-earth, no-nonsense Bonnie and Clyde. Bonnie pulling out a gun, shooting Juliet, and Juliet simply exclaiming, "Oh! I am killed!" really sums up everything that makes this pairing great. Of course, it's impossible to talk about this battle and not talk about how every character dies in the same way that their real/fictional counterpart does. I particularly love how Romeo and Juliet integrate their actual final words from the play into their final verses - "Thus with a diss I die" is such an obvious pun to make but it always makes me chuckle. And once Bonnie and Clyde get shot to death as well, leaving the normally loud announcer quiet and confused, that's just the cherry on top.

7. Harry Potter vs Luke Skywalker

Winner: Luke Skywalker

Best line: "Your origin story is mostly stolen from me. You might be Potter, but Harry, I planted your seed!"

Our second animated battle, and this was one that absolutely needed to be animated to do it justice. Both of these series have so many iconic scenes and locations, and they also both have so many Lego sets that it made perfect sense to do it with Lego. And the animators got every bit of mileage they could out of this opportunity - both characters get to go through so many setpieces from each of their franchises. And of course, the lyrics get to pull in just as many references for fans to catch. This is one of the longer battles, with each rapper getting three full verses, and I'm glad that two series with so much lore got plenty of time to integrate it all.

6. Ghostbusters vs Mythbusters

Winner: Mythbusters

Best line: "Good thing you work in a firehouse, cause you just got burned. You are poor scientists, and that's confirmed."

When I heard that Peter and Lloyd would be playing Adam and Jamie, I fully expected the opposite casting. Lloyd usually plays the shorter, stockier, more bald characters, so it was kinda surprising to me that he was chosen to play Adam and Peter was Jamie. But hey, they make it work. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the little synchronized dance the two do during their first verse as well. I have no idea why they decided to do that for the Mythbusters of all things, but hey, it's a lot of fun.

This battle has the largest number of rappers of any battle to date with 10, but that's kind of with an asterisk because Kari, Grant, and Tory barely get any time at all before Stay Puft comes in to finish the battle. I really wish the three of them had gotten a little more, it seems like kind of a waste to bring in three additional actors to only give them one line each. But that's really the only criticism I can come up with here; it's a great battle otherwise.

I know I didn't really even say anything about the Ghostbusters, but there's really not anything to say. They're all good! Zach Sherwin's Egon is definitely the highlight of the group.

5. Lara Croft vs Indiana Jones

Winner: Lara Croft

Best line: "Marion was 15 when you raided her bones. That's no time for love, Dr. Jones!"

This is the newest battle at the time I'm writing this, and needless to say with it being this high up, it's already one of my favorites. Every single line packs a serious punch, there is no wasted time here at all. My first time watching, I thought they maybe made a little too many jokes where the punchline is "Lara is sexy" or "gamers masturbate to her". But upon rewatch, each one is at least clever and does something different with wordplay, so I've lightened up on it.

Of course, I have to give a major shoutout to Croix Provence, who portrays Lara here. This was the first time a guest star on ERB was not either a friend of the crew or a major YouTube personality/celebrity - the casting of Lara was instead done with an open casting call, and I think that was the absolutely correct move. Croix was the perfect choice here - her faces and mannerisms inject so much lovable energy into the character, and the fact that she's not even British but can maintain a British accent while quickly rapping is incredible. She's a complete delight and I hope that she becomes a recurring guest.

This battle was apparently supposed to have a short verse from Nathan Drake as well, but I'm honestly glad they cut it. It really didn't need it.

4. Deadpool vs Boba Fett

Winner: Deadpool

Best line: "That Dr. Killbrew dude needs to go back to med school. Cause right now, you're no good to me, Deadpool."

This one's kinda funny in hindsight with how Deadpool rags on how Boba Fett barely even has any lines or screentime so there's not even much to say about him… right before he ended up getting his own show. Honestly it's kind of even in a weird spot with regards to Deadpool's characterization too - this came out before the movie, so nothing regarding that could be referenced either. Really, of any battle, this is probably the one that's in need of a rematch the most given how much has happened between these two characters in the years since.

