#but I have so many ideas and some wouldn’t translate well into drawing

[retrograde-tonic]

The TWST Dorm Leaders Catch You…

Repost: from Sept. 2022 from my old blog; Anarchy-Archives. The post did well enough that I thought I should put it back up here and reshare it <3

GN reader who’s artistically trained. The boys catch you immersed in your craft, whether that craft is painting, cooking or dancing…

Heartslabyul:

Painting the rose garden on canvas. It was the perfect afternoon. Classes were still in session except for yours; Crewel had let your class out early when someone’s potion exploded. You got off unscathed, so you wandered into Hesrtslabyul’s rose garden with your art supplies, fully intending to paint a portrait of Grim but with the lovely ambiance as background, when a lone rose bush caught your eye. You immediately sat down adjacent to it and set up your canvas, mapping out all of its details. You had completed a couple roses so far and were fully immersed in your craft, not realizing classes had let out, when you heard a voice behind you…

“My, what do we have here?” Riddle stood behind you. You gasped, nearly dropping your brush. Riddle stood over your work, looking impressed. “I had no idea you were so talented. The shade of red translates perfectly from real life to canvas. I might like one of my own, do you take commissions?” You nod, smiling. Riddle explains he would love a painting to capture the unbirthday parties he hosts. “You don’t have to draw all the guests, but the decorations and the rose garden would be lovely. Of course, if you don’t mind.”

Savanaclaw:

Gymnastics. It’s a sport, yes, but it’s also an art in its own right. It’s something you grew up with, so it’s something you go back to when you have a bad day. Tumbling is a fantastic workout, and rhythmic gymnastics with music in the background always fills your soul. You were perfecting some of your favorite tumbling passes in an extra room of the Savanaclaw Magift Stadium. You added in some elegant twists and turns, alongside the back-handsprings and front-flips. You finally landed a pass you liked, and were only interrupted when they said…

“Oi, herbivore. What are you up to?” Leona was leaning against the doorway, looking sleepy. You give a light chuckle and explain that you were tumbling. Leona raises an eyebrow; “I didn’t know you could do that.” You nod, explaining that you put years of practice into it, and that you do it when you’re stressed. It’s better to keep up the craft. Leona smirks and then stifles a bit of a yawn; “You woke me up from my nap, but what you’re doing is vaguely interesting. I wouldn’t mind watching for a bit. Go on, impress me.”

Octavinelle:

Singing. It was past closing time in the Mostro lounge, and you were helping Azul clean up. Azul, Jade and Floyd were locked in Azul’s office, and you had taken to wiping down the tables. You began to hum as you worked. Your humming became slightly louder, your voice echoing off the walls of the empty room. Enjoying the sound of your vibrato in the room, you add lyrics in; now singing at a decent volume. You were exclusively focused on your vowel shapes and your work on the tables until you heard someone clear their throat behind you, making your song come to an abrupt halt…

“Well, this is quite the surprise.” Azul was standing a ways away from you, smiling big. You thank him, feeling the heat rise in your cheeks a bit. “I didn’t know you could sing so well. You’re clearly trained.” Azul steps up closer to you and adjusts his glasses. You nod, explaining that you had had lessons in the past, and that it’s something you’ve practiced for many years. His face lights up so fast and so bright when he hears that, you can practically see the Madol-signs swimming in his eyes. “You know, I would love to have you perform here at the Mostro Lounge. May we make a deal?”

Scarabia:

Cooking. You had helped Jamil bring supplies to the kitchen while he was off tutoring Kalim. While you were there, you noticed the perfect set of ingredients to make your favorite dish. It was a quicker one, but flavorful nonetheless. You get to the prep work, chopping the vegetables with ease using your perfected knife skills. You heat up the pan and toss the veggies in, sautéing them with a plethora of spices. The alluring smell of the aromatics must have drawn someone in, because they startled you when they said…

“It smells soooo good in here!” You whirl around, cooking spoon still in hand, and greet Kalim’s massive smile. You thank him enthusiastically, matching his energy. “What are you making?” He steps up to peer into your pan. You explain what you’re making, and that it’s your favorite; “I could make enough for multiple people, if you’re interested.” Kalim’s eyes light up. “That would be awesome! I can have Jamil poison test it, even though I know you won’t do anything to hurt me. He can have some too!” You chuckle lightly, thinking about Jamil’s distaste for Kalim enjoying cooking other than his own. “I’ll have to go fetch him! And thank you for cooking! I can’t wait to try it!”

Pomefiore:

Dancing. It was early in the morning, and you were alone in Pomefiore’s ballroom. You couldn’t decide what to do for your workout, so you threw in your earbuds and put on some music to dance to. It was a bit early for more energetic dances, so you put on a playlist of any song with 3 beats per measure, and you began waltzing. Well, sort of. It was your own version of a waltz, with a lot of ballet influence. It was very free flowing and it spanned the entire room. Jumps, spins, dips…whatever your heart desired in the moment. You hadn’t performed in years, but your body still knew how to glide over the floor. You danced your heart out for some time, until you saw a figure standing in the doorway from the corner of your eye…

“My my, I didn’t know you could dance like that.” You stop dancing abruptly, dropping your arms to face the man in the doorway. Vil stands there, smiling as he speaks. Facing him entirely, you shut your music off, returning his glowing smile and accept his praises with ease. “If only Epel could move like you do…” he sighs, entering the room. You give a polite chuckle; “I’ve been doing this for years, so…” Vil scoffs lightly and clicks his tongue as you apparently state the obvious. “I can see that. What other styles of dance do you know?” he inquires. As you go through the styles you know, he steps up and takes your hand; “will you dance with me? I’ve been looking for a dance partner, and you seem to be the perfect fit.”

Ignihyde:

Animation. You were huddled in Ignihyde’s lounge, staring daggers at your device. You had worked on this animation for about a month now, but something wasn’t adding up. You gripped your drawing pencil in between your teeth as you stared at the animation, slowing it frame by frame. You flipped the canvas back and forth, and then you caught it. The blinking was uneven and unrealistic. You announced your victory with a little excited screech, which must have tipped them off…

“Animating again? For that new game series?” You look up from your device to see Idia standing above you. “Can I see?” You nod and play the animation. Idia’s eyes instantly light up. “Wow, talk about some S-tier stuff!” You smile and thank him. He asks you to play the animation again and again, seemingly analyzing each frame. “I’ll have to show Ortho! He’ll love it! If…if that’s okay with you?” His excited confidence falters a tad, but he regains it when you smile; “I would love to show him! You’ll have to call him over!” He grins, appreciating your acceptance. “You’re so lucky you’ve been working on that project! I can’t wait to play it when it’s done!”

Diasomnia:

Playing a classical instrument. This was your escape. You love what you do, and every time you find yourself completely lost in the music. The rooms in Diasomnia are lovely in terms of echoing acoustics. Not so great for practicing and being critically aware of your raw sound, but great for an ego boost. Today, you had decided to pull out a piece by Clara Schumann. One you hadn’t played in a while. Midway through, the tempo changed; adagio, it said, and you fluttered your eyes closed. Your fingers remembered the section well, and they took over while your eyes were closed. Your passionate playing echoed off the walls until you heard the door open loudly…

“I haven’t heard that piece in years.” Malleus’s shadow stood in the doorway, a faint smile on his face. He sounded quite nostalgic when he spoke, and he spoke slowly; “Schumann, huh?” You nod, confirming his guess. He enters the room silently, and steps closer to look at the music. “You have good taste,” he eventually says, reading the music silently to himself. You smile, and thank him. “We should play a duet sometime,” you offer. His face lights up at the request, and he accepts graciously; “I would love to hear your music blend with mine.”

#twisted wonderland #twst #disney twst #twst hcs #twst writing #twst heartslabyul #savanaclaw #octatrio #scarabia #pomefiore #ignihyde #diasomnia #twst riddle #riddle rosehearts #twst leona #leona kingscholar #twst azul #azul ashengrotto #twst kalim #kalim al asim #twst vil #vil schoenheit #twst idia #idia shroud #twst malleus #malleus draconia

[kitthepurplepotato]

My weird roommate, Midoriya Izuku!

Alternative title: Midoriya Izuku’s weekly shenanigans!

Midoriya Izuku x Reader

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🥦Summary🥦

“So you are telling me that you lost your job and got evicted on the same day?”

Well, yes. You’ve never been a lucky gal and you are also quirkless. Jirou, your pro hero friend decides to help you out of your misery and give you an opportunity to live beside a mysterious man for barely any rent. The mysterious man is ends up to be the pro hero you’ve been obsessed with for ages! After a few days you realize that Izuku Midoriya is an absolute weirdo… in a really adorable way.

Week by week, the reader explores Midoriya’s weird habits and slowly falls in love with all his flaws. (Eww, so cheesy.)

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Genre: Comedy, romance (no smut, sorry! Might get a bit suggestive, but that’s it!)

General info and warnings (each chapter will have their own): swear words, blood, injuries, potential other hero ships, tooth rotting fluff and extreme amount of awkwardness. No real angst! Reader is 23, Deku is 25.

Other minor relationships in the story: Kirishima x Bakugou, Denki x Shinsou

16+ for safety!

About the author: English is the potato’s second language, please be kind to the potato.

Check out the potato’s Master List!

UPDATE: The story is now being translated to Vietnamese! Click here to read it! Thank you @izukuslittlekitty 💚

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Week 0 - Just go with the flow!

“So you are telling me that you lost your job and got evicted on the same day?”

“Don’t be so dramatic, Jirou. I still have a month to pack my stuff and I wanted to resign anyway. No biggie, really.”

Yeah, no biggie. The bottle of wine in your hand is only for pleasure, not to soothe your broken heart.

You’ve never been the luckiest gal if it comes to… well… anything. First, you were born quirkless, then you ended up helping your family financially for years after the family business went to shit, then right when you were about to be freed from the responsibility as your parents started a new business which actually made money this time, you lost your job and your really cheap apartment. You are not really stressed about the money part as you do have a side hustle; well, if you can call doing Pro Hero fan arts for commission a side hustle; and thanks to your upbringings you always made sure to have some spare money in the bank.

Your main problem is the fact that you just can’t have anything easy. Maybe you do have a quirk after all; one called “Forever Unlucky.” Quite a catchy name, actually, you might make a character based on this in the manga you’re about to draw.

“Bestie, I have an idea. I will sort out all your life problems. Give me one day.” The call cuts off and you are left alone with your thoughts. Oh, well. At least you can start your manga today… Or write a silly fanfiction about Deku being your roommate. You haven’t uploaded anything new to Tumblr in the last few months anyway.

~•🥦•~

“I’m not going to beg you, but this is a really good opportunity. You should take it. You’re the only one I trust enough to ask. Take that as the biggest compliment of your life.”

Oh well, this is such a lovely opportunity indeed; Move out of your place and move in with a random guy you can’t even check on social media because Jirou is a secretive little shit and doesn’t tell you his name. This person is also a guy, if that wasn’t obvious. There are so many things that can go wrong, it’s actually ridiculous.

“Sounds like this is a really great way to end up in a ditch, Jirou.” You sigh. You know she’s just trying to help you, but this is shady business. What if the guy is a pervert? Or a murderer? Okay, a pro hero like Jirou wouldn’t hang around a murderer but this guy can still be a pervert.

“Y/N, I shouldn’t be telling you this, but the guy is a pro hero. You love pro heroes, right?”

“Well, I do love them, but until Grape Juice is in the business this doesn’t make me feel any better about this.”

Oh, little Mineta. The fact that he’s still alive and rocking is beyond you. The guy had more scandals than rescues in the last few months.

“Y/N.” Jirou tries his best to sound authoritative. “You don’t have a job, you have nowhere to live, your parents live in the middle of nowhere. You also wanted to take time off to make a manga and get rich and famous. I’m giving you an opportunity to basically live in a fancy ass apartment for free and all you have to do is take care of a fucking cat and pay electricity and water. I know it sound like a stupid fanfiction, and to be fair, this is one, but bitch, let yourself be lucky for once. If everything goes to shit, I’ll let you sleep on my sofa until you find a place.” Jirou takes a deep breath after saying all of this without taking a single breath.

“I’m taking your bed. For 3 months.” You negotiate, clearly about to make the riskiest decision of your life.

“Deal.” Jirou answers and your phone beeps. “Call this number for more info. He’s waiting for your call.” The phone cuts off again and you can’t help but freak out.

NOW?!

You really wanted to sleep on this, give it a second thought, make a plan, get your thoughts together but oh well, you really can’t have it easy, can you?

If this would actually be a fanfiction, it would suck balls; there’s nothing but phone calls, jumping from one person to another, and the plot is way too unreal to be believable. What a shame.

The main character is also really lame; she’s a 23 years old who still reads and writes fanfictions and she lives in a fucking bubble where being a mangaka is still a legit dream to have. *

*the one writing this fanfiction is 28, so in case it wasn’t clear, this part was supposed to be a joke.

You sigh and grab your phone to make the last phone call of the day; you’ll definitely turn that shit off for the rest of the day after all this trauma.

~•🥦•~

“H-hello?” A shy voice comes through the phone.

As a pro hero enthusiast, you are absolutely ashamed of yourself; you have zero idea who the fuck you are talking to.

His voice is comedically high, his stuttering is absolutely adorable, but feels kinda fake; or is it the voice that’s fake?

“Hey man, Jirou gave me your phone number…” You are just about to explain your reasons for calling when the mystery man interrupts you with a high squeak. Is there a hero who’s quirk is being a rubber duck? With your luck, this is Grape Juice. Yeah, it’s definitely him.

“Yes! Y/N!” He squeaks again, this time, in pain. “Sorry, I just got back from patrol. I got hit by a quirk, so excuse my voice.”

Yeah, how original. The mystery man suddenly gets hit by a voice changer quirk right before a really important phone call, so this way the mystery man stays mysterious until the first, dramatic encounter. This smells extremely fishy.

“Let me guess, a random villain called Helium Man?” You ask, clearly not believing a single word. Is this really fucking Grape Juice lying about his voice to clear the suspicion?

“It was a child, actually. He wanted a picture and a hug but his quirk just manifested and he hit me with it by accident. I should be fine in 24 hours.”

Oh, a pro hero with a big heart who loves children and animals and stops in the middle of his patrol to hug a child? Yeah, sounds legit. Well, it really does sound legit, that’s something a hero would do. Fuck.

“Uhm, that’s a really nice story, yes.” You grumble, absolutely sure this is a stupid April fools joke. You can’t stop thinking about Mineta.

“Ahh, sorry to bother you so late at night with my rambling, I tend to ramble a lot actually.” A self deprecating laugh leaves the mysterious man’s mouth, and even with the annoying high voice, it sounds absolutely adorable. Fuck, are actually falling for this prank? “Long story short, I’m barely at home and my cat is really lonely and the flat is way too big for the two of us so I want to have a trustworthy roommate who can take care of the flat and my fluffy little son when I’m away. I’m not in need of money, hence why there is no rent and if it comes to the other bills, if you can’t pay them, that’s fine. I asked my friends to ask around in case someone in their close proximity is in need of a new home and Jirou recommended you. She spoke really highly of you.”

That was a really long short story for the fuck’s sake, but that’s fine. After all the Pro Hero Deku interviews, you are kinda immune to this kind of thing. You try to think about who else is prone to rambling in the hero world, but you honestly can not think of a single person.

“And if I understand this right, I won’t be able to pry any information out of you about your identity until I actually say yes and move in for… safety reasons?” You cut the bullshit for him and get to the main reason of your anxiety. The guy on the other side squeaks again.

“I’m really sorry about that. To tell you the truth, my name is well known in this country and I want to make sure the person moving in with me is not after my fame or my connections.” The guy says, then starts to ramble again. “I mean, there is no problem with someone being a fan of me or anything, it’s not about me feeling like a bigger person and not wanting to mingle with the crowd, I really don’t mind that kind of thing, I just want to make sure the person associated with me on such a personal level isn’t trying to use my name as a stepladder? Ahh, to be honest, these aren’t even my words, these are manager’s, she’s a little bit overprotective, because apparently I’m really naive if it comes to the real world… Ahh, I’m rambling again!” The guy makes another squeaky noise, clearly giving up on landing a good first impression with you. You kinda want to hug him.

“Well, I’m definitely not after your fame and it’s not like you are the number one hero Deku, so don’t worry too much.” You try to sound reassuring to calm the mysterious man down a bit.

“Do you not… like Deku?” He stutters, his anxiety obvious even without seeing his face. Is he also a Deku fan?

“Oh, I do. I really do. But I’m not sure Deku would appreciate me bringing a life sized cardboard cutout of his into his own flat together with my 10 limited edition figurines, then walk out of my room to get a glass of water in my Deku pajamas.”

“You can’t have 10 limited edition figurines, there is only 5 available.” The man giggles, and fuck, he’s adorable.

“Well, I have two of each. One in a box one without it, duh.” You roll your eyes, even though no one can see it.

“Fair play.” The mysterious man replies. At least your obsession won’t be a problem then. “So do you want to give my flat a try? I’m only home one day a week so even if you don’t like me, I won’t be too much of a bother to you.”

Fuck, you can’t say no when he sounds so sure you won’t enjoy his company. You don’t know this man but you want to show him he’s good enough to be your friend. If this is Grape Juice, he’s doing a really good job in deceiving you.

“Yes, I’m in. Please, don’t be a weirdo.”

This might not help with the guy’s anxiety, but for your own safety you decide to not tell this man that he actually made your heart race faster already.

“I can’t guarantee that, but I’ll try my best. See you soon, Y/N! Don’t be a weirdo!” He hangs up, his giggles getting more and more muted as he moves his phone away from his face to turn it off.

So let’s sit down and think about all the new information you got during this phone call.

This mysterious man has a high voice, apparently from a quirk related accident, but he might be lying to get brownie points.

He’s indeed a pro hero and a really well known one, which means he’s probably a UA graduate.

He knows Jirou and by your knowledge you are the only one in her friend group who’s not connected to her old schoolmates in some way, so this person might be an old classmate of hers.

This person knows what to say to make himself be more likeable but that doesn’t really mean much as Grape Juice is also really good at first impressions. His true self usually comes out after a few days, but until that point the guy is smooth as fuck, apparently.

Grape Juice also has a high pitched voice…

Fuck.

22:30

You: It’s fucking Mineta isn’t it?!

Jirou: Did you call him?!

You: Yes! He sounds like Grape Juice in those interviews when the interviewer is hot! His voice was also high!

Jirou: I need more information, wait.

Jirou: I can’t believe I’m friends with someone so stupid.

I swear on Denki’s life, it’s not Mineta!

Pack your stuff as soon as possible, the sooner you move in the sooner I can laugh in your face when you realize how fucking wrong you were.

You can’t believe you are doing this. Who in their right mind would move in with someone they know jack shit about?!

Well, apparently that’s you. You might need to get another appointment with your old shrink as something is clearly wrong with you.

~•🥦•~

“So, this is the building.”

“You are absolutely shitting me, Jirou.”

Today is the day. All your life is in boxes, your new place is a few steps away, your Deku cutout is resting under your arms because you won’t let anyone touch your husband with their filthy hands.

You almost drop the poor guy when you take a look at the area around you; this is the fanciest part of the city, nothing but skyscrapers with massive bulletproof windows; this area is so posh that people come here for sightseeing. You can get a massive mansion anywhere else for the price of one single flat in this part of the city. Only the biggest pro heroes and celebrities can afford this. You are quite sure you read on a gossip site about this area being the one where the top 10 probably resides.

That means, Deku might live close by. Or… he might be your neighbor.

Fuck, you are such a fangirl.

“Close your mouth and let’s go.” Jirou takes your free hand and pulls you into the lobby; yes, there is a massive lobby in the building just like the ones in fancy hotels. There is a fucking Starbucks in there, only for the residents which might sound absolutely ridiculous and a waste of money but seeing the size of the building (and the fact that the people living in it are loaded) they probably make enough money to keep it going without any loss. It might also be really helpful to the residents as going into a busy coffee shop while your face is all over the high street billboards doesn’t sound like the most pleasant feeling at 6AM in the morning.

