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tamras-shieldmaiden · 3 years

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Random thoughts on Baatar Jr. (or why I don't really like him much)

Note:

Although this could be construed as anti-Baatar Jr., this is me voicing my reservations about the character and in no way this clashes with my position of defending his role as romantic partner to Kuvira in canon continuity. I do not agree in erasing or undermining this fact when justifying headcanons about her preferences. I believe both positions can coexist without one contradicting the other.

So on to the topic. I've seen some people ask around these parts why Junior is a disliked character among some TLoK and Kuvira fans so I wanted to give it a shot by answering from the perspective of a Kuvira fan who has previously expressed her lack of fondness towards the Kuvira/Junior pairing. I'd like to start off by stating that, unlike others, I do not hate the character, just as I do not hate Suyin Beifong. They both are instrumental in Kuvira's story and both serve a purpose in the overall story of Book 4. Suyin in particular can be quite fascinating in all her complex and flawed glory, and I would've preferred to see their complex family dynamics better portrayed in Ruins of the Empire but alas, that didn't happen and what did happen left me disappointed in its rather superficial approach.

Anyway, back on topic. My personal discontent with Jr comes more from the fact that he is an embodiment of a child of *privilege with the negative connotations this term implies. He acts like one throughout the series and I wonder if he has realized how much this fact played out in his favor, from having his role as collaborator conveniently overlooked, to being embraced back by his family and receiving a rather lenient sentence compared to Kuvira or Zaheer. But Asami is also a child of privilege, you may say justifiably so. Well, yes, she is, but I personally believe there are striking differences between them that I will point out a bit later. I think Jr. would be in the same bracket as Wu since both are members of influential families in the Earth Kingdom.

So, why I do not particularly empathize with Jr.'s plight? I mean the guy was shot at with a weapon of his own creation (talk about irony) and had his sentimental relationship shattered in the cruelest way imaginable you may say, and from a romance standpoint, I would agree with that statement. But we have to talk about context, which shows that the circumstances dealt with far more than his romantic woes.

Let's get some facts straight. Like I said before, this guy is a child of privilege. Unlike many other characters who were dealt a crappy hand at life by being orphaned or abandoned, some literally growing up by themselves in the streets (Mako, Bolin, Kai), Jr. is the firstborn child of the granddaughter of Lao and Poppy Beifong. He was raised in what looks like a caring, loving family in a progressive, stable nation with his material needs met. Compare his situation to Asami's who witnessed tragedy firsthand in childhood and again, saw her progenitor and role model break bad before her very own eyes, and almost lost her livelihood to Varrick's schemes in Book 2. The Beifong family has been influential in the Earth Kingdom since the times of Avatar Kyoshi as we learned in the Kyoshi novels, and to this family of prestige is where Junior was born into. We're talking silver spoons here, unlike the Sato's who would be considered in comparison a new money family. I'm not sure if Varrick was born into money or if he built his business empire so I can't account for him in this comparison. But Baatar boy had everything going on for him from the start. He wasn't raised in Gaoling or Ba Sing Se. He was raised in the utopia his mother built from her own design and vision, a city where she ruled. That's a pretty impressive leg up in life if you ask me, but it seems that wasn't enough for him. Living under the enormous shadow his parents cast, inside what felt like a gilded cage made him feel unsatisfaction with his role in the family and made him fester resentment towards them, a resentment that found an outlet when Kuvira rebelled and left Zaofu for good. Did he care for the stabilization cause to contain the chaos that threatened to collapse the Earth Kingdom? I don't think this wasn't explicitly stated in the series but I might not be remembering certain details. What is explicitly shown is that he cared for his happiness which was manifested in his desire to marry his fiance. This is what brought him in a collision course with the person he believed corresponded to his feelings in the same way, but didn't because their values weren't aligned towards the same priorities and goals.

When Jr. relented to Korra's bluff in the warehouse, to me it looks like an extension of the privilege he experienced his whole life. What's years of planning and the hard work and effort of the troops under his command and Kuvira's worth when his personal happiness was threatened? It apparently was expendable enough to acquiesce to Korra's demands after a brief show of defiance. His fear was that he would be kept apart from Kuvira. As long as he could secure his personal happiness, everything, including finalizing the last step of the unification campaign could be set aside as long as he could marry Kuvira and be left alone in their Empire. Notice that the change of heart that he experienced after the warehouse is blown away is not because he suddenly realized that the invasion was wrong either strategically, politically, or morally, but because with her actions she chose the Empire over him. Once he cast himself apart from his family when he declared his fiance his only family (rather callously) and not having the Beifong clout as a source of privilege, he feared being cut off from Kuvira who was now that source. It might outwardly look like a demonstration of his love and devotion towards Kuvira to halt the invasion so the Avatar wouldn't keep them apart but it also showed a dereliction to the mission and his duty as second in command and at least to me, it showed a disregard to his troops and their collective effort and success which brought them to the last step of their **goal. Say what you will about Kuvira but she had the respect of the troops and was a source of inspiration to them, to the point of attempting to rescue her from the hands of the Avatar herself after Kuvira's rendition. Maybe because I served in uniform, I pay more attention to these things, and perhaps that's why I think Jr.'s decision could have felt like a betrayal to those under his command, and to Kuvira herself who valued the goal of unifying the country more than her own personal happiness (something I've talked about before). Apparently, he wasn't aware of that, even though he was the person closest to her for three years. That is pretty telling of his priorities and it is a rather big oversight to have about the person with whom you plan to spend the rest of your life.

The nail in the coffin in demonstrating that he is, along with Suyin, embodiments of privilege, is how rather easily he is forgiven and for his role in all the dictator business, he is given a leniency Kuvira wasn't offered, at least until the end of Ruins of the Empire, but his role is never really questioned, and the protection of the Beifong power and prestige comes back to protect him again.

So in summary, I believe this might be one of the reasons this character isn't that well-liked, and although ROTE tried to portray him in a more positive light with his role in defeating Guan, unfortunately, and this is a critique of ROTE in general, we can't say for sure if he regretted his role and actions as co-leader of the Empire. That introspection would have given him much-needed depth and would've served to present him as a character more self-aware of his acts.

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_privilege

**the justification or the merits of said invasion are not being analyzed. That's subject for other lengthy analysis and are not relevant to the point being made.

#the legend of korra #legend of korra #tlok #lok #meta #character analysis #anti-baatar jr?#baatar jr #earth empire #zaofu #kuvira #ruins of the empire #rote #shoulda made this thing short by just calling him a spoiled egocentric brat like my fwend Mags described him 😄#another round of ramblings #i should get back to fic writing

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azurevi · 4 years

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Hey could you maybe do a headcanons about Azul's s/o being the grandchild of the king of the Coral Sea. And like their tails is a beautiful gradient of colors like blue to purple or pink to red, etc. And like they just adore Azul a lot like they're Azul's #1 fan and just adore him to the core and fluffy stuff idk how to explain it.

Last request! Thank you for this idea. I hope I didn't take too long and this is what you're looking for. This is also very different from the canon plotline ^^

Azul x s/o who's the grandchild of the king of the Coral Sea

Azul knew your identity, of course. How could he not? You were the renowned child of the king of the Coral Sea. Even as a child, you were bathed in compliments and affection from people who didn't even know you.

Which was the complete contrary to how people'd treated him. Even people who'd known him as who he was left him eventually.

That's exactly why he should despise you - you had everything that he'd ever wanted. Adulation and position, respect and glory. You even had a long slender tail painted in a rich gradient of blue, pink and purple that seemed to twinkle in the dark.

It would only be fair if you traded lives. Or tails, at least. Maybe if you'd understood his pain of being inferior…

And his wish came true.

He hadn't expected knocking on his door. Jade and Leech had gone out, and no one in their right mind would look for him. So when he saw it was you banging at his door, his bemusement was doubled.

"I'm sorry- excuse- your highness?"

And you knew his name. The name of someone as small as him.

You'd come here as an admirer, not a member of the royal family. Azul couldn't understand at first, so you told him that you'd come after hearing rumors about him flying around.

And he thought he was going to be arrested. Perhaps for practicing strong and hazardous magic. Or maybe even for his widely detested tentacles. At this thought he instinctively hid them behind the door.

"Of course I'm not here to arrest you. It's not my job anyways. I'm here because people have been passing around the rumor that you're practicing some ancient magic--"

There it was. Azul was ready to bid farewell to his freedom.

"-- and that sounds so cool! Can you tell me how to do it?"

Wait- what?

You could've been there as a spy, digging into his secrets and finding an excuse to lock him away. You could've been everything bad, but something about your sprinkling eyes reassured him of all his doubts.

And so, stupidly and spontaneously he let you into his house.

You were in awe? That's strange. You had a whole palace to inherit, surely the crappy home of one lowly sea creature wouldn't captivate you.

"This is- so much magic!" you swam around, hands stretching out but retreating in respect. "Grandfather doesn't let too much magic linger in the palace. He's way too sensitive about that stuff. That's why I'm coming to you for help. I want to learn magic, and I can't think of a better mentor,"

Surely there were magicians way more powerful and established than him, but he was so flushed with embarrassment and just a little touch of pride at the moment that he didn't think to accept your request.

And so every week you'd show up at his door with the same admiration on your face, flapping your iridescent tail and seemingly leaving a trail of fairydust in its wake.

You were a fast learner. He only needed to remind you a little about the basics and you could already learn the spell. Over time he let slip of the fact that he practiced ancient and probably forbidden magic. Not only did you not recoil, but you also became more eager.

At some point, you'd started calling yourself his '#1 fan'. It took him an excruciatingly long time to get used to it. Of course it would, he'd never been called anything close to nice.

He would never say it out loud, but he also looked up to you -- your ability to see past all your status and wealth, your unprejudiced aesthetic and unwavering strength…

It didn't take him long to realize that he'd fallen for his '#1 fan'

And he was scared. Who was he to even have a relationship with you in the first place? He shouldn't cross the line and hope for too much, lest he lost everything in an instance.

You didn't seem to notice the flush on his cheeks as you got closer. Azul was completely comfortable with you now, and he'd dropped the need to address you formally. Jade and Leech also loved you very much, and you were just like a family.

Unbeknownst to him but obvious to the Leech brothers, you'd also grown fond of him. His incompressible boldness, tender observations and pearl-like eyes behind his square glasses…

You'd always loved your colorful tail, but there seemed to be something more precious and sadly hidden from others. A hidden gem.

But you knew about his insecurities and doubts, so you didn't want to pursue anything further. That was, until the Leech brothers convinced you to tell him the truth after weeks of nagging and jumpscares.

Azul was … as still as a statue. Who could blame him? The love of his life - his #1 fan - and the grandchild of the king of the Coral Sea, no less - just confessed their undying love for him! He was so happy he could soar right above the water and into that azure, blinding sky.

And so you began going out with him. Nothing much changed. You were already comfortable (too comfortable, Azul'd say) with him, and he'd already let you in into most of his secrets.

One thing that never failed to amaze him was the way you looked at him, with the same anticipation and recognition as the day you first knocked on his door. Even after you'd started dating, you always brought up how you were his #1 fan. You weren't shy when it came to expressing love, and perhaps open and blunt confessions were exactly what Azul needed.

You still practiced magic together, and he would bring you into the deeper, less known water to explore. He could always find delicate treasures hidden in the sand. Other times, you would get cozy with him indoors, reading books or just conversing.

"I really love your tail, Y/N," was all he could say at the moment, and he was still trying hard not to stutter in between, but give him time. Sooner or later, he would be able to embrace himself for who he was.

#twst x reader #twst headcanons #twisted wonderland #azul ashengrotto x reader #azul ashengrotto #sie writes

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grayyxv · 4 years

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A Comprehensive Analysis of Eustass 'Captain' Kid

I've been wanting to write this for awhile now as Kid is undoubtedly one of my favourite characters in One Piece. Also, I'm majoring in Psychology so I can't help but think about why I love his character so much.

Disclaimer: As we all know, Kid doesn't have much screentime so it's quite difficult to understand his character completely. So, whatever you read will be my own intepretation of his character (based on the little amount of scenes that he has). Of course, you don't have to agree with it but it might give you a bit of a different perspective!

So, withour further ado, let's begin!

*P.s I'll try to make it flow in but it might end up really messy so I apologize for that*

Note: NOT SPOILER FREE!!!

1. Assumptions

I guess I'll begin with some of the common assumptions of his character based on posts/videos I've seen about his character. They frequently refer to Kid as 'cruel' or 'heartless'. Basically, there are many negative remarks about his character that makes him seem like a total psychopath.

Their reasoning for this would be because:

- He mentioned that he would kill anyone would mocked him

- His high bounty = He's notorious & violent

- The way he acts makes him come off as a bloodthirsty pirate

From another standpoint, I can see why people might think that way about him. The way he speaks and acts does make him look villainous. In addition, his primary role in One Piece is to be Luffy's rival. (I'll expand on this point later.) So, one might think that his morals would contrast Luffy. Whereas Luffy is the kind and benevolent pirate, Kid is the 'bad guy' who is cruel and heartless. The question is, though Kid is rival character, why does that necessarily mean that he would be a bad guy? I strongly disagree that Kid is a psychopath and that he is heartless. Firstly, the term 'psychopath' shouldn't be used so loosely. A true psychopath would have no regard for other's feelings which is not true of Kid because he cares very much for his crew. On the other hand, Doflamingo would be a good example of a psychopath. Next, even if Kid WERE a psychopath, not all psychopaths are violent. So it'd be nice if people stopped misrepresenting psychopaths.

Now, if there is one thing I learned in psychology, is that people tend to make assumptions about a person's actions as part of their personal dispositions rather than because of situation. This would be the Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE). What do I mean by this? Let's take a look at Kid's scenario. He mentioned killing people who mocked his dream. Killing people would make people automatically assume that Kid is 'violent'. But here is a different perspective, what if 'mocking him' had meant that they tried to start a fight with him? Provoking other people repeatedly would cause anybody to get angry. There are many other characters who acts this way as well. Sure, Luffy doesn't go as far as to kill them but I'm sure that many other characters do because they are PIRATES.

In contrast, I think of this situation as Kid standing up for himself. He believes in himself and he would beat anyone up who tells him otherwise. If you think about it, Luffy is kind of similar because he ends up fighting anyone who tries to stop him from attaining his goal.

That is pretty much all the assumptions that people make about his character. It's sad how they don't delve deeper but fret not!! I still have more to say.

2. Pre-Timeskip vs Timeskip Changes/Growth as a character

During Pre-timeskip, Kid is seen as overconfident. I actually agree with this statement quite a lot. His high bounty was a result of his reckless behaviour. He could easily triumph over anyone before the timeskip. That was when he started to become a little too full of himself. Consequently, he suffered heavy losses. His arm was taken by Shanks, his crew was utterly defeated by Kaido (curse you Apoo) and his reputation as the top supernova was instantly lost to Luffy. His true character development was in the Wano arc where we see how he starts to take a step back and re-evaluate his situation. The most obvious evidence for this was when he got captured in Udon. He was quiet (before Luffy's arrival) and deep in thought. So many things had happened to him, you could even argue that he was feeling slightly lost and helpless (not depressed) because he was utterly defeated. The motivation and drive he had in pre-timeskip was shattered- Until Luffy arrived of course. When Luffy arrived, he was battered and bruised but he was still ready to fight. Kid, who saw how Luffy still had his fighting spirit, was somehow inspired to keep on fighting. It's almost as if Luffy is Kid's drive to be stronger.

