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aitaikimochi · 3 years

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My Hero Academia DRAWING SMASH Exhibition Master Thread + Audio Guide Summary Translation!

1) All My Hero Academia DRAWING SMASH Tweets and Info 2) Horikoshi’s Interview about the Exhibition 3) Pre-Order MHA Exhibition Merchandise

FULL AUDIO GUIDE SUMMARY TRANSLATION: 1) Welcome Message 2) Roaring Sports Festival 3) The Test 4) My Hero Academia School Briefs 5) ULTRA HEROES 6) WANTED VILLAINS 7) ONE FOR ALL 8) ONE’S JUSTICE 9) Ending Credits

TRACK 1: WELCOME MESSAGE

All Might introduces and welcomes us to the My Hero Academia DRAWING SMASH Exhibition. Deku is also there and says that while listening to this audio guide, please don’t stop movnig as you will hold up the line and flow of traffic. He explains that the Exhibition is split into many different areas, and there’s tons of hand-drawn panels by Horikoshi-sensei on display too. There is also a section in the Exhibition that focuses on the anime too! All Might tells Deku that there’s a section dedicated to All Might himself, and Deku gets super excited and turns to Bakugou and says, “Kacchan, did you hear that? Uh Kacchan? Where are you?” Deku tries looking for Bakugou, but Aizawa comes and tells Deku to move along the line.

TRACK 2: ROARING SPORTS FESTIVAL

Ochako waves at Deku and says, “over here, Deku!” Deku goes to where she’s standing and looks at the different manga panels from the Sports Festival. He says thanks to Ochako, Tokoyami, and Hatsume, they were able to win that fight in the Sports Festival. Ochako sees her fight with Bakugou and says he was too strong, but she really wanted to win that fight for her Mom and Dad. Deku tells her it’s okay because she definitely tried her best. Ochako gets a bit flustered at this. Bakugou then passes by and asks, “Who did their best? No matter how many times I fight Deku, I’d obviously always win. But if Deku maybe was a bit more buff, he could PERHAPS put up a fight.” Ochako exclaims, “WOAH! Bakugou praised him! It’s definitely going to snow tomorrow.” Bakugou tells her to shut up.

Deku sees the next panel, which is the fight between himself and Todoroki. Ochako excitedly recites the line Deku said to Todoroki, which was the “It’s your power isn’t it!?” line. Deku gets embarrassed and tells her to stop. Todoroki thanks Deku and says it’s because of him that he remembered why exactly he wanted to be a hero in the first place. Bakugou yells at them for being sappy and gross. They then turn their attention to the panels featuring the fight between Todoroki and Bakugou. Deku said Todoroki performed really well, but Bakugou’s Howitzer Impact move was super strong. Bakugou yells that he doesn’t want to be reminded of his unwarranted victory from that fight. Todoroki apologizes.

Ochako says that Bakugou’s poor performance made his image look really bad since it was broadcasted on national television, but Bakugou says he could care less. Todoroki says he’s sorry he didn’t fight his best as he was troubled during that fight, but his head is clear now. Todoroki says he will be a proper hero. Deku says he wants to be like All Might. Bakugou says he wants to surpass All Might. Aizawa then comes and tells the group to move along as they are holding up the line.

TRACK 3: THE TEST

Deku explains that after the Sports Festival, the Hero Class went on internships with Pro Heroes. Todoroki mentions that during this time, the villains started to make moves in society, such as when they encountered Stain. Deku then goes on to say that after the Stain encounter, their class went to do the Forest Training during the Summer. Ochako remarks that Bakugou got kidnapped during this training period, and Bakugou tells her to shut up. Todoroki then explains that he, Iida, Kirishima, Yaoyorozu, and Midoriya went to save him. Bakugou continues to tell everyone to shut up. Deku then says he’s glad they were successful in saving Bakugou, all thanks to Kirishima. Bakugou says, “I told you guys to stop talking about this!”

Deku then talks about the next moment in the timeline, which was the Provisional License Exam. Ochako said she trained so hard using her Zero Gravity quirk that just thinking about it now makes her want to throw up. Deku says that even though it was really difficult to train for the exam, the training did help him master using the Shoot Style with his legs as well. Todoroki mentions that the move Midoriya came up with using his feet was very strong, and Deku said that he also got used to it. Deku thanks Hatsume for making the costume and shoes for him.

Ochako says the Provisional License Exam this year in particular was difficult as the passing rate was abysmally low. She asks Bakugou if the Provisional License Exam was difficult, and Bakugou says “shut up don’t remind me.” Todoroki then says, “Yeah, it must have sucked to fail the Provisional License Exam” and Bakugou says, “What the hell- you failed too!” Deku tells them all to calm down. He says that Bakugou’s team did well in the first exam thanks to Kaminari’s new technique made possible by the point shooter gear he got from Hatsume. Bakugou once again tells everyone to shut up.

Todoroki recalls that their entire class did well in the first round, but he personally messed up in the second round, which caused him to fail the exam. Bakugou mocks him and says “what a loser, failing the exam” and Ochako says “but you failed too.” Bakugou yells “SHUT THE HELL UP!!!”

TRACK 4: MY HERO ACADEMIA SCHOOL BRIEFS

This entire track is a recap of various events that happened at U.A. Academy on campus. Deku starts off by saying he was so nervous when he first started school at U.A. but was thankful that he was able to make friends with Iida and Ochako so quickly. Bakugou scoffs and says, “isn’t it because you just didn’t have any friends in middle school?” Deku nervously says, “I think I had a few friends…!” Todoroki asks Deku why he didn’t deny it though.

Ochako remembers that Aizawa first asked the class to test their quirks, and Aizawa comes in and says he did that because he wanted to see their potential. Deku gets nervous and wonders if Aizawa came up to them because they were holding up the line, but Aizawa said he didn’t even say anything.

Todoroki said being part of the Hero Class meant that they had tons of different types of classes, and it was sometimes quite confusing. Ochako says even though it was difficult, it was still fun, such as when they had to decide on their hero names. Bakugou scoffs and says, “Stupid Deku actually chose his Hero Name as ‘Deku’ the hell? Did he finally lose it?” Deku rebutts and says, “But I actually like that as my Hero name!” Bakugou asks Deku, “What’s so good about that name?” Deku then asks Bakugou if he had decided on a hero name yet, and Bakugou says, “Nah, I’m not gonna tell you.” Deku replies, “What, why not?”

Aizawa reminisces and says that Deku and Bakugou fought really well against All Might during the Final Exam. Bakugou said he did that so he could win against All Might. If it wasn’t for that why would he team up with Deku? Bakugou then yells, “Stupid Deku! I’m gonna Kill you!” and Deku gets confused as to why he’s saying this. Ochako mentions that saying stuff like that would definitely get them cut from all Hero interviews, and Todoroki mentions that they should be careful about what they say.

Bakugou gets mad and says he’s going to kill all three of them, and Deku asks, “so now you’re targeting 3 people!?”

Aizawa reprimands them and Deku apologizes, promising that he won’t argue anymore. Aizawa keeps a firm stance to Bakugou too. He tells Bakugou that heroes need to use their quirks to save people, not kill them. Bakugou says it wasn’t like he was actually going to do that, he’s not that kind of person.

All Might steps in and says they should put this behind them. He suggests that they should just go and see the other stuff in the Exhibition together in the U.A. area. He sees that there’s a section made just for Mineta. Deku says, “Wow it’s full of Mineta scenes!” Ochako looks at it and says, “Oh, how nice” and Bakugou says, “hmph, it’s just a place to show off an animal.” Todoroki asks Bakugou if he’s jealous that Mineta has the spotlight, and Bakugou says, “Ha! As if!!”

All might sees the Cultural Festival area and says, “Oh! This is the time when U.A. Academy held the Cultural Festival!” Ochako mentions that it was really fun. All might says Class A performed with both a band and a dance team. Deku mentions that during the Cultural Festival, the whole school gets together to create activities and open stands around the campus, and it’s not just the Hero Class but the General and Economics classes also join in too. All Might asks who’s idea was it to do the dance for Class A? Deku says it was Todoroki’s idea. Todoroki said he just thought it would be nice to have something that everyone can participate and have fun, and Deku says it was a great idea.

Ochako says everyone was able to participate in it too. Deku mentions Jirou was the one in charge of leading the band, Ashido was in charge of the dance team. Todoroki said they did well using their quirks to create a great performance. Ochako says she didn’t expect Bakugou to actually participate and play the drums for them, and she recites his line, “Let’s kill ‘em with sound!” Bakugou scoffs at her and Todoroki asks Bakugou, “why do you get angry when people praise you?” Bakugou replies, “What the hell are you even talking about!?”

Todoroki goes on to say that Jirou’s performance during the song was really great. Bakugou yells at hiim to stop changing the subject!

All Might asks if Deku enjoyed the Cultural Festival. He answers that it was really fun, and seeing people outside of their class was awesome, such as Eri as well. Deku mentions that they were able to finally let her smile, and that made him so happy. Aizawa also agrees.

All Might says it’s important for heroes to bring smiles to people’s faces. He tells them to never forget that. Deku says, “Of course, All Might!” Aizawa says to Deku that he’s stopping in line again. Deku apologizes, and All Might asks them to hurry along down the line.

TRACK 5: ULTRA HEROES

This track plays in the area where you see all the Hero panels. The heroes on display are Mirko, Bakugou, Ochako, Deku, Todoroki, Hawks, Endeavor, Amajiki, Kirishima, Mirio, and Nejire. Ochako says, “woah, there’s so many heroes!” Deku gets excited and sees the first Hero, Mirko. He goes on a ramble saying she’s ranked #5 in the Hero Ranking, her quirk is using her bunny abilities. He says that Mirko has not only a ton of male fans, but female fans as well. Bakugou snickers at Deku and exclaims, “you’re such a Hero nerd!”

Ochako mentions that the next Hero after Mirko is Bakugou. Deku introduces Bakugou, saying “This is Bakugou Katsuki. He’s enrolled in U.A. Academy and sits in Seat #17 in Class A. He has a hero name, but he won’t tell him…”

Bakugou gets angry. Todoroki then continues and says, “His quirk is explosions by using nitroglycerin that he emits from his hands.”

Bakugou tells them to shut up.

Todoroki ignores Bakugou and continues with, “His personality is…”

Bakugou screams, “SHUT THE HELL UP!!!!”

And Todoroki finishes with, “…like that.”

Ochako then sees herself and says, “Oh it’s me!!” She explains her quirk and how she can cause anything to float if she touches then, but if she puts her fingers together, she can release the zero gravity as well. Bakugou then mentions that she also throws up if she uses her quirk too much. Ochako gets embarrassed and says that he really did not need to say that!

Deku says they should go on to the next person, which is him. He introduces himself as Midoriya Izuku, and his hero name is Deku. He whispers, “My quirk is…One For All…Please read the manga to find out more about it…” Todoroki asks Deku why he’s whispering, and Deku gets nervous and says, “Oh, it’s nothing at all!”

Deku sees that next up is Todoroki. Ochako introduces Todoroki and says “his full name is Todoroki Shouto, anad his hero name is just like his first name, Shouto!” Todoroki explains his quirk, and Deku says he has a truly impressive quirk since he can combine them together to create awesome attacks. Todoroki says he still needs to polish his quirk, and Ochako mentions he’s a very stoic person.

The next hero is Hawks, and Deku gets excited, saying “Oh it’s the winged hero Hawks!” Deku goes on to ramble details about Hawks, such as him being Rank #2 on the Hero Ranking Billboard, his quirk is using his feathers, but he keeps going on and Ochako says, “Ahh, maybe we should move on to the next one!”

Next up is Endeavor. Todoroki explains that Endeavor’s Quirk is called “Hell Flame.” He can emit fire at extremely high temperatures, but if he overuses his quirk, he gets burned instead. Deku says on that note, Todoroki’s quirk is better than his father’s since he can use the ice part to cool himself down. Todoroki muses that perhaps he does have an advantage over his Father.

The next Hero in line is Amajiki Tamaki. Deku introduces him as part of U.A. Academy’s Big 3. His hero name is Sun Eater. His quirk is transforming parts of his body into animals, and he can do this by eating food of that animal. Ochako explains further that if he eats takoyaki, he can use octopus arms, if he eats fried chicken, he can use the chickens legs. She then goes off saying, “tuna, beef, fish roe, mochi…” Todoroki asks if she just suddenly started rambling on about food because she just wants to eat those food, and Ochako says “I’m hungry…”

Deku sees that the next hero is Kirishima. He asks Bakugou to introduce Kirishima since they’re friends. Bakugou says, “What do you mean friends? He’s just my lackey!” Deku says, “Err…okay, Kirishima Eijirou, Hero name Red Riot. His quirk is Hardening.” Bakugou then scoffs saying, “He’s just an idiot who gets hard, that’s all!” Ochako comments, saying, “Well, you don’t need to be shy about it!” Bakugou then yells, “I’m not being shy!”

Todoroki moves the conversation along and mentions that the next Hero is Mirio-senpai. Deku introduces Mirio’s hero name as Lemillion and mentions his quirk allows him to go through things. Ochako says that according to Aizawa-sensei, Mirio is the closest to being the same rank as the Number 1 Hero. Bakugou grumbles and says, “No, I’M the one who’s going to be Number 1!” Ochako says, “Right…of course you are…” and Bakugou gets furious, saying, “YOU DARE MAKE FUN OF ME!?”

Ochako notices that the next Hero is Nejire Hado. She introduces her and says her Hero name is Nejire-chan. Ochako explains how her quirk works, and Deku remarks that Nejire can also use it to fly. Ochako adds that Nejire also won the U.A. Beauty Contest during the Cultural Festival.

Todoroki says after seeing all the Heroes lined up like this, everyone truly has amazing quirks. Bakugou says they’re all underlings compared to him though. Ochako says, “Right…of course…” and Bakugou explodes once again, asking, “What the hell, are you making fun of me?” and Ochako repeats, “right…of course” to which Bakugou curses. Deku says to the group, “We really should be moving down the line now…”

TRACK 6: WANTED VILLAINS

Aizawa asks All Might to look at the new data he pulled up on the computer about the League of Villains. The first villain they look at is the various Nomu. The file says that the Nomus are injected with quirks that are stolen or enhanced from either themselves or other people. The next villain is Stain, who Aizawa mentions killed many heroes that he deemed unfit to be a Hero. His quirk is being able to control people by drinking their blood. All Might says the next villain in the file is Gigantomachia. Aizawa mentions that aside from being able to make his body gigantic, not much is known about Gigantomachia’s quirk. What they do know is that he works for All For One.

The villain after that is Twice with a quirk that allows him to multiply hiimself.

All Might mentions that the next villain file is Shigaraki. Aizawa says he’s the current leader for the League of Villains. His quirk is the formidable disintegration quirk that can disintegrate anything that he touches with five fingers. Next up is Dabi. Aizawa mentions that his quirk is unknown but he has been seen using blue fire. Aizawa remembers fighting against Dabi during the Forest Training, and he saw that blue fire.

All Might pulls up Toga’s file afterwards. Aizawa mentions that she can turn into anyone if she has even just a sip of their blood. The villain after her is Mr. Compress, who is able to compress and decompress things or people. He can also use it on multiple objects at the same time.

The villain after Twice is Re Destro, who is the leader of the Meta Liberation Army. Aizawa says that his quirk is stress, which he builds up to release immense power.

All Might then opens All For One’s file. Aizawa says that they really don’t know anything about his quirk. The villain after him is the Doctor, who also has an unknown quirk. They do have information that the Doctor is the one in charge of creating the gruesome Nomu and High End Nomu too.

All Might mentions the League of Villains is probably plotting something even though he fought All For One and sent many of them to Tartarus. Aizawa said they must be scheming something since if the incident with the High End nomu is any indication. All Might says even if the League of Villains is on the move, the Heroes will not lose to them.

TRACK 7: ONE FOR ALL

Track 7 is a monologue by All Might. It plays in the All Might section of the Exhibition where manga panels of All Might are on display as well as a ton of decoration with All Might on the walls as well.

All might says that in order to create a society where people can freely smile and feel safe, it was necessary to have a Symbol of Peace. He wanted to be a pillar where people can depend on and smile when they see him. All Might says he inherited One For All to do just that. He is the 8th successor of One For All, and all previous One For All holders and he worked together to try to defeat All For One. However, even if they lose their lives in the fight against All For One, their hope still passes onto their successors.

They need to be Symbols of Peace for the people. All Might says he wants to be the person who can bring smiles to people’s faces. No matter what happens, he needs to keep on smiling. Those who are able to keep smiling are the strongest. That’s why he smiles.

He says that Young Midoriya and he were both quirkless. But after meeting Midoriya and seeing the strong willpower that he possessed, he knew that he had to mentor him to be his successor. All Might says to Midoriya, “Everything, from One For All to my own feelings in my heart, I entrust them all to you. Young Midoriya, you’re next.”

TRACK 8: ONE’S JUSTICE

Track 8 plays in the room where there’s panels leading up to the Paranormal Liberation War Arc. All Might starts off the audio track by explaining the big war between the Villains and the Pro-Heroes, which the U.A. Academy heroes in training also participated in. Endeavor, Miruko, and Eraserhead were dispatched to the lair of the Villains where Shigaraki unfortunately awoken as well. Once he woke up, he began destroying people and things one after another. However, the Heroes did not waver and fought back to villains while protecting the civilians.

What the villains want is to create a new world without heroes.

What Shigaraki wants is to destroy everything.

What Midoriya wants is to protect everyone with a smile.

What Bakugou wants is to be the best hero and not lose to anyone.

What All Might wishes is if Young Midoriya and Young Bakugou can work together and acknowledge each other, they can both become who they want to be.

To save and win, to win and save.

All Might says if they are able to do this, they can become the Strongest Heroes.

Deku then exclaims, “Go forward, Midoriya Izuku! Use the power All Might entrusted in you to save people. I will save and win!”

Bakugou then says, “I will win and save! That’s Bakugou Katsukis’ way of life on the path to become the Number One Hero!”

All Might ends the track with the line, “To destroy the word or to save it. One For All’s successor Midoriya Izuku fights head on with All For One’s successor, Shigaraki Tomura.”

TRACK 9: END CREDITS

All Might says he’s come to send us off and thank us for visiting the exhibition! Deku also says thanks for coming. Ochako asks if we had fun? Todoroki says they were able to relive a bunch of different moments at this exhibition. He says he is thankful for it, and Deku agrees. Ochako asks Bakugou how was the exhibition? Bakugou says screw this- they should all go back inside and just focus on everything Bakugou related, forget about the Villains or anyone else. Todoroki says, “Well, if we do that we’ll need to reserve tickets again so…”

Aizawa asks All Might to do the closing message. All Might thanks us again for visiting, but things don’t just end here! The world of My Hero Academia will only keep getting bigger and bigger! Deku hopes that we can always cheer them on.

All Might then leads everyone in saying “GO BEYOND, PLUS ULTRA!!!”

Deku says to us, “Let’s meet again soon, everyone!” He then turns to All Might saying, “That’s good right? Oh, oh crap I still need to get in line to buy the limited edition goods only sold at the Exhibition! Wait let me go line up ahhh!” and scurries off.

All Might then laughs and says “as expected of the headstrong Young Midoriya!”

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woolishlygrim · 3 years

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So, with the new Madoka Magica thing coming, I watched Rebellion again, and was reminded of how interesting and thematically rich the weird, surreal transformation sequences from that movie are.

So I looked up some people’s analyses of the sequence, and those analyses were, you know, really bad. Luckily, I’m a relaxed person who can let things go and doesn’t feel the burning need to waste a lot of time analysing a one-and-a-half minute sequence from an eight year old movie.

...

1) Mami.

Mami is really straightforward. As the transformation sequence starts, she’s doing an ice dance, a kind of dance that strives to create the impression of free movement, grace, and creative expression but which is actually governed by incredibly rigid rules, not unlike how Mami attempts to foster an external presentation of effortless, free-spirited grace, while binding herself to a rigid code of behaviour.

As she moves into her final spin, she folds up one leg, forming the shape of a grief seed, which her magical girl form tears its way out of, breaking her back open as it goes. This is some incredibly literal symbolism: For Mami, who made her wish solely to escape death while the rest of her family died and later threw herself into being a magical girl, her magical girl persona literally tore its way out of her grief, breaking the person she was before.

Her back breaking also ties back to her death in the series, as Bebe crushed her in its jaws.

2) Kyoko.

Kyoko has an excitable, fast-paced dance to pretty straightforwardly represent her excitable, wild personality. As the sequence goes on, she sprouts a multitude of arms, waving about her, in what is almost certainly a reference to Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy. Apart from referencing Kyoko’s selfless wish to help her father, and her act of mercy-killing Sayaka, Guanyin was typically conflated with the Virgin Mary, with statues of Mary disguised as Guanyin and a cult of 'Maria Kannon’ having formed around her at one point. Giving that her father was apparently a priest excommunicated for heresy, it’s entirely plausible that heresy was the veneration of Maria Kannon.

Next we see a man’s hand reach for Kyoko’s face. This is almost certainly Kyoko’s father’s hand, reaching for her either in affection or in anger after killing the rest of their family. We see Kyoko split into multiple images, referencing her now lost power of duplicating herself, before the scene is torn open by a demonic, red-eyed, terrifying looking Kyoko. This is the one bit of symbolism in this sequence that has me completely stumped. A representation of how Kyoko sees herself, maybe? Or perhaps a representation of how her father saw her.

3) Sayaka.

Winning the prize for ‘least disturbing,’ we’ve got Sayaka, who kicks off her transformation by break-dancing, as coloured silhouettes mimic her movements at a slight time delay. The break-dancing itself is just a reference to her athleticism, but what’s interesting is that some of the silhouettes occasionally flicker to black with spots of oily colour, the pattern of a soul gem just before it becomes a Witch, referencing Sayaka’s fate in the original timeline of becoming the Witch Oktavia.