Jirou waves to the guy sitting behind the lobby desk. The guy’s eyes scans Jirou’s full body; like literally scans it, sounds effects and all, then moves to you. He does the same thing and pushes a button; a massive door opens on the side of the lobby which leads you to a row of elevators.

“Mind to explain what just happened?” You mumble, while Jirou scans her fingerprint and presses the highest numbered button on the wall.

Fingerprints? Really?

“Oh, that’s Josh, he’s from America. He has an X-ray vision. He checks everyone new before letting them into the building, except the actual residents. I’ve been here a lot of times but he doesn’t like me so I get scanned every time since I tried to go up with a knife hidden in my boots that one time. I tried to tell him I left it there by accident, but he didn’t buy it.” Jirou sighs, like it’s a common mistake and to be fair, as a pro hero it probably was, but damn, these people live in another world for sure.

“But most pro heroes have weapons, don’t they?” You ask, really interested to hear more about this as it doesn’t really make sense to you.

“He doesn’t question it if you are in your hero suit, and he doesn’t bother the actual residents, but I was in my casual clothes and he was new back then. Don’t worry, you live here, you’ll be fine once he gets used to you.”

Well, you have a feeling that this Josh guy will be your new reason to feel self-conscious for the next few months. “Oh, also, remind Zuku to put your fingerprint on the system so you can use the elevator…” Jirou suddenly slaps her palms on her mouth.

“Zuku?” That name doesn’t ring a bell. Jirou let’s out a long, relieved breath.

“We are literally about to meet the guy, shut up and see it for yourself.”

That’s fair.

The ride to the 43rd floor is long and excruciating (it was 2 whole minutes!), but eventually the elevator dings in a pleasant voice and the door opens to a hallway with only one massive door.

This is the highest level of the building. And there is only one door.

“Does he live in a fucking massive penthouse?!” You literally shriek. Your little peasant ass can not process this shit. If buying a flat in this area was expensive, a penthouse is basically the price of a full office building. Whoever this guy is, he is loaded.

“It’s not that big actually, half of it is a rooftop garden with a pool and a hot tub, you’ll love it.”

“Oh, I see, so the flat is not a big deal, there is a fucking pool there instead, yeah. No biggie.”

Jirou is just about to give you a snarky reply when the door opens up; green curls poke through the small gap, shy and embarrassed from not being able to keep it in his pants and wait until the two actually knocked.

After a few seconds, he opens his door properly and…

The one standing in front of you is no other than…

“Pro Hero Deku?!”

The green haired hero scratches the back of his head, his self-deprecating laugh even more adorable than the last time; which isn’t really a surprise as back then he had a voice of a gummy bear high on crack.

“Uhm, hi, I’m Midoriya Izuku.” He waves awkwardly and comes over for a hand shake but you are frozen in place. This is not real. This is a fucking prank. No fucking way…”Can I take the cutout? I made some space next to my All Might one, they will be besties!” The greenette laughs awkwardly and slowly takes the cutout from you, looking at you the way you look at a stray, aggressive dog when trying to pet them for the first time.

“His name is Izu-Izu, Y/N’s husband, please treat both of them well.” Jirou says with a straight, but extremely red face and jumps into the elevator, her loud laughter resonating in the walls as the doors close on her.

This is the most awkward moment of your life. This just can’t get worse. You are on the top of the most expensive building in the country, in front of the hero you’re absolutely obsessed with since you first saw him in the UA sports festival. That said hero is now gently holding your fucking cardboard cutout of himself, looking at you warily, probably contemplating if he needs to take you to a hospital.

“Show me my room, I’m too mortified to speak.” You mumble, looking at a dark spot on the fancy marble. “There’s blood on the floor.” You inform the green haired hero like that’s a perfectly normal thing; and to be fair, it probably is in this household; and make your way after the hero.

You really hope the ground swallows you whole and you’ll never need to look into Deku’s eyes ever again.

~•🥦•~

You: I hope your guitar amp short circuits.

Jirou: Rude.

… Next Part!

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Yay, I hope you enjoyed the first part!

If you would like to be added to the taglist, just ask! 💜

Random fun facts:

- I actually googled the average size of a skyscraper in Tokyo for this ficc and I also googled how long it takes to get to his floor, just to be “realistic.” 😂

- The whole voice changer thing was my boyfriend’s idea! We love a good, supportive boyfriend! 😂

- If you like the style of this story and you fancy some Reader x Bakugou Katsuki, check out my other ficc, Bakugou Katsuki’s daily Shenanigans! These two are basically twins.

See you in the next chapter! Reblogs, comments and likes are appreciated, they keep me going! 💜

#deku x reader #midoriya x reader #midoriya izuku x reader #midoriya izuku #mha x reader #bnha x reader #bnha x you #midoriya x you #deku x y/n #midoriya x y/n #my hero academia #bnha x y/n

[tillthereweretangents]

John and Paul reading Kahlil Gibran

Guest post by @the-paper-apricot

In 1986, Paul spoke to his fan magazine, Club Sandwich, about tracks on the album Press to Play, among them the song ‘However Absurd’:

The lyrics on this one are a bit bizarre, but then again they make a kind of sense… In the middle it explains itself a bit… ‘Something special between us… Words wouldn’t get my feelings through’. That’s taking off into The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran – there’s a line of his that always used to attract me and John, which was ‘Half of what I say is meaningless, but I say it just to reach you.’

Source: The Paul McCartney Project.

Gibran’s works, especially The Prophet, have remained in print since their appearance, but seemed to have a particular flourish of popularity in the 1960s and 1970s. My parents, like so many young people of their generation, were devoted readers of his romantic-spiritual books in their English translation, and I devoured the books in my teens. So I returned to the books to find the words that so appealed to John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

It was a fair guess that the words appeared in The Prophet, Gibran’s most famous work, but in this instance Paul has misremembered. The line is actually in a book called Sand and Foam.

At the beginning of John’s White Album track ‘Julia’, he sings:

Half of what I say is meaningless / But I say it just to reach you, Julia

The origin of that line, recalled by Paul in his Club Sandwich interview, we can read here on page 11 of Sand and Foam:

Later in the song, John’s lyric continues drawing upon Gibran:

When I cannot sing my heart / I can only speak my mind

These words are adapted from the line halfway down that same page, Gibran writing that “when Life does not find a singer to sing her heart she produces a philosopher to speak her mind.”

★

Sand and Foam is a book of aphorisms, and ideas follow, one to the next, without any commentary. The couple of pages on either side of these lines on page 11 are dense with ideas about speech, withholding your words, sharing yourself in meaningless talk, sharing yourself in silence.

On the very next page is a line that I think corresponds to ‘However Absurd’.

The line on page 12 reads:

“The voice of life in me cannot reach the ear of life in you; but let us talk that we may not feel lonely”.

In ‘However Absurd’, Paul sings:

I couldn’t say the words, / Words wouldn’t get my feelings through, / So I keep talking to you… However absurd, however absurd… It may seem.

When I parse Gibran’s line in relation to the song ‘However Absurd’, I understand it as my voice can’t reach your living ear any more, but I must talk to you regardless. It’s difficult to avoid the supposition that the ‘you’ Paul addresses is John, especially since he himself drew attention to their joint affinity for Gibran’s thoughts. Musically too, the song evokes John and their work together in The Beatles, particularly in the sonic disintegration after the climax, recalling the end of Tomorrow Never Knows.

More broadly, it echoes Gibran’s idea, also expressed in John’s ‘Julia’, that some meaning will get through, despite absurd or seemingly nonsense talk.

★

I said that this passage of Sand and Foam is dense with related thoughts, so let’s look at the preceding page too. At the bottom of page 10, is the first half of the thought that is resolved at the top of page 11 (above), immediately prior to the line that opens the song ‘Julia’.

In full then, this idea reads:

“The reality of the other person is not in what he reveals to you, but in what he cannot reveal to you. Therefore, if you would understand him, listen not to what he says but to what he does not say.”

We might imagine what a fresh, appealing recognition this would be for the two men when they first read it. It fits very well with Paul’s explanations of John’s character, explanations demanded with tedious frequency by journalists since Lennon’s death – that is, that the real John isn’t necessarily the spoken part. And that he knew the unspoken part so intimately. To paraphrase: I know him, I’ve listened to the unspoken part.

I’ll close this post with a line from page 13 of Sand and Foam. Considering their deep mutual comprehension, it’s tempting to think that this idea must have likewise appealed to John and Paul. It seems almost written for them:

“It takes two of us to discover truth: one to utter it and one to understand it.”

Notes.

1. Kahlil Gibran was a Lebanese-American poet. For a useful introduction to his life and work, try this article.

2. Donovan released a haunting song with the title ‘Sand and Foam’ in 1967. I haven’t been able to discover if the title was directly influenced by Gibran’s book of the same name. (Donovan fans please enlighten me!) The song appears on the album Mellow Yellow, the recording sessions for which Paul McCartney attended, contributing handclaps, basslines and, fittingly enough, giggling sounds. Donovan of course played music with The Beatles in the informal, half-secluded setting of Rishikesh in the early part of 1968. It was during this time he shared his fingerpicking guitar style with John, who soon put it to memorable use, in ‘Julia’. Gibran’s popularity at the time means it’s quite possible that their reading matter was similar. Donovan’s ‘Sand and Foam’ is here.

3. After a quick search of antiquarian and second-hand booksellers, it appears that Heinemann, London were the sole English publisher of Gibran’s books at this time. The Heinemann edition belonging to my parents was reprinted throughout the 1960s: I can’t know if this is the edition read by John and Paul. They could of course have picked up an American edition. The page numbering is bound to be very similar though, if not identical.

—-

Thanks so much to @the-paper-apricot​ for this fascinating post! We’d really love to hear from folks who are familiar with both Gibran’s work and George’s lyrics. Is George as interested in these books as Paul and John?

#paul mccartney #john lennon #kahlil gibran #however absurd #julia

[melisusthewee]

WIP Wednesday!!!

Pretend there’s a cool graphic here.  Perhaps I’ll have time to make one some day soon.  Or if anyone wants to whip one up for me, I’ll draw your blorbo as an exchange of goods and services.

Anyways!  On to the sharing!  I was really pleasantly surprised with last week and how many people shared with each other what neat things they were working on and kept the chain going.  So I’m doing it again!  Remember, there’s no pressure, but show me what you’re working on!  What neat things do you have cooking in either the Dragon Age or otherwise fandoms?

I myself don’t have a whole lot this week.  I’ve been suffering from an overwhelming number of ideas and brain bugs and can’t really sit down to complete any of them.  Instead I’m bouncing from idea to idea like a ping pong ball.  I did a little more work on my Inquisitor’s character sheet this week, focusing on his post-Trespasser design as head of Divine Victoria’s honour guard.

(Art and discussion of concept ideas, as well as tag list are below the cut.)

For context, this was the original “design” which was done last year and mostly on a dare after making the joke that the Divine’s bodyguards in Trespasser were just wearing recoloured versions of Sebastian’s outfit and “lol wouldn’t Quinn look dumb in that.”  I added a few elements of Divine Victoria’s armour - mainly with the red fur mantle but it’s pretty basic.

This was my first pass at the redesign for Quinn’s new reference sheet done a couple months ago.  I kept the shoulders the same, but tried to lean into Divine Victoria’s armour more.  Unfortunately, I don’t think it suits a male figure or it just didn’t really translate well for me.  The addition of texture/embossing on parts of the armour also made it feel a bit too busy for me more than looking decorative or elegant.  It also didn’t look like it allowed for much movement in the torso and while I make the dark joke that Quinn is so drunk and depressed at this point in his life that it’d make sense to strap him into armour that forces him to stay upright, compared to the other outfits I’ve redesigned this just... didn’t feel it.

Here is my more recent pass at the redesign!  Again, the shoulders are largely untouched.  I like the idea of the armour completely covering what remains of his left arm, plus it has the added practicality of likely having a strap at the bottom that wraps around the bottom of his sleeve securing it into place.  The bracer on his right arm has also largely been left alone - it’s a hold over from some of his Inquisitor gear in one of my designs and I like carrying bits over... like a wardrobe evolution.  It also shows that Quinn has personal attachment to articles of clothing and accessories.  The fur mantle of the Divine is still there... never gonna get rid of it, but it’s sort of combined/blended with the in-game body guard appearance.  The chest has also been flattened and simplified, going back to resembling the body guard/Sebastian chest piece but a little larger and more protective.  Plus the hint of plate layering too.  The scaled coat is still there as the under layer, but it’s less prominent or visible.  There is a vest between the armour and the scale coat to give the breast plate a little more friction to stay in place.  It will likely be red with gold accents.  All the embossing on the armour has been removed.  I am unlikely to bring it back.

The waist design was also re-worked, taking inspiration from one of my favourite artists’ character design work in Fire Emblem.  The Roman-esque belted skirt is more of a half-skirt, with a fabric skirt draped over part of the belt.  I’ve blocked out a section where I am going to experiment with embroidery patterns similar to what I’ve done on previous outfits to give this more of a my-idea-of-the-Trevelyans feel.  I haven’t done a colour test yet.  But I do think I like this better overall.

Close up of his face, if you like.  He’s so sad.  He’s so tired.  He needs a beard shave and a haircut.

Tagging with absolutely no pressure: @rosella-writes​ @roguelioness​ @potatowitch​ @cleverblackcat​ @noire-pandora​ @darethshirl​ @kittynomsdeplume​ @little-lightning-lavellan​ @little--abyss​ @plisuu​ @blarrghe​ @inquisitoracorn​ @morganlefaye79​ @knuttydraws​ @knightdawn​ @n7viper​ @sulky-valkyrie​ @drag-on-age​ @oxygenforthewicked​ @bluewren​ @nirikeehan​ @effelants​ @greypetrel​ @scribbledquillz​ @transprincecaspian​ @transfenris-truther​ @jellydishes​ @absyntthe​ @idolsgf​ @terencessong​ @internetdoashouting​

As always, if you would like to be added or removed, please let me know.  Don’t feel shy or bad about it!  You can even DM me privately and know one else has to know!

#i need to make a spreadsheet for this #no one say anything about the rat man #unless it's to agree both he and quinn have great hair and facial hair #i have a type #and I'm cool with that

[roundboard]

Brutal Orchestra Art Hitlist

Just a list talking about each of the characters that I’ll have to go through drawing in Brutal Orchestra. Will detail plans and thoughts on ones I haven’t done, and reflect on the ones I have :)

Nowak/Bosch

I’m coming for you (two)...

Boyle

Done! Clean and simple inclusion of lore elements with a more interesting pose than I normally go for, really happy with how this one came out!

Hans

Done and dusted, I really did try to see if I could include SOME element of her items and such, but no luck... it cluttered the drawing far too much and there were too many conflicting themes. I tried my best to just elevate a lot of the simpler elements of Hans, and used one of her main abilities as a base for the concept.

Also included the fact her arms look kind of like spindly nerves as that’s how they seemed to be imagined by a lot of the community in canon! I think I made her look really nice and I’m still happy with it.

Burnout

Finished :) Probably my rawest piece yet, mega happy with how visceral I depicted him, as he deserves to be!!

Fennec

Fairly happy with how he turned out! I was trying to vary my angles since I have a habit of drawing characters facing right so I wanted to make sure to introduce some variety to the portraits. Plus, it’ll look even nicer by the end when they’re all lined up next to each other. 

He definitely seems a lot more jungle-y than he would let on but... A lot of his abilities seemed that way so I couldn’t help it. Not like it’s a bad thing, green + blue is a pretty good colour combo

Anton

I was definitely happy with him for a first attempt at this project, especially with how I shaded the mask, but I’m almost definitely going to go back to redo him. In hindsight there isn’t enough Anton swagger going on (minus the finger guns) and I think some element of his rude/skittish/gamble-orientated nature has to be shown off somehow.

Splig

Possibly my strongest work concept wise so far, or it’s tied with Kleiver. I’m really proud of myself for composing it in a way that shows off the Tao symbol they have in one of their attacks, and also demonstrate their syringe attack. It all looks pretty fluid as well. 

Only nitpick I’d have with this one is that it’s much more rough and simple(?) compared to my other works. Though, to be fair, this piece was the shortest to draw out of everything so far (about 2 hours or so)

Pearl

donezo... massive maw angle was definitely a good idea

Thype

My second drawing. Still really happy with the more oil paint-like thing going on for him, but similar to Anton, I feel like I could've shown off more from their lore/attacks. 

I’m less likely to try and to a complete redo like I am for Anton on this one, but I may make some adjustments? We can call it a remaster. Remaster sounds good and professional (which I am)

Griffin

I think I stuffed in as much lore as I could in the drawing (minus the fire, but I feel it would’ve oversaturated it.) My progress on lighting and shadows seems to be improving a good amount!! Excited to translate this skill into future drawings

Arnold

went with a more abstract and rough approach to convey arnold having a bit of a breakdown.. I think it worked really well and definitely a style I’d like to experiment with more in the future

Dmitri

Finally done... mega happy with the fire effects and I’m glad I could up the quality of the background more than just a standard black one or textured one! 

Mung

Mung

LongLiver

Finally managed to unlock him, and despite my initial worry that I wouldn’t be able to do something that creative, I managed it! I’m starting to get more comfortable with simple concepts done with more artistic flair if I can’t figure out a way to include their lore or attacks too much within the drawing itself. I also think this drawing shows off a bit more of my Disco Elysium style roots :) very proud of it!

Clive

Resident badass completed!! There was a point where he looked super bland and his head look way too long (like an egg) so thank god for the glow that was added later on... and the shortening of the skull

Kleiver

Even with the limited colour palette, I’m super super super happy with this one. This piece could’ve been kind of boring with just Kleiver shushing but my inspiration basically screamed out of nowhere that I could have bloodied music trails emanating from the stain on his hammer... Head. It doesn’t really show off his attacks but it shows off his brutality and lore enough that I’m absolutely satisfied with how he turned out. I nailed that hand pretty well too.

Cranes

Incredibly with the more simple and clean approach I took!! my first time trying out rain and such so I was really satisfied with how it turned out

Agon

My spookiest work yet, probably... I still really like this one :) depicted his yelling the best way I knew how! Super abstract but fits him well

Rags

Really really happy with her, I think the shading and colours came out excellent. Managed to fit some good stuff about her concept and item wise as well :) I think my only gripe might be that it’s a little less coherent than it could’ve been, with some of the parts of the drawing being quite dark.

However, I’m still really happy with it!!

SmokeStacks

Did this because some guy on reddit asked for it really nicely, even though SmokeStacks wasn’t even on my radar at the time... But they seemed to like it! I did too. I was initially trying to position SmokeStacks like every other portrait up close, but I realized I really wanted to show off the smoke more than the stacks part so I went ham on making the smoke look spooky and ominous.

He’s meant to be sitting on a pile of trash which is kinda hard to tell but I’m pretty happy with this one too.

Leviat

I like how dynamic and “pop-y” I made this one :) experimented with a style I didn’t do too often and was worried about how I’d handle the mass of flesh/teeth and masks thing but it turned out really nice

Bimini

Put as much for the character as I could into it! I think probably the most “packed” in terms of references so far... I do wish I could’ve done something a bit more with the background though

Gospel

so spacey... so gospel... it’s perfect

Mordrake

Mega happy with this one concept and execution wise :) holds a special place in my heart!

#brutal orchestra #brutalorchestra

[woafofbread]

Hey so I noticed it has been a while since you updated the klance hanahaki comic. Are you planning on continuing it? Because I really like it and I wanna know what happens.

I'm so sorry it's been literal years and I'm going to use this ask to dump all the sketches I did cuz I really did have a lot of the parts planned out but I didn't have the motivation to line and color everything.

And sorry to anon if you don’t like klance anymore I know some people had conflicted feelings about them they would rather not be brought up again. Feel free to ignore this if that’s the case. 