So, what does this all say about Kid?

I think that this makes his character believable as it can represent real life. There are some points in our lives where we could be the greatest but, sometimes, life can be pretty cruel too. If you get too cocky or overconfident, the world will punish you. I saw a comment that says Kid is Luffy but without the plot armour. That is very true. Kid isn't perfect. He made tons of crappy decisions and dealt which the consequences. I'd say he's as reckless as Luffy, perhaps LESS reckless than Luffy but he suffers more than Luffy does. While Luffy could bask in glory, all Kid got was the short end of the stick. I think that is the reason why I find Kid such an appealing character- because its an accurate representation of real life. Sometimes you can try as hard as someone else but you won't always get the spolight.

The other appealing aspect is his persistence. He made mistakes and bad decisions but he knows that he can't undo them and has to move on. Kid isn't as lucky as Luffy because he didn't have someone like Rayleigh to train him so, he had to put in more effort somehow. The main point is, he had to learn everything the hard way. Yet, he still strives to be the best which is very befitting of a rival character.

3. interactions & Personality

Another thing I frequently see when people Kid and Luffy is that: People say that while Kid makes enemies, Luffy makes allies which is why he has so much support from others around him. I was thinking about this a lot and I can't help but disgaree. I saw another post where they mentioned Kid's MBTI personality is INFJ which made me think even more about that statement. From here on, I will include several headcanons about his character as well.

Let me offer you a different perspective. Perhaps Kid isn't good at expressing his feelings. The way he speaks may come off as cold which makes other people dislike him because they think he is rude whereas he simply doesn't know how to communicate with others very well. Luffy is no doubt an extrovert, seeing how he is easily able to interact with others. Kid on the other hand, if he is an introvert, it could be an explaination to why he doesn't have many interactions with others. I don't see him as someone who's very 'sociable'. So he could experience some difficulty when communicating his feelings. He's shown to be closer to his crew more than anyone else. He is deeply respected by his crewmates because he is sensitive to their needs as well. He isn't the tyrant that everyone paints him to be, he earned that respect by first respecting his crewmates. Also, he would essentially DIE for any of his crewmates. This part is quite self explainatory if you've read the chapter where they revealed what happened to Kid and Killer in Wano.

I just want to add that while Killer suffered so much in Wano, imagine how much it hurt Kid to see his first mate suffer and how he couldn't do anything about it. The expression on his face is perfectly the anger he had towards Kaido, Apoo and more importantly, HIMSELF for not being strong enough. Yet, people call him heartless though he would literally die for Killer.

But anyways, Kid is an excellent listener and he cares very deeply for people he is close to. I just think he's bad at communicating. Look at the way he talks to Luffy. In Wano, you can see how Kid actually does LIKE Luffy as a rival. He just has trouble expressing himself. Anyways, this is just a headcanon but I think that he's rather sensitive to other's feelings- Especially when it comes to his crew. I really like the idea that he's an INFJ because he seems more like the 'advocate' type of character. I still think he makes a very good leader but his approach would contrast Luffy's.

4. Intelligence

I could probaly go on forever about why I love Kid but this is another thing that I see about Kid and kind of annoys me. I'm not sure why everyone seems to think he's a dumbass. Like REALLY. I think he's pretty intelligent. He even kept tabs on the whole SMILE situation and Doflamingo and planned the alliance. He IS intelligent but his recklessness just makes him seem like an idiot.

Kid isn't perfect, he is flawed just like a real human being would be. By no means is he a GOOD person but I don't think he is as 'cruel' or 'bad' as people paint him to be. He cares a lot for his crew. He is very driven by his own personal values and he wouldn't 'change' for anyone. He believes in himself and if anyone tells him otherwise, he would simply beat them up. He isn't happy go lucky like Luffy, he is much deeper than that. He would consider his options and plan- to a certain extent because he is also quite idealistic. Hence, the reason why I feel like his character is such an interesting one is because there is a lot of opportunity for him to grow and stray away from stereotypical anime character traits. His character is believable because his personality is realistic, it could reflect a real human being.

TLDR: Stop sleeping on Kid.

With that, thanks for coming to my ted talk.

Anyways, that's it for now! I'll make a part 2 if I feel like I want to add something. If people like this, I'll consider making another analysis for other characters. Currently I have Law, Ace and Sabo planned in mind but we'll see how it goes.

Thanks for reading!

#one piece #eustass kid #eustass kidd #kidlaw #killerkid #kid pirates #eustass captain kid

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cryingcow · 3 years

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Rikiya, Kiryu, & Haruka - Rikiya’s Lonely Struggle [RGGO] - Ch. 2-3

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 .

Watch me post this in the morning cuz its a holiday lol.

Previously: Rikiya wants to show Kiryu the famous Okinawan hospitality, but the people think that Kiryu is an evil mainlander who will take over their market, which is false. They also think that Kiryu has a bone-sucking fetish, which is true, if only because I had to type the phrase “suck on my bones” too many fucking times. Apparently Rikiya is so starry-eyed when it comes to Kiryu that everyone thinks he’s either in a Kiryu-worshipping cult or an active member of the Yakuza fandom (or both amirite? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ).

CHAPTER 2

Haruka: “Waa~ the meat is melting~!”

Kiryu: “It’s stewed well enough that you can eat the delicious cartilage.”

Haruka: “Rikiya-san, thank you for buying us the cartilage soki!”

Rikiya: “No, it was really cheap anyway. Hehe . . .”

Haruka: “Besides this, what other kinds of delicious food are out there?”

Kiryu: “This time, I’ll have to take a walk around the market.”

Rikiya: (They’re going. These two are more and more eager to go to the market. I have to get rid of the rumors circulating in the market as soon as possible. To do that, I have to get inside the Youth Club of the market, since they seem to be the source of the rumor . . .)

Kiryu: “By the way, Rikiya. Patriarch Nakahara called and asked me to drop by tonight.”

Rikiya: “To my boss’s place?”

Kiryu: “Yeah. It seems he wants to drink Awamori with me. Will you be present there?”

Rikiya: “I want to, but I have other plans tonight . . .”

Kiryu: “Why are you so busy lately? Are you involved in some kind of trouble?”

Rikiya: “What are you talking about! There’s no trouble! Anyway, thank you for being Boss’s drinking buddy! Oh, but if Boss has too much to drink, he has a habit of going on a rampage, so keep it in moderation.”

Kiryu: “So he’s a violent drunk. That guy should be more careful . . .”

Rikiya: “Well, I’m heading out for a while! Please give my best regards to my boss!”

----

Rikiya: “If you think about it this time, it’s questionable whether it’s suitable for me to be doing this, being Aniki’s younger brother . . . To not bother Aniki, I have to solve this problem not as his younger brother. Alright! I’ll definitely erase the rumors! Hmm . . . from what I heard, the Youth Club’s office should be around here somewhere . . . Oh! Here it is!”

Youth Director: “Who are you? Coming at such a time . . .”

Rikiya: “Are you a member of the market’s Youth Club?”

Youth Director: “Yeah. I’m the director . . . hm? You, you’re Rikiya of the Ryudo Family! What are you doing after getting brainwashed by Kiryu? Are you here to take down the Youth Club?!”

Rikiya: “Stupid guy. I can’t be brainwashed. What are you guys? Why are you blowing around fake rumors in the market?”

Youth Director: “Kiryu taking over the market . . . sure, we were the ones who gave this information to everyone. But that isn’t a lie . . . look at this!”

{The Youth Director takes out a sheet of paper with a flourish.}

Rikiya: “Hm? What is this letter??”

Youth Director: “This letter was found in the market’s opinion box.”

Rikiya: “Opinion box?”

Youth Director: “Customers write in their requests and points for improvement for the market. This letter was found in it. Read it.”

Rikiya: “‘Be careful. Kiryu Kazuma intends to take over the market. The market’s enforcers from the Ryudo Family cannot counter Kiryu. Because . . . Kiryu has already brainwashed the young captain Rikiya. Furthermore, Kiryu intends to kill the family’s head Nakahara in the future.’ . . . What is this letter! Who put it in the opinion box?!”

Youth Director: “The sender’s name isn’t written. It’s an anonymous report.”

Rikiya: “Do you guys really believe such a crappy letter?!”

Youth Director: “Well we didn’t bother with it at first. You were always on the land of Morning Glory, in a position to evict Kiryu. You couldn’t have been brainwashed by him. But then one day the situation changed completely . . . suddenly you started calling Kiryu, who was supposed to be the enemy, your Aniki! That couldn’t have been anything other than brainwashing, right? So that means what’s in this letter is true!”

Rikiya: “No, you’re wrong! That’s . . . !”

Youth Director: “There’s more. A new report was posted today. Here. Read it.”

{The Youth Director hands over another letter.}

Rikiya: “’Kiryu intends to poison the Ryudo Family’s head . . .’ Huh? Poison? He won’t do anything like that!”

Youth Director: “Hm? Oi, look! The man walking over there . . . !”

Rikiya: “A-Aniki . . . ?!”

Haruka: “Hey, Ojiisan . . .”

Kiryu: “What is it?”

Haruka: “Is it okay to give this drink to Nakahara-san?”

Kiryu: “Yeah . . . If Nakahara refuses, I’ll just make him drink it.”

Haruka: “Well, Ojiisan is forceful. But will this be effective?”

Kiryu: “Don’t worry. It’s a method that’s been used for ages. Now, let’s hurry up. I’m late for my meeting with Nakahara.”

Youth Director: “Oi! You heard that conversation just now!”

Rikiya: “Wait a minute! This has to be a misunderstanding!”

Youth Director: “Everyone, come out!”

{A bunch of guys exit the office.}

Member: “Is something wrong, director?”

Youth Director: “Kiryu’s heading over to poison the Ryudo Family’s head Nakahara!”

Member: “What! He’s on Tarekomi Street right now!”

Youth Director: “Let’s chase Kiryu down and kill him!”

Member: “Yeah! We’ll never let him meet Boss Nakahara!”

Rikiya: “Wait! Calm down!”

Youth Director: “Get out of the way, Rikiya! If you don’t know which side you’re on, then we’ll kill you too!”

Rikiya: “Just try it if you can! I will never let you through!”

{Rikiya defeats all the youth members.}

Rikiya: “So, Aniki isn’t going to kill the boss . . . but then what exactly was that conversation between Aniki and Haruka-chan? I don’t know . . . I should chase after them and see what happens . . .”

----

Haruka: “You said that it’s a method that’s been in use for a long time, but is that really true?”

Kiryu: “Yeah, if you’re an adult, it’s a story you’ll hear at least once. If you drink milk before drinking alcohol, a film will form on your stomach and it would be difficult for you to get sick.”

Haruka: “Hmm. Nakahara-san, I hope you can drink this milk properly.”

Kiryu: “Oh, the office of the Ryudo Family is just around this corner.”

{Kiryu and Haruka enter the office. Rikiya peeks out from his cover.}

Rikiya: “Haa . . . so that’s what it was . . .”

----

Youth Director: “Huh? Milk? Don’t lie, Rikiya!”

Rikiya: “I think this is all because of Kiryu-no-aniki’s fierce appearance and manner of speaking. Even in ordinary everyday conversation, it sounds scary when Aniki speaks. Maybe the guy who got into the opinion box misunderstood Aniki’s regular speech?”

Youth Director: “That can’t be it. There are multiple stories. The timing of the posting and the handwriting is different. You’re saying an unspecified number of people misunderstood Kiryu’s words all at the same time. Isn’t that quite the coincidence?”

Rikiya: “Well . . .”

Youth Director: “The problem here is you, Rikiya. Defending him with such an arduous excuse! It looks like you received a stronger brainwashing than I expected. Maybe something is embedded in your head?”

Rikiya: “Ha?”

Youth Director: “I saw it on TV before! Surgery to implant a chip in your brain! Could Kiryu do such a thing?!”

Rikiya: “No, that’s-”

Youth Director: “Do-Don’t come any closer! We can’t handle either of you! You guys . . . you’re no longer humans!! You’re monsters!!”

{The Youth Director runs inside the youth club office and locks the doors.}

Rikiya: “Haa . . . the rumors are getting more and more exaggerated . . .”

-END-

CHAPTER 3

Kiryu: “Shit . . . this guy’s been hurt for two hours and yet he’s still clinging to me. What a stubborn bastard. Should I submerge him in hot water next? No, I have a hand at stake . . .”

Haruka: “How is it, Ojiisan? Has it fallen?”

Kiryu: “No, it hasn’t fallen at all. He’s like the oil stains on this frying pan.”

Rikiya: (What’s this about oil stains . . . I thought he was torturing someone there for a moment . . . Those who put those claims in the opinion box really might have just misunderstood Aniki’s regular speech . . .)

Rikiya: “Hey, Aniki. Why don’t you try keeping in mind to speak a little more gently?”

Kiryu: “Hm? Speaking more gently?”

Rikiya: “Because your voice is powerful, you might be mistaken for a scary person . . .”

Kiryu: “Is there someone out there who misinterpreted me?”

Rikiya: “No, nothing like that . . . but if bad rumors about Aniki spread around Ryukyu, wouldn’t that be hard? It would be impossible to visit every single inhabitant to set the record straight . . .”

Kiryu: “I don’t think that’s necessary.”

Rikiya: “Eh?”

Kiryu: “Where do you start when you untie a tangled string? Isn’t it at the ‘root’ of the string, not the tips? If it looks too intricately intertwined, the cause may be a slight twist at the root. If you fix it there, the rest will unravel. The same is true for rumors and misunderstandings.”

Rikiya: “That’s it . . . ! So if you correct the person who misunderstood first, the rest will be solved?!”

Kiryu: “Yeah. Everything is from the root. Both when it entangles and when it unravels.”

Rikiya: (In this case, the root of all this is the person who put the message in the opinion box! I have to find them and set the record straight! That said, I should go watch the opinion box immediately!)

Rikiya: “Thanks, Aniki!”

Kiryu: “. . . hm? Are bad rumors about me spreading after all?”

Rikiya: “Wh-What are you talking about! That’s not true! There are only kind-hearted people in Okinawa!”

Kiryu: “Speaking of kindness, what happened to interacting with the people of the market?”

Rikiya: “Sorry! I’m heading out now! See you next time!”

----

Greengrocer: “Have you heard? If you go to Kiryu, he can bury a chip inside your head . . .”

Meat Vendor: “And for the rest of your life, you’ll be brainwashed by Kiryu and live as his slave . . .”

Rikiya: (The rumors have gotten so exaggerated, it’s ridiculous . . . I have to find the person who posted the letter soon . . . Even though I’ve been watching the opinion box for hours, no one’s written a letter . . . Well, it’s not like people post letters everyday, maybe I should give up for today . . .)

