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ofwinterandspring · 1 month

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THE REGENT / THE UNCLE

When Segal Moriel heard of his sister's demise at the hands of Levanmount, he knew he would do anything to protect and avenge the Moriel family name. And he did. He made waste of the Levan royal bloodline and forced its people under Aesian rule. That was ten years ago. Still, the Levan's want their sovereign, but how safe can it be to crown the Heir when he's spent those same ten years fighting insurrections.

charismatic ✘ shrewd ✘ proud ✘ trustful ✘ resentful

THE COUSIN / THE SCIENTIST

Although Rochlin Moriel's father preferred he'd locked himself in his lab than make a mockery of their family name. His father's disdain has not stopped the Heir from granting him all their support. With the looming war and stories of a deadly prophecy soon to unfold, he's ding all he can short of taking the throne, to help the Heir see another day.

loyal ✘ resourceful ✘ diplomatic ✘ persuasive ✘ grounded

THE HEIR'S GUARDIAN

Yardane Zered, better known as Dane, had barely been twenty-seven when he made an oath that if anything should happen to Aerben, his best friend and captain, he would take on the responsibility as legal guardian of Aerben's child. Dane never got to ask why Aerben thought him capable of raising a child. Or why Aerben had chosen to go on a trip that he'd never return from. All Dane knew was that he had a promise to keep and a child to raise and protect.

cynical ✘ stubborn ✘ diligent ✘ wise ✘ gentle

THE ASSASSIN

Santana Dur, a charming and witty barmaid most days. No one would guess that she was the same assassin many believed to be the demon from the woods. And she would have kept her anonymity had she not attempted to rob a curious and heavily disguised Heir out of sheer boredom. So maybe she gains a secret she can leverage at any moment's notice, but what good would it be when the Heir offers her gold and silver in exchange for her services.

unpredictable ✘ secretive ✘ fearless ✘ arrogant ✘ blunt

THE GUARDS / THE TWINS

The inside joke between the Riders is that Aymel and Lyron Dur must have shared a womb and have been lied to by their mothers. Because no matter what, it seems that the two can never be separated from each other for very long. Where they find one, the other is not far behind. Unfortunately, meeting the two can only mean one thing and that's imminent death. As guards to the Heir, they take their job seriously. Now, if anyone cares to even whisper of the things these two get up to at night rest assure that they will cease to exist.

intelligent ✘ daring ✘ flirtatious ✘ mischievous ✘ dramatic personable ✘ reliable ✘ genial ✘ charitable ✘ thorough

THE STORYKEEPER [THE SEER]

No one seems to know much about Zephan Caeth, the bard who loitered Aesian roads and caught the sights of their Heir, earning themselves the official title of Storykeeper of the Lands. All anyone knows is that whenever they play their oud, a truth is unveiled and little can be done to anticipate the lies it will break. They're a menace to all who wish to be ignorant and it's no surprise why the Aesian's are taken to them.

insightful ✘ artistic ✘ guarded ✘ diplomatic ✘ skeptical

THE GUARDIAN OF RILCHANAR

In what seemed to be a matter of seconds, Vyath Lya and their ward were stripped from their title and escorted to the borders of their city with no chance of return. Having pledged an oath should have saved them both. But, their friend refused to be silenced. So they followed their friend into the brume knowing that they would never find their way back. And what did it matter? All Vyath cared about was figuring out how they'd be allowed back in.

strong-willed ✘ loyal ✘ confident ✘ stubborn ✘ rational

MASTER BLACKSMITH OF NERILLIS

As one of the few Master Blacksmiths of Nerillis, Ivar Gailion knew he would never see the world outside the great caves. With responsibilities like keeping the Eternal fires from burning out, an honor bestowed on few, he should have lived his Immortal life passing on his gift to his apprentice. And somehow by doing just that, he finds himself leaving the caves behind, headed on a nameless journey with his closest friends— the ungifted apprentice who came to them several years ago.

compassionate ✘ dependable ✘ patient ✘ hearty ✘ tactful

SON OF RO [ACOLYTE]

Fievel Ro, wasn't in a place to question Ro's plan. If Ro thought that they best served as the Regent's hired protection, than they'd do just that. And, what was there to question when they were paid handsomely for it? Everything they ever wanted was at the tips of their fingers. So why was it that despite Ro's strict orders to stay away from the Heir, they couldn't stay away?

clever ✘ seductive ✘ self-indulgent ✘ reserved ✘ unreliable

#of winter and spring #interactive fiction #owas if #ch: fievel ro #ch: santana dur #ch: aymel dur #ch: lyron dur #ch: vyath lya #ch: ivar gailion #ch: rochlin moriel #ch: yardane zered #ch: segal moriel

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levi-supreme · 2 months

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Rei's Birthday Event: Spring date with Levi

Characters: Post war!Levi x Survey Corps fem!reader

Genre: SNK!canonverse

Warnings: SFW, fluff. Reader insert (y/n). SNK final season spoilers!!!! Some references to the canon events of snk (slight mentions of depressive episodes, mentions of death etc).

Word count: 3.6k

A/N: Thank you very much to my dear anon Victoria for the request!! I actually have two very similar spring time date requests, as such I decided to tweak this up a little. There will be mentions and references to canon events, but nothing angsty at all!!

I'm sorry this took so long to complete, and I'm still going through a bad writer's block lol but thank you to everyone for being so patient! I hope you all like this <3

Read the original request here.

"Levi Heichou!" You called out, excited to see your lover appear before you.

"Tch, I told you so many times before to drop the shitty title, we're no longer in the Corps anymore," Levi rolled his eye—his good one—as he approached you. His hair was neatly combed back, his fedora in his lap. Levi was wearing a simple white button shirt with black long pants. His hair had grown longer; his fringe now growing past his eye. You missed how he used to keep his hair short, but you loved how nice Levi looked with longer hair too.

You looked hard at Levi, studying every line and wrinkle you see, and the barely visible strands of grey on his ebony hair. Years of fighting on the front line had taken a toll on his body more than you liked, even though he claimed it didn't really affect him much since he had the Ackerman bloodline.

Although the war ended, you knew Levi still wasn't at peace. You could tell he was restless, he didn't like being cooped up at home. His eyes didn't seem to have life in them like they used to, and he just seemed so sluggish all the time. You knew Levi wasn't sleeping well too; sometimes the ache in his knee woke him up, and sometimes, it was the demons Levi were fighting in his head. Levi didn't say it, but you knew he missed the old life, the one where he spent half his life fighting for a cause he believed in, and now that he fulfilled his mission, his life felt aimless; he didn't know what to do, and what to continue living for.

It took you a long while to convince Levi to even agree to step out of the house and go on this picnic date, and deep down, you knew you had to make every minute out with him worthwhile.

"What are you staring at?" Levi's voice brought you back to the present, "thinking of something?"

"Nah, I'm just thinking of asking Mikasa to send me some of those pearl eye cream from Hizuru. You know, the one Lady Kiyomi sent her for her birthday?" you answered, bringing a pair of shoes and putting them on for Levi, "I heard they're good for reducing wrinkles, especially around the eyes."

Levi's eye narrowed. "Oi. Are you saying—"

"Did Big Sister y/n just call Uncle Levi old?!" A high pitched voice came from the kitchen, and you felt an impact around your midsection. A few moments later, a head of blonde hair appeared by your side too. "Big Sister y/n just said Uncle Levi has wri—"

"Gabi! Shush—" Falco covered Gabi's mouth while she tried to wiggle herself free. You giggled and glanced at Levi who was eyeing the three of you, and quickly tried to separate the younger ones.

"Oi. You brats. Ganging up on me now?" Levi crossed his arms, looking utterly displeased. Falco continued covering Gabi's mouth while she tried to stomp on his foot.

"Of course not, Levi, we wouldn't dare to offend our elders do we, kids?" You joked, earning another stare from Levi. Before he could say anything, you quickly ran into the kitchen with Gabi and Falco.

"Big Sister y/n!!! Did you see Uncle Levi's face when you talked about wrinkles?" Gabi laughed while Falco appeared with a picnic basket in tow.

"Shut up, Gabi! Uncle Levi and Big Sister are late for their date already, stop disturbing them!" Falco sighed and tried to pull Gabi away, "here, Big Sister, I hope you and Uncle Levi have lots of fun today!"

You nodded and waved the kids goodbye and went outside, looking again at Levi who still had his arms across his chest. Onyankopon was right behind Levi, giving you a smile.

"Come on brat, let's go." Levi rolled his eye again as you passed the picnic basket to Onyankopon. Pushing Levi's wheelchair, Onyankopon told you to wait by the pavement as he went to drive the car over.

"... do I really have wrinkles?" Levi muttered once Onyankopon left. You snorted and tried to hide it with a small cough.

"Hmm… well… I mean, uh… your crow's feet do seem to be… uh—"

"Fine. Enough." Onyankopon arrived and Levi dismissed you, clearly knowing the answer in his heart. You giggled as he came out to help Levi up into the car while you kept his wheelchair in the boot.

"The weather today is lovely," Onyankopon smiled as he began driving, "it's a good day to be out in the sun."

"And yet, she still does not want to tell me what we're doing today."

"You'll find out later." You chuckled again holding Levi's hand, watching the scenery outside pass by. You sought help from Onyankopon and the kids weeks ago to look for nice picnic spots in Marley. With the spring breeze flowing and the flowers blooming, you thought it would be a perfect opportunity to spend undisturbed time with Levi. You thought a change of scenery might do him some good too; to help him out of this depressive state. After another quarter, Onyankopon stopped the car near the park and went to take Levi's wheelchair out.