So here were all the pages I got done.

The scene below takes place before page 7 so it is Keith's first time coughing up flowers and the time where Hunk finds the flowers in the trash comes later. 

 Here is my translation because my handwriting is terrible

I made the lines of dialogue split up so if a person talks and keeps talking into the next panel I wrote their name again for the next line of dialogue if that makes sense. 

Page 1:

Keith(internally): What am I doing here? (as he sits at Lance's family dinner table)

Lance: Pass the peas por favor

Veronica: So Keith, I'm not sure if I've told you but you are somewhat of a legend in the McClain household.

Keith: Really? Why?

Page 2:

Veronica: Lance talks about you all the time ever since you both went to the Garrison. It's crazy we haven't had you over cause it's kind of a family tradition.

Veronica: To bring significant others over. 

Lance: What? No! *slams table*

*Lance’s family members in the background nodding their heads*

Veronica: C’mon Lance just admit it. 

Lance: How many times do I have to tell you Keith is just a friend?

Page 3:

Keith: Sorry Veronica. Lance is right. 

Keith: Lance wouldn’t date me if I was the last person in space. 

Keith: Now if you’ll excuse me-

Keith: Where’s the bathroom? 

Veronica: It’s over there to your right. 

Page 4:

(Keith in the bathroom)

Keith: After all these years why do I feel like this? 

Keith: *cough*

Keith: What the? *sees flowers in the sink* 

And you can ignore the last frame because I didn’t want to use it. But it’s basically Keith’s monologue about the situation. Here’s my best translation. 

Keith: I accepted a long time ago that Lance wouldn’t love me but I still have feelings for him. You know how lance is. If he found out he would try to love me back for my sake and I don’t want him to do that. If I forget him then he won't have me to be there for him. He was there for me and I have to return the favor. That’s why I can’t do- (and that’s all I wrote) 

This next scene comes after page 9 and Shiro confronts Keith about the flowers

The group scenes here were something I was pretty intimidated to draw so a lot of them are just circles. 

Page 1: 

Shiro: Are you feeling okay Keith?

Keith: Uh yeah I’m fine 

Shiro: I know when you’re not fine Keith. I think it would be a good idea for you to stay away from Lance while we figure this out.  

Keith: Shiro! He’s my friend you can’t just tell me to avoid him!

Shiro: I’m telling you for your safety. I’m sure Lance would want you to be safe too. 

Page 2:

Keith: Fine

Shiro: Don’t worry, it’s just until we sort this out. 

Keith: Yeah okay. 

(Shiro tells him to stay away from Lance because he knows that if Lance finds out and doesn’t feel the same Keith will die. Also any time Keith feels rejected by Lance the flowers will get worse. And if Shiro tells Lance to stay away he’ll ask questions and he would most likely do something impulsive.) 

Next scene: (It’s a group scene ironically with Lance in it so Keith tries to stay away but it doesn’t work so well)

Lance: Hey Keith!

Keith(shortly): Hey Lance. *avoiding eye contact*

Lance: Uh okay then... Do you know what today’s meeting is about?

Shiro: It’s about Keith’s condition. 

(Inserted from other page) Lance: So Keithy’s in love with somebody after all. 

Keith: Shut it. 

Shiro: We need to find a way to remove the plants and we need help from all of you to do it. 

Page 3: 

Shiro: Pidge you’re in charge of finding a way to safely remove the flowers. 

Pidge: Got it. 

Shiro: Hunk you’re in charge of making sure Keith gets plenty of rest. 

Hunk: Got it!

Keith: I don’t need a babysitter Shiro. 

Lance: What about me Shiro?

Shiro: Oh uh Lance you’re-

Keith: In charge of staying as far away from me as possible. 

Lance: *wtf Keith* 

Shiro: No you’ll be in charge of getting the supplies Pidge needs. You’ll be with me. 

End Scene

(Keith might seem a little mean in this scene but it’s mostly cause he’s salty he was just told to avoid lance and then Shiro calls a team meeting to tell everyone his condition with Lance there. He doesn’t want Lance to find out so he acts cold towards him kind of like how they were in season ones but Lance is confused because he though their relationship was better. And Kieth’s coldness affects Lance’s perspective later in the story.) 

So moving forward things might seem a little disjointed because I hadn’t figured out how to get each scene to flow into each other. I just had a bunch of scenes and wasn’t sure how they would fit. It was a big part of why I hadn’t posted the story. I’ll try my best to piece them together in a way that fits.

This next scene is brief but Lance basically runs into Keith in the hallway. 

Page 1: 

Lance: Keith?

Lance: You alright? 

Keith: Yeah I’m- *almost faints and falls into Lance’s arms*

Keith: I’m fine I’m fine

Lance: Yeah clearly you’re not. I’m taking you to the med bay. 

Keith: *starts aggressively coughing up flowers*

Page 2:

Lance: Keith! Are you okay? (I cut it out because its repetitive and I think they were meant to be two different scenes but I combined them) 

Keith: *Shoves Lance away* 

Lance: Keith what-

Keith: Lance I need you to leave me alone for a while. 

Keith: *Leaves* and leaves a very worried Lance behind. 

End Scene

After Lance see Keith in so much pain Lance wants to find the one who is causing it. Also Lance wants to know who Keith fell for in general. Hence this next scene. 

Page 1: 

Lance: I’ve decided! I’m gonna find out who Keith likes.

Pidge: And you’re telling me this why, Lance?

Lance: Because you’re the only one around Pidge. You should know this by now. 

Pidge: Now I see why I didn’t miss living with you. (I should probably mention this is post season 8 and they are back traveling together in space for the most part other than the visit to earth. They come and go as they please and still go on missions together :D )

Pidge: Why do you care so much anyways??

Lance: It’s just really surprising that Keith’s in love with anyone. He’s not a really lovey-dovey guy so I want to find out who won his heart you know?

Lance: *starts to leave the room*

Pidge (under her breath): Lance we both know why you really want to know so much. 

End scene 

And I really don’t remember how Lance’s “yeah I know” fits into the conversation. It could have in response to Pidge’s comment about why he wants to know but I’m not sure so interpret it how you like. 

Page 2: 

Lance(Alone in his bedroom holding one of Keith's  hanahaki petals in his hand): Is it selfish to wish that it was me? 

(Little does Lance know...)

This scene is Pidge the next day doing her part in the mission to save Keith- observing the petals that Keith coughed out

I put in stars because I changed the dialogue around after I decided to add a scene with Shiro telling Keith to stay away and I wanted it to be before this scene. So I will just write what I meant to change the dialogue to.

Pidge: This petal is definitely from the spores you breathed in.

Keith: What have you got Pidge?

Pidge: It looks like the petals flowers have taken root in your lungs and are growing. (she would have taken some sort of x-ray to be able to see that)

Keith: How do I make them stop?

Pidge: The best way would be to avoid whoever is causing one sided love for you so Lance.

(I wanted to add Keith being slightly surprised that she knew here)

Keith: Shiro already told me to do that. It’s still gotten worse and Lance has started to notice.

Pidge: You could just confess to him.

Keith: *no response*

Pidge: Yeah figured as much. Well then you’re gonna have to wait until I find a safe way to remove them then. 

Keith: I’m counting on you Pidge. 

Pidge: Don’t worry, I’m the one who put you in this mess and I’ll be the one to get you out. 

(Pidge feels guilty for know knowing that the flower was this dangerous and is doing her best to help fix her mistake.)

Meanwhile the next scene is Shiro and Lance on their mission on a plant filled planet to find some plants that might work as a cure to Keith's hanahaki. 

Lance: Shiro, can I ask you something? 

Shiro: Of course Lance what is it?

Lance: It’s just that Keith has been really distant towards me lately. 

Shiro(internally): Shoot he noticed. 

Lance: I don’t know if I did something wrong or if he’s just stressed or-

Shiro: Lance if there’s one thing I’ve learned from knowing Keith all these years it’s that you can’t read Keith’s mind when somethings bothering him. 

Shiro: If you think you did something wrong then just apologize first. He’s probably not even mad at you to begin with. Things will work out. 

Lance: Thanks Shiro. 

Shiro: No problem Lance. 

End Scene

Meanwhile Back on the ship Hunk and Keith chat. 

Hunk: It’s Lance isn’t it? 

Keith: Hunk I swear to god if you tell him-

Hunk: I won’t dude don’t worry.

Keith: How did you know?

Hunk: Process of elimination mostly. And you don’t seem like the type to fall in love with a random alien. You’d have to be close to them. 

Hunk: And I know you really care about him so...

Keith: I do.

End Scene

 Lance is back from the mission and Keith really tries his best to avoid Lance but he is persistent. And he takes Shiro’s advice to heart. 

Page 1: 

Lance runs into Keith in the hallway and they stare at each other for a moment and then Keith tries to run away. 

Lance: Keith, wait!

Lance: You can’t hide from me this time mullet. 

Page 2: 

Lance: I figured out why you’re avoiding me. 

Keith: And why’s that Lance?

Lance: It’s because I’m the one who made the pollen spring up into your face. 

Keith: Why would you think that?

Lance: You're not denying it. 

Lance: Seriously, listen Keith, I’m really sorry. It was stupid of me and I didn’t do it intentionally. 

Keith: You’re not stupid Lance. 

Keith: And I promise this isn’t your fault. It’s just something I need to work out on my own. 

Keith(gets up): Thanks for worrying though. 

Keith: Bye Lance.

Lance: Yeah... See ya. 

Lance: I really hope everything's okay. 

Keith(in the other room): *coughing up flowers*

End Scene

After this conversation the Hanahaki will start to get worse. 

Now we get to Hunk carrying out his mission- making sure Keith is okay.

Keith: What do you want Hunk?

Hunk: To talk. 

Keith: I care about Lance so much I can barely share the same room with him. Not really a topic I want to talk about. 

Hunk: Fine then. 

Hunk: I’ll be here to listen.

Keith: Thanks Hunk.

Hunk: No problem buddy. 

End scene

I really liked Keith and Hunks friendship in season 7 and I feel it is very underrated and not talked about. 

This scene comes a bit later as the hanahaki continues to progress. And Keith takes up Hunk’s offer to talk. 

The first two drawings are not included in this scene (this page was one of the first things I had drawn for this story idea) but they say:

Keith: There’s nothing you can do to help me Lance. 

Keith(internally): It’s not like you could every feel the same way about me. 

Scene with Hunk start

Hunk: Why don’t you just confess to him? 

Keith: For the same reason I try to comfort him about Allura. I want him to be happy. Either way I know he’ll never feel the same way about me. 

End scene

This scene is after Pidge checks up on how the flowers are and sees they have gotten much worse. Pidge confronts Keith but he is stubborn. 

Page 1:

Pidge: If you don’t get those flowers out at the rate they’re growing you're going to suffocate on them within the week. 

Keith: well then it’s a good thing I have you as my doctor right?

Pidge: Keith this isn't some joke! Your life is at stake! 

Page 2:

Pidge: You have to confess to him. 

Keith: I can’t do that. 

Pidge: Why not?

Keith: ...

Pidge: Are you seriously saying you’d rather die than tell him you’ve been crushing on him since we first got out into space?!

Keith: Guess I am. *Leaves* 

End Scene

(I tried to have Keith showing his self sacrificing tendencies here. :/ )

This next scene leads up to the ending and it its probably the longest. Pidge’s research did not amount to anything and the flowers are worsening at a rate that she can not come up with a cure in time. Keith is in very bad condition and starts coughing up blood along with his flowers. 

Page 1: 

Keith(under his breath): God I feel awful. 

Lance: Hey Keith I see you’ve finally come out of your cave. 

Lance: Keith you alright buddy?

Keith: *starts falling unconscious*

Lance: Keith!

Page 2: 

(cut to Keith in Hospital bed) 

Lance: I can’t believe this. 

(Lance and Hunk talk to each other in the hallway outside his room) 

Lance: He’s probably been suffering all this time and didn’t even bother to tell us. 

Lance: He should know that he doesn’t have to do everything by himself! Whoever is doing this to Keith is going to have hell to pay. 

Hunk: Good luck in hell then buddy. 

Hunk(internally): Sh*t I should not have said that. 

Page 3: 

Lance: Hunk.... what do you mean by that?

Hunk: Keith made me swear not to tell you but given that he’s on his deathbed, and you're the only person that can save him I guess there’s no point in keeping it from you. 

Hunk: Keith is in love with you. 

Lance: *runs off* 

Hunk: Lance!

Page 4: 

Lance(next to asleep Keith in his hospital bed): Keith. Don’t you dare leave me. 

Keith: *starts stirring*

Lance: Keith!

Keith: Lance? What’s wrong?

Lance: Why didn’t you tell me?

Keith: What are you talking about? 

Lance: About how you have feelings for me.

Keith: How did- 

Keith: *turns and glares at Hunk*

Hunk: Sorry bro

Page 5: 

Lance: Well?!

Keith: ...I know assumed you’re straight so you didn’t need to know.

Keith: I knew you’d try and force it to save me. 

Lance: Keith. 

Lance: *kisses him* (with bad kissing drawing imo)

Lance: What made you think I wouldn’t like you back?

Page 6: 

Keith: I love you. 

Page 7: 

Keith: Looks like I’m healed. 

Lance: Oh thank god. 

Lance: Love you mullet. 

Keith: Love you too. 

End Scene

Here’s a doddle of them being happy after all that angst. 

Lance: I can’t believe it took me this long to braid your hair. 

Keith: You never asked. 

And that’s the whole story! I have some other klance comics in my sketches that I've never posted but they are not as in depth as fleshed out as this one was. I always wanted to finish it but this will have to do. I wanted to include more scenes with Lance to make it clear that he felt the same way about Keith but I feel like the scene with the petal makes that clear enough for now. 

I’ve always looked up to klance artists like ikimaru and binart and erithel for having such amazing klance comics and they are still making Klance comics to to this day! I highly recommend all their works. I always wanted to have a perfect finished product of this comic but I have many other comics I want to work on now. I still love Klance though that’s for sure. I still doodle them every once and a while. 

And here’s a current sketch I did at 2 am after writing most of this post. 

Lance: Remember when you almost died because you were too scared to confess to me? 

Keith: *sigh* You’re never gonna let me live that down are you? 

Lance: Never ❤

#klance #vld #long post #extremely long post #I'm surprised I didn't get an image or word limit reached #keith #lance #keith x lance #v*ltron #The obliagatory- Klance in 2022?? #my art

[heliosthegriffin]

Class of One Chapter 14

AN: Thank you for your patience

-----

Mercury had never rode a train before, he’d not had the chance. The bastard was never keen on public transportation, so for the most part they had always taken back roads or ‘acquired’ some sort of transportation.

So, the feeling of the vibration under his feet was new and strange, the enormous power of the machine was almost visible as he felt it move down the rails to Vale. 

The idea that dust was powering it was almost crazy to him, that it could move so much mass at once. 

He understood how dust could be used to launch a projectile fast enough to break the sound barrier, but the fact it was moving thousands of tons of metal at hundreds of miles per hour seemed downright magical.

It was all so very new to him, he'd also never broken into a train either, so today seemed to be a first for many things.

Like seeing the Bastard, ugh, charm his way into the private car of some bitch in a business suit, but it wasn’t a first for him ditching Mercury and giving him the ‘Stare’, which translated from Bastard-Man to human meant, ‘If you ruin this for me, I’ll beat you till I have enough tears to mix in my whiskey.’

Bastardry is quite the elegant language.

Planting a kick at an opponent's imaginary body, Mercury flipped backwards and crouched under an invisible sword swipe before grabbing a phantom arm and pulling it forward into a knee strike to the chest, before punching them away and bouncing back as he weaved through a barrage of bullets into a ready fighting stance.

Still, It didn’t bother Mercury at all what that monster did, who he did, or what new STD he got. 

No, he reveled in being away from the Bastard, as it meant he could practice without him beating his ass, under the excuse of ‘correcting his form’, bitch, he had mastered his forms after the first beating.

And he had been through hundreds, if not thousands of beatings since that one. 

Mercury had actually become quite proud of his pain tolerance, not that he ever flaut that to the Monster less he got creative… if that Drunk Asshole could even come up with an idea better than ‘Kick their head off and run!’

While the Drunk slept around, Mercury improved his skills, adding new moves to his arsenal that the bastard wouldn’t see coming from him, that he wouldn’t be prepared for when he finally struck him down.

Which had been pain-staking and grueling, goading beatings from that asshole on purpose, pissing him off to try and get him to throw different moves and styles at him without him realizing what Mercury was after. 

It was a tedious process, but Mercury was slowly learning how to counter everyone of that Bastard's moves, and soon enough, maybe in a year or two, he’d strike while the Bastard slept and finally put him down for good.

But, for now he’d train. 

Heh, he was training inside a train.

A little while later, Mercury was cleaning off his sweat that he decided that he would actually investigate the train, it being a first time and all, he also doubted that the Drunk would be back anytime soon, so he might as well entertain himself.

He passed by the cabin, and from the way it was rocking, Marcus was getting him way, Mercury realized with disgust. He had honestly hoped the man would be arrested for sexual haresstment, but that was as likely as the moon putting itself back together.

But, an unwelcome thought came to mind as he sped walked away from the rocking cabin, did he have any siblings out there? That might not even know they’re related to him, and the monster that made them? 

And why, oh Brothers, couldn’t he have been one that could live so ignorantly?

Walking away Mercury reminded himself the key to sneaking was to not draw attention to yourself, it didn’t matter if he was caught on camera, as long as he did nothing to indicate Mercury did not belong here. Which he wouldn’t, most people can’t remember the face of the person they just passed by, so long as he didn’t draw attention to himself, no one would remember he was ever here.

Not like gray was a super interesting or memorable color either, so most people would overlook that too, even if his awe-inspiring looks helped counteract that.

Starting from the back in the cargo he walked up and down the car, pilfering anything he liked and thought he could take without noticing, mostly things like soap, towels, and food.

The Bastard thought that all someone needed to live was beer, ramen, and the blood of his enemies.

Mercury pissedly disagreed, as that stuff tastes like shit.

Leading to him, when possible, to snatch whatever food that looked good and fresh. 

Man, he wished he knew how to cook, but the one time he tried his dad burned his hand on the stove for trying to do ‘Woman’s work’.

Mercury stopped for a moment, and took a whiff, then scrunched his face in disgust.

When was the last time he washed his clothes?

… Ah, right. That was also a woman's work.

He sighed, he’d keep a look out for any clothes his size, Blood and Dust, no one was going to give him any and he was too broke to buy anything.

After some time, Mercury found a white button up in his size, a grey vest, black cargo pants, and some heavy duty work boots for his feet.

Then tossed his old clothes out the window, leaving them to be thrown miles away by hundred mph winds down to some hobo or Grimm.

Unfortunately, all fun things come to an end eventually.

“Arriving in Vale in fifteen minutes, please be prepared to leave.” A mono-tone voice off the radio, and Mercury sighed, putting away some more unknowingly donated clothes into his bag.

Now he had to go find the Bastard before he found him, and he did not want him to come looking for him.

He walked back to the cabin he last saw that Asshole, and listened to see if he was still having ‘fun’.

It was quiet.

Eerily so.

Did he leave?

He could sense one living presence inside, though. Did he leave?

Maybe the bitch in there, and yes, she was a bitch, because otherwise why would she sleep with that drunk?

Well, someone was in there, so might as well risk it.

He knocked, he did not want to chance seeing anything.

“Come in,” Damn, it was the Drunk. Well, at least he didn’t have to spend much time looking for him. Wait, where’s the bitch, then? “Stop dawdling, shitstain!”

Mercury opened the door and was immediately met with the gross smell of bile, blood, and shit, only stopping from throwing up his lunch from years of exposure, though It still made him feel rank.

“What the Dark?” Mercury gagged as he entered.

“Hehe.” Came from Marcus. “Rancid ain’t it? Things got a little crazy in here.”