Rikiya: (Hm? Those guys . . . ? I’ve seen them somewhere before . . . Ah, that’s right! They’re the bouncers hired by the Youth Club. Are they on patrol? They’re sneaky . . . Hm? Is the one on the right holding a letter . . . ?)

{The right bouncer posts the letter in the opinion box.}

Rikiya: (He put it in the opinion box! Why did the bouncer . . . ?! Are they the ones who posted the lie about Aniki?! Is their purpose to be hired as bouncers . . . ?! If you think about it, it makes sense!!)

Rikiya: “Wait a moment!”

Hooligan A: “Ri-Rikiya . . . ?! What for?!”

Rikiya: “The letter you put in the opinion box, I’m checking it.”

Hooligan A: “Wh-What the hell!! You don’t have that kind of authority!!”

Rikiya: ‘I’m pretty impatient. Did you put in a bad letter that you don’t want to be seen by me?”

Hooligan A: “It has nothing to do with you! Don’t you dare lay a single finger on the opinion box!”

Rikiya: “Heh. Does that mean I can’t see the contents of the letter without knocking you guys down first? Good! Come on! I’ll beat you guys down again and again!”

{Rikiya beats them down.}

Hooligan A: “Ugh . . . don’t touch that letter . . .”

Rikiya: “I can’t do that. The letter that you posted is . . . this. What-?”

Rikiya: “’Protest the youth in the market. The Youth Club has not paid a fair price for the bouncers they hired in preparation for Kiryu’s invasion. The Youth Club should pay the bouncers as promised.’ Wh-What is this?”

Hooligan A: “It’s because of what you did yesterday. The Youth Club said, ‘We can’t pay as promised to a bouncer who loses to Rikiya.’ They reduced the reward for us . . . this is a letter to protest against that!”

Rikiya: “In other words, you weren’t the ones making up lies about Aniki . . . is that right.”

Hooligan A: “What are you talking about?”

Rikiya: “That’s enough. You guys go home. Next time I see you in the market, this beating won’t be enough.”

Hooligan A: “Shit . . . !”

{The bouncers bump into a woman while they run away. The paper she’s holding is nearly knocked out of her hands.}

Rikiya: “Are you okay, Ma’am?”

Woman Passing By: “Yeah, sorry . . .”

Rikiya: “You . . . haven’t we met before? Weren’t you the one who told me rumors about Kiryu-no-aniki?”

Woman Passing By: “Oh~ that time . . .”

Rikiya: “You come to the market quite often to shop. Hm? That paper you’re holding . . . is that a letter?”

Woman Passing By: “Um, this, uh . . .”

Rikiya: “Can I take a little peek?”

Woman Passing By: “Y-You can’t!!”

Rikiya: “There is no delicacy in forcibly reading a woman’s letter, but because of the circumstances . . . I’ll borrow it!”

{Rikiya yanks the letter from her hands.}

Rikiya: “What, what . . . ‘Kiryu Kazuma’s market takeover plan’s follow up report: After taking over the market, Kiryu intends to demand expensive protection rackets from each store. . . . he’s willing to kill those shopkeepers who don’t pay the racket under the guise of an accident.’ Th-This is a lie!!”

Woman Passing By: “Um, that’s . . . !!”

Rikiya: “Why is there a follow up report before anything has even happened?! What the hell are you . . . ?! What is this letter for?!”

-END-

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3

Masterlist

#Apparently Kiryu speaks like Tatsu from Way of the Househusband #The curse of a yakuza going domestic #rgg online #rggo lore #rggo #rgg #Ryu ga Gotoku #yakuza #rikiya shimabukuro #kiryu kazuma #kazuma kiryu #haruka sawamura

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too-kinky-to-live · 4 years

Text

drug

creative title ik

tbh i think this came out way longer than it should have, felt like i was just rambling on i couldnt help myself lmao

anyway, here’s an oum.asai stuffing fic i’ve been working on and off on since... october 2019. jesus christ. also this is my first time ever posting a fic online, meaning ive never had anyone read my stories before o.o so criticism is welcome! (and if its good enough i might post it on ao3)

Ouma learned an important lesson that day: never take unknown substances from Iruma’s lab.

In hindsight, he really should have seen this coming. A lone piece of candy sitting on a desk should have looked more suspicious than it had. Still, Ouma had to fulfill his self-proclaimed duty of messing with Iruma’s stuff, popping the blue oval-shaped candy in his mouth and swallowing it without a second thought.

Skipping cheerfully through the halls to find his next prank victim, Ouma licked his lips of the tasty raspberry flavor. If Iruma was such a great inventor, surely she could make a machine to generate a bunch of sweets for him to steal. His mind raced with the images of cakes and brownies, and his mouth slightly salivating at the thought.

What the hell?

Ouma stopped in his tracks. He had never thought about food so strongly before, what was with him today? Before he could dwell on it further, a searing pain tore through his stomach. Ouma doubled over onto his knees, clutching his middle and hissing in pain. Only one word ran through his head.

Hunger.

Going long periods of time without food was nothing new to Ouma, due to his poor upbringing. He should be used to an empty stomach, but damn. This was on a whole new level. Giving in to his hunger, he made a beeline to the dining hall, praying that no one was there to see the Supreme Leader shaking like a leaf.

Ouma hastily grabbed onto the chairs as he inched his way to the kitchen. If anyone were in the room, they’d describe Ouma’s gaze of the fridge as predatory. Ouma raised a shaky hand to the door handle and swung it open to reveal a smorgasbord of delicacies.

Chicken, steak, pasta, pies, cakes, soup… Ouma had never seen so much food in one place!

Licking his lips to clean up the drool forming, Ouma grabbed a bunch of plastic containers of meat and pasta and shoved them into nearby microwaves. Of course, his stomach wasn’t willing to wait around for that. A roar from his belly forced him to swipe a strawberry shortcake from the fridge. Ouma plopped himself on the floor and ravenously dug in, scooping up handfuls and shoving them into his gaping maw. The Supreme Leader moaned in ecstasy, tasting the sugary sweet confection.

Even if he wasn’t alone, he couldn’t muffle his absolute bliss. And within ten seconds flat, Ouma was already lifting the last glob of cake above his mouth, dropping it in and making it history with a single gulp.

The microwaves dinged in unison to reveal the next courses. Under any normal circumstances, Ouma would be bouncing off the walls from a sugar high. Strangely, though, his mind only repeated one command to the rest of his body: eat. Eat, eat some more, and then eat some more after that. Even his stomach seemed to agree, despite the fact it was pushing against his uniform.

Soon enough, the only noises that could be heard were gulping, slurping, munching, and moaning from a happy Ouma. His cheeks became perpetually bulged as he kept himself busy chewing on whatever he could get his hands on.

“Mmmmph… ‘sho good…” he moaned through a mouthful of pasta, before sending it down with an audible gulp. The tightness of his uniform didn’t hit him until he felt a shirt button pop off, giving him a brief release from the pressure. The satisfying pop snapped Ouma out of his stupor, and when he looked down at himself…

Holy shit.

Was that beach ball-shaped thing his stomach? He curiously placed a hand on top, feeling the mass of food churn busily within him. The small, skinny leader never would have imagined himself with a bloated belly, and yet, it was oh so satisfying. His muscles lost their tension and Ouma allowed himself to relax into the sensation, rubbing his swollen tummy gingerly. It was only fitting for someone in his position to be treated to a feast - why didn’t he think of this earlier?

He glanced over at the open fridge to see it almost empty. Like the light at the end of the tunnel, his greedy gaze settled on a large 2 liter bottle of Panta. Or, according to Ouma, the elixir of the gods. It took a bit of effort to turn his body sporting extra weight over to the bottle; but for Panta, any amount of pain was worth it. He slowly grabbed the bottle and unscrewed the cap, licking his lips eagerly. After a king-sized feast like this, it was only natural to wash it all down with his favorite drink.

Bringing the bottle to his lips, he proceeded to chug the whole thing. His neck bobbed with the intake, and his belly was steadily expanding for the new content. More buttons began to pop off his shirt until his bare tummy was exposed for the world to see, in all its distended glory.

Slowly but surely, the bottle’s contents were drained down the gluttonous leader’s gullet. As if to emphasize his triumph, he made sure he was as loud as possible with each swallow.

Finally, he separated himself from the empty bottle and nonchalantly tossed it aside. Ouma breathed a heavy sigh of relief and lightly patted his belly.

“Ooooof, that hit the spot.”

Suddenly, his insides began to bubble and churn, his stomach gurgling in protest. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea… Ouma felt a pressure rise to his mouth, and he swiftly brought a hand to cover it, but he was powerless to stop what came out.

“Huuuuuurrrrrp!”

Ah, that was much better. He glanced down to see his stomach reaching his knees, and his bellybutton completely flat. Ouma remained on the floor in a daze, massaging his tummy to coax more belches out of it. Carefully, he eased himself to lay down on the floor, the movement causing a sharp hic! to escape.

This was by far the best day he’d ever had at this crappy school. Surely no one needed to use the kitchen…

“Screw ‘em,” he breathed. “It’s time for a nice nap…”

Saihara waved goodbye to Kaito as he left the dorms. Looking at his Monopad, it seemed he still had some free time left. His thoughts immediately drifted to Ouma, wondering what the rambunctious little leader did in his spare time. He did mention having a tea party with me once, maybe now is a good time? Saihara thought. Seeing Ouma’s icon in the dining hall, perhaps the leader had the same thought?

Saihara quietly made his way into the dining hall, only to find it completely empty. Ouma couldn’t have known he was coming, where is he? His thought was broken when he heard what sounded like… snoring coming from the kitchen. Saihara could only raise an eyebrow. His detective instincts kicked in as he reached for the door handle.

Nothing could prepare him for what he was about to witness.

The elusive Supreme Leader was sprawled out on his back, limbs spread out and hair an even bigger mess than usual. His soft snores broke the silence of the kitchen, his mouth agape with a variety of food smears surrounding it. Around his body were copious amounts of bones, crumbs, sauce, and plastic scattered around his slumbering form. By far the most striking sight, however, was his stomach.

Saihara’s eyes widened as they spotted the round mass. The tip was a bright red, a stark contrast to Ouma’s pale skin. Saihara found himself stepping towards it, unable to resist the allure. He had no idea how appealing this sort of thing was, but seeing the malnourished boy so well-fed… it was truly beautiful. An unsteady hand reached out to caress the orb, and as soon as he made contact with it, he couldn’t help but rub a little. Ouma’s breath hitched slightly, before relaxing with a contented smile. The boy’s smile was always contagious to Saihara, and this was no different.

He could only imagine what Ouma looked like gorging himself on hearty meals, Lord knows he deserved it. Saihara had to wonder why the boy would do this in the first place, though? The little leader never ate much around others, and Saihara certainly didn’t think he was the type to potentially expose himself like this.

...Not that Saihara was complaining, though.

Still, there were better places to nap than on the cold kitchen floor. In fear of making too much noise and waking up Ouma, Saihara opted to leave the mess and attempt to pick him up. “Attempt” being the keyword. The new weight attached to Ouma caused Saihara to grunt as he lifted the boy up in bridal-style. Kaito’s nightly training had definitely paid off.

While walking back to the dorms, Saihara was treated to the noises of Ouma’s stomach as it busily churned with glurps and gurgles. Nobody was around, so…

Saihara gave a quick peck to the boy’s belly.

If Ouma woke up from that, Saihara would have dropped him in shock. But then, an even more terrifying thought crossed Saihara’s mind. What if Ouma was faking this whole thing? The boy would suddenly wake up and reveal a fake lump on top of his real stomach, and proceed to laugh at Saihara, calling him a freak. The very possibility made his heart sink. Ouma sure was dedicated to this prank, if it was one.

Finally, Saihara reached the equally empty dorms. He made his way to Ouma’s door, and… didn’t open it. He felt as though he would betray Ouma’s trust by going into the boy’s room without permission. With how secretive the Supreme Leader was, access for his room felt like it had to be earned. And that’s just what Saihara was going to do. Turning around, he carried the boy to the other room.

Saihara took extra care to lay the overstuffed boy onto the bed after closing the door behind them. He had no idea this sort of thing was appealing to him, but he wasn’t about to deny it. Seeing Ouma sleep so peacefully was making him tired, so he got dressed in his pajamas and laid down next to the boy.

Uuugghh….

Ouma sat up, rubbing his head with a groan. Why did he feel so… heavy? A quick glance at his midsection brought him out of his grogginess. His stomach was a doughy mound, peeking over his pants and out of the bottom of his shirt. He poked at it curiously and was met with a soft, jiggly texture. Ouma found himself blushing slightly. How the hell did he get like this? The last thing he could remember was eating a candy from Miu’s lab and- oh. Of course. That bitchlet probably drugged it.

Upon further inspection, his buttons on his jacket were completely absent. The leader’s blush only became deeper. Ouma took a moment to take in his surroundings. He was seated in a bed that was far too neat to be his, and this definitely wasn’t his dorm room. Oh, and Saihara-chan was asleep at his side.

...Wait.

Ouma jumped back with a yelp, promptly waking Saihara up. The leader scrambled to pull his jacket over his tummy with little success, as a small part of it pooched out under. Sitting up, Saihara’s golden eyes darted to the concealed midsection, though it was no longer bloated like he had hoped.

“Saihara-chan, how could you do this to me?! Wahhhhh!” the leader sobbed. This was his test to see if Saihara was behind his transformation, depending on how the detective reacted.

Saihara faltered slightly, an expression of sympathy painted across his face. “I’m sorry Ouma-kun, I-I don’t have all the details, but I found you in the kitchen sleeping after your, um… lunch.”

‘Lunch’ was definitely an understatement. Ouma wouldn’t be surprised if he somehow got a hold of everyone’s lunch, given how big he was now. From Saihara’s seemingly genuine response, he couldn’t discern any trace of a lie. The detective found the courage for an interrogation, as he finally broke away from staring at the lump.

“How did you manage to eat that much, Ouma-kun? There had to have been at least twenty containers open,” he pondered, bringing a hand to his chin.

That was certainly the mystery. With his small stature, the leader didn’t have much of a capacity for food. Although, it was strange how big he still was even after a nap. Ouma had always been stick-thin due to his incredibly high metabolism, so why wasn’t it all digested by now?

“I remember taking candy from that cum dumpster’s lab, and it made me so hungry! Like I could eat an entire horse! Maybe even two… Nishishishi!”

The detective stared at him incredulously. “You took a candy. From Miu’s lab. Without knowing what it was.”

Ouma shrugged. “I was bored. And I thought there was no way that whore would make something that’d kill me.”

The smaller boy leaned back into the pillows, closing his eyes and resting his hands on his soft tummy. “Welp, at least I won’t have to eat dinner with you losers! I’m preeetty stuffed,” he sighed, giving his belly a light pat.

Only one of them was relaxing, though. Saihara was shuddering at this weird feeling. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the boy peacefully resting on his bed, and with an adorable belly to boot. Maybe since his eyes were closed, he could sneak a brief rub in…

“You can go ahead and touch, Saihara-chan. I won’t judge you too much!”

