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stories-and-chaos · 3 months

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Tarnished

[Helluva Boss AU where Blitzø’s childhood theft from Stolas’ palace is discovered and major consequences ensue for everyone involved. Concept inspired by this AU, Push. Trying to stick with established lore but taking some liberties to make the drama work. Multiple headcanons from various sources I’ve come across included as suits the story. Starts roughly five years before Murder Family, I’m making assumptions about the timeline]

[18+ rating for language, implied sexual content, violence, alcohol consumption and general Hellaverse-ness]

[Part 1/?? Word count: 3761]

———————

Moxxie’s back slammed into the rough wooden bed frame as he heard the distinctive clang of prison bars rattling shut. He still couldn’t believe Chaz had just left him there. Grabbed the goods and ran. The imp realized his boyfriend was just as shitty out of bed as he was in it. He started tearing up as he climbed on the bottom bunk. Moxxie knew his dad wouldn’t bail him out or anything. He might have been the boss’s only (legitimate) son but he was also the most junior member of the family. And Crimson was not a sentimental imp.

Moxxie had been caught red clawed too, pinned by the security gate. No need for any formalities like a trial in the Greed Ring. A mugshot, strip down, and forced into a jumpsuit before the cops tossed him in a cell. Of course, Greed’s police force was basically a mafia on a wider scale.

“Soooo, what’re you in for?” A voice drawled from the top bunk. Moxxie hadn’t realized he had a cellmate. Oh crumbs, had the other demon heard him crying?! If there was a way to ensure you didn’t get out of prison in one piece, it was letting others know how weak you were the moment you were locked up. His tail reflexively whipped closer, as if trying to hide himself.

“Okay, not much of a talker, are you?” The voice almost sounded jovial. In prison? A squeak of the mattress and the other prisoner launched himself to the floor with theatrical flair. Before he could do more than sit up and blink the tall imp gripped his hand to shake. Not the vice-like grip his father used, hard enough to make claw shaped indents into the other’s hand. It was a firm, friendly shake.

“I'm Blitzø, the "o" is silent. I'm sure we're going to get along just fine. So, what's your deal? What'd you do? Who'd you diddle? You look like someone good with a gun. You look like someone who could shoot up an office-“ Moxxie tried to interject, but the other imp plowed on.

“-and I hope you are 'cuz I got a plan to get us out of this dump but I'm going to need some help, you think you can give me a hand? I need to get out to my daughter. The babysitter will kill me if I don't get back soon. Also I got some business scheduled in Pride that I gotta get back for. Do you like kids? 'Cause lemme tell 'ya. They're a-fucking-dorable.” Moxxie felt his eyes warming up with more tears but his lips were forming a shaky smile. He realized he hadn’t smiled like this since… well he could barely remember. At first he thought since Chaz ditched him, but really it was since his mom “disappeared.”

It took a couple of days for the cellmates to enact Blitzø’s plan. Moxxie had to learn the complex’s layout and they had to make sure they could get to a weapon cache. Their escape was successful, both of them got banged up, and Moxxie’s body count tripled as a result of the escapade.

A few things they learned about each other: Blitzø’s circus background made him extremely agile and prone to acrobatic feats in a fight. He was batshit crazy once the ichor started flowing but he kept his eye out on his partner. The scarred imp backed up Moxxie more than once when he floundered while they fled for the Pride Ring. His plans were grandiose but he was quick to adapt and quicker to protect his cohort.

On the other claw, Moxxie was even better with firearms than Blitzø thought. So long as the kid kept his composure, he didn’t miss a shot. It was almost magickal and he saw more magick than most of their kind. The kid seemed quiet and well mannered for the most part. He could get absolutely fucking feral in a fight, becoming an even better shot if that was possible. But he was insecure and desperate for approval. The pure shock on his face when Blitzø told him “nice work Mox,” after they got out told the older imp that he’d probably never been praised in his life.

One bonus to no trial before you were thrown in prison? No one was too keen on dragging you back if you got out. Especially if you massacred 80% of the guards on your way out, traumatized 18%, and awakened some very interesting feelings in the final 2%. It wasn’t worth spending hard grifted money chasing down someone who would just do the same thing even if you managed to catch them. If they’d run off from Mammon, the escaping prisoners would be hunted down. But otherwise, even the police mafia didn’t give that much of a shit.

The duo had snagged a couple of overcoats so their bright orange jumpsuits would stand out less. The plan was to get to Blitzø’s apartment, check up on his kid, grab some cash to rent Moxxie a room for the night and change before Blitzø had to be at his appointment.

Except once they got to the Pride Ring, Blitzø started freaking the fuck out. “Shitshitshitshitshiiiiiiitfuckingdammit.” A stream of profanities just kept coming out of his mouth as Blitzø picked up his pace.

“Um, sir?” It was drilled into Moxxie to address superiors as sir or ma’am; Blitzø had taken charge during their escape and didn’t seem to mind being called sir. “What happened, you started panicking once we got here.” This was presumably the older imp’s home turf, yet he was more off balance than at any other point in the past three days.

“FUUUUUUUCKokay Mox, change of plans.” He spun around and grasped the shorter imp by the shoulders. “I lost track of the time and I can’t miss this appointment. Do you know anyone in this ring that can put you up for the night?” Blitzø doubted it. It seemed like the kid had stayed in Greed up until now. A quick head shake confirmed that. “You got two choices, cause I don’t have time to get you someplace first. You can head off alone and we’ll meet up tomorrow or you can come with me, play along, and hope it’s not worse than prison.”

Moxxie was taken aback; first off that was the most words in a row without swears he’d heard from Blitzø. Second, “Where are you going that’s worse than prison?”

“A Goetian estate.”

Moxxie’s jaw dropped. He might as well have said he was meeting up with Lucifer. Yet… Blitzø had an appointment to be there. And it was important enough that he couldn’t even check on his kid first. Not to mention, wandering around an unfamiliar area wearing a prison jumpsuit was next to suicidal. “I’ll stick with you sir.”

“Ballsy! I knew I fucking liked you Moxxie.” He whirled around and started loping toward the fancy ass side of the city. “Keep up Mox! We gotta go!”

It took about half an hour of running and weaving through crowds but they made it before…whatever time Blitzø was so intent on outrunning. He had started running even faster about halfway, his desperation more than apparent. Once he passed through the gates, all the tension left his body. He slumped to the ground; Moxxie hesitated as he gaped at the ornate fencing. The gate and elegant fence had the symbol of the Goetia family (a crowned heart) emblazoned every few yards.

Moxxie had grown up a privileged life, especially for an imp. Servants, tutors, a well stocked manor. But the building in front of him was on another level. It was more of a palace than anything; multistoried with heraldic banners hanging, multiple manicured gardens, statues strategically placed and the master’s sigil glowing prominently on the wall. And that was just what he could glimpse in the full moon’s light. This was the difference between money and royalty.

“Last chance Moxxie. C’mon in or head off somewhere and I’ll meet you at my office at noon tomorrow. If you’re still standing around here in a few, those fuckers will drag you with me anyway.” He gulped and stepped onto the grounds next to the other imp. “Still ballsy.” Blitzø’s grin was back.

“Here’s what’s going to go down. Any minute now some beefy hellhound fucks are gonna show up to haul me in. They might grab you, might let you walk. Either way, keep your mouth shut and just back me up if I ask. Hopefully we won’t see that overdressed bitch tonight but if she’s around don’t make eye contact. And-“ whatever he was about to add was cut off as four hellhounds jogged up.

Blitzø wasn’t kidding about them being beefy. They were all different breeds but they all had biceps as big as his head, wrapped in artfully ripped suits. The matching suits, earpieces, sunglasses, and crisp posture gave them an air of professionalism that was a sharp contrast to his dad’s goons.

“Oh look, it’s the Chucklefuck squad and the Douchenugget duo. Who’d you piss off to land the night shift?” Blitzø taunted the Hounds, seemingly indifferent to the fact any one of them could snap him in half. Two of them grabbed Blitzø by the arms, grinning sadistically at the thought of manhandling the smaller demons.

“Lady Stella specifically requested we escort you in, Blitzø.” Blitzø winced “Satan fucking dammit.” Apparently Lady Stella was the overdressed bitch he’d mentioned. “She’s got a party tonight so she doesn’t have to hear your scrawny ass getting pounded. But she knew how much you’d like friends to bring you home.” The Hellhound punctuated his words with a sharp snap of his teeth.

Home? Moxxie backpedaled in confusion, only to bump into the leg of another security Hound. Said Hound grabbed him around the torso, easily pinning both arms and leaving Moxxie’s hooves dangling far from the ground. He struggled, trying to at least get back to the ground. The size difference and Moxxie’s lack of weapons meant he didn’t stand much chance at the moment. The pair with Blitzø took the lead, not caring that his dragging hooves were tearing furrows into the lawns or creating sparks on the paths.

Blitzø let them, worn out from the prison break and subsequent dash back to Pride. He was too tired to try to keep pace with his “escorts.” He kept glancing back to Moxxie, trying to reassure him. The younger imp was clearly terrified. He couldn’t really help the kid at the moment; the bulldog faced Hellhound carrying him lifted his lip whenever Blitzø looked back.

Fuck this fucking farce and fuck Paimon with a rusty crucifix for doing this, Blitzø thought to himself for the ten thousandth time in his life. Best to go through the motions as quickly as possible. The group arrived at one of the drawing rooms and Blitzø was dumped unceremoniously on the thick carpet.

The whirlwind trip through the estate proved to Moxxie that royalty had a whole different definition of luxury from what he knew. Paintings, mosaics, sculptures, exotic plants were just the beginning as they rushed through hallways wider than his bedroom at his dad’s. He’d lost count of how many doors they passed before they reached one in particular.