‘Understatement of the year,’ Mercury thought, his eyes drifting around the cabin spotting shredded clothes on the floor, the windows partially open and wet with the curtains flapping about, and the small bed ablsolutely drenched in blood that covered the wall behind it. 

His dad had made a real mess of the place.

“Where’s the woman?” Mercury blurted out, before really thinking it through.

Marcus shrugged. “‘Bout, twenty miles down the rail’s I guess.”

Mercury frowned, as disgust ran cold through him. “You killed her? Why?” 

The red hot pain of being backhanded into the wall knocked that out of him.

Marcus looked coldy at him. “Not my fault, she asked me to choke her.” The bastard was smiling now. “Oh well, with how hard I had her cumming, she probably didn’t notice, spraying like a damn faucet.” Then he shrugged and started towards the window. “If we could all be so lucky, anyway,  go grab our things. Also, don’t catch to anything, I’m not coming back for you if you get caught underneath the train.”

Getting up, Mercury nodded.

Marcus clapped him on his shoulder. “Good, now don’t make me hurt you, again. We’re heading to my friend Junior’s after this, and you don’t want to embarrass yourself coming in all bruised, do you?” Mercury shook his head, his aura had blocked the blow, even if it hadn’t blocked the pain.

As they were about to jump off the train, Mercury hoped maybe, if he was lucky, the bastard would get run over.

But, luck had never favored Mercury, just like it wouldn’t favor they’re target.

----

In Vale’s Central Forest Park, Jaune was locked in a most difficult encounter.

His eyes burned with dryness as he stared resolutely at his opponent, red eyes staring back unflinchingly.

They had been at it for what felt like hours, Jaune having yet to prevail over his enemy, but he would beat this damn, dusty crow in a staring contest!

Sitting on a bench, Jaune stared into the eyes of a crow that was not even a foot tall, who bravely locked eyes with him.

Jaune’s blue eyes began to waver and stuttered as his eyelids started fluttering and watering, while the Crow looked as cocky as a rooster.

Then unlucky, the breeze came by bringing with it some dirt and dust, directly into Jaune’s open eyeballs.

“AGGH!” Jaune grabbed his eyes, burning with pain, rubbing out the detritus and blinking to wet his dry eyes. “Alright, fine you win this round.” And tossed a  handful of trail mix to the bird, who proceeded to caw proudly, almost like it was mocking him.

“Yeah yeah, you win! Damn, my eyes hurt.” 

The crow cawed again. “Yeah, so what? Best out of three, mean’s nothing! I can do this all day!” The bird cawed again.

“What did you say about my mother?!”

The bird lifted its wings menacingly.

“Oi, you want to take this outside-,” The crow jumped up and down. “oh, you wanted me to crush the nuts up didn’t you, my bad.” 

The crow nodded.

Jaune laughed, grabbing the trail mix and crushing it into birdy bite-sized pieces, which the crow gladly ate.

He smiled as he watched the crows head bobbing up and down, eating the crushed up peanuts and cashews.

“Such a pretty red aura.” Jaune mumbled watching the bird, which snapped to attention looking at him. “Smells like chaotic though, sour like vinegar too. But, it’s not a bad smell.” “Huh? You know what the word means, birdy?”

The crow looked at him intensely, then scooped up some more seed and took off. 

Jaune waved at it. “Goodbye friend!”

Then like lightning a falcon swooped down, striking the crow in a mess of feathers, knocking it to the ground. The falcon then took off with it’s prey while Jaune watch mouth agape, before shaking his head. “Well, that happened.”

Then he turned around, as he felt a familial presence. “‘Sup, Dad.”

His dad was holding two cups of coffee. “How’d you know I was there?”

Jaune shrugged. “Just did,” His eyes narrowed on the coffee. “You didn’t have to buy that for me,” The older Arc held the coffee out to him. “I’m your dad, I'm supposed to take care of you.”

Jaune almost bit off an acidic phrase, but his dad's look of shame stopped that. “Brothers know, I’ve failed so far.”

Jaune took the coffee. “Thanks,” He sipped the coffee. He wasn’t the biggest fan of it, but he couldn’t refuse a gift. “I’ll buy you coffee next time.”

“Don’t. I’m your dad, I buy you things, not the other way around.”

“I’m richer, though.”

His dad smirked at him, and Jaune realized his error.

“Hi Richer, I’m dad!”

“AGGH!”

Nicholaus Arc smirked and drank his coffee. “Got you good, so how’s training going?”

Jaune gave a half-hearted glare at his dad, before dropping it for a more contemplative look. “Pretty, good. I guess, Ms. Goodwitch says my Aura manipulation is abnormally controlled and detailed, to a level that she thinks it might be my semblance, and my conditioning is a lot better than before.”

“Do you think it’s your semblance?”

Jaune frowned. “I don’t know, it doesn’t seem like it. But, sometimes I feel this, kinda of pulse I guess? That wakes me up and feels like I’m coming alive again, but I’m not sure.”

“Well keep at it, some don’t discover they’re semblance till they’re much older, when they’ve matured and can understand themself better. You’re a kid, an experienced kid, but you’ve been at this for less than a year.”

Jaune sighed. “Yeah, I know, It’s frustrating.”

His dad nodded. “That’s alright, but how are your basics?”

Jaune looked away. “So-so.”

“Can’t just rely on your aura to get you through the day, son. There might come a time, when all that is left is your skill and wits, so make sure to sharpen them.”

Jaune looked at the lid of his coffee and then his dad. “Have you ever had a time like that?”

His dad looked at him. “Not yet, but it doesn’t stop me from getting better, and neither should it keep you. You don’t know what the future holds, most people don’t,unless you have some funky semblance.”

Jaune laughed. “Yeah, you got a point there, Vytal’s not that far off either.”

“You feel like you’re going to win?”

“Nope.”

His dad looked over at him curiously. “Are you sure about that? You could rock most huntsmen around, if they don’t see you coming. Darkness and Dust, you might even give your old man a run for his money.” His dad said with a laugh.

But, Jaune paled, the memory of his adventure with Lisa through the councilors estate shooting lighting at people, cup-checking those gas-mask guys, and watching that guy get crushed under two mechs, then that weird fuzzy spot afterwards. 

“You ok, son?”

“Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking.”

“Well, don’t hurt yourself.” His dad smiled at him.

Jaune snorted. “Too late for that,”

His dad looked at his watch then down his coffee, standing up.

“Well, that’s all the time I got, duty calls and all that.” His dad looked a little sad. “Sorry, son. Wish I had more time.”

“No, it’s cool. I’m just glad we got to hangout this long.” Jaune stood up and pulled his dad into a hug, surprising him, before the father hugged back. “Take care, now.” Jaune said, a faint glow over his hands, as Nicholaus Arc felt a subtly comfortable warmth hit him, like an unknown weight slipping off his shoulders.

“I will, and.. You’re going to do great, son, take care and know that me, and all the family loves you.”

“Me too, I might not be the greatest son or brother, but I still care about you all.”

“We know.” And his dad let go. “Talk to you later son.”

“See you around, dad.” And Jaune watched his dad walk away, then sighed. “Now what?”

------

The Club’, wasn’t that a creative name? How did this place get any business with a name like that?

Not that he was a expert of business management with a fancy fucking degree, but even he had to admit that was a stupid fucking name.

Why not something cool, like Red Ax Club, Junior’s Place, or The Xiong Branch.

Oh, he’d like that last name, it was not only cool sounding, but it also let people to find Xiong Clan, not like being in a clan was illegal.

Especially in Mistral, where if you weren’t Family or Clan, you weren’t going to get far, unless you were ludicrously talented.

Mercury then frowned, looking into his water. The damn bartender wouldn’t give him anything stronger… Which wasn’t bad, the last thing he wanted was to find out if he inherited his dad's demons.

But, still fuck that guy.

It was close to evening, and even with The Club open, the people coming in were like a trickle of piss rather than full on stream. His eyes wandering across the building, even spying a couple goons watching him, and Mercury gave them a wave.

After a minute Mercury came to the conclusion that drugs were the reason that this place got any business, it made the most sense, that or whatever Junior offered. Or, maybe he just put the squeeze on any competition. Junior is a mob boss, so that made sense.

A poster, well not a paper one, but a holographic one was hovering behind the bar. ‘A wanted poster?’ They weren’t rare, but they certainly weren’t common anywhere outside a police station or such.

Mercury squinted. Seeing a picture of a tan-skinned man mostly hidden behind a cowl with a blind-fold of over his eyes, his expression a friendly neutral, but what little features that could be seen where sharp and then like a knife.

He honestly didn’t look that dangerous, other than his smile.

Looking at that the smile felt like someone dropped ice down his shirt.

‘Wanted for Mass Property Damage and Arson, suspected to have sabotaged and destroyed several settlements via Grimm Incursions.

Answers to the name, “The Baptist”.

Any information related to this individual is welcome.

Suspect is considered Aura-Trained and Armed.

50,000 Lien reward if brought in.’

He let out a low whistle, that was a lot of money. He’d have to keep an eye out for this guy, that was enough money to… Mercury wasn’t really sure how much money that was, as he thought about it for a minute, the bastard never gave him much money, so he didn’t really have a good grasp of stretching his chips, but he was sure that was enough money to live on for a while.

Then he heard yelling from the back, and he sighed, it was the Bastard.

Getting up, he felt the made-men of the Xiong Family keep a steady look at him, they were sizing him up and keeping a steady hand on they’re guns, not that it would help much, if Mercury decided that they needed to be dead.

Not a single person, aside from him and the Bastard, were a match for any thing more than a hunter in training, they would fold like a house of cards if a strong enough breeze hit them.

But, then again looking strong was half the part of intimidation.

They didn’t need to actually be strong, just look the part enough to get what they wanted.

Which Mercury could respect, just a little bit though.

Plus, even if they did get wasted, they could easily just refill they’re ranks. 

Money talks.

Opening the door to Junior’s office, Mercury saw Marcus leaning over Junior's desk to glare at the man. “If you think, that’ll pay that much, you’re a fucking moron.”

Junior took a drag from his cigar, before blowing it at Marcus. “Then go somewhere else.”

Mercury had to admit that took balls, Marcus was a bastard, but he was a bastard that killed people for living, including Hunters.

Marcus growled, and Mercury took note of the two chicks flanking the mob boss.

His sugar babies? Or his bodyguards? 

Both?

Lucky bastard anyway, they looked more than enough to scare away any two-bit punk or Huntsman hopeful.

“And what if I decide that I don’t want to go somewhere else? Maybe, I’ll just take it from the back?”

“Then you’re a dumb-fuck, I don’t keep anything on hand, aside the bare minimum. You hitmen and assassins think you're so smart, but you don’t even understand supply lines. I may not be your equal, Marcus Black, but guess what? If you want to ever buy single bullet in Vale again, or anywhere that is not bum-fuck nowhere like you’ve been hiding, then you will mind your fucking manners.”

The bastard scowled, his gaze sweeping the room, settling on the two chicks and eyeing them up, with a disgusting smile.

The girls had no overt reaction, but Mercury saw the turn off in their eyes.

“You keep your hands to yourself, Marcus. Those girls are under my protection.”

Marcus snorted. “Hey, I’m just thinking about offering them a good time, and if they want to take me up on that, that’s their choice.” 

Junior scowled. “If you even think about that again, Lil Miss Malachite will have you hanging by your own empty sack.”

Marcus froze.

Mercury understood why you do not cross Miss Malachite.

She did not just run Mistral’s underworld, she was the Mistrals Underworld, and if you crossed her, you could kiss getting any jobs in across the underworld goodbye. Or, just end up tossed to the Grimm.

“They’re spiders?” Marcus said after a time.

“None of your fucking business, now pay up and get out.” Junior said with aggressive finality.

Marcus grumbled, but snapped his fingers, calling Mercury over and handing over a backpack to Marcus.

“Here, charge it to this account.”

Junior looked surprised. “This is..”

“Yeah, I know. Big name, but you understand assassin-richman confidentiality right?”

Junior snort. “Not for long, things are changing, ever since that kid came to town. Ha.” The mob boss sighed. “Everyday, I pray he doesn’t walk to my door. Force of nature in a boy's body, came out of nowhere and now there is no status quo.”

Marcus smiles that ghoulish smile of his. “Well, you better start kissing my ass soon, because I’m about to do you and everybody else a favor.”

Junior’s eyes went wide, and quietly spoke. “You’re fucking idiot, but I’ll still take your money.”

“And you’re an idiot, as well, it’s just a brat.”

“I’m not going to argue about this, I’ll keep one eye open for your obituary, if you have enough of a body to be identified in it.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

Junior turned to Mercury. “Hey, boy.” Mercury internally seethed at being called that, but nodded. “Yeah?”

“If you survive this, come back here, I can always use more muscle.”

Mercury felt the glare from Marcus. “Don’t count on it,”

Junior sized him up and nodded in understanding. “Alright then,” Then started typing at his monitor. “Alright, I sent the memo, go to these stores.” He listed out several stores. “They’ll get you set up.” “Thanks, little bear.” Marcus said with a final jab, and left.

Mercury lingered for a moment, and was surprised to see some sympathy in their eyes, not only from Junior, but the twin chicks.

“The offer stands, think about it.”

The two chicks chimed in. “Yeah, like we could always use more muscle.” The white one said.

“Yeah, like you’d look great in the suit.” The red one said.

“So, like, do yourself a favor.” They both said.

But, Mercury only seethed more.

When has pity ever helped anyone?

Then left slamming the door behind him.

----

Ozpin opened the window, a small dusty crow came flying in holding the limp body of a falcon in his claws, before changing into a man mid-flight.

Still holding the raptor.

Ozpin looked at the dead falcon in Qrow’s hands, who glared at him.

“Don’t even ask.” Ozpin coughed and looked away at the city.

“So, any note-worthy news?”

“Well, Glyn was right, the kid can see Aura, scared the shit out of me.”

“Did it seem like he could see the magic bound to you, or perhaps your true form?”

Qrow shook his head. “If he could, he didn’t say, or I didn’t wait around to find out. Kid’s weird, scares the shit out of me, who goes around talking about people's Aura? That’s personal.”

“Unfortunately, I’d like for you to keep an eye on him when possible, he is a powerful force to be monitored.”

Qrow frowned. “I don’t know Oz, he’s weird, but he’s young, too young, you told me he faked his age right?”

“And transcripts,” Ozpin confirmed casually.

“Right… He’s the same age as Yang, he needs to be out there, in school, making friends, not being a soldier in a shadow war, doesn't matter how powerful he is.”

“Qrow,” Ozpin stared at him in the eyes, showing a terrifying depth of age. “He nearly killed a Firstborn.”

“What?” Qrow stood flabbergasted. “How? How’d he even find one of those fossils!?”

“He didn’t, the council did, he just fought it once it was summoned.”

“That’s insane, even when Rae, Summer, Tai and I worked together we barely managed it.”

“You were students too, though, and you’ve fought and killed one by yourself too.”

“Barely, and only because my semblance set off the Dust reactors, fucking Atlesian messing with things they shouldn’t”

“Regardless, Mr. Arc wounded it severally, Amber and I only had to finish it off, even if it did nearly kill him.”

Qrow slammed his fist into the wall. “More reason to leave the kid alone! Don’t bring him in Oz!”

Ozpin sipped from his mug. “I’m not.”

“What?”

“To put it simply, Mr. Arc is beyond the scope of control, he is more a force of chaos than a young man, even if I tried to bring him into the fold, I fear it would do more harm than good, and he would cause things to spiral far beyond my ability to control.”

Qrow slowly nodded, but frowning. “Alright, good. But, why am I monitoring him?”

“Easily answered, to monitor him and change our plans accordingly. I do not believe him to have any strong idea of our war or magic, but if he gets the idea to interfere we must react accordingly, and try to sway him to either our side, or beneficial neutrality, perhaps even a working relationship. Should he develop the ability to see magic, having him confirm the presence of a Maiden would be invaluable.”

Qrow’s frown deepened. “I don’t like this.”

Ozpin sighed. “Neither do it, but he is doom-bound, he will find trouble in the most unlikely of places, I have seen it before and his type, he can’t help himself. I supposed I wouldn’t either, if I could… Now, back to the matter, keep monitoring him and should he get too far over his head, help him out if you can or guide someone who can… Even if his power outstripes your own, inevitably.”

“You’re kidding, right? He’s just a boy, not a maiden, or a host of yours.”

“No, he’s worse.”

“And that is?”

Ozpin smiled. “A young man with potential and time, with more courage than sense. Something I believe is infinitely more dangerous than magic.”

Qrow smirked, thinking back to his early years as a Huntsman. “Maybe you're right.”

“I like to think I am every so often.”

Qrow took a drink from his flask. “Alright, I gotta go. See ya.” Then he jumped and shifted.

“Goodbye, dear friend. “ Watching as his agent flew away .

#Class of One AU #Jaune Arc #mercury black #Marcus Black

[quibbs126]

Okay, for like, the past week now, I’ve been reminded of yet another idea I had for a video game that I made a couple years ago, thought I might as well share it

I would share art at the top of it, but unfortunately the only art I have of it is a rough sketch I made back October 2020 of the main character, 97, which is old and not really what I imagine her to look like (other than the pink hair)

At some point, I’ll probably try to redesign her, along with drawing the other two notable characters. I feel like she needs more color in her outfit, and I want to make her more pink. Though I think the reason I avoided doing so was so that she wouldn’t look too much like Red Action from OK KO. I dunno

The whole premise was based off of me wanting having this old book from my dad called Robotech (which I think is an anime? Or a mishmash of several anime for an American audience?), which on the cover has what looks like a screenshot from an old anime.