Ouma cracked open one eye halfway, smirking knowingly at the beet-red detective. Saihara gulped and moved his shaky hand over to the overstuffed boy. So warm… so soft… Saihara wanted to give it another kiss, but he highly doubted Ouma returned his feelings. He was probably only letting him do this so he could expose him to the rest of the students afterwards. The little leader seemed to notice Saihara’s hesitation, propping himself up on his elbows to face the taller boy.

“You should feel honored to be this close to the body of the Supreme Leader of evil! And as your leader, I command you to give me a nice belly rub. Come on, Shumai, don’t be shy!”

Well, who could resist an invitation like that?

Saihara began to knead his hands delicately to the protruding belly, applying more pressure to the boy’s sides. This caused Ouma to let out a small burp, taking both boys by surprise. Saihara found that he liked the sound… more than he’d like to admit. Thus, he started rubbing more forcefully. Normally Ouma would call him out for yet another gross kink, but relieving the excess air from his stomach was far more satisfying.

The detective continued to pamper the leader until he looked over to his wall clock. It was already 5 p.m.? He was getting pretty hungry, though he hated to leave the smaller boy like this.

“Ouma-kun, I’d like to go get dinner if that’s okay. You don’t have to come, and I can bring my food back here if you’d like.”

The purple-haired boy stared up at him with an unreadable expression. Without missing a beat, his face formed into a devilish smile.

“Ohhhh, I see. You wanna get me more food to eat, huh? You want an even bigger stomach to rub? You really are kinky, Shumai! Nishishishi!” he snickered, putting his arms behind his head.

Saihara almost choked. “T-That’s not it at all! I have to eat too, you know!” The detective may find the boy endearing, but his propensity to make things more difficult could only be handled so much.

Ouma sat up slowly, taking great care to not upset his still-bloated belly. “No worries, Saihara-chan, I was lying earlier. I’ll come with you! But first, I gotta change into a new uniform.”

Clutching his stomach, Ouma made his way to his room. At that moment, a thought came to Saihara’s mind. Would there even be food left? The kitchen was restocked daily due to Monokuma and his children. How often did they check for food? By now, he was certain that someone had seen the mess Ouma made. Saihara would hate to see his crush get in trouble for depriving everyone of one of Kirumi’s delectable meals.

The leader soon returned to Saihara’s room with a new uniform that... wasn’t doing much to hide his indulgence. Anyone could see the apparent bulge under his jacket, almost threatening to pop off another button. Saihara could tell his belt wasn’t as tight as before either. Before he could make a comment, Ouma quickly grasped his hand and pulled him towards the dining hall.

The two quietly made their way to the dining hall, only to see the group of fellow Ultimates arguing near the kitchen.

“I bet it was one of those degenerate males who stole our food.”

“Gonta not do it! Gentlemen never steal!”

“I bet it was the Monokubs!”

Saihara poked his head through the doorway, trying to hide Kokichi’s body from the others.

“Shuichi! You’re just in time!” Akamatsu’s cheery voice called. “We could really use your detective skills right about now.”

The students collectively turned around with relief washing over them, knowing their local detective could put them at ease. Ouma, on the other hand, was trying his best to hide his belly behind his arms. Unfortunately for him, it was a futile effort.

“Who needs a detective when you have the gorgeous girl genius! I’ve already found our food thief!” A certain blonde proclaimed, followed by her hearty laughter. Everyone turned to Ouma who, to Saihara’s amazement, kept his face completely straight. Before he could react, Iruma jabbed her finger into the leader’s sensitive belly, causing his mask to break and cringe in pain.

“What the hell, Ouma! This is a new low, even for you!” Kaito’s voice boomed.

Maki gave her signature death glare. “I could always cut him open as punishment.”

Saihara didn’t think it was possible, but Ouma’s face got even paler at her threat. He couldn’t keep quiet any longer.

“Everyone,” he cleared his throat, “I know we’re all upset at Ouma-kun. And… I know he pranks us a lot, but it’s always in good fun. Maybe he just got carried away with how good Kirumi’s food was. Ouma-kun told me that he would make it up to you guys by cooking for you guys tomorrow. Right, Ouma-kun?”

Ouma was speechless. His beloved Saihara-chan was definitely a bad liar, just as he suspected. But, the respect he gained from his peers could maybe make this work. So, just for the hell of it, he decided to comply.

“Of course, Saihara-chan! I’m gonna make a 5-star meal on my first try! I might even put Tojo-chan out of the job… Nishishishi!”

The Ultimates murmured among themselves, but Saihara wasn’t listening. Of course, he already decided he would help with the cooking.

But… he’d make sure there were leftovers for Ouma.

Lots of leftovers.

#stuffed ronpa #sorry for my cringe writing #pora's fix

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andersoncharm · 4 years

Text

If There Ever Was a Perfect Couple, This One Qualifies//Seblaine.

Para: If There Ever Was a Perfect Couple, This One Qualifies

Rating: PG.

Pairing: Seblaine.

When: Sunday, April 5, 2020. Early evening.

Location: Sebastian's Cambridge Apartment.

Notes: An evening in with Seblaine.

Warnings: Pineapple on pizza. Also, Blaine still can’t stop thinking of futures and weddings..

Blaine’s POV:

Blaine hummed lightly to himself as he cut up little pieces of ham for the homemade pizza he was making for his and Sebastian's dinner. Normally it was bacon and onion for Seb but, his boyfriend was insistent that Blaine make them his favorite for once. He had to admit as he popped a fresh piece of pineapple into his mouth that he wasn’t upset by this idea. He absently threw a piece of the freshly cut ham to Ras who gobbled it up, but left Blaine alone after that with the promise of more later. Then Blaine even offered Freya a little chunk of pineapple. She sniffed it, turned up her nose giving him a distasteful look but, as soon as Blaine dropped it to the hardwood floor she snatched it up and sauntered away, disappearing out to the balcony patio. Because of course she wouldn’t want to eat the fruit out his hand.

He was so focused on saucing the pizza crust with his own homemade version of BBQ that he jumped a little when long slender fingers reached over and snatched a piece of ham followed by a chunk of the pineapple.

“Hey, hey. Stop that, Seb. You’ll ruin your dinner!” He laughed pushing Seb’s hand away playfully, looking up at his freshly showered boyfriend's signature smirk as he popped the two pieces of food into his mouth. His light brown hair, still wet and swept back so that Blaine could see the mischievous smirk in all its glory. And his stomach did the same little flip it always did in times like this when he was reminded that he got to love this man for the rest of his life, no matter how short that may be. The little butterflies that stirred whenever Seb was around started to flutter when he let himself think of a future like this. Maybe one where they both wore silver rings on their heart fingers and got to call themselves Mister and Mister. He sighed and mentally shook his head. Damn Sam for putting that freaking idea into his head. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it since last weekend’s Skype call. He made sure to give Sam some hell when they spoke on the phone a few days ago.

“It’ll taste much better once it’s all done, you know.” He rolled his eyes and went back to his cooking, trying not to focus too much on Sebastian's so that he could get his thoughts in check. He’d probably fail.

Sebastian’s POV:

Sebastian’s week had been a little hectic. He had been in the office everyday, going over court records and interviews, sitting in with the client his team was working with for a big case their professor was on. When Sebastian had won one of the coveted intern spots, Blaine had clapped and sang “So Much Better” from the Legally Blonde musical before covering his face and hands in kisses. Seb had smiled for days when he would think of the memory.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t as fun or effortless as Elle Woods made it seem, he was just an irritating mix of tired yet over caffeinated. It had been two weeks and Seb and the team of interns weren’t finding any new leads. The professor they were supporting was getting more and more aggravated every day. Seb had actually been asked to leave earlier in the week because of his attitude. God, if his dad found out he was going to get fucking reemed. Sebastian was great at law school and had awesome grades and an intimidating reputation but, he was just...exhausted.

Blaine coming over to cook a fresh pizza was a welcome respite from the piles of documents and the harsh blue glow of laptop screens and the trite moaning of Harvard law students. He took a hot shower, scrubbed his skin with a body elixir that Blaine had made for when he was stressed. The scent of ink and stale coffee fell from his skin and was replaced by notes of chamomile tea and fresh french lavender. He threw on an old Lacrosse tee shirt and some grey sweats before he followed the smell of pineapple to the kitchen. Sebastian could see Blaine working hard on the meal. It was a nice scene, he looked serene and in place. He popped a few of the ingredients into his mouth and giggled.

“My dinner won’t be ruined. I’m starving. I haven’t had much besides crappy coffee lately.” Sebastian sneaked one more chunk of pineapple with a little laugh before he threw it up and caught it in his mouth. “This looks great, by the way.” He hopped up so that he was sitting on the counter opposite of his boyfriend and the ingredients. “How’re things? Feel like I’ve been stupidly busy lately.”

Blaine’s POV:

“Thanks, Seb. It’s not too fancy, but, I personally can’t wait to eat either.” Blaine sighed as he listened to Sebastian’s words of being busy and turned to put the rather incredible looking pizza into the preheated oven. He was pretty proud of this one, he had to admit. He closed the oven door and opened the refrigerator to retrieve two beers, one for him and one for Sebastian. They were fancy IPA’s that had some extreme name like Harpoon Leviathan and Blaine had to laugh to himself as he opened the tops of both and made his way over to Sebastian. He pressed himself into the space between Sebastian’s long legs and handed one of the IPA’s to his boyfriend and took a swig of his own, the coldness soothing as he swallowed. He tipped up onto toes and pressed a kiss to Seb’s lips before settling back down and leaning into Seb. His guy smelled like relaxation and it made Blaine smile that he was using his concoctions.

“You have been. But, you’ve done great things lately and should be so proud of yourself. I know, it’s all discouraging right now but, think of what you’ve done as a win, yeah?” He smiled and pressed his head into Sebastian’s chest.

He could feel the exhaustion rolling off of the taller man in waves and wished for a moment that Sebastian was a little bit more open with Blaine using more magic on him. Sure, he allowed tonics and elixirs and enhanced tea sometimes. But, there was a slim chance that he’d let him brew something stronger to help him sleep or that he’d let him use healing magic from his hands at all. He didn’t need to be physically hurt to do that, mentally exhausted would be grounds for some healing but Seb was stubborn and still a little nervous when it came to magic. Blaine couldn’t blame him. He tried anyway.

“You should let me heal you tonight.” He mumbled into Seb’s chest. His beer clutched in his hand, pressed against his own chest. “It would help with your whole attitude and refresh you. I promise I won’t hurt you, you know that, right?”

Sebastian’s POV:

Sebastian kissed his boyfriend, took a swig from the beer and inspected the label. It was slightly sweet and carmelly on the back of his tongue. “I know I’m doing well,” He ran his fingers up and down Blaine’s spine as he talked. “It’s just that point in the year where everything sort of swells.” Sebastian shrugged his shoulders and took another drink. “I’m sure your lessons are just as intense.”

Seb ran a hand through his hair and stretched his back a little bit. He wasn’t scared that Blaine’s magic would hurt him, that wasn’t the problem. He was worried that he’d get attached and want to be healed or relaxed or wound up all of the time, that he would rely on the magic like a drug. Sebastian knew enough about himself to know that he had an addictive streak. He partied a lot when he was younger and made a lot of questionable decisions when he was living in Paris. “B, I know that you wouldn’t hurt me. I mean, I rarely even take Tylenol. Just coffee and the occasional cigarette for me. Sometimes we drink, obviously.” Sebastian really didn’t drink as much as he used to, he didn’t need to go out and party anymore. The two of them had even slowed down a bit from when they first got together and Sebastian was a nervous wreck who wanted to impress.

He shrugged his shoulders, chewed on his bottom lip and felt his cheeks redden with the slight heat of embarrassment. “I don’t want to make things all serious. I appreciate the offer, I always do. Just make me some tea before bed.” He cleared his throat and took another drink, the sweet taste a little more bitter now. “Tell me something new going on with you. There’s gotta be something witchy and interesting happening.”

Blaine’s POV:

Blaine shrugged, sure, he was busy. His father had taken to teaching him about cursed artifacts and Blaine was constantly in fear that he’d bring some curse home with him unknowingly. Lucky for him he was pretty intuitive and could usually sense something off. Plus, he was a good student, he paid attention even when he wanted to be playing music or anything else. He wasn’t really into the darker parts of magic. But, he knew he needed to pay attention. He needed to know how to fight the bad things off if they came for him or anyone he loved. He looked pointedly at Sebastian. “Sure, but it’s nothing you want to know about, trust me.”

Blaine could practically see the internal struggle as his boyfriend contemplated his offer. He knew he was going to say no, could feel it even as he offered it. But, he felt he needed to try. Sebastian worked so hard for everything and here Blaine was with a way to relax him and keep him sane. He wasn’t supposed to, of course, magic was for witches and potions and elixirs were for their human hunters who needed it from all the nightmares they were forced to see while in the field. He remembered Hunter’s fondness for Nightmare Stealing Sleeping Draughts. But it wasn’t for “normal” humans like Sebastian. But, Seb was Blaine’s and Blaine would do anything to keep him comfortable and safe. He chewed on his lip as he listened to him talk.

Blaine sat his beer next to Seb’s thigh and reached up and cupped Seb’s heated cheeks and gave him a comforting soft smile. “Sure, Seb. You know I’d never use it on you without your consent again unless something were seriously wrong.” Blaine could count on one hand the number of times he’d used magic on Sebastian without asking first in the last year and a half. Seb knew about them now and was good with it, but they made Blaine’s stomach drop thinking about them. The worst was their first night together Blaine had made Sebastian stay asleep so Sebastian wouldn’t wake up as he tried to cut him out of his life, and it had happened once on a date in public when Seb’s anxieties had taken over. And once more with some magical pomegranate that had led to a pretty intense and sexual night. The latter two weren’t so bothersome as Blaine mostly was calming the room where they were in one, and Sebastian had told him he ‘really enjoyed’ the night of the magical pomegranate. However, the first night still bothered him a little. He cleared his throat and tried not to think about it.

“Just know that the offer is there if you ever change your mind. And know that I wouldn’t overdo it. I just want you to be happy and comfortable. Tea it is. I’ll make sure to use my best batch of chamomile tonight.” He gave a grin trying to ease Sebastian’s apparent embarrassment before reaching and taking another swig of the sweet beer. He could stay in this position forever, the scent of sweet pizza and the pressure of Sebastian's legs resting beside him. His arms loosely around Sebastian. Forever reminded him of his conversation with Sam which reminded him that he did, in fact, have something to talk to Seb about.

“Oh! Yes, I do have something going on. Not really witchy or anything but, remember how I told you my Skype with Sam was useless?” He blushed involuntarily thinking about marriage and children and Sam’s teasing him about Seb. “Like, he couldn’t decide on a date or anything? Well, he called me on the phone yesterday and he’s picked a date finally. He’ll be in Ohio for Halloween to spend time with his family and then he'll be here in Boston the second week of November. He’d only be around a week and half so, we’ll still get to go to your mom’s for Thanksgiving.” He smiled, a little excited at the thought of Sam getting to meet Seb and wondering what Sebastian would make of his eccentric best friend. “I’ve missed him so much the last few years, I have to admit I’m excited. You're either gonna love him or think he’s the weirdest person ever. Maybe a mix.”