"I'll pick you two up at eight, is that okay, y/n?" You checked your watch and it was a little past four. You nodded your head and thanked Onyankopon before taking the picnic basket and another bag from the front seat. Placing the picnic basket on Levi's lap, you helped him put on his fedora and his eye patch before wheeling him ahead.

"So, are you going to tell me why we are here in this godforsaken place?" Levi questioned you again as you began pushing him on a stony path.

"I'm taking you out on a date, obviously." You teased him again as you suddenly pushed him faster, causing his fedora to nearly fly away. Levi tutted angrily and said you should never be allowed to push his wheelchair again.

A few moments later, you and Levi arrived at a shop offering bicycles for rent. You paid the shopkeeper some money and then he rode a quadricycle over. You took the picnic basket and bag from Levi's lap and placed it in the front seats of the quadricycle. Once more, Levi gave you a look of confusion.

"Well, up now, I rented this for the day," you gestured. Levi awkwardly looked away, subconsciously placing his hand on his bad knee and grimaced, knowing that you of all people should know how he wasn't like before. What were you thinking, making him cycle when you knew it was going to be hard for him?

"Come on, Levi, stop depending on that wheelchair. You have to prevent your knee from becoming worse, right?" You smiled encouragingly, offering your hand out. You had expected that Levi would be unhappy, but you likewise knew that you shouldn't treat him differently from before. Whether or not he was Levi Heichou of the Survey Corps, or now as Levi the war veteran, he was still Levi—the Levi you loved. Whether he had physical disabilities or not, Levi was still the man you want to spend the rest of eternity with. You didn't want to push him, you wanted Levi to get out of this self-pitying state himself. After a long while, Levi held your hand and pushed himself up from the wheelchair. Slowly but steadily, you guided Levi up on the seat of the quadricycle, placing his feet on the pedals.

"W-wait. What about the wheel—"

"Don't worry, sir, your item will be safely kept here." The shopkeeper kindly replied and Levi seemed to relax a little. It was hard trying to move around without the wheelchair, but maybe you were right. He should try to depend on it less. "We'll close at around 10pm, so please remember to come by before then." The both of you nodded and you took your seat on the left. Looking at Levi, you gave him another smile and asked if he was ready. You could see Levi massaging his knee again. Levi took a deep breath and sighed, telling you to start pedalling.

It was hard at first, but Levi gradually got used to the momentum again. The both of you kept your pace slow, taking your time to enjoy the scenery passing by, the sound of birds chirping, and the gentle rustling of leaves. The sun was obscured by the clouds and there wasn't much of a crowd as well. You saw Levi's face relax gradually, the crease on his forehead slowly disappearing. Levi seemed to be more at ease with paddling on the quadricycle as well. You smiled to yourself. Bringing Levi out was indeed doing him well.

"Are you doing okay?" You checked in with your lover, making sure he wasn't overexerting himself. After he gave you a nod, you pointed to a large shady tree about 200 metres away, telling Levi that it was the next stop. Reaching the tree, you told Levi to remain seated first.

"Are you up for a walk?"

"... Hah?"

"A walk, Levi. Let's go for a walk."

"N-no, I don't think I can—"

"We'll walk slowly. Forget about the walking stick. You don't need it, I'm here."

Levi looked hard at you, face remaining emotionless. The frown on Levi's face became more and more evident as the seconds passed. You continued to stare right into Levi's eye, your resolve unwavering. A few seconds later, Levi broke eye contact and sighed again before reaching out his hand towards your direction.

"You better not make me regret this," Levi muttered under his breath, "you're forcing a crippled man to walk when you jolly well know he can't." You rolled your eyes.

"First off, Levi"—you took his hand and slowly guided him down the quadricycle—"you're not crippled. Secondly, you walk fine. Thirdly, think of this as rehabilitation, hmm? And lastly, stop complaining like an old man." You stood on Levi's right side and interlocked your arm with his, making sure he wasn't putting too much pressure on his knee.

"Where are we going?"

"Not far. We're just going to that small pond over there," you pointed towards a pond just in front, "let's go and feed some ducks." Levi scoffed hearing you.

"As long as they keep their feathers and shit to themselves."

The walk to the small pond was slow but pleasant. The heat from the sun was warm against your skin, the scent of the earth was refreshing. Levi held on to his fedora as the wind blew gently, and the sound of the grass and gravel crunching underneath your feet was playing like a contrasting melody. Once you two reached the pond, you opened your sling bag and took out a slice of white bread. Levi raised his eyebrow slightly.

"These are stale bread from a week ago." You chuckled before tearing it into half, passing one to Levi. You further tore your half into more tiny pieces before throwing them little by little into the pond. Some of the ducks in the pond started waddling over. Several tortoises also popped their heads above the water. There were also fishes fighting amongst themselves for the last few pieces. Levi looked at you before tearing the bread in his hand, scattering them all across the pond. The fishes and ducks dispersed and finished all those pieces of bread within the next minute.

"Do you have more bread on you?" Levi asked as he finished scattering the last few pieces of bread in his hand. You laughed and took out a few more slices.

"Maybe we can go to the pier next time," you commented once those hungry birds finished all the bread in your bag, "we should try feeding the seagulls." Levi scoffed again and let you hold on to his elbow.

"Tch. And have them shit on our heads? No."

The both of you began walking back to the quadricycle. Reaching into another bag, you took out a small paper kite. Levi raised his eyebrow again.

"Do you like it? I had Gabi and Falco do it together with me." You smiled and flipped the kite over, letting Levi see the doodles they did. Levi smirked when he realised who the five blobs of colour drawn on the kite were. You held onto the string and passed Levi the kite, telling him to lift the kite above his head while you moved back.

"OKAY, LEVI, THROW THE KITE HIGH AFTER I COUNT TO THREE!" You shouted and Levi gave you the thumbs up. After counting to three, Levi threw the kite high and you jogged backwards, pulling the string up to get the kite into the sky. Releasing the string bit by bit, Levi slowly made his way to your side as the kite now started flying a short distance away. You gave Levi a smile and tied the string around the tree trunk before going to the quadricycle, taking out the picnic basket and setting the mat.

"Now… let's see what the kids made for our picnic." You rubbed your palms together excitedly and opened the basket. You took out a container of hot stew, some freshly baked sourdough bread, cheese, mushroom quiche, and a small container of fruits too. You arranged the food on the mat and took out the bowls, cutlery, and a few serviettes. Pouring some stew into the small bowl, you passed it to Levi's left before giving him the spoon.

"It seems pretty decent," Levi uttered as he took a spoonful of stew and eyed you, "are you sure they did it all on their own?" You ate some stew and nodded.

"Well, Onyankopon did give them pointers, and I was the one who gave them the recipes, but yeah. The kids made it all by themselves. Not bad, huh? Maybe we should let them open a small food stall along the streets." you took another few mouthfuls of stew, "it's time for them to contribute to the household finances." Levi tutted angrily instead.

"They're too young to be doing shit like that, you brat. Don't be ridiculous."

You giggled, cutting some mushroom quiche for Levi. "I'm joking. Of course I wouldn't let Falco and Gabi do something like that. " The crease on Levi's forehead disappeared again as he ate, passing you his bowl for more stew. Levi and you took your time savouring the good food prepared by the two kids. It was pretty decent, and indeed you were secretly thinking of letting them open a small food business once they are of age.

Once all the food was finished, you told Levi to pack everything fast. Bewildered, Levi didn't say anything, yet he wondered what you were up to again. You got Levi up onto the quadricycle again and told him that there was one place you wanted to bring him. Stopping the quadricycle, you helped Levi down and laced your arm around his again, walking him to some benches ahead. The park was located right next to the sea, and it was pretty empty, just the way you hoped.

"Come on," you muttered as you helped him down, walking towards the bench, "we're just in time."

"For what?"

"You'll see."

Taking your seats on the bench, you checked your watch before glancing ahead again, looking at the dispersing clouds. Before long, the sun started to set, painting the sky a beautiful hue of red, orange, and yellow. You could feel Levi let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, and you grabbed his hand, feeling your fingers interlock. The both of you continued to stare silently at the magnificent view ahead, watching the sun descend lower and lower, listening to the waves crashing on the shore, feeling the wind blowing against your skin. You could feel Levi's calloused fingers caressing your knuckles, and the familiarity tickled something in your memory.

"Brings back memories, huh, Heichou," you peeked at Levi, seeing him trying to hide a small smile as well, "we used to do this all the time." Levi hummed in agreement, keeping his eye on the sunset instead.

"I still think the view from the top of the walls were nicer though"—you let go of Levi's hand and stretched your hands—"it was higher, more windy, less obstruction, and more—"

"And more dangerous," Levi frowned as he interjected. You laughed once more, closing your eyes to feel the wind in your hair again. You thought back to the reason why you decided to bring Levi out today, and even though you knew it might make him unhappy, you also knew you had to talk to him about it. Minutes later, the sun had already gone below the horizon, and the sky was gradually getting darker as well. Soon, the lamps nearby slowly started lighting up.

"Say, Levi," you broke the silence once more and Levi hummed in acknowledgement again, "do you… miss the old days?"

"... why'd you ask?"

"I miss those days too, you know. I miss all our friends and comrades too. Every single one of them. Every day."

Levi didn't say a word. You guessed he was probably upset. Yet, you took a deep breath and decided to just tell him the words on your mind.

"I know it's not easy for you to, I don't know, adapt to a normal life again seeing how you've been in the Corps for nearly half your life. B-but, I just don't want to see you wallowing in self-pity, okay? It hurts me to see you like this.