Blitzø was thrown to the ground but the one holding Moxxie didn’t loosen his grip. Blitzø glared back at the Hellhounds, hissing. The Hounds responded with low growls. Everyone went silent when a lithe figure snapped the cover of a book shut and unfolded itself from a lounge by the fireplace. This had to be one of the Goetia, presumably the master of this estate.

His extreme height was the first thing Moxxie noticed. Moxxie was about average for an imp in height; the glimpses he’d seen of imp servants in this maze were all much smaller. Blitzø was on the taller end of the spectrum but the Hounds were easily double his height. This royal demon towered over them all. You could stack Moxxie, Blitzø, and even one of the small servants on a Hellhound’s shoulders and they still would barely be eye level with the demon’s glowing eyes.

At least the bottom set. He had two sets, a large bottom pair and a thinner set above that could have been mistaken for elegant eyebrows if they hadn’t been glowing red. Glowing eyes weren't unusual for hellborn, but the deep red pupil-less aura was still intimidating. The white facial disc only enhanced that aura with its contrast.

What could be seen of the demon’s form was covered in smooth grey feathers, sheening in the firelight. The plush robe he wore was lightly cinched at the waist and barely clung to the shoulders, showing the feathers covered the majority of his body. He stalked deliberately to where Blitzø was climbing to his hooves, features set in a stern expression.

“St- Master Stolas,” Blitzø stuttered as the avian demon loomed above him. Master?! Oh crumbs, what in Satan’s name is going on?! Was all that talk about a daughter, starting up a business, growing up in the circus, everything just a lie? “I got back as quick as I could, I didn’t even have a chance to check on Loonie first…” Stolas cut him off with a gesture. Apparently the daughter talk wasn’t a lie at least.

Stolas glanced at the Hound carrying Moxxie. “Put the little one down,” he ordered in clipped, cultured tones. “I’ll deal with them from here.” The Hounds exchanged glances and grins. Suddenly Moxxie was on the ground when his captor opened his arms. “As you wish, Prince Stolas.” The imp was getting serious mood whiplash. Stolas wasn’t just a member of the Goetia but one of the princes. Maybe Blitzø was right; this was worse than prison.

The guards hadn’t left the room before Stolas leaned over Blitzø, foreheads nearly touching. “What the FUCK were you doing in the Greed Ring that landed in you prison!” The Hellhounds grins grew wider as they shut the doors and Moxxie was sure he heard the slap of a high five. “Are you not being careful enough in the other Rings? You know if you get in trouble I have to get you out of it. And we don’t want that, do we my itty bitty imp?” Stolas punctuated his words with taps between Blitzø’s nostrils. His words were furious but Moxxie could see his expression softening once the doors clicked shut. He had plenty of experience being berated and threatened by Crimson, but he was getting so many mixed signals he didn’t know what to do.

“A job went bad, Master. It won’t happen again.” Despite just having a royal yell at him, Blitzø’s smirk was back. Without guards around he was able to give his companion a double thumbs up while replying. His voice sounded utterly defeated but his posture had perked up.

“Luckily for you, what passes for authority in the Greed Ring isn’t likely to give a shit about a couple of escapee imps. Speaking of which,” four dazzling red eyes locked onto Moxxie. “Who is this that you’ve dragged along?”

“Moxxie got tossed into my cell, I couldn’t just fucking leave him there. He’s a crazy good shot, figured he’d be a good candidate for that project we talked about.”

“Hmmmm,” Stolas seemed to be looking the young imp over. It was hard to tell without any pupils. “We will discuss this later. For now,” the prince continued in a haughty tone, “we need to establish the punishment for your little slip up during your extraneous activities. Both of you, follow me.” Stolas turned, his robe and tail feathers swirling dramatically around him. Moxxie looked nervously in Blitzø’s direction. There was a faint glow under the older imp’s shirt collar as he replied “Yes Master Stolas.” He gestured for Moxxie to follow, not at all concerned about what Stolas might have planned as “punishment.”

Apparently the room they’d been delivered to was the first and most public in the master suite. They entered what looked like a well appointed bedroom with a huge canopied bed adorned with blankets and a nest of deep cushions. There was a bookshelf inset in an alcove next to a chaise lounge and chairs, a small desk, and hints of a bathtub on a raised dais shrouded by curtains. Candles and moonlight made the Goetia emblem glimmer wherever it was stamped or embroidered.

The door locked shut behind them, nearly making Moxxie jump out of his skin. As soon as the door was shut, Stolas swooped down to Blitzø, cupping the imp’s cheeks with a tenderness that made his yelling in the drawing room seems like a hallucination. “Are you alright dearest?” the prince cooed as he stroked Blitzø’s head. “Mmph, I’m fine Stolas, really.” Blitzø’s voice was muffled from Stolas’ talons smushing his face. “Just tired from that last sprint. Almost didn’t make it in time. Fucking Cinderhella bullshit.”

“I’m sorry darling. I’ll keep working on it. I’ve been so worried the past few days.” Apparently satisfied that Blitzø was unhurt, the owl demon moved to nuzzling and preening the imp’s particolor skin.

Blitzø gasped at the soft feathers brushing his neck. “Stolas, if you wanna fuck as part of my “punishment” I’m on board, but I don’t think Moxxie wants to watch.” He looked at the other imp over the prince’s head. His face was flushed and a lazy lascivious smile spread across his lips. “Unless you wanna watch Mox. I’ve always liked an audience.” He waggled his eyebrows; Moxxie couldn’t tell if he was joking or not.

Stolas’ eyes jerked open. He let out a surprised hoot before shooting up to his full height. “Ah! Um, yes, o-of course! We can pick this up later Blitzy.” Blitzy? Within moments Stolas had shifted from a pissed off royal yelling at his property to a flustered loverboy using pet names. “Apologizes for not properly introducing myself earlier.” He bowed with a deep flourish, putting his face eye level to Moxxie. “My name is Stolas, Prince of Ars Goetia.”

Blitzø stretched, popping vertebrae all down his spine and tail. “Didn’t your daddy tell you not to bow to imps?” The same jovial tone Moxxie heard when they first met was back in his voice.

Stolas snorted. “My father, the shit eating bastard that he is, can go fuck himself. Preferably with something full of splinters to join the stick up his arse.” The prince was just as foul-mouthed as Blitzø, with the addition of a fancy vocabulary. He guided Blitzø to the lounge and offered a nearby easy chair to Moxxie. It was built for a Goetia, meaning any imp had to jump to climb up and their feet would dangle childlike once seated. However Stolas produced a step stool from the book alcove, so he could seat himself with more dignity.

“Hi, I’m Moxxie Knolastname.” Hopefully neither of them would recognize the name of one of the Greed Ring’s crime families. “Sir, what the fuck is going on? You didn’t mention any of this before we got to the gates. What was all that about?” Moxxie gestured wildly to the rest of the palace, hoping to indicate everything that had just happened.

“Eh, guess you deserve some explanation. Not the best time but fuck it.” Blitzø rubbed at his forehead, specifically the All Imp Circus brand in the middle. In the space of a blink it changed from a black skull faced heart to a white heart topped by a crown, flanked by decorative lines. “Short version, my dad fucked me over and sold me to the Goetia. His dad,” he jerked a thumb at the lanky owl reclining next to him, “decided to add to the jackassery and bound us.”

“And I am not about to copy his example so I give my darling Blitzy as much free reign as I can manage.” Stolas wrapped his arms and legs around Blitzø with a look of glee. It was simultaneously tender, protective, and possessive. “Unfortunately, members of both my family and staff are quick to spread word to my wilted prick of a father and other members of Ars Goetia, so we maintain a semblance of the master/slave dynamic outside my chambers. Hence, all that.” Stolas vaguely waved in the same direction as Moxxie had before latching back onto Blitzø. “Eugh, Blitzy, you smell awful. That prison cannot have been sanitary. Please get cleaned up dearest, you and… Moxxie, was it? Hopefully we have something clean that will fit you; you’re a bit taller than much of my household staff.”

“I’m sure we’ve got some of my old stuff that’ll work. But seriously Stolas, I couldn’t check on Loonie before this. Can I pop out real qui-”

“Loona is fine.” Stolas interjected with a comforting tone. “I had one of the maids check up on her and the ‘babysitter.’ She let them know you were delayed and offered overtime pay to the young lady.” The maid, one of the few who was loyal to Stolas and Blitzø, relayed that the imp girl, while possessing a distinct country charm, was “thoroughly pissed” at having to watch over an angsty teenager without pay. She’d been all smiles again when informed of the extra money she was being advanced.

Blitzø took a deep breath of relief. He’d adopted the nearly adult Hellhound just a few months ago and they were still getting used to each other. He didn’t know what she’d do on her own yet, hence the babysitter. She was an imp from Wrath he’d gotten to know during the Harvest Festival Stolas had to officiate. She decimated opponents in the Pain Games so Blitzø knew she could handle just about anything.

“Thanks Floof,” he gave Stolas a quick frenching before heading through an inconspicuous door near the bed. He pushed Moxxie along and heard Stolas’ trilling voice call out. “Make sure you put those jumpsuits in the laundry hamper. I look forward to having a little prison bitch around later.” All of Blitzø’s spines stood up at the thought and a tingling warmth raced over him. Not about to let Stolas get the last word, he shot back through the closing door, “I’m sure Mox’s will fit you like those slutty rompers you like to prance around in.” He could hear hooting chuckles from the other room while Moxxie clapped his hands over his head.