What's really cool about this battle is that since both characters are covered from head to toe, while Peter and Lloyd did the voices, they didn't need to portray them physically. And they took advantage of this by hiring professional dancers to be the body actors for both characters, which really elevates the video visually. Deadpool's suit actor nails the mannerisms, and I love how Boba Fett goes into full-on breakdancing at the end. Stellar stuff from both performers.

3. The Joker vs Pennywise

Winner: Pennywise

Best line: "I haunt nightmares and I'm ruthless. This battle's like poker: the Joker is useless. Winning's not in your cards. Call me Arkham Asylum, I'm crazy with bars!"

Here we are, the absolute best battle that stays as a pure 1-on-1. Lloyd has said recently that this is his personal favorite battle, and it's easy to see why. Pennywise is easily my favorite performance Lloyd has ever done - he absolutely nails the voice, the line delivery, and the look. And Peter's Joker is awesome too - he also does a great job with the voice and delivery, and his costume is great too. Not as spot-on as Lloyd's Pennywise, but it's still more than serviceable. Really, this battle is Peter and Lloyd at their absolute best - you can tell they are both having the time of their lives here.

The lines here are top-notch too. So many bangers - Pennywise describing himself as "the John Wayne of John Wayne Gacys" and "the poster boy for missing person posters", and the absolutely killer lines "Ask Robin if I drop bars" and "No one's dying to play with Joker, except for maybe Heath Ledger". There's a super clever rhyme with "Beat Harley Quinn" and "see Steve Harvey in". And the flow of "You're a John Doe in my deadlights, and you're about to fall from a new height, cause you're weak and you've lost every fight to a knight who wears underwear over his tights" is amazing. And I love that so many actors that have portrayed the characters get shout-outs - obviously Pennywise only has the two with Tim Curry and Bill Skarsgard (though the Skarsgard reference is so subtly woven in that you probably won't even catch it on the first watch). But the Joker gets to pull in references to Cesar Romero, Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger, Jared Leto, Joaquin Phoenix, and Mark Hamill, and it's a lot of fun.

Overall, this battle is amazing. Amazingly written with two amazing performances. Truly peak ERB.

2. Rasputin vs Stalin

Winner: Stalin

Best line: "You got off easy when they pickled that moose cock! I'd leave your neck in a noose in a trench and shot! Your whole family, shot! All your wizard friends, shot! Anyone who sold you pierogi, shot!"

Huh, I'm realizing just how few of these top spots have actual historical figures - four of the battles in this top ten have just been fictional character vs fictional character, and the only real people depicted that I'd say are old enough to be considered "historical figures" are Bonnie and Clyde, and maybe Alfred Hitchcock. Well, that's about to change - these top two spots are putting the history back in Epic Rap Battles of History, and to me, that's why they beat out the rest.

I've said before that I love when ERB can make me curious and actively want to seek out more information about history. And that's why this battle and the next one are so great - because it's not just about the battle itself being good. The best ERBs create an experience outside of the battle itself. You put on an episode like Luke Skywalker vs Harry Potter and you're like "Oh, that was awesome! All the references to both of the series were great!" and then you move on with your life. But a battle like Rasputin vs Stalin, you think "Wow, that was great!", and then you find yourself reading more about Russian history. ERB didn't tell you to do that; they're not your teacher. You sought out that information because they gave you the nugget of trivia that made you crave more.

But enough about that, how is the battle itself? Well, it's a certified banger. What you think is going to just be a simple battle between two long-dead high-ranking Russians quickly escalates as it takes you through the rise and fall of the Soviet Union via several more notable Russian leaders jumping into the fray. The battle royale format really does a great job portraying the fraught history that Russia has had over the past century - these guys all had so many different ideas for the country that they probably would all hate each other.

Lloyd steals the show here too - both Stalin and Gorbachev are easily the most memorable parts of this battle. One realization I've come to while doing this list and viewing all the battles so close together is that I think Lloyd is overall my favorite performer. That's not to say that Peter is a bad actor - far from it, he's also amazing. I just think there are overall more battles where Lloyd's performance outshines Peter's than there are the other way around.

1. Alexander the Great vs Ivan the Terrible

Winner: Ivan the Terrible

Best line: "Look alive, creme de la Kremlin's arrivin'! Try to serve Ivan, no survivin'."