"I don't care whether or not you have missing eyes and fingers, I don't care if you have to be in a wheelchair forever. I'll gladly feed your meals and bathe you, I'll wear your shoes for you and I'll push you wherever you want to go. We'll hunt around Marley to look for beautiful spots to watch the sunset and the stars. I love you for who you are, and that will never change. Falco and Gabi love their Uncle Levi too. So, j-just, don't give up, okay?"

"Who said anything about giving up?" Levi turned to you, a look of annoyance appeared on his face.

"W-well, I don't know, you're always looking so listless, and you're not eating and sleeping well. I haven't seen you smile in a long time. And once I saw you staring at the mirror looking like you're abo—"

"Hey, hey, stop it, okay? Stop worrying. I'm fine. Really." Levi held your hand and gave you a squeeze. "I'm fine. I'm dealing with it, okay? It's, it's j-just—I'm—"

"Shh. It's okay. I get it. I get you." you hushed him, gently holding him close. You didn't need to see Levi's face to know that he was probably going to tear up, a side of him that will never be seen by anyone else; anyone except you. "Everything will be alright, I promise you. I won't leave you. I'll be by your side."

The both of you remained in each other's embrace, letting your hug do the talking. Patting Levi's back rhythmically, you heard him let out a long sigh before pulling you even closer, tightening his grip around your waist as he buried his head in the crook of your shoulder. You didn't feel the need to ask Levi what he was thinking about, and likewise, Levi knew you wouldn't ask him about it. After a long while, Levi finally loosened his grip around you. The moon was hanging high in the sky and the wind was getting colder. The stars shone like little specks of glitter in the ink-coloured sky.

"Feeling better?"

"Y-yeah, better," Levi hastily wiped the remnants of tears from his cheek, "thank y-yo—

—you interrupted Levi mid-sentence with a soft kiss.

"I love you, Levi. Always remember that. Hmm? I mean it." you gave him another small smile before stroking his cheek, pressing another fleeting kiss on his chapped lips. Levi's larger hand cupped yours as he kissed you back, feeling like time around him stopped, and nothing else in the world mattered. The feeling of your lips on his, the coldness of your cheeks, the warmth from your body; they were real, and a reminder that he was still here, and he was still alive.

Levi broke the kiss first, struggling to find the right words to say while he looked at you. Chuckling, you gave him another smile and mouthed it's okay once more. Levi was never good with words and he was never a good talker, but it never bothered you anyway. Levi gave you an appreciative look while you looked at your watch.

"Come on, Levi. Let's get back to the bicycle shop."

Helping Levi on his feet, you guided him up the quadricycle and the both of you slowly cycled back to the shop. Thanking the shopkeeper for keeping Levi's wheelchair safe, you opened it and gestured to Levi to take his seat, yet Levi shook his head instead.

"Let's walk to the main entrance. There's still time, right?" Levi offered to hold the picnic basket and kite while another hand held your arm for support. You tried to hide your smile as you both walked, listening to the owls hooting in the far distance. Onyankopon's car was already waiting outside by the time you reached the entrance. Seeing Levi walking next to you, a wide smile broke across Onyankopon's face as well.

The journey back home was quiet, yet Levi felt like the weight had been finally lifted off his shoulders. You held on to Levi's hand as he laid on your shoulder, drifting somewhere between sleep and consciousness. Levi knew his road to recovery would not be an easy one. But with you by his side, it was like he found his wings of freedom once more. And for the first time in a long while, Levi went to sleep with a smile.

Disclaimer: This is my first time writing hurt/comfort so I understand if it sucks and there's no hurt or comfort at all LOL I prommie I'll do better for the rest of the requests 🥺

Tagging: @levi-lover @ack3rlady @cinnamonlevi @imkumichan @kristinecharmm @notgoodforlife @jean-prettyboy-kirschtein @evas-leslas @sweet-assh0le @hannie2kay @levislovingwife @galactict3a @hauntedhousecat @suukee @thesimpsstuff @ackermendick @greenfurret @jayteacups @nelapanela94 @postwarlevi @levisbrat25 @ladycheesington @svftackerman @chaotic-nick @lilshades @youre-ackermine

Rei’s Birthday Event master list | Rei’s Springtime Event grand master list

Event tag list | Rei’s tag list

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thedepressexpress · 6 months

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I want to talk about how "we are stardust" has become a cliche and I hate that it's become a cliche

to say that we are stardust isn't a romanticized version of the truth. it is the truth.

a science lesson for anyone who's interested (stick with me here):

when the universe was born, everything was really hot, so hot that it couldn't combine into atoms, and when it cooled down enough stuff like helium and hydrogen (and some other elements in small quantities) were made. there was nothing else.

because of stuff like density and gravity, that gas collapsed into stars. and most of those stars became red dwarf stars which have trapped all that material inside them, burning so slowly that none of them have ever released that stuff back out because they live for trillions of years.

of the stars that didn't become red dwarfs some stars started burning, changing hydrogen to helium then carbon and nitrogen and then they die, exploding into these beautiful noisy planetary nebulae. those explosion are where the material for the carbon and nitrogen in your body come from. that's what we mean when we say we're made of stardust. you are a living tomb for the corpse of a million stars, separated from them by space and time.

only a few stars get really big and burn a lot more and make iron. the iron in apples that makes them turn brown and your blood that makes it possible for you to live and breathe. those stars didn't just slowly build up to that moment over time like the stars that made your carbon and nitrogen. they took a few seconds to make a supernova that blew all the atoms that are currently in your body into space and eventually they found themselves in you, making you everything that you are. those explosion are so powerful that if a lot of them happen in a small enough space they can break galaxy disks and leak into their halos.

and these explosions, they are so incredible and loud and the universe is screaming to make the stuff that you are made of.

you aren't just made of stars, you are the result of billions of years of life and death on such a cosmic scale that we may never experience it, not in this lifetime or the next or the one after that.

in physics, sometimes we simplify interactions and say that matter knows. that matter knows the most stable configurations to be in and it knows how to decay to become stable if it isn't and it knows how to feel gravity.

in that sense, stars know when they're dying but they don't know what they'll become. if they'll get lost in gas that never becomes anything else or if they'll become the heart of a whole new star or if they'll become part of rocks or life or your shoelaces.

idk i just feel like there's more to it than just being stardust. there's billions of lifetimes that go into who you are and that's not to add pressure on you to be something extraordinary in this life. it's just what this is like, exploding and living and dying and always becoming something else so you aren't just from stars and part of this cosmic history either, we're part of the cycle so it makes sense that we explode and live and die and keep becoming someone else.

ok byeeee

#actually mentally ill #actually borderline #we are stardust #astronomy #science side of tumblr #how can you expect to feel sane when every part of you has exploded into a stellar marvel before you even got here #rant post #rant

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springcatalyst · 8 months

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i just realized my rant under the club piece cut off at 30 tags even tho it let me write out more than that and i need to have this somewhere or i'll die so it is now yalls problem. alas

the fuckign. the way that the bosses each foil the main character in sifu. the intrinsic way their personalities and motivations are portrayed and told to us as the player is cool as balls anyway but their contrasts and similarities to the mc is. how u say. really satisfying

Kajar is, by all intents and purposes, a hermit. He has drawn dramatically inward in these 8 years, so much so that Yang is the ONLY one who is allowed to see him. He seems to spend all his time working, growing things. He never leaves that warehouse. Likewise, the mc is overwhelmingly alone- it's part of the pitch of the game, but really. We never get evidence that he has any friends, any family left, he doesn't really interact with people in a way that isn't violent. The most we get is indifference from the few non-aggressive npcs. A look around the wuguan shows that he just pours all his time and energy into this quest of his- finding his targets and training. There's not really room in that for a social life. The mc seems to look down on how oddly alone and holed-up Kajar is, but he does the exact same thing, just to less an extent. He's hypocritical that way.

Sean is FUCKING fascinating as a character, and even more so as a foil because he is a near-perfect juxtaposition. Both their fathers were members of the guardians... Sean took part in the thing that killed his own father. Chances are, Sean himself killed his own father. That's a far cry from the revenge we see the mc seek for his. But Sean also has people. He has built himself a community of sorts- it's imperfect and more than a little cult-like but it doesn't feel like it stems from a power fantasy of his because he abides by the same rules- he, too, is burned. Contrast this from the mc's crushing isolation, something that Sean doesn't seem to have a problem with.

Kiroki's museum is a fantastic segment and when I first played through it I stopped to read all the descriptors once I killed the enemies in an area because damn. But her art is all about duality and identity: her fight, too, separated into two distinct and opposing segments. The mc exhibits a sharp dissonance from who he is when fighting to who he is when not. It's something I really like about the game- all those small segments after clearing a level where you get to just sit alone in the quiet for a moment before continuing forward. They're very contemplative, something you don't typically see in fighting games. A fight is all ruthless motion and violence, but after the fact, he seems to be a more thoughtful person than you would expect, considering. He's clearly patient: biding his time for 8 years until he knew he could do it, until he had the ability and the knowledge to pull this off. This duality is showcased in a much sharper way in Kiroki- she goes from "I don't want to fight you" to "I'll kill you a hundred times over" in very little time. All her minibosses tell you she's past this, she's put it behind her, she doesn't want to fight. But when she gets to it, she's not only very good at it, but she DOES enjoy a fight. These two things are both true, not as hypocrisy, but as twins of each other. Speaking of twins (lol)- Kiroki's twin's death and her subsequent grief and regret, the destruction of her family and the way it follows her for years, chases her out of her home- that, too, is something that directly parallels the player character.