As the transformation ends, a silhouette of Sayaka as a schoolgirl sprints (with perfect form, again referencing her athleticism) at a silhouette of herself as a magical girl, the two colliding and splattering like water. There’s a general running theme of water in this one, referencing Oktavia again. As the two colours mix, a liquid version of Sayaka as a magical girl emerges, and for a split-second we see her cry into her hands, representing her regret at becoming a magical girl.

This one is almost as simple as Mami’s, all told.

4) Homura.

The most symbolically rich and also probably the most disturbing. As Homura starts, we see her holding her soul gem, which for a split-second flashes to an artistic representation of a scene later in the movie: The forest of lanterns that Homura and Kyoko end up passing through when they’re trying to leave town.

Homura’s dance is a ballet dance, representing how ... let me check my notes here ... she’s a ballet dancer. Like Sayaka, she has a silhouette following her at a time delay, but unlike Sayaka, her silhouette isn’t actually perfectly mimicking her movements, instead deviating at points. This is probably playing triple duty on the symbolism side: Homura is at this point both magical girl and Witch, both the original Homura and the new universe’s Homura, and is in two minds about what she wants to do.

As the transformation goes on, the white silhouette gets caught in a film reel, repeating her infinitely, while the purple silhouette is still and singular: The purple silhouette is the new universe’s Homura, while the white silhouette is the original timeline’s, repeating the same period of time over and over again.

We get another short shot of a future part of the film, this time the rising lanterns that lead up above the city, which will eventually be transformed into the arch and castle where Homura becomes a Witch.

This transitions to a silhouetted, yellow-eyed version of Homura (the ‘lizard-girl’ she figuratively becomes) bursting into patterns as Homura escapes from it, reaching for something, before transitioning to a pair of glowing hands grasping around a soul gem. The colour grading makes the soul gem look purple, making it look like Homura’s, but it’s actually not: Homura’s soul gem is visible on one of the glowing hands. This is actually Madoka’s soul gem that Homura is grasping at.

After a split-second shot of some very sinister witch text, we cut back to Homura, who segues into some more ballet moves before her striking her pose. These actually aren’t just any ballet moves, though: She’s dancing the death of Odette at the end of Swan Lake. At the end of Swan Lake, Odette dies and ascends to heaven, freeing the other swan maidens from the grip of Rothbart. It’s a very close match to someone’s story, but that someone is Madoka, not Homura: Homura’s mimicry of Madoka/Odette casts her in the role of Odile, the Black Swan (whose costume Homura wears as part of her devil attire later on in the movie), who imitates Odette and in doing so steals her purpose from her. This is some really heavy foreshadowing for the end of the movie.

5) Madoka.

Madoka’s dance is styled after the pop dances of idols, figuratively representing her as Homura’s ‘idol,’ (and potentially tying in to ideas of the artificiality of Jpop idols: This both is and isn’t Madoka, after all, it’s a mask that the real Madoka is wearing).

After the dance, the transformation cuts to the same film reel Homura was stuck in, but this time with an endless line of paper dolls of Madoka. This is pulling double duty for symbolism here: The dolls are both the many iterations of Madoka that Homura has seen in her time loops, and the infinite iterations of Madoka that exist in the moment of every magical girl becoming a Witch -- we actually see an almost identical scene elsewhere, in Ultimate Madoka’s transformation in Magia Record, with the key difference being those Madokas are real, whereas these ones are a chain of paper dolls, hinting at Homura’s view of those Madokas as being ‘not fully real.’ The Madoka she knew is gone, and Ultimate Madoka both is Madoka and is just a pale imitation.

We cut from there to grainy, close-up images of Madoka. The angle of these suggest that we’re seeing through someone’s eyes, and we are: These are Homura’s memories of the ‘real’ Madoka. As we watch, a glowing hand breaks through, shattering the images like a mirror. A lot of people have assumed this is Madoka’s hand, but it’s not: We’ve already seen this exact glowing hand, in Homura’s transformation, because it’s Homura’s hand, reaching for Madoka. As if to confirm this, behind the hand we see buzzing stripes of colours for just a moment: The same ever-shifting rainbow shades as Devil Homura’s eyes briefly turn.

Madoka is revealed, peering through her hands in a way that mimics the floating eyes of Kyubey outside the isolation field they’re all trapped in. Like Kyubey, Madoka is a godlike being who exists beyond the world that Homura has created here.

Whew. Okay, that’s all five. We get Bebe’s transformation later, and the symbolism there is that she likes cake and shit.

#madoka magica #puella magi madoka magica #pmmm

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restlessfandoming · 3 years

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“the president and the troublemaker” (part 4) (chilumi fic)

“Lumine is the student council president and Childe is the school’s number one troublemaker. They cross paths more than they’d like. Especially when Childe finds out Lumine’s big secret. Highschool AU à la Kaichou wa Maid-sama.”

[part 1] [part 2] [part 3]

[Fic Masterlist] // [AO3 Link]

the president and the troublemaker (part 4)

Lumine narrowed her eyes at Kaeya. “What does this have to do with fighting?” she asked as she pulled at the frills and lace of the dress her manager had forced her to wear. The bright pink garment made her look like some fairytale princess on her way to meet the nearest unicorn.

“Nothing,” Kaeya responded, the shutter of his camera clicking as he took her picture. “This is for publicity.”

“I need publicity?”

“Well, no one is going to fight you if they don’t know who you are,” Kaeya explained. “I also think we can catch people off guard if we present you like this.”

“She does look very...docile right now,” Aether noted from his perch on a pile of gym mats. They were currently in the back of Zapolyarny Palace; Lumine was posed against a white sheet for a simple backdrop to their photoshoot.

“Exactly.” Kaeya nodded. “People are going to think she’s easy prey to beat for some cash. Until she hits them where it hurts.”

“And what does Childe think of this?” Lumine asked.

“Tartaglia is in charge of your skills as a fighter. I’m in charge of your image as a fighter.”

“Is that really that important?”

Kaeya smiled. “Even as a fighter, you’re still an entertainer. The more likeable you are, the more you put yourself out there, the more sponsors you’ll get—which means more money for you.”

“And you’re sure that her identity isn’t going to be revealed if we get too much in the spotlight?” Aether asked, pursing his lips.

“We’re going to keep it contained within Snezhnaya, and as we’ve talked about, your little school friends don’t venture this way.”

Lumine sighed. “Fine; let’s get this over with.” She gave a stiff smile.

Kaeya brought the camera down, his face cast in disappointment. “This is part of the job, Lumine. You need to play the part. People can tell from a mile away if you’re not exactly passionate about this.”

Her face dropped, and she yet again pulled at the dress. “I just don’t feel comfortable in this.”

It was Kaeya’s turn to sigh. “Let’s just call it a day then.” He gave the dress a glance-over. “You’re right, this doesn’t exactly fit you.”

“It’s not really her color,” Aether agreed.

“You’re right about that, Aether.” The captain put his hand over his chin, pondering. “But what color fits Lumine best?”

“I’m fine with any color. Can’t we just use the pictures you’ve already taken?”

Kaeya was already packing away his camera. “You look like a dead fish strung up on display in a seafood market; no one is going to want to sponsor that.”

“Can’t we just win people over with my skills?”

“Do you think sponsors would rather back a good fighter who is personable, or a good fighter who seems to hate everything around them?”

The blonde crossed her arms. “I guess personable,” she grumbled.

“Good job,” her manager acknowledged, his voice almost tipping into sarcasm. “So just give it some thought as to what color you would rather your dress to be, and I’ll have my seamstress recreate a dress for you, okay?”

Kaeya walked off, and Lumine flopped down on the mats next to Aether. She let out a frustrated groan. “Why does this have to be so hard? I used to just show up and punch people, and now I’m doing photoshoots?”

Aether laughed, then patted her shoulder. “Just something else to study, right?” he said jokingly.

Lumine sat up slightly. Sure, her brother was joking, but studying was something she was good at. Later, as she changed out of the wretched dress, she compiled a list of how to start her research.

First, maybe some fashion magazines...Then...

* * *

Unfortunately, her student council duties and school work came first, and Lumine wasn’t able to swing by her local library to pick up some magazines for her research.

“You okay, Lumi?” Amber, the student council secretary and Lumine’s friend, asked.

The blonde gave her a small smile. “Yeah, I’m just thinking about work.”

Amber perked up. “Oh, where do you work? Maybe I can help!”

...Shit. “Oh, uhm, just at a local restaurant…,” she lied. Please believe me, please believe me.

“Ah, I see,” the brunette said, nodding. “Customers got you down?”

“Uh, no actually. Management is kind of asking a lot of me. If that makes sense,” Lumine found herself saying. “Like expecting me to wear some stupid costume and...act a certain way that isn’t really true to who I am.”

“Hmm,” the secretary hummed. “I totally get that. It’s always hard when people try to force you to be something you’re not.” Her face split in a cheeky grin. “But you are one of the most authentic people I know! And hardworking! I know that whatever you do, you’re going to do your best and still be the great president we all know and love!”

Lumine felt her heart warm. “Thank you, Amber,” she said softly.

Amber saluted. “Anytime, Pres!”

Just then, a group of boys passed by the open door of the student council room, all excitedly chattering and gathering around something.

“Dude, she’s so hot!” the two council members heard them exclaim. “Are there any nudes in here?”

Lumine’s soft expression immediately faded, and she stood up from her desk. “That sounds like something I have to take a look at.”

She stepped into the hallway, and the boys were at the end, still crowded around their object. She marched up to the group, immediately identifying their object as a magazine of swimsuit models.

“Inappropriate magazines are banned in school,” Lumine announced as she snatched it from one of the boy’s hands. All the boys let out various shrieks, then ran out of the hallway. When she walked back into the council room, Amber was gone with a note saying she had to go grab paperwork from the main office.

Lumine sat back down at her desk, setting the magazine off to the side as she tried going back to her homework. She found herself glazing at the magazine more than she wanted to admit.

She glanced around the room, slowly picking up the magazine, and peeling it open. She stared intently at the way the models held themselves in the pictures—their postures, their facial expressions—and tried to imagine herself in their shoes.

“I didn’t know you were into that kind of stuff, Pres.”

Lumine nearly jumped a foot out of her seat. Childe was bent over her shoulder, looking down at the magazine with her.

She slammed it closed. “Childe, do you ever go to class? Like at all?”

“Of course I do,” he said, sitting on the edge of her desk. “I just leave when I get bored.”

She sighed. “Do I have to write you up for skipping class?”

He raised a brow, then picked the magazine off her desk. “Do I have to write you up for being in possession of this?”

Lumine ripped it from his hands. “It’s not what it looks like,” she tried to reason, her cheeks flooding with warmth. “I’m just researching. For Kaeya.”

“For Kaeya? Does this have something to do with why he asked me what color fits you best?”

“He asked you that?” Lumine rubbed her forehead. “Just tell him any color is fine.”

“Why’s Kaeya got you doing all this anyways?”

“Publicity, promotion, whatever you want to call it,” she explained. “Making me ‘personable.’”

“He doesn’t think you’re personable?”

“Apparently. He basically stuffed me in a frilly dress and told me to ‘smile for the camera.’” She turned to him. “You don’t do any of this stuff?”

“My managers in the past tried to make me do it.” He shrugged. “I told them that if they made me do it, I’d just beat them up.”

“Geez, Childe.” Lumine rested her head on her hand. “I’m not going to threaten Kaeya. I know he means well.” She shook her head. “I guess it’s just something I’ve got to do.”

“I’ve had plenty of colleagues in the industry go through stuff like this though. Maybe I could come to the next photoshoot and help you with Kaeya?” he offered.

“I appreciate the help,” Lumine said. “But this is my image, isn’t it? I think it’s something I’ve got to do on my own.”

A small smile from Childe. “You’re very stubborn, you know that right?”

“Is that bad? I like going my own way.”

“No, not at all.” He leaned back, eyes locking with hers. “I think it’s quite strong of you actually.”

Lumine swore her heart had skipped a beat. “Ah, th-thanks, Childe, I guess.” She quickly stood up, packing her stuff up. “Well, I’ve got to go. I’ll see you later.”

She rushed out of the room before Childe could say anything else. She brought her hand to her forehead, searching for signs of a fever.

Why did my body do that just now?

* * *

“Wow, Kaeya, I love this dress,” Lumine said genuinely, as she turned around in her new dress.

It was a white dress, on the shorter side, the length going from high to low, with gold—almost armor-like—embellishments sewn in. The collar was a scarf that connected to the top of the bodice with two crossing straps, and the outfit was further accessorized with matching gold and white thigh high boots and long gloves. It fit comfortably, so comfortably that Lumine was confident she could actually fight in it.

Kaeya nodded. “It fits you like a glove.”

“Aether, did you tell Kaeya to go with this look?”

Her brother shook his head. “I really didn’t have any good ideas, so I didn’t suggest anything.”

Lumine furrowed her brows. “Then who—”

“Looks like I was right—white really is your color,” Childe said, walking up to the trio.

“White?” Aether asked, his brows furrowed. “Like innocence?”

Lumine scoffed. “I’m not exactly ‘innocent.’ I mean, I punch people for a living.”

Childe chuckled. “It’s ‘white’ because you don’t let others influence you. You are perfectly strong and hardworking all on your own.”

Lumine felt her face warm. Kaeya smiled. “Perfect,” he said. “I like the symbolism.”

“I must say, the piece turned out way better than expected,” Childe commented, his eyes roaming over Lumine.

Again, her heart felt like it had stuttered for a second.

“So, are we taking these photos or not?” she asked quickly. “The sooner we get these out, the sooner I can schedule matches, right?”

“Okay, okay,” Kaeya said, unpacking his camera equipment.

Soon enough, the backdrop and lighting equipment was set up again, and Aether and Childe sat in the corner while Kaeya instructed Lumine where to go and what to do. Aether had his nose in a book (avoiding conversation with Childe) while the orange-haired troublemaker just sat and watched.

Lumine had been fine doing this ridiculous task in front of just Kaeya and Aether, but now that Childe was here, she was hyper-aware of his eyes on her, feeling more awkward than before, despite the better change in clothing.

“Lumine, the dress does look much better, but you still look super stiff,” Kaeya commented. “Try to relax.”

“I am relaxed,” she said through gritted teeth.

Childe laughed from the corner. “That’s what you call relaxed? You look like you’re about to pop a blood vessel.”

“I’d like to see you try,” she snipped.

A smirk. “Sure.”

He sauntered up to the front of the camera, and Lumine stepped out of the way.

“Wow, I get the honor of being your first official photographer?” Kaeya joked.

“If Lumine demands it, I must,” Childe joked back.

Kaeya started instructing Childe on what to do. To everyone’s surprise, Childe followed the instructions perfectly.

Each pose struck, each expression made, Lumine could see coming straight out of a magazine. He was actually doing it, and doing it way better than Lumine had. Her muscles twitched at her failure—Can I really not do something as simple as this?

“See? Easy enough,” Childe said, smiling. “Are you really going to let me show you up at your own photoshoot?”

“No,” she replied pointedly. She walked back to her place, eyes narrowing at Childe, silently telling him to get out of her space.

Instead, he pressed into her space more. “Let’s try some things.” His hands were then on her arms, pulling them into specific angles. “Maybe if you tried posing like this…”

The embarrassment and frustration bubbled in her throat, and before she could even think about it, she yanked her body away from him. “Maybe it would be better if you left,” she snapped at him, her tone so poisonous that she swore her tongue tasted bitter afterwards.

The room was absolutely silent. Kaeya and Aether’s eyes flickered between Lumine and Childe.

Childe stuffed his hands into his pockets. “Sorry. Seems like you’re in a bad mood today,” he said, walking away. “I’ll just leave then.”

The anger in Lumine’s body quickly dissipated upon seeing Childe’s face—the cheerful glimmer in his eyes gone. He was just trying to help.

“W-wait,” she said quietly.

Childe stopped, turning her way.

Her eyes were cast downwards. “Ch-Childe, please help me.”

Silence filled the room once more.

CLICK!

The camera flashed, blinding everyone for a split second.

“That was the one,” Kaeya said. “A nice, genuine photo of you.”

Both Lumine and Childe looked at Kaeya, a bit taken aback, then looked at each other. Lumine immediately averted her gaze back to the floor. After a second, she felt someone’s hand patting her head.

“Looks like you didn’t even need my help,” Childe said, looking down at her.

Secretly comforted by his touch, Lumine crossed her arms, feigning displeasure at his head pat. “But you did help,” she mumbled. “In a way.”

BAM!

Everyone turned to Aether in the corner. His hands were clasped tightly on his book, after he had slammed it closed.

“Childe,” Aether said with a forced smile. “She’s not your pet, so let’s take your hands off, okay?”

Childe pulled his hand back. “Oops,” he whispered to only Lumine. “Don’t want to get in bad favor with your brother, now do I?”

“You’re already in bad favor with him,” Lumine whispered back, walking away from him and joining her brother. She glanced back, amused by his confused expression.

“Sis,” Aether murmured once she was close enough. “Look, I’m glad he’s helping you with your job, but don’t forget that Childe is quite literally a delinquent at our school and has given you so many problems. Don’t get too involved with him.”

“It’s okay, Aether, I don’t plan on ‘getting involved’ with him,” Lumine responded.

Aether looked at her, and she could tell he didn’t believe her.

...Why doesn’t he believe me?

* * *

[part 5]

#genshin impact #genshin tartaglia #genshin childe #genshin lumine #childe #lumine #tartaglia #childe x lumine #lumine x childe #chilumi #lumichilde #genshin impact fanfiction #fanfiction #fanfic #me

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maxwell-grant · 3 years

Note

OK, I know this will probably be painful, and I may be a bad mutual for asking but...would you be willing to identify what, in your opinion are the bottom five worst Shadow adaptations, and give a detailed breakdown of why they were so lousy?

Oh christ, okay. I don't think you're gonna get as much of a detailed breakdown for these compared to some of the others, because I take more issue with adaptations that do have good qualities but also big or deep problems to talk about.

For example, I can't include Garth Ennis's Shadow in this list because the comic has a lot of strong points to it, despite a deeply, deeply detestable take on The Shadow's character, where as the rest of the Dynamite run doesn't reach neither the lows or highs of his run. Likewise, Andy Helfer's run has a couple or a couple dozen moments every issue that make me want to tear something to shreds in frustration, but it's also at many points a really good comic with great art and some occasionally very inspired writing. Really, I'd just be repeating myself talking about what I hate in those.

But, fine, let's list some of the others.

I think I'm just gonna have to get the elephant in the room out of the way here, and address that I won't be including Si Spurrier's 2017 Dynamite mini in this list, and I think at least some of you might be angry it's not Number 1 by default. I'm doing this because I intend to one day really revisit it, think about it and it's reception and what it was trying to do, and talk about it on it's own, now that it's been 5 years and everyone has moved on and we can maybe talk about it without kneejerk hatred driving everyone nuts (your mileage may vary on how warranted it was).

I'm also not going to be talking about James Patterson's new novel, because I haven't read it. It seems to be considered a forgettable potboiler by mainstream critics and a resounding failure by everyone who likes the character whether they've read the book or not, and frankly I don't have it in me to learn what the fuzz was about anytime soon, I got my hands way too full as is.

And I won't be including the Batman x Shadow crossovers here, because again, they do have a lot of virtues that put them far ahead of some of the really worst Shadow media, and I've talked enough about how badly I think they mangled The Shadow, which is really the big problem I have with them (well, that and Tim Sale blatantly copying a Michael Kaluta cover, that was really shitty). I don't really hate them anymore, I just get tired and frustrated thinking about parts of them, I said my piece as is. Really, my frustration over this comic is what inspired me to start writing about The Shadow here, so I guess in a way I do owe it at least that much.

5: Archie Comics's Shadow

I think some of you might be wondering why this isn't ranked higher, but to be honest, I don't actually harbor any hatred towards this. I mean, I have to include it, but I find it kinda silly that some people even today actually care about the existence of this comic enough to hate it.

For fans back then? Oh yeah, obviously, but this dropped to such instantaneous backlash that it never really got to live past 6 issues. Really, everything wrong about it can be understood immediately from the covers, and I've actually read the comic in it's entirety to see if there was anything worth taking. I found only a couple of things of note but, no, this really is just a painfully mediocre superhero comic that happens to have a couple of Shadow names in it. If anything, it gets too much credit.

The actual contents of what it is are never going to justify it's reputation, but the existence of it and the disproportionate response to it is the funniest and most enduring legacy it could ever ask for. This whole comic is The Shadow's version of Spongebob's embarassing Christmas photo.

4: David Liss's The Shadow Now

This is another "The Shadow as an immortal in modern times" comic and I think you may have noticed the pattern with those by now. I may revisit this eventually and I do have some moments from it saved for reference, but overall: It sucks, and it doesn't even suck in a way that lets me talk much about it, it's a diet version of Chaykin's Shadow. If Archie's Shadow is a generic mediocre superhero comic wearing The Shadow's name, this is a generic crime story playing beats from movie. The Shadow is an asshole and not even a grandiose or sinister one, he just feels like a sleazy douche in a costume. The art is a 50/50 coin toss between appropriately moody and "Google images with a filter on them", I don't remember anything about the plot other than Khan had a bomb again and he had a daughter, and there were new versions of the agents and the Harry stand-in turned evil and Lamont shacked up with Margo's descendant which, uh, no. I don't really hate this but I really have nothing nice to say about this comic other than Colton Worley's art is nice sometimes. I can't really muster anything else to say here.

3: Invisible Avenger

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

ZZZZZZZZZZZZ

ZZZZZZZZZZ...

...uuh, wha-

Yeah, I remember nothing about this one other than it's painfully boring and nothing about it, nothing at all, works in the slightest and I drift off to sleep even now trying to give this a rewatch. To be honest pretty much every other Shadow serial not starred by Victor Jory sucks and I don't really have anything to say about them, this one is just the worst of the lot. I dearly wish there was a good Shadow tv series but, if it was going to be like this pilot? Good riddance.