…With that being said, this is one of those battles where Peter absolutely comes out on top. One strength of portraying historical figures from hundreds of years ago as opposed to fictional characters or people who are currently alive/recently died is that we don't really have as much information about their personalities, leaving how they act much more open to interpretation. And this battle takes full advantage of that. Would the actual Ivan the Terrible have acted this deliciously eeeevil? Probably not, but that's what makes it fun. Him murdering his opponents one by one and delighting in it makes him such a lovable villain. And of course, he's given a great (haha) lineup of characters with big personalities to burn through as well - the performances for Alexander, Frederick, and Catherine are all both memorable and stand out from each other - with Alexander adopting the most traditional rap style, Frederick getting a faster verse, and Catherine getting a slower, more sensual verse.

This battle also has the same deal as what I said about Rasputin vs Stalin, where it made me more curious about history, except this one gets more points for covering not only a larger span of time, but also multiple countries. The only figure in this battle royale that I was sorta familiar with was Alexander, so this definitely motivated me to look more into Ivan, Frederick, and Catherine (though it didn't really make me curious enough to want to know more about Pompey the Great, sorry Pompey :( ).

Overall, this battle just has all the best qualities of ERB rolled up into one tight package - it's funny, it's got great performances, and it teaches you a little something about history while also encouraging you to do your own research. On all fronts, it knocks it out of the park, and that is why it is my #1 favorite Epic Rap Battle of History.

And there you have it! Every single ERB ranked! Whew, this was a lot of work, but I think it goes to show that at the end of the day, I truly love this series if I can blather on this long about it. If you’ve made it this far, then thanks for reading my pointless ramblings, and look forward to more pointless ramblings in the future.

#epic rap battles of history #erb

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thenovelartist · 11 months

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Second Chances, Epilogue 2

In honor of publishing my popular Miraculous Ladybug fanfiction Second Chances as a novel, I've decided to release the new epilogue, both to drum up some hype and just as a thank you for all the readers of the original story. Maybe marketing-wise, I should have withheld it and made it exclusive to the book, but you all have been so awesome and supportive that I just couldn't do it. Thank you all again, and hope you enjoy ;)

For several years, Emma had had a question: just what were all these crates in the basement?

It was a simple question, yet she had always been scared to ask. But no longer! It was her fifteenth birthday tomorrow. She was plenty old enough to know.

“Hey, Em!” a voice hollered from upstairs. “Where are you?”

… Or, she could gather the courage to ask her dad now. “Basement!”

She heard the drum of footsteps as her dad came down the stairs. “We didn’t hide your presents down here this year, ya know.”

“Oh, I know,” she lamented. “Last time I found them, I was nine. I have no freaking clue where you’ve hidden them since.”

Her dad shot her a fingergun. “Exactly the point.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “However…”

That was all she got out before she hesitated.

No, no Emma. You’ve got this! “Question.”

“Shoot.”

She walked over to one of the many crates stacked up and drummed her fingers against the top of it. “I’ve always wanted to know what these are.”

Her father’s expression fell, which made her second guess asking.

Staring at the crates, he rubbed a hand over his jaw. “Em... you know how Mom was married before she married me?”

Although a rock settled in her gut, Emma nodded. She’d heard about it from Mimi and Papi. They’d shown her pictures of… well, technically, her step-mom, but Marinette would always just be “Mom” to Emma. And in those old pictures, there had been a red-headed guy that always seemed close to Mom. When Emma had asked, that’s when Mimi confessed Mom had been married beforehand, and that guy had been her late husband.

It was weird to think about, considering Marinette had been in Emma's life for almost as long as she could remember. It was a lot to wrap her mind around. Emma always felt guilty for being thankful that Mom came to marry Dad, so she just shoved it into the back of her mind every time so as not to think about it.

“Well,” Dad continued. “Her first husband was a painter. Those are all his paintings.”

With wide eyes, Emma looked over the crates. All the crates. They were all paintings?

“It’s been a while since they’ve been opened,” Dad continued. “I bet if you asked, Mom would be willing to show you.”

Emma hummed as she looked down at the crate in front of her. “Like… what kind of paintings are they? Do you know?”

He nodded. “They’re… they’re pretty cool. Saw them… dang, ten years ago now? Am I that old?”

“Yup.”