Jinfeng, I think, means well. Or at least, she did. She started her business and as well, her goal of killing the other guardians, to help people. But in the end she remains just another functionally useless CEO, up in her ivory tower, looking down at the people she began all this to aid. She, like the guardians she resented, keeps secrets hidden underground and uses her power to help herself, her acquaintances, and few others. Our character, likewise, began his quest with arguably honorable intentions. But he kills more than just the five that hurt him along the way, and hurts so many more. By the time he reaches his goal you have to ask: what has he really accomplished? All he's doing is continuing the same violence. All she's doing is upholding the same status quo.

Yang is the most obvious parallel to the player character. He is a direct line from here to there, from what he was to what he is- a line that the mc is following to the letter. Yang is, similarly to Jinfeng, a cycle of the same harm, the same violence. Yang was enbittered with loss and he used that to justify hurt- our character does the very same thing. He becomes precisely what he despises, and you see it coming from a mile away. But because of the different endings, he can also be a cycle broken. It depends on the choices you make. He is one thing, or the opposite. A parallel, or a juxtaposition.

And the thing about the bosses too is that the five of them together also prove something interesting, and that's that they are all so interconnected. 8 years later and their lives stay entwined, at least to an extent. Sean sends fighters to defend all the rest, particularly Kiroki and Yang, and is acutely aware of your killing of Kajar. Members of Kajar's gang are also members of Sean's club. Yang routinely checks up on Kajar, treats him for some illness that is never specified but is clearly chronic, or at least long-term. Jinfeng funds both Kiroki and Yang, and either has replicas of each other bosses' weapons, or gathers them after you kill them. Yang holds pieces of each member in his wuguan- courtesy of their talismans. They stay entwined even after their task is complete, aiding and defending one another. The main character has none of this. He is, as previously mentioned, remarkably alone. There is no evidence pointing to any allies, anyone at all on his side. He justifies and moralizes his revenge but ultimately who mourns for his death? The deaths he inflicts will cause far more ripple than his own ever would, because they are actually connected to each other. He is alone and so, as cruel as this sounds, his death would not be felt. Theirs will be and are as he stubbornly refuses to die. Of course, this doesn't have to be true: he can choose- not forgiveness, even, but nonviolence- and in doing so, chase away that isolation. But if he does what he set out to do, he stays alone just as much as they stay connected.

#uhhhhhhhhh #sifu game #guys i think im uh. really normal about it actually #but listen.#yeah i got nothing. don't read this actually i don't need to expose myself like this (do whatever)#i was gonna work on actual things but alas. the worms have consumed what little brain matter i began with #sifu

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koolkat9 · 1 year

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For the lil ship ask thingy:

Gimme ur oppinions on france/england and porugal/england

Send me a Ship and I'll Grade it

Fruk

A+: OTP

I love these two so much. They have such a special relationship. I love the idea that they have no idea how to really describe it. It's stronger than platonic and romantic love, beyond just sexual love. They call each other lovers because it's easiest, but...It's something more.

They've been with each other from the beginning. They've been drawn to each other from the beginning. They were friends who loved to push each other's buttons, but that didn't last long. Politics quickly shifted and they hated each other instead. Or at least tried to. For the sake of appearances. But in the quiet, at their lowest they reach for each other.

And finally, after years of being at each others throats they can be friends again. They become allies, when the world wars come they're on the same side. And be it freezing in trenches of WWI watching war change before their eyes creating a hell on earth, or WW2 where they sat in Arthur’s darkened cottage feeling every blow to their land, thinking for a moment that they're going to die this time. In this desperate, near death experience, Arthur is finally forced to look at those feelings he had be harbouring for Francis for centuries. Francis smiles tiredly at the confession--Francis had admitted to themself that they loved Arthur at the beginning of the century when it was finally safe for them to, when the two of them were finally on stable friendly terms.

In the end they live and Arthur is embarrassed. He tries to hide again, push all those feelings back behind his stone wall, but he can't. They're too much and Francis won't let him run. They take it slow, try to focus on Francis and Arthur instead of France and England. And eventually the settle into each other, much more comfortably and peacefully than the past.

There are times they push each others buttons and sometimes they push too hard. Sometimes Arthur tries to hide behind anger and insults and sometimes Francis it too stubborn or blows things out of proportion with his dramatics. They say things they don't mean and for a moment it feels like maybe their love was a fluke.

But they come back to each other always. Francis is the constant Arthur needs in his life, and Arthur is the reminder Francis needs that they can at least choose this despite their nationhood denying them every other choice.

PortEng

A: I love it

Classic friends to lovers. And so soft too. Like their nations have rarely had conflict, they have the longest running alliance, what’s not to love?

It’s one of the few Arthur ships I see Arthur being more willingly vulnerable and open about how he feels. He’s known Afonso for centuries, there is not much left he can hide and even if he could, he doesn’t feel scared that Afonso will judge him, so he’s more honest.

I’ll say it again, I just love the idea of them becoming more and more affectionate until they can no longer say that they’re just platonic bros. I think it happens in their teen years, Arthur blurts out and asks if they’re lovers and Afonso giggles and agrees. They get married at sea during the pirate age, because even their enemy crews are open to two men being married and recognize the pair.

They only separate once, during a particular political incident that created tension between the two nations. But that distance only proved to them how much they needed and longed for each other even though they were angry. It’s awkward when they reunited but eventually Arthur can’t take it and he just throws himself at Afonso and Afonso accepts him with open arms. They hold each other for as long as possible in that embrace.

Also, even when I’m not shipping them in a fic, they’re always each others first time and first offical relationship

#hetalia #ship asks #ship ask game #ask game #engport #porteng #fruk #ukfr #hws england #hws france #hws portugal

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feral-pansexual · 2 years

Text

The Opportune Moment

God Usopp x Reader

More stuff just for me ^-^ And any of y'all that like it, I guess

Warnings: Idiots to Lovers, Usopp thinks that (Y/N)'s dead for a while.. I think that's it, really

Word Count: 1.2 K

-----

Usopp is a coward.

This has become one of those facts of life that the Strawhat Pirates have become familiar with. Luffy stretches like hell, the One Piece can be found where the Red and Grand Lines intersect, Zoro sleeps anywhere he can on the ship.

Usopp is a coward.

That hadn't ever stopped him from fighting, though. For his village, Miss Kaya, the Usopp Pirates, the Strawhats.

And now, for you.

You haven't been a member of the crew for very long; a few months, maybe. But life with the crew has been calm and comfortable for the most part; quiet days spent atop the Thousand Sunny, sun on your back and wind in the sails. It had been so easy to make friends with the other members of the crew, probably because they were already used to their Captain's tendency to adopt new nakama.

It didn't take long for Usopp to realize he had feelings for you. Slight brushes of your hand were enough to get him flustered, but he would always play it off as though he wasn't expecting you to hand him anything, or a bug startled him. (The bugs were a far more believable excuse, especially when he pulled the stunt below deck.)

He just wasn't ready to admit to his love for you. 'Not yet', he told himself each time. 'There will be an opportune moment sometime, isn't that how it works?'

Not yet.

Right now, he didn't know for sure if his opportune moment could ever arrive.

You and him were tasked by Chopper to find and stock up on some kind of medicinal herb on the heavily forested island the crew had just arrived at. The two of you didn't make it incredibly far, however. A group of mountain bandits hiding in the dense foliage of the forest exposed themselves, demanding all the money you two possessed. Being merely a gathering team at the moment, neither of you had much money.. or many weapons. All the bandits visible were armed to the teeth.

It didn't take long before it came to blows, Usopp with his slingshot, and you with your (weapon). Only a few attacks in, Usopp had lost sight of you within the trees. He was now surrounded by the unfriendly bandits, low on ammo, and fighting, for the most part, alone.

He was really starting to wish his "I-can't-go-on-this-island-or-I'll-die" disease had acted up again.. not that he would have wished something like this onto his nakama, he thought to himself, dodging another blow from one of the bandits. He just figured they might have handled the situation better than he was at the moment..

They probably wouldn't have lost you in the fight.

He paused, almost taking a sword to the eye as he was pulled from his thoughts. He hadn't lost you.. you'd just been.. separated. Yes. Lost in a fight typically signifies death, and there was no way you were dead, you were too strong to die to some bandits like this, weren't you?

A shriek sounded throughout the forest, Usopp's heart jumping into his throat.

Were you dead?!

"(Y/n)?"

He turned, firing another shot and downing a bandit. No response.

"(Y/n)?!"

One of the bandits, though their numbers were falling rapidly, chuckled, lips curling upwards sinisterly.

"'S that the name of the cutie that came with 'ya? Too bad.. they're the boss's type. Either dead or gone by now."

"No!"

Panic gripped Usopp. He shot the bandit; mostly to shut him up, before bolting in the direction he thought you might have disappeared to. He didn't pay much mind to all the downed bandits in his path, stepping over, on, or around them as he kept calling your name.

"(Y/n)? (Y/n)?? C'mon (Y/n), we should probably.. go."

He slowed to a stop, eyes widening at the scene before him.

A gorgeous clearing sat before him, a few moss covered stones scattered and stacked around the area. A slew of downed bandits surrounded you, a small pile of things he assumed you picked off of them accumulated at your feet. You sat on the highest rock of the stack, going through a small leather pouch. Glancing up, you smiled at Usopp.

"Hey! Got separated, but these chumps aren't that tough. Figured you'd be okay, too."

He stared at you, eyes wide. The fight had left you with a few small cuts across your collar and cheeks, as well as some tears in your clothes. That, with the way you say and the aesthetic of the stones and leather made you seem..

"Ethereal.."

"Hmm?"

A gentle blush crossed Usopp's cheeks. Here was his opportune moment.