Sebastian's POV:

“I know, B. I trust you. Not to sound cliche but, honestly, it’s not you. It’s me.” Sebastian gave a small smile and leaned in to give Blaine a kiss. “I’m perfectly fine with tea. I’ve grown a little fond of it, actually.” He finished his beer and set the glass bottle down on the counter beside his thigh. “Oh? He finally made a decision? That’s great. He’s uh, getting a hotel right?” Sebastian arched an eyebrow. The apartment was his, sure, but, Blaine basically lived there. He didn’t want any strangers getting the wrong idea. Seb didn’t even want Hunter spending the night as much as he did. He was very particular about his space. “No cowboy boots under my couch, no thank you.”

He cleared his throat and waved his hands, god he probably sounded so fucking rude. “Oh, yeah, I know you’ve missed him!” Sebastian already had a feeling he was going to find Sam a little hard to handle. He seemed like the living embodiment of an untrained, hyper dog wrapped up in a package that looked like a golden, all-american Thunder god. “But, this is a DC household. Thor needs to stay somewhere else. Not that I think you’d do that without my input. I sound like a total douche, right now, don’t I?” Sebastian poked Blaine in the side. “I bet he and Hunter would get along great,though.”

Blaine’s POV:

Blaine let out a laugh and kissed Sebastian back. “Yeah, yeah. But, I do understand. Just remember what I said. Anytime. And if you ever want it, then I’ll never use it. Unless, you know, dire.” He grinned at the compliment, pleased that he could get the man that only ever drank coffee or iced tea to drink his special blends. He looked up when Seb asked if Sam was getting a hotel, the oven timer going off giving him the chance to tease his boyfriend a little for being mildly rude. He furrowed his brow a little exaggeratedly and turned to the oven before speaking. “Oh, I mean, I already told him he could stay with us that week. I mean, why would he waste all that money on a hotel when you have a perfectly good sectional right in the living room.” He paused for dramatics as he put the oven mitt on before pulling the pizza out. The sizzling cheese is the only sound in the kitchen. He turned to put it on a cooling pad on the counter and shot Seb a glance. His boyfriend seemed to be somewhere between shock and trying to figure out a way to tell Blaine he’d overstepped. He couldn’t really keep it up after that.

“Oh my gods, of course he’s getting a hotel, Seb. This is your house! I’m like the exception to the rule here. I know you don’t even like Hunter lounging around on the sofa, why would I invite my overly enthusiastic friend to sleep here without your permission.” He shook his head as he cut the pizza up. “No, Sam will be staying about five minutes away, silly.” He rolled his eyes, concentrating on cutting up the slices, still smiling to himself at Seb’s face. “You only sound a little douchey, but, hey, I get it and I still love you.” He kissed the tip of Seb’s nose for emphasis. “Of course I’d never do that. You know it, too.” He handed Sebastian his plate and grabbed both of their beers motioning for him to follow him to said sofa and tucked himself into the arm, his legs curled under him. Some true crime drama already queued up for the evening.

“For the record, my dear, know you love Diana Prince almost as much as you love me but, this is a Marvel house when I want it to be a Marvel house. Captain America is too important to me for you to take that away.” He winked, knowing that he probably loved Nightwing and Wonder Woman almost as much as Capt but, he liked the teasing anyway because Steve was his favorite. “Thor will be just fine at the Hotel.” He smiled and took a bite of his pizza, which was fantastic before reaching over and giving Seb’s thigh a little squeeze to show everything was in jest.

“I’m sure Sam and Buffy would actually get along pretty great now that you mention it. They’re both ridiculous.” he stated in response to Hunter. He grinned at his joke. He loved this, this feeling of contentedness. Once again, he found he could stay like this forever. He was utterly happy in this moment and his smile probably showed it. He reached out and took Seb’s hand in his, bringing it to his lips and placed a kiss against his knuckles. He grinned against his hand before gently putting it down in favor of the remote. “Eat your dinner, dear.”

Sebastian’s POV:

Sebastian raised his eyebrows and stared at Blaine for a minute. He knew he had to be joking. “Yeah, yeah.” He hopped off of the counter and followed the other man into the living room. “Well, I love you back. I’m weird about my space. You’re the only person that I don’t get annoyed with. That’s a pretty high honor.”

He settled into the couch and held on to his plate, the warmth from the pizza comforting against his cool skin. “We’re a house divided then. This must be how people who like different baseball teams feel.” Seb nudged Blaine’s arm playfully. “Buffy….he wishes. He will never have that level of style. God bless Sarah Michelle.” Sebastian smiled as Blaine gently kissed his hand. He chewed on his pizza and lifted one hand in faux praise in regards to Sarah. But really, Seb knew that Hunter worked insanely hard and was good at his job but couldn’t let himself get too mushy about his best friend. He was too tired for any more emotions that day. “This is awesome. Good job,B.” Sebastian kicked his legs up onto the coffee table and started his second slice as the dramatic opening music of their show filled the apartment.

/fin.

#if there ever was a perfect couple #seblaine #seblaine para #smythesm #para #seblaine witch rp

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arcaneranger · 5 years

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Final Thoughts - 2018 Long Shows

It’s finally here! I’m so close to being done with 2018 (...mostly. We’ll get to it) that I can taste it, but in the meantime, this list is gonna be weird, because there will be things that were already on other lists since I revised my rules of what should be classified how. This post is specifically for any show that ended in 2018 and lasted longer than 13-ish episodes (including shows that aired a second season during the same year or within six months of finishing the previous one), which means that there’s about as much on it as a usual season of shows, but they all had more time to impress - or disappoint me. I’m doing a better job in recent seasons of getting to everything, but last year there were unfortunately things that I missed (I was burned out in the winter) and just have to leave aside for now because I can’t wait any longer for these lists.

Anyway! As usual, let’s start with what I skipped!

* The Seven Deadly Sins: Revival of the Commandments, The Disastrous Life of Saiki Kusuo S2, Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card, Garo: Vanishing Line, and Mr Tonegawa: Middle Management Blues because I haven’t seen their previous seasons or parent works. (Yes, even Cardcaptor Sakura. Y’all can shoot me later.)

* Hakyuu Hoshin Engi, Beatless, and Basilisk: The Ouka Ninja Scrolls because by the time I was rounding things up, I hadn’t heard a single positive thing about any of them.

Next comes what I dropped -

WORST OF THE YEAR: Steins;Gate 0 (4/10)

What a fucking mess this show was. Aside from a very noticeable downgrade in production talent from its predecessor, the plot meanders and flirts with maybe actually happening this time before just dropping out again, over and over, to the point where I was perfectly willing to drop it two episodes from the finish line because it was such an insult to fans of the original. (Also, continued disgusting mistreatment of the transgender character.)

Gundam Build Divers (4/10)

Taking the Build series from being a well-written kids show to an averagely-written kids show that hides itself in decent mech designs.

Katana Maidens (4/10)

I remember so little about this show, and granted that I did drop it after one episode almost nine months ago, but what I did remember was that it gave me strong KanColle vibes with laughably inconsistent animation and flat characters. Meh.

Darling in the FRANXX (5/10)

This should probably be lower on the list, but I got out of Darling while the getting was good, sixteen episodes in. I understand that future episodes of the show cemented it as crappy right-wing nonsense in addition to pushing worldbuilding out of its fortieth-story window, but the moment it lost me was much sooner, when the crazy yandere female lead was reduced, almost instantly, to Good Anime Waifu as a reward to the protagonist for going against his friends with his selfish motives.

Persona 5 the Animation (5/10)

In addition to not actually finishing in 2018, Persona 5 just did not give me a single reason to watch it when I’d already finished the source game, with middling-to-bad visuals (thanks to the switch from Production I.G. to A-1 Pictures, and not even the team that created the much better-looking Day Breakers OVA before the game was released in the U.S.) and phoned-in music, which is especially unacceptable in a Persona adaptation. Also, we all absolutely called that the studio couldn’t tell the story of the entire game in just 26 episodes.

Record of Grancrest War (6/10)

There’s people that like this one a lot, but I didn’t see much that interested me in the first two episodes. I’ve heard better things about the manga.

Golden Kamuy (6/10)

I had problems with the first half of Golden Kamuy that the second half simply didn’t fix, and it became difficult for me to keep watching - the show still interrupted almost every fight scene with a dick joke, but still wanted to maintain a serious and occasionally frightening tone - and those things simply don’t go together. It needed to either spend more time being funny, or keep its lowest-common-denominator humor out of the fights.

Next, I have two shows that are (potentially permanently) On Hold, simply because it’s time for me to move on and I don’t have the time or energy to marathon them when the Winter shows are starting to wrap up:

Kakuriyo: Bed & Breakfast for Spirits, because even though I initially dropped it, I’ve heard a lot of good things since and I want to eventually give it another shot.

Yowamushi Pedal Glory Line, because despite the fact that I still enjoyed the previous season, this one started right in the middle of my burnout and I only heard bad things about it. I’ll get to it eventually, but it’s a shame that this series has been on a clear trend downwards since its revival.

And finally, the stuff I finished!

The Ancient Magus’ Bride (6/10)

Keep in mind that this is here entirely on the merits of its aesthetic and its side characters - in the end, Ancient Magus’ Bride is a Beauty and the Beast story where the beast gets what he wants without learning to be less of a dick or even apologizing for his clearly wrong actions.

Major 2nd (7/10)

Always pleased to have even just Good sports shows around, and this one is a very effective reboot of a classic series that’s never made its way stateside (man, the underperformance of Big Windup! really did a lot of damage to this genre in the West). With good character development and a decent second-generation premise, Major 2nd has the potential to be the beginning of a solid baseball story, assuming that it gets a needed followup.

IDOLiSH7 (7/10)

I dropped IDOLiSH7 when it first aired, and though I wound up enjoying it after I was very strongly urged to revisit it, the problems it started with never quite left it behind - that is, it has an okay cast of characters but doesn’t present even passable performance sequences, and if you’re going to include big song-and-dance numbers, they have to be good, or you may as well just be UtaPri.

ClassicaLoid Season 2 (8/10)

In 2017, I gave the first season of ClassicaLoid a near-perfect 9/10, and while this season gives us a satisfying conclusion to the story, it does things both a little better than the first, and also not quite as great. It’s story is much more well-integrated over the runtime so it doesn’t happen all at once in a few chunks, and the jokes that work are still absolute genius, but there’s simply too much that doesn’t quite land correctly, and a little too much immature humor, for it to reach the same lofty Hall of Fame heights as the first season. Still, one of the most underrated shows I’ve ever seen.

My Hero Academia Season 3 (8/10)

God, Izuku in that onesie is too damn cute.

My problems with Hero Academia are frustratingly persistent - the show is at its best when the students are competing with other students, because outside of last season’s Stain (a villain whose motivation is specifically related to the world of MHA), the villains are just not at all compelling and they all seem a little too generic for their own good. I just want Horikoshi to be a little bit less predictable of an author and do a little less reading of the Standard Shounen Playbook. Luckily, when it works, it works magnificently.

March Comes in Like a Lion S2 (8/10)

March remains director/auteur Akiyuki Shinbo’s most accessible work, and one of his masterpieces, as a well-paced and marvelously moody story of a depressed shogi prodigy learning to be a normal teenager before his youth completely passes him by, and the fantastic characters that surround him with their own complex problems and motivations. I just really, really hope it gets a third season eventually, because this one did not leave off on a satisfying conclusion.

Speaking of which...

Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma S3 (9/10)

It’s almost a shame that My Hero Academia became hugely popular purely based on its accessibility to American audiences, because Food Wars pretty squarely deserves to be the reigning Shonen Jump king - each season has only improved on the previous one, and this one was based entirely on a continuing arc that could only have happened in the universe of this show, Fighting Food Fascism. That being said, it also leaves off right in the middle of the arc (because it had almost caught up to the manga), meaning that we have to hope that it can remain relevant long enough for there to be enough source material for another season. I’ll be crossing my fingers until they snap.

Banana Fish (9/10)

Yes, this has risen a point since my review, but Banana Fish still deserves to be thought of as both a complete masterwork of crime fiction, being fantastically paced and expertly plotted in the use of its many, many twists, and a work that disappointed the side of me that hoped that, in adapting it into the modern day, MAPPA could have managed to get the author to let them depict what is clearly a queer relationship with the authenticity and legitimacy that it deserved. It’s still amazing, though, and Amazon should be pushing it with their most lavishly-made originals. At least it was the last noitaminA show they’ll get to totally bury.

And, finally, the one you all saw coming.

BEST OF THE YEAR: Lupin the 3rd Part V (10/10)

Lupin is, quite simply, one of the pinnacles of the medium. A simple idea that can (and did) go in thousands of different directions, handled by highly creative writers and an animation staff that has been knocking it out of the park for years, despite the fact that it is criminally (heh) unrecognized in the West. To put it simply, there’s a very, very good reason that it’s been around since the 70′s.

Okay! All I have left to do is finish Dragon Pilot (waiting on a friend) and we can get the last two lists out of the way! We’re almost done...

#multi 2018 #arcaneanime #year end anime list #final thoughts #lupin the third #my hero academia #banana fish #food wars #the ancient magus bride #March Comes in Like a Lion #idolish7 #major 2nd

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virmillion · 5 years

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Ibytm - T minus 58 seconds

Masterpost - Previous Chapter - Next Chapter - ao3

Words: 2,594

Aside from the one confrontation post-petticoat ukulele conspiracy, Logan still hasn’t talked with Cadmium. Really, truly talked to the guy. Tagging along on his tours doesn’t count. Granted, a fair amount of his Tuesdays and Thursdays are occupied with thoughts of Cadmium, but Logan does still have a life outside of him. It comes with no small amount of annoyance that this other life involves dealing with unsolvable problems at his internship.

“I heard there’s no real answer,” Cassidy says. She stabs her pen in the air, writing imaginary equations and scowling at the empty space.

“I heard they had this problem, like, years ago,” Joy says. Logan steeples his fingers under his chin with his elbows propped on his knees, watching Joy spin circles on her chair with her nose pointed at the ceiling. “I bet they already know the answer, and any intern that can’t crack it gets kicked to the curb.”

“Somehow, I feel like excessive alliteration isn’t the answer, Joy,” Micah calls from the water jug. His perspective might seem more valuable if his cheek weren’t flattened against the top of the machine in an utterly pitiful display of boredom.

“Oh, and I bet you already figured it out, huh, smart guy?” Joy’s retort also seems less valuable, as it comes at the same moment that she smacks her ankle into the leg of her desk, her spinning cut short. Logan is getting the sinking feeling that he chose the wrong scientific field.

“Maybe we’re looking at it from the wrong angle. Does someone want to read it again, and we all think of it with clean slates?” Logan glances around the room, hoping that his non-contribution will be sufficient. “Or, hey, Alex, have you got an idea? You haven’t said too much yet.”

Alex’s shock of dyed yellow hair jolts as they lift their eyes to peer over the top of the computer. “Can I get you a handkerchief, or did you dodge the splashback when you threw me under the bus just now?”