2: Harlan Ellison's The New York Review of Bird

This isn't really a Shadow story as much as it's a Harlan Ellison story that happens to feature The Shadow, but man am I glad that Ellison's "Dragon Shadows" was canned, because holy shit what a goddamn nightmare Harlan Ellison writing The Shadow for real could have been, going purely by the one time he ever touched the character. New York Review of Bird is a purely farcical parody story that wears real, real thin even before "Uncle Kent" shows up, and we get to see in it what is by far the most detestable and irredeemable take on The Shadow ever put on print, and not even in a critique or deconstructive way or anything that could be remotely worth discussing.

I don't hold any particular affection for Harlan Ellison and his writing (despite liking some of it) and I've come to notice the major red flag that is finding someone who looks up to Harlan Ellison in any capacity as a person, and this story in particular really feels like Ellison aggressively trying to channel his jackass tendencies through every line, just him being nasty because he built a personal brand on being nasty. The only reason this isn't Number One is because it's a very short story that saw zero influence or reputation, and thus it only exists as a brief mention in The Shadow wiki, and a brief mention is all it really calls for.

1: Howard Chaykin's Blood & Judgment

I'm guessing most of you already knew this one was in the top spot before I started writing.

I would actually rather not write a big piece on Blood & Judgment, because I think (or at least I hope) it's influence on The Shadow has waned a lot over the years and I would prefer to draw it the least amount of attention possible, but if I HAVE to talk about this, I guess I'd rather just vomit this out of my circuits now instead of giving it it's own post.

I would prefer to use a less unpleasant image on my blog, but if I'm going to talk about this comic, there's no image to better convey it than this drawing of macho asshole Cranston holding a sexualized mannequin at gunpoint. By leaps and bounds, Blood & Judgment is the most misogynistic Shadow story I've ever read. It's ironic that Chaykin justified the rampant misogyny he gave The Shadow with the idea that this is just a man from the 30s would act like, when he admits in the same breath that he never even touched the stories, and he wrote a story more sexist and demeaning to it's female characters than anything, literally anything, written in the Shadow pulps. It's almost impressive even.

I'll paste some segments from Randy Raynaldo's review

In Flagg, he intended to present his own point of view on American society while keeping his work tongue in cheek and acessible. But this vision dimmed, and Flagg had become a vehicle by which Chaykin could play out fetishes and portray gratuitous and stylish violence.

In The Shadow, stripped of the political and social veneer which was supposed to make Flagg unique, Chaykin's sensibilities and excesses become disturbingly apparent. For all of his liberal posturing, Chaykin's work demonstrates zero difference from the same kind of mentality exploited and made popular by similarly violent popular culture icons like Dirty Harry and Death Wish.

More than half a dozen individuals are indiscriminately and violently murdered in the first issue. Although the victims are characters who played major roles in the myth of The Shadow, we feel little sympathy for them, even for those of us who knew these characters at the outset. Who dies is unimportant, it's how they die that is the fascination.

Chaykin uses sexual decadence as a means by which to establish villains, and undercuts this device by making the protagonists as promiscuous as the villains. For all of Chaykin's seemingly liberal leanings, he demonstrates very little sensitivity in his portrayal of women.

Because everything works on rules of three, this comic also follows the pattern with other works mentioned here, as this isn't Howard Chaykin writing The Shadow: it's The Shadow reimagined as a Howard Chaykin character. He looks and acts exactly like Reuben Flagg and the typical macho protagonist of Chaykin's other works, he's a cynical sleaze with an entirely new origin who half-assedly dons a garb to machine gun people, and I already wrote a separate piece on why the machineguns are kind of emblematic of everything wrong with this take.

I understand that Chaykin has, or used to have, a big following of sorts, and I've tried to wrap my head around this for years, but I genuinely still don't get why Shadow fans stomach this comic unless they happen to be Chaykin fans first and foremost, I really don't. Everything, fucking everything Shadow fans hate about modern depictions of the character can be traced right back to this. The parts that stuck and changed the character for the worse, like him being defined as an immortal, bloodthirsty warmonger who got all his skills and powers from a magic city in Tibet, or Lamont Cranston being a coward who fears and hates the Shadow, or his agents being expendable slaves, stuff that has been ingrained into the mythos through this and the Alec Baldwin movie and other comics, to the point that people now think of it as the norm, that it's the baseline of what The Shadow is, and I hate it, I genuinely fucking hate it,

I hate it so much that it's a big part of the reason why I created this blog and why I want so badly to get to write The Shadow, because I plainly couldn't stand not having ways to tell people that this is all wrong, that this is actively shooting down the character's odds for success, and that they are missing out on something really great, because the well has been tainted with garbage that won't go away and everytime I read the words Shambala in a Shadow comic, even an otherwise good or great one, I get just a wee bit cross.

The only semi-redeeming aspects I can think of for this comic is one or two cool moments, like when The Shadow hijacks a concert using his Devil's Whisper or when he tames dogs with a stare. Just breadcrumbs of "not garbage" amidst an ocean of anything but. I hate that talking about why I hate this comic in-length can almost feel like I'm still enticing people to check it out of curiosity, but if you wanna do that, fine, just know this: The worst part of Blood & Judgment, even if you don't care at all about what it did to The Shadow, is that it's boring.

It is a deeply boring comic. If you like Howard Chaykin to begin with, you'll probably like this okay (although even Chaykin fans told me that this is his weakest work and that even he seems to agree). If you don't, I plain don't see what you could get out of this.

The comic itself is just nothing. It's the comic book equivalent of a pre-schooler trying to get a reaction by swearing. It has nothing whatsoever other than half-assed attempts at shock value. The plot isn't there, the ideas are stale, the dialogue is needlessly oblique and comprised entirely of unfinished sentences, interrupted conversations and one-liners without build-up. The characters are all unlikable and uninteresting stooges with no personality, or joyless cartoons. There's no heart or emotion or logic, and it isn't even funny enough to succeed as just an outrageous exercise in 80s excess. There's nothing in here.

I get "why" it was popular enough at the time, a rising star creator penning a modern revival of an old character based on controversy that pissed off the old fans, it's an old story that still gets repeated today. But manufactured controversy is not a replacement for storytelling and it rarely ever exists to benefit the people who actually want to enjoy the stories, it only benefits those for the crude benefit of those who want to sell you something out of the controversy.

I guess they got their money's worth back then.

------------------------------------------------

Phew, okay, I did it, I finally vomited out a piece on Blood & Judgment and some others, allright, let's put this piece of negativity behind us now.

#replies tag #the shadow #pulp heroes #shadow comics #shadow films #dc comics

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fromthedeskofelizabeththird · 3 years

Text

Habanero

You're a good girl, well behaved.

Absolutely not the type to rail random guys in nightclubs.

Until you are.

Fandom: BNHA

Pairing: Aizawa x Reader, eventual polyamorous Erasermic x Reader

Rating: Gen

Trigger Warnings: Referenced child abuse, blood

AO3: Here | Want to support me? I have a Kofi

Chapter: 4/16 (all chapters)

You were scared of a lot of things: bugs, dark places, ghosts, drowning and more. Your friends often joked that you were a wimp and you’d bever been inclined to disagree.

There was one thing, however, that scared you above all others. It sent shivers down your spine and left your legs wobbling from under you.

It was the door to your father’s home office.

Your father was a prosecutor and a pretty notorious one at that, famous for the number of guilty verdicts he had achieved over the years. He had an incredible advantage, of course- the same lie detection quirk that he had passed onto you. He spent most of his evenings alternating between his work and home offices, going over the details of cases and preparing for a never ending stream of plaintiffs.

His home office was a near perfect replica of the one in the city, complete with a golden name plaque on the door. You passed it every day, multiple times a day, and each time broke out in goosebumps as if the door watched you in turn.

It wasn’t only the plaintiffs your father needed to find guilty.

Your father was not in the least bit conservative with his quirk. You spent many an afternoon there, jaw clenched and skin crawling at his line of questioning.

Tell me… why were you late?

Tell me… how long did you study?

Tell me… who were you with?

You hated being left so exposed and, in retrospect, you weren’t in the least bit surprised that you ended up vanilla instead of habanero, desperately seeking a simple married life.

The anxiety of standing outside of your father’s home office stayed with you into adulthood, even now that you had your own home. You had started to believe it no longer had an effect on you; that you no longer remembered how it felt.

As you stood outside of the hospital door, though, you remembered clearly.

Hand trembling, you reached up to knock.

━

SEVERAL HOURS EARLIER

“Maybe if I move it that way…”

You scrolled through your calendar and let out a sigh at the appointments already there.

“No good, no good.”

You sat back in your chair and stretched, popping your shoulders and wiggling your toes.

“Maybe…”

You had a moment of inspiration, only to groan and click out of the window.

With the sports festival around the corner, your schedule was on the verge of taking a beating. Between modifying your office hours to make appointments with students to discuss their offers, to making room for counselling for those suffering disappointment, to keeping your usual appointments and open office hours, you were starting to consider bringing a futon and moving into your office for the foreseeable future. You’d known it was going to be a tight squeeze, but hadn’t counted on it being this bad.

You logged out of your computer and climbed out of your chair, giving your back a quick rub before leaving your office. You needed an IV of coffee, but a cup would have to do.

You were still thinking about your itinerary as you passed the 1-A classroom. Normally, between Kirishima, Bakugo and Iida, you heard the classroom long before you passed it. Today, though, it was silent and you peered through the window.

You’d heard that they were going on a trip with Thirteen to the USJ for specialist training and, if their empty desks were anything to go by, had already left. You had taken a tour of the facility during your initial induction and it had taken everything you had to keep your jaw from hitting the ground. You knew that UA was well funded, but it didn’t really sink in until then.

You wondered how they were getting on. Had Bakugou destroyed anything yet? Had Midoriya broken any of his bones?

You were still considering it as you passed the faculty lounge, dragged out of your thoughts by the sound of voices within. It sounded like the principal, though you weren’t sure who he was speaking to. You wondered if it was a private conversation and you should come back another time.

You knocked a couple of times before peeping around the door.

“Sorry,” you said, “am I interrupting?”

You really had heard the principal and he appeared to be sharing tea with All Might.

You weren’t sure you would ever be prepared for the sight of All Might in his skinnier form. Like most youngsters of your generation, you had watched his heroic acts in awe. You hadn’t known he was going to join the faculty at the time of your own job application and still found your heart racing whenever you passed him in the corridors.

You had signed eighteen different nondisclosure agreements after successfully taking on the job at UA, of which well over half related to the Symbol of Peace. You knew that he had been injured very badly and was losing his strength at an alarming rate. Even so, it was difficult to adjust to the reality.

“Ah, (Name), come in, come in,” said Principal Nezu, “we were just sharing a cup of tea, would you like some?”

You wanted coffee, but Nezu had already started to pour.

“Of course,” you said, closing the door behind you and taking a seat.

“You got here just in time,” said Nezu, pushing your cup across the coffee table. “We were discussing the fundamentals of teaching.”

“That sounds interesting,” you said, taking a sip of tea. “You must have a lot of insight.”

All Might twitched beside you, visibly restless. You wondered how long Nezu had been talking.

“Apologies,” he said, setting down his cup, “I should get going. I’ve already rested for far too long.”

He got up and walked towards the door, taking a deep breath before transforming into the muscular form the world knew and loved.

You would never get used to that either.

“So, (Name),” said Principal Nezu, “how are you finding the school? I trust you’ve had support from our staff?”

“Everyone’s been really kind,” you said. “I know they’re busy with their own workloads this term, but they’ve had so much time for me.”

You wrapped your hands around your cup, warmth flooding your fingers. You wanted to explain how grateful you were for the opportunity -that not so long ago your life had been falling apart- but you never got the chance, for the door to the lounge flew open and a student stormed inside.

“Principal Nezu! Something terrible has happened!”

It was Iida from 1-A, dressed in his hero costume and visibly out of breath. Your blood ran cold and you glanced across at Nezu, who had gotten to his feet.

“USJ...there’s been an invasion at USJ! Please help!”

Nezu’s response to the matter was swift and efficient. He turned to you, visibly transformed from the mild mannered principal who had offered you a cup of tea.

“(Name),” he said. “I’m going to gather everyone available. I need you to liaise with the authorities.”

“Of course,” you said, setting aside your tea and whipping out your phone.

“Meet us there,” he said as you began to dial.

“S-sir?”

You weren’t a pro hero; what possible use could you be?

━

His intentions soon became clear.

While your colleagues rushed into the danger zone, you stayed behind with the police, hitching a ride with Tsukauchi to the station once the area was secure.

Time was of the essence. You had read enough crime statistics to know that villain attacks very often came in waves, making the next few hours crucial to the safety of UA. Having a human lie detector on hand during the interrogations was more than a little bit useful.

You only wished you could concentrate.

Everything you knew about the incident came straight from Tsukauchi, so even though you had never actually seen the full extent of the carnage, you knew enough for your imagination to run wild.

You knew that the students had escaped with minor injuries and, while Shouta was badly hurt, he wasn’t dead. You couldn’t stop thinking about it, especially since the only image of the incident you had seen was that of his goggles broken on the floor.

You sat beside Tsukauchi in the interrogation room, silent as they brought in prisoner after prisoner. You only spoke to activate your quirk; only dragged yourself out of your contemplations to ask the same set of questions.

Three hours later, you knew only fractionally more than you did to begin with. The villains you’d caught were blatant throwaways, with no knowledge at all of the man they’d followed into battle or a greater scheme. They’d all wanted to take a shot at the symbol of peace and had no idea how close they had come to succeeding.

“Are you going to be alright?” Tsukauchi asked as interrogations came to a close.

You knew you must have looked a mess, popping aspirin and pinching the bridge of your nose.

“I’ll be fine,” you said, “honestly.”

“I’ll organise a car to take you to UA,” he said, but you shook your head.

“No, no that’s okay. I need to go somewhere first.”

━

Technically, you had two places to go first.

You stopped by the police station washroom to freshen up, leaning over the sink as the migraine set in. You pinched the bridge of your nose and watched as it began to bleed.

You weren’t used to using your quirk for such a long period of time and had almost certainly overdone it. The bleeding began to slow and you switched on the tap, washing away the blood on your face before plugging your nostrils with tissue paper. Unfortunately, you had still managed to bleed on your collar.

Just your luck that you would use your quirk too much on the day you decided to wear your new white blouse. You cursed at your reflection, trying and failing to adjust your shirt in such a way that it wasn’t noticeable.

Even now, you couldn’t concentrate.

You had never crossed paths with so many villains in one day. You had watched your father cross examine witnesses and plaintiffs many, many times, but had never been in his shoes. You hated it.

You knew exactly how they felt when you activated your quirk, recognised the squirming as it crawled through their skin. Part of you had enjoyed it, knowing that their discomfort in that moment did not compare to the violence they had inflicted on others.

Shouta.

The violence they had inflicted on Shouta.

He was a hero, you told yourself. He had signed up to fight those very same villains.

Even so, you hated them for it in ways you’d never hated a villain before.

You thought back to your training and took a deep breath.

“This is normal,” you whispered. “This is normal. This is a negative emotional response to a distressing situation. This is normal, we’ll move on.”

You took another deep breath, but your heart still rattled.

What is it that’s bothering me?

You reached into your purse for your makeup, painting away the shock for now at least.

We can work through that later.

━

PRESENT

And so, there you were, standing outside of Shouta’s room in the hospital.

They’d put him under the care of one of the best doctors in Musutafu, who assured you that surgery had been a success and his life was not in danger. There was a high chance his quirk would be affected by the damage to his orbital floor but even that was lucky, all things considered.

You tapped at the door and let yourself inside, taking in the calm and quiet of the room. Shouta was tucked up in bed and connected to numerous monitors, their steady beeps breaking the silence. You closed the door behind you and crept over to the bed, taking in the bandages that covered almost every inch of his body.

You had always known that heroes risked death and worse on a daily basis but had never seen it in person. You didn’t know how to feel about seeing him bloodied and broken. You had seen this man naked; you’d held onto the arms that a villain had broken. Did it always feel this personal?

You took a seat next to his bed, taking note of exactly how much of him was covered in bandages. You wouldn’t have known it was him if you hadn’t been told otherwise.

You didn't know what you had expected to find at the hospital, only that it would give you closure.

Why, then, did you still feel so uneasy?

You recalled his words from only recently, after you had given him a faceful of pepper spray.

Why would you try and confront a villain without help? You could have gotten yourself killed.

You need to be more rational in these things. Running head on into danger gets people killed.

Why hadn’t he followed his own advice?

Truthfully, you knew exactly why.

He had been well aware of the danger, but made the call anyway. He had analysed the situation and prioritised the lives and safety of his students over his own. It was the right thing to do and the rational part of you knew that, but you didn’t feel very rational right then.

You had to report back to Nezu; had to adjust your schedule ready for trauma counselling. You weren’t the only one who had been exposed to an unprecedented amount of villains that day. 1-A had almost certainly seen too much too soon.

You knew you had to leave, yet felt guilty as you got to your feet.

“I’m sorry,” you whispered, hoping that your words would reach him through the anesthesia. “I have to go...but I’ll be back tomorrow, okay?”

You promised yourself that you’d skip lunch if you had to.

“See you,” you said, leaning over to kiss his forehead as if on autopilot.

Your heart skipped a beat once you realised what you’d done.

Oh God, what were you thinking?

You reached into your purse for your chapstick as you left the room, so focused on painting away the kiss that you didn’t notice his fingers twitch.

#aizawa x reader #eraserhead x reader #shouta aizawa #aizawa shouta #boku no hero academia #habanero

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duhragonball · 3 years

Text

BEGIN: Battle Tendency Liveblog. JJBA Ch. 45-47

🇺🇸🗽🧗‍♂️🧼🪀🌵Part 2, Hell Yeah!🌪️🎈🛩️🌋🚬

I'm pretty friggin' excited for Part 6 anime, and Part 6 is one of my faves, so one could understandably assume that Part 6 is my favorite. And I post a lot of other JoJo stuff on this blog, so it's probably not obvious, but Part 2 is the best.

I got into JoJo in 2017, watching Parts 1-4 in anime version, then reading the scanlations of Parts 5-8 while I waited for the anime to catch up. Then I re-liveblogged the Part 5 manga because there was finally a proper translation available. And technically the Part 8 liveblog never ended, since the manga is still ongoing.

As I developed an appreciation for the manga, I started to feel like I should go back and check out the comic versions of Parts 1 through 4. Where better to start than my personal favorite? But I never got around to it, until now.

There's a few things I want to explore with Part 2. First, I want to go through and work out why exactly I like it so much. It's kind of tough to articulate, but usually I just say that it's fast-paced and something's always happening. Part 1 takes a while to get going, and Parts 3-8 rely on the Stand concept, which means that each of them occasionally fall into the trap of becoming formulaic. Part 2 doesn't have the hassle of introducing all the lore, and it doesn't have the luxury of just doing a gauntlet of Stand Battles to pad out the story. But I think there's more to it than that. Battle Tendency has a charm all it's own, and that's what I want to talk about.

Second, now that I've become familiar with Parts 1-7 (and most of 8), I want to go back and see how 2 holds up as part of this mythos. BT sort of gets overlooked, I think, and that's fair, since it doesn't involve Dio, Stands, or the more outlandish costumes of the later installments. A lot of fans write off Parts 1 and 2 for being "boring", but at least Phantom Blood carries the prestige of starting it all, and providing the origin of Dio. Something I think a lot about is whether or not Part 2 "connects" with the later entries in the JoJo series. It forms a trilogy with 1 and 3, and Part 4 features Joseph's legacy in an important way, but what about the later ones? Parts 5 through 8 owe a huge debt to Stardust Crusaders for introducing Stands, and to Phantom Blood for introducing JoJo's, but what does Part 2 give them, if anything?

Third, I'm interested in seeing how BT holds up in isolation. It's a direct sequel to Part 1, and it ends with a prelude to Part 3, so it's clearly designed to function as part of a larger saga. But Parts 4 and 5 really don't operate that way, and that got me thinking that maybe Part 2 is more self-contained than I give it credit for.

But enough about that, let's get this started.

There's two plot threads in these opening chapters. One reintroduces Robert E. O. Speedwagon, now a 70 year old oil tycoon, and Straizo, who has succeeded the late Tonpetti as the Ripple Master. Speedwagon has been using his oil fortune to fund a research organization called the Speedwagon Foundation, and it discovered something major during an archaeological expedition: an engraving of the stone mask, the same one Dio used to turn himself into a vampire 50 years earlier. Note that the mummified corpse lying on the slab with the engraving has vampire fangs. Whoever this guy is, he didn't just know about the masks, he used one personally.

It might get revealed later in the comics, but I'm pretty sure the anime version had Speedwagon explain that he primary purpose of his foundation was to learn more about phenomena like the Stone Mask, which is probably why they were digging up an Aztec temple in Mexico to begin with. As I recall, the Stone Mask was discovered in that part of the world, and taken back to Europe, where it eventually came into the possession of the Joestar family. Speedwagon would know this tale, and so if he wanted to find out more about the mask, he would have known where to start. Fifty years later, he seems to have hit paydirt.

But the mask engraving isn't why he called Straizo all the way in from Tibet. Deeper in the temple, there's a weird looking area that looks like something from out of an H.R. Giger painting. In the center stands this column, or pillar, if you will, and mounted on the pillar is...

...This guy, surrounded by more stone masks. When I first watched this part of the anime, I though the big reveal here was that there were lots and lots of Stone Masks, which would be a big problem, since Part 1 made a big deal out of destroying the one Stone Mask that started all the trouble. And maybe the guy in the pillar was the one who invented the things, I thought, but the bigger problem is that he made so many of them. But no, Speedwagon explains that the "Pillar Man" is not an image carved into the stone, but a living being, in some form of suspended animation. He even has a pulse.

So who is this guy and why did he create the Stone Masks? Speedwagon does not care. He only wants this Pillar Man destroyed before he wakes up, and that's the sole reason he called in Straizo. The two of them were the only survivors of the battle with Dio 50 years ago, and Straizo's Hamon power, also known as the Ripple, can destroy vampires that were created by the Stone Mask. So he's desperately hoping Straizo can finish off the Pillar Man the same way. But Straizo doesn't seem as concerned about it, and he asks about Joseph Joestar instead. So I guess I ought to circle back to the other plotline...