—————

Moxxie blinked as the lights flickered on. As if one suite of rooms wasn’t enough, here was essentially an apartment sized for imps. It was much like a studio apartment with one large area for sleeping, eating, relaxing, and a mini kitchen. The furnishings weren’t a match for the rest of the palace, but decent and sturdy. There was a closet and one other door leading to the bathroom. No windows. The only exit was through the master suite. Moxxie started breathing hard as he realized this was basically an upgraded cell.

“Yeah, I know it’s kinda freaky. But it’s one of the safest places in the building.” Blitzø opened the closet and started tossing clothes on the bed. “We set this up after Stolas married that bitchy feather duster. Only people that can get in are me, Stolas, his kid, and one of the maids. Oh, and the people I bring in.” He took the pile of clothes and dropped them on Moxxie. “These are all too small for me now. We could raid the servant’s closets buuuuuuuut…screw that. Now let's see if there’s anything to eat.” A quick look in the fridge produced beers and a comically large cheese wedge. “Oh fuck yes, that woman deserves a raise! Or a good dicking if she wants it again.” Blitzø had the cheese in one hand, a beer in the other hand that was unzipping the prison wear and his tail wrapped around another beer. “You wanna eat before you clean up? There’s more beer, some fried chicken, and I think a salad if you want it.” He stuck out a forked tongue at the thought of vegetables. “Maybe a good enough fuck will get her to stop putting salads in here.”

Food, real food not prison slop, sounded great but a bit of time alone sounded better. “I’ll wash up first sir, I can’t stand this thing anymore.” Blitzø chomped away while giving him another thumbs up. Moxxie caught a glimpse of white scars covering patches of the other imp’s neck, arms, and torso, and what looked like a gold choker at his throat. He closed the bathroom door and dumped the clothes onto a bench. The bathroom wasn’t ostentatious like what he glimpsed in Stolas’s room. It had all the basics in a reasonable size. One thing he did notice was the horse decor. Horses and horseshoes everywhere. The rubber devilduckie was even a cowboy.

It was probably more polite to take a quick shower. Moxxie needed some time to regain his footing though, so he soaked in a bath. He’d been off balance since crossing the gates. Of course, nothing could have prepared him for anything he’d come across here. From everything he’d picked up Blitzø and Stolas were in a shitty situation and trying to make the best of it. It didn’t mean Moxxie had to stick around though.

Yeah, the older imp had broken him out of prison and talked about hiring Moxxie at his new startup. But he also hadn’t mentioned anything about being connected to Hell’s royal families.

Then again, Moxxie hadn’t mentioned his mafia family. He really didn’t want to either. He’d be just fine if his dad thought he died in the prison riot they’d caused during the escape. He could disappear in Pride and leave his own fucked up family behind. Blitzø and presumably Stolas were grateful for his help. Even if he didn’t want to work for them in the end, they probably wouldn’t just kick him to the curb. He wasn’t good at making deals. Crimson hadn’t let him join any important talks yet. But maybe he could leverage some cash out of the pair before finding his own way.

That would have to wait for the morning at earliest. From the sounds of it, Stolas was very enthusiastic about keeping their “appointment” tonight. With at least a glimmer of a plan, Moxxie finished washing and started digging through the clothes. There were a lot of t shirts, tanks, and leather pants. Skinny fit pants at that. Almost all the shirts had some sort of horse design; from one that said “Wild Horse” in messy red letters to one with a trio of sparkly pastel horses rearing under a full moon. Eventually he found a button down with a tailcoat that was pretty close to his normal clothes. It wouldn’t be tailored perfectly but it would do for the morning. For the night he found pajama pants with a horseshoe pattern that he didn’t mind sleeping in. He wasn’t about to sleep nude in a room with a horny couple he barely knew one wall away.

“All yours sir.” Blitzø was flopped on the couch, having finished both the beers and cheese. He was working his way through beer number three, which he took with him to the shower. Moxxie rummaged through the fridge, finding not only what Blitzø had mentioned but the makings of sandwiches and a container of soup. A little more digging around the miniature kitchen and he found various dry goods that would make a decent meal. By the time Blitzø came back he was plating the spaghetti with cheese sauce he’d made. He topped it off with some chopped up fried chicken for some added protein. He made a sizable batch; he doubted a cheese wedge and beer was enough for Blitzø.

Blitzø himself emerged from the bathroom, dressed in horse print boxers (which didn’t hide his slight erection) and a fitted black tank. “Thank fuck, Stolas was right about the stink. Laundry’s gonna have fun with those jumpsuits.” His nostrils flared suddenly. “What the dick? Where’d you get all this Mox?” His eyes were shining at the food and Moxxie could swear he was drooling.

“In your kitchen sir. There’s plenty of dry ingredients for easy meals, probably so you don’t have to disturb the main kitchen during your… ‘appointments.’ I would have liked some mushrooms or fresh herbs for flavoring, the ground and dried ones just don’t quite measure up but I can understand the maid not wanting to have too much perishable food here if your stays aren’t consistent. In any case making a bechamel sauce is fairly simple, it is one of the mother sauces after all and the cheese was perfect for melting into it. I did cheat with the chicken and used the microwave but it works out since there’s not too much cookware here either-“

“Wait wait wait. You made this?” Moxxie nodded. Blitzø yanked open the door and yelled “FLOOF CHECK THIS SHIT OUT MOXXIE CAN COOK!”

There was an undignified squawk before the owl demon cleared his throat. “I hope this is more impressive than the ‘ghetto nachos’ you presented me with.” He had to dip his head to enter the room but once he was in the ceiling was high enough that he didn’t quite brush it with his crest feathers. “Oh! Oh my! That looks delightful! And it smells excellent.” He closed his bottom set of eyelids and inhaled deeply.

“Hey! Ghetto nachos are damn tasty.”

“I’m not saying they aren’t but microwaving processed cheese slices onto tortilla chips does not count as cooking. This on the other hand,” the prince opened his eyes, a pleased expression that had nothing to do with sensuality on his face. “This is incredible. Do I detect some mustard added to the bechamel?”

Moxxie hadn’t expected anyone to notice. “Yes, your highness. With the chicken already being breaded, I felt it would compliment nicely.” He’d never been able to talk to anyone about cuisine before. Everyone at his father’s house had laughed at him. Maybe his mom would have liked to talk about it…

“Please, call me Stolas in private. Might I try a taste?” Moxxie twirled noodles around a fork, making sure both meat and sauce were included. Stolas savored the bite, his eyes closing and his feathers fluffing up. “As delicious as I hoped. As I’ve had dinner already, I won’t keep you from such a well made meal.” He nuzzled the base of Blitzø’s horn before bowing out of the room. “I’ll be waiting Blitzyyyyy.”

Blitzø was already diving headfirst into his plate. “Christ on a stick Moxxie, this is amazing. And that’s not just a week of prison food talking.” How he could taste anything shoveling his food in his mouth that fast, Moxxie didn’t know. He did notice that Blitzø was eating with more enthusiasm than at any other meal they’d shared.

Before Moxxie had more than half his portion, Blitzø was slurping down the last noodle.”That was great, thanks Mox.” He dumped dishes into the sink. Stifling a yawn, he headed back to the master suite. “Make yourself comfortable. Sheets should be clean.” That lascivious grin came back. “Unless watching is the kinda shit you’re into. Stolas’ bed’s big enough for all of us if you feel like joining.” Moxxie nearly choked on his pasta.

A/N: I hope everyone enjoys this! The fic is in process and currently around 25k words so there’s a lot more coming. Next part will open up with NSFW content, heads up.

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#helluva boss #helluva blitzo #helluva stolas #helluva moxxie #blitzo x stolas #stolitz #fanfic #helluva fanfiction #helluva au #writing #hellaverse #mature reading

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uraichievents · 8 months

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Welcome to this year's UraIchi Prompt Challenge! For our 8th PC, we will be focusing on crossovers!

Like we did for a previous mini-event, this year will also have a spin-the-wheel component. For PC8, you will be spinning for at least one random fandom and creating a crossover fanwork with it. A total of 300 different fandoms were nominated in the space of a week, so you'll have plenty to choose from. For most of them, I tried to copy the fandom names straight from the AO3 tags. The only exceptions are if they're not on AO3, or if I thought a catch-all name suited it better (ie. Marvel Comics (Any) because there are just too many of them, and this way you can pick whichever Marvel comic/movie/etc. you want). But overall, all fandoms that were nominated have been included in one of the wheels.

Before we get into that though, here are the rules for PC8:

1) Fanworks must be UraIchi-centric and complete. Obviously, this year, they must also be crossovers in some shape or form. UraIchi can be romantic or platonic (lovers, friends, family, enemies, etc.), so long as you can stick a / or an & between them, and they and their interactions are the main focus. 2) Any kind of fanwork is allowed if you can pull it off (fic, art, vid, gifset, etc.). There is no word limit for fics. 3) Poly ships are fine so long as UraIchi is in there somewhere. 4) The general definition of a crossover is a fanwork where two or more fandoms are combined in some way. For the purpose of this event, dimension travel, fusions, isekai, reincarnation, and resurrection would all count so long as your work includes at least one other fandom outside of Bleach. Likewise, Bleach must obviously be one of the fandoms. Basically, so long as Bleach and 1+ Other Fandom(s) are combined in some way, starring UraIchi as the main characters, then you should be good. If you are unsure whether your idea of a crossover counts, you can always send in an ask to check.

Post Date:

The due date for this event is December 31st, 2023, and the AO3 Collection will open at 12am (PST). I’ll reblog this post with a link to the collection closer to the date.