“ I’ll read it, you bunch of babies,” Cassidy sighs. “Okay. Riddle me this, folks. Thought experiments for the modern era.”

“Lay off the Mcelroy references and finish the question,” Micah grumbles.

Cassidy wrinkles her nose and sticks out her tongue before continuing. “The ship of Theseus proposes that a ship leaves a location and has every single part of itself periodically replaced before reaching a second location. The question is whether the ship to arrive is a different ship than the one to depart. Bear this in mind while assuming all cultural divides and disparities—cultural, political, scientific, or otherwise—are held in an impenetrable stasis that has no effect on the contents of the riddle, and conclusively solve the following. Jeez, talk about a run-on sentence.

“NASA launches a rocket to Neptune, and the only passenger is the child of a Russian and an American, where the parents were born on Earth and the child on Mars. The inhabited rocket was built half of parts from NASA and half of parts from Roscosmos. It contains enough parts to make an entirely new rocket, all of which were created on the moon. Allowing adequate suspensions of disbelief in favor of the passenger’s ability to build the new rocket and touch down on Neptune alive, which flag should be placed on Neptune as the first to arrive: That of Mars, the Moon, Earth, America, or Russia?”

“Does the moon even have its own flag?” Micah muses.

Joy slams the side of her fist on her desk hard enough to rattle the pens scattered across the floor. “This is such a stupid question. It barely even has anything to do with space!”

“It is about non-mathematical rocket science,” Alex points out.

“You could take the exact same problem and change a few key words to make it about a fish being flushed down a toilet,” Logan counters, “and nothing would change.”

“Is the fish dead?” Micah asks. “Because now you’re introducing aquatic zombies to the equation.”

“No aquatic zombies!” Joy and Alex shout in unison. Logan joins in the cry with a muttered mimic of his own, and even Cassidy looks quite done with Micah, who traces his finger along the side of the water tank before patting the top.

“Aquatic zombies,” he whispers forlornly. Logan isn’t entirely sure how Micah managed to weasel his way into an internship here, but he stopped questioning it a long time ago.

“It’s the moon, isn’t it?” Cassidy tries. This brings about a chaotic storm of argued disagreements through which Logan couldn’t possibly begin to sort.

“But the passenger was born on Mars, so it’s the Martian flag.”

“But their parents were of Earth, do we know where the passenger was conceived? Earthling parents mean it can’t be Mars’ flag.”

“Oh, like the Opportunity rover would plant a flag on Neptune.”

“Rip in pieces, Oppy.”

“Well, wouldn’t it be the country of origin of the mom, since she’s the one that had to carry the passenger to term?”

“That’s sexist, and we don’t know which parent is which.”

“It’s heretonormative, anyway.”

“You mean cisnormative.”

“I know what I meant to mean.”

“Unless you meant both. Trans father for the win.”

“Trans father, transformer, illuminati?”

“Does Earth even have a flag?”

“Where was the passenger raised? That might change the answer.”

The door opposite the stairs slams open as another intern with dirty blond hair and a beanie stumbles in looking particularly disheveled—well, more so than usual, at least.

“The passenger opened a wormhole immediately after being born, and raised themself on Neptune,” Logan deadpans. “Roman, if you haven’t got any good news, I swear to—”

“They cancelled the level eight project,” the man at the door says. Were it not for the bright gold name embroidered along the breast pocket of his shirt—Roman—Logan might believe him to be a random guy from off the street. “They figured out the missing sections—without our input, obviously—and decided the clearance rate was excessive. Basically, they said a toddler with a functioning search engine could crack it, so we should stop wasting our time.”

“Has the toddler ever been to Neptune?” Logan asks dryly. A hollow chorus of laughs ricochets around the room, quieted only by the click of the hour hand on the only analog clock hung on the wall. It must’ve been ages since Logan souped up the old thing to announce clockins, breaks, and clockouts.

“For the next hour,” Joy declares, “Neptune does not exist.”

“Seconded,” the other interns agree, putting their respective monitors to sleep and shuffling for the break room.

Roman lags behind to enter after Logan, prodding the small of his back and tilting his head toward the computers. He clears his throat meaningfully. Logan sighs, casting one last doleful look into the breakroom before joining Roman out on the floor again.

“They did want me to give you this,” Roman murmurs, “but keep it cazh.”

“Nothing is less ‘cazh’ than you shortening the word ‘casual’ like that,” Logan says, nonchalantly stretching an arm over his head. On the downswing, he takes the item from Roman’s hand and threads it between his fingers.

“I think I got the same deal, but don’t mention it, yeah?” Roman steps into the breakroom first, allowing Logan a moment to dawdle and inspect his acquisition. A flat disc, about the size of a well-used roll of scotch tape, with the NASA logo on both sides. Logan pinches the edges beside the first and last letter experimentally, and a USB plug pops out from the bottom of the logo. He pinches again, and it slides away. It looks for all the world like an overly expensive keychain one might find in a cheap museum. Logan shrugs, pockets it, and joins the others in the breakroom.

Only Roman appears to be in any semblance of a good mood—then again, he got clearance to visit the upper offices while everyone else pondered that stupid riddle. After teasing Roman about how he was probably about to get The Talk (the firing talk, that is) from the higher ups, it only took the rest of the floor about five minutes to give up on individual glory and try to solve the problem together. Obviously, it didn’t help.

“We could send someone for coffee,” Cassidy says. At least, Logan thinks that’s what she said. Her voice is a little muffled, what with how her face is pressed against the table.

“And get yelled at for prioritizing caffeine over the crappy cloud juice we’ve already got here?” Alex replies, tracing their finger over the glass front of the vending machine. Its only products are bottled water and expired heath candy bars. Four bucks a pop. “I’d rather dehydrate than take that kind of reprimanding.”

“I am literally going to commit multiple federal and moral crimes if I don’t get some real bean juice in my system in the next hour,” Joy grumbles. A true testament to her name.

Micah, apparently having moved on from the destruction of his aquatic zombie idea, springs to his feet from where he was sprawled across the floor. “We could use Logan’s app!”

This might be a good time to mention that, in padding his resume to apply for this extended internship, Logan made a brief foray into coding, which resulted in an app he dubbed ‘fetch quest.’ Basically a personalized coffee order service, more specialized than door dash, where instead of ordering food straight to your location, you put out a request for coffees—usually from Starbucks, Tim Hortons, Biggby, the like—to be delivered by the colloquially nicknamed fetch kids. Upon getting their coffee, the buyer reimburses the fetch kid for the coffee, as well as an obligatory tip so the fetch kid can turn a quick buck.

To tell the truth, Logan was genuinely too lazy to walk to the campus cafeteria for a coffee while working on homework, and paid his roommate five dollars to do it for him. (He paid in nickels, by the way.) So lazy was Logan, in fact, that he made an app to avoid ever dealing with the inconvenience again.

“I’m down for that,” Cassidy mumbles. “Who’s got the app? Seems kinda rude to do six separate orders, y’know, like ordering a different personal pizza from different locations and having them arrive at the same time, then fight to the death for the right to deliver their pizza first, so they miss the thirty minute limit and no one gets paid.”

“Okay, so Cassidy gets a decaf,” Alex says, swiping around on their phone. “Everyone just getting their usuals? Same as the last fetch quest?” Grunts of agreement are their only answer—aside from Roman, who peers over Alex’s shoulder to design an obscenely personalized drink.

“Pitch in a five dollar tip for the barista,” Logan calls. “I’ll cover it.” Roman perks up at that as Alex taps the appropriate button on their phone. Before he can ask, Logan nods, saying, “I’ll spot you the six dollars.”

“It’s actually closer to seven,” Roman admits, rubbing at the back of his neck sheepishly. “I got a dairy substitute, don’t sue me. I’m broke, anyway, so it wouldn’t help if you won the suit.”

“This is a paid internship,” Joy points out.

Roman looks aghast. “You guys are getting paid?” It’s unclear whether he’s kidding.

“Order placed and transaction pending,” Alex announces, “so start up the charitable donation pool to my wallet.” Roman initiates the process, pulling the beanie off his head and carrying it around the room for everyone to toss their bills in. He can only manage a weak smile when Logan tosses in double what he ought to.

“Wait, Logan,” Micah says, “you didn’t get anything last time.”

“Shoot, yeah, what can I get you? No one’s picked it up yet,” Alex says, pulling the wads of bills from Roman’s hat.

“Just do a fetch kid’s delight, I guess. Price limit five.” Roman darts across the room to grab the proffered bill from Logan, attempting (and spectacularly failing) to parkour over the chair on his way back. The rickety plastic flies out from underneath him and his chin smacks the carpet as he goes down. Before anyone thinks about moving to help, he jumps to his feet and dusts off his knees, pretending as if nothing happened.

“It’s been accepted,” Alex announces.

“Maybe the trick is to work out whether the rocket, being from the moon, is the first to land, or if it has to be a life form in order to count for reaching Neptune first,” Joy suggests. Cassidy lifts her head to respond, thinks better of it, and drops her face back onto the table.

“That’s only assuming you give the rocket living rights to plant the flag,” Micah says.

“Did you guys consider the ramifications of the nationalities of each parent?” Roman asks.

“Yes,” everyone else groans in unison. Even Logan says it, now thoroughly annoyed by how much inconvenience Roman was able to skip in favor of retrieving a little flashdrive.

“Do we need to take into account the heritage of the parents?” Cassidy tries.

“It wasn’t included in the information backing up the question, and we’re only supposed to get an answer based on what we concretely know already,” Alex replies.

“We don’t concretely know already which flag they plant,” Logan offers, “so maybe the answer is that we aren’t supposed to have one.”

“That’s exactly what someone who knows the answer would say,” Joy mutters. This manner of conversation continues for another fifteen minutes or so, until someone knocks on the door at the top of the stairs.

“Liquid inspiration!” Roman shouts, vaulting over the empty chairs on his sprint for the door. As he swings it open to reveal a very familiar silhouette, Alex clicks a few times on their phone, finalizing the transaction upon receival.

Apart from the grey and red plaid scarf wrapped around his neck, Cadmium looks like he walked straight out of one of his own tours, down to the maroon cardigan and black skinny jeans. “Fetch quest fulfillment for Ally-oopsy-olly—”

“Yep, yes, that’s me,” Alex interrupts quickly, not letting him finish saying the username. They take a couple of the cups from Cadmium, stepping aside to let Joy and Micah help with the rest. Cadmium makes eye contact with Logan for a split second, inclines his chin, and turns to leave. He pulls out his phone, the screen angled enough for Logan to see the fetch quest home screen loading in more requests.

“Wait, we didn’t tip you,” Logan calls, surging past the other interns to catch up.

“Yeah, we did,” Alex says, “I put in your five, and I have my account set for an auto-gratuity of twenty—”

“Shut up , Alex,” Logan hisses over his shoulder. He turns to Cadmium, who looks somewhere between amused and bewildered. If he landed on Neptune, which emotion would touch down first? “Here y’are. Thanks.” Logan allows the last word to linger in the air, implying an unvoiced request for a name as he passes Cadmium a ten.

Cadmium glances from his phone—now proudly displaying a cheerful reimbursement and tip breakdown message—to the bill and back to his phone. He nods slowly, taking the ten and heading down the stairs. Logan blinks, watching him go.

“Wow,” Roman says, coming closer to rest his elbow on Logan’s shoulder. “You’ve got it bad, my guy.”

“Oh, shove off.”

#labhwrites #mine #i'll bring you the moon #ibytm

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sunriseinorbit · 6 years

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the music theory of katsuki and izuku

my thoughts on the whole ost are here (and as a devout follower of the church of yuki hayashi, i have many) but this is the track i listened to on repeat for an hour and a half yesterday (i’m probably underestimating that) and the one i analyzed a Lot, so i have a lot to say. basically, this track is super cool in a lot of different ways.

also anime-only’s, you might want to avoid this post because spoilers for the end of the season.

and as always, if you want to scream about anime soundtracks with me, send an ask containing your tears and i will probably cry in response

before we begin, here’s the track:

youtube

you’ll want to listen to it before you go any further because your spiritual awakening might get in the way of the nerdy stuff

also: one of my complaints about the soundtrack this season was that we haven’t heard you say run, like, at all, and i think this is why. katsuki and izuku is you say run v3. hallelujah.

part 1: form and orchestration

this song is split up into approximately nine sections:

intro (0:00)

you say run motif 1 (0:26) (listen to you say run here!)

transition (0:38)

bombing king motif 1 (0:51) (listen to bombing king here!)

transition (1:04)

new theme (1:16)

(transition into bombing king motif 2, but it’s only 2 measures so it barely counts) (1:42)

bombing king motif 2 (1:44)

you say run motif 2 (there’s something special about this one but i’ll get to it later) (2:10)

outro (2:39)

the thing i want to point out here is how different the transitions are from the motifs, especially at the beginning.

the motifs have strings and sometimes a choir written in along with the guitar/bass/drums present throughout the song, and they follow a specified chord progression - i.e. in the first you say run motif, the progression is i (c minor), III (e flat major), VI (a flat major), VII (b flat major).

on the other hand, the transitions only have guitar/bass/drums, and there’s no chord progression to be found. in both the transitions, the bass provides a tonic note (C) and stays on that note for eight measures so there can be a distorted guitar riff on top of it. unlike the motifs, the transitions are really dissonant.

this difference becomes more important later in the song, because they eventually disappear. between the first you say run motif and the first bombing king motif, there is an eight-measure transition. between the first bombing king motif and the new theme, there is an eight-measure transition. between the new theme and the second bombing king motif, there is only a two-measure transition, and it’s different than the others because it actually goes somewhere: instead of a dissonant guitar riff, it starts on a Gsus4 chord and resolves to a G major chord, and from there goes home to C minor. Here’s a crappy video of me playing those chords:

youtube

but most importantly, between the second bombing king motif and the second you say run motif, there’s no transition period. at all. it just hits the V chord (G major again, although it might be G7 this time. it really doesn’t matter, it’s a V chord) at the end of bombing king and uses that as the pickup to you say run.

so what does this mean? i’d argue that it’s representative of bakugou and deku starting to understand each other more. the long transition sequences represent the walls between them put up by their respective complexes that prevent them from seeing each other eye to eye. but as those transitions get shorter, they start to see where the other (specifically bakugou, since the story is from deku’s pov) is coming from, coming to a point during deku vs kacchan 2 with the “why was I the reason for all might’s end?” line (anyway if the bombing king strings come in during that line i will be sobbing)

anyway. you know how i was going to say stuff about you say run being special? well,

part 2: chords and leitmotifs

so last night, i wrote out all the chords for this song and i accidentally struck gold, so i’m here to share that gold with all of you.

first, a leitmotif is a fancy word meaning “an associated melodic phrase or figure that accompanies the reappearance of an idea, person, or situation“ (thanks, merriam-webster). it exists because this dude richard wagner wrote a monster four-part epic opera series and needed to keep track of all his shit so the audience wouldn’t get confused, so he wrote hundreds of these little melodies to represent things, characters, symbols and whatever so whenever that character (etc) would come on stage, the audience would recognize them.

film scores especially use leitmotifs a lot (the darth vader theme is one, so is the james bond theme; if there’s a theme from a movie that makes you think of a specific character, it’s probably a leitmotif), and in bnha, there are seven characters who get themes of their own:

deku (you say run)

bakugou (bombing king)

all might (i am here)

todoroki (your power)

iida (ingenium)

all for one (all for one and the power of all for one, but i’ve noticed the latter more and it pops up elsewhere in the ost)

endeavor (endeavor’s power, though this is used for a whole bunch of situations and is really endeavor’s theme in name only).

with the new ost, there are themes for momo, aoyama, overhaul, and mirio, but i haven’t heard any of them in the show yet so i can’t really say what they mean.

technically, leitmotifs are supposed to be short melodies, not whole compositions, but in every one of these themes, there’s one melodic section that stands out. if there’s a Yuki Hayashi String Thing in the song, that’s probably the important part. for reference, you say run’s important melodic line is here, and bombing king’s is here. we can say that these are deku and bakugou’s respective leitmotifs.

funny story, these two important bits are both sampled in katsuki and izuku, one after the other. (which means that there are two Yuki Hayashi String Things in one song and that’s too much power for any mere mortal to comprehend) and it gets better.