At her quick retort, her dad pantomimed being stabbed through the heart. “Oh, oww. Daughters are ruthless.”

Fighting a smile, Emma rolled her eyes. Her dad was so dramatic. It was so weird considering Grandfather and Grandmother were so… stoic. But then again, she hadn't ever met her biological grandmother—it was bizarre that all the women in her living family weren't related to her, but Emma just accepted it as her reality at this point—and she could have been where Dad got his theatrics.

That's when Mom’s voice echoed down the stairs. “Adrien? Are you down there?”

“Oh, you’re home early,” Dad responded.

“Yeah. Managed to finish everything up in good time.”

“Hey, come down a moment? Emma’s got something to ask you.”

Emma pursed her lips. Dad was really going to put her on the spot, wasn't he?

The sound of footsteps down the stairs grew louder as Mom came into view. “What’s up, Em?”

Before she could ask, Dad gave Mom a quick kiss on the cheek, then he slipped up the stairs, Mom smiling at him all the while.

It was times like this that made it feel extra weird to think about Mom having a previous husband and Dad having a previous wife. To Emma, those were just her parents being her parents. The fact Mom wasn’t actually her mom and her mom was actually someone else Emma had never met was too strange to comprehend.

Slowly, as Mom realized what Emma was standing by, her smile faded.

For the second time today, Emma almost regretted asking, but she'd come this far. No turning back now.

Wringing her hands together, Emma awkwardly motioned to the crates. “Dad said these are all paintings.”

With a bittersweet smile, Mom nodded. “Yeah. They’re from a long time ago.”

Emma shuffled her feet against the dingy carpet, trying to find the words to say. “Dad also said if I asked, you might let me see them?”

Mom’s breath caught, her eyes widening for a moment. But as she let out a sigh, her shoulders relaxed and she nodded. “Okay. I… it's been so long. I've been thinking about looking through them again. But I should get dinner on the stove, so—”

“I’ve got dinner and the boys!” Dad called down. “Bond with Emma.”

His words got both Emma and her mom to giggle, all previous tension easing away.

“Well, I guess that settles that.” Mom then came forward toward the box Emma stood by. With a dazed fondness in her eyes, she rested her hands over the crate. Carefully, Mom took the lid off the crate, then began taking the paintings out one by one to show her.

Dad had described them as cool, and as Emma looked over the pieces, she had to agree. They were like those paintings that would be in the old part of an art museum but with superheroes. All the while, Mom told Emma about the subjects of the paintings, most of them her friends from the past, and why they were painted the way they were.

Emma would say she found the most joy in the paintings of people she recognized. Auntie Alya, Uncle Nino, and even Miss Sabrina.

Then came one that made Emma… uncomfortable.

“This is your mom.”

As Emma stared at the painting of a blonde woman staring down from a throne of gold, she crossed her arms in front of her as an unsettling feeling twisted her gut. Because that woman there faintly reminded Emma of how she looked, but that woman also looked so haughty and arrogant that Emma felt herself shrinking under that sharp gaze. However, that wasn’t the most disconcerting thing.

She just couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that was her mom.

Certainly, she had seen pictures of her mom before, and there had been plenty of times her family commented that she looked quite a bit like her. But for Mom to say that woman was her mom…

Siding up to Mom, Emma wrapped her arms around her.

Though Mom tensed for a second, she gently set the picture down and wrapped her arms around Emma. “What’s wrong?”

“You’re my mom.”

Mom sighed, relaxing into the embrace before squeezing Emma tight. “I’m not officially your birth mother. I’m just the only mom you’ve known.”

“That’s okay with me.”

Mom didn't answer, but no words needed to be said as she continued to hug Emma.

“Thanks for being my mom.”

Pulling away from the embrace, Mom stroked Emma's hair, smiling all the while. “Thank you for being my daughter. I love you very much.”