"You look ethereal right now. The sun, the moss, the.. the battle damage. You look so.. otherworldly, right now. I didn't.. I couldn't.." He sighed, but you leaned forward on your rock; your throne, urging him to continue.

"I've liked you for a long time now.. ever since you've joined the crew, I think. But I've been too big of a coward to say anything, so I just.. haven't. And I'm sorry if this is weird, after such a small fight like that, but as soon as I lost sight of you.. I thought I might have lost you. And even if you don't feel the same way about me, I just.. wanted to let you know, okay?" He inhaled, almost a sigh of relief as he finally got his feelings out into the open.

"Usopp.."

"Yeah?"

You glanced at him, eyes soft, holding nothing but tenderness for the sniper.

"I've liked you for a while now, too.. who did you think got Chopper to put us together?"

His eyes widened, lips parting as if urging him to say something, yet nothing escaped his lips but a quiet sigh.

"Oh.."

You chuckled, grabbing your pile of goodies and sliding down the rock, stopping just before you hit Usopp. He took a half step backwards in surprise, eyes still wide. Gently grabbing his arm, you left him back into the woods.

"C'mon.. the crew's probably waiting on us."

"What about Chopper's herbs?"

You held up a leather pouch he hadn't seen yet.. probably pulled from one of the many bandits you were both stepping over once again.

"Right here."

He nodded, cheeks darkening as he realized you still hadn't let go of his arm.

"So.. What are we now, then? Still just friends, or..

You glanced at him momentarily before returning your attention to your feet, trying not to trip on any rocks, branches, or bandits.

"I'm fine with still being friends.. but we did both just confess, so how about.."

You stopped, tugging Usopp towards you. He didn't protest as you looped your arms around his neck, his own stiff before they fell to your waist.

You leaned in, almost instinctively, before placing a kiss on the tip of his nose.

"How about partners?"

His cheeks were practically burning now, and was that.. a nosebleed?

"Uhm.. yes, please."

Usopp may be a coward.. but he knows how to milk an opportunity for all it's worth.

#one piece #one piece x reader #anime #one piece usopp #op usopp #god usopp x reader #god usopp #usopp x reader #usoppgodofsnipers #god ussop x reader #ussop x reader #ussopp #god ussop #ussop #ussop one piece #x reader #xreader #xreader fluff #idiots to lovers

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brdpch · 1 year

Text

{5} a game of cats, mice and hearts like ice

desktop: previous ✧ next mobile: previous ✧ next

synopsis: in the world of deadly games and their lives at risk, a very smart sociopath meets a very cunning stripper who claims his life as hers.

warnings: canon-typical violence, graphic descriptions of violence, sexual abuse, substance abuse, niragi, literally everything, you name it.

formatting: it's a glued-together dynamic roleplay between me and @bvrdel-mama, so the replies are separated by ♠♥♦♣, and the dialogues are written like — This. — yes, the symbols look horrible on mobile, we know.

statistics: 1,795 words 9,888 characters.

author's note: it's a mix of manga!chishiya with show!chishiya. also! what's worth noticing - in this rp there are dice involved. the mechanic is called a d20 mechanic, and it's based on dungeons and dragons 5th edition. we also use other dice rolls for other outcomes, so future events might surprise both me and my roleplaying partner. enjoy!

Shuntarō nodded at everything she said, ignoring the gunshots, unfazed. He didn't know if it showed but he was very impressed by her quick thinking and ability to work under the pressure of time and looming death. He was right - the sweet, stupidish performance she put on hid a wolf underneath, just really similar to his blank emotionless one which hid a cold, calculating predator. He thought really hard about the flaws in her analysis of their situation but much to his disappointment he couldn't find any. The know-it-all tone wasn't lost on him as well, although he chose to ignore it just like the gunshots and screams of the panicked people below. She was dangerously intelligent, that could be a problem later on, one that didn't simply involve her questioning his intelligence in an elaborate way.

Shuntarō met her gaze now, still leaning over the balcony, putting his chin upwards.

— I have no idea, but I'm positive you will now enlighten me. — he lowered his voice and uttered dryly.

He was following the horse-head on the opposite side from him, watching his movement and noting the floors which were targeted by his bullets. They must know where the room they're looking for is - it's a matter of noting down where their feet took them and where their sight and bullets go. She thought of the playing field well, let's see if she can come up with a solution to this game as fast as he can.

♠♥♦♣

She had to be used to the gunshots, but not because of visiting the shooting range or playing paintball; she was used to the real thing used in actual gunfights. She also had to witness death at some point, because she seemed unfazed by the dead bodies, screams and blood.

Another scream interrupted their conversation, followed by a rain of bullets, and then a pause. Something was dropped, Unmei was sure it was an empty magazine - she saw it from across the balcony. The tagger was reloading.

— Rupert Sheldrake, scientist, actually - currently biologist, — she spoke quietly, turning off the recording. — Theorized about atoms, which was actually proven a few years ago, have weight, but in this weight they carry widely understood knowledge. The atoms „communicate” with each other by the use of a morphogenetic field - which is, for us, the apartment complex. One thousand people were experimented on in the United Kingdom, answering a question about what's on two paintings. On one of them, there was a dog; on the other one - a woman in a hat, but here's the catch - these pictures looked similar to Rorschach test ones. — Unmei paused for a moment. — You know, those dark splotches on light background which are used in the psychiatric field. Anyway, back to the point - 3.9% of surveyed could recognize a dog, and 9.2% surveyed could recognize the lady. Next time they conducted the experiment they got much better results - about 10% rate with the dog, and 20% rate with the lady. It could possibly mean that this knowledge was already „discovered” and then „stored”, or rather „kept” in the morphogenetic field, transferred later on by more surveyed subjects. If there is someone who knows where the safe zone is, it's the tagger, and their knowledge - in theory - is stored in the atoms around us

Unmei waited a little bit for Chishiya to catch up to her with his thinking.

— Nonetheless, I don't really believe in this version of the theory. But if the tagger knows where the safe zone is, he'll reveal it to us sooner or later by protecting the right door. When the players are in enough distance, then he'll start actually chasing them. — she paused again. — There was no player limit, so they have to carry enough ammo and weapons for not only a few, but maybe even tens of people, meaning we cannot take them one-by-one. Have you already counted their magazine capacity? Tagger keeps going around the middle floors, so one of these doors could be the solution. Let's say that this apartment complex has one hundred flats, and there are fourteen of players - seven doors for each player to check, if we assume all of us are alive and we'll keep checking them efficiently, one by one. it's impossible to do in twenty, — she checked her phone. — Ten minutes.

♠♥♦♣

Unmei could deduce earlier that Shuntarō was a man of few words, who preferred acting from speaking. It was the case even now. Chishiya partly observed the tagger wandering around the lower levels, but partly listened to Unmei's words. It didn't seem like the massacre surrounding them was a problem to Shuntarō, quite the opposite - at times a dark smile would appear on his face when the echoes of players choking on their own blood reached their ears.

— It's good that you added that you don't believe in that theory. It sounds as probable as building your life on horoscopes. — he answered dryly, scanning Unmei from head to toe.

Shuntarō shook his head and then a focused look appeared on his face. He agreed with the part where Unmei mentioned that the tagger will lead them to the goal of the game.

— A standard machine pistol has either twenty-five or thirty-two bullets in its magazine. I assume the second option is more proba- — Shuntarō was cut off by a rain of bullets directed at someone on the other side of the complex. The tagger emptied out the whole magazine.

— Thirty two. — he said quickly, leaning over the balcony to check where the bullets go. Why would someone shoot from such a distance? From a weapon which loses its effectiveness the further it is from the target? They would shoot if someone is close to the right room - Chishiya answered his own question.

After a second he pulled out the phone and opened the camera app, zooming on the walls of the opposite floors. Analyzing the angle in which the bullets entered the room is on the...

♠♥♦♣

— Do I believe in the experiment? Not necessarily. But I do believe in the theory itself. — said Unmei, leaning over the balcony. The girl with the short dark brown hair has just climbed over the railing to the upper floor, a salvo of bullets behind her, moments before she begged an older lady to change the floors with her.

— Morphogenetic fields are confirmed to exist by science. Besides, you're a Scorpio.

Blue ducked behind the half-wall, covering his ears in panic. Shaggy, despite the stern 'no' he heard from Hawaii, rushed to help Blue. Unmei tilted her head, paying close attention to them. Chishiya and her both answered the question about the safe room at the same time. Getting there was the problem.

— Hey everyone! — shouted Shaggy, revealing himself for a second. — Let's tell each other where the tagger is! We will find the safe room together!

♠♥♦♣

Shuntarō furrowed his brows and shot an irritated glance towards Unmei - then his gaze snapped to the girl that was prepping for a run in the lobby. Looks like it wasn't a run, but rather a quick climb around the complex. She was hanging from one of the balconies now.

— Ideal moment for discussing scientific theories. — he said ducking back behind the balcony, when a salvo of bullets flew their way.

Chishiya's eyes wandered towards the lower levels where the two young men were running about, and soon one of them spoke inviting all of the participants to work together. And he was right, there was no way Chishiya and Unemi could clear the game by themselves in the time which was left.

— Second floor, northern corner! — Chishiya shouted leaning over the balcony just to be greeted by 9mm bullets again.

♠♥♦♣

Unmei hid behind the wall, her head low, almost between her knees, as she squatted. She didn't come out when Shuntarō decided to get a look at the tagger yet again, only to hear him shout. She quickly put her hands on his head, pushing it down, pulling on his hair. It worked best, she knew it really well from her own experience.