SO! on to the fun stuff: chords!

Before you go on, go back and listen to the two important sections of you say run and bombing king again. (if this was in video form, i would just play that again, but unfortunately that is not the case) then listen to the second bombing king and you say run sections in katsuki and izuku. you may notice something off about the second part of the you say run sample. good.

youtube

(the chords in blue will be important later - except the last a flat chord, that was a mistake)

(sorry to those of you who can’t read sheet music, i tried a screen recorder thing but it shit on the sound quality)

anyway, here’s the original version of you say run

youtube

(there are some rhythmic mistakes but ignore them)

and here’s the katsuki and izuku version of you say run. i’ve put changed chords in pink and changed chords that are actually important in blue. see if you notice anything. (you see where i’m going with this)

youtube

yes. yuki hayashi did That. he put the melodic line of you say run over the chords of bombing king. (i suspect it was on purpose) here’s the you say run section in katsuki and izuku one more time just so you can listen to it in all its glory.

so what does this mean thematically?

well, i’m definitely reading too deep into this, but i think it has something to do with this scene from chapter 120:

by having the chords of one theme carrying the melody of the other, they both support each other in a way that couldn’t happen on their own. a melody (even one as iconic as this one) doesn’t pack a punch without a solid harmony behind it, and a chord progression cannot stand out unless it has a melody on top of it pushing it forward and pulling it along.

harmony and melody. winning and rescuing. bakugou and deku. they’re all two sides of the same coin and i’m so fucking glad they managed to mesh them all together like this.

#bnha #boku no hero academia #bakugou katsuki #midoriya izuku #this soundtrack is so good i'm losing my mind #soundtrack rambling #han's soundtrack metas #long post /#meta

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redantsunderneath · 5 years

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Marlene Dietrich/Josef von Sternberg marathon: The Blue Angel, Morocco (1930), Dishonored, and Shanghai Express (1931)

I watched all of these films, the Blue Angel in German (which surprisingly didn’t hurt, though I might have missed some puns), so I could be prepped for the great movie podcast “There’s Sometimes a Buggy” that is covering the collaboration that made Marlene Deitrich as we know her. I don’t have a lot of exposure (more on my movie history later) to the early talkie years so these movies were a bit surprising to me on a lot of fronts, not the least reason for which was that I wasn’t brought up in rape culture, I guess (is this what people mean when they say that? cause, jeesh! every movie, the threat is just there). Funny enough, I felt that The Blue Angel was the only one that was really political to me along axes that felt vital, which is peculiar as the other three were about political conflict of factions/nations and make statements about war, nationalism, and the other, but I guess they don’t seem political in a sense that fits with current discourse. I didn’t see the CPC officer in Shanghai Express as pro communist but as a tentative stab at ambivalent nuance of the other’s perspective, a tipping of the hand that there’s a western-centracism in his absurd rape code (this is a common feature through the films of a “first claim” that a certain type of man has on a woman that has nothing to do with what she wants), and as ultimately an example of the brutality of violent conflict (more pointed because he’s been fleshed out). But I admit, by the films' equalizing the other side (the Russians, the CPC and even the Tunisian rebels if only by making the French Foreign Legion look so terrible) that is in itself a statement. Kubrick’s Paths of Glory seems to pick up where this leaves off.

The Blue Angel is the film I have the most to say about, and was the most interesting conceptually, but was hard to sync with for technical reasons (me not speaking German maybe being one of them). Through the films, we watch Dietrich get better at being a talkie actress and the Blue Angel doesn’t push her that hard, but this may be more a function of the camerawork and editing than anything else. Jannings somehow works better with her as a leading man than anyone but Dishonored’s McLaglen because he can fill the space created by her silent movie style of encapsulated performative moments then stasis/posing, though the let it breathe editing doesn’t help (I almost think her hand on ribcage pose starts as a need for her to have something to do when reacting that seems like a reaction). Morocco’s Gary Cooper sometimes seems like he’s in a different space than her and Shanghai’s Brook is super clipped (though she’s better adapted by then).

In Blue Angel, the effort to create composite Mise-en-scène with the ominous foreground frames is terrific (those anchors hanging down! the professor’s approach to the club!) and we have some of that German expressionist inner state stuff going on, especially at the end (the shadow of the chandelier!) but the cameraman doesn’t seem to know where to be and maybe that explains the ostensibly crappy blocking. The cinematography on the others is much better – the superimposed tracking shots in Morocco are phenomenal – and have just as many knockout myth buildingly shot scenes (too many to mention but her in a tux in Morocco, the final escape in Dishonored, the prayer in Shanghai Express). All the movies have enough differences in approach that you could think they were done by a different team (were the external shots in Morocco the ones shot by Peckinpah’s eventual AD, Lucien Ballard?).

There are all sorts of motifs running through the films: clocks (and calendars), racially insensitive dolls, men’s hats on women, skein-like drapes sometimes burned by irons vs drawn opaque shades, a man eavesdropping to get mood altering information from behind a louvered door, clowns/harlequins, throwing stuff that will need to be cleaned up on the floor/wall, makeup application in a number of functions (e.g. highlighting her performative nature, emasculation of men), sitting/sprawling on things as an act of feminine claiming of the space, guttural and animal noises as announcement we’re in a libidinal space positive or negative, the stockings, the kept animals, and all sorts of recurring human archetypes. But it’s The Blue Angel, with its full bore usage of these things plus more (eggs, nautical detritus, clock figurines, etc, that the subliminal story is the most present (though Dishonored is pretty potent).

The reason why I say Blue Angel is the most socio-political is that as a 2019 person on the internet who sees the culture war, is aware of the history of Weimar imagery as handled post Nazi, and knows what’s coming (spoilers for Hitler), the statement being made looks really complicated with a first pass of: the intelligencia’s embrace of the subaltern as primarily an instrument-possession both losses them cultural power and leaves them outside of the outgroup too, which is how, maybe, regressive populism (the students as rabble) wins. Granted this is an Iser-type hermeneutical hot take and it is complicated by the possibility that Jannings codes as pre-Hitler German populace’s growing conflation of left wing and Jewish as “dark other” (problematic, hard to bring the 1930 and 2019 horizons together on this, mileage may vary, but a case can be made) which would almost make this an anti-radical (on both sides) statement that meshes with the other movies’ anti-violence, anti group/idea allegiance, pro-people take. This is just the "bad decision" version. As for Jannings, the lumpen here is fine with him as long as he performs correctly. Maybe this is an artifact of Dietrich not being the protagonist by a director who wants her to be. The thing that really overlays this from a now standpoint, though, is the rhyming with a kind of 4chan framing where he has lost his “rightful” power, is “cucked,” and has an entitled-male rage tm (i.e. this can be read as an anti incel-ideology movie). The other movies don’t have this kind of congruence for the most part.

But the way the symbols work is pretty neat. His descent from prominent social capital to internationally renowned cock-a-doodle-do jester is marked by the change in the relationship with eggs as sexual enticement vs humiliation (and the humiliation was there from the beginning to be sure). The clown is there as a warning/future self. The special clocks that eerily suggests his/society’s demons are coming and no one can stop the forward mechanism of time. The caged bird is as you would expect. The dolls are a sort of self possession that she does test runs giving away. There’s too much to talk about.

Morocco has Cooper’s charisma going for it (which works best with Dietrich’s when they cut back and forth), the best non-closeup camerawork (the exteriors are great), large scale staging, and that cool woman in a tux mythmaking performance piece. It contains Cooper’s great non-verbal performance in the scene where he eventually writes “changed my mind” on the mirror (you can see him decide). The last scene of her trudging across the desert and throwing away her heals is great, and there is so much motion in the frame so often – the superimposition of movement that turns a dissolve into a long transitional double shot, the scene where she looks for him in the marching parade, etc. The relief map was hinky, though.

Dishonored was my favorite of the four. I liked all these films but, broken down, it had a couple of “bests” in it, but was #2 for everything else. It had the best-functioning male lead (the always in a mask non-naturalistic thing was perfect as that how she is and it balanced the space well) and a greater share of my very favorite scenes: the final escape scene, the party, the firing squad, and any any fucking piano playing (the first shot of her playing piano is my favorite shot of all the films). It’s the second best as a subliminal story (after Blue Angel), was the only one other than Shanghai Express that seemed like it had a screenplay - a story story rather than a loose idea, the idea of certain shots, the actors types, and dialogue. It had the most convincing sweep other than Morocco. The cat was a nice setting free of agency, progressing the doll as totem of self/other possession but with a mind of its own, with the power to ruin everything. This movie really vibed with me perfectly.

For Shanghai Express, see above, but I have to say I love the Disney villainess (before there were Disney villainesses) dress. The multi note secondary characters with actual performances and arcs was unique... the pastor who changes his mind on what is morally good is terrific, as are the exchanges between two fully fleshed out prostitutes and an old prude. My list is close, but If I had to order it would be Dishonored, Blue Angel, Shanghai, then Morocco, but it’s tough because the great things about each vary so much (I kept dithering on the bottom three more than #1, I considered putting Morocco 2nd).

It’s odd I’ve written this much and I haven’t broached the gender archetype pushing and pulling here, mainly because this seems pretty well mined territory. I’m under-read on this and feel like my take would be super cold -- cross dressing, Gary Cooper with a flower behind his ear, the unflinching depiction of how tough a time women have it while still depicting a kind of unique female cruelty to men, and the constant sexist statements undermined by the POV and what actually happened. Hopefully my naive viewpoint, coming at this fresh eyes will be valuable. So, like, are all these movies from this time period about class? It kind of reminds me of Impro, the Keith Johnstone book, which basically boils all theatrical character interaction to being about status.

Anyway, I’ve ignored my exegesis of Taylor Swift’s Lover to write this, so I must be back to work.

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darth-salem-emperor-of-earth · 5 years

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My Top Ten Favorite Characters: Fandom/Character Meme!

I got tagged by @tessa1972 months and months ago for this and figured I stalled on this meme long enough. So finally, I’m getting around to posting this. None of these characters are in particular order and none of the gifs belong to me.

Dorian Pavus:

There were way too many possible gifs for him to show how awesome, witty, clever, expressive and beautiful he is. I love his character and backstory, he’s a great companion to have around in battles and his romance with M!Inquisitor overloads me with feels. Dorian never fails to amuse me with his wit and comebacks.

Carth Onasi:

So much sass, humor, fight, and emotion all wrapped up in this angstmuffin of trust issues, accompanied by a sexy voice. He was my first video game love ever, I will never forget how his voice made me melt and simply wanted to listen him talk forever. I like his romance with Revan (F!Revan in the game but I like the idea of him falling for Revan of both genders because their interactions and the story behind them falling in love are just so beautiful). They say you’ll never forget your first. They’re right, I’ll never forget Carth Onasi.

Éowyn of Rohan:

You tell them, Eowyn. I loved her character both in the books and the movie and when my dad always told me the whole story of the Lord of Rings (way before the movies came out), I was always fascinated with Eowyn and wanted to be just like her, to slay the Witch King, continue to kick ass, and be a warrior. She is my baby, I’ll defend her ‘til the very end.

King Gangrel:

Where do I begin with this ginger trash king? He was such a riot and so unapologetically terrible while enjoying every minute of it. His history and reasoning behind his motives (at least, what small amounts the game shared with us) were fascinating and I was soooo glad we could recruit him later. And he totally shoved my plan to support/romance Walhart out the door (I’ll wait for my fourth playthrough) because his conversations and general personality were such a pleasure to read and laugh over. I love chaotic, goofy characters like him and it sweetened the deal where one of my Avatars could romance him. XD

Varric Tethras:

He stole my heart the moment he made his first appearance in Dragon Age 2. Stupid swagger, chest hair, charming grin and wit, and crafty mind ruining my life! A wonderful, faithful friend, a successful writer and storyteller, and a wicked shot with a crossbow--he has it all and so much more! Bioware let me romance him or dwarves again, I need this.

Garrus Vakarian:

Garrus, my man, you are a wonderful friend and romance option, you keep stealing my heart every time I read your lines to Shepard. XD

I loved his growth from ME1 to ME2 and then, ME3, showing how far he has come and how much he has achieved. I loved his loyalty to Shepard no matter how difficult or harrowing things became and was such a reliable, supportive comrade-in-arms. He had those moments were he could one smooth operator and then turn around to be an adorkable cutie pie. And still be a badass sniper no matter what.

Catelyn Stark:

She is one of my favorite characters in the A Song of Ice and Fire series. Catelyn is a flawed character, and her story, her journey, and overall character gripped every time I read her chapters. This woman as underwent through so much, even as a young girl, and lost even more as well. She is such a strong character who tries to keep her family safe, balance multiple roles as mother, wife, protector, emissary, sister, etc., recognize and point out the unfairness of the patriarchy in Westeros’s society, and is one of the few voices of reason in this whole series. I know she has made some mistakes and isn’t perfect and that’s what I want. Favorite characters of mine are never perfect, they struggle and don’t always do the right thing according to a modern perspective, but their overall character psyche compels me regardless. And Catelyn Stark is one of those characters and because of her complexity, she gets a lot of hate for it. But not here, not on my blog. I love Catelyn Stark, who was such a force in life that now, in her undead life, she wreaking havoc on those who betrayed her, her son, and the House Stark and Tully. I just hope she can find some peace at the series (yeah, fuck you, Game of Thrones, I won’t forget your crappy depiction of her and Stannis).

Vernon Roche:

One of these days I will actually play The Witcher 2 in its entirety and read the books but that won’t stop me from basking in the glory that is Vernon Roche. His complex, flawed character fascinated me and I really liked how his friendship with Geralt grows in the game, even if you pick Iorveth’s route, he still goes out of his way to help Geralt out. I also liked how he immediately suspected Geralt was innocent of Foltest’s death and his training, care, and relationship with Ves, his most trusted soldier. I just love what a BAMF he is and his route was my JAM! I loved how little Anais trusts him and how he will do everything in his power to keep her safe and win her crown and throne back for her. Uggh, so many feels!