“I love you, too.”

~~~

“Hey, Aunt Alya," Emma began over the bustle of the busy cafe. All these years, and she hadn't gotten tired of the food, but maybe that's because her grandparents' restaurant just tasted like home to her now. "You know how Mom has all those paintings in crates?”

Her aunt nodded. “Yeah. What about them?”

“It’s kinda weird they’re all in crates. Like, don’t artists put their stuff online to see? They’re just kinda… there.”

Aunt Alya hummed in understanding. “Back in the day, your mom was trying to get Nathaniel—er, your mom’s first husband—to show his stuff in a gallery. He could have done it.”

“Why didn’t he?”

She shrugged. “Beats me. I still think it’s a shame. It would be cool for those images to see the light of day. Especially to show off to all our friends. I bet they’d love to see them again.”

Absently, Emma stirred her soup as the gears in her mind turned. “Could you convince Mom to do it?”

Sandwich halfway to her mouth, Aunt Alya froze. “I don’t know," she said, setting it down. Slowly, a mischievous smile crept across her lips. "But… I have the sudden urge to be a really bad friend. Is your dad at work today?”

“No, he’s at home. Mom’s at work today.”

“Even better.”

~~~

Emma had never kept such a big secret from her mom. It was extremely difficult to keep her mouth shut, but considering just how many others were in on this secret, she was determined not to be the weak link in this chain.

Thankfully, that would end tonight. Dad had successfully dressed the family up, first by telling Mom that they were going to a surprise at a classy place tonight. Dad then managed to get Emma's younger brothers into matching button-down shirts and even clip-on ties, convincing them that doing so would make Mom happy. Emma had to admit that her little brothers, who were growing fast for being nine and seven, were adorable all dressed up.

Currently, they were driving through downtown, with Dad and Mom trying to find a parking spot.

“Just where are we going?” Mom wondered, looking around.

“I wanna know, too!” Hugo chimed in.

“You’ll find out soon, Bud,” Dad assured. “It’s something very special for Mom.”

“See, now I’m twice as curious," Mom muttered.

“It’s really cool, Mom,” Emma piped up. “I hope you like it.”

“Oh, so you’re in on this, too?” she asked, leveling a quizzical look at Emma.

Feeling the pressure, Emma struggled to keep her smile from faltering. “Yup. But don’t pressure me any more because I’m about to explode.”

“I’m not sure if that should make me happy or worried.”

“Happy,” Dad answered. “I have the feeling you’ll love it.”

They eventually managed to find a spot, then all disembarked to walk through the streets. Dad led the way, Hugo and Louis on either side of him. Mom followed behind with Emma at her side.

“Do I get a little hint?” Mom questioned.

“It’s somewhere close.”

Mom rolled her eyes, which, with an answer like that, Emma had fully expected.

After one more block, Dad stopped in front of a deceptively small shopfront. “We’re here.”

Emma bit her lip to temper her smile as she watched for her mom’s reaction.

Mom's brow furrowed in confusion as she stared at the sign. “An art gallery?”

“We’re here to look at pictures?” Hugo lamented. Louis didn’t seem too keen on the idea, either.

“Yes, but they’re very special pictures that your mom loves.”

Which only served to confuse Mom more.

If they didn’t get inside soon, Emma felt like she might burst. As it was, she was already bouncing on her toes like they were springs.

That’s when Uncle Nino came to the door, pushing it open before Dad could open it. “Are you going to stand there forever?” he asked.

Mom’s eyes narrowed at him. “You’re in on this, too?”

“For sure,” he said with a beaming grin. “Actually, I’m the one who made it happen, so if anyone dies tonight, it’s me.”

Mom's gaze somehow grew sharper as she placed her hands on her hips, and the summer evening suddenly carried a chill. “What did you do?” she growled.

“Only something that should have been done a long time ago.” With that, Uncle Nino grabbed Mom’s hands and pulled her inside.

Chuckling, Dad pushed Hugo and Louis inside after Mom. Then he motioned for Emma to head inside, and they shared a subtle fist pound as she passed by him.

“Oh, you are kidding me!”

Her mom’s cry might have been heard outside even with the door shut. She whipped around to face Emma and Dad, her hands over her mouth while tears began forming in her wide eyes.

Dad grinned as he approached her and wrapped her up in a hug. “Pretty cool, isn’t it?”

“They’re superheroes!” Louis cried, pointing at the paintings.

“Cool!” Hugo agreed. And just like that, they scampered towards the closest painting to marvel over it.

Which was great because Mom was currently crying, and Emma knew her brothers would freak if they saw.

“You okay?” Dad whispered, rubbing her mom’s shoulders.