Fifty years after Jonathan Joestar sacrificed himself to defeat Dio Brando, his wife Erina and his grandson Joseph have moved to New York City. Joseph tries to buy a Coke, but this kid swipes his wallet. Kind of funny how Joesph's first and last appearances in JJBA are him getting robbed.

But the kid runs afoul of the local corrupt cops, who bludgeon him with their batons and threaten to put him in jail for 20 years unless he agrees to give them a cut of whatever money he makes from pickpocketing. When Joseph catches up to this scene, the cop even says he's going to keep Joseph's wallet "as evidence". I gotta say, not everything from Battle Tendency has aged well, but this police brutality stuff has become incredibly relevant. This could be 2021, except the cop would have had a gun, and he would have shot Smokey, then Joseph because he mistook the Coke bottle for a rocket launcher.

Joseph tries to defuse the situation by claiming he gave the wallet to the kid as a gift, but the cop doesn't believe that story, and he wouldn't care even if he did. He even smears boogers in Joseph's face just to prove that he can say and do whatever he pleases. Up to this point, Joseph looks and seems a lot like Jonathan. Later artwork tries to downplay that resemblance, probably just so it's easier to tell them apart. The anime gave Joseph different color hair, and Hirohiko Araki himself started drawing young Joseph with aviator goggles all the time, even though he doesn't wear them that much in this story. But starting out, the idea was that Joseph is the spitting image of his grandfather, and it almost looks like this is just an clever way to sneak Jonathan back into the story and transport him forward in time, except....

Coming through, coming through, coming through now

Coming through, coming through, coming through

Shake it like it's heat, Overdrive!

Yeah, so Joseph can do Hamon/Ripple tricks just like his grandfather, and all the others guys who could use Hamon back in Part 1. The difference is that when Joseph does it, it looks coooooool. After breaking Officer Hulk Hogan’s trigger finger, Joseph takes a big swig of soda, because it’s awesome.

To Smokey’s surprise, Joseph did all that badass stuff a second ago, but he’s terrified about his grandmother scolding him for it. So Joseph wants to run for it, and that suits Smokey, so they rush off together, beginning a long tradition of JoJo’s running from things. Enemies, consequences, you name it.

Smokey asks Joseph how he learned how to do that trick with the coke bottle, and he says he has no idea, he’s just always been able to do it. He knows his grandfather had the same power, but he’s dead, and so are his mother and father. Curiously, Joseph’s father did not have Hamon powers, so it seems to have skipped a generation.

And that sets up the other side of the plot. Speedwagon wants Straizo to destroy the Pillar Man immediately, but Straizo first asks about Joseph. He had heard some time ago that Joseph had innate Hamon abilities, and he had used them once to rescue Speedwagon from a kidnapping attempt in midair. A flashback shows us this moment, with guys threatening to ransom and kill Speedwagon, but Joseph is just chilling in the back with a Superman comic.

Okay, time out. This panel rules and all, but the Superman comic book didn’t start until 1939, a year after Battle Tendency begins. Superman was featured in the 1938 magazine Action Comics, but this scene on the plane is a flashback to Joseph from his early teens. Also, the earliest DC bullet logo didn’t appear until 1940, so what is this? Some kind of magic, time travelling comic book? I hope someone got fired for this blunder!

Anyway, Joseph was content to ignore the hijackers until one of them struck him, and even that wouldn’t have upset him except he got his own blood on his clothes, which Erina bought him, so that sends him into a rage. Speedwagon was worried that Joseph might clobber the hijackers, but instead he knocks out the pilot, then drags him and Speedwagon out of the plane before it crashes. The main thrust of that story was that Speedwagon was more worried about what Joseph might do than the hijackers who had already threatened to murder him. Joseph is slow to anger, but once you piss him off he’s going to go to war, and he doesn’t always think things through.

But he’s never been trained to use his powers like Straizo’s order. Upon hearing this, Straizo kills his own disciples, and all of the Speedwagon Foundation guys, then knocks Speedwagon himself out. This will anger Joseph when he hears about it, but Straizo is counting on this. As he explains, Hamon power can slow his aging process down considerably. He and Speedwagon are both about 70 here, but he looks much younger. Even so, he’s feeling his age, and he confesses that he always admired Dio for his immortality and power. So now that there’s Stone Masks available, he’s decided to use one on himself, become a vampire, and become “a being that surpasses all”.

And that’s a theme that runs through all of Battle Tendency, along with the rest of the JoJo franchise. The main villains always seek power to position themselves above the rest of humanity. At first, it seems kind of random for one of the men who opposed Dio to suddenly switch allegiences like this, but in truth, it’s human nature to be tempted by this kind of power. Dio succumbed to the lure of the Mask, and now we find that Straizo would have done the same. He just didn’t have the opportunity until now.

But the reason he’s concerned about Joseph is that he’s thinking this through. Dio was defeated after all, so Straizo wants to eliminate anyone who could potentially defeat him. Aside from himself and Speedwagon, the only others who know about the battle with Dio and the Stone Mask are Erina and Joseph. Once he eliminates them, he’ll be free to do as he pleases.

Back to New York, this is a pretty sweet drawing of a car. I’m not a car guy, but even I can get behind this. By now, Smokey has met Erina Joestar, and he finds out some of the backstory from Part 1. Erina’s husband died at sea, and she was pregnant with their son, Joseph’s father, and had a baby girl whom she rescued from the same incident at sea. The two children grew up, married, had Joseph, and died, the father in World War I, and the mother of some unspecified illness. Perhaps out of loneliness, Erina is “unflinchingly kind” even to someone like Smokey Brown, who doesn’t seem to think he’s worthy of her favor.

Anyway, Erina wants to take Smokey out to dinner at this nice Italian restaurant, but this racist mafia guy makes a big stink about a Black person being allowed to eat there. Joseph gets up to kick his ass, but first he has to check with Erina to make sure it’s okay, and she’s like “Yeah, destroy that guy,” because even though she doesn’t approve of Joseph beating up people, she can’t abide disrespect to her friends. This leads to the memorable fight scene where Joseph is like eight steps ahead of his opponent. He goes for his brass knuckles, but can’t find them, and Joseph deduces where they are because of some bloodstains on his shirt. He even suggests what this guy is about to say next because he’s so predictable.

Then he dodges every blow, moving so quickly that this jerk thinks he was hitting Joseph, when in fact he was punching a hat rack behind Joseph, and somehow he didn’t notice that he impaled his hand on broken wood until Joseph explained it to him. And honestly, this feels like the prototype for a lot of Stand Battles down the line. I’ll have more to say on that later.

What puts Battle Tendency over the top is how Joseph not only outwits this big lummox, but the rest of the diners at this restaurant all start applauding him for doing it. They’re just honored to be present in this insane comic book where literally anything can happen. “He made that asshole punch a hat rack! This is awesome!”

Then this dude suddenly speaks up. He’s not only the mafia guy in charge of the first guy, but he’s also heard a hot tip about Speedwagon getting murdered in Mexico by a Tibetan man. He knew Erina would be interested in hearing this, but he’d never met her before. Small world, huh?

How would this guy already know about it, though? I guess Straizo deliberately leaked the story, specifically so Joseph would find out about it sooner, but it seems awfully convenient. But that’s how Battle Tendency rolls. This thing’s only seven volumes long, and we’ve got a lot of ground to cover...

#jojo's bizarre adventure #battle tendency #joseph joestar #smokey brown #erina joestar #robert e o speedwagon #straizo #santana

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kamikui · 3 years

Text

Onmyoji Movie

HI so I watched the Onmyoji Movie based off of the game last night and . . . . that sure was something!

In all honesty despite the weird path they decided to take, I actually enjoyed the movie. The music and detail in the scenery was amazing, I LOVED the costuming for a lot of the background characters esp in the Demon Realm, and a lot of the easter eggs that were hidden were nice.

BUT. but. As someone heavily invested in the lore of the game (especially concerning Ibaraki) how they decided to deal with the movie was like. really confusing. It genuinely felt as if NE gave the directors a cast of characters and let them do what they wanted from there w/o any prior knowledge of the game.

(spoilers down below)

Before I really pry into that though, I’ll kinda note some of the characters.

Seimei/Qingming was actually my favorite. I think this is sort of an unpopular opinion right now, but his characterization was so nice even if it sorta leans into the basic drama hero type personality. In the game Seimei is supposed to be you/the player, and not everyone is going to have the same interpretation of him-- and that’s what the movie felt like, a different interpretation. I will say I didn’t really like them making him related to their version of Orochi. I believe the snakes name was Xiangliu? I can’t remember, but I didn’t see the reason in that.

If anything, keeping him a fox and having a version of Tamamo no Mae popping up to offer advice to help with the situation would’ve been nicer, and that’d keep more of Seimei’s backstory kept in tact-- because asides from him becoming an Onmyoji apprentice at a young age we literally do not know shit about him. And legit I wouldn’t necessarily mind bc it’s a movie, you’re not going to get everyone’s backstory within 2 hrs, but we can’t really get attached to him.

Yao Bikuni/Baini was. Hm. I like her as a character in the movie, but I don’t like where she’s placed as a character in the movie. She’s a Seer? in the game and tbh it should’ve stayed that way, like I honestly can’t see her willingly working for one clan. “But how would she--” In game she is also influenced by Seimei pretty heavily, as in the in game chapters she believed he would be able to kill her. Up until she got manipulated by Orochi, she stuck to his side. With the Stone plot in the movie, if it put him in danger she would be there in order to try and help him, OR, try and pull him to join Orochi if they went that route. And they KINDA tried to hint at it when Seimei “died” with Orochi using her image, but like. come on man. Let Yao be evil for a little bit.

That being said I didn’t like the Master & Shikigami bit with those two, or the implied romance they tried to pull with them. Canonically Seimei legit brushes her off and when shes like “ohhh you’ll kill me right” hes like “lol sure” and thats IT. Literally any form of romance that’s tried at Seimei he brushes it off. he’s not into it he’s an amnesiac.

The “Oh if you become my shikigami you won’t become evil” thing was :/ to me as well because again, canonically, even though Seimei is being taunted he can contain the Kitsune part pretty well even when he wasn’t aware he was kitsune. Like I think the part as a kid was a good bit to add since it’s when he’s first being exposed to Onmyoji type stuff, but like. idk idk I couldn’t vibe with that power dynamic while they were trying to hint romance.

Continuing on with Hiromasa/Yuan Boya and Kagura/Shenle, again considering this is a movie, I’m somewhat content with their characters.

I really liked how energetic this Kagura was, and given they weren’t able to do her actual backstory, I liked the one she was given. Her introduction in the movie was really great too-- and compared to Hiromasa I felt they gave her a little more attention? Which like fine, but not so good for Hiro.

They didn’t even. Discuss his archery skills at any point which was disappointing. The most plot relevance he (and honestly Kagura too) had was finding Seimei while trying to arrest him but that’s it. And yes they showed some of his skill while he was fighting Kamaitachi, but that’s the extent of it. AGAIN i’ll consider the fact this was a movie and they didn’t have enough time to fit EVERYTHING in, but since they gave Yao and Seimei so much attention you would think they’d be able to spare some for the other two protagonists in the game.

Before I leave those two tho I’m still trying to figure out what the fuck happened in the end. Like did hiromasa get promoted in some form? was he given credit for what happened between the demon realm? Why did he separate from Kagura since they got close during the movie? I guess like bc work duties but still. I have no idea tho like i was sitting there not processing a single thing. Regardless I did like Hiro and Kags acting like siblings despite in this canon them not being related (at least it’s never clarified).

Ok so before I dive into the whole mess that is the Cimu/”Ibaraki” character, stuff on side characters.

While I didn’t like the outfits for Sakura(? Momo? Both of them?) or Chocho, I liked the roles that they held as sort of trainers for the rest of Seimeis shikigami. In fact I liked the whole courtyard ordeal in general. I have my own worldbuilding thing that has a similar theme so seeing it being used canonically was pretty nice. I do wish we could’ve seen more SSRs or even SRs though. Like, why couldn’t Aoandon be hanging out in the courtyard to give gossip to Hiro & Kagura? Yamakaze or Shishio hanging out in the forest, or like. bruh even Jikikaeru as the boss in the Showdown considering he runs that in game.

I did like the fish man! I really did, but literally everything about him could’ve been Jikikaeru, I don’t think it’s that hard to make a frog man.

Also as mentioned previously it would’ve been nice to see Tamamo make an appearance considering he makes random ones every now and then. The Mujou Brothers could’ve helped the shikigami when they were escaping Seimeis courtyard, Shiranui could’ve been an entertainer while they were traveling through the demon realm, HAKU??? couldve been one of Seimeis shiki?? literally anyone. They have all these misc characters in the background but barely any of them resemble in game characters.

GOD EVEN KOSODENOTE COULDVE BEEN THERE . . . . at the scene where Kagura was messing with jewelry and clothing . . . Koso couldve been the seller. Aobozu could’ve worked at the shrine . . . . I just. Man.

ANYWAYS . . . pulling from that and going into whatever the hell Cimu is. god.

So according to casting, Cimu is supposed to be Ibaraki. But the thing is. There’s only like. 3-4 Elements about Ibaraki that goes into him. Everything else is Shuten which i honestly find pretty funny?? Take away the homophobic jokes and combine the gay coded character into his love interest. Which I mean that’s better than making them brothers but at what cost.

anyways. Cimu previously being an onmyoji but turning evil -> shuten previously being a monk and turning evil. The design of the hand that Cimu uses as transportation -> SP Shutens design where he sits on two hands. Red hair -> shuten. The horns, eye color (minus scleras), arm getting chopped off, and his ambition to grow stronger are really the only parts of Ibaraki that’s in the character-- and even then you could say Shuten has a similar ambition of growing stronger. It’s just so scuffed.

ALSO IT DOESN’T MAKE SENSE. literally it doesn’t make sense when you look at the characters.

Why couldn’t they just stick with Kuro Seimei considering the fact that this Ibaraki works with Ootengus and Yuki Onna/The Snow Queen? They could’ve given Seimei a twin brother to work off of this. But like if they really wanted to keep Ibaraki and Shuten, they could’ve made it that Shuten was being manipulated by Orochi and Ibaraki was serving him, because there’s a LOT of shit you could do just with Shuten by himself. Legit no reason to combine the two since they’re BOTH heavily marketed characters.

Legit like, Shuten being controlled, given Ibaraki’s loyalty to Shuten he would most likely follow him no matter what, and even like. Have a form of Momiji to kind of help out-- probably at a heavy expense of Shuten doing something for her, but still. like i LOVED the snow queen, I loved this interpretation of yuki so I wouldn’t want to get rid of her, but they shouldve went with Seimei 2 instead of “ibaraki”. It’s just so much and it doesn’t make sense.

Now orochi himself and how that was handled was like. Okay I guess. If anyone was being talked to through their head at the time it should’ve been Yao Bikuni considering she allies with him in canon at one point. but like whatever. I did think the end was neat where Seimei forced him into becoming his shikigami, like I liked that whole process. Otherwise all antagonists were pretty underwhelming.

I also was not fond of the ending where like Seimei just turns away at the broken bridge. Like does this mean the Demon realm is completely cut off now? just fix the bridge. Also does Seimei just fuck off?? I know theres a scene where he’s standing on the roof but. i dont know.

Regardless the movie was great, I had fun watching it. When ibaraki came in I accidentally paused the movie a couple of times while spamming screenshots. Even tho hes like kinda ugly but that’s ok. There WERE some angles where he was hot as hell but otherwise they did his actor so dirty. The horns were just. God I won’t delve into that bc this post is long as hell BUT. BUT. THE MOVIE WAS GOOD. just not if ure into the lore for the game LMAO.

Ok that’s it for now bye

#Onmyoji #this is so long and probably incomprehensible but these r my thots #tbh i cant wait for the drama that's coming too they teased it but w like. actual outfits from the game #it was seimei and momiji so i think its following in game chapters #i wonder how they'll end it tho since those chapters arent finished(?)

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cakesunflower · 4 years

Text

No Need Convincing Me [Tattoo Artist!Calum AU] Part 3

Summary: Elodie Banks hadn’t expected to get so caught up in her best friend’s tattoo artist. But all it took was one meeting with Calum Hood for Elodie to feel herself drawing towards him and the ink on his skin. Maybe once she was rid of a miserable relationship and the insecurities that came with it, she’d allow herself to realize that Calum was just as wrapped up in her.

All Parts: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

Part 3

The bedroom door swung open, the music playing throughout the apartment no longer muffled as Elodie turned around instantly, eyes landing on Calum standing in the doorway. “Oh, shit—sorry,” he apologized with a quick chuckle, one hand still on the doorknob while the other scratched at the back of his head. Elodie blinked at him, at the boyish grin on his face and the flush in his cheeks. He was drunk, or tipsy, maybe. “Thought this was the bathroom.”

“It’s okay,” Elodie assured him with a smile of her own. The nervous flutter returned in the pit of her stomach, but the smile that tilted her lips was one she couldn’t control. Calum came into view and so did her smile. Gesturing towards the ensuite, Elodie told him, “You could use this one.”

Calum nodded, shutting the door behind him as his dark eyes took in the sight of Elodie as the music blaring throughout Dominique’s home was just slightly muffled once more. She felt a familiar flush overtake her body as Calum stepped into the room some more, the heat of his gaze freezing Elodie in place as he took her in. Well, her and her costume; she and Dominique decided to dress up as Cher and Dionne from Clueless, complete with a form fitting white crop top under a black and yellow plaid blazer with a matching mini skirt, knee high socks and heels—the last two a combination only reserved for Halloween.

And with him openly observing her costume, Elodie did the same to him; she knew, thanks to Dominique, that he and Ashton were dressed up in costumes from Reservoir Dogs, their looks complete with white button downs splattered with fake blood, dress pants with matching suits and sunglasses. She’d only been around Calum a couple of times, and even though his clothes had fake blood on them, Elodie still found herself admiring the sight of him in dressy clothes. He looked good, which wasn’t a surprise.

What came as a surprise, though, was the fact that Elodie found herself liking it more when Calum wore his chains and leather jacket; both looks suited him, truthfully, but for some reason the sight of Calum in a leather jacket was burned into Elodie’s brain. And she didn’t mind it a bit.

She wasn’t entirely sure how Calum got so close to her, the distance between them minimal as he stopped a foot or so away from her. His body towered over hers, more so than Nathan’s did, and yet. . . There was nothing suffocating about this. Elodie’s stomach flipped at the way Calum’s broad frame dominated hers, but there was no real intimidation. The sound of her heart beating in her ears was louder than the music. Calum didn’t make her feel small.

Elodie looked up at him through her lashes, breath hitching when she noted the pink in his cheeks. It wasn’t a sight she’d seen before, not that she’d been around Calum enough times, but it was adorable. His lips curled, and Elodie figured it was a lot easier for him to smile when he was a bit inebriated. Voice low, yet always carrying that rasp, Calum murmured, “You look pretty.” And he meant it.

How was it so easy for him to compliment her? It should be alarming, how effortlessly Calum ignites a fire in Elodie’s face and intensifies the butterflies in her stomach she hadn’t felt in a long time. It should raise red flags that he could make her breath hitch in her throat with just a few simple words and a look casted by those dark brown eyes. But it wasn’t any of that. It felt good.

Her lips curled, her smile shy and sweet and honest, and instead of saying thank you, she wanted to return the compliment despite the nervous twisting of her stomach. “You look—”

“Badass?” Calum supplied, looking down at her as he made his eyebrows jump twice, quickly, and it was like he sensed how she was feeling and decided to make it easier, make it light with a joke and a smirk that was more charming than condescending. And, God, the slight lisp kind of flustered Elodie even more.

“I was gonna say handsome,” she told him, her voice as soft and genuine as her smile, the heat in her cheeks returning as quickly as the confidence that allowed her to return the compliment left. But Calum’s eyes glimmered at her words, his smirk softening into a smile of his own, and Elodie’s heart was in her throat as the familiar scent of his cologne began overwhelming her. Throat working, she gestured with a small laugh, “Didn’t you have to use the bathroom?”

Calum blinked, as if just remembering why he entered the room in the first place. His eyes darted towards the other door as he sounded an absent, “Right.” Looking back at her, he winked, quick and flirty and heart stopping, as he said, “Be right back,” before entering the bathroom and closing the door behind him.

Elodie let out a slow breath as she heard the lock click, head tilting back to look up at the ceiling. Was she flirting with him? Did that count as flirting? Fucking hell, Elodie wasn’t even sure what constituted as flirting anymore. Nathan didn’t even flirt with her.

Her eyes clenched shut at the reminder of her boyfriend. Whatever she just engaged in with Calum, whether it was flirting or not, should not have felt as easy and good as it did. Not when that few minutes of conversation was far better than just being in her own boyfriend’s presence.

And it was as if the universe wasn’t on her side, because the bedroom door opened, and in walked Nathan, dressed as. . . Nothing. Because God forbid he took part in something as childish as Halloween—or Dominique’s birthday. So he had arrived in one of his many custom tailored suits, looking like he did every other day of his life. Elodie didn’t get butterflies at the sight of him. She froze up—but not in the kind of way she did with Calum. Not in the excited way.

“What’re you doing in the guest room?” Nathan questioned as he walked in, not entirely shutting the door as the sound of the music and the party filtered in.

“It’s not the guest room,” Elodie found herself saying before she could stop. And she didn’t want to stop. So she smiled, allowing herself to be excited and thrilled and everything else that she was since she arrived at Dominique’s penthouse so they could get ready for the party. The birthday girl had decided she wanted to have fun at her own house, so she and her hired security could be more in charge of who arrived. Gesturing to the room with her hands, Elodie told Nathan with an exhilarated grin, “It’s my room. I’m moving in with Dom.”