Tags:

If you’re posting your work (or a link to your work) as a post on Tumblr, you can tag it #uraichi prompt challenge 8 in the first five tags so I can reblog it here.

And finally, what you've all been waiting for:

As I mentioned before, I used Wheel Decide to make the wheels, but each wheel has a limit of 100 items, so since we ended up with 300 fandoms, I've had to split it into 3 wheels.

There's no specific theme or category for each wheel. I threw everything into a random choice generator, and then threw the results onto each wheel in batches of 100, so it's all random, and you can play this in a number of ways. You could just pick one wheel, spin, and get your fandom that way. You could also spin two or three wheels, and then pick your favourite out of the fandoms you get. Or you could spin all three wheels and write a four-fandom crossover like a crazy person. The point is, there's pretty much no wrong way to go about cobbling together your crossover.

If you want to submit more than one fanwork, feel free to spin for as many as you want to write/draw/etc. (of course, they should all be complete). And yes, you can spin more than once if you're really stuck on the fandom you get, or you just don't know the fandom at all.

I think that's about it, if anybody has any questions, please don't hesitate to send in an ask. Then, without further ado, here are the wheels:

WHEEL 1

WHEEL 2

WHEEL 3

Have fun!

#bleach #psa #uraichi #uraichi prompt challenge 8 #uraichi prompt challenge

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genderliquid-witch · 16 days

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What are the Bad Kids' favourite Death Grips projects? (Fantasy High)

I've been having a blast watching Fantasy High: Junior Year, and I have also been relistening to a lot of Death Grips' discography. So, like I do with most of the fandoms I'm in, I'm going to guess what I think each of the Bad Kids' favourite Death Grips project would be. I will give reasoning for each one, but be warned that they are almost completely arbitrary.

Adaine Abernant: n-ggas on the moon

While on one hand I feel like Adaine would find some of the band's heavier albums a bit startling, I think she'd love n-ggas on the moon. It's got this whimsical atmosphere that I think a wizard would really vibe with, and I can see drunk Adaine wilding out to the more high energy tracks like Have A Sad Cum BB and Billy Not Really. Not to mention she'd have a great time deciphering what are arguably Death Grips' most cryptic and mysterious lyrics. This is a party wizard album for sure.

Fabian Aramais Seacaster: Fashion Week

As we all know, Fabian indulges in the finer things in life, and I think his taste in experimental Sacramento-based hip hop would be no different. Fashion Week is the closest Death Grips has ever come to luxury and I'm sure that would attract a young Seacaster. He's totally the type to brag about how refined his taste in music is, evident by how he chooses one of the band's more obscure, instrumental projects over the mainstream slop that is The Money Store. As for the music itself, I feel it's perfect for some wild interpretive dance, and I think Fabian would agree. I can already picture him doing some crazy sheet dance to Runway E.

Fig Faeth: Jenny Death

Jenny Death is the heaviest album in Death Grips' discography, almost acting as fully fledged psychedelic, punk metal album, so I can't imagine why Fig wouldn't adore it. The loud, abrasive guitars, the hypnotic production, the drums that practically punch your ears; it all just screams Fig to me! I mean when I saw the band live the songs from Jenny Death were easily the ones that caused the crowd to go completely wild, and we all know Fig loves a wild crowd. Even the names of the songs are perfect for her: I Break Mirrors With My Face In the United States, Centuries of Damn, Beyond Alive, and The Powers That B all sound like they came right from the Archdevil's own mind.

Also yes, I'm aware I missed an opportunity to assign her Bottomless Pit, but these are the sacrifices I make for accuracy.

Gorgug Thistlespring: Exmilitary

For a barbarian drummer, I can see no better fit than the band's debut mixtape, Exmilitary. This mixtape is so raw and primal, I mean the drums sound like war drums. We already know that Gorgug loves heavy, intense music, so I think he'd totally rock with this. I also think that the tape's unique, grinding production would appeal to his artificer side; it's a perfect mix of rage and technology, and I can imagine him blasting something like Takyon or Guillotine as he hacks through some enemies.

Kristen Applebees: Government Plates

For someone who's constantly riddled with feelings of doubt and confusion while also maintaining a general aura of weirdness (affectionate), I think Government Plates is a good pick for Kristen. It's the kind of album that you have to sit down and listen to a couple times before you really vibe with it; it doesn't want to be understood, but that doesn't mean you should stop trying! Not to mention the pure emotional intensity of tracks like You Might Think He Loves You... (I'm not writing the full title.), Two Heavens, and Bootleg (Don't Need Your Help) suit Kristen very well imo. An underappreciated album for an underappreciated character.

Riz Gukgak: No Love Deep Web

And for everyone's favourite little weirdo is what I consider Death Grips' certified weirdo album (They're all weirdo albums, but this one especially so). Though my reason for choosing No Love Deep Web as Riz's favourite Death Grips project isn't because of the music itself, but rather the history surrounding this album. If you didn't know, this album was released through a secret Alternate Reality Game on the deep web where fans had to solve incredibly cryptic puzzles over a few days in order to gain access to a link that allowed them to torrent the album, and I think that Riz would be all over that shit; I can imagine him setting up a little cork board with all of the clues and whatnot strung up. I don't even know if he'd even like the music, I think he's just invested in the mystery!

#this took way longer than it should have #also for anyone wondering Gilear is 100% noided #he's disturbed enough to be in the band tbh #fantasy high #dimension 20 #dropout #adaine abernant #fabian seacaster #fig faeth #gorgug thistlespring #kristen applebees #riz gukgak #fantasy high junior year #fhjy #d20 fantasy high #d20 fhjy #death grips

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inthememetime · 2 years

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Scenario Idea; Vlad takes Jack and Madeline Fenton to court for Custody of Danny and Jazz Fenton. Danny thinks it's all some big plot by Vlad except investigations begin unearthing horrors and with the aid of a video link they get to see their parents' true selves without their loving family filter.

Tws: fanon-typical dissection mention

*Hacker Voice* I'm in

Check under the cut for more details

Vlad has a reason for staying away for 20 years. See, he knew the Fentons. Was even friends with them- until they started wondering about how ectoplasm would effect the human body. He highly doubts his accident happening one week later was really an accident.

Somebody let these two reproduce? And keep the kids??

He made a bad first impression, he knows. Maybe surprise adoption wasn't the best reaction when he found Jack and Maddie made their own son into a halfa, but he panicked, ok? And he didn't want to involve the cops because hello- either he'd be called a psycho and locked up or experimented on.

Jazz is more open to the idea than Danny at first, I think. Danny has that territorial ghost behavior working against him. But it doesn't take long, after they see the Lunch Lady dissected, followed by the Box Ghost, then blob ghosts. And the Fentons are enjoying it. While the ghosts are screaming, they're making jokes, dinner plans, throwing out vacation ideas.

Maybe they find the list of planned experiments about Vlad. Maybe there's a reason so much of their food was ectocontaminated, and why Maddie and Jack wore hazmat suits all the time while Danny and Jazz didn't. Maybe the human experimentation started with Vlad- but didn't end there.

Vlad is played as an enemy- but by who? By Danny and Jazz, who were on their parents sides. Vlad's not perfect, but he's better than that. Isn't he?

Turns out his obsession isn't really with Maddie & family, it's with vengeance and family.

I think we all know Vlad wins this. But how deep does it go? How much of the loving family was an act? Were Danny and Jazz ever just normal kids, or did their parents always see them as science projects?

I think I'd tell this largely epostilary, through texts, emails, news articles, and journal entries. With the occasional chapter situated in the courtroom, interrogation rooms, or in a private area with Vlad and the kids.

I think I'd also have a few chapters from Vlad's POV from college. Jazz and Danny have to decide who to trust, if they can trust anyone but each other, and have to deal with the face Danny and Vlad are halfas getting out, because if you don't think our boi had to watch his traumatic death, you're wrong.

I think I'd also like to see a few chapters from Alicia. Maybe there's a reason she hates Jack, maybe she blames him for her sister going crazy. Is she willing to work with Vlad, or is she another competitor, one they're even less sure of than Vlad?

Bonus: Vlad decides to look into this because of intel leaked by Jazz. He may be a fruitloop, but she and her brother would be safer with him, and she's afraid her parents might figure it out soon.

#danny phantom #inthememetime #vlad masters #danny phantom au #redeemed vlad masters #jazz fenton #jack fenton #maddie fenton #dissection #tw: dissection

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room-surprise · 3 months

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Dungeon Meshi Season 1, Episode 3 Review

I think it was fantastic, and like the other episodes my complaints are all so minor, they're basically nitpicks. Spoilers below!

The Japanese subtitles are still kinda bad, when you watch the English dub afterwards it somehow manages to better convey the same information without leaving anything out. Japanese performances are fantastic but yeah the subtitles really suck a lot of the life out of them. There's some gems in the dub performance, like Chilchuck saying "Sword, please" to Laios instead of "can I borrow your sword" or something more elaborate.

Everything that was good about the original manga chapters is in this episode, and this was one of the early chapters that hooked me and my spouse into Dungeon Meshi - seeing how Laios figured out the living armor and how he defeated it was something really cool and thoughtful that stood out from other media to us. It was clever and novel and went into monsters and speculative biology in a way that we both adored. This episode is also the one that really foreshadows the rest of the series and it's themes. If something is alive, it desires something, and if you can figure out what it desires you can find a way to defeat it. If something is alive, you can kill it, and if you can kill it you can eat it.