I kept thinking the main character had bright pink hair, but she doesn’t, but then I wanted to see something where the main protagonist has bright pink hair. Then somehow that translated to Number 97. Maybe I should keep that influence when designing her, basing her off of old sci fi/gundam anime. Unfortunately I don’t know that many, and it’d probably require me watching them, and I have a bad habit of not watching the things I tell myself to watch

But yeah, anyways, let’s get into everything I remember of the plot of 97’s story (I never named it)

So basically the premise is that 97 is a cyborg, attempt number 97 by this particular group, hence her name, who’s people have been fighting a very long war with…something, I never actually came up with what. Either aliens or robots (specifically robots of alien origin). Anyways, so this group was using technological advancements as a way to combat the villains (which from here on I’m just going to call aliens for the sake of simplicity). I say “technological advancements” because despite the main character’s name being “Cyborg 97”, not all of the attempts were cyborgs, as some were robots, and some were just general enhancements to regular humans. But since they all were meant to serve the same purpose, they all stay in the same numbering system. So 97 (note I don’t actually have a normal name for her other than 97) was originally a normal soldier in the military fighting against the aliens, which we would see in the opening level of the game, serving as a prologue and introduction to the basic game systems, until this particular mission ends in disaster, which leads to 97 getting picked up by the cyborg company and being turned into one, being an elite fighter against the aliens. She had lost each of her limbs and pretty much her whole lower body up to the hip, with it all being replaced by cybernetics. Basically you go around doing missions and fighting enemies, and it’s like a Metroidvania style 2D platformer

But maybe forget the whole “aliens” thing, because I realize now that the plot, namely the main enemies, don’t really have to do with them. Instead, the people you end up fighting are other cyborgs made by the same company. That’s kind of a mishap on my part, but also I can’t just get rid of the cyborg characters or have them be working with the aliens, that’s not what they’re about, not unless I make up something about the aliens not being what we think. Hm, I’ll have to work on that

Anyways, so there’s actually two different routes the story goes, the 96 route, and the 98 route. I’m gonna start with 96 since it’s the one you’re first presented with

So basically, the cyborg prior to 97, 96, went rogue and took some of the older abandoned cyborgs and starting leading a rebellion group against this company, causing general mayhem in the streets. Your job is to take down 96 and his gang and stop their threat. Granted, you’re more presented at first with the “they’re a threat to the general populace, causing destruction wherever they go, stop them”, rather than them specifically being against this company. So yeah, you go and defeat them (and probably kill them) one by one, which I’m only now realizing sounds very similar to the plot of a Megaman game. Not sure I really knew Megaman at the time though

So 96’s cybernetics go specifically from the waist down, with him having feet more similar to a bird (sorry I didn’t know where else to put this). Now 96 tends to come off as a bit of an asshole, as he really only seems to care about cyborgs and little for humans. He’s also around 17-19 (after becoming cyborgs, they stop aging physically and mentally for whatever reason, so despite the fact he’s likely around his mid 20s now, he’s still like that), and very much comes off like an arrogant bastard. But he’s not just a jerk, as he does care about the other cyborgs, and when you first meet his group, he’s even open minded about 97 joining them at some point, if she ditches the company. And in the 98 route, you get to see more about him, like the fact that he misses his old friends and family, some of which died in the accident that made him a cyborg, and some he’s not sure are still alive, but given his now criminal status, he can’t go see for risk of them being in danger. By the end of the 96 route, he just wants 97 dead, but that’s because by this point she has decimated the people he now calls friends, and people he knows aren’t to blame for the way their lives have gone, becoming cyborgs usually against their will and being discarded as they were no longer considered “people”. He may have been open minded to you, but now you’ve proven yourself nothing more than a monster to him

If I haven’t made it clear, the company 97 works for aren’t exactly nice people. Maybe at the start they had pure intentions, but by the higher numbers, they’re mostly a corrupt and rotten system. And while yes, you don’t get the full scope on 96 as a person, you are told enough to know that he and the rest of the cyborgs aren’t necessarily bad people, even if some things they do are extreme, though it’s necessary for them to have better lives like this. 96 left because he had learned the rotten truth of the people he was working for, which is something you learn in this route. But unfortunately, in the 96 route, there is no saving these people, you just have to take them out and become little more than a machine following orders

However, in the 98 route, you can instead choose to go against the missions the company gives you, eventually leading to you joining 96’s group and rebelling against them, in which you also get to know all the other cyborgs in his group (that in the other route you mercilessly kill), as well as just get to know 96 as a person. In this route, the conflict is rebelling against the company and trying to take them down in some way

Now in this route, the big enemy you have to face is Cyborg 98, as noted by the route name. Something of note here is that 98 doesn’t exist in the 96 route, as she doesn’t need to. New cyborgs are made when the last one fails, rebellion being considered a failure. 98 was another soldier in 97’s squad (who you’d actually see in the opening level, you just wouldn’t know it was her), however she was a newcomer as opposed to 97’s over a decade of experience (I should probably note their ages here, 97 is in her mid to late 30s while 98 is in her early to mid 20s). She ended up in a disaster as well (possibly the same one as 97? I’m not sure), and was turned into a cyborg after 97’s desertion. However this time, the only human thing remaining of 98 is her head, sort of similar to Raiden, and all of her cybernetics were not in fact necessary, but we’re done so intentionally by the company

Something I forgot to mention but is relevant, there’s a reason the company as of now uses cyborgs instead of robots, that being that cyborgs (or at least the ones they use) have a human mind, and can think like a human, not being limited to what can be programmed, making them more effective in battle

The reason for 98’s extreme cybernetics is because 97 was actually the last chance they were willing to take on a fully free willed cyborg. With the disaster that was 96 and his active rebellion, as well as other cyborgs turning against them, they were thinking free will was more a liability than a boon. So 97 was the last chance given for this, and if she rebelled, while the next one would still have a human mind, given it’s optimal, they would have their free will stripped, as shown with 98. While yes, she can make her own decisions, if she veers too far from what they want her to do, they can take control of her, and she is very much an unwilling participant in all this, being stuck prisoner in her own body. I’m thinking a way this could be conveyed is with a level where you play as her, where you’re given the option of not doing the mission and veering off path, if you do enough off the path, control will literally be taken away from you as the game runs automatically till the end of the level. She recognizes 97 as her old commander and looked up to her, and doesn’t want to fight her, but she’s left no choice as her own body is piloted by other people to attack her. She’s stuck in a living hell and at this point would rather die, but is unable to do it herself

So by the end of the 98 route, you put her out of her misery, but unfortunately, you haven’t been able to take down the company, and are far from doing so, so you haven’t stopped the problem, and with another cyborg failed, the company will go to make another one just like 98, and the whole cycle repeats again

So yeah, basically both endings suck, but for different reasons. Unfortunately, there is no “true ending” where you save everyone or you do what’s objectively right, it’s more a matter of picking your poison. I remember there was something I was trying to say with the two downer endings, but I don’t remember what

I’ve considered the idea of a true route where you do exactly that, mostly because the other two endings might seem a bit too much of a downer, but also doing that completely invalidates both endings as being “the bad ones”, and takes away their impact, so I might just stick to those two

I don’t know how exactly you get each route, but maybe there’s like some sort of in game counter for how many “missions” of each side you do, and by a certain point in the story, whichever one you have more of determines where the rest of the story goes. I dunno, I’m not a programmer

But yeah, that’s 97. Sorry for the somewhat haphazard way of giving info, I didn’t really know how properly convey all of it. But I hope you enjoyed it!

#original characters #cyborg 97 #cyborg 96 #cyborg 98 #my art #long post #video game idea #what do I tag this?

[dkniade]

I’ve realized a thing about my OCs, specifically in regards to Jintou

Even though I’m not sure how to execute the story (so many storytelling formats are possible) the themes are very consistant with who I am as an artist and writer.

Jintou is about creation as an artist, and the artist’s emotional bond with their creation, hence Jintou being a goat born from the Pyroceramic Arts (in a similar way Albedo is born from the Art of Khemia), and his creator Nüwa being cold and strict to him. It reflects the struggles and self-esteem issues I have with my art and drawing (the idea of “not good enough” or “not fast enough”). You can’t separate the creation from the creator, so Jintou’s struggles with how his creator treated him.

Also, recently I’ve been thinking about how the magic of the Pyroceramic Arts works in Jintou’s world! Here’s what I’ve got so far. Rambling about the magic system below.

It requires the user’s qi (气) (a Chinese philosophical concept that’s basically about energy flow in one’s body and the elements that make up life), and you use up some energy to write a character for “fire” (火，炎，烧, etc) in a magical writing square before you when using the technique.

Trivia: Chinese hanzi can fit into a square with guidelines called 米字格 / mi zi ge to help with proper form. It literally translates to something like “mi-character square” or “rice-character square” (I don’t think anyone actually calls it that though) because it looks like the character 米, which could mean “rice”, pronounced mǐ.

Then you use up more energy to activate the technique. The bigger you write the character, or if the character has many strokes and takes longer to write, the more energy it requires to to be held off until it’s activated, and thus the more exhausted you’re likely to be. If it’s just one character for fire, then it results in (a very high temperature) fire that fires the ceramic ware. For abiogenesis to occur, you need to add a character for “life” (生 or 命）or maybe “spirit/soul” (灵), which I’m gonna guess would be written in a smaller writing square in the corner.

If you write the character wrong (incorrect character, wrong stroke order) then the magic wouldn’t work, but your energy is still used up. For example, Jintou isn’t very good at writing, so if he writes 大 (dà, meaning “big”) when he means to write 火 (huǒ, meaning “fire”), then he’d be slightly tired afterwards only to realize he wrote it wrong because nothing happens. Also, it also only works for fire-related characters (hence the name Pyroceramic Arts), so no matter how well you write the character for water (水, shuǐ), you can’t conjure up water. :’)

I guess it’s like a magic system with a handwriting-based text input that draws on the user’s energy? I wonder how long it’d take for each user’s Pyroceramic Art to recognize their handwriting, haha… My Chinese handwriting is ridiculously messy and I can’t remember how to write hanzi characters very well so I don’t think I’d be able to use this technique effectively lol

What does all this mean? Well, since I love making metaphors out of my feelings and experiences, this is a direct metaphor for the energy it takes to create something. You spend lots of energy on a piece of artwork and it could end up being nice or not so nice… And since my stamina for drawing isn’t very high, I’m often tired after drawing even a sketch of something.

Essentially, my struggles as an artist is reflected in Jintou, and I want to see how he fares with that.

#dusk rambles #dusk oc writing #jintou #worldbuilding #hanzi #Chinese #magic system #fire magic

[catflowerqueen]

Actually, some thoughts I had on my “psychopomp y/n” fnaf prompt

(Which I probably won’t actually make into a full story—in part because I already have so many other WIPs in addition to school and work stuff consuming my time. But if I DID do something with it…)

I feel like Y/N might allow themselves to be seen by the general populace? In a kind of “not trying to hide their presence” way? It’s just that they would be going by “form you are most comfortable with” rules, so people would just be seeing what they expect to see. (which honestly really works out in favor with the typical art style people draw y/ns on here—not giving them actual eyes or too many distinguishing facial/body features, for instance) In most cases as they wander the Pizzaplex and try to figure out what is actually going on to cause the paperwork issues, this just translates to them looking like generic stranger. They don’t stand out in any way, are probably wearing Fazbear merch of some kind, etc. And this holds true for the majority of animatronics as well.

But not Sun and Moon.

Considering they safeguard the daycare and have to be able to match specific adults with their children, their facial recognition software is a lot better, and they would be actively on the lookout for distinguishing features and weeding out the familiar from the unfamiliar. So Y/N would actually stand out quite a bit and look very out of place. After all, no one would be going to the Daycare section unless they had a specific reason to—or were extremely lost or something. But Y/N wouldn’t be wearing a typical “help me I am lost” expression, even as they don’t really know what they are supposed to be looking for at the start. So Sun and Moon would see them with a very distinctive look. I’m thinking something like formal wear, almost? Like some sort of business person attire, in dark or neutral colors.

And this would persist for a bit even after they find out about Y/N/s psychopomp status, mainly because they wouldn’t have any prior conceptions about what a psychopomp would look like? If the kids are young enough, they might not really have a concept of “death” yet, or know how grim reapers are typically depicted—and if Sun and Moon kind of casually ask them about what they know of psychopomps, they might not even have heard of the term before. And Sun and Moon certainly wouldn’t want to actually let the kids know why they are asking or that there is an actual psychopomp/grim reaper in their midst for fear of scaring them, so by the time they would actually learn about it, their perception of Y/N’s form would have already solidified.

Well. To an extent, anyways.

Because I feel like over time, as the two of them got to know Y/N, their perception of them would change into more positive views, resulting in them seeing Y/N in more casual outfits and brighter colors. Among… other changes, both physical and not, after certain “plot points” happen.

As for Y/N’s “true” form, they may or may not actually have one? I feel like their entire situation and, for lack of a better term, “species” would very much be “concept based.” Perhaps they get to pick one as they ascend the ranks, or it would be something of a Terry Pratchett’s Small Gods situation where their physical form really does depend on people believing certain things about them.

Or the situation itself could be like… the fundamentals of what they actually do and what their “job” is are unchanging, but the “way” they go about doing it is based on perception, or the amalgamation of ideas or something. So, like… psychopomps like Y/N existed before humans did, but they didn’t really get a sense of sentience or the ability to emote until humans started having collective ideas and theories about the afterlife and what it really meant to die. And the idea about what that would involve changed over time, and are still changing even now. Ideas about bureaucracies and such from media like “The Good Place” and “Good Omens,” and even “Dead Like Me” are really popular now, so that’s what they are going with. (But even if the public moves on to different ideas later, now that sentience/sapience ahs been achieved, that isn’t a guarantee that the psychopomps are going to change the way they do things to model that direction since, again, the fundamentals of their job existed long beforehand. And I’ll get more into those fundamentals in another post)

And this might actually be another point of bonding for Sun, Moon, and Y/N? In that all three of them exist for a specific purpose that they did not get to choose, and fundamentally cannot change what they are or what they do, even if they wanted to, and have very limited say in things like their appearance. Or even their names—at least Sun and Moon were given them upon creation, but I get the feeling (in part to go along even better with the fact that Y/N technically is supposed to stand in for “Your Name”) that psychopomps like Y/N don’t really have names, in general?

Y/N does, but that’s because they picked one out specifically because it helps them when they need to physically snoop for information/not look too creepy when they hang out with Sun and Moon. (Possibly Sun and Moon even unknowingly gave them the name. Like if they were throwing out different names in an attempt to identify them when they first met and Y/N just latched onto one, or if it was some situation where Y/N’s reluctance to admit they didn’t have a name got interpreted by Sun and Moon as it being some sort of situation like “my name is a concept that has no direct translation to actual words” and so they asked Y/N if they could give them a “nickname” to use when referring to them.

#fnaf security breach #psychopomp y/n #still feel free to utilize that prompt for your own though #since i am still unlikely to write this #at least not anytime soon #y/n x sun #y/n x moon #y/n x daycare attendant

[divinewill]

Capítulo Dieciséis: Joyride

Will Trueman here.

Within a day of that metahuman terrorist attack in Japan, in the year of Our Lord 2075, the internet discovered the manifesto of the villain.

In no time, users translated it into various languages: English, Korean, Chinese, Hindi, Portuguese, Russian, and many others.

That killer’s manifesto, “CONTRADICTION IS TRUTH” (矛盾こそ真理), exploited the same dialectic that destroys the ability of men to use their rational faculties. The logic of unreason which fueled the era of horrors with Naziism, Fascism, and Marxist-Leninism in the 20th Century.

Intentionally disguising its nature as a heretical scripture to an esoteric religion through the postmodern manipulation of language and pretentious verbosity. Among the contemporary dialecticians, it spread like a Californian forest fire.

Only time would tell if it would take, but my father reading through this work’s pseudo-scientific, scriptural structure and seemed inclined to think that it would reinvigorate esoteric wizards.

Assuming most metahuman communities could resist propaganda, uniformity among them remained was a vain and inhuman hope. Much like the assumption of an underlying universal ethic among the nations of the world and their cultures.

All it would take is for a powerful minority to indulge in the lie to cause unfathomable damage and change the world. Believing the first lie told by the serpent in the garden, even after our special fall.

That we can become God by re-entering the garden of Eden, under our own power, and taking a second bite out of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

This was but a footnote within the news, which seemed utterly flooded with new discoveries unveiled from the first appearance of the GSSDO as well.

The most shocking of which was the discovery that not only did alien civilizations exist, but that these aliens were metahumans themselves. Albeit, the nature of their superpowers seemed different from those of Earth.

This raised several questions. Firstly, whether these are our brothers and sisters born from the same Adam and Eve, but displaced by some panspermic power across the cosmos?

Or if these cosmic siblings were the sons and daughters of another Adam and Eve as in the story of Starcrossed and Interleft? The enormity of this formless chaos bubbling to the surface deeply troubled me.

I didn’t even know where to begin with the Yōma problem that my foolish peers were so adamant about waging war against.

This self-imposed global lockdown gave me time to think about how I might appear as my alter ego in the day, if required. After the Cold Civil War of the 2010s-2030s, security cameras and dashcams were commonplace among most American households, even in high trust neighborhoods. This led me to contemplate strategies to get around cameras, to protect my identity.

A black dress might work to conceal me during the night, but it certainly wouldn’t help during the day. That day, I realized I when I manifested my alter ego; we were never in direct contact. Nor when I called her back to me. Introducing the idea that this ability might have a nonlocal nature to it.

On the first night of testing, I discovered I could manifest my alter ego on the opposite side of a barrier, such as a wall, ceiling, or floor. I even learned how to mute the glow of her summoning. So that summoning her would not draw attention to me if I conjured her outside.

On the second night, I could manifest her within the basement or on the opposite side of the opaque wooden fence while I was in the attic. On the third night, I could manifest my alter ego in the air, above a neighbor’s house on the opposite side of the street.

I meticulously noted every facet of my alter ego’s summoning with my eidetic memory. Allowing me to rapidly extend the ranges at which I could call upon her and return to one body.

The thought of letting anyone else die because of my ineptitude was unacceptable. I needed to cultivate both my powers and character so that I could transform the nature of this traumatic encounter with death on an unimaginable scale.

To transmute this trauma into a motivation for metamorphosis, as opposed to a catalyst for victimization and self-pity. Like the heroes of the Golden and Silver ages of superhero comics, the Cimmerian champions of sword and sorcery literature, and the saints and heroes of history.

At noon, I called my best friend, Rory Rider, to check up on her and make sure she was doing well. During this time, my father listened to the independent news outlets which engaged in empirical journalism, playing in the background, as he worked on creating various assets for his business; fully expecting the world to return to normalcy after the world adjusted to its new situation.

I talked to Rory about several things when I heard the live coverage of a police chase.

Turning on the TV, we witnessed something the police weren’t equipped for. I noticed that all the police cars that pursued them seemed to veer wildly and uncontrollably into disaster. As if someone had stolen control of the wheel and crashed them into each other, other vehicles, and or barriers.

The lead police vehicle violently change velocity, both speeding up and turning as if the wheel had been rapidly jerked as far left as possible. It struck and disabled another police cruiser. To my shock, all the cruisers violently careened into parked cars, poles, and each other.

Later in this chase, a motorcycle seemed to act outside the control of its driver. The engine revved, and the machine popped a wheelie as it went berserk—almost like a horse bucking its rider. Throwing the poor man off his own ride.

The ghost ridden machine raced to overtake a new police cruiser, crashing into it by popping a wheelie and stopping. This caused it to slam into the cruiser, flip onto the hood, smash the windshield and flip over the vehicle.

It was almost as if one of these two criminals could manipulate the controls of motor vehicles. Which, if true, would make it impossible for a police pursuit on the road. Therefore, since the police pursuit of these thieving vandals was impossible, the job of stopping their rampage lay on someone like me.

They seemed to be a pair of petty teenage car thieves in ski masks, emboldened by the collision of the mundane with the supermundane. Their reckless driving and power-tripping risked untold property damage and fatalities.

The foolhardy young man on the passenger’s side peaked his head, torso, and hips out of the car window and howled with adrenaline as he sat on the door. Risking his own safety for a cheap thrill in this careening vehicle.

While continuing my conversation, I made my way to the alleyway fence. Then I summoned my alter ego in my room. She then used her super-senses to make sure the coast was clear, then tapped on the closed curtain of my window to signal this discovery to myself.

So, I recalled her, then immediately summoned her back into our world, further away than ever before. This time two hundred meters away and fifty meters in the air. Something I chalked up to the adrenaline coursing through my veins and the urgency of the situation.

This, being the first time that I had ever manifested in the daytime, I noticed that my Gothic Lolita attire was now pure white. While I loved the dress, I had more important things to do.

I controlled my descent to safely land on the sidewalk, then took off at subsonic speeds towards the broadcast’s last location. Contrary to what I expected, it wasn’t the distant sounds of helicopters and criminal chaos that guided me. Rather, there was something more subtle I could feel: a psychical sense guiding me beyond the powers of hearing or sight.

It was a presentiment that allowed me to more accurately anticipate where I needed to be. A novel power I discovered on the fly when I realized I could predict how the distant sounds would change.

It wasn’t long before I made it to the scene, where I found the hoodlums had entered a parking garage. Before they made their way into the parking garage, I scanned the car with my penetrating vision and got a look at their faces.

Tracking them through the garage, I saw something incredulous. The car carrying the criminals would never come out, as they transmuted it, while driving, into a 2045 Ferrari. The act of transformation made a distinctive cacophony indicative of warping metal, glass, and rubber.

These two criminals then removed their masks and calmly left, expecting to get away as if they were merely pedestrians.

After their departure, I jumped down to the vacant sidewalk and I took off. At 248 mph, I quickly caught up to my target and decelerated to match their speed.

I used my penetrating vision to eavesdrop on them: peering through their skin, muscle, bones, and vehicular obstructions to see every small but meaningful articulation and intuitively reconstructing their conversation. I could see the synaptic discharges within their bodies, granting a complete 3D visualization of their brain activity and activation potentials within their peripheral nervous systems.

While I could not use this information to possess a perfect knowledge of future action or even intentions, it granted me forewarning about what they could potentially choose to do.

I reached equilibrium with the driver's side of the car and knocked on the window and signaled for the driver to roll down their window. While they did not deign to stop the vehicle, the driver complied with my request to roll down the window.