He didn’t smile or share in Elodie’s excitement but, then again, she hadn’t entirely expected him to. Instead, Nathan just raised his eyebrows, a scoff of a laugh escaping him as he asked, “You’re what?”

She didn’t want him to step on her happiness, so she kept the smile on her face, even if it became a bit painful to keep. “I’m moving in with her,” Elodie repeated patiently. “She surprised me with the idea and my parents think it’s great, too. I’m gonna start packing my things up soon.”

Nathan’s eyebrows drew together, his disdain with the idea clear on his face as he began walking towards her. It was terrible, how almost everything Elodie said or decided was something Nathan couldn’t bring it in himself to feel happy about for her. What kind of boyfriend was he? What kind of relationship had Elodie been subjecting herself to? “If you wanna move out of your house, move in with me, El. It’s more practical to live with your boyfriend at this age than your best friend.”

If Elodie was someone else, she would’ve laughed in Nathan’s face at his ridiculous words. Last time she checked, there was no age limit in living with your best friend. What’s more, her and Nathan had been together for, what, six months? And most of them were miserable because Elodie allowed herself to suffer being with someone who wasn’t good to her because the image they created was good enough. Living with him sounded like the worst idea she had ever heard—the thought of it was enough to make her nauseous.

“I’m not going to move in with you, Nathan,” Elodie told him calmly, hands at her back as she nervously played with the material of her skirt. “It’s not practical.”

She could see the anger quickly brewing in the green of his eyes. He never hesitated in getting pissed off at her. She wished she was numb to his piercing scowl, but it never failed to anxiously jump her heart. Nathan’s voice was harsh as he demanded, “Why the hell not?”

He was storming towards her as he spoke, encroaching on her personal space that Elodie decided, right then and there, that she didn’t ever want him near again. So as he approached her, Elodie found herself taking a few steps back, the action only serving to piss Nathan off even more. If he was a decent boyfriend, one would think the sight of his girlfriend backing away from him—out of fear—was an alarming sight on its own. But it didn’t even seem to register as concerning to Nathan. No, it only served to aggravate him more. How twisted.

Maybe it was the notion of Nathan never seeming to be on board with any idea that allowed for Elodie to have her own independence, or the horrific reminder that getting utterly pissed off at her for no solid or logical reason seemed to be his favorite pastime, but whatever it was, it finally had Elodie uttering the words she had stupidly been fighting herself from saying, words that were only a hint at what Dominique had probably been wanting to hear her to actually say for a long time.

“Because I can’t live with you if you’re not my boyfriend,” Elodie stated, the words rushing out of her quickly and without thought, like she wanted to get them out in the open as fast as possible and hope they didn’t leave a bitter taste in her mouth. They didn’t.

Her heart was thundering as she looked at Nathan, who had stopped just a foot in front of her, looking down at her with a startled, angered and glaring expression as her words registered. Her heart was too loud in her ears, filling the silence followed by her words despite the lively party going on. God. Elodie should be out there celebrating her best friend’s birthday. Though, part of her figured Dominique wouldn’t mind if she’d heard what Elodie had just said.

Nathan’s eyes were narrowed suddenly, challenging and mocking at the same time. “Are you breaking up with me?” He let out a laugh, the sound empty and humorless and twisting Elodie’s stomach unpleasantly. She looked up at him, her own eyes widened at what she had said, though not at all regretful. But she watched him warily, worriedly, not entirely sure where this was going. Because normally Elodie would just submit, she would do or say whatever she needed to in order to appease Nathan, but that was out of the window. Now, she was doing and saying as she wanted to, and there was no telling how this was going to go. The fear she felt prickling her skin was yet another sign that she had stuck around for far longer than she should’ve.

Instead of letting Elodie answer his probably rhetoric question, the empty smile that had upturned Nathan’s lips to release his humorless laugh dropped, the fire in his eyes a full on blazon as his jaw tightened. “You can’t fucking end this, Elodie.”

Somehow, through the dryness of her throat and the trembling of her fingers, Elodie managed to return, “You can’t keep around someone who doesn’t want to be with you, Nathan.” She gave a shake of her head, unable to let the guilt from seeping into her tone and saddening her eyes as she added, “It was my fault for making you think I wanted to stay longer than I ever did.”

Her words, though riddled with guilt and sadness because that’s just the kind of person Elodie was, had been pushing enough to enrage Nathan all the more. Because next thing she knew, right once she had finished speaking, Nathan’s expression contorted into one of rage, eyes fierce and lips snarling, as his right hand lifted and Elodie’s heart dropped to the pit of her stomach as his guttural voice raged, “You fucking bi—”

Elodie’s initial reaction wasn’t to shrink away and squeeze her eyes shut. Because this had never happened before. For all his faults in their mess of a relationship, Nathan had never raised a hand at Elodie, and so she hadn’t seen it coming. She’d frozen, lips parting to inhale a sharp breath out of utter startlement for what he was about to do, eyes widening in a sick combination of horror and confusion and terror because, shit, had she been naive enough to never expect this from him?

But what Nathan aimed to do, he didn’t get to. Because neither of them had heard the sound of the bathroom door opening, nor the quick footsteps to approach them just in time for Calum’s hand to catch Nathan’s in the air before it descended. Elodie found herself stumbling back a step, heart pounding against her check, hand pressing to her stomach as some kind of defense as she looked on with widened eyes. No tears, no tears, no tears. She didn’t want to cry. No matter how scared she felt in Nathan’s presence.

If Elodie thought Nathan’s rage towards her had been terrifying, it was nothing compared to the unabated fury etched on Calum’s face. He no longer looked like his flushed, maybe tipsy self from before; instead, his dark eyes were sharp and menacing, lips pressed together tightly yet twisted upwards in obvious outrage. His grip on Nathan’s arm was tight, strong, iron clad in the way Nathan’s arm shook in trying to break out from the grasp but being unable to do so.

Elodie was frozen where she stood, troubled head trying hard to catch up with what was happening, as Nathan turned his head slightly to meet Calum’s gaze. She watched the way Calum looked down at him, noted the muscle in his jaw jumping as he tried to control whatever anger was burning through his veins right now. “Were you really ’bout to do what it looked like?” Elodie��s throat worked at the sound of Calum’s voice. The deep timber she enjoyed the sound of was dark, heavy in the promise of violence as his focus remained solely on Nathan, who struggled to get out of Calum’s grip. He was a big guy, but Elodie didn’t know he was so strong to so easily keep Nathan in place. Calum licked his lips before letting out a quiet breath, chin tilting to bring his mouth closer to Nathan’s ear as he baited lowly, in a dangerously challenging tone , “Motherfucker, give me a reason to break your fucking arm right now.”

Nathan’s breathing quickened from his own anger, and Elodie wondered if there was a bit of panic mixing in on his end, as he jerked his shoulders to get away from Calum’s grip. But with one hand holding Nathan’s arm and the other, Elodie realized, holding Nathan’s other arm behind his back, Calum had an unforgiving grip on him. “Get your fucking hands off me!”

“So you can try and put yours on her again?” Calum scoffed, but it was controlled. Everything about him in this moment, Elodie noticed, was controlled. His expression was threatening to twitch into something far more savage than it was, his deep voice, though dark, trembled just a bit with the fury igniting his system. Calum was much better at controlling his temper than Nathan was. “Don’t think so. Let’s go.”

He was moving them, then, and Elodie watched with widened eyes as Calum forced Nathan around, hands still gripping him, as he pushed him out of the room. Nathan’s struggling grunts and curses were drowned by the music, and Elodie snapped herself out of her shocked trance as they disappeared around the corner, Calum’s broad frame easily overpowering Nathan’s, barely stumbling over her feet and following them out.

Elodie’s heart was drumming, quicker than the bass of the music playing through the penthouse, and she pushed her way past the people enjoying themselves as she looked over their heads to catch sight of the two guys. Her brown eyes darted around, unsure if she was breathing heavily from panic or surprise, as she finally caught sight of them towards the front door.

She stumbled out of the front door into the wide hallway just in time to see Calum let go of Nathan with a shove. She stood a few feet behind them, the door shutting behind them as her hand gripped the doorframe as she watched Nathan swiveled around, tugging to straighten out his suit jacket as his angrily wide eyes landed on Calum. He looked outrage, like he couldn’t believe Calum would put his hands on him, as he let out a sharp breath.

Nathan stormed over, eyes narrowed as he demanded, “Who the fuck do you think you are?” He pointed a finger at Calum warningly, a lock of his blonde hair falling across his forehead, as his voice remained tight. “You don’t put your fucking hands on me.”

Elodie feared that the veins in Nathan’s forehead and neck were about to burst, face red, and it was almost alarming how kept together Calum looked compared to him, despite the look of wrath he’d been wearing. Of course, she couldn’t really see his face; just the tightness of his jaw, his sharp gaze focused on Nathan and nothing else. He stood tall, chin jutted and hands curled into fists at his side. He was like a barrier between her and Nathan, and Elodie appreciated it more than she could say.

“Leave,” Calum said, his tone hard with no room for arguments.

Nathan exhaled sharply, his gaze moving past Calum to look at Elodie, and she felt her body tensing at the anger still present in his eyes. He didn’t even try to wash it over, instead looked at her with the same fierce look that showed the rage that didn’t diminish. Nathan’s breathing was unsteady, his aggravation keeping him from taking any stable breaths. “Elodie, let’s just talk—” he stared as he took he tried to take a few steps towards her.

Calum didn’t allow him to finish, side stepping to press a hand against Nathan’s chest and pushing him back. “Are you serious right now?” Calum scoffed, an incredulous chuckle escaping him as he shook his head at Nathan. He didn’t waver under the glare shot his way. “Fuck out of here.”

Elodie kept her lips pressed together, throat working as she watched the scene in front of her. God, all she wanted to do was head back inside and drink and celebrate with Dominique. This had escalated more than she expected. Her heart still hadn’t calmed down after Nathan raised his hand at her—he was about to hit her, for God’s sake. She thought many things of Nathan, but someone capable of doing that had never been one of them. Not until now. And to think she was just saying the absolute worst thing to him away from getting him to this point had her stomach twisting uncomfortably, terrifyingly. How could it have gotten so bad?

She watched, with scared eyes, as Nathan shot them both one last outraged look before letting out a scoff and began walking backwards down the hall to where the elevators were. His eyes met Elodie’s as he jammed the button, gaze sharp as he told her from where he stood, “You’re making a mistake.”

Elodie took a breath, shaky and catching in her throat, as she blinked quickly to rid of the tears that had gathered. Last time. If she was going to cry because of Nathan again, this would be the last time it would happen. Because she was done; she’d managed to grow some kind of spine and end things with him, and even though she ultimately needed Calum’s help, she still did it. She put an end to an unhappy chapter of her life. Nathan wasn’t going to make her cry anymore.

So she swallowed the lump in her throat, grip on the door frame tight as she responded as steadily as she could, “I don’t think I am.”

His expression hardened. As expected. And with a snarling curl of his lips and scowl that sent a shiver down Elodie’s spine, Nathan was gone.

And she could breathe.

“I’m sorry.”

Elodie’s gaze lifted, widened and glassy eyes landed on the only other person in the hallway. She tried to focus past the sound of her drumming heart and muffled music from inside, blinking as her eyebrows drew together in a gentle frown. “What?” she asked in confusion. “What’re you sorry for?”

“Uh,” Calum sounded, now facing her as he reached up to rub the back of his head. When Elodie got a look at him, she noted the expression on his face, one that was ridden with guilt as he took a few steps towards her. Coming to a stop in front of Elodie, Calum’s dark eyes met hers, and she was almost shocked at how there was little to no trace of the anger she had seen. Or, maybe, it was there, laying under the concerned softness of his gaze, but because it wasn’t meant for her he didn’t show it. Was it strange that Elodie found that sweet? Calum’s throat worked as he let out a breath. “I’m sorry that you had to see me. . . Like that. And I’m sorry that he thought that kind of behavior would ever be okay.”

Elodie couldn’t help it—she gaped at him. Her lips parted, widened eyes staring at him as if he had two heads, when in actuality, he’d only uttered words any decent human being would. And it was almost sad, how much Calum’s apology meant to Elodie, because Nathan had never thought to utter the words I’m sorry after the things he’d say. But here was Calum, apologizing for something he didn’t have to feel guilty about.

“Y-You don’t have to apologize,” Elodie told him, not caring too much about how she stumbled over her words a bit. The shock was only beginning to wear off. Elodie blinked quickly, clearing her throat as her cheeks pinkened and she added gratefully, “Thank you for jumping in and defending me.”

“’Course,” Calum responded, his voice softer than she thought was capable, the word slipping from his lips so easily as if he had never been second guessed his actions. His eyebrows then knitted together, some edge creeping back into his voice as he said, “He had no right to even try.” With a clench of his jaw and his dark eyes meeting hers, he asked slowly, “Has he done that before?”

The way he asked reluctantly had Elodie realizing that Calum was dreading her possible answer. Like if she said yes, he wouldn’t hesitate to turn to the elevator and find Nathan to finish what he’d started. And while violence wasn’t something Elodie promoted, the mere idea of Calum caring about the situation to the point where he’d consider doing something like that had her stomach twisting. But not in a bad way.

“No,” she answered truthfully, rolling her lips into her mouth as her gaze dropped. Her eyebrows furrowed as she felt her own guilt pool in the pit of her stomach. She knew it wasn’t her fault, knew that what had just happened was because of Nathan’s own flaws; but being with someone like him long enough and having to endure him drop remarks that somehow everything seemed to be her fault made it difficult to not blame herself. She had acted and he reacted, terrifyingly so, and it was she who had pushed him over the edge, wasn’t it?

“Hey, stop that.” Elodie blinked, gaze lifting to look at Calum, taking a gentle breath to keep the stinging in her eyes at bay. Don’t cry. It’s over. Calum’s frown went from a glare at the thought of Nathan to a softer, concerned one, just barely a hint of sternness present. He stood in front of her, his figure tall yet a comforting presence, and Calum ducked his head slightly to keep their gazes locked. Elodie just barely glanced at a tattoo on his collarbone peeking out from under the collar of his shirt. “It’s important that you know that none of this was your fault, alright? He’s the only one to blame.”

He was right. Elodie knew he was, but Nathan had such an imprint on her that she still found herself parting her lips to argue, “But—”

“No buts, Elodie.” The words died in her throat as her name slipped from his mouth, pressing her lips together when his hands gripped her shoulders. Just as he did so, Calum’s gaze dropped to his hands, like he was suddenly aware of him touching her without warning, and Elodie felt her heart jump at the mild panic that seeped into his dark eyes. But she remained still, silently letting him know that it was okay, that his touch was burning her and she welcomed it. Calum’s throat worked, eyes meeting hers once more, looking at her like he wanted her to truly understand what he was saying. “You weren’t the cause of any of this. A grown man should know how to act. I barely know the guy and already saw him cross so many lines. You did the right thing.”

Elodie knew Calum’s words were meant to be comforting to her, to let her know that the choice she made tonight was valid. But it also served to remind her that the choices she’d made to get to this point had been so wrong. To let it get this far. . . What had she been thinking? Her skin was hot—whether it was from shame or guilt or Calum’s proximity, she didn’t know. But Elodie’s throat worked as she blinked her gaze away, sniffling ever so slightly as she looked at the wall and found herself muttering, “You probably think I was stupid to be with him in the first place.”

“No. I think you had your reasons.” Elodie’s gaze shifted back to Calum, at the understanding that softened his features as he offered a slight shrug. “You don’t have to tell ’em to me. And it might not mean much, but—” His lips quirked up ever so slightly, honest and real as he gave her shoulders a squeeze. “—I think you’re better off without him.”

Elodie’s throat tightened, brown eyes on his, and in a moment of feeling forward, she reached a hand up and squeezed Calum’s wrist. She felt the cool metal of his chain bracelet under her touch, sending a shiver down her spine despite the warmth of his skin. When Calum raised his eyebrows, not at her touch but as a way of silently asking if she understood what he was telling her, Elodie found herself smiling. And finally let the guilt slip away as she agreed, “I think so, too.”

Satisfied by her answer, Calum’s lips quirked into a smirk before dropping his hands from her shoulders, and Elodie tried not to be disappointed by the lack of his touch as Calum ticked his head to the door. “Come on, let’s get you a drink.”

*****

When Elodie stepped into H & H Tattoo and Piercings, she was greeted by Michael exclaiming her name in happy surprise over the sound of the unfamiliar song playing through the shop, leaning away from the computer at the reception desk and pushing himself into the back of his chair hands thrown up. “Where’d you come from?” he asked with a laugh as they pulled away from a hug shared over the counter.

“I ran into her at the Starbucks down the block,” Sierra said as she walked around the desk, waving Michael away, who got up with a sigh as she returned to her rightful chair. “Asked her to come by and hang because I’m so bored.”

Elodie smiled as Michael snorted, raising his eyebrows at Sierra. “So you basically kidnapped her from the rest of her day to bring her here?”

“I wasn’t doing anything,” Elodie assured with a shake of her head and a gentle smile, one hand still holding her frappe cup. “I just got out of class and had nothing else to do.”

And it was true. After class, she’d gotten into the car and asked her driver to take her to Starbucks because she needed it even after sitting through three classes. Running into Sierra had been out of the blue, and when she was invited to come hang out at the tattoo shop, Elodie would be lying if she said her heart hadn’t jumped up to her throat at the thought of seeing Calum. It was the first thing that popped into Elodie’s head as soon as she heard Sierra’s offer, an excited flutter in her stomach to see him again.

Ever since Dominique’s party four days ago, Elodie hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Calum. There were moments during the past few days that thoughts of Nathan would creep into her mind without her content, where she’d feel her heart racing as she remembered what he almost did to her after she finally stood up for herself. And then she’d think of Calum, and she’d relax. She found herself being able to breathe again—not just because of Calum, but because she was no longer tied to Nathan. She did that.

“Ready to get that nose piercing?”

The sound of his voice had Elodie’s breath hitching and she turned around in time to see Calum strolling over, tall and broad shouldered in black track pants and a red tee that hugged him snugly. She noted the bit of scruff that had become more prominent around his mouth and on his chin, and not that her opinion mattered, but she liked it. Nathan was always clean shaven, and this time around, Elodie didn’t feel much guilt for thinking how boring he was. Was that stupid? To think someone was boring because they didn’t like growing facial hair?

Elodie decided that no, it wasn’t. Because everything about Nathan had been clean shaven. Except his uncontrollable anger. She quickly pushed thoughts of him out of her head, unwanted and unneeded, as she focused on Calum. The tattoos on his arm were on full display, the black ink intricate against his brown skin, and Elodie’s curiosity once again came in full swing. She hadn’t ever seen all of his tattoos before; words and pictures alike decorating him. Elodie wanted to know what they all meant.

The smile on her face came easily as response to Calum’s welcoming smirk as he reached her, arm going around her shoulders to pull her in a hug that was just as comforting as the cologne that washed over her, fresh and woodsy as it took over the faint scent of antiseptic and something pleasant she couldn’t put her finger on. Elodie didn’t want to pull away from Calum’s hug, but she felt her heart jump when she noted that Calum didn’t move away from her.

“That hadn’t been on the agenda today,” she told him truthfully, one hand gripping her Starbucks cup while the fingers of the other played with the green straw.

Michael grinned. “Nothing like a spontaneous piercing,” he told her, finger reaching up to flick the silver cross dangling from his ear.

Elodie laughed with a raise of her eyebrows before rolling her lips into her mouth. Her initial thought was that she could wait to get a piercing, but as she let the thought play around in her head, Elodie couldn’t help but wonder, why wait? She was here now, and wanting to get her nose pierced was something she wanted to do for a long time. She always liked the way they looked on other people and there really wasn’t anything stopping her from getting it done.

She wasn’t one for spontaneous actions. Breaking up with Nathan was the biggest unexpected thing she’d done. Why stop now?

“Okay.” The word slipped past her lips before she truly comprehended it, but she didn’t regret it. She saw the grin that quirked at Michael’s lips, mirroring it a bit nervously before her gaze slid over to Calum, who was looking down at her with raised, almost impressed eyebrows. The smirk remained. “Can I get it today?”

It wasn’t long until Elodie was sitting in the same chair Dominique had been sitting in, after signing the papers Sierra had given her before Calum led her to one of the curtain separated rooms. And as she sat, her bag on one of the spare stools as she lightly drummed her fingers on her jeans clad thighs, her eyes took in Calum and his actions. He was getting everything ready, and as the song on the shop’s playlist changed to one she recognized by The Weeknd, Calum asked with his back still to her, “You nervous?”

Her eyes were on his back, on the broad expanse of his shoulders, and Elodie felt the need to touch the soft material of his red shirt again. She licked her lips as she asked, “Should I be?”

Calum turned around, gloves on his hands as he approached her, an easy and boyish smirk on his face that had her heart jolting within her chest. Elodie couldn’t help but admire how in his element he looked as he prepared to pierce her nose, tall and confident and cool. “No,” he told her truthfully, settling on the stool and being somewhat at eye level with her. Calum’s smile turned warm, friendly, and the way it put her at ease almost instantly wasn’t lost on Elodie as he promised in his usual rasp, “You’re in good hands.”

Elodie’s throat worked. She had no doubt about that.

Honestly, the whole process passed a bit too soon. But Elodie knew it was because she was more focused on Calum than what he was doing. Her heart had been in her throat as he sterilized the area, the closeness making her skin flush like a middle schooler. It was almost embarrassing. When he’d marked her nose and had her check in the mirror to approve of where the piercing would go, Elodie found herself still hyper aware of Calum’s proximity. She tried to pay attention to the sound of The Weeknd’s voice playing through the shop, on the vague sounds of Michael and Sierra chatting over in the main area. Her attention couldn’t even focus on how she stood out in the shop; how her light jeans and pastel yellow top were a splash of color against the black and reds of the parlor, that everything about her didn’t necessarily belong in Calum’s shop.

They were so different. Elodie wondered if Calum noticed, too.

No, of course not. Why would he spend time thinking about her?