All of the fight scenes in this episode are incredible, and there's tons of fun camera shots and interesting choices being made. Love the bit where Marcille catches a helmet in the loop of her staff. Also loved the bit where she caught Laios' head in the loop of her staff and shook him around angrily. They found ways to include information from the extra monster tidbits into the main narrative, which is fantastic! I'm hoping they'll be able to do this for the rest of the anime as well, because there's a LOT of vital information and funny jokes in the tidbits that enhance the story.

So nice to finally have our first Senshi panty shot and know that they'll at least give us some of those.

Though the animation is spectacular, there is a noticeable style shift between the first two episodes and 3. They obviously have some very talented animators working on this episode (the suits of armor are all rock solid, detailed, and move in fantastic ways) but they are NOT really good at drawing the human characters on-model and it shows. It's not awful but it is noticeable. I'm glad they at least were able to keep it consistent, the characters look that way through the whole episode and don't switch back and forth between individual scenes. That would have been a lot more distracting. Pet peeve, I hated the gag with the egg sack flying through cosmic space to show Laios had figured out the secret of the armor. I didn't think it was that funny, and I felt it interrupted the flow of the already very exciting and tense fight scene. Just the memory sequence being drawn in such a crazy loose style was enough for me! And the style of it flying through the cosmos and everything just felt very out of place and modern. Oh, and Laios says "oh my god" at one point in the dub, which also annoys me, but I think is better than "jeez" since a pagan could theoretically say "oh my god."

But overall a fantastic episode and it gives me a lot of hope for the rest of the series. I was worried that they were going to compress the story too much and try to fit 4 chapters into this episode, because of how they put 3 chapters into episode 2, but they gave this 2-chapter story room to breathe, which it very much needed. Can't wait for next week! I think we'll get the golem story as well as the orcs.

#dungeon meshi #delicious in dungeon #dunmeshi #spoilers #delicious in dungeon anime #delicious in dungeon spoilers #dungeon meshi anime #review #my stuff

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piratekane · 4 months

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i got an ask in my email that never showed up in my inbox that was basically looking for book recs and since only one person asked for my opinion and because this was the year i fell back in love with reading, i'm going to do a myspace Top 8 books i loved this year, in no particular order:

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein this is basically a love story. it's a love story and you won't change my mind. i don't mean romantic love except that i mean best friends loving each other to and through the end of the world can be romantic and we should say that more often. because this a book about war and its terrors but it's also the love story between two best friends and what they'll do to get back to each other. it has probably one of my favorite protagonists ever - actually, two of my favorites. Wein tells a devastatingly perfect story and i promise your heart will swell and sink and tie itself into tiny knots. kiss me, hardy! kiss me quick! 5 stars, i cried at the end

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo i was late to the SoC books and boy am i glad i finally showed up to the party. this book was perfection. i immediately fell in love with each crow and spent the whole book screaming that if nina and matthias didn't kiss ASAP that i was going to throw something. i also was yelling about kaz and inez, do not think i was not doing that. kex brekker you deserve love you street rat. @dealanexmachina had to deal with the screaming through this. and i think it's going to be a repeat read in 2024 just so i can experience the care and craftsmanship that went into each character, their nuances, and how it wove perfectly together into kaz's brilliant plan. 5 stars, i immediately read the sequel like a hungry jaugar hunting down a person wearing that calvin klein scent

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson brando sando is... prolific. and it was overwhelming to jump in, but i started with tress and not any of his other books (a problem i have rectified) and what a bang it was. this book is, in a word, hilarious. the narrator is a fantastical being with an aversion to linear thought and a predilection for hilarity. the humor in this book is unlike any of sandos other work and really shows that he has the ability to stretch. the premise is very clever and very cool and just very fun. tress is brave and smart and that's celebrated, not punished. plus who doesn't love a talking rat? i'm looking forward to his other secret projects 4.5 stars, the narrator is my favorite sando character

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak okay, this is billed as horror, but i wouldn't really say horror and would lean more into the mystery billing than anything. maybe thriller. and it's outside my usual genre and is definitely more suited to my wife's tastes but she finished this book in three days (and usually takes 3 weeks-to-months to finish books) and when she said i had to read it, i said yes dear and picked it up. i'm glad i did. it's an illustrated mystery and as the author writes in the notes, those who pay attention will be rewarded. the ending was a twist i didn't see coming, like, at all. and it was clever. but once the ending started to unfold it was a mad dash to the finish. 5 stars, my wife recommends this

The Nevernight Chronicles by Jay Kristoff now, i know. this is actually 3 books, not 1. but hear me out - they must all be read. it's nonnegotiable. these books were recommended by tumblr user @fiddleabout and am i so very glad they were. mia is unhinged. there's no other way to put that. the girl is fucking off. her. rocker. and no one in her life is any better. they're all just as freaking crazy. but they're my crazy comfort killers. i went on for hours about mia and ash, to the point that my wife shut the bathroom door in my face because i tried to follow her in there talking about them. this series is bloody and more than once i was like, he can't possibly make this any bloodier but he CAN and i think this book is better for it. found family, check. unhinged teenage protagonist, double check. endless fun, check in triplicate. 4.5 stars, i am never not thinking of ash and her vision of a house on a lake and softness

A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon obviously i read priory first and obviously i loved it but ADoFN was... mind-blowing. maybe because priory enriched the world of ADoFN and i was already familiar with all the intricacies of it (though there was certainly more to learn) but reading this just... the bridging Shannon did, the connections she made between priory and ADoFN and how we ultimately saw the way ADoFN threaded some of the loops we saw closing in priory, it blew my mind. the utter romance of it all, my god. i read this monster book in a single day, i couldn't put it down. i emerged from my ADoFN cocoon like andy samberg in that one SNL skit where he plays a teenager who just woke up. i was changed(TM) 5 stars, i was a changed man

Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo i immediately jumped into the rest of the Leigh's work (i went through SaB first but she's so strong at the end of this Grishaverse) and while i love all my SoC babes, nina was a favorite and honestly i'd recommend both King of Scars and this book. tumblr user fiddleabout was blessed to follow along with my completely unhinged livestream of this book and when (spoiler) zoya and nikolai finally got over themselves and K I S S E D, i put the book down and took a lap. then i picked it up and screamed again as nina's arc unfolded. 5 stars, i have a lot of thoughts about the kind of man nikolai is (peg)

The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by S.A. Chakraborty i'm a bit of a sucker for a pirate book. even more of a sucker about a woman pirate, and amina is a woman pirate of the highest caliber. this book is either intentionally funny or unintentionally hilarious. amina's biggest flaw is that she's constantly ogling her demon ex-husband's cute butt - honest to god. otherwise, she's perfection. badass, scrappy, jacked. amina is all of those things and then some. so she has a bit of a past that winds up coming back to bite her in the ass and then she's thrust back onto a ship where she has to chase down an old crewmate's daughter - can you blame a girl for being the most kickass pirate in all of the seas? no! should you? absolutely not! just let amina live out her life ogling ass and sailing leisurely, please. 4.5 stars, i want to sail on amina's ship even though i'm afraid of boats. and the ocean. and things living in the ocean. and generally the water.

( ͡❛ ᴗ ͡❛)👍 and now you know, cause it's mike's pirate's super short show! ( ͡❛ ᴗ ͡❛)👍

#i am not a book reviewer by trade and i think this proves that BUT i loved reading this year and i loved these books and most of them #were recommended so i hope if something catches your eye and you read it and you love it you remember that people are #always looking for something to read and you might know the story that could knock their socks off #very grateful for friends who tell you their favorite books #it's like sharing a piece of yourself and it is an honor #i hope you read in 2024 and i hope its something you want to share with other people #merry 2024 ya filthy animals from me to you #(tell me if you read any of these and like them pls)#also if you get the reference at the end i personally apologize but that is part of my daily lexicon byeeee

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butwhatifidothis · 11 months

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It's just so genuinely frustrating to me that almost every single other female character always gets pushed aside in this discourse. Doesn't matter what you think of or how you treat any of the other women, some of whose morals could be discussed just as extensively, the only opinion that matters to judge you is Ed3lgard and Ed3lgard only.

You really just gotta look at how they treat Rhea to see how shallow their care for misogyny is.

Rhea is someone who went through unimaginable suffering and due to that suffering did things that were indeed morally questionable, but (other than Fhirdiad) never cruel. She did everything she did because she wanted to make sure that everyone in Fodlan was safe, and mostly left the humans to their own devices (save for when either the Church was directly threatened or they asked for her assistance). She is someone who puts her own life and safety on the line to protect her people, up to sacrificing her own life to do so.

She gets called an abuser. A tyrant. Crazy. Because when her trauma is not simply left untreated but actively attacked and she reacts poorly to that, that is when her "true" character comes out to Edelstans. Everything she ever does, ever, in any context, gets deliberately misrepresented into being villainous.

Edelgard is someone who went through unimaginable suffering and due to that suffering did things that were not just morally questionable, but undeniably cruel. She did everything she did because she wanted power and wanted Fodlan to go back to how it once was (completely under Imperial control), up to attacking people who went out of their way to stay out of her way (the Alliance). She is someone who won't just endanger the lives of her citizens, but will outright have them killed if it means she can gain more power, by her own admission and as shown in her actions.

She gets called a liberator. A hero - the hero. A victim of a world who hates progress. Because when Edelgard says that she's doing it for "the weak" (ignore that she will sacrifice them as soon as it would help her), because she says that she wants to get rid of the importance of Crests (ignore that Plain Jane inheritance-based systems, which are arguably even more unfair, are still around in her endings), she must be telling the truth! Because Edelgard would never lie!