Silently, she nodded as she looked over the room, taking in all the artwork that had been framed and hung on display.

Uncle Nino rubbed Mom’s back in support, too. As much as Emma wanted to give Mom a hug, she would wait her turn and keep an eye on the boys. Not that they needed her to keep an eye on them seeing as Aunt Alya was doing just that.

“Do you like it?” Emma tentatively asked.

Nodding, her mom stepped up to Emma with open arms, and Emma gladly hugged her back.

“You helped?” Mom asked, voice warbly with tears.

“I… kinda started Aunt Alya on the idea trail that lead to it,” she admitted.

Her mom chuckled. “Thank you.”

With those two little words, all the worry Emma had stuffed away for weeks on end disappeared.

As her mom pulled away, she looked over the gallery again. “I cannot believe you pulled this off under my nose.”

“It was a challenge,” Dad said, “but I thought it was a great idea. I had Father and Nathalie stall you long enough to sneak the boxes out of the house.”

Mom huffed, tossing her head back as she rolled her eyes. “Is there anyone who wasn’t in on it?”

“The boys,” Dad returned.

“So my parents were in on it, too?”

“Yeah,” Uncle Nino confirmed. “They helped send out all the invitations for the event.”

At that, her mom’s expression pinched with confusion as she glared at Uncle Nino. “What invitations?”

“The ones inviting all our school friends to this showing.”

Blinking in shock, Mom’s jaw hung open, no words coming out.

Chuckling, he gave her shoulder a bump with his fist. “Better pull it together because we have a full house tonight.”

It took a moment for Mom to form a response. "I. Cannot. Believe. You."

Uncle Nino just grinned like a fiend. "You are so welcome."

Over the next twenty minutes or so, a barrage of Mom’s old friends entered the gallery. Mom had to introduce many of them to Dad and Emma, who had stayed close by. Louis and Hugo were now being attended to by Mimi and Papi, who had promised to take them out around town later to keep them entertained for the evening. If Emma had to guess, they'd do so after the official introduction she and Uncle Nino had planned.

“Can I have your attention, please?”

Standing on a small platform in the middle of the now crowded gallery, Uncle Nino started speaking, and Emma took it as her cue to join him. She weaseled her way through the crowd to hop up on the platform right beside him. Only then did he start his speech.

“Thank you all for coming tonight. I see many familiar faces here, so while I doubt I need to introduce myself, I will anyway. I’m Nino, organizer of this event and a friend of the late Nathaniel Kurtzburg.”

“I, on the other hand,” Emma began, looking over the crowd, “should introduce myself because I do not recognize many of the faces here tonight.”

At that, a chuckle rumbled through the crowd.

“My name is Emma, co-organizer of this wonderful event. Sadly, I never got the chance to meet Mr. Kurtzburg, but he is the late husband of my stepmom, for whom we organized this event tonight.”

As Emma motioned towards her mom in the crowd, Mom returned her smile, laying a hand over her heart while the crowd around her cheered.

“We are so happy to have you all here this evening,” Nino spoke. “Thank you for coming, and we hope you enjoy this showing of the late Nathaniel Kurtzburg incredible paintings, ones that portray many people in attendance now in a more fantastical reality and likely evoke memories of the past.”

“For those who, like me, are new to these works,” Emma continued. “We hope that you will be able to admire the artistic ability and unique vision of an incredible artist. Each piece holds its own unique story, and we wish to share those with you. There are a couple people throughout the room who will all be wearing special lanyards—” At this, she lifted up the colorful lanyard around her neck with an artist palette charm on the bottom. Nino waved his around as well. “—that are ready and able to explain the art in further detail, so please feel free to ask.”

“Thank you again for coming,” Nino concluded. “We hope you’ll enjoy the exhibit.”

The crowd applauded as they stepped off their platform.

“Good job,” Uncle Nino whispered.

“Thanks,” Emma returned.

After giving Emma a pat on the back, he removed the small platform from the floor, setting it out of the way of guests. Emma, for her part, returned to her parents.

Her mom was misty-eyed but smiling proudly. “You did a great job.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

“One question, though.”

“Yeah?”

She pointed to the lanyard around Emma's neck. “Do I get one of those lanyards?”

In response, Dad pulled one from his pants pocket to hand to her.