“Alright, you ready?” He’s to her right, and his voice was low and gentle, like he didn’t want to startle her. Calum spoke to her in the opposite way of which he looked; all tall and set features and dark eyes but a voice that’s friendly and soft and sends butterflies erupting in her stomach each time. Elodie knew that was dangerous.

She wanted to look at him, but she kept her head straight, focused on his presence and voice and the faint scent of his cologne. Elodie twisted her fingers on her lap, keeping herself from clicking her nails as she hummed an affirmative, “Yeah.”

Making it a point not to look at the instruments he was going to use, Elodie slid her gaze to the posters on the wall to her left, but felt her eyes automatically fluttering closed when she felt the cool metal on her nose, biting the inside of her cheek as she felt the brief pinch of the needle piercing her. She felt her eye water, something Calum had told her would happen, but she barely paid attention to it when Calum, as quickly as he’d started, announced, “All done.”

Her eyes opened, eyebrows rising as she found herself asking in surprise, “That’s it?”

Next to her, Calum chuckled and Elodie told herself she was imagining the fondness in the sound as he handed her a tissue. “Yup,” he smiled, watching as she dabbed at the tear that had escaped her eye, the chain of his necklace glinting under the bright lights. Smile turning into a lazy smirk, he praised jokingly, “You were a real trooper.”

Elodie scoffed out a laugh, cheeks warm, as Calum handed her the mirror. She could feel his eyes on her as she turned her head to the left a bit to look at the piercing. Her lips quirked up at the sight of the silver stud in her slightly pinkened nose, glimmering prettily, and she instantly adored how it looked. “I love it,” she said happily, turning her head to look at Calum, who’d been watching her. His dark eyes were warm as he sat relaxed on the stool, gloves off. “Thank you.”

He mirrored her smile, shrugging modestly, before jutting his chin at her. “Told you it suited you.”

Far beyond her control, Calum could already effortlessly ignite a blush in Elodie’s cheeks, so when he so easily complimented her, Elodie damn near felt like she was on fire. Moving her legs so she was now sitting sideways on the chair, feet touching the ground, Elodie gripped the edge of the leather chair as she asked him earnestly, “How much do I owe you?”

Calum rolled his eyes, pushing back the stool as he licked the inside of his lower lip before his tongue poked at his cheek and stood up, body easily towering over Elodie’s seated figure as she tilted her head back a bit to look up at him. “You don’t,” he told her with a raise of his eyebrows, a silent reminder of when he told her it was on him. “On the house, remember?”

Elodie let out a breath. She appreciated the offer, thought it was so sweet of him to give her her first piercing for free, but Elodie had never been one to comfortably accept free things. Which was hilarious because this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened; the status of her family made for benefits such as this, but Elodie didn’t want to reap Calum of the same conveniences. Even if he was being friendly. And maybe sweeter than she deserved.

“Are you su—”

“Elodie,” Calum cut her off, a breathy chuckle escaping him as he stood in front of her. Then Calum shifted, taking a step away from her to allow himself to bend forward, his hands on the chair right next to hers and lowering his head enough to be at eye level with her. His chain necklace dangled a bit at his new position, and Elodie’s heart thrummed in her throat at their proximity because he was so close. And in that moment, she allowed herself to get lost in him for as much as she could before the distance came between them once more.

The brown of his eyes was a bit lighter than Elodie thought, a warmer brown that made them all the more inviting, framed by long eyelashes. His gaze was honest and Elodie felt the air rush out of her lungs because Calum wasn’t just watching her—he was looking at her, making sure she could see the honesty in his eyes that he was offering. Elodie didn’t think anyone looked at her the way Calum did.

“It’s on me,” Calum said, pulling her out of reverie of admiring him. He tilted his head then, a smile pulling on his soft looking lips. Did they feel as they looked? “Let me do somethin’ nice for you, okay?”

Elodie couldn’t help the way she sank her teeth into her lower lip, skin warming when Calum’s gaze dropped ever so slightly to note the minor movement of her mouth. She didn’t miss the subtle clench of his jaw, and Elodie wasn’t going to lie to herself—the urge to close the gap between them was overwhelming. But she stayed put, releasing her lip to offer a pretty smile as she said, in more of a whisper than anything else, “You’re sweet.”

Calum let out a breath through his nose, lips quirking as told her, “Haven’t been told that one before.”

Her hands itched to make the subtle movements so they were touching Calum’s instead of just feeling the warmth of their proximity. She wanted to close the distance, wanted to feel him in combination with the heat of his body. It was too inviting. Maybe it wasn’t ideal to be so. . . Attracted to someone right after getting out of a relationship as messy as hers and Nathan’s had been. And she hadn’t known Calum long, but she couldn’t lie and say whatever she felt whenever she saw him or thought about him was ordinary. Elodie could easily recognize that whatever she felt for Calum wasn’t something she normally felt. It was exciting.

She wasn’t sure if she was responding to herself or to Calum as her smile widened. “First time for everything.”

tags: @irwinkitten @sweetcherrymike @meetashthere @valentinelrh @softforcal @astroashtonio @hereforlukescruff @novacanecalum @captain-what-is-going-on @angelbbycal @singt0mecalum @hopelessxcynic @lfwallscouldtalk @bodhi-black @findingliam-o @softlrh @calntynes @calumsmermaid @erikamarie41 @quintodosuniversos @longlastingdaydream @babylon-corgis @lukehemmingsunflower @imfuckin10plybud @pastelpapermoons @conquerwhatliesahead92 @rotten-kandy @metangi @neigcthood @ohhmuke @old-zeppelin-shirt @5sos-and-hessa @trustmeimawhale @vxlentinecal @pettybassists @vaporshawn @lu-my-golden-boi @buggy-blogs @visualm3nte @isabella-mae13 @dontjinx-it @lifeakaharry @neonweeknds @antisocialbandmate @ixcantxdecidexwhosxmyxfave @calpalbby @grreatgooglymoogly @gorgeouslygrace @sunnysidesblog @cocktail-calum @miahelizaaabeth @madelynerin @dramallamawithsparkles @theagenderwhocriedwolf @kaytiebug14 @hoodskillerqueen @bitchinbabylon @empathycth @xhaileyreneex @inlovehoodx @calistheloml @aestheticrelated @bloodlinecal @sublimehood @madbomb @raabiac @britnicole11 @outofmylimitcal @fluffsshawn @bloodmoonashton @tea4sykes @abbypeeta

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normal-thoughts-official · 4 years

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Do you have any hcs for Magnus taking ppl to pride for the first time? I kinda feel like he’d act as a guide for others, making sure everyone feels safe and happy during their first time. Like, I can picture him bringing daylighter Raphael out for the first time, showing Meliorn around (bc even though they’ve been around for a while, the Seelies don’t really do human stuff) and holding Alec’s hand while he looks around in amazement.

well surprise surprise this got very long. bet y’all never saw that coming

ok so i particularly love this ask because like, the idea of meliorn going to pride for the first time is a riot and i adore it

like seelie society has developed completely independently from mundane society in every way, hell, it existed before humans did. so there's absolutely no reason whatsoever to believe that their culture even has the concepts of gender of sexuality, and believing that it would be the same as modern western ones is just straight up anachronistic tbh

so like personally i hc that seelie society has no gender (and therefore no concept of sexuality in the way that we see it), so the idea of pride- doesn't even make sense to them, cuz there's no concept of these identities, much less a history of oppression that would bring forward the need to celebrate their resistance like there currently is

so meliorn would want to go just to like, see what that's like and what's it all about. and the whole time they're just following Magnus around and like, taking notes. hm, interesting, what is this trans thing again? ah yes, people who dont think their personality matches the one mundanes believe would be brought by their genitals. hm. fascinating. and Magnus is just like, laughing loudly and it's the best pride he's ever been to, because he knows how ridiculous queerphobia and cishetnormativity are, but meliorn can make that so clear in their words in a way thats just, like, fantastic to hear, you know? and they dont even mean to, but it's great all the same

plus meliorn actually does feel good because a lot of people look at them and smile broadly or even wave, especially younger people who are just like, in awe of them and Magnus, who are so unapologetically gnc and indisputably beautiful, and looking at them is just like, inspiring, you know? and Meliorn has never felt this admired and appreciated and they dont even fully understand why, they're just walking around in their usual clothing and leaf makeup and everyone is just like, in love with them. and it's nice. they can tell there's an edge of sadness to the whole thing, like how their normal everyday existence seems to be so shocking and refreshing for these people, but mostly they feel good about it

later they bring their findings to the other seelies - you know, the ones who dont usually leave the realm and are way less familiar with mundane culture(s) than they are - and the others are like. shut up. there's no way this is real. the shape of their genital defines what wavelength they are supposed to find appealing? this makes no sense. and meliorn's like "idk what to tell u buddy i literally physically can't lie" and they're like surely this is an elaborate prank

but anyway it's fun and nice and they enjoy it greatly and ask Magnus a lot of questions, and Magnus loves going with them more than anyone else because its just so fun and the way this is completely unnatural to them feels refreshing - Magnus doesnt have to explain why he feels the way he feels, for once, but rather he has to explain why people dont get that, and thats a good change tbh

okay onto other ppl im sorry for this tangent djdndjdndk RAPHAEL YES. god i just. okay i love the mental image of Magnus taking Raphael to pride aaaaaaaa

like okay first of all so many layeRS to make this emotional, okay. the fact that he's now a daylighter and can enjoy being out in the sun, the fact that this is a bright costumed parade and it kinda reminds him of the día de los muertos parade and makes him feel at home, the fact that he gets to celebrate and meet other ace ppl - just, so many good things going on here dundidmdi

and Raphael was kinda unsure about going because 1- pride can get pretty sexual at times, and while he gets it and doesn't mind other people's business, he doesn't want to be hit on or participate in that; 2- big crowd makes senses go craycray and it can get very overwhelming and he's scared of overload, plus it's just not his scene in general with huge parties and such. but a part of him does want to go and he's torn, so of course Magnus is immediately like "oh dear, don't worry, i can take you, i'll make sure it's good" and Raphael is like okay

so Magnus takes him and it's :') nice, because as always he’s just so attentive. disclosure i’ve only ever been to the São Paulo pride so i’m gonna go with how it works in here but im assuming it’s not that different in like, other places. also São Paulo currently has the biggest pride parade in the world along with NYC so you know, i think it’s influential at the very least

anyway so he finds a section that’s led by ace pride groups, one that’s considerably small (in number of ppl) and spacious, and it’s. nice. very nice. magnus makes it a point to paint the ace pride colors on raphael’s face (we deserve raphael in makeup tbh) and raphael is all like “it’s fine, it’s not like i’ll want to draw a lot of attention” (like he isn’t wearing the ace flag colors already) and magnus is like hush, let me have this, i want my boy to have a good pride experience. so raphael lets him and hides his smile and lets him, and it’s. cute okay

also idk why but i have the mental image of raphael seeing some other latino guy with some sign like. “i’m not your fetish” or something of the sort, and kind of tearing up because his whole life he’s been seen as this kind of sexual fantasy that couldn’t not be about sex, much less not be interested in it, and he feels seen. and it’s nice, okay

and as promised it’s not too overwhelming in matters of like people, tactile issues and such (there’s little magnus can do about the noise other than spell raphael to decrease his sensitivity so he doesn’t get overwhelmed, which is not ideal because it makes communication a bit harder between them, but he does it anyway if raphael asks him to), and if raphael gets tired, they can always turn into a corner and take a portal back home and cuddle the post-crowd jitteriness away. so it’s a success. and raphael hugs magnus later and thanks him and says that it was so great, that he’s missed this, the energy and the colors and the sun, and he never thought he’d get to have it again, and he did thanks to magnus. and magnus hugs him back and tells him “anything for you, my boy,” and it’s the sweetest thing okay im emo

also okay this still falls under Raphael and Meliorn but the POLYCULE okay, or at least saiaphaeliorn. like sign me the fuck up for the 4 of them together at pride, meliorn and magnus helping make some cute pride-themed makeup on the other 3, just aaaaaaaaa. maia looking absolutely gorgeous with her face framed in the bright bi colors, maybe a sunny dress with the trans flag colors? just because i think she’d look so cute in like, a mostly white dress with baby pink and blue details, okay. simon just paints the pan flag on his cheek but it’s still vibrant and cute and it suits him. and ghhghghghg meliorn delicately painting raphael’s face with colorful glitter..... effervescent, okay. just beautiful

and they get to hold hands in public and laugh and crack jokes and simon loves the music and the festival and raphael smiles fondly at him and maia singing along (him and meliorn definitely don’t know what the fuck they’re singing, but it’s okay because they’re clearly happy and that makes the two of them happy too) and just duahsdiahdaiuha soft okay. also they all get to experience meliorn’s takes on the whole thing and it’s fantastic and as usual meliorn gets raphael to laugh until he almost cries, and simon smiles brightly at the sight and gives meliorn a peck for their efforts, and just aaaaaaaa

in short they’re SOFT and i’m SOFT. and look yes i know that usually parades esp big ones are super crowded (lord knows the SP pride parade is an experience) but if in SP with 5 million ppl parading i could find sections with less people where you had enough space to walk holding hands and hear each other and not be overwhelmed, then i’m sure they can too, especially with magic and powers at their disposal. so i’m going to have this

also like. as much fun as this is for magnus (and it definitely is, it’s very nice to get to enjoy to be himself openly, and to bring kids there for their first time, and you know), it’s also bittersweet because like. he was there at stonewall, he was there for the first pride, you know? and apart from the obvious part where he lost so many friends who were there, there’s just. the very bad memories of the riots, because as important as they are and as much as he obviously doesn’t regret them, riots are hard, they are the language of the oppressed. he’s had to magically protect people from being shot by the police, he’s had to withstand trial by the Clave for using magic to shield the people from the tear gas and risking being seen, he’s had to save a lot of lives and he’s failed at it sometimes, too (i’ll always hc that he’s the reason neither Marsha nor Sylvia died during the riots and you can pry that away from my cold, dead hands). and he’s also seen it be whitewashed and lose some of its resistance and meaning, he’s seen Sylvia be booed at a later march when she spoke against imprisonment, and he’s seen so much be lost

and in that sense going to pride with alec later on might be his favorite, because it’s not like, a first time where he’s trying to get everyone to have the most fun they can and shit, you know? plus alec loves watching more than he does participating, he feels way too exposed in the crowded streets with so many openings and whatnot. but watching from a rooftop, where he has the best view, can still hear the sounds and enjoy the colors and the beauty of it from a distance? that’s perfect for him, and it’s a different experience

and magnus sits by his side as they watch, hand in hand, and reminisces about everything that he’s experienced after so many years, all the changes he’s seen, how he feels pride but he also feels loss and he feels old, and he fears what happens if pride’s history is forgotten, you know? and alec listens to him, listens to his version of this story, playing with magnus’ fingers and just enjoying the sound of his voice and the sight. and it’s nice. alec is always super attentive and enjoys hearing him talk and magnus can get lost in his memories unapologetically, you know? and it’s good

but that’s later on, of course, when they’ve already attended plenty together. for alec’s first pride he probably wants it to be like, perfect, so much so that alec has to tell him to slow down again, because of course magnus wants alec to have The Full Pride Experience, but alec would rather soak it up slowly than participate in a lot of stuff, anyway. magnus paints the rainbow flag on his cheek (one of the only occasions alec lets magnus put glitter on him, then promptly complains for the next three months because i swear that stuff is still on my skin, magnus, the other day i found some on my shoes! and magnus laughs at his antics as always and alec is forced to laugh too and can’t even be mad) and they kind of stay more by the end, and alec is kind of smiling in disbelief to himself the whole time as he watches all the colors and the unapologetic way people express their pride, and magnus can’t stop looking at him and grinning, too. and they walk hand in hand and it’s cute

(later, magnus says, see, mundane culture isn’t so bad, is it? and alec looks at him with a way more serious look, full of joy and happiness, and says, no, it isn’t. and kisses him and thanks him for everything, and it’s sweet)

also I'm soft thinking about Magnus reminiscing about planning the first pride along with "his dear friend Brenda" to Alec and/or Raphael, them putting their arms around his shoulder as he tells them the softer stories, too, the good things they did

small bonus: Magnus plays 2 truths and a lie with Simon regarding his memories of past prides, and Simon gets it wrong every time and is all wide eyed by the end, which makes both Magnus and Raphael laugh :)

#ask #anonymous #sh #shadowhunters #magnus bane #malec #The Polycule™#saiaphaeliorn #simon lewis #maia roberts #raphael santiago #meliorn #alec lightwood #brotp: i'll do whatever it takes to protect them

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redhoodieone · 5 years

Text

But I’m Your Kid!

A/N: Here we go again! Okay, so this is the 4th part of the, “But I’m…” series, and I’m so excited that the series has been well received. I don’t know if this will be the last one or not, because there was another idea (I’d only write this one if people want to read it), for a 5th story to the series, where Y/N is the adopted daughter of Superman and he meets Jason, Y/N’s fiancé for the first time, and the Batfamily is dreading that Superman to be a part of the family. I don’t know it could be called, “But I’m Your Father!” …but I guess we’ll see lol.

If anyone’s interested, this song helped me write this fic: Shinedown “I’ll Follow You”

OH! And since the whole Tom King drama (give me a round of applause, please), there’s MAJOR family fluff in here because I say so!

Couples: Jason x Y/N, Bruce x Selina, Dick x Barbara.

Warnings: Mentions of sex, language, and adorable family moments.

Introduction

It’s true the Todd family is beyond adorable. People who know them (or are complete strangers to them) can see Jason and Y/N that they’re clearly meant to be together. With Jason’s rough and tough exterior (but with teddy bear hugs behind closed doors) and Y/N’s kind and beautiful soul, the two balance and fit each other like ideal pieces in a thousand puzzles pieces game. While Jason has always been an angry, rash, and secretly sensitive guy, Y/N has been able to help him overcome his fears, insecurities, and make him feel like he belonged in the world after everything that’s happened to him.

And he loved her for that.

Because who knew the Damned Prince of Gotham and his Damned Princess of Gotham could be a match?

And after only five years of marriage and a six-year-old son, Jason and I were very happy and finally at peace with their small family.

It’s just an average Saturday afternoon when Jason brings us to the Manor to relax and spend time with the Batfamily. Alfred is in the kitchen with Tim as they’re preparing drinks and snacks for the family. Dick and Barbara are sitting beside Bruce and Selina on one couch while Jason and I hog the love seat. My husband pulls me onto his lap with an evil smirk on his handsome face.

“I got the best seat in the house,” Jason laughs.

“Behave!” I warn him. Barbara giggles at us.

“Yes, please. None of us want to see that,” Bruce pleads.

“Maybe some of us do,” Selina jokes. Bruce sighs and shakes his head at her.

Even though Jason and I were practically all over each other, I couldn’t help but feel the heat rush to my pussy. I mean, it has been a few days since we’ve been intimate with each other. J.J, our young rebel has been behaving more needier than usual, and with him in between us in bed, it’s kind of difficult to show my husband how much I want him.

And need him.

It’s as if my Jay read my mind. One hand remains on my waist, as the other rubs up and down my thigh; almost pushing up my short black skirt I decided to wear to finally show off my curvy body after working out and taking better care of myself after giving birth to J.J. Jason eyes my button up white blouse that’s unbuttoned on the third button, which gives him a good view of my breasts being pushed up in my pushup bra.

“I can guarantee you that I’m going to fucking wreck your pussy tonight,” Jason whispers in my ear, and kisses underneath my jaw. He grips me tighter, and groans heavily. “Maybe we can…you know? Try for another one?”

“Another what?” I ask, confused.

“A baby, doll,” he answers, as if I should have known. He raises his eyebrows, and his crystal blue eyes shine with the happiness he has fought for a very long time and cherishes every moment with J.J and me. “I…this isn’t how I wanted to tell you, but Y/N…I really want a little girl.”

“A girl?” I repeat, shifting in his lap which makes him groan when my ass rubs against his already hard on.

“Even though Jason just has to be gross about it…I agree,” Dick supports his brother.

Bruce wraps a loving arm around Selina. I suddenly feel as if everyone here is thinking the same thing. Is that why we’re here?

Is Jason’s family trying to help him convince me to give him a daughter?

Alfred comes into the living room with Tim trailing behind him. He sets down lemonade and freshly backed chocolate chip cookies. “I agree with everyone here, Lady Y/N. I would absolutely love to have a little girl running around here and brighten this dark mansion,” Alfred reveals.

“Dark mansion?” Bruce asks. He cannot believe Alfred. “When has this home ever been dark, Alfred?”

“I’m merely speaking about how this home has always been grim and filled with sadness before. But if I may so Master Bruce, you and the boys have lived here with your tragedies, and a beautiful little girl laughing can make this home bright and loving,” Alfred explains.

“I have to agree with him,” Barbara mentions.

“Maybe if you smile more and give off a more positive and upbeat vibe!” Dick suggests.

“I swear to-”

“Master Bruce! Language! Master J.J will hear you!” Alfred scolds him.

“Too late, Pennyworth,” Damian says, entering the living room with my son behind him. Damian covers his entire body with Bruce’s cowl and cape, while J.J is wearing his new and improved Robin costume. I feel my heart beat faster because J.J is the spitting image of Jason; and my heart is filled with so much love at the sight of him. “J.J and I have heard everything.”

“Everything?” I ask slowly. This can’t be happening.

“Of course, Todd. J.J is smart enough to know everything adults speak of considering I have informed him and taught him well enough these last few months. I have even taken the liberty to teach him sexual intercourse just an hour ago, so you wouldn’t have to. I imagine speaking to children about sexual ideas and facts can be scarring for parents,” Damian confesses normally.

Jason clears his throat. He is as shocked as I am. “What…did you say you did?” he asks quietly, with poison in his voice.

“Oh please, Todd. Just a week ago, you, Grayson, Drake, and I were speaking about women and your mannerisms in bed at our Friday night poker game. Like how Gordon hasn’t been putting out for Grayson, and how Y/N has been distant and not ‘touching you enough’ Todd. Drake doesn’t have a sex life at the moment, so he remained alone and silent. J.J even heard the sexual discussions that night, and since you are an obvious and annoying loudmouth, you didn’t know he was behind you. He asked me questions, and I answered them truthfully,” Damian answers.