Even if we were to do a No No and fight in their pit wrt Rhea's characterization, the way that they portray Edelgard is literally no better than how they portray Rhea. She also sacrifices people "for the greater good," she also lies to keep up a certain image to her people, she also colludes with murderers because it suits her wants, and she also rules Fodlan tyrannically - everything that they accuse Rhea of doing, they portray Edelgard as doing, only with hoards and hoards of excuses and Fine Print and Um Ackchually's tagged on.

And that's their main like, way to say that they totes fr fr care about misogyny; villainizing Rhea as a devil while uplifting Edelgard as a pinnacle of morality and heroism, and "debunking" any defense of Rhea/criticism of Edelgard. It's not out of a genuine care about sexism against women, but just a tried-n'-true Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free card to pull out for their fave.

So it's like, I'm sorry, but at this point unless a non-bot, non-troll, actual person comes out and vomits shit about Edelgard needing to be barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen or some garbage, whenever anyone says that they found a misogynist talking about Edelgard? I'm just gonna assume that the "misogynist" said something like "oh they must have said that genocide is bad," because that is how wrung out and insincere they're made their usage of the term out to be. Especially when they can't be bothered to treat actual breathing women with any kind of decency the second we say something Mean About Edelgard, which is its own conversation by itself

#ask #anon #anti edelgard #anti-edelgard #edeigard discourse #edelgard critical #just to be safe #like i'm sorry but their usage of the word sexist/misogynist is SO clearly just a shield #to make sure that their cute little waifu is out of trouble #that it is impossible to take them seriously #like yeah duh of course there's likely ACTUAL misogynists in the fandom who hate Edelgard because Ew Women #but they DO NOT care about actually finding and rooting out those sort of people #they are far more interested in making sure any genuine criticism of Edelgard is snuffed out #because if it was misogyny itself that was a problem then they'd like. care about Rhea. and also all of the other female characters #they'd care about all of the genuinely asinine shit that people will causually say about Rhea #but they're the ones SAYING that stuff about her so! funny how that works #And mind this is barely touching on how they treat actual breathing irl women #and how so often when we say something remotely cross about Edelgard we stop being women/have internalized misogyny/are stupid/etc.

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idontwanttospoiltheparty · 4 months

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“but my Hot Take is it totally was worthy of Album of the Year BEFORE John got killed.” Yes! As far as the songs are concerned it does kind of feel like an incomplete play because how do you go from I’m Moving On to Yes I’m Your Angel?? (I started out ironically liking this one now tralalala is the default ringtone in my brain). How would you rate the songs? :)

Just listened to the whole thing again to give a better answer. Fun birthday morning activity before I go brunching B)))))

(Just Like) Starting Over: Gorgeous. Fun. Beautiful. Immediately became one of my top John songs. The chords on this are gorgeous; masterful use of an augmented. Also the "but when I see you, darling" melody is perfect. This song just makes me incredibly happy. Also the bass is good :) 10/10

Kiss Kiss Kiss: I LOOOOOVE how much this messes with the previous vibe. It works so well. The opening guitars are v cool. Yoko's side 1 sound is so varied and does such cool blending of genres. Like there's a ska thing going on here? I am also lowkey um. kind of into her noises. 9/10

Cleanup-Time: this is definitely a silly-goofy song but it is suuuuuuuch a banger. I love the moments of high tension. "Now it begins" and the "well, well, well." bits. It adds a darkness to the song. The horn section went offffff. 9/10

Give Me Something: Absolutely Insane. the best use of Yoko's vocals and style imaginable. The production is immaculate. 10/10

I'm Losing You: Absolutely Insane Pt. II. The bridge bit "Now in the valley of indecision" is sooooo devastating (+ it's an obscure biblical reference! literary beatle At It Again). This song builds so well, I love how genuinely upset he sounds towards the end, breaking down on "Don't wanna hear about it!!!!" and generally how his voice gets nasty at certain moments. The song feels like slowly and extremely painfully discovering irreconcilable differences. The guitars in each verses breakdown moment sound like alarm bells. It's an immaculate breakup-or-almost song. The sound is so good, the harmonies are great. The guitar solo is crazy!!!!!! (it actually reminds me of George's work on How Do You Sleep? but without the cringe!!) THE PRODUCTION IS CRAZY OKAY?????? 10/10

I'm Moving On: the most insane follow-up to the previous song. He laid his deepest fears bear and she said "And What Of It???" The lyric "When you were angry you had love in your voice" keeps me up at night. But BANGER of a bassline and funky fresh nonetheless. Most effective song transition on the album and most of them are good to great! 9.5/10

Beautiful Boy: Absolute devastation aside, I must confess I find this song a little more boring musically. Though I do appreciate the adventurousness of the vocoder and the bridge is gorgeous. The outro is nice and really relaxing. 7/10

Watching The Wheels: I love John Lennon and I want him to be okay :( also the way the song slows down at the end of the chorus is soooooooo much to me. Like it hurts my heart. I like his talk-singing here, it really works for the vibe. The lyrics are kind of depressing despite the fact they're on the surface positive. But I think the question of what constitutes a happy life is interesting and deep at its core. 8/10

Yes, I'm Your Angel: I love that John is sharing an album with a granny song again. Nature is healing. I vibe with this and it suits Yoko surprisingly well. Tralala, as you say. But it's insane of Yoko to call John her fairy. Girl. STOP. 7/10

Woman: It's distinctly more boring than anything else John wrote for this album but I do enjoy it and find it sweet for the most part (aside from the horrors). The production reminds me a lot of Here, There and Everywhere. 6/10

Beautiful Boys: this is the least good one. It is just musically pretty uninteresting and the lyrics are kind of clunky. But the intro and instrumental bits sound cool tbh and I like how the production builds. "You've got all you can carry / And still feel somehow empty." OKAY???? 5/10

Dear Yoko: cute!! The sounds are very fun. "Even when I watch TV / There's a hole where you're supposed to be / There's no body lying next to me" is soooooooo much. I like the silly voice he puts on and I LOOOOVE the spoken bit at the end :((( 7/10

Every Man Has A Woman Who Loves Her: The production is good I just wish the song itself was better and it's too long. I like John providing backing vocals because it makes sense given the content. I feel like if this was just FASTER it would be great. The solo reminds me of ABBA. 6/10

Hard Times Are Over: I like this song!! It's sweet. The melodies are good, very cool playing between minor and major. I also like how the "over" ties back in with Starting Over. It works well as an album closer. Though Of Course, one begins to wonder what these hard times were exactly when the album cut off mid-conflict. Makes You Think. (This album gives me brainrot!!!!) Anyway I like Yoko's vocal here a lot and I like John joining on the refrains in the background :) 7.5/10

In conclusion: Double Fantasy good

#ask #anon #df #music talk

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mysteryshoptls · 10 months

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SSR Cater Diamond Halloween Personal Story: Part 2

"What a bunch of lies"

(Part 1) Part 2 (Part 3)

[Classroom]

Kalim/Cater/Lilia: Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh～～～ So tireddddddd～～～

Cater: This year's Halloween's way too crazy. Especially 'cause of the guests all being so rowdy…

Kalim: I like entertaining guests and all, but Jamil's mood's gotten so bad that it's terrible.

Lilia: Even we're totally exhausted and we're supposed to be the three peppiest boys here. Most of the other students must already be at their limit.

Kalim/Cater/Lilia: Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh～～～

Cater: Well anyway, it's great that we ended up having all of the Pop Music Club members on the Halloween Steering Committee.

Cater: Let's have one of our club's customary snack breaks, while we strategize some countermeasures.

Kalim/Lilia: AYE, AYE～!

Cater: Ta-daa, I brought this. It's Trey-kun's handmade pumpkin pie! It's my absolute fave, 'cause it's not too sweet ♪

Kalim: I brought a knafeh. It's a type of cheesecake from Scalding Sands. It tastes best when it's eaten hot!

Lilia: Oho. You both brought stuff that suits Halloween, I see. And here, last, but not least, here's what I brought.

Lilia: Licorice candy!

Cater: That's the same thing you always bring!! Both me and Kalim already told you we don't really like it.

Kalim: Yeah, it's got a little too strong of a smell, it makes my nose crinkle～

Cater: But hey, I guess it's black, so it's got a kind of Halloween feel to it.

Cater: Oh yeah. Let's take a picture of the three of us together. It'd be great to show off how good we look with our Halloween costumes and sweets.

Cater: 'KAY, HAPPY HALLOWEEN ☆

[shutter clicks]

Cater: #TheBestHalloween☆ #OurCostumes #OurTreats #PopMusicClub #NRCHalloween

Kalim: The best? Weren't you just saying you were super exhausted, Cater?

Cater: I mean, I'm not lying when I say I'm excited, either, and it's better to be more peppy when posting online.

Lilia: That's the spirit, Cater. This is the age where you can connect to anyone in the world. It's better to spread happiness, rather than complaints.

Cater: Oh! I'm getting some good responses on that picture I just uploaded to Magicam!

♪♪♪

Cater: It's a message from that person again. Were they always this persistent?

♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪

Cater: Now they're calling. So persistent…

Kalim: Oh, is that a friend, Cater? You can answer it here if you want.

Cater: Hmm～ …More like an old acquaintance? But it's fine. 'Cause we're in a super important meeting right now, anyway!

Lilia: All we're doing is eating snacks and taking pictures to upload to Magicam, however…

Cater: We're in that age where we can connect with people whenever we want, right? So I can't be fielding calls in real time all the time, y'know.

Kalim: Wow, you get that many people calling you all the time? Man, you're really a social butterfly, Cater～

Cater: Eh, I guess, if you think that's what it means to have a wide circle of acquaintances?

Cater: My father works as a banker, you see. And banks have branches all over the world.