Shooting him a smile, she took it. “Good grief, it would be downright embarrassing if I couldn’t speak the most on these.”

Watching her mom sling the lanyard around her neck, Emma couldn’t help but be relieved. She’d been worried Mom might be overwhelmed tonight, but instead, Mom seemed eager to join. “We wanted to get your opinions on each piece so we could be better prepared, but spoiling the surprise was out of the question.”

Placing her hands on her hips, Mom shook her head at Emma, but she couldn't completely hide her smile. “What am I going to do with you?”

There was no need to answer that question with anything other than a smile and a shrug.

That’s when Mimi and Papi appeared. “We’ll take Hugo and Louis out for a treat so they don’t get antsy,” Mimi said. “And if the event runs late, we’ll take them home. They can have a sleepover.”

“Sleepover!” the boys shouted, throwing their fists in the air.

Papi laughed. “Or we can just call it now.”

“Thanks, Papa,” Mom said, giving him a side hug.

“No prob, Sweetie. We’re always glad to take them. We figured we’d let you enjoy the night.”

“By the way,” Mimi added, grinning as she pointed behind them. “Did you see who’s here?”

Mom looked over to where Mimi was pointing, only for her to gasp and flail her hands. “Oh my gosh. Okay, excuse me! Bye, love you!” With that, she scampered off.

Mimi chuckled. “Nathaniel’s parents,” she quietly explained.

Dad just nodded in understanding. “Thought I recognized them.”

Emma, who had been looking the direction that Mom took off in, turned back to Dad in confusion. “You know them?”

"I got to meet them on a couple of occasions," he easily answered. "They’re very nice people.”

It seemed a little weird to Emma that Dad would know them, but Emma just shook it off as something she didn’t understand.

“Emma.”

At Papi calling her name, she turned towards him.

With a beaming smile, he gave her shoulder an encouraging pat. “You did a great job helping and hosting tonight.”

Next to him, Mimi smiled. “Agreed. You did a wonderful job.”

Emma felt herself preen under the praise. “Thank you, but seeing as I am one of the hosts, I suppose I should be walking around.”

“You’ll do great,” Mimi encouraged. “Did you learn about the pictures from Nino?”

From a pocket in her dress—Mom had thought of everything when she had made it for her last year—Emma pulled out a little notebook. “Yup. I’ve memorized everything. And I have even more written down here in case of an emergency.”

“Someone was very well prepared,” Dad commented.

“We can tell,” Mimi agreed. “Well, then best of luck. Have fun tonight. We’ll take the boys.”

“Thanks, Sabine,” Dad said. “Really appreciate it.”

“No problem,” she said.

After waving goodbye to her grandparents, Emma started walking around the gallery, watching as people observed and chatted about the artwork with various expressions.

Throughout the night, she got to meet a ton of people. Some asked her about the paintings, but many of them were more informed than she was. She even had the honor of meeting several of the subjects of the paintings, including the cupid, the clocktower girl, the stone monster, and the alien hunter. They were all so kind to her, gladly telling her about the paintings and the stories behind them in more detail than she knew. While thrilled and honored to learn so much, it made her feel even more conflicted towards the artist of the night. It was hard to rationalize how happy she was that Mom had become her mom when the cost was that someone so kind and creative had to leave this world.

It was a heavy topic to put on the heart of a fifteen-year-old girl.

Nevertheless, Emma made it through the night with a smile. As the gallery began to empty, she found herself continually drawn to one piece in particular. There, in black and gold, sat a rendition of her mother, a woman that had been hated by most of the people Emma had met tonight. Yet, despite so many knowing Emma was this woman’s daughter, they never treated her with anything other than genuine kindness.

“What are you thinking about?”

Emma turned to see Miss Sabrina siding up next to her. Unsure how to answer, she shrugged and turned back to the painting.

With a sigh of understanding, Sabrina turned back to the painting as well. “It’s a little odd for me to see. I hadn’t realized Nathaniel had painted her picture considering… everything.”

The ball of lead in Emma's gut only grew. “Was… er... my biological mother that mean?”

Sabrina cringed. “I wish I could lie, but I’ll be truthful with you. I'm ashamed to admit I wasn’t much better.”