“Damian!” Dick snaps.

“This is why we don’t invite you to play sometimes!” Tim shouts.

I glare at Jason who just gives me a guilty smile. Fuck I love that man so much…even when I want to shoot his kneecaps for talking about our sex life with his brothers and son behind him.

It’s silent between all of us. Just the thought of J.J (already a smart ass and smart kid in general) knowing sex at this age frightens me so much. Since my husband and J.J’s father, Jason Peter Todd has a high sex drive and is constantly thinking about sex, I fear J.J will turn out to be exactly like him!

I can just picture young J.J telling the other kids about hand jobs, blowjobs, and tea bagging for fuck’s sake!

“Mom...Dad...I have a question,” J.J asks, his voice soft and anxious which immediately gathers mine and Jason’s attentions. His bright blue eyes are full of innocence and curiosity. He runs a hand through his messy dark hair like Jason; like father like son. He moves closer to us and stops in front of me. He frowns. “I need answers. I need the truth.”

“What’s your question?” I ask slowly. Even when I feel my body tense and I already fear the worst; I rub his back to ease his nerves. “You can ask us anything.”

“Of course, kid. Ask away,” Jason encourages their son, even though he’s clearly anxious, too.

J.J’s blue eyes sparkle with all the interest and wonder in the world. His frown turns into a smile. “I have to know. It’s been bugging me lately...where did I come from? How was I really created?” he asks.

I instantly feel myself stunned by his question. He’s only six-years-old and how could he be wondering about this right now?! Didn’t Damian tell him about sex already?!

Jason freezes with his eyes open wide and mouth hanging open at our son. Everyone around us is quiet and wondering how this will all play out. I gently shake him to awaken him from his daze and he forces himself to look at J.J.

“Y-you want to know h-how you were created?” Jason asks slowly.

“Yes,” J.J replies.

“You want to know where you came from?” Jason asks seriously.

“Yes,” J.J says.

“You want to know how you were created? And you want to know where you came from?” Jason repeats.

“Yes! How was I created?!” J.J cries out hysterically. He’s dying to know!

Jason begins to sweat and tremble. He always did promise to shield and protect J.J no matter what. “Well...uh...you see J.J, when a man and a woman, well in your case, me and your mom love each other very much, they-” Jason begins nervously until I interrupt him.

“Honey,” I say, hoping I can find the courage to answer his questions. I must be strong. I must be his strong mother. “If Damian already talked to you about sex, then why are you asking us about it?”

“Uncle Damian did tell me about sex, but he couldn’t answer some questions,” J.J explains hastily.

I take a deep breath. “Okay, ask us.” I say gently.

“Where was I created? How did you and dad create me?” J.J asks casually, even when his eyes are clearly begging for information. His question basically covers the, ‘where did I come from’ question.

“If you already know sex, then are you asking where your dad and I…created you?” I ask slowly. I can feel my stomach hurt.

“Yeah Mom,” J.J says nodding his head.

Bruce gives me a look; the look that tells me to tell the truth, or otherwise J.J will get the wrong idea about his life. I nod my head and lick my lips as well. I settle more into Jason’s lap, and he glances at me to see what I’ll say.

“You mean location?” I ask, making sure I understand the question.

“Yeah,” J.J confirms.

“I believe…you were created at Uncle Dick’s birthday party,” I answer honestly. Because if my memory serves me right, Jason and I were drunk that night. After too many shots of Fireball and Patron, we ended up having sex a few times, and I knew we weren’t using protection. “Your dad and I had too much fun, and we thought about starting a family right then and there!”

“Really? At Uncle Dick’s birthday party?” J.J asks, seemingly surprised and thankful about it.

Okay, because I don’t think J.J is old enough to know we were so drunk and careless. If I must be honest about sex, I will be.

“Yeah, exactly! We-we wanted a boy and that’s the place where we decided to make you, kid!” Jason adds with support for me.

“Seriously?” Dick whispers to us. While I remain focused on J.J, I can feel Jason flipping him off behind my back.

“Okay,” J.J begins before looking at Jason and I. “How was I created?”

“From sex,” Jason answers quickly.

“Exactly how Uncle Damian taught you a while ago,” I say.

J.J shakes his head at us. “No, no I mean…” J.J trails off before he finally gives us his undivided attention. “Were you on top of Mom? Was Mom on top of you, Dad? Did you do it sideways or upside down? Or did you hump Mom’s butt like a dog, Dad? Uncle Damian says you’re a real dog is that’s true.”

Jason’s eyes widen. I cover my face as everyone else bursts into laughter, including Alfred. J.J suddenly blushes in embarrassment, and then I realize his curiosity is not to be laughed at or ignored. I end up removing myself from Jason, and I pull J.J to me so I can hold him.

“Don’t be embarrassed, J.J. It’s perfectly normal to ask questions, even if they’re…scary or embarrassing. But your Dad and I promise to try to answer all your questions the best we can,” I tell him. I caress his cheeks, and I decide to answer since I’m sure everyone else is just as curious as this little boy. And even though it was a drunken night, the bruises on my ass and hips proved we did in fact do…doggy style. “If you must know, your Dad and I did the last sexual pose you said, and he didn’t do it in my butt; he did it in my vagina.”

“But why?” J.J asks seriously. “Why did you choose that pose to make me?”

“Maybe we should stop this conversation,” Jason suggests. His body tenses and his eyes say he’s too afraid to keep talking.

“Why should we? I want to know,” J.J replies anxiously.

“You really shouldn’t know,” Jason tries to reason with him.

“BUT I’M YOUR KID! AND I WANT TO KNOW RIGHT NOW!” J.J yells angrily.

“BECAUSE IT FEELS SO FUCKING GOOD, KID! IT’S OUR FAVORITE POSITION! Trust me, when you do it one day you’ll see why,” Jason admits, lowering his voice after his outburst to answer J.J.

“Oh my God!” Dick bursts into laughter as he and Tim fall to the floor, holding their stomachs and crying with real tears of joy. “I-I can’t believe you said that!”

“Shut up Dick!” Barbara hisses at him.

“At least Master J.J can rest his curious mind,” Alfred sighs.

“Imbeciles…” Damian mutters under his breath.

“I think you did a great job,” Bruce praises me. He and Selina stand up and hug Jason, J.J and I. “You too, Jason.”

“Even if Y/N did most of the work,” Selina lightly teases Jason.

Jason finally snaps out of his frozen state and smiles down at me and J.J. He picks up J.J, and uses his other arm to wrap around me. “You’re the best, you know that right, doll?”

“I’m the best too!” J.J whines.

Jason chuckles and tickles J.J. I kiss Jason’s cheek, and I finally decide to give in. “Maybe we should have another baby,” I whisper to him.

“Yeah? Really?” Jason asks, raising his eyebrows with a silly grin on his face.

“Yeah,” I confirm my decision. “I really think we should. I mean, I feel like we’re ready.”

Jason kisses me and hugs our son in between us. “I believe we are ready, too,” Jason agrees.

“Then let’s make our family bigger,” I say strongly.

J.J smiles and hugs us both. The idea of him being a big brother must be something he wants as well. And just when Jason and I are about to seal the deal with a kiss, J.J clears his throat to get our attention, and the rest of the families as well.

“Yeah, kid?” Jason asks, as we look at J.J.

“I just have one more question: if you didn’t do it in Mom’s butt, then where did you put your thingy? Her vagina is up front, right?” J.J asks, his wondering mind is at it again.

Jason and I sigh because tonight is going to be a long night of the never-ending sex talk.

And to think Jason and I are going to make a girl next.

Lord help us.

#dc comics #batfamily #jason todd #jason todd x reader #jason todd x y/n #bruce wayne #selina kyle #dick grayson #tim drake #damian wayne #barbara gordon

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idolish7rabbitchats · 4 years

Text

Yaotome Gaku: Wonderful Octave Rabbit Chat Part 3

Tsumugi: Good work. Tsunashi-san, how’s your tongue?

10: Sorry about stopping it! It’s fine already.

10: I showed something embarrassing..!

T: No! I’m glad you weren’t hurt! 1000: Tongue twisters are hard huh. I also bit myself.

3: Yuki-san did it too?! lol

8: Tongue twisters don’t suit you huh. (lol)

1000: Is that so? I was confident with articulation since I’m doing a singing job.

10: Me too! I regret that I did it seriously even if it’s for fun...

2: You don’t need to say pantsu seriously… (lol)

9: What would you do if you got hurt. Be careful.

7: It’s cruel to Tsunashi-san if you scold him even though he was in pain…!

10: Thanks, Riku-kun. But, he didn’t get mad or anything so it’s fine! And earlier, Gaku and him brought me ice hoping to ease my pain.

10: Gaku and Tenn are also nice huh.

1000: Here Momo brought it too.

100: I can’t leave my darling in an emergency~(`；ω；´)

Okazaki: Momo-kun thinking about his partner is also nice huh!

1000: Right. ^ ^

T: I feel TRIGGER-san and Re:vale-san’s group love!

T: So then, let’s open up the requests again. From Mitsuki-san please!

3: Okay! From me it’s “I want to hear about Yaotome’s really cool episode!”

3: Yaotome is cool even inside and he looks good just by standing. So I wanted to try asking if you had some kind of super handsome episode!

8: What is that, a handsome episode (lol).

3: Eh, what is it… Like everyone turns around to look at you when you are walking through town?

100: Like all the school girls passed out on the first day you transferred!

3: That’s from the indie movie we watched together that time right lololol

100: That was super funny lololol

8: That’s a recently popular movie right. I think I also wanted to see that!

3: It’s super interesting so definitely watch it! But it’s seriously just a movie about a handsome guy transferring to the school lololol

100: The songs and dance and costumes and plays were also splendid huh! Even though it’s a school movie, it’s super super super gorgeous!

5: Indie movies certainly have an image of being gorgeous.

2: Actually there are lots of sad, non-dancing and singing movies too.

10: Yamato-kun, as expected of a movie buff huh. You watch a variety.

8: Should I go soon? It seems the showings will end soon.

3: I’ll go with you! I wanna watch it again lol.

100: Me too! The music is always stuck in my head!

8: That sounds catchy!

3: Also, it sounds like I was talking about your looks, but it doesn’t need to be!

3: More like, I want to hear Yaotome’s manly episode.

3: Like you beat an evil organization or rescued a puppy in the rain. Something the fans will get a crush on you for!

8: I don’t have those experiences. (lol) Well, I’ll think of something.

3: THANK YOU!

T: It seems the listeners will also be happy hearing about Yaotome-san’s manly episode!

T: Next is the request from Yamato-san please!

2: From me it’s “Please copy your favorite animal.”

1: The taste is the complete opposite of from Nii-san’s request huh...

8: What’s that?

2: As Mitsu says, Yaotome’s handsome right. Letting you do handsome and cool things aren’t interesting (lol)

2: I thought of letting him showing everyone that he’s not only handsome.

8: You’re making fun, aren’t you?

2: No no, it’s a serious request (lol)

8: Haven’t you been (lol)ing since earlier.

7: But I think copying an animal would be cute!

100: Certainly! Wouldn’t girls’ hearts throb because of the gap?!

2: I wanted to say that too.

8: Seriously? (lol)

9: Isn’t it fine. Before this, you and Ryuu were copying dogs. What about doing that?

8: What’s that. I never copied a dog.

10: Eh, was I doing that? I don’t remember...

9: Right. It seems you were pretty drunk.

9: You guys saw puppies barking on TV, you two suddenly started barking. Do you understand how I felt seeing you two?

8: Ah

8: That’s right, we did that kind of thing huh...

10: Really?!

9: Have you remembered?

9: It was annoying so I told you to stop but Japanese didn’t work. Maybe I should’ve spoken in dog language too.

10: S-Sorry...

8: Sorry..

4: Being drunk is seriously scary. I’ll neeeeever drink.

5: I should also be careful...

1000: If you drink responsibly, alcohol isn’t that bad.

9: Well, putting aside that day, you were good at copying so isn’t it fine.

8: R-Right. Then I’ll do Nikaido’s request as a dog...

2: Somehow, I’m sorry...

Anesagi: Gaku, afterwards please let me hear that. I’ll check if you can show it to people.

T: It is an unexpected specialty that you two are good at copying dogs…!

T: So then, next is Yaotome-san with a request for yourself please!

8: Yeah. My request is “I want to play one TRIGGER song.”

8: Because the other songs on the show have already been decided by someone else. But, since I’ll host the radio, I want them to hear a song with all three of us too.

10: I’m happy! I also want a lot more people to hear TRIGGER’s songs!

9: It’s a good request. But don’t the listeners want to hear Gaku talk?

8: Not only just playing a song, I’ll talk about the inside story that’s related to the song too. If I do that, the listeners will be happy too right?

9: Right.

8: But I don’t know what song to do.

8: There are too many songs I want to play that I can’t pick.

9: I want them to hear new songs too but the other songs are best too.

10: And there are lots of memories with the songs too...

8: Maybe I’ll make a die with the song titles on it and roll it during the corner?

9: That’s a good idea.

10: That seems like a fun idea huh! It seems I could be excited by the radio if Gaku’s request is chosen!

T: Definitely please also let me hear the inside story on TRIGGER-san’s song!

T: Next, how about we hear the request from Tsunashi-san?

10: From me it’s, “Tell me what you want to do in Okinawa”!

10: We go to Okinawa for jobs but we can’t really relax right? So then, if we took a vacation, I was thinking about guiding you through Okinawa’s sightseeing areas.

10: I’ll guide you, so can we go on a trip together? Of course with Tenn too.

8: That’s nice! If Ryuu is the guide, it seems like it could be a slightly deep trip huh.

8: Like going to an Okinawan food restaurant that only the local people would know.

9: A cool season might be nice.

4: Summers in Okinawa are insane huh! I was sweating so much I thought I’d melt.

1: That won’t happen but I understand how you feel. The temperature is lower than here, but the sunlight is strong.

10: That burning heat feels nice! Doesn’t it feel like you are alive?

6: Tsunashi-shi seems to have odd tastes. Japan’s summer heat is torture...

1000: I feel the same, Nagi-kun. I want to turn the AC onto the whole Earth.

10000: I think it would be good for Yuki to get out in the sun a little more though?

8: I actually like being hot. I’m looking forward to a trip to Okinawa!

9: Yeah. Seems like Anesagi-san heard that too.

Anesagi: Refreshing is a part of the job too. If there are times where you can get big break, I would adjust for it.

10: Thank you! I’ll rely on Anesagi-san then.

T: A trip to Okinawa with everyone sounds really fun!

T: Next how about hearing the request from Momo-san?

100: From me it’s “An association game.” (o‵・∀・′)b

100: It’s a game of answering with as many words that associ8 with “TRIGGER” before the time’s up!

8: Heeh, an association game seems fun somehow.

100: I couldn’t decide what word to associate with tho~.

100: I thought of a lot but the ones listening to Gaku’s radio are probably TRIGGER fans too. I thought they’d be happy to be able to hear group conversations!

8: So you thought about it that much huh. Thank you!

3: It seems it could become very heated if Yaotome’s talking about TRIGGER.

2: Seems like he would talk about his love for TRIGGER clearly.

4: So-chan is now searching “shorthand” and ”how to learn.”

5: Tamaki-kun, you don’t have to say that here..!

100: Are you going to write down everything from the radio?!

8: No matter which request I pick, I plan to make it a light and fun talk.

T: I’m looking forward to what kind of talk Yaotome-san will do on-air!

T: Lastly is the request from Yuki-san please!

1000: Who is Gaku-kun’s favorite in Re:vale?

1000: That’s it.

4: Amazing!! It’s such a coincidence!! It’s the same as me!!

1000: Yeah. I heard Tamaki-kun’s request so I did this.

4: [Spinning Pudding Stamp]

1000: I’d actually thought about something different but I felt like changing after hearing Tamaki-kun’s request.

8: No no! A favorite in Re:vale, but isn’t it just you two?! I can’t pick (lol)

1: Certainly, the importance differs compared to choosing from 7 people. It means you have to choose Momo-san or Yuki-san.

100: Picking one person out of two is a turning point in life! This is a scariest request that might change your life!

100: Who came up with this kind of ultimate request (＞＜）

1000: Me.

100: This is the cruelest request that no one could copy! You are so handsome that you came up with this…!

1000: ^ ^

4: Eeeeh! Yukirin just copied mine right?!

8: It’s terrible. I’ll pray that I don’t pull only this request...

T: It seems pretty difficult to pick one favorite huh..!

T: It’s curious in many ways, but that’s it for collecting the requests. Thank you everyone!

10: So then, next it’s Gaku’s turn to give us a request huh!

7: I’m looking forward to what kind of request it’ll be!

*T: Do you have a request for TRIGGER-san?

8: Let’s be the best TRIGGER from now on too. Even though I don’t even need to make a request for this.

8: I’ve gotten a lot of requests but saying something myself is kind of embarrassing (lol)

100: Embarrassed Gaku is cute! It’s fine to let me spoil you more ☆

10:Being relied on by reliable Gaku makes me happy!

2: While spoiling him, shall we celebrate your birthday?

3: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Yaotome! I found a nice darts bar, so let’s go there one day!

7: Happy Birthday! I’m looking forward to your radio!

100: (o'∀'o)ﾉ★°。+。☆HAPPY BIRTHDAY GAKU☆。+。°★\(o'∀'o)

10000: Happy Birthday!

4: Gakkun, HBD! Pull my request okay!

1000: Happy birthday. I’ll tell you if I recommend a movie.

1: Happy Birthday.

5: Happy Birthday. Please spend a wonderful year.

6: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

2: Congrats. Shall we go drinking again?

Okazaki: Happy Birthday. From now on too, please take care of Re:vale.

Anesagi: Happy birthday. Someone was saying this before but, be spoiled when you can be spoiled.

T: Yaotome-san, Happy Birthday!

9: From us, maybe we should say it on your birthday.

8: Thank you. I’m happy that they celebrate me in a lively way every year.

8: It’s not as a return but I’ll definitely make this radio a fun episode. Expect a lot from it.

#idolish7 #idolish seven #Takanashi Tsumugi #tsumugi takanashi #Yaotome Gaku #gaku yaotome #idol #game #gaming #rabbit chat #12 hits #Wonderful Octave #translation #japanese #english #game app #idol game #Rhythm game

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toomuchawesomenessforyou · 4 years

Text

Thank you @ifindus for tagging me 🌼 and sorry about the 9. question: I couldn’t describe the situation wtih any less words 😅. Still, I had fun with all of this!

🌸🌸🌸

1) What’s your favourite place in the world?

Stony shores and raised bogs: just a good broad red-coloured raised bog full of cranberries and hare's-tail cottongrass and if you bother to look a little closer then you’ll notice the tiny pink sundews glistening in the sun. And the smell of both the raised bog and the sea is just the best. So soothing.

2) What’s your favourite book?

“Pokuraamat” (“The Poku Book”) by Edgar Valter probably XD Idk but it was my fave as I was a child and the aesthetic is still deeply engraved into my heart <3 I actually adore “Memoirs of Ivan Orav or the Past as Azure Mountains” by Andrus Kivirähk as well. I love history so a good parody about our tragic past is just my jam. I mean what else there is to do to just laugh about it all and move one. No one cares about the little nations anyways.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

3) What’s a guilty pleasure you have?

I wouldn’t deem it that guilty of a pleasure since I’ll always stay a child in my heart (I promised Pippi!) but anything “childish”, if you may, I still enjoy even though I’m a grown up now. Like playing on a playground or tag with friends. The only tragic thing is that I don’t have anyone to “play” with since everyone is too busy being “grown up” and thinking about their image in front of strangers. Well, at least I know how to still enjoy life. 😛

4) What’s your favourite snacks?

Blueberries, blackcurrants and gooseberries. Sadly it’s the type of snack you won’t get fresh the whole year.

5) Do you have any musicals you like?

To be honest I haven’t seen that many but the most recent ones I adored were Hamilton and Les Misérables. The last one I got to see in real life and damn the actor for Javert and his costume were hot! (Guess his songs helped to create this chilly atmosphere full of authority)

6) Do you have any games you like?

Since it’s me we’re only talking about board games. I love Dixit a lot. There’s like four extensions to it on my shelf.

7) What are you most looking forward to do after this pandemic is over?

Since my time during the quarantine was dedicated to Zoom seminars and writing my thesis I’m planning on resting when I’m finally finished with the latter. I’d like to go hiking and dedicate more time to drawing and writing fanfiction since I’ve come up with so many new ideas for stories over this time under quarantine.

8) What’s your favourite disney movie?

🐉🗡️ MULAN !!!!!! 100% NO questions asked! It always was and always will be my favourite. Still, an honorary mention will be given to Atlantis as well.

9) What are you most proud of in your life?

In the 7. grade I went to the German Department in my school which basically meant that all the main subjects were in German with German teachers from Germany. So the 7. grade me was quite shooketh with the sudden intense German 24/7 and when my Math teacher asked me a question and I didn’t know the answer to it I went red in my face. The teacher noticed it and with a loud voice told the whole class “Haha, your face is as red as a lobster!!” ...okay, teacher. It happened once more only this time it was “Haha, your face is as red as your deskmate’s sweater!!” Since that day I decided to hide my emotions from that teacher as well as I could and never speak in his class or else he’s gonna comment on something that I can’t really change in front of everyone again. I mastered the art of “I have no emotions” and actually never spoke in his class again. The thing was that this type of handling the teachers I soon started to practice in other German subjects as well because most of the teachers happened to be difficult persons which meant that the perfect way to deal with them without any problems was silently obeying. I mastered that as well. Now, the problem was that for Germans speaking is apparently a very important part of the class. 50% of the grade of one subject consisted of only speaking in class. And I HATED that. Still do! Because it didn’t matter if you perfectly and carefully summed up everything in one sentence. The only way you were valid in the eyes of the German teachers was when you talked a lot, even if it was just straight up bullshit. I’ve never been the type of a guy to just talk about something, I need to get straight to the point and that didn’t go well with the teachers. Basically, everyone thought that I just wasn’t good enough in German so that’s why I never talked.