Cater: So, whenever my dad got transfer orders, the whole family had to move.

Cater: We probably moved about once every two years or so, so I guess you could say I'm a pro at packing, or something like that?

Lilia: We were always one of those families that never settled down.

Kalim: So, when you were younger, you traveled all over the world, huh. Well, I totally see how you made so many friends, then.

Cater: Yeah, that person who messaged me earlier also considered me a friend, I guess.

Cater: I definitely met more people changing schools in such a short amount of time like that, than I would have if I stayed in one place.

Cater: The best kinds of people, and the worst kinds of people… I met 'em all. But there was always just one thing in common.

Kalim/Lilia: ……？

Cater: I would leave there eventually, and they'd all stay.

Cater: That's why instead of a down-to-earth relationship with someone, I'd rather just have a casual and happy-go-lucky relationship with everyone.

Cater: Kind of like those circus guys who'll come in for a whirlwind of fun with people all around the world, and then leave when it's done.

Cater: That's why Magicam's real neat. I even can get messages from people I knew in school three years ago.

Cater: I'm able to make more and more casual and light friendships, y'see? Now that's Cay-kun approved ☆

Kalim: I don't think you gotta restrain yourself, just 'cause you're far away from them, do you?

Kalim: Oh, I got an idea! I'll lend you my magical carpet. That way you can go see your friend anytime you want.

Cater: … Thanks, Kalim-kun. Maybe I'll use it one day?

Lilia: ―I think I understand you.

Cater: Huh?

Lilia: The bonds built between people will never disappear. It continues on forever.

Lilia: And sometime in your future, new bonds will develop that you cannot avoid. That is just what happens.

Lilia: However, the more important a bond you carry with someone, the lonelier it will feel without them.

Lilia: Why do we feel this way? I've lived quite a long life, and yet it's still shrouded in mystery to me.

Lilia: Just as you professed earlier, Cater, perhaps one truth to it all is to avoid becoming too attached to certain people.

Cater: Lilia-chan, what just came over you? No, what I wanted to say was―

♪♪♪♪♪♪

Lilia: Hello, it's Lilia-chan. What's up?

Cater: Man, he's just super alright with answering the phone in the middle of a conversation, huh.

Lilia: Oh, Sebek. What's going on? Why are you shouting? I'm in a meeting with Cater and Kalim right now.

Lilia: WHAT!? MALLEUS IS WHAT―!?

Kalim/Cater: !?

(Part 1) Part 2 (Part 3)

#twst #twisted wonderland #cater diamond #kalim al-asim #lilia vanrouge #twst cater #twst kalim #twst lilia #twst translation #twst halloween #screaming halloween show #mention: trey #mention: jamil #mention: malleus #mention: sebek

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themattress · 12 days

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The 13 Worst Moments in Dragon Ball

There are far too many best moments to count, but this makes counting the worst easier.

(Note: Dragon Ball GT and non-canon movies, specials or games are not counted here.)

Goku kills Commander Black.

The end of the Red Ribbon Army has Advisor Black kill Commander Red and usurp his position. He then gets in a mech suit and tries to kill Goku. Goku defeats him, he makes a strategic retreat....only for Goku to mercilessly chase after him and kill him! WTF!? I don't think I need to explain how horrendously OOC for Goku this is. Paired with the already uncomfortable factors surrounding the Black character, it creates a low point to end this lengthy conflict on. The Path to Power movie handled this battle and Black's death better.

The Pilaf Gang returns.

While the Red Ribbon Army is defeated, the story arc goes on with the whole Fortuneteller Baba affair, which to its credit concludes with a touching reunion between Goku and his dead adoptive grandfather. Unfortunately, rather than wrap up after this, we regress to the battle with Black by having another mech suit battle over the final Dragon Ball! And it's against...Emperor Pilaf, Shu and Mai? Look, I know that the anime had made them popular by expanding their roles; in fact they were even added into this very story arc already early in. But they were just a 5 chapter obstacle in the original manga before this! So in that context, it makes zero sense for them to suddenly show up as if they're important recurring characters! All it does is drag out an already dragged out story arc even further and test our patience!

Yajirobe climbs Korin's Tower.

In the super serious King Piccolo saga, the glutenous and cowardly ronin Yajirobe already felt out of place. But I could tolerate him up until he is used to rush Goku up Korin's Tower...the same tower that previously only Master Roshi and Goku had been able to climb. And now this guy climbs up it much faster because he was promised food at the top? Yeah, not buying it.

Yamcha is killed by a Saibaman.

That image right there. It has come to define Yamcha's "Memetic Loser" status, and honestly, it feels unfair. While always something of a Butt Monkey type, Yamcha was one of the earliest main characters in the series. He was Goku's first rival: before Krillin, Tien, Piccolo or Vegeta. He was shown to be a strong fighter. He took part in training for a year before Nappa and Vegeta's arrival on Earth. And yet instead of falling to them in battle, he gets kamikazed to death by one of their underlings, the Saibamen, because he arrogantly turns his back to it after thinking it was defeated. After that, it's been nothing but L after L for poor Yamcha....

Majin Buu screams the time-space continuum apart.

This fucking sequence of events drives me crazy. While fighting Majin Buu in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Gotenks starts acting as if he's being put on the ropes...not to fool Buu, but to fool Piccolo (the only other one there) so that it can shock and impress him when he turns the tables. Gotenks is a dumbass so this checks out. But Piccolo actually believes it, and he destroys the entrance/exit to the chamber so that Buu will be trapped in there forever even after destroying them. Gotenks comes clean and he and Piccolo have a comedic shouting match until Buu, distraught at the idea of being trapped without food, screams at the top of his lungs and somehow rips open a portal in space-time that allows him to escape. While he is then massacring damn near everyone on Kami's Lookout (off panel in the original manga!), Gotenks and Piccolo also try screaming to open a portal, to no avail. And so in the end, Gotenks reveals he can turn Super Saiyan 3, a form that it took Goku years of training alongside powerful warriors in the afterlife to achieve, and that's enough to open a portal for him and Piccolo to exit through....too late to save anyone, of course! This is the precise moment when the final stretch of the original manga and Z anime started going to shit. The burnt out Toriyama clearly just did not give a fuck what he was writing and drawing anymore.

Majin Buu absorbs Gotenks, Piccolo and Gohan.

Buu screaming a portal open through time and space was Strike 1. Strike 2 is when Buu, fresh off of receiving a satisfying beatdown from Gohan, is able to turn the tables by absorbing Gotenks and Piccolo, an ability he was never shown to have before...and something that was only possible because Toriyama regresses Gohan back to the same overconfident stupidity that cost him greatly in the Cell Saga. Gohan then faces a humiliating beatdown from Buu, as if to punish him for thinking he could be the main character who saves the day instead of Goku despite that being the most logical, organic route for the series to take. Speaking of which, Goku himself shows up to help with a plan to fuse with his son...a plan that fails when Gohan also gets absorbed by Buu. The result is Goku having to fuse with a returning Vegeta instead, which started the tiresome trend of Goku and Vegeta being the co-leads of the franchise and the only ones who are capable of accomplishing anything.

"End of Z".

This epilogue - 2 chapters in the manga and 3 episodes in the anime - ended the original Dragon Ball / Dragon Ball Z on an incredibly weak note. It's 10 years since the main events of the Buu Saga, and at the latest Tenkaichi Budokai we are introduced to Uub, the human reincarnation of Kid Buu. After bringing out Uub's power by acting like a schoolyard bully to provoke his anger, Goku just up and decides to go off with Uub to his village so that he can train him, abandoning his friends and family on the spur of the moment. Not only does this make Goku look far worse than I think Toriyama intended, but his intent to leave the story open to be picked up with a passing of the torch to Uub, as if that makes up for botching it with Gohan, would be laughable were it not so offensive. We spent chapters upon chapters, episodes upon episodes, watching Gohan develop. We cared about him, we were invested in him taking the torch from Goku. Backtracking on that in the last saga isn't something that can ever be recovered from, and especially not with some rando kid we just met who is the reincarnation of the latest villain that we barely spent any time with and was ultimately just a mindless psychopath. This was Strike 3. Dragon Ball was out; never quite the same again.

Goku is sniped by a ray gun.

Resurrection F is great as a largely standalone action film, not so great as a full-fledged saga in the anime, but there is one moment in both iterations that just does not work. Goku has defeated Freeza and lets his guard down....and gets shot through the chest with a ray gun beam from Freeza's henchman Sorbet, which almost kills him. I'm sorry, what!? At the time, Goku is still in his Super Saiyan Blue form, which is the Super Saiyan form harnessing the energy of a Super Saiyan God. No matter how much his guard was let down, I highly doubt that a mere ray gun beam would do that much damage. If Sorbet had done something to distract Goku so that Freeza could shoot a beam through him, that would work. But as it stands, we have Goku almost done in by Sorbet. He's lucky he managed to survive and redeem himself by killing Freeza once more, or else he'd officially be our new Yamcha.

Future Trunks' universe is erased.