Which only made things more strange to Emma. To her, Miss Sabrina had been nothing but kind. Awkward, sure, but kind all the same.

Biting her lip, Emma looked back at the picture. It felt… wrong to ask so many of the questions she had. But then again, Sabrina had always been honest and patient. “Do you think I would have been like that, too?" Emma hesitantly asked. "If she hadn’t died?”

Sabrina paused, her lips pursed in thought. “I can’t say,” she finally answered. “Who knows what Chloe would have been like had she not passed, or how you would have been raised. I might have been her close friend, but I can’t speak for her or how she would have changed after you were born. I don’t want to make assumptions just to give you an answer, but beyond that, there’s no point to that answer. We can’t change the past. We can only live on in its wake. Speculation will only lead you down dark paths. I would know.”

The sadness in Sabrina’s tone hung heavily in the air. So heavily that Emma almost didn’t want to ask the next question. But the weight in her heart was heavier than that of the silence. “Is it mean… to be glad she died so I can have Mom?”

The bluntness of the question caught Sabrina off-guard, but ultimately, she shook her head. “I’m going to guess you’re not glad she died, per se. You’re just thankful to have Marinette as your mom?”

Emma nodded.

“It’s not mean,” Sabrina assured. “Your life just happened to turn out this way, and you’re thankful for it. Yes, sad things happened to get to this point, but it’s not wrong to be thankful for what you have now. If those sad things never happened, you never would have known this life. You would have lived your other life believing that was just the way things were. I highly doubt you ever would have wished for your mom—that is, Chloe—to die in that hypothetical life. Nor would you have ever wished for Marinette’s husband to die. Being thankful for how your life turned out is not the same as being happy about the tragedies that happened that led to your life being the way it is.”

Paired with Sabrina’s encouraging smile, her words brought a sense of peace to Emma’s stormy mind. The weight on her heart eased with it. Not all the way, but enough to relieve the suffocation.

“If you want a piece of unsolicited advice,” Sabrina continued. “I’d do what I could to escape the ‘what if?’ rabbit hole as soon as you can. It’s a heavy weight to put on anyone. That might sound like some flippant life advice from an adult, but it’s a lesson I wish I could have learned sooner.”

Those words somehow held both sadness and hope, and they stuck to Emma’s heart. “Even if you feel guilty for shoving those thoughts away because they’re too confusing?”

“It’s not always bad to shove away feelings like that. It's admirable to face your feelings head-on, but deciding not to engage in a downward spiral is something most adults still need to learn. So don’t feel guilty. I’d say let that weight go and learn how to love what you have. Maybe it deserves so much love because of the cost it came at.”

Nodding, Emma turned back to the painting of her mother. Suddenly, it didn’t feel so intimidating to look at, nor was the storm in her mind as dark as it had been. “Thanks, Miss Sabrina.”

She smiled. “I can’t speak for Chloe, but I can speak for me. I’m quite proud of the woman I see you becoming. I hope you continue to grow up as wonderfully as you are.”

Bashfully, Emma bit back a grin. “Thanks.”

“Emma,” Mom called as she approached. “It’s time to head out.”

Briefly looking around, Emma realized there were only a few stragglers left in the gallery, and they were all making their way toward the door. “Oh.”

“What’s got you so lost in thought?” Mom asked, glancing at the painting of Chloe.

Before she could answer, Emma felt a little pat on her shoulder. Turning to the side, she saw Sabrina give her a smile and a wink. “I’ll head out, now. Thanks for all your hard work, Emma. You did a great job.”

Emma beamed. “Thanks, Miss Sabrina. I’ll see you later.”

“See you. You have a good evening, too,” Sabrina said, smiling at Mom.

Mom returned the gesture. "You, too."

With that, Sabrina headed towards the door, only to get stopped by Dad for a short conversation of their own.

Turning back to Mom, Emma smiled, but when she couldn't find anything to say, she gave her mom a hug.

Mom accepted it easily.

“Thanks for being my mom," Emma said.

“Of course. What brought that on?”

“Nothing,” she dismissed. “Just… thankful to have you.”

With a sigh, Mom squeezed her tight. “I’m thankful for you, too.”

“Best mom in the whole wide world.”

Mom giggled. “Best daughter in the whole wide world.”