Now fast forward to the end of the 12. grade where we were taking our Abitur and specifically the speaking part of the German exam which consisted of 20 min non-stop talking about a literary piece we were handed 15 min prior. No doubt no one had any faith in my German skills because I had never talked in the class that much. And boy how everyone in the room was shook when the results were announced and I actually was the second best with my score in the speaking part in the whole class full of literal geniuses. My German Literature teacher seeked my out twice, once even during the after-party of our graduation, to ask “How did you do that?” The second time he asked I decided that I’ve had enough with playing this obedient silent student and told him that I started learning 3 days before the exam day (which was outrageous by the standards of my German teachers) and that I actually never read more that one chapter from one of the four books that were chosen for our Abitur because I hated it so much. And you know how he answered? He said a tiny “oh” and walked silently away. No comments. No nothing. I felt so empowered. So alive suddenly. It was the last day I had to see those teachers in my life and I actually threw away my shackles and for once said what I actually thought into their face. I’ll probably always deem this moment as the proudest moments I’ve ever had.

10) What makes you happy?

🎶 Singing. I have been in a choir since I was 3, for two years I was in a school band and every now and then I would perform during public ceremonies in school or for the important guests there. I’ve never officially learned singing anywhere but experience is a good teacher as well :) Singing is one of the few things that always helps me forget my problems and makes everything feel so much better.

Hiking in nature makes me content as well. I dare to say that I am quite a nature loving person. Just hand me my camera and the normally 30 min long stroll through the woods will turn into a 3 hour long session of capturing the tiniest details the forest has to offer.

Travelling is a passion of mine as well but I’m not rich so yeah there’s that…

🌸🌸🌸

I’m tagging @justajojokejobro, @kakashis-kunoichi, @sand-rose, @succulentbutt, @who-let-the-deans-out-doctor-who, @louiserandom, @hokutodecuisine, @raven1aris and anyone else who wants to participate!

My questions for you can be found under the cut:

1) What is your favourite kind of cake?

2) What language would you want to magically learn overnight and why?

3) What do you think about Eurovision? (Do you have any favourite performances?)

4) What is the best food your mother/grandmother makes/has made?

5) Do you have any people in your family tree whose history is interesting or about who you know a funny story you would like to share?

6) Do you collect anything?

7) What are you good at?

8) What is something you are trying to achieve or master at the moment?

9) Is there something weird/uncommon that you like/do?

10) What makes you happy?

#tag game

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tessatechaitea · 4 years

Text

Cerebus #7 (1978)

Elrod's boots have toes.

This cover proves that with Issue #7, Cerebus had outgrown its "sword & sorcery parody" roots. I would now define it as "madcap sword & sorcery parody." Elrod deciding he needed a little guy in a bunny outfit after hanging out with Cerebus for a short afternoon only makes me love Elrod even more. This issue is also proof that Dave Sim didn't earn his "first man to write and draw 300 issues of a monthly comic book all by himself" award because he didn't do this cover; Frank Thorne did. I don't mind that Gerhard did all the backgrounds for most of the series because without Gerhard, the comic could have been the same just with crappy backgrounds. But Dave Sim not doing the cover art for an issue?! That seems, well, actually, it seems on par with Gerhard doing all the backgrounds. Never mind. Elrod was last seen in Cerebus #4 which might make this the fastest return of any guest character in any comic book ever. I'm not a comic book historian but I'd stake my mother's life on that previous assumption. Hopefully the previous sentence will not start a rumor that my mother is a vampire which I don't think she actually is. I'm not a vampire historian so I wouldn't stake my mother's life on my mother being a vampire. That's a clever line, isn't it? This month's "Note from the Publisher" (which I guess I've incorrectly been calling "A Note from the Publisher") has been renamed "A Brief Note." Unless this "Note from the Publisher" is named "A Brief Note." And it's always possible that it's just called "Brief Note" since I've made that error with the article previously. Getting to the bottom of what this column is called is more interesting than the content of the note which is why I'm done writing about it this month. Dave Sim explains how this issue was the issue that freed him from writing a Barry Smith barbarian parody comic book as he began to take chances with the art and develop more of his own unique style. See? Just like I said about the madcap sword & sorcery designation earlier! He also points out that this is the second issue in seven issues that hints at aardvarks being important and Cerebus being some sort of Messianic figure. He wouldn't revisit that for some time because it wasn't important yet and also he probably didn't really know what to do with it. But it was a good idea because how can you not get a ton of great stories out of a character who is some kind of paradigm changing religious MacGuffin! Plus Elrod! Elrod was sure to make the readers laugh uproariously so that their parents would look over annoyed and ask, "What's so funny?" To which the comic book reader could respond, "Sheesh! Mind your own business! You wouldn't get it anyway!"

Is it more or less manly to admit that I would fuck Cerebus' horse?

Last issue, we learned that Cerebus gets super horny when he's had apricot brandy mixed with Rohypnol. We also learned that once he has sobered up, he forgets about the woman he thinks he loves but really only sort of likes the idea of her loving him. But he doesn't forget about the location of the treasure he learned about! You might be thinking, "That's because he learned about the treasure before E'lass slipped him the date rape drugs." But then I'd say haughtily and super condescendingly, "Yes, but he also learned more information from Jaka while totally stoned out of his mind which was essential to realizing just where the treasure was!" Then you'd secretly begin to hate me and start ignoring my texts and start the slow and silent process of breaking up with a friend. What I was trying to express was that Cerebus is hunting for the Black Sun Temple's treasure! By the end of this issue, he maybe he'll be super rich but still totally alone. I can't stop thinking about that horse. I just remembered, upon the appearance of Elrod at the beginning of this comic book, that the guy in the bunny suit isn't with Elrod. At least, not at first. He's just some flim-flam man trying to become the next aardvark Messiah, I think. But that's okay because I'd use anything as an excuse to say that I love Elrod even more. I'm guessing a lot of Cerebus readers told Dave the same thing which is why Elrod is back so soon.

How have I been a fan of Cerebus for thirty years and never made a Black Sun cocktail?

Elrod has come to the Temple of the Black Dog's Hole Sun for all of the wrong reasons unless getting shitfaced is a right reason and then I stand corrected. I'm pretty sure I'm standing corrected right now. Cerebus doesn't really want him tagging along but he also doesn't want Elrod wandering around to be discovered by the priests which might put their security on high alert. So he drags Elrod into the temple with him to find the treasure. Once inside, Elrod eventually wanders off to find some treasure of his own after Cerebus points out that a quiet living albino and a quiet dead albino are practically the same thing.

I'm sure all the riches are consolidated in the head priest's chambers for safe keeping.

Meanwhile some short priest named Mit is busy sewing a bunny suit. It looks just like Cerebus but is meant to represent one of the Black Sun's oldest and most revered nameless gods! Mit had studied all of the past prophecy and scripture of the Black Sun's theology so that he could represent himself as the coming Messiah and be worshiped as a god. So basically he's doing what Jesus did. Or Ardra! That's a Star Trek: The Next Generation reference which is better than making a reference to the comic book I wrote and drew in my late teens called Arrogance because nobody would get that reference. But, like Ardra and Jesus and Mit, I had a character who represented himself as the prophesied Messiah. Seriously though, who can trust a Messiah that was spoken about in prophecy?! Prophecy isn't a predictor of future events; it's a blueprint for some con man to come through town pretending to be a God and/or selling pool tables. I should scan in my comic books some time! I think it went five issues (at, like, five pages per issue!) and the later issues are really inspired by Jaka's Story: lots of text next to one or two large static images per page.

Ha ha! He's an ablino so he's easily mistaken for a statue!

Realizing the guards are onto them, Elrod rushes off to find Cerebus and drag him away. But instead he finds Mit in his costume and hauls him off. Cerebus finds his treasure and realizes Elrod has wandered off which can only mean that everything is going to become chaos at any second. Cerebus, Elrod, and Mit engage in a slapstick pursuit reminiscent of any old television program that would make you think of a slapstick pursuit. Maybe Scooby Doo or one of the Abbott and Costello movies. It eventually ends with everybody running for their lives and Cerebus discovering the pit of the Black Sun Temple's god. Spoiler: the god is a giant spider. That wasn't really a spoiler because this issue begins with this image:

The old comic standby of starting the story in the middle for one page and then preceding immediately to the beginning and telling the story linearly. I don't think Dave ever did this again because remember how this issue freed him from copying styles and tropes?!

Hey, remember that horse? Let's look at it some more. Oh yeah. Hey girl. I've got a carrot for you. Cerebus is finally defeated by a combatant this issue. Sure, it's a giant spider whose web Cerebus fell into while also losing his sword. As a reader, I'll allow Cerebus to lose a fight when the conditions are stacked so high against him. The only reason Cerebus survives is because Cerebus has no soul which causes the sacrificial Black Sun ceremony to disintegrate into chaos. The spider, finding no nourishment in the sacrifice, falls deeper into the pit as the temple crumbles and explodes around Cerebus. He's flung far out into the desert, mostly unharmed from the violence. But his treasure and his sword are lost. I hope that sword wasn't important to his becoming the Messiah! I suppose it's okay because he still has his three medallion necklace! With Mit's people and religion destroyed, he decides to become Elrod's sidekick for awhile. I don't remember if he ever turns up again; I'm guessing this was his only appearance. In this month's Aardvark Comment, a writer grades the art of Cerebus as an "A" and the writing as an "A+" so I'm just using that as my rating. Why should I waste my time doing redundant work?! At the end of the original issue, there was an ad for a hand-sewn Cerebus plush toy. That means that a non-zero number of Cerebus plush toys have been fucked in this reality. Eddie Campbell wrote a one page comic for this issue called "Great Wasters from History Not Counting Dave Sim." This was about a guy named Jack Mytton who lived from 1796 to 1834. I could look up who he was but that would defeat the purpose of Eddie Campbell telling me who he was in Eddie's comic! If you're interested in learning about Mr. Mytton yourself, I highly recommend researching him. He was a rich drunkard who did a bunch of crazy shit and then eventually died in pauper's prison. He sounded like a fun guy to be the friend of a friend of! Cerebus #7 Rating: A and A+, remember?!

#Cerebus #Dave Sim

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takemealivelh · 5 years

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We’re not done here yet, okay?

2.3k | Mentions of alcohol, sex and cheating | FEEDBACK IS ENCOURAGED AND APPRECIATED

For the first time, I wasn’t able to know what was going through his mind, it both terrified and relieved me. I didn’t move, my jaw slightly trembled when his body got even closer to mine. His hand reached for my chin, and his lips crashed into mine.

Deep down I knew it was wrong, but I’ve always craved what I can’t have. His hands found shelter in the crook of my neck, I kissed him fast and furious. It felt epic, blood-rushing, stars-exploding, synths and strings playing in the back of my head, sinful. I wanted him all.

His lips were sober and my mind was lucid, my forbidden fruit tasted like heaven. For a moment, all these scenes flashed through my closed eyelids; holding hands in the queue of a coffee shop, cuddling on a winter day, playing with new sounds in the studio after rehearsal hours, fucking him deep in a hotel room in Germany. Then, his tongue traced my lower lip and my mind went blank.

“Luke?”

We pulled apart as soon as we heard the knock on the door. My heart started beating fast against the back of my jawline, recognizing Erin’s voice.

“Yeah!” Luke almost choked at the sudden intake of air. “In here!” He smoothed the wrinkles off his shirt where I had grabbed him, pulling his body closer to mine, wanting to melt him into my skin. His face visibly paled, I collected the heat in my own cheeks, burning red.

As soon as Erin stepped into the dressing room, I pulled out my phone and stared at the lock screen, pretending to be busy. Even if she hadn’t witnessed her boyfriend and his sound tech making out, I was sure she could perceive the tension in the space between us. If Luke was a good actor, I was not. Luke could keep his face straight for a long time just to keep a prank going, like that one time he and Ashton started a water balloon fight before the show in Glasgow. I almost ruined their plan because I couldn’t stop laughing or stuttering when someone asked me why the guys were taking so long in the bathroom.

Erin asked us if everything was alright, I saw the shadow of her moving body reach out to Luke and wrap an arm around his waist.

No words were necessary, our tongues had done enough.

I shook my head as if I’d just gotten an upsetting text and headed towards the door in silence, it was only when I heard my name on Luke’s lips that I stopped on my tracks.

“We’re not done here yet, okay?”

His arm was slouched over Erin’s shoulders, his eyes were dark with regret and hope. Her brows were furrowed together with worry.

I didn’t reply.

While the band walked the red carpet and gave similar answers to different interviewers, I was backstage with the crew of the venue. Men moved large equipment from one side of the stage to the other, women talked on their phones about strict schedules. Cameras were tested and microphones were checked for the hundredth time that day. I sat on a plastic chair, next to the mixer, going over the post-it notes I’d prepared with Michael and Calum earlier. Luke’s words had been haunting me since the moment they fell from his lips.

We’re not done here yet.

Did he mean that? What was he after? My mind was a whirlwind of thoughts. He had Erin but he wanted me. Was that it? After all this time, he still wanted me. Why? How? He’d told me himself that it was too hard to be with me, which was true. So, why did he want to go through that again?

Maybe he missed me as much as I missed him. It wasn’t fair to his girlfriend.

I pulled out my phone and looked for Erin’s Instagram. Pictures with her friends, pictures of her on the way to a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert. Fuck, I wanted to be her friend, I liked her. She seemed smart enough to know when to leave and yet, she was still with Luke. I was disappointed in his behaviour. I couldn’t believe he was still pulling childish acts out of his ass. Had he not learned anything?

But I still wanted him. Why?

Why did I suddenly have the need to be around him? Why did my skin itch at the thought of his fingers? Why did I want to hear every stupid joke, every silly anecdote, every clever idea that he had in his mind? Why now?

Because he has Erin.

I felt bad about wanting to go after him.

The night went by in a flash and suddenly it was 5SOS’ turn to perform. They gathered around the backstage area before going in, fist-bumping and wishing good luck to everyone, including me. Calum patted my back and Ashton gave me a weak smile before heading out to a cheering crowd. Michael checked the guitar volume in his in-ear and kissed my temple good luck as he’d grown accustomed to doing before any big gig. I slid the faders up to 0 and pressed play on the recording multitrack session.

Luke’s breathing against my earlobe almost made me collapse on top of the console.

“Meet me afterwards. We need to talk.”

His eyes lingered on me for the time it took him to walk onstage. I felt naked.

I liked it.

Talking was the last thing I wanted to do.

As soon as their performance was over and they rushed backstage to put the instruments away and to receive the compliments from the rest of the team, I saved the recorded act and made sure to have the mixer ready for the next sound guy. When I was done, 5SOS were back on their seats, surrounded by the other attendees.

I spent the rest of the ceremony in the dressing room, not doing much at all. I could’ve gone home, I could’ve hung out with the rest of the venue crew, I could’ve sat next to the stage and watched the rest of the performances. Instead, I waited for everyone by myself.

I waited for him.

I remembered our encounter back at Ashton’s place. Luke’s shirt gliding off his shoulders, his hands squeezing my thighs, his sloppy kisses on my lips… All my memory could do was complete the gaps between reality and my fantasies. Was this feeling anything more than lust? Maybe it was, but I wasn’t sure how to handle it.

Close to midnight, the show was still going. I decided to play around with the makeup and the little elastic ties I had in my backpack, along with ten spare plug cables and a Shure SM58 just in case. The lightning was enough to sit on the floor and re-do my look in the full-length mirror. I sat down with a bottle of beer I’d brought from the backstage area, and wondered if Luke thought I was sexy.

“It’s always nice to hear you’re sexy from another sexy person”

I scoffed the memory away. He was drunk and I am insecure.

“You’re a nice view, you know that?”

We’d been so close. So physically, flirtatiously close. Now I wanted every inch of space between us to disintegrate.

Yet again, the image of his girlfriend popped up in my head. I dropped my head down, ashamed, and scrolled through my phone one more time. The last picture she’d posted was of the venue we were currently in, before we’d even done the soundcheck. Luke’s laugh was frozen as he carried her piggyback style. A kiss to his cheek.

My heart sunk.

Erin had always seemed happy around him. She liked that Luke was goofy and that he was interested in her job and hobbies. She’d told me about one time he’d taken her out for her favourite food and they ended up drunk playing carnival games. I couldn’t understand how Luke could sweep her off her feet like that if his heart wasn’t fully into that relationship. But maybe I was imagining things, and Luke didn’t want me either, and he was just this fuckboy that I didn’t know he was...

My mind was spiralling out, going to ten different directions, all equally disturbing.

I looked at my reflection in the mirror, the reds and purples in my eyelids. I did want to impress Luke, I wanted him to be aroused by me.

Maybe I can only be with someone as the other woman. I pulled the costume quite well.

When the boys came back into the dressing room to pick up their stuff, Michael was the first one to notice me all dolled-up.

“Whoa,” he half laughed, half whistled. “Hot date after this? Isn't it a little late for a conversation?” Calum laughed behind him and pushed him towards the guitar case on the other end of the room. They were drunk. Michael’s eyes were droopy and Calum couldn’t stop fumbling with the pockets of his jacket.

I rolled my eyes, “who said anything about a conversation?” my tone was playful and teasing, knowing it would amuse them. Deep down, the guilt and confusion kept me glued to the wooden floor, still in front of the mirror.

Ashton was quick to pick on my remark. He seemed like the most put-together, but when he erupted in his signature giggles, I knew he was hammered as well. “Damn, boys! We got our girl here being a wild one tonight,” he smiled at me from behind. “We’re going to an after-party, you coming with us? Or is your lover boy meeting you somewhere else so we cannot intimidate him?”

That’s when I noticed Luke was leaning against the door, blue eyes going through my body like daggers. I could feel the exact point in the small of my waist where he was practically burning his mark on.

“Where’s Erin?”

At the mention of her name, I peeled my eyes away from the scene. Focusing back on the boxer braids I’d made earlier. They’d taken me at least 20 minutes per side and a 10-minute break in between, to rest my arms. As Luke explained that Erin had to be up early tomorrow, I caught him stealing glances at me through the mirror. He didn’t look drunk, which was weird, but also kind of nice. I re-applied the berry colour to my lips and smudged the edges with my fingertips.

“A’ight then,” Ashton shrugged with a sigh, “and hey, wild one,” he tapped my shoulder once I was back on my feet, fixing my backpack on my shoulder. “Great show tonight.”

“We were good,” I smiled at him.

“Yeah, we were.”

They were quick to say their goodbyes and rush out the door to the after-party, except for Luke. He shoved a hand in the pockets of his pants and rubbed his eye with the other. “Nah, Im’ma head back home. I'm tired.”

Calum, Michael and Ashton disappeared, their laughter echoed through the hall. Luke was still leaning against the door when he sighed. “I broke up with her.”

I remained silent.

He looked for the thoughts racing through my head, narrowing his eyes at me. I didn’t know how to react. I was both surprised and relieved. Both scared and excited. Awkwardly, I kept readjusting the straps of my backpack, not wanting to stay but not wanting to leave either.

“I didn’t want them on my case, you know how they are…” Luke turned his head to check the hallway. Empty. He took a few steps closer to me, I looked down at my feet. His boots came into view and I almost gasped when I felt the warmth of his body almost touching mine. “Right after we…” the faint laughter in his tone gave away that he was nervous.

Unknown territory for the both of us.

“She knew something was up, she…” he sighed and searched for my gaze, “please, look at me. This is really fucking hard, okay?” The soundwaves of his chuckle vibrated against my temple. I was twitching in place. “Please.”

Even though I’d only had one beer after their song had ended, I felt my skin buzzing. Chewing on my lower lip, trying to stay sane and adequate through it all, I looked at him. Curly hair tucked behind his ears, gold glitter along his cheekbones, long lashes framing his blue eyes...

“I want you.”

My breath got caught in my throat, almost choking me. “Luke, I-”

I tried to pull away from our closeness but he grabbed my arms and held me in place. He looked for the truth in my eyes as my name rolled off his tongue as if it belonged there.

“You were right. Fuck, all of you were. I know what you all were thinking about, that Erin was a rebound, that I wasn’t being fair to her, that-”

“Luke, you-”

“Let me finish!”

He let go of me and strode back to the door, closing it. I said nothing.

Here we were, alone again.

“I was a dick to Erin, I know that. I led her on when I didn’t mean it… Not because I didn’t enjoy her company, ‘cos I did…” Luke trailed off and shut his eyes hard, cursing himself under his breath. He started stuttering and I couldn’t make out the words coming out of his mouth. “Fuck!” he whispered and nearly threw a punch to the wall. “You’re making me go crazy, you know that? I tried to get over you, but…” Luke took a deep breath and let his back collapse against the door, his body quickly glided down until he was sitting with his head between his knees.

I watched. Luke had never been this vulnerable, not around me at least.

His muffled laugh travelled to my ears, his gaze found me again. “Listen, I don’t know what to do. I’m so in love with you that it hurts...”

He made me weak. I dropped to my knees and tossed my backpack to the side, crawling towards him almost at the speed of light. His cheeks were hot against the palms of my hands, he looked into my eyes like a deer scared to be hit. I could sense the fear in his breathing, the dreadful idea of handing his heart to me and me destroying it. His eyes pleaded for mercy.

“I don’t… I love you, okay? I’m tired of pretending I don’t.”

My fingertips traced circles against his skin, my thumb grazing his lower lip. Luke closed his eyes and gave into my touch, leaning into it.

I wasn’t sure if I loved him, but I definitely cared for him. My heart was beating fast, my stomach was swirling with butterflies. It was clear that I fancied him, I loved spending time with him, I loved it when we were together being the dorks we were.

And I was as scared as he was.

Leaning against his lips, I took a deep breath against them, closing my eyes. “Don’t break my heart, Hemmings.”

“I wouldn’t dare to”

TAGLIST

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