The best arc in the Dragon Ball Super anime had come to a highly cathartic conclusion where Future Trunks cuts Merged Zamasu in half. There was just one more episode left where everything could be wrapped up in a satisfying...wait, WTF? Zamasu's spirit is taking over the multiverse!? How!? Why!? And because of this utter Ass-Pull, Zeno has to be brought in as a literal Deus Ex Machina, destroying Zamasu once and for all by erasing Future Trunks' entire universe from existence. The wrap-up afterwards is a somber affair, with Whis creating a new timeline for Future Trunks and Future Mai to inhabit, and Future Trunks' last scene has him crying over his failure. I am flabbergasted to this day at how anyone thought this ending was a good idea. It takes a beloved character and gives him the mother of all Happy Ending Overrides, while denying viewers the catharsis that should come at the defeat of one of the series' most loathsome villains. I've heard fans dislike the manga version too where it's multiple copies of Zamasu rather than his spirit merging with the multiverse and where Future Trunks and Future Mai are totally nonchalant about their timeline's fate and just jump to another earlier timeline (pre-existing rather than created by Whis), but as a fan of the Xenoverse games I feel that version makes more sense. Time is flexible, the people and places in an earlier timeline before the one that was pruned should still be considered theirs by Trunks and Mai so tears would be an overblown reaction. Plus at least in this version Zamasu goes out in a cathartic way, fully aware and terrified at his impending doom via Zeno.

Master Roshi goes too far.

While Master Roshi's perverted shtick has always been hit and miss, to put it lightly, he somehow sunk to a new low during the Super anime's final arc. When fighting in the Tournament of Power, he is faced with Caway, a beautiful female fighter who uses a seduction technique on him. Roshi's response is bulking up and going on about all the repressed urges he has, finishing with "don't blame me for what I might do next" as he reaches out for Caway. Poor Caway is terrified and disqualifies herself by fleeing the arena. So basically, a rape threat played as a joke. How utterly disgusting. Kudos to the English dub, which fixes it by instead having Roshi just threaten to beat Caway up because he's pissed that she tried a seduction technique on him when he's been trying to repress his perverted side as of late; essentially he's like an alcoholic in rehab threatening to knock the crap out of someone who just tried to offer them a bottle. That's funnier and keeps Roshi more likable.

Kakarot becomes Kal-El.

Why, Toriyama? You yourself said you loved the Bardock: The Father of Goku anime special, to the point where you canonized Bardock a few months after it aired. So why completely go against that special by changing Bardock into a decent man who, alongside his wife, lovingly sends Kakarot off to Earth in order to protect him from their home planet's impending destruction? Goku's story was great because it was a twist on the Superman story: he was sent to Earth as a baby with the intent of destroying it, not for his own protection. His father was largely apathetic toward him, was not there for him getting sent away, and never had any change of heart about his ruthless warrior lifestyle...he just went crazy and got killed. But now he's just Jor-El, getting an emotional moment alongside his wife as they sent their child into space for his own good. Way to take away everything unique and interesting, Toriyama.

Moro reveals his last wish.

The Super manga's first exclusive story arc started out with great potential, with Moro being a mysterious villain who did something no-one else had done before: make three wishes on the Namekian Dragon Balls but conceal what his third wish was, leaving the heroes and the reader in suspense as to what he wished for and how it would factor into his master plan. But then it ended up being revealed pretty quickly: he wished for every criminal in the Galactic Patrol's prison to be released in order to serve as his army. That's it!? This reveal is not only not worth the suspense, but the whole arc ends up going downhill from there, as Toyotaro begins filling it with cliches and blatant Author Appeal that drags on longer than it needs to.

Gohan awakens the beast within.

Originally, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero was going to just be Piccolo's movie. Toriyama didn't want Gohan as a major player at all, but was convinced to have him be the co-star by the movie's producer. However, I am pretty damn sure the producer requested this with the Great Saiyaman in mind. It's called Super Hero and features two dramatically posing superheroes as antagonists. This is a situation tailor-made for the Great Saiyaman! And yet Gohan's superhero alter-ego is not seen nor referenced once throughout the entire movie. Instead, Toriyama ignores the Super anime and manga by starting up another "Gohan has been slacking off and stupidly believes he doesn't need to be prepared for a crisis and thus must be urged by Piccolo to start training and fighting and re-awakening his inner power" arc, which culminates in Gohan Beast vs. Cell Max, one of the most depressingly unoriginal things Toriyama has ever written. It's literally just Super Saiyan 2 Gohan from the Cell Saga combined with the "Gohan Blanco" internet meme. He acts exactly like his edgy Super Saiyan 2 self, even to a literal copy of Semi-Pefect Cell, as if he has completely forgotten how badly that whole thing went down and what it cost him! Gohan is finally afforded the spotlight and a major victory again.....and it's this!? This rotten bunch of Memberberries!? Credit to Toyotaro and the Super manga for doing its best to salvage this plot point. While I continue to be saddened by Toriyama's untimely passing, I'm glad that we still have someone capable to carry the torch going forward....something that Gohan may also at last be allowed to do now.

#Dragon Ball #Dragon Ball Z #Dragon Ball Super #Opinion #Analysis #Bad Writing

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thedaytheworldburned · 7 months

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'Chasing That Feeling' MV First Reactions

Guys, I'm reacting. The blog isn't dead. I'm just also going to the Wild Kpop Fest in Sydney, so had to get ready for that. It was fun and I enjoyed seeing all three groups, but especially New (ahem, bias altert, ahem).

But let's have a look.

First, this MV pretty obviously follows on from 'Good Boy Gone Bad,' 'Sugar Rush Ride' and so on. It also has what I interpret as some nice Magic Island references, but I may be completely wrong (as always). So let's get into it!

I feel like this ray of light depositing TXT on Earth is a pretty obvious representation of them being expelled from Magic Island. It shows how violently they have been expelled after abusing their power, and it conveys how they, like Gfriend and unlike BTS, were born on the island, as such, and thus are basically supernatural non-human beings.

Also, the rubble and water are reminiscent of 'GBGB' and the Japanese MV for 'Sugar Rush Ride' - instantly visually connecting this storyline to the heartbreak and insanity one which those MVs discussed.

And, of course, we have the continuation of the star and the number 5 - there are 5 tunnels leading out of this hole, 5 colours in the light, 5 lights they chase, 5 points on the star, and so on.

There's also a nice contrast with the idea of angels coming down from the sky, and TXT being dressed in black - reminiscent of when they went crazy and were decidedly not angellic, despite being supernatural.

This is also emphasised by the fact that they are styled with tattoos.

Also, as always, TXT's choreographies are great.

Don't ask me to colour analyse the colours of light each membr chases - it would take far more time and research than I have today to do that in depth, and is thus better suited for a proper MV analysis. The most I can say so far is - Kai is gold - since he is the 'angel', Gyu has been associated with green before, especially in the webtoon through plants, and Yeonjun gets the other side of the cat - blue and green, thus he gets green.

A lot of this MV is them further abusing their powers, since they clearly didn't learn their lesson. Also - note that there are a lot of cars featured in this MV - cars being something we have seen in Magic Island arcs before, and which is generally a symbol of transit - as TXT are continuing their journey.

Interestingly, only Gyu, Yeonjun, and Taehyun seem to actually attain their power in this MV - Kai and Soobin are just constantly chasing it. We know Kai is in an internal battle, so it makes sense why he chases. Soobin is also being held back by doubts and the glass box the cat put him in. Yeonjun, Taehyun, and Gyu are all very firm in their beliefs - whatever those might be, and whether they're good or evil - so they can grab that power and feeling since they know how.

Trains are back - another way to get to Magic Island. They also emphasise the sense of danger in this MV.

Also, are you wondering why no one - except for the people Yeonjun LITERALLY RAN INTO are reacting to them in this MV? I'll discuss that more later.

I also think this scene is the best visual representation of the longing and desire they feel in the MV - Soobin reaching forward for power, for love, for literally everything he could ever want, but forced ackwards by the momentum of the train and his own doubts.

Like, look at this face!

Also - note that the tattoos on his neck look a little like the branches/veins V had on his neck during 'ON' era - a coincidence? Idk, but it's interesting.

So here we see that Taehyun has his power, and, like the rest of them, he is wonderfully misusing it.

Same with Gyu - although in a far more dangerous way.

Yeonjun too.

I'm not entirely sure if this is supposed to be Kai having his power or just grabbing a lift to try and catch up to it - but since there's no golden light, I'll assume he doesn't have the power.

I don't think this has any point other than to show how he's cool, how he's using his power, and possibly associating him with Gyu considering the light is green.

Star time again!

They've unified - making them more powerful, as expected. But interestingly, in this explosion, I only really see the red and blue, and, by proxy, purple. Was there a reason for this? Soobin, Taehyun, Yeonjun - generally but not always portrayed as good - vs Gyu (who smothered Taehyun) and Kai (who has a demon inside him)? Maybe I'm completely wrong.

So the Dr Strange stuff going on here is interesting because it shows that their abuse of their powers is literally breaking the universe/breaking reality. It also made me think that they were moving between dimensions - you know, since it's the mirror dimension. Which brings me back to people ignoring them and the light falling from the sky - it's possible that they have been shoved into another dimension, either by their own volition or because of the harm they did to Magic Island. This is a nice use of visual shortcut and also offers a potential explanation for why they are suddenly in some random city in America or England - I thought it was London but my knowledge of these places is almost nonexistent so please forgive me for not knowing.

I also find it interesting that they suddenly snap back to reality.

And also an odd shot to end on. The only thing we would think we would get from this is seeing the boys leave, but we also see the cars, the people walking, and the buildings. I have no doubt there is hidden meaning or are hidden detailsl, but the only thing I can really point to is that it reminds me of 'My Fair Lady,' and that the steam rising up could be considered the damage left over from the world knitting itself back together after going all mirror-dimension.

So that's the end of the MV!

I love the choreography, as always, but that is best analysed in a different video. Interestingly, I think it does little (compared to their other choreos) to tell the story, and instead is just cool and portrays the mood of the song.

Let's talk about the lyrics for a moment.

We've of course got the mandatory mentions of the night and moonlight, and of the highs of being in a 'loving' relationship.