Unmei held him like this for a second, their foreheads touching - she had to use her body weight to make sure he ducks on time, before a bullet makes its way into his skull. She held him in place for a few more seconds, not letting go, as to make sure he's not gonna get up.

— As I said, — she hissed, her voice barely audible from gunshots. — Don't get in my way. What do you think you're doing?

Her once ice-cold eyes were now ablaze, burning their way through Chishiya right into his non-existent soul. It was a scream-whisper, and as she let go, she started moving, her body as low as possible, knees on the rugged concrete. That'll leave bruises, for sure.

five minutes remaining.

— We'll take care of the tagger! — shouted Beach member number one, and as Unmei took a quick look around her surroundings, Hawaii responded. — You guys find the safe zone!

♠♥♦♣

Shuntarō laughed maybe a bit too loudly when his hair got snatched and pulled down by Unmei, then for their foreheads to touch - the woman not letting go of the clump of strands she clinged to, hissed at him through clenched teeth while Chishiya was still laughing in her face - literally.

— Mind the hair. — Shuntarō said through his giggling, then his demeanor changed drastically, his eyes became emotionless and a twisted grin appeared on his face.

— You are very annoying, you know? If you want me out of your way, sure. How about we bump up the difficulty level then?

He leaned over the balcony again and shouted to get the horse-head's attention, then got up and sprinted to the elevator, barely ducking through a barrage of 9mm bullets leaving marks in the wall behind him. His pulse was up, he was ecstatic, he finally felt something - anger, passion, the thrill of life. He had five minutes, the shout should give him at least a few seconds before the horse-head appears on the highest floor. He took Unmei's shoe that was stuck in the door - clicked the floor he last saw the horseman on and exited the elevator.

He then turned to Unmei and waved at her.

— Have fun! — he shout-whispered to the girl before turning around and sprinting down the staircase to the 4th floor.

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gorbalsvampire · 2 months

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VAMPROMUNDA - a Death and the End

It's finally happened, folx. In one Very Hard operation, I both lost a ganger to permadeath and levelled everyone as far as they could go. They can't even buy stat upgrades. Their XP is banked, useless; their equipment mostly Tier V, with a few Tier VI pieces picked up after battles. Nothing else remains beside the slot machine of loot completionism, and I'm not here for that.

The story wrote itself, once again; that last op had two other Escher gangs constantly crossing swords with the Gehenna Babies, in encounters where I was having to break a sweat to win despite the unga-bunga behaviour of the AI. Couple that with the Goliaths who took down the Mighty Zhao (shredded by autocannon fire from two separate overwatches, RIP) and it's easy to imagine the girls finally coming home.

Here they are at rank X, fully levelled, as finished as they're ever going to be.

BEATRICE - Deadeye - highly reluctant to swap weapons or carry anything. She's there to shoot people, with a plasma gun that's supposed to be "rare as clean air" according to the story mode, but everyone and their dog seems to have a bunch of 'em kicking around. Beatrice hogs all the Tier VI gear luck - sidearm, main gun and shoulder armour are all the best gear we found so far. Don't ask how long it took me to understand that Field Awareness is a good skill and you need it to deal out those occasional 200 damage one-shot-one-kill moments.

CURRENT WHEREABOUTS: probably found another gang, maybe founded one herself...

SORCHA - Servo-Tech - ever since she lost an eye and got herself a bionic replacement by the last post from uphive, the little rich girl has been my second most effective ganger. Give her a low-ammo-count pistol and something to carry in her free hand, and her skill combo lets her chain out an insane number of headshots per activation. Also, she can nip around the map with free uses of ziplines, lifts, doors etcetera - no efficiency cost for interacting with them at all. Sorcha is a stone cold killer and has ended up carrying the gang a couple of times toward the end.

CURRENT WHEREABOUTS: disappeared with the gang stash of over 66,000 credits...

HAZEL - Saboteur - I have a confession to make, dear readers - I can't quite get the hang of the Saboteur. Hazel has changed builds multiple times as I try to make gunslinger, dual wielding sword girl or special weapons field control work. Her inbuilt grenades weren't up to much in the higher tier missions, so she started carrying the pile of meltabombs I was picking up and doing more damage with those than any of her weapons. What she WAS good at, consistently, was grabbing a piece of mission loot in each hand and legging it off the map ASAP. Not especially exciting, but extremely helpful.

CURRENT WHEREABOUTS: probably hanging with Sorcha and living the high life...

BEETLEJUICE - Brawler (Leader) - Most Valuable Fighter on more occasions than anyone else, and a total wrecking ball. Learning that her Heroic Assault could consistently one-round anything she touched was a game changer, as was the extreme masochism build where putting her into Wounded status makes her far, far more dangerous. She only got taken out three times - once in a pit fight where I was overconfident and let her get mobbed, once by chemical burns from the unstable barrels she was carrying, and once by a fluke headshot from halfway across the map (it's fine, Sorcha saved her and got the bag). In that last fight she was the last to extract and I'm definitely imagining her covering the others, then throwing down her weapon at the feet of her pursuers...

CURRENT STATUS: returned uphive to face a mother's justice...

This is the ending for Necromunda gangs: either your campaign peters out in a sputter, you disband after a total bodying, or you reach a point where they're so good you only bring them out for the occasional one-off giant-killer experience you're hoping to lose. That's the good ending. I'm glad I got there.

I'm actually tempted to start doing Let's Plays again...

#this isn't vampires #it's VAMPROMUNDA #that's it for this gang though - boring to play now #RIP Zhao I shall miss you

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slishthelovemachine · 1 year

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[I just wrote an entire fucking review for Planetes and it got deleted by me pressing ctrl+x but is no longer present in my clipboard. I am going to scream and writhe. Here's another try.

I finished Planetes at 0200 hours this morning after a 16 hour shift on the ambulance. I read the last few short volumes of Planetes on a shift with a man I've worked with plenty of times. I felt a connection with the broader set-up of Planetes that, upon some reflection, might change how I operate as a human being who makes her living on the forefront of tiny histories in tiny people's lives with various doodads and machines in a hulking metal box. Y'know, like astronauts, or something.]

Planetes (1999-2004, Yukimura Makoto) is a manga about space, Space as a character, and all the little people who come to rest in that glittering black quilt of ice-death that is it's vacuum. The story follows Hachirota "Hachimaki" Hashino, a young man from a family of astronauts in a near-future where humanity's Cold War era space ventures never stopped. Hachimaki works with a colorful crew on a debris collecting ship, collecting the trash orbiting the Earth to keep supply and travel orbits free. The job is thankless but deeply important, something frequently expressed by everyone else but Hachimaki, who bristles at the lack of grandiosity in picking up space-refuse.

Hachimaki develops and matures as a young man in space, and those developments come when he faces Space with his ever-evolving Self and receives different revelations in return. These revelations are preceded by explorations of the lives surrounding Hachimaki's own, buffeting him with challenges and proof of the lessons he needs to learn with their own grounded complexities. I could write a lot on those lives, but I won't, because they're believable and textured in a way that feels very good to witness firsthand. So read Planetes and do that. I wouldn't do it justice here.

Yukimura's background and environment art makes for a very believable space future. The manga itself is rife with extra technical documents and concept pages (especially in the last volume) that serve as a hefty eye-meal for anyone even remotely excited by technical design and lore-shit. Yukimura's art lends itself to both quiet, grand scenes of haunting introspection and speech-bubble-loaded busy exposition pages. Warm smiles and declarations of love hit as hard as the few brief action scenes in the earlier volumes with Yukimura's bright, mature style. Planetes is as gripping visually on Earth as it is on the surface of the Moon or the cargo holds of trash-collecting ships and space stations.

Space (as a character separate from the literal thing being explored, here) is represented in a few ways throughout the manga. Sometimes, it is a white cat representing the divine indifference of the Universe at large, and sometimes it is a black cat representing the terrible death that occupies more of the vacuum than not. Sometimes Space is portrayed as Hachimaki himself, though a dark and bitter version of him, pushing him toward breaking himself on the bow of humanity's insatiable need to conquer and know.

All of these moments serve to answer the biggest (and only the biggest) questions any person truly infatuated with space has come to. Why are we up there in the first place? Should we even be "up there?" Is our purpose to die up there, or is our purpose to live? Is just living enough?

The author Yukimura Makoto answers all of these with warmth. Space is about surviving. It is about life and death itself. Space is where we are now--standing, staring up at the stars, numb to the grand warmth they sent to us from places we will never see as more than pinpricks in a vast and smothering fabric. Space is not a place to escape what makes us human. Space is about love, loneliness, marriage, nations, war--space is about everything a human being brings to it, because all we can bring to space is everything we have, and everything we have is all we will ever know.

Planetes is beautiful. Planetes grabbed 26 year old me by the ears and made me look back at 16 year old me who used to stare at space with awe and hope and wonder and said What happened? Then Planetes hugged me and said It's alright. Space isn't going anywhere. Through all the strife and misery on Earth here at the end of history, Space isn't going anywhere. Like a character in Planetes's mother tells her when she is a child: "When you can't stop crying, you're supposed to look up at the sky. 'Cause no one can cry when they're looking at the sky."

Maybe one day, humanity's big selfish dreams will take us back there, and this end of history will release it's vice grip on the world. Maybe we can rediscover what it is to live with a future in front of us. Maybe, instead of staring at the fires around us and crying while we bathe them in more gasoline, we can look to space and see ourselves whole again.

It is a selfish dream, one wracked with the imperfections and fears and oversights common to all of our best and most exciting dreams, but what is more human than that?