I heard the passenger comment to the driver, “Hey, isn’t that the woman from the news? The one who was helping with rescue efforts in Japan?”

I confirmed, “Yes. Now I ask that you pull over now.”

The driver asked incredulously, “What?”

I explained to them, “I know you’re the perps the police were chasing earlier, so consider this a citizen’s arrest.”

The driver tried to pretend as if he didn’t know what I meant as he turned to his passenger and said, “Is she serious?”

I asked the driver, “When did you crack your skull?”

They both seemed to be surprised by this statement.

I told them, “I can see through opaque matter. Which is how I could see your faces through your masks before you entered the parking garage, and how I know your passenger placed the masks underneath his seat. It’s also how I can see the long healed over linear skull fracture on your parietal bone.”

This statement clearly horrified the driver, who didn’t know what to do.

The cocky passenger snidely remarked, “What, you’re a vigilante and a doctor?”

I sarcastically remarked, “A photographic memory goes a long way when you have friends in academic disciplines… Now tell me, which one of you can control cars?”

The passenger freaked out at that accusation and caused the vehicle ahead of me to come to a full stop.

I simply jumped over the car, landing in front of it. The hijacked car then sped up to intercept me, but I dodged the vehicle and jumped high in the air. While I did not know how to fly; I found I had more control over the trajectory of my descent than expected.

I landed in front of the car with my targets, ready to stop them as I did those criminals the day before the G² Impact. The driver swerved to avoid me, and I immediately intercepted them.

Calling upon that tactile power again, I intercepted the vehicle with my gloved hands without damaging it or injuring the passengers as I ground my shoes into the pavement. The friction brought us close enough to a halt that I could I effortlessly lift the vehicle above my head as I came to a stop.

That initial accusation was a bluff. I did not then know whether it was a specific or general telekinetic power that the passenger possessed, but now I was sure that they could only control vehicles. If they had power over flesh and blood, he would have tried to influence me. Instead, they had only shown some power over motor vehicles.

The occupants howled in abject terror as I leaped 700 m (2,296 ft) straight into the air.

At the peak of the ascent, I briefly let go of the vehicle to tell them in American Sign Language, “Be not afraid.”

I grabbed hold of the vehicle and dampened the inertia of the car and everything within with my tactile telekinetic power. We landed in an adjacent park. I displaced all the kinetic energy through my body and into the ground, which ruptured underneath my feet. Because of this, both the passengers and the vehicles were unblemished. Sans them having passed out from the sheer terror of the fall.

The last thing I wanted to do was damage a stolen car or physically hurt two teenagers. Not that the vehicle, if stolen, could be returned to the original owner because of its comprehensive transformation. Though I thought it might be possible that the license plate remained unmodified. So, I opened the car door and confiscated the keys, which I then placed right side up.

I flagged down the news and police copters that saw this all transpire and once again employed my knowledge of American Sign Language to say, “These two are the perps. The driver can change the appearances of cars and the passenger can remotely control motor vehicles. Their masks are under the passenger’s seat.”

I showed the news chopper the keys, then placed the keys on the branch of a nearby tree. The police, guided by the copter, arrived, then I fled the scene, again.

It was much harder to disappear in the day, so I patrolled the city until nightfall, when I could more effectively return home unseen.

As horrible as it was to fish corpses out of burning, irradiated, and carcinogenic rubble, I learned a lot about how my powers through on-the-fly observation. Lessons that would help me in my self-chosen responsibilities as both a superhero and a magical girl.

To ensure that, no matter where I was in the world; no one else would suffer a loss of life or limb due to me failing to use my abilities to their maximum efficiency.

* * *

The world was still under a self-imposed lockdown, so I passed the time with my father after he finished his work. To keep his company running, he had to ramp up his own production. Normally, he only streamed one week a month, and those streams usually only lasted for two or three hours. This week he streamed for ten hours every day since the G² Impact and still found time enough to spend with me.

Most of his talents took him up on his offer to take a break from streaming to spend time with their families. Although, many of them soon returned to their kayfabes after seeing him put so much effort into his job.

As a manager, he advised them to reduce their time streaming and helped them efficiently manage their time so that they could spend more time with their families. Many of them only streamed for an hour or two every few days during this period. Something which helped their fans to de-stress during this terrifying period. A decision rooted in my father’s business philosophy.

I played games with my father often. Some days we played board games, some days card games, and on other days, we would play one of the myriad video games he obtained for his business. However, I assumed he would probably be tired of video games at the end of his stream, so I searched through our collection of board games.

I made my way to the board game shelf and looked to find something to play. We were both very skilled chess players, and my father’s international business dealings meant that he inevitably learned how to play a variety of classical board games.

My father had sets for international standard chess, caturaṅga, Gliński’s hexagonal chess, janggi, makruk, shōgi, sittuyin, Tamerlane chess, and xiàngqí. We owned other strategy games such as Abalone, Backgammon, Battleship, Blokus, Checkers, Chess Unbound, Connect 4, Da Vinci’s Challenge, Go, Gobblet, Hnefatafl, Hive, Leaves, LYNGK, Martian Chess, Nine Men’s Morris, Otrio, Pünct, Quarto, Reversi, Skud Pai Sho, Sternhalma, Tak, YINSH.

We also had Azul, Monopoly, Risk, Royal Game of Ur, Sagrada, Uno, etc.

I made my decision and had several hours left before my father was done with work, so I trained in our in-house gym, and do vigorous cardio for 90 minutes.

Listening to a conversation between a Thomist and a Palamist discussing the essence-energy distinction on a philosophy podcast, I performed my scheduled routine. 100 explosive pushups, 15 mixed grip pull ups, 100 pulse squats, 100 sit-ups, and a 10 km on a treadmill, in addition to other exercises. Ensuring not to neglect the lower back.

After that, I went and read some of my dad’s books, this time reading Stephen King.

At 15:00 hours I prayed the chaplet of Divine Mercy, for the people I encountered in Japan.

When my father finished, at around 17:00 hours, I let him wind down for about thirty minutes before I asked him, I asked him, “So how’s your scalp?”

He admitted, “Cold, but I’ll get used to it.”

I then asked him, “Would you like to play a game of Risk?”

My father was better than me at this game, but I was no novice myself.

He lit up and accepted my challenge, and we started our game. Unlike most people, we read and memorized the rule book, which meant that the game was more streamlined.

During the gameplay, I asked him, “Could you tell me more about the Trueman family?”

He thought about it for a moment, then asked, “Have I ever told you the story of how we got our name?”

I lit up and told him, “No, you haven’t.”

He smiled and explained, “Well, as with you and me, the story of the Trueman family begins with an adoption. An Anglo-American in the territory of Tejas, adopted a Spaniard boy who was the sole survivor of his village, which was massacred by the Comanche. Back then, the Mexican government did little to nothing about its outer territories being raided by the Comanche and Apache.”

He explained, “It was actually the Americans who settled in Tejas who brought with them infrastructural development and security to the Spaniard and Native American settlers.”

I asked him, “I believe you told me about this part. About how the Mexican government intentionally let the foreigners build the infrastructure so that they wouldn’t have to do it themselves?”

My dad smiled. “And how their sloth cost them the territory of Tejas? They effectively abandoned their responsibilities to their subjects… and both necessarily and rightly lost their legitimacy over it.”

My father explained, “There was a time when people forgot that the defenders of the Alamo included not only James Bowie, William B. Travis, and Davy Crockett, but also José María Esparza and Carlos Espalier. José María Esparza was among the few who were granted a proper burial at the Alamo, thanks to his brother who served in the Mexican army. His brother petitioned the leadership for this privilege, and out of respect, they granted his request. However, most of the deceased were cremated.”

I asked him, “Do we have any ancestors who died at the Alamo?”

He told me, “Yes. They were cremated.”

I asked him, “Is that why, despite our adoptive family being almost entirely Hispanic, we have an English surname?”

He answered, “Yes. This is also why adoption is such an important tradition among the Trueman lineages. It’s the cultural root explaining why I was adopted, and why your father asked me to take care of you if the unthinkable happened.”

I remarked, “That you told me about.”

He confessed, “I’m sorry that you didn’t get to meet them.”

I confessed, “I’m not… As curious as I am about them, I’m happy that you’re my dad, and I wouldn’t change that for the world. Besides, death isn’t the end, so I’ll still get to meet them one day.”

My father smiled, “Ever the optimist, aren’t you?”

We spent about 120 minutes playing the game before I lost. After which remembered something.

“I forgot, I have something for you, from your tatarabuelo.”

He handed me a DVD of an old cartoon and explained, “He started watching this when he was 14. It’s still one of his favorites, but considering his health, he thought you might enjoy it.”

It was a complete series of Ed, Edd n Eddy. A show I had never heard of, but my great-great-grandfather had good taste in media, so I gladly accepted this gift.

I asked my father, “When can we visit him again?”

My father confessed, “I don’t know. He said he wants you to stay here because it’s safer.”

I understood we might not see him for a while, given he was in too poor a condition to come to us.

He explicitly told my father not to let me come visit him, but my father immediately proposed a compromise: “But we could do a video call with him tomorrow. Maybe he’ll agree to a watch along and you can enjoy his gift together.”

I accepted this offer without reservation.

Because of the difficulties of sneaking around during the day, my alter ego could not return until late at night, when everyone was expected to be asleep. When my alter ego arrived home, I could recall all that had happened to myself that stayed home.

* * *

During the wait, as day turned to twilight, I heard something which was neither human nor beast, but which more resembled the organic analogue of a chiptune cry of pain.

I made my way into the woods, following the sound of metal hitting flesh and bone accompanied by these eldritch cries, where I encountered a strange sight.

The beaten, almost albino creature had two white circular eyes with whirling black circles of fur. On its cheeks were eye-like patterns: blood-red irises, a blue lacrimal caruncle, and the rest of the image was as black as pitch.

At the end of its almost rat-like tail was an octahedral club with a long spine at its end and four claw-like protrusions for each of the other rounded points. Its fur was like that of a polar bear, sans the vibrant black stripes that decorated its limbs, body, and tail.

A young man, maybe 14 years old, with a bloodied aluminum baseball bat, wound up for another strike when I approached him from behind and grabbed the bat. Halting the wind up in its place.

Despite its apparently featureless eyes, I could tell from the movement of its ears and its chiptune-esque cries that this creature, like many mammals do, was asking for help in its own creaturely way.

I ordered the kid, “Step away from the creature!”

The cocky brat demanded, “Who the hell are you?”

The clear disparity in our sizes compelled him to step away from me and towards the creature, which stood on all fours and postured as if to defend it.

I told the kid, “I don’t know what that thing is… but considering its natural armaments, the fact you and your clothes remain unblemished, and that it immediately stepped up to defend you, I think it’s safe to assume that your assault of this animal was not in self-defense.”

The beastie’s lagomorph-like ears perked up and in my direction.

I told the boy, “You can’t just go around abusing creatures for your own amusement. What habits does such behavior cultivate?”

The beastie began sniffing the air in my direction and seemed to look me in the eye when I glanced down at it. At that point, all aggression left it and it stood upright on its hind legs like a prairie dog.

This seemed to annoy the boy who kicked at the creature, but I intervened and simply placed my leg between his kick and the beastie before he made contact. Both the boy and the beastie immediately recoiled in surprise at the speed of my intervention.

The beastie lowered its head and approached me like a cat, placing a light, scent-marking headbutt on my legs. A behavior that seemed to send the boy into a rage.

“What the fuck are you doing Akhbar (עַכְבָּר)?” The kid screamed.

The beastie seemed to speak. An act that seemed to horrify its owner. It spoke only one word, which it repeated with aggression, “Choose!”

It stepped in front of me as if to face its abuser.

At which point, another creature, with six emaciated, clawed, humanoid arms, an upright, bipedal frame, a mousy tail, and a hummingbird like beak, cloaked in a tailor-made black robe, made its presence known. Gently descending from the sky, its icy blue, lidless eyes were wide and blinked with a nictitating membrane.

It spoke with an inhuman tongue, and Akhbar seemed to relent.

This new creature’s appearance unsettled me, but utterly froze the kid in terror.

The beaked thing promised, “I am not for you, metahuman, nor am I hear for the tamer. I am merely here for the creature.”

I readied for a fight before asking, “What do you plan to do with it?”

The beaked thing promised, “I simply want to help it heal.”

Akhbar moved away from me and towards the beaked thing, which tapped the little monster on the head.

The beaked thing said, “The bond which abuses, I sever for the mutual good of the abused and their abuser.”

The kid immediately fell to his knees, as if suffering the sudden onset of the most painful migraine I have ever seen.

I darted to the boy with superhuman speed and used my penetrating vision to see the unnatural storm of neurological activity coursing through his brain.

The beaked thing assured me, “Do not fret. He will be fine in a few minutes, though he will need to sleep.”

I made by way to the beaked thing and, grabbing it by its cloak, demanded, “What did you do to him?”

The beaked thing gestured with its hands as if to signify pacifism.

It said, “The child will be fine. His pain should subside in anywhere from a minute to an hour. This poor creature was about to sever their psychic bond, which would have killed the child. I simply stepped in to ensure that the severing of their bond was as safe as possible.”

I asked the beaked thing, “What in God’s name are you, creature?”

The creature answered me, “I am what your metahuman academics call a nouiform. Like the other creature before you, I am a creature that bonds with humans.”

I asked it, “For what purpose?”

The creature obliged me, “It is simply our nature to bond with rational souls.”

That phrase, “rational souls“, stood out to me as Scholastic language.

I commanded the creature, “We will go to the hospital, and so help me if anything happens to this child…”

The manner in which I said it clearly showed I was using an inclusive use of the word “we”.

The creature willingly submitted. Placing its upper right hand in the air as if to give an oath.

It said to me, “I will take responsibility for anything happening to the child. Though, luckily for me, the bond shared between him and the little one was not strong, and should last only thirty seconds.”

I turned back to the child and saw that, as promised, the neurological storm in his head ceased and he returned to normal cognitive function, though very exhausted and angry.

The small creature reared its back like a cat, bearing large bone crushing teeth, and readying its tail like a scorpion. But before I had to defend the boy, the beaked thing spoke inhumanly, which the little thing seemed to understand, and stepped between them.

Then the beastie disappeared with supersonic speed into the woods.

He wobbled to his feet and screamed, “You fucking bastard! I can’t feel my connection with Akhbar!”

The beaked thing told him, “To save your life, I severed the bonds between you.”

The boy threw a tantrum, claiming, “You had no right to do this! He was mine!”

The beaked thing offered to explain more about what he and Akhbar were, and I took him up on his offer. So, we left the sensory range of the aggressive adolescent, though I monitored him with my superhuman perception and ensured that he eventually made his way back to the city.

I asked it, “Do you have a name?”

The beaked thing answered, “My name, is Kauākṣara.”

I inquired, “How many more like you are there?”

Kauākṣara confessed, “I cannot know. Much like your metahumans, tamers have mostly existed in secret. Though, given what I heard about the goings on in Japan now, this GSSDO has been aware of our existence for some time.”

I presented some information for its assessment. “On the news was a birdlike creature carrying a pygmy man, which seemed to have the power to manipulate the debris. Is this one of you nouiforms?”

Kauākṣara assessed, “That would be my assumption, but I have never met this specific entity. I have been roaming the American continent since the 1400s.”

I asked it, “Where are you from, exactly?”

Kauākṣara made a noise that I assumed to be roughly equivalent to a chuckle, then said, “Someplace that no longer exists. Comes with the territory of being thousands of years old.”

I interrogated, “What does this bond between nouiform and the tamer entail?”

Kauākṣara explained, “It depends. Often it entails a psychic connection, allowing passive telepathic communication between the two.”

I finally asked, “Are you familiar with yōma?”

Kauākṣara confessed, “Not by this term. Could you describe it to me?”

I described it to the best of my abilities with what limited information I had available, and Kauākṣara seemed to recognize something.

Kauākṣara suggested, “I will investigate this matter, but I do have an idea what these might be, and I do not suspect nouiformes. If I might ask, where did you get this information from?”

I explained, “This information came from a diviner.”

Kauākṣara thought for a moment, the something beyond my perceptions caught its attention.

It promised me, “I will report anything I find back to you, but for now I must go.”

I asked, “How exactly do you plan on finding me?”

Kauākṣara answered, “Let’s just say I don’t think it will be very hard to find you. Goodbye, madam.”

Just before departing, he stopped, then warned me, “Be cautious around us, madam. We are extremely powerful, and while some of us mean no harm, and even love humans, there are some among us who are incredibly Machiavellian, sadistic, and even anthropophagic.”

I asked one last question, “What kind are you?”

Kauākṣara left me with, “The kind who finds joy in others’ joy.”

Kauākṣara departed from me, and I did not chase it. The fact it kept its word regarding the wellbeing of the child was enough for me to trust but verify.

Now that it was the dead of night, I made my way back towards home unseen and remotely called myself back to my alter ego, still at a distance.

I experienced the sudden recombination and organization of experiences into one coherent narrative of memories, and I was happy that no one got hurt today.

My recombination occurred when my younger self was about to head to bed, so I said my nighttime prayers, then went to sleep.

Right as I was about to doze off into dreamland, my phone got a notification, and I checked on it.

I received a text which read, “So, you’re a fan of Lolita fashion as well?”

My heart almost stopped, and the next text came by, “Your secret is safe with me, but can we talk tomorrow?”

#superhero #magical girl #dark fantasy #hopepunk #original story #original character #noblebright #webnovel

[debrief-2022-sophia]

First Day Reflection

What 3 projects am I most proud of?

1. Illustration Project Year 2 - I’m proud of this one because I think the final outcome was really polished & concise, I can explain my thought process behind it and feel confident about sharing it with others.

2. Time for Lunch Branding Project Year 2 - I’m proud of this one because I felt very honoured to have my logo & branding idea picked for the final outcome. I feel like it’s a very solid design & the client was super happy with it, so I am too!

3. 70s Photoshoot Shoot Year 2 - I’m proud of this one because I think the photos look really professional and I love the colour palette & composition of my photos. I had a lot of fun working with my model too so that made things even better.

My Top 3 Design Skills

1. Illustration - I think this is my strongest skill because I have a background in traditional painting, drawing, and digital art so I am very confident in this area. I love incorporating an artistic flare into my design work.

2. Branding - I’ve done a few branding projects now and I’ve done some freelance work doing a logo redesign so I am quickly building confidence in this area and really enjoy it too. I like working with typography & different graphic elements to create a concise brand image.

3. Photography - I love getting behind a camera. It’s something that I know I wouldn’t want to do full time but I enjoy incorporating it into my other design work. I think that it is a strength of mine since I have an eye for composition & I can get experimental.

My Top 3 Soft Skills

1. Co-operation - I get along with people easily and work well with other people. I enjoy the energy of having others to bounce ideas off of.

2. Fast Learner - I am pretty quick at picking up new skills, which is helpful when starting a new job or tackling a challenging task.

3. Reliable - I am good at sticking to a schedule & meeting at arranged times. One of my core values is respecting people’s time, so this translates well into reliability.

Future

I am struggling a wee bit to plan out what I’m going to be doing after I graduate. One option I’ve thought about is staying in Dunedin and looking for a job in one of the many design studios around. I think I will try to move away from freelancing for a bit, as I’m keen to settle into a more scheduled job, and gain some industry experience. I also like the idea of working for a business in maintaining their brand & social media side of things. I want to go travelling at some point, and after graduating could be a good option, because once I get my career started it might be hard to find an open spot to go travel for a while. I think doing more artistic projects which incorporate my 3 top design skills will get me going in the right direction for my career. I don’t want to do corporate design work. I’m definitely keen to work with more small or local businesses doing graphic design.

Design Work Style

I think I am more self initiated when working. I like to truck along and figure out what needs to be done next. I don’t enjoy constantly having to check in with somebody, I prefer to just get on with it.