Also, if you want to know when I realized how much I loved this character, I’ll tell you. It was near the end of the second game, where Vernon Roche brutally castrates Dethmold with his bare hands and then gives him a bloody end. I kid you not, my mind whispered, “I think I’m in love.” XD

Dettlaff:

Apparently in the Witcher universe, I like the hot tempered men. XD

Oh how I love this broody, tormented, and romantic High vampire so much that I can’t even imagine going through the endings where he dies and Regis is an outcast among his own kind, doomed to be hunted. Nope, nope, nope!

Anyway, I loved watching his struggles, his friendship with Regis and how he saved him from being a pile of goo, how deep and far he loves go for love or to protect those he cherishes--even for a woman who clearly doesn’t deserve him--, and down the little things, like his creativity (like his toy shops) or how fond he is with kids and they to them. I just want my high vampire to happy, okay?

Haruno Sakura

Canon screwed her over so hard and she deserved better than what Kishi gave her (I’m sorry I will never not be over this and will be salty even when I’m dead). Her character arc and development in the beginning was interesting to watch, especially when Shippuden came around and we saw the fruits of her labor under the apprenticeship of Tsunade. I’m amazed how hard Sakura had to work be seen and treated as a shinobi, especially when her training was neglected when she was young and a mere genin. I really liked her personality, how far she came since the first volume, and Sakura could have had the proper story and ending if Kishi knew how to write women and actually cared about his main heroine in Naruto. Will I be bitter about this like 100 percent dark chocolate and revel in fanfictions and fanon ideas? You betcha!

I’m tagging anyone who wants to do this!

#Salem rambles #Favorite Characters #Characters #Memes #Meme #This post has been sitting in my drafts for about a year or more so I'm so glad to bring this post out #Enjoy me ranting about characters I like--it was hard to pick just ten

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kiribaku-some-cute-stuff · 5 years

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What WIP are you most excited to finish? Do you think you can share an excerpt with us? I’d love to hear! 👀💖

oooooooooooh WELL the one I mentioned that you gave me XDD

but also this 5 +1 fic (although it might turn into a 4 +1 due to time issues. It’s you know angsty and I ruin Sero’s and Todoroki’s life as per usual and here is the crappy unedited excerpt in all its glory:

Instead Todoroki put his arm around Sero very very carefully and warmed him up with his left side. “Any better?”

“Much, th-thanks man.” Sero would try so hard to show that he was ok but he was in an excruciating amount of pain. If we’re being honest it was taking everything from both of them to not scream, cry or pass out, but even with all of this mess a single thought passed through their minds. ‘I need to tell him before I go.’

“Sero—we really might die here and there’s, there is something I have to tell you.”

“Don’t.” Sero let out a humorless laugh, “At least not like this… I need to t-tell you something. And I think—I hope it’s the same thing but pl-please… not like this.” Sero’s were both foggy and glossy. Foggy from what Todoroki feared was shock and glossy from tears that threatened to spill out this entire time. Sero was shaking each breath he took considerable effort, but he smiled anyway… “If we, if we say it now then h-heh one of us will definitely die and um the odds look like they’re more in my favor of dying than in yours.”

#zerounitrgb #I RUIN THESE BOYS' LIVES #seroroki #todosero #todoroki shouto #sero hanta #bnha #zuko #sokka #protect mom friend sero from all harm

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winterironshieldbang · 6 years

Text

MASTERLIST 2017/2018

TITLE: Why Tony Stark is injurious to the heart health of ninety year olds

AUTHOR: makeyamad

ARTIST: chaosdraws

PAIRINGS: James “Bucky” Barnes/Steve Rogers/Tony Stark

RATING: Teen and Up

WARNINGS: None

SUMMARY:

What if Bucky broke through his programming on December 16, 1991? What if Tony got to grow up with one of his childhood heroes who challenges him on a visceral level, constantly pushing him to change his own destiny and makes his heart beat like a hummingbird? What if Steve woke up to a world too bright and a best friend whose past cast red tinged shadows that threatened to swallow him whole, yet managed to smile for Steve? What would Steve make of Tony, his best friend’s guiding light , who looked at Steve with equal parts admiration and resentment? And who the hell invited Thanos to the party anyway?

LINK TO STORY: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13623207/chapters/31280367 LINK TO ART: Click Here

~o~o~o~

TITLE: The path beneath your feet

AUTHOR: Striving-artist

ARTIST: Eriot (latelierderiot)

PAIRINGS: James “Bucky” Barnes/Steve Rogers/Tony Stark

RATING: Teen And Up Audiences

WARNINGS: None

SUMMARY:

A Star fell, and in its wake, Soulmarks appeared. Smaller than a person’s palm, centered over their sternum, and a greater risk than when the Stars gave mankind Guilt, the Marks were to be Humanity’s eternal guides. The gift gave the Stars a way to direct their children. The Stars would watch, and wait to see what a person needed in their life. They waited to see what would bring them the greatest joy, then they could give them a token to find that path and keep them true. *** All three share a Mark.

But Steve and Bucky have each other.

And Tony has Iron Man.

LINK TO STORY: HERE

LINK TO ART: HERE

~o~o~o~

Title: If Only Author: Wix Artist: RsCreighton Pairings: Steve/Tony/Bucky, WinterIronShield Rating: T Warnings: References to past torture and mind control. Summary:

The Avengers have tracked down the Winter Soldier and brought him into the fold, but Bucky isn’t really back yet and Steve’s hurting from the distance between him and his first love - and then there’s the whole thing with Tony. It’s okay though, they’ll figure it all out…probably. A/N: Not AOU Compliant, Not fully CA:WS compliant. LINK TO STORY: http://archiveofourown.org/works/13596528 LINK TO ART: http://archiveofourown.org/works/13603791

~o~o~o~

TITLE: The Revenge AUTHOR: Riverlander974 ARTIST: Hazein PAIRINGS: James “Bucky” Barnes/Steve Rogers/Tony Stark RATING: Teen WARNINGS: N/A SUMMARY:

“Hello. My name is Anthony Stark. You killed my family. Prepare to die.” Heroes, Giants, Pirates, Villains, Revenge and True Love. You know this story. Mostly. A ‘Princess Bride’ AU. A/N: New chapters will be posted every other day!! LINK TO STORY: http://archiveofourown.org/works/13543128/chapters/31072041 LINK TO ART:

http://hazeinart.tumblr.com/post/170791391805/art-piece-for-winterironshieldbang-do-you-love

http://hazeinart.tumblr.com/post/170975656077/the-revenge-chapter-3-riverlander974-marvel

~o~o~o~

TITLE: Scientific Heresy AUTHOR: antigrav_vector ARTIST: Riverlander974 PAIRINGS: one-sided unrequited Margaret “Peggy” Carter/Steve Rogers, James “Bucky” Barnes/Steve Rogers, Tony Stark/Steve Rogers, Tony Stark/James “Bucky” Barnes, Tony Stark/James “Bucky” Barnes/Steve Rogers RATING: M (violence) WARNINGS: Alternate Universe, Canon-Typical Violence, Time Travel, Mission Fic, ignores all MCU canon after IM2, inaccurate history SUMMARY:

In the process of running the particle accelerator in his basement and save the day, Tony finds himself flung into the past where he has to take on a fight not his own if he wants to get home to stop Vanko. At least he had a chance to replace the old rector that had been killing him with the new one before everything went sideways… But now he has no choice but to face off with family, friends, and old heroes, and none of that sounds remotely appealing. Well, okay, getting to meet them all during their glory days kinda does. But as it turns out, they’re not exactly what he imagined, and his path home is a lot longer than he’d hoped it would be. And a lot more complicated. A/N: Art will be posting piece by piece as the chapters go up, because otherwise there would be some spoilers. It will be embedded in the fic, too, so don’t worry, you won’t miss any. But don’t forget to go reblog and heap some love on the (ridiculously many!) lovely things River drew! LINK TO STORY: http://archiveofourown.org/works/13664655 LINK TO ART: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13602213

~o~o~o~

TITLE: Trying AUTHOR: Somiko_Raven (crystallized-iron) ARTIST: Lasenby_Heathcote (lasenbyphoenix) PAIRINGS: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Steve Rogers/James “Bucky” Barnes, James “Bucky” Barnes/Tony Stark, James “Bucky” Barnes/Steve Rogers/Tony Stark RATING: Teen WARNINGS: N/A

SUMMARY:

It had been years since Steve last saw Bucky, and when his old friend suddenly appears back in town, he’s ready to do what he can to help him, even if that means saying yes to a date.

There’s a problem, though.

Steve’s already in a relationship.

LINK TO STORY: http://archiveofourown.org/works/13668645 LINK TO ART: http://archiveofourown.org/works/13668963

~o~o~o~

TITLE: sing (like there’s nobody listening)

AUTHOR: Daecyan_Shikoba

ARTIST: massivespacewren

PAIRINGS: Steve/Tony/Bucky, established Steve/Bucky

RATING: Teen

WARNINGS: N/A

SUMMARY:

Steve sends Bucky a link to a song that changes more than either of them could ever expect. Tony, head of a brand new prosthetic research team, meanwhile, has a decision to make: reveal his identity as Iron Man and risk alienating Bucky and Steve, or remain a mystery to Bucky, Steve, and the internet at large. The feelings Tony has for both men doesn’t make the choice any easier. All Steve and Bucky want is to take Tony on a date, if he’ll have them.

LINK TO STORY: http://archiveofourown.org/works/13666332

LINK TO ART: http://massivespacewren.tumblr.com/post/170867864733/here-is-the-art-for-my-stuckony-big-bang-i-got-to

~o~o~o~

TITLE: Imagine You and You (and You) and Me

AUTHOR: RomancebyFaye

ARTISTS: novarain01 and empty-crayon-box

PAIRINGS: James “Bucky” Barnes/Steve Rogers/Tony Stark

RATING: Teen (for now)

WARNINGS: N/A

SUMMARY:

Steve and Bucky both have two soulmates. When Bucky falls, Steve goes into the ice not long after. He wakes up decades in the future and has a rough introduction to his other soulmate, Tony Stark.

Neither man seem too enthused about the revelation, and Steve is slightly surprised when Tony makes no demands of him or even uncovers his soulwords. Turns out, Stark doesn’t think too highly of soulbonds. Still, they manage to work together and Steve comes to realize he might have misjudged Tony.

He’s working up the nerve to try and make this more than a friendship when Bucky turns out to be alive. And not quite alone.

Or, Steve is jealous of cuddles and bed sharing, Tony has no expectations of his soulmates because his soulwords are extra crappy, Bucky is sharing his psyche with the Asset, and all of them are on a converging path to falling in love.

A/N: Possible Smut to be added later. This would change rating to Explicit.

LINK TO STORY: A03 link

LINK TO ART:

empty-crayon-box piece one and two!

novarain01

~o~o~o~

TITLE: The Best of You

AUTHOR: Menatiera

ARTIST: araydre

PAIRINGS: James “Bucky” Barnes/Tony Stark, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, James “Bucky” Barnes/Steve Rogers, James “Bucky” Barnes/Steve Rogers/Tony Stark

RATING: Teen And Up Audiences

WARNINGS: Graphic Depictions Of Violence

SUMMARY:

Tony (genius, billionaire, superhero) and James (former WWII hero, former Winter Soldier, former Bucky Barnes) are figuring out their relationship. No, really, they’re doing great, after all the landmines are behind them. If they survived kidnappings, SHIELD at their backyard, revelations of past and all that jazz, what could possibly stand between them?

Enter Steve Rogers, AKA Captain America. And things, of course, go sideways immediately.

Tony is not entirely ready to face Daddy’s Dearest, his childhood crush. James is not at all ready to have his blond boy from the memories back. They don’t have a choice.

And on top of this, Steve, freshly defrosted and doing his best to adjust to the new century with both loves of his life gone, has his own problems. Including but not limited to an intelligence organization full of overexcited people, an alien army coming from the sky through some magic-bullshit-science portal and a genius chaperoning him around - whom he might be falling for.

A/N: This is a sequel of Still Alive, but rest assured, it can be read as a standalone. Chapters will be posted every day.

LINK TO STORY: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13703103/chapters/31475598

LINK TO ART: http://araydre.tumblr.com/post/170948599062/

~o~o~o~

TITLE: The Heist

AUTHOR: @jacarandabanyan

ARTIST: @acastleintheair

PAIRINGS: Bucky/Tony, Bucky/Steve, implied future Bucky/Steve/Tony

RATING: G

WARNINGS: Some swearing

SUMMARY:

“So you know that one artist who’s a total recluse and never does interviews or anything? Rogers? Well, someone found some of his old artwork that he didn’t want people to see, and it’s going to be showcased in this fancy gala. So for… reasons I have to go and steal the art before the gala.”

“I’ll help.” Tony said immediately.

Bucky twisted around in his lap to get a good look at his face. “What? Really?”

Tony nodded furiously. “I’m with you all the way, what time is this heist going down, I’ll clear my calendar. Though I would like to know how you know Rogers when the man’s so reclusive no one even knows what he looks like.”

Bucky squinted at him. “That was seriously the worst explanation I’ve ever given you, but you’re going to agree just like that?”

“Yep.”

LINK TO STORY: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13714221

LINK TO ART: art

~o~o~o~

TITLE: Fight Club

AUTHOR: Reioka

ARTIST: puddingpong and latelierderiot

PAIRINGS: James “Bucky” Barnes/Steve Rogers/Tony Stark

RATING: Explicit

WARNINGS: None

SUMMARY:

Tony had always expected that his awful kink would never be brought up to his alphas. It had ended more relationships than it had helped. But when Steve and Bucky find out about it, they’re… supportive? Tony has no idea what he did to deserve these two alphas that are willing to indulge his kink but he’s glad. Of course, they have a few kinks of their own that they’re willing to divulge now too.

A/N: None

LINK TO STORY: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13779012

LINK TO ART:

http://latelierderiot.tumblr.com/post/171216496012/the-second-collab-for-the puddingpong–

http://puddingpong.tumblr.com/post/171216991982/winterironshield-bang-art-full-art-below-of-the

~o~o~o~

TITLE: Fallen Gods and Shooting Stars

AUTHOR: @lunaticalwriter

ARTIST: @chaosdraws

PAIRINGS: Steve/Bucky/Tony endgame

RATING: M (some smut)

WARNINGS: N/A

SUMMARY:

“Thousands of years ago, the First Gods tried to defeat Fate, and were banished from the Olympus.

Ten years ago, Howard Stark, head of the most powerful mob in America, was killed with his wife in a terrible accident, leaving their son Anthony to lead their family.

Three years ago, Obadiah Stane kidnapped Tony Stark and imprisoned him on an island in the middle of the ocean.

Somehow, this all leads to Steve and Bucky’s bedroom.

LINK TO STORY: http://archiveofourown.org/works/13799196/chapters/31724910

LINK TO ART: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13802646/chapters/31734486

#winterironshield bang #winterironshield #stuckony #stony #stucky #winteriron #art #fanfiction #masterlist

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