#manga #planetes #scifi #manga review #phew baby this is the first time i've done and posted one of these #not trying to get into any magazines here #so dont judge my “obvious second draft” writing #thanks #ok im finally done editing and chopping this shitty thing #never looking at this again

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mrssimply · 1 year

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I wouldn’t miss an opportunity to give you a prompt!

Because I miss them:

UWMA JxKerxV spending their Christmas Eve together

(NSFW is fine obviously)

Dear friend, I'm so happy to be able to offer a vision of their lives one year after the end of the adventure. It was an adventure for them, but it was also one for us, and I'm really overjoyed about celebrating it so close to Christmas!

Writing this felt like meeting an old friend, and I'm very thankful you made this happen cause I wouldn't have otherwise! Si thank you so much, for your prompt, and for everything else!

I have to say the mood stayed cute and tender this time for them. I let them have their intimacy off screen ;)

23th: Home

V steps out of the elevator, followed by Rogue and her guest of honor, Michiko Arasaka. He resolutely faced the door as they made their way down, because looking at them exchanging heated glaces makes him very uncomfortable. V can’t even complain: Rogue withstood a lot of elevator rides with him, Johnny and Kerry, and the young King of the Afterlife knows they're actually worse. Michiko, at least, has poise, whereas Johnny and Kerry have none.

He’s still relieved when the doors open and he can walk to the other end of the corridor. The panels blocking the entrance slowly slide open, and as they do, heavy chrome rock fills the air. Glancing back with a grin, V catches Michiko Arasaka’s amused expression. Rogue gestures at her to follow V, and he leads the way into the bunker.

Designed to withstand a nuclear attack and house most of the Afterlife’s affiliated members for months, the round theater-like room has been temporarily repurposed into a gigantic underground club. Tonight they celebrate one year of freedom, of Night City not only being separate from the NUSA, but being free of Arasaka and the rest of the corps. Well, it’s not really true: they still have to work with the corps, but now it’s mostly on their terms. On V’s terms.

The fact it coincides with Christmas is certainly symbolic, Misty said it was a sign their work was blessed and V took it to heart. He’s living proof there are things beyond the rational, beyond what the eye can see, and those things are stronger than anything.

Their entrance is unnoticed, as everyone is focused on their drinks, their dance partners, and most of all, on the stage in the middle of the pit. On each level of the coliseum, people are dancing, laughing, sometimes just chatting by shouting loudly over the deafening music. Bars have been installed on the top floor, where V and his two friends — if he can call Michiko that already — have arrived.

They take to the right, to the nearest drink station, and V finds Claire, looking disheveled but happy.

“Hey boss,” she greets him, ignoring other customers to prepare his drink. Her call out makes a few of the gathered patrons look toward the young man, seizing him up and down with surprise. V winks at them, something of a tender smile on his lips. He knows they always expect someone at least fifty years older, someone like Rogue. He doesn’t mind, his soul is that old anyway.

The small crowd falls silent as Claire finishes preparing his drink, a Goro Takemura, and hands it to him. The moment he grabs the drink seems to be some sort of signal, life resumes and a few mercs come his way to greet him. V makes small talk with them, tries not to squirm at the obvious admiration, and accepts the praises and thank yous with as much dignity as he can. He doesn’t really like this part of his position, he would prefer not to be treated as a messiah. For the last year he’s come to understand that’s how he appears to many eyes: the guy who defeated Arasaka, who made the corp heel to his will, who brokered a deal with the rogue AIs from beyond the Black Wall. The one who defeated death itself.

Continue Reading on A03

Sorry for this, but I'm traveling so i only have access to the app and it doesn't let me add the "continue reading" option and since the prompt is quite long i didn't want to make you scroll too long so I'm redirecting you to AO3.

#kerry x v #cyberpunk 2077 #silverdyne #kerry eurodyne #johnny silverhand #kerry x male v #kerry x johnny #Johnny x V #johnny x male V #silverVdyne #kerry x johnny x V #cp2077 #my writing #fic advent calendar

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siambre · 1 year

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Are you safe from the earthquake? Was worried about you. Hope you are well.

hi, thank you for your concern. my family and i are alright. mentally, however, we're devastated. i don't personally know anyone who died, but i have friends who lost their whole families.

entire cities are gone. wiped off the map in 2 minutes. thousands have died, thousands will follow. the news will say 10 thousand, 15 thousand have perished. it's much more than that. so much more.

from the moment i heard about the earthquake, i've been thinking of the thousands of people stuck under the rubble. they're injured, starving, dehydrated, and breathing in dust. we're in the middle of a snow storm. those people are freezing to death. in places where it's raining, they're drowning.

i'm feeling so many emotions i can't name them all. i'm grieving thousands of people i don't know the names of. i keep seeing videos of mothers, fathers, children digging into the rubble with bare hands. their screams are haunting me. i'm terrified of a similar earthquake happening in Istanbul. scientists have been warning for it for decades — and since Istanbul is our financial capital and the most populated city in the country, that earthquake will be our downfall. not only that, but i've experienced some huge earthquakes myself. the thought of going through that, but everything being a million times worse is petrifying. i'm angry, so fucking angry at the government for not taking any precautions against disasters like this. this country is sitting on top of 3 separate fault lines. we experience 6+ magnitude earthquakes on the regular. we should be prepared for this. there's no reasonable answer as to why so many innocent lives have been lost. look at Japan. they've had a 9 magnitude earthquake, and not a single building collapsed. you know why? because they're actually aware that they're vulnerable to earthquakes, so they took appropriate actions against it. WHY AREN'T WE DOING THIS? WHY DID SO MANY PEOPLE HAVE TO DIE? so many families, dead or torn apart forever. all so that greedy contractors can cut down on costs by using less and worse quality materials, sell the houses for 3-4 times their worth, and pocket all the extra money. the government knows about them. of course it does. they're voting for the govt, that's how they attain their immunity from justice. i'm so fucking sick and tired of the corruption. the government didn't send search and rescue teams to provinces who voted against it. where's your humanity, your conscience? how could you turn a blind eye to the victims? how can you be so heartless? can you not hear the screams for help coming from beneath the mountains of rubble? how can you sleep on your warm bed, knowing you left thousands of innocent souls to die, buried under their homes and snow?

and you know what the worst part about this is? this exact scenario happened before. in 1999, a similar earthquake in a different region of the country killed 40.000. we've learned nothing from it. we still build graves and sell them to unsuspecting families. the govt introduced an earthquake tax after 99, specifically to prepare for these sorts of situations, yet look at us now. we're relying on each other and foreign governments' aids. where did all the collected tax go? especially in the last couple of years, many people no longer have enough money to feed themselves. who did those people make rich this time?

i'm crying as i type this. out of sorrow or anger, i don't know. it's all i've seem to be doing for the past few days. i've donated all of my clothes i don't wear, donated food, will donate blood the moment i can. i can't eat, knowing so many can't. i can't sleep, knowing so many can't get a wink of sleep while waiting helplessly for their families' corpses to be dug out. i feel guilty for having a warm place to stay, to wear clothes that keep me from freezing, for having to continue living my day-to-day life. i feel ashamed for having fleeting moments of happiness.

i don't fucking care anymore. i don't care if the govt will trace this back to me and throw me in jail. my only hope is that the its supporters will finally wake up to reality following this catastrophe. i hope the new govt will learn their lessons and build safer homes.

as for you anon, this probably wasn't the answer you were expecting. i just have so much pent-up frustration, it has to come out somewhere. i can't sit still and say nothing while the president continues to destroy my country. in short: yes, i'm physically well. thank you.

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thedaveandkimmershow · 6 months

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Beginnings. Endings. And "I do's".

They're tough to avoid thinking about when this year's born witness to the passing of Kimmer's aunt and uncle, Jacquie and Dave, whose story came to its end. The literal 'til death do us part.

From our perch in their lives, it started with the ringing of my phone, of a moment, the last week of last year, when it's Dave on the line.

Later, we discover the reason I got that call's because my cell number's attached to one of the instances of Kimmer's name in his phone's contact list.

So he calls me, let's me know what's up, and I hand the phone over to Kimmer immediately 'cause he's going to the hospital. He doesn't feel right. EMTs are on the way. But. There's an open question about where Jacquie, his wife, Kimmer's aunt, should be as he's her lifeline to the world. He's her last remaining conscious connection in a world largely obscured by her dementia.

Ultimately, a second ambulance is summoned and Jacquie goes to the hospital with Dave where she's set up in her own room. Because of that, because she's entered into the medical system along with her husband, healthcare providers are able to fully comprehend her situation which makes it possible for Jacquie to be placed into the care she needs. The care she's been needing for quite some time, now.

Affording that care, though, is another matter.

Why?

Because she and Dave just barely make too much money to qualify for financial help. And the money that does come in?

Yeah. It isn't enough for this care that she needs.

A few days later, when Dave unexpectedly dies, Jacquie's care is now covered because his income no longer factors into the equation. Jacquie, on her own, meets the criteria for financial assistance.

It's one of those things it's best not to think about too much.

Because it just breaks your heart.

😕

So.

Jacquie goes to the hospital at the same time as Dave because that's the safest call. It's also the best call because she finally has the support she needs at the hospital. And then more support in a rehab facility next door. And then at her memory care home for ten months. And then closer to her son at an adult care home for hospice care during the last mile of her life.

I don't wanna say it all just worked out. I do wanna say that Jacquie going to the hospital with her husband was essential to everything that followed. Not that it wouldn't have landed pretty much that way anyway... it's just how her story actually landed. And what strikes us most about her journey, the decades into which she & Dave breathed life, is that Dave was the last person in Jacquie's life. The one who remained in her conscious awareness until they were placed in separate rooms. He was the one with whom she was proud to share their desert home for the last twenty years... and with whom she shared a life going all the way back to meeting Walt Disney and working at Disneyland and moving from Yakima to L.A. and making this promise:

I do.