[sermacsteph]

I’ve just read over the fic I finished earlier, and yeah it’s draft 1.3 at this stage and most of it’s okay but oh boy the kiss scene at the end ... it was bad, I have a damn degree in creative writing, I can write non-lip kisses fine but two people kissing ... nope brain forgets how to write properly

Admittedly this is my first attempt at writing romancy scenes like this and honestly I don’t have a damn clue what I’m doing

Send help, someone, please?

#Steph’s writing adventures #where she learns she’s very bad at this #how the fuck did I get a degree #okay my angst stuff is fine #but still #I should probably stick to drawing #but I have so many ideas and some wouldn’t translate well into drawing #shush Steph #I just want to finish this dumb cutesy da fic #but the ending is bad #and I don’t know how to fix it #like it feels like a scene that should end in a kiss scene #I just don’t know how to write that without making it bad #and by bad I mean cringe tag #*af #fanfic writing

[love-takes-work]

Notes on SU Commentary Tracks

I watched the commentary tracks on the Complete Steven Universe DVD Set and I took some nerd notes.

The episodes with commentary tracks are “Reunited,” “Change Your Mind,” and “The Future.”

I’ll bold stuff that was maybe bigger news or more surprising for easier reading. And yes, some of this was already known from podcasts, other Q&As, or interviews, but I listed it if they said it again here.

Read on after the jump to read these and other highlights:

Steven’s original wedding speech

Older ideas on dialogue for Lapis when she came back to the beach

Scrapped concepts for the scene that ultimately included Steven communicating with the others in a mindscape

Discussions of earlier concepts for White Diamond having a power to “freeze” Gems into statues to make them perfect and having a gallery of them on Homeworld

Pink Pearl’s original fate

The translation of the writing on Obsidian’s sword

The origin of Pink Steven’s design

What Rebecca did to pitch the “SHE’S GONE” scene

Earlier plans to include Shep in “Change Your Mind”

An unused concept of how Steven feels about Biggs

The inspiration for the Heaven and Earth Beetles’ healed design

How Volleyball/Pink Pearl was almost a mini-villain

Discussion of how they did not get to share the origin of the Diamonds

Jasper’s scrapped participation in the movie

“Reunited” - 

Commentary with Rebecca Sugar, Ben Levin, Matt Burnett, Hilary Florido, Joe Johnston, Ian Jones-Quartey, and Kat Morris.

In 2015, an episode idea called “If You Love Yourself So Much” was discussed but rejected. It included some early ideas that ended up getting incorporated into “Reunited,” most notably Garnet marrying herself and putting rings on both hands.

The idea of the Cluster arm wrestling was planned for a long time. A scrapped idea of Steven banging his fist on a vending machine to get some Chaaaaps was supposed to visually parallel some of that scene, but it was axed.

When they got pushback on the wedding idea, they kept adding more and more “high entertainment value” items like a big musical number so the episode would be absolutely unmissable and appealing to everyone.

The song at the beginning of the episode was meant to check in with the entire cast and sort of remind you they exist and what their state of mind is going into the wedding.

Ian made a comment joking about “All 15 people in Beach City” being in the audience.

Just about everyone on the Crew touched this episode, despite that there are four main storyboarders credited for “Reunited.”

In 2016 Ian Jones-Quartey proposed marriage to Rebecca Sugar. They felt like the characters based on them (Sapphire and Ruby) HAD to get married in the show now because otherwise it wouldn’t be honest. But then their characters got married before they did.

They really love the idea of having characters get married who have known each other for a really long time, versus the fairy tale trope of movies ending with weddings between people who have met very recently.

Steven’s speech as officiator at the wedding used to be longer in its first draft--it was described as being weird and full of jokes, and there would have been a scene with Pearl getting weepy and pulling tissues out of her pearl.

Ian mentions loving a joke Jeff came up with having Greg play one chord to make Steven fall asleep--it’s sort of a “dream” chord you hear in cartoons a lot before a dream sequence.

The Crew discussed what it might be like if someone had never seen the show before and started with this episode.

Ian really wanted Steven’s psychic powers to figure into the episode.

Blue using a sadness wave to attack the Gems was a very old idea they’d planned for a long time. So was Lapis’s arrival.

There was a discussion of having Lisa Hannigan performing her lines as Blue VERY early in the morning.

Ian was happy the sword got broken because it was so momentous but it was just a sword. And later appeared on a shelf in the house as an artifact.

Miki had drawn a torn dress for Garnet at one point so she could be shown fighting and moving around more accurately, and this led to a long discussion of whether Gem clothing can even actually get torn the way human clothes can. They concluded that no, it shouldn’t be torn, so they backed up and gave Garnet an open-front dress from the beginning so the fighting version would make more sense.

Lapis originally might have had a longer speech upon arriving back on the beach. They eventually decided to just have her say “Hey.”

The barn falling on Blue Diamond was an intentional Wizard of Oz reference.

They point out that Steven even once said “drop the barn on the beach” (in a previous episode, “Can’t Go Back,” which was also a Miki episode).

Destroying the house was a big deal, and they always thought they’d end up doing it but backed away from it until “Reunited.” They almost even did it back in “Coach Steven”! But it just ended up with a little damage to the porch.

The Crew thinks Miki is really good at drawing ensemble shots.

Rebecca was always overwhelmed whenever she got to have Patti LuPone record for Yellow.

Originally the giant figures of everyone’s statue bodies in the mindscape were too dark and had to be revamped so they could be seen.

An earlier idea of Steven’s “psychic-ghost-situation” had him as a ghost actually trying to interact with the other characters during fighting action, but it was pulled back to this mindscape so there wouldn’t be as much confusing action to keep track of and more focus on what Steven was doing to encourage his teammates and contact the Diamonds.

Hilary was glad not to have to block out a fight.

Ian mentions loving having Bismuth back in the group.

They originally wanted the “Diamonds sensing Pink’s energy” plot to happen when Steven was in the palace somehow, but everything got moved to this scene--which the Crew all agrees turned out incredible, like how cool it was to have Steven essentially reminding each character why they fight and summing up their whole arc in a sentence.

“Change Your Mind”

Commentary with Rebecca Sugar, Ben Levin, Matt Burnett, Hilary Florido, Joe Johnston, Ian Jones-Quartey, and Kat Morris.

They like to refer to this episode as “The movie before the movie.”

They loved incorporating “princess tropes” into Steven’s time on Homeworld, which is why there were so many references to “mice” (well, Pebbles) making clothes, being locked in a tower, being reminded of his manners, loving animals and freeing imprisoned pets, etc. 

Deedee did the voice of the rainbow worm pet. She apparently didn’t find it memorable and was surprised when she was reminded she did the voice.

Rebecca was super excited for the confrontation with Blue.

There was some discussion of how Steven would have died of starvation if he didn’t have someone practical like Connie to remember to bring food.

They love working with the huge scale the Diamonds present.

The Crew always wanted to put someone in Blue’s hair loop. Originally they wanted Blue to tuck Greg in there when she kidnapped him, but they didn’t end up being able to do any hair-loop-carrying until this episode.

The Crew bantered back and forth about what the heck those Pebbles’ names were and how hard it was to track them.

They agreed that Paul draws the best Yellow Diamond, which makes sense since he also drew the first episode with Yellow (and her stink face). 

The scene where Yellow asks Blue to stop using her powers on her and then realizing she’s crying on her own was one of Rebecca’s favorite scenes to get to finally.

Steven Sugar thought Gems would spend a lot of time in their own chambers/rooms just not really doing much of anything unless they had to fulfill their purpose.

Some of the Homeworld ideas were based on a Soviet artist’s concepts, Boris Artzybasheff, and also many ideas were inspired by Busby Berkeley regarding how people were objects and furniture.

The mech was an old idea. Once they had the hand ship from “Jailbreak,” they knew there had to be bodies somewhere.

They focused a lot about what could be the coolest and funniest way for something to happen. The concept of the yellow and blue spaceship arms appearing out of the sky to smack the White Diamond mech around was one of those.

Rebecca really wanted things to look more and more cartoony and bizarre as you get deeper into Homeworld.

They spent a very long time trying to decide on characters’ new outfits.

The trash can lid is said to be a reference to “a flying bear cartoon” and they dance around speaking a direct reference because they’re not sure they’re allowed to say its name.

In discussing the powers of the Diamonds, there were debates on what White’s power would be; with Yellow being physicality-based and Blue being emotion-based, they thought White as identity-based made the most sense.

Different ways to express this were played with before settling on the idea that she thinks she’s perfect and others’ colors make them less like her and less perfect. But then she becomes a hostage to her own beliefs about herself because if she does anything that reflects on everyone else, so it’s best to do nothing.

They had some cool earlier ideas of White’s powers making statues out of other Gems and having a gallery full of frozen Gems, frozen by White to make them perfect.

They also weren’t sure what fate befell the original Pink Pearl and discussed whether she might have been destroyed. 

Rebecca discussed how creepy it was to have White Pearl speaking in Christine’s voice and not Deedee’s--that we should find it fundamentally disturbing at this point.

Tom Herpich came up with the crack on White Pearl’s face.

In real life, pink diamonds aren’t understood as well as yellows and blues. It’s more known what makes a diamond yellow or blue, and some of those facts Rebecca researched were originally woven into the speech White gave about their “impurities.” But it turned out to be too dry and most of it got cut.

Rebecca loves having Lapis with pants and sandals for easier cosplay.

Ian had to draw the scene where Steven is falling and fusing with inert characters--he wasn’t able to properly explain it to Rebecca so she had him draw it.

They really wanted Rainbow Quartz 2.0 to have a scarf, but they couldn’t figure out how to get that into Pearl’s design. They miss the scarf.

It was really important to have these Fusions display call-forwards of the Gems’ new outfits which we hadn’t yet seen.

Rebecca points out that Sunstone’s design breaks a design rule and she feels like Sunstone should have Garnet’s pant leg colors on their legs, but at the same time she understands the rule of cool and likes it like this.

It’s discussed how none of Steven’s fusion weapons are exclusively offensive weapons either.

Rebecca still really wants a suction cup Sunstone toy.

Sunstone’s ability to transcend reality and break the fourth wall was a joke that exploded in the discussion room among the Crew. As soon as the idea was pitched everyone kept coming up with ideas. Sardonyx’s fourth-wall-breaking is more snarky, but Sunstone’s is helpful.

Rebecca was disappointed that the rule about Steven’s clothes wasn’t always followed with having his clothes appear on Obsidian’s hand, but she was delighted that you could see them in one scene.

They spent a lot of discussion time on making sure Steven-Obsidian was different somehow from Rose-Obsidian. The hair is different.

Old versions of Obsidian were drawn with wrapped-together Twizzlers legs, which sort of is reflected in the present design.

The sword had been planned forever--and it first appeared in “Bubble Buddies.”

Miki worked on the Ninja Turtles show so Rebecca was really excited to see her depictions of Bismuth and Sunstone.

An early plan to have Obsidian draw the sword from their mouth was complicated because fusion weapons should be combinations, so they finally reached the solution of having them combine to make the hilt, then get the blade out of Obsidian’s mouth.

The blade of the sword is thought to say “We’ll always save the day,” but you’d have to ask Steven Sugar.

Another really old idea was climbing into the White Diamond mech eye.

Rebecca was disappointed that some of the merch made of White Diamond did not feature her cape sparkles.

There were many debates early on about where Rose might “actually” be. There were tons of references to this fundamental question throughout the show--introducing Lapis as a Gem trapped in an object, having Pearl ponder pulling Steven’s Gem out as a baby, straight-up wondering what would happen to him in “Bubbled” when Eyeball was trying to take his Gem, etc. They all decided Rose was definitely gone but that the idea of her possibly being inside him should be on his mind a lot, leading to disturbing images like dreaming about coughing up her hair.

Yellow Diamond and Blue Diamond both challenged Steven about things he was very confident about, but White’s question of his identity got to him because he in fact is not confident about that.

The black and white eeriness of the fuzzy background and the other characters having their colors washed out helped make the scene in White Diamond’s head so disturbing and creepy.

The split screen showing Steven’s two perspectives was exciting to Rebecca, and was a pretty old idea. And she points out it sort of “breaks the show.”

The Gem Steven, Pink Steven, was represented by a slightly modified version of his model sheet. Everyone laughed when they saw what was getting used.

They decided that an earlier idea of Pink Steven looking angry should be replaced by an emotionless version of him. All the emotion should be with Organic Steven.

In the pitch meeting for this episode, Rebecca herself screamed “SHE’S GONE!!” and shocked the hell out of everyone. She pointed out how no one expected this of her because she’s pretty quiet, but she just wanted to shock everyone the way Steven would in the show.

They point out this is the first appearance of the geometric shield that got so much use in Future.

The fact that Steven is Steven is the ultimate reveal of the show. Usually in fantasy shows there’s some other kind of revelation, but Steven just being amazingly human and amazingly Gem and amazingly himself is wonderful here.

They like having the pilot reference with “What’s your excuse?”

If Rose had somehow still been alive in him, all of this would have been cheapened.

Ian loves that you can faintly hear Sadie’s concert from way out in space as the camera approaches Earth.

They got a lot more use out of the Beach-A-Palooza stage than they thought they would when it had to be designed for “Steven and the Stevens.” There was a joke about how at one of the conventions a real Beach-A-Palooza stage was constructed and they had a thought about how oh good, it’s getting reused.

Sadie having green hair in the finale was a late change but they liked showing her progression. 

They had originally kicked around the idea of Sadie already having her new partner Shep at this point, but decided to develop that in Future instead.

They compare White Diamond’s stepping gingerly into the fountain to skeptically getting into a public pool.

Some silliness they didn’t get to use was that Biggs would be “beloved by everyone” except Steven. They never got to cover it, but originally Steven was just going to not really understand why everyone loves her so much and doesn’t personally much care for her.

The Heaven and Earth Beetles are based on the Mothra Ladies.

The healed Gems’ horns are supposed to be side effects of the corruption that they continue to bear in the present.

Larimar and Orange Spodumene ended up different in the ending scene than they became in Future. Many of the designs were retroactively pulled into this scene after being designed for the movie.

Rebecca wrote “Change Your Mind” as a personal song to express her feelings surrounding her fight for the wedding.

“The Future”

Commentary with Rebecca Sugar, Kat Morris, Alonso Ramirez Ramos, Hilary Florido, Joe Johnston, and Ian Jones-Quartey.

The animatic for this episode ran SO long--they’re supposed to be just over 11 minutes but this one was 17 minutes.

Steven’s calisthenics routine, a callback to “Future Vision,” was on the chopping block to make the episode shorter but Rebecca wouldn’t allow it to be cut because she wanted to show that Steven’s been taking care of himself.

They were very excited to get a chance to cover some of the things in Future that they couldn’t squeeze into the original show, like the unbubbled Rose Quartzes, Volleyball, etc.

The new writers on the show also helped bring forward the idea of Steven finally making some of his OWN mistakes to fix.

This also helped construct the idea of Steven essentially being the “final boss” of his own battle.

Usually stories that involve someone being in a fight and winning don’t explore the effect just being in a fight has on a person, regardless of whether you won. 

Rebecca really wanted to play Ocarina of Time after beating it so she could go back to all the places and see how people were doing. She wanted this epilogue series to explore that a little too.

Little Homeschool is sort of a Tiny Toons reference--older cartoons teach younger cartoons how to be cartoons, and this is Gems teaching other Gems how to be Gems on Earth. 

Lamar came up with the silly joke about receiving that art set with all the different media types in it--the one artists are always getting from a well-meaning relative at holiday time.

A scrapped plot idea involved Volleyball/Pink Pearl as a sort of “mini-villain,” with a focus on her activating the un-activated Pearls.

There’s discussion of how victimization turns people into villains sometimes. But since showing that happening with Volleyball wouldn’t have served the interests of Steven’s arc, they couldn’t fit it in.

There was also a “very specific” Gem origin and Diamond origin story that’s quasi-religious in nature--it’s very cool and complicated. But they do not tell us what it is.

Ian and Joe both really wanted to have Jasper living alone in the woods and stacking rocks. They’re glad they got this series to do that with her.

There was originally an idea for a B-plot involving Jasper in the movie. They don’t discuss the specifics.

There were many ideas they didn’t get to work on because they would have started new arcs and Future was not about kicking new plots into gear.

“Mr. Universe” was the last episode they wrote/finished.

Miki really wanted to include a kiss between Connie and Steven to show their relationship was okay. Among the Crew everyone knew their relationship was basically eternal but Miki wanted to make sure WE knew that.

Steven driving conveyed momentum for Future; in the original show, we always came back to the laundry hand, back to home, but in Future that’s changed and home isn’t what it was. 

They were really excited that a gourd family made it to the crowd scene in Future.

Thanks for reading!

Note: The movie had some commentary tracks too, but the one on this DVD set is the same as the one released on the original standalone movie DVD, so I did not outline it here. Here is my post about the DVD commentary from the movie.

#steven universe #steven universe future #rebecca sugar #crewniverse #my su analysis #myblog

[transdemigod]

Cutting Yourself Off from the Entities: A Comprehensive Guide

I am once again overanalyzing the Magnus Archives for fun. This topic is super interesting to me, and I haven’t seen it explored as much as other theories, so here we go.

So, you’ve pledged yourself to one of the Dread Powers, but decided that you’ve had enough of terrorizing others. Not to worry, there is a way out. Melanie King did it and lived all the way to the end of the series!

Here is the summary, though I’m sure a full explanation will be more satisfying:

To escape the Buried, lose yourself to the emptiness. To escape the Corruption, kill what loves you. To escape the Dark, give yourself to the sunlight. To escape the Desolation, choose kindness. To escape the End, cut yourself off from dreams. To escape the Eye, blind yourself. To escape the Flesh, give up control of your body. To escape the Hunt, tear out your teeth and claws. To escape the Lonely, bind yourself to others. To escape the Slaughter, remove your emotions. To escape the Spiral, destroy your voice. To escape the Stranger, make yourself known. To escape the Vast, trap yourself in a small place. To escape the Web, give up your autonomy.

The rest is under the cut. Let me know if you have any ideas that you think I missed, I would love to discuss theories.

We know for sure that the way to escape the Eye is to gouge your own eyes out. The other entities have less information, but we get a few clues here and there. In the season 4 Q&A, Jonny and Alex joke about leaving the service of the Stranger by running naked through the streets. They also mention that the Desolation can be left by an act of true altruism. With these details, as well as other details in the rest of the canon, we can make a list of criteria that must be satisfied for an act that will cut someone off from each of the 14 Entities.

Firstly, it isn’t enough to just stop feeding your god. Daisy and Jon both tried to abstain and ended up wasting away, and it is implied that they would have died if they had continued. Dying is certainly one possible way to escape the service of a Fear, but we’re going for living out the rest of your natural life here.

Secondly, there has to be some sacrifice made that relates to the specific power. This is where the Desolation’s explanation kind of falls apart; doing one good act doesn’t stop you from just continuing to be destructive, so the act must also include giving up the thing that ties you to your Entity. In the Stranger’s case, one could argue that exposing yourself does count as giving up your anonymity, and there are several Stranger avatars that seem to thrive on being unknown. My theory is that each Entity has a draw of some kind, a power that it gives its followers, which you would have to completely give up if you are to leave it for good. Jon mentioned that the blinding has to be permanent, so I’m assuming this applies to the others as well. Basically, the avatar who wishes to leave must give up something that one who does not wish to leave would never want to.

Third, the change can be physical or symbolic. Obviously blinding yourself is a very physical change, while committing acts of altruism or making yourself known are less so. Some of the Entities will have pretty clear parts of the body that connect you to the power, others will need a bit more of an explanation. In special cases where a person gets their power from an artifact or a Leitner, destroying the thing would probably be enough to cut them off from that power. And of course, if you are as lucky as Georgie Barker and manage to completely get rid of your fear, that would probably be enough to cut you off from them as well.

So, here are my explanations for what you would have to do to cut yourself off from each of the 14. I’m basing it on examples we get in the series, the few rules I have decided to set, and what would seem thematically or symbolically appropriate. Realistically, each individual would have their own personal journey and each avatar is different, but it’s more fun this way.

The Buried- The draw of the Buried is a little difficult to narrow down, we’ve heard about restfulness, the comfort of enclosed spaces, the desire to be a part of the earth, etc. The thing Buried avatars seem to dislike the most is wide open spaces, though I don’t know how that would translate to something you can change about yourself. How would a person cut themselves off from the earth? You could move to a place that is very open, but you could also just leave. I’m not sure if there is a way a person could give up the concept of space, so I’m probably going to have this same problem when I get to the Vast. Probably the only thing you could give up that makes sense is the type of space the Buried is tied to, so you’d have to keep away from enclosed spaces. However you’re supposed to do that, I have no idea. This one is just going to have to be a less satisfying answer, unless I find another idea later.

To escape the Buried, lose yourself to the emptiness.

The Corruption- Most people who get into the Corruption get filled with bugs, and we know from Jane that it is appealing because you have a sense of belonging and purpose. The Corruption focuses a lot on toxic love, and I think communities specifically because the things we think of as infections are multitudinous: insect hives, bacteria, fungal colonies, etc. Even in the case of that one guy with the beetle wife, it was implied that there would soon be many more beetles. So, I think to stop being fed by the Corruption, you have to get rid of the infection in whatever form it takes. The one woman in the statement about the cult ended up leaving, but she wasn’t a full avatar, so I think that would require a bit more drastic action. If Jane had wanted to leave, she would probably have had to kill every worm inside of her. Knowing what we know about her, she would never want to do that, but she also had no regrets about becoming the Hive. Someone like John Amherst would have to get rid of all the diseases inside of him, so it might be as simple as a hospital visit and getting pumped full of antibiotics. If you got hollowed out by bugs, you might have to fill in the space somehow to be able to move, but I’m sure you could find a way. Maybe some help from the Flesh? It does seems to be in opposition to the Corruption in many ways, so that would work thematically.

To escape the Corruption, kill what loves you.

The Dark- Another abstract one. What’s the opposite of blinding yourself? The Dark, aside from the literal definition, includes things like weird science and unknowable things that lurk in the dark. Seeking knowledge would be a good opposite to darkness, but that’s not making a sacrifice or a permanent change. It’s not very clear what avatars of the Dark would hate to lose. Manuela Dominguez describes hating the light, how traditional divinity and knowledge are unnatural as opposed to the dark state of the world. This might be another location based one. Apparently, the sunniest places in the world are in northern Africa and the southwest parts of America, so moving there might do it. There isn’t an easy permanent change to make, but committing yourself to being in the sunlight as much as possible would probably work. Change your sleep schedule, move somewhere sunny, just avoid the dark in general. Maybe even start worshipping the sun; that would be in opposition to the cult following the Dark has.

To escape the Dark, give yourself to the sunlight.

The Desolation- We know it’s an act of altruism. I think it might need some adjusting, though, to make it more of a sacrifice by the person who serves the Desolation. This fear is all about sacrifice and loss, so it’s a bit tricky to think of something a Desolation avatar could give up when they’ve already committed to giving up everything. Well, everything except themselves. Many avatars, like Jude Perry, have shown themselves to be selfish, but I don’t think even they would be opposed to going out in a blaze of glory. No, the hardest thing for them would be to settle down and live a prosperous life. This one probably would have to be continuous effort instead of one grand sacrifice. It doesn’t fit with the others, but it does fit the theme of the Desolation. Yeah, I’ve just gone in a big circle. Altruism does make the most sense. Just make sure that selfless gesture counts. It’s not a real choice if you don’t mean it. I guess that would be really difficult if you’re used to burning everything around you, so maybe it’s more of a sacrifice than I thought.

To escape the Desolation, choose kindness.

The End- We actually already have a canon answer for this one: lobotomize yourself. Adelard Dekker found an End avatar that was killing people with carbon monoxide through their dreams, and he stopped him by cutting through his pre-frontal cortex- the part of the brain that lets you dream. It’s implied that this didn’t completely work, but I think the reason for that is that the avatar was not the one to make the choice. It’s emphasized again and again that serving the fears is all about personal choice, so it makes sense that any attempt to cut someone off wouldn’t take if the person hasn’t decided to give up their connection. The End is associated with dreams in most appearances, so I believe that a person who chooses not to dream would no longer be bound to it. Oliver Banks could see those whose deaths were coming in his dreams, which directly led to him becoming an avatar, so if he had decided to stop dreaming, that would be it. This procedure might be a bit difficult, I can’t imagine performing your own lobotomy would go very well, but I’m sure getting someone else to do it would count if you were the one to make the decision. Of course, Terminus would still have you in the end, but that will happen no matter what you do.

To escape the End, cut yourself off from dreams.

The Eye- This one is already answered. The draw of the Eye is the power to watch, so you have to give that ability up. Simple, straightforward, and definitely fits the theme.

To escape the Eye, blind yourself.

The Flesh- Oh boy, this is a weird one. We have dysphoria, consumption, body horror, I can’t say this one sounds very appealing. But it must be, or else it wouldn’t have people serving it. A lot of the draw to serve the fears could be interpreted as dishing out what you can’t take. You don’t have to be afraid of being watched if you do the watching, you don’t have to fear harm if you harm them first. Maybe the appeal of Flesh is making others share that fear that you are nothing but meat. I don’t think it’s really possible for people to give up their corporeal form, unless it’s metaphorical but I have no idea what that could mean. I think those who serve the Flesh thrive on being “more” than others. More body parts, more mass in general. You could go on a diet or become a vegetarian, which I think the writers may have joked about once? I want a more concrete solution, though. Diets are easy to break. You can’t fully give up food without dying, so I guess you could give up the control of food. Giving up your sense of taste would be interesting, but I’m going to keep it more general. No easy answer for this one either.

To escape the Flesh, give up control of your body.

The Hunt- People are drawn to the Hunt by that deep, primal desire to chase and attack. Humans have both predator and prey instincts inside of us, so you would have to completely leave the predator behind to escape the Hunt. I think a good way to do this would be the get rid of your teeth, or nails, whichever you use to cause harm. Daisy was able to temporarily leave behind her power in the Buried, but as soon as she got out, she started starving. I think this is a good argument that you could partially cut off your power by using a power that opposes it in some way, but you would have to give up a part of yourself to make it stick. As soon as she had the freedom and ability to hunt again, that was when the urge came back, and she eventually succumbed to it. Getting rid of the parts of your body that do harm wouldn’t completely stop you if you were dedicated enough, but it’s the choice to do so that matters. This one is a bit more of a symbolic choice, and you could probably do something else to your body that would prevent it from hunting, but I am going with the cooler option.

To escape the Hunt, tear out your teeth and claws.

The Lonely- Probably all you have to do to escape the Lonely is just…be around other people. I’m sure this is easier said than done, but there are lots of ways to commit to other humans. Get married, join a club, make a blood pact and permanently bind yourself to another human. The possibilities are endless! This one, I think more than the others, would require a bit more of a continued effort. I know that the whole point is to make one drastic, permanent change, but the Lonely feels like something that’s easy to relapse into. Maybe it’s the depression metaphor, I don’t know, but I don’t think this one has as easy a solution as the others. It’s hard work forcing yourself to stay connected to others, and it’s something most people in real life struggle with. Giving up any of these powers is a difficult choice, which is the whole point. Life is hard, and we have to make tough decisions. Anyway, I’m okay letting this one be a bit more abstract.

To escape the Lonely, bind yourself to others.

The Slaughter- This one is very similar to the Hunt in terms of actions, so I think the solution might be similar as well. Destroying your weapon would fit well, but it is just way too easy to pick up something else and continue hacking and slashing away. To give up violence entirely, you might have to destroy a significant part of your body. For the Slaughter, I think we should go with a less physical act. The opposite of violence is healing, so maybe become a doctor? You would have to really commit to helping others instead of hurting them, and that is too easy to go back on. I think the sacrifice made here would have to be emotion. Anger and the desire to hurt would go away if you couldn’t feel anymore. I don’t know how you would do this, except through drugs, but that isn’t permanent. There is probably a part of the brain you could destroy that causes emotion. It’s not the same as the prefrontal cortex, which we destroyed back in the End section, so at least it’s not the same solution twice. Honestly, the drugs could work if you did them long term, it’s about the choice anyway. However you do it:

To escape the Slaughter, remove your emotions.

The Spiral- The draw of the Spiral is the power to lie and deceive. There are many ways to do this, and there are probably just as many ways to stop yourself from doing it. However, there is one way that I think fits very well and is absolutely a permanent change: destroy your voice. This is actually the first one I thought of because even though it’s not technically the only way to stop yourself from lying, it fits very well thematically. Michael as the Distortion calls itself the Throat of Delusion Incarnate, so what better way to break yourself off from the same power then by tearing out your throat? It’s not perfect, but I like it so much that I’m going to pick it. I don’t know how one would go about destroying one’s voice, except with very careful surgery. Or screaming for a very long time.

To escape the Spiral, destroy your voice.

The Stranger- We got our answer to this one in the Q&A. Run naked through the streets, and make sure to engage with everyone who talks to you so that you can’t hide. Utterly terrifying. It makes perfect sense though; we heard from the Not!Them that beings of the Stranger hate losing their anonymity. Whether by switching skins, tricking the mind, or looking so generic that no one can remember your face, being known is antithetical to the Stranger. There are probably other ways to go about losing your anonymity then running around naked. You could get up on a stage somewhere and pour your heart out, or publish an autobiography. Basically anything the Eye would like. As long as you are putting yourself out there in a way that you can’t take back, you should be able to successfully cut yourself off from that uncanny fear.

To escape the Stranger, make yourself known.

The Vast- This one might actually be easier than the Buried, because it’s not purely spatial. It includes things like longevity, our insignificance in the face of a massive universe, and large scary things in general. A Vast avatar would hate to be enclosed, but they would also hate to be made responsible. They enjoy making others afraid of their insignificance, but what if they were important to the universe? What if the world was actually very small, and they fit neatly into it instead of being lost? There’s a lot of different ways to go here, so narrowing down one sacrifice might not be the best answer. I can’t really think of any one action that makes a person feel as though the world is small and trapping them. Giving themselves to the Buried would, probably. A direct contrast is the easiest answer.

To escape the Vast, trap yourself in a small place.

The Web- Avatars of the Web are manipulators, through and through. There are so many ways to manipulate a person that no one action could prevent you from doing that, so this one would likely vary a lot between individuals. That movie director who had people puppet him in his own house comes to mind, I think giving up your freedom like that is a good way to do it. Being paralyzed wouldn’t stop you if you used your voice to control others, and giving up both would suck, but if that’s what you need to do, then I guess it’s your choice to make. Maybe all you would need to do is let someone else tell you what to do, and fully trust them. That would be difficult, coming from the Web where everything is tied together and you know how easy it is to manipulate you.

To escape the Web, give up your autonomy.

#tma #the magnus archives #the buried #the corruption #the dark #the desolation #the end #the eye #the flesh #the hunt #the lonely #the slaughter #the spiral #the stranger #the vast #the web #tma entities #tma analysis

[ktffansub]

Bijutsu Techo: Boys Love – Interview: Yoneda Kou

This article was first published in November 17th, 2014. Translated from Japanesse to Bahasa Indonesia by kalengjelek and then translated from Bahasa Indonesia to English by KTFfansub. Source: here

When did you first encounter manga?

I was born in a family with three daughters; while my older sister likes reading Ribbon magazine, I like reading Nakayoshi. It was the era of Asagiri Yuu-sensei, when I was in elementary school. My favorite at that time were Kusunoki Kei sensei’s works and Patlabor. When it came to Shonen, I would say I was more into Shounen Sunday. I also loved Kawaraha Izumi sensei’s works. When I think about it, rather than manga that were full of passion, I’d actually prefer manga that had calm and soothing kind of vibe.

Is that so… What about BL?

When I was in Junior High, my older sister showed me Captain Tsubasa Doujinshi by Ozaki Minami and I was dumbfounded, I thought, “So, there’s also a world like this!”. After that, I started to buy BL manga. At that time, the mangaka who left the most impression to me was Nishi Keikosensei. Her works such as Mizu Ga Koori Ni Naru Toki, Tenshi Ni Naranakya have unique openings, it made me reread them many times. Uida Shiuko (now Kano Shiuko) and Yoshinaga Fumi Sensei are also my favorite mangaka.

When was the first time you draw manga?

I seriously began drawing manga in my first year of junior high. At first, I drew a pair of man and woman, but after page three, I felt something was off. So, I tried drawing BL for the next one. Just like the present, I’ve always loved less expressive and less-talkactive main characters (laughs). But the more I draw, then an attentive senpai with good personality and short haired ones like Togawa in Doushitemo Furetakunai also appeared. At that moment I thought, “Oh, this is it!”

You really weren’t embarrassed, are you? (laughs)

Well, it’s because it was embarrassing, that’s why I’m not really open about my drawing manga activity.

(laughs) But you debut as professional mangaka eventually, how did that happen?

Yes, after that… I worked as office lady. I got married not long after, but then, I was getting through a marriage blues. At that time, I was invested in Kakashi and Naruto shown by my older sister along with Comiket catalogue.

The power of moe beats out your anxiety (laughs)

It’s true (laughs). Escaping from reality, I checked a lot of circles and opened some sites. There I found a work from a novelist (now has debuted professionally) that I really liked. This is why I started writing novel at first, not drawing. I have a lot of ways to accommodate my moe needs. I also once drew Doujinshi but due to my inability to use a proper diction, the result wasn’t optimal (laughs). After drawing slowly and more at ease, I got into Katekyo Hitman Reborn fandom and drew a lot of doujinshi for that series. A year later, I was contacted by Taiyou Tosho publisher.

“With that publisher, Yoneda Kou published Doushitemo Furetakunai which has been adapted into a movie. Since the beginning, Yoneda Kou didn’t draw one-shot but serialization. For the movie, even though it only tells a story of daily lives, but the directing, composition and dialogue are impressive. About 4,5 years later, the second volume of Saezuru Tori wa Habatakanai that had the yakuza neighborhood setting was released. This has completely different feeling compared to Doushitemo Furetakunai.”

My first work was actually published in Drap, so I had it adjusted to be a less-heavy work. That’s why I ended up switching to another magazine.

Was it a demand from the editor?

Of course I only draw what I want to draw. But without realizing, I always draw them to fit the magazine. And it seems like Taiyou Tosho prefers me to draw more simple work.

So, sensei is the type who pays attention to editor’s suggestion. When you wrote the first chapter of Saezuru Tori Wa Habatakanai, did you already want Yashiro to be the main character (for longterm series)?

Right. I didn’t explain it in the first one-shot, but I always believe that no matter how you look at it, Yashiro really loved Kageyama. And (even though he’s drawn like that) he is actually a neko (uke). I think he is an interesting character. When I drew highschooler Yashiro and others, it had been decided that I wanted to write a serialization for this.

And only then the character Doumeki was born?

At that time, the character Doumeki didn’t exist, but I thought very hard about what kind of partner that would be suitable for Yashiro. I took a break from drawing for about two years. I only worked on illustration during that time, until one morning an idea suddenly came to me, “That’s right! Erectile dysfunction!”. I immediately sent an email to my editor: “A perverted impotent man!” (laughs). Afterwards, I finally worked on the first draft.

(laughs hard) Finally, the combination of Yashiro and Doumeki who are the opposite of each other was decided. What an amazing couple that can even make the readers losing sleep.

I do have this particular interest in people’s decision and behaviour resulted from a contrasting relationship that is full of conflicts. Because there are so many characters in Saezuru, I have this excel file compiling the plot for each character chronologically. Otherwise, I would’ve forgotten about it. If I didn’t seriously research (the setting of my own story), I wouldn’t be able to write anything when I made name. But even though I got through it, drawing a family with no blood ties like yakuza was still difficult. If I don’t focus, the story might turn out like Nagara Sakugyou*. That’s why now I’m just focusing on doing Saezuru.

*) nagara sakugyou: other work that being serialized at the same time

Up until now, Sensei has published 5 volumes and all of them have beautiful covers with varied tones.

Actually, the cover color for Doushitemo Furetakunai should’ve looked like red wine, but it seemed like there was an error in printing so the pink was contrasting into it. But it turned out to be good.

Then about the cover for the Saezuru first volume. It’s so impressive! The stepped-on man! All the people around me also had high appraise for this.

Actually, there were so many things happened in the process. By taking the request (it isn’t clearly explained whether it’s from editor/designer) of “Yashiro sitting alone”, I first submitted that illustration to the book designer. However, I couldn’t throw away the idea of Yashiro being stepped on, so, during the next three days I was stressed out. I’ve finally asked them to keep my idea and that’s how the cover of the first volume ended up the way it is now.

I see! For the second volume, it’s totally different, isn’t it? It’s a scenery, but when you do a double take, there are Yashiro and Doumeki!

I always want to give a different vibe in each volume. Actually I’m also a fan of the way Tsumugi Taku-sensei draws scenery.

Hoo-, sensei is a fan of Tsumugi sensei! Talking abough NIGHTS, when you open the cover, there’s a surprise in it!

Yes, if you look at the rough sketches there were 4 pages of picture that were interconnected. In the end, the desainer took picture number two as the cover and number four to put it on the bottom of the back cover. For Soredemo, I didn’t get any guide from the book designer. I combined the the feel of the story with a touch of water paint. At first, I actually wanted to make Deguchi pulling Onoda’s hand to get out of the train, but it ended up looking like Deguchi forced Onoda to stay (with him). So I decided it’s Onoda who’s getting off the train by himself with Deguchi waiting on the platform.

Do you do the coloring with computer? How about the non-colored script?

I use SAI for coloring but for monochrome I usually draw by my hand until the inking, then I do the tone using photoshop.

Do you self-learned drawing?

Well, I at least bought a lot of ‘pose reference’ books often. When it comes to buy things, it feels great, doesn’t it? But when it comes to manga, we draw to tell our moe concept.. well, I love drawing moe concept, but the thing is- I’m not really good at drawing. I like thinking about moe stuff, I also like to combine colors (inside my head) but when I do, I have no desire to draw I, even though that’s the important part. There are often times when I feel like drawing is a handful. In short, I want to draw something that isn’t too troublesome.

But, isnt it because you’re doing manga seriously that it feels difficult?

Because I’m too serious I feel like the story can be boring. Not only the work but also the author (laughs). I often read comments saying my manga is ‘down to earth’. I guess it’s shown obviously in every each of my works

Sure, there are people who think like, “In real world, there’s no way a wakagashira can be as masochist as Yashiro”, but apart from that, Saezuru still gives an impression of it being realistic. In drawing the important men’s arms and muscles in your work, sensei has done your best. Getting into the story, the characters also put extra effort to look elegant. Despite the young age, in a positive sense, sensei’s works feels like having Showa* vibe.

(*SHOWA ERA: 1926~1989)

I’m no longer young, though (laughs). Maybe this is why my works often get called “JUNE”. Especially Saezuru, I think it really fits (JUNE concept).

Are you an organized person?

I’m actually a person who have no chill (laughs). But I have this side of myself who tend to see things as a whole, look at my surrounding then step on the brake. There is also a side of me that is so energetic in creating my own moe that I turn into a selfish person. I guess that’s also my flaw.

It seems like sensei is the type who has her own editorial meeting inside her head (laughs)

I wish it’s not true, but unfortunately, I’m the type of person who is embarrased to admit that I have a relationship with manga. Even until now I have yet told my close friends about this job (as BL mangaka). I’m not that kind of person who like to share or tell others about my moe situation inside my head. When my moe concept is being visualized in public I would scream, “Don’t look! But if you want to read it, I’d be happy”. Yes, I’m that kind of person.

I wonder if sensei’s works are the manifestation of sensei’s own self-contradictions..

#saezuru #doumeki #saezuru tori wa habatakanai #yashiro #yoneda kou #interview