Dave was the one who left all those notes and reminders around their home signed "Love, Me". He was the one person she remembered through a long season of forgetting every other person in her life, of no longer recognizing us by name. He was the one person who made her feel safe, with whom she knew she was safe, who was her life line when absolutely everything was uncertain.

He was the one.

To my eyes, their wedding day photographs make them look like a goofy pair of kids dressed up like adults. And maybe that's exactly what they were. Maybe that's exactly what all of us are on that day. Because who really understands "for better or worse, for richer or poorer, 'til death do us part."

Seriously. Who?

Speaking from personal experience, those are words with no context. With no frame of reference. With no experience to back them up.

They're just words.

They're words crafted into an uninformed promise with no concept of its breathtaking scope.

But we all make it never-the-less. And it's still a promise never-the-less. Made once upon a time by two kids who had no idea what their life together would be. Just a sense of what they hoped it would be.

And while there can be intense sadness that overcomes us when the lives of people we know and love come to a close, that sadness doesn't apply to these two goofy kids.

I don't know how else to explain it. But when the moment came that Dave couldn't take care of Jacquie himself, he and Jacquie took that next step together. And what happened after that is simply how his story ended.

And eventually how her story ended.

Beginnings. Endings. "I do's". And 'til death do us part.

Literally.

This year, I think, was the first time we watched a marriage reach its end from this close up.

It was a complicated experience. Sad sometimes but not always. Frustrating sometimes but not always. Good days sometimes but not always. The connective tissue being family and friendship and relationship and compassion and patience and love that provided more color, actually did more to define the experience, even more than sadness and frustration and good days playing Hide & Seek.

And it's those things, those other things, that make the experience meaningful. And us...

Thankful.

#marriage #love #friendship #commitment #partnership #death #life's last mile #promise #vow #'til desth do us part

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hirazuki · 8 months

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RuroKen (+ industry in general) thoughts, under the cut:

I've been keeping up with it and, yes, it's enjoyable enough as general entertainment; there's definitely a lot worse out there, and the studio is doing an excellent job with the animation, the visuals are gorgeous.

But -- and this is a very personal opinion; I've seen people make arguments for the opposite and they're entirely valid -- the distinction between Battosai and Kenshin is incredibly blurred; the transition is not jarringly abrupt, the way it is in the original anime (both visually, with his eyes changing color, but also in his mannerisms/posture/speech/air, etc.), and I feel it detracts immensely from Kenshin as a character.

It's much less a split personality type of deal. Kenshin is a lot mellower and even-keeled overall in the new series -- his highs are not as high (he has his goofy moments, but they're not as annoyingly "childish") and his lows/bloodlust aren't as dire (it's more like he settles into being slightly more serious, than anything being triggered). And this kind of calming him down at both ends, for me, takes away a lot from the trauma of the Bakumatsu. Like, yes, I've seen people enjoy this change because it brings Battosai closer to him and doesn't make it seem like they're two separate people -- which is very fair! For me, though, I'd always seen it as his cheerful personality being something he developed as a way to deal with the trauma of Battosai; as in, he couldn't, and the only way he could reconcile with himself was to fashion something new from scraps that were there, buried under the blood and the corpses, and deny himself both the sharp edge of a proper sword and the mentality of a killer. And that severe, violent separation necessitated a complete break from who he was before, giving himself a kind of self-induced amnesia that only dissipates when it's truly a life/death situation and adrenaline and survival instincts kick in.

Idk, I'm glad people who are liking the new series are finding things to enjoy in it and new takes on characters to explore, it's just not really doing it for me, personally XD

I might feel different if the series was less action/main plot packed and the episodes had been given some room to breathe -- which, honestly, isn't a criticism on this particular series or on anime studios in general, as much as it is on this current industry-wide trend I've increasingly noticed in the past few years, where seasons are getting shorter and something has to happen every single minute of runtime. It's so rare these days to see scenes being dragged out (in a positive sense), purely for nothing more than artistry for artistry's sake.

Like, where's the sense of drama? The narrative flair? The cliffhangers that keep everyone on edge, including those who have read the manga and know exactly what happens but are just as wound up with anxiety and excitement as the rest? The feeling of ending each episode well-fed while still having a sharp appetite for more? It used to be excruciating torture to have to wait week to week for the continuation; now, it's more like, 'Oh, okay, 'til next time' *closes tab.* I've noticed that episodes overall seem to be more and more self-contained (though obviously there are exceptions; KnY still does pacing very, very well), with introducing a problem and handling its resolution within the same episode, and. idk. Imo, it just detracts from the art of storytelling, which seems to be suffering all around, in all media, from all sides :/

It's especially noticeable with things like RuroKen and Bleach, because with those, we do have significant precedent of how they used to be in the past. I'm loving the new Bleach season -- visuals, music, voice acting, character interactions; all superb -- but it is moving at ridiculous breakneck speed; especially for being Bleach, which has always had the definitive staple (both manga and anime!) of taking its sweet-ass time. I saw someone say that, if this was ten years or so ago, the Zaraki fight would have never been paced like this and they are absolutely right. A Zaraki fight, lasting only a single episode?? Come on. The only time that's ever happened has been with cannon-fodder grunts that he swipes away like they're flies; never with a named, ranked character of the opposing side. His fight -- while I greatly enjoyed seeing him go wild ♡ -- should have been split in at least three segments: the first ending when he arrives on the scene, the second ending with him calling for bankai and his sword's name (without revealing the sword itself), and the third with the end of the fight.

tl;dr: barring a few holdouts and unlooked for gems here and there, I am finally coming to terms with the fact that the golden age of anime ended some time ago and really feeling my age T_T

#just some rambling ^^#it's the bittersweetness of summer's end it's getting to me like it does every year around this time #and i'm feeling all unsettled and weird and nostalgic XD #withoutwords

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freakingoutthesquares · 1 year

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Sleazenation interview, June 1999

Source: Mark Sturdy

Venini are Pulp guitarist Russell Senior's new band, and an attempt to rectify music's delineation between flashy but insubstantial pop and credible but drab 'real' music. "I think this single is a good start to achieving that, a taster of where we're at now. And I don't totally feel like we're having to rebel against what's happening at the moment. I can see new shoots emerging in the music which I broadly adhere to."

Venini's debut single Mon Camion is the point where the polar opposites of Sheffield's '80's musical heritage - effeminate futurism and Leppard's spandex glam - have combined. The Gallic theme and keyboardist Danny's synths hint at Stereolab pop, but are underpinned by the same absurdly rollicking beat which propelled The Sweet's Blockbuster. "It's a trucker's beat, isn't it?" admits Danny sheepishly. "The rock band's secret weapon. I think you can only get away with it about once every ten years though," advises Russell.

Both the beat and the band hark back to the days when the stout yeoman of the North could dress up to the nines, slap on the make up and sing about tiger's feet. "Going to see Gay Dad really livened me up," enthuses Russell. "I don't think they're the future of rock 'n' roll, but the audience were people dressing up again. I thought 'Crikey, there's some people here who might have got beaten up on the way to the gig,' and that's got to be a good thing. I don't want people to be beaten up on the way to the gigs anymore, but I do think that young people should be prepared to take that chance for a band that they love!"

Danny instantly proves his credentials: "I got beaten up outside a Transvision Vamp gig when I was 14. I'd gone to the wrong venue and 10 scallies jumped us." There is something to be said for the functionalism of youth culture that has been largely absent over the last 3 years, a time in which most people have become Carhartt man, a homogeneous mass of shapeless canvas. "I think being part of scene, you need that identity when you're young. And in some garbled form, that spirit is there in us, and is becoming a bit more apparent generally in music now."

Russell links this gradual re-emergence of separate youth culture to the recent problems of the music industry. "I like this bonfire that's occurred of these... vanities. All the pompous indie Britpop has died a death, and the music industry - in its panic - has got to go and find something new. They've been rather cowardly for a few years, and had their comeuppance. When the Stereophonics are important, that's the definition of a fallow period."

Having set up their own label Bikini "as a vehicle to get our own stuff out" Venini are aware of the problems of being on a 'true' indie and the current culling of rosters by the major labels. "I would hate to be a talented unknown group at the moment, because if you don't have 10 grand to it yourself it's really going to be really hard to break down the door."

Russell is scathing of those who adopt independence as an artistic statement and condemns wilful obscurantism as cowardice. "That is being scared that people won't like what you do, and so pretending that it doesn't matter if they don't. There's a very limited value in bands with that kind of mentality, people who have the temerity to release a record and then say 'We don't care if people like it or not.'"

He also proposes an alternative to the need for bands to become musically mainstream in order to satisfy their paymasters. "I like the idea of corporate sponsorship, as you end up getting associated with certain products anyway." Does that not reek a bit of Spiceworld endorsement overload? "It doesn't have to. It's acknowledging that the world has changed and that people going and buying seven inches is not the way that music gets listened to nowadays. It gets listened to in hundreds of different contexts. Also, they've got to run out of Republica and Lust for Life soon and start looking for new advert music."

As the interview draws to close, it transpires that the band turned down an interview with Loaded as, according to Russell, "We wanted a coffee table magazine not a toilet magazine. Singer Debbie adds, "It's half way to being a porn mag anyway, so if you're going to read it you may as well do the real thing." So can we expect to see Russell and Danny, legs akimbo on the front of Razzle in the near future, baring all? "It's good to have a bit of mystique - most personalities are nowhere near as big as their stage personas."

#russell senior #venini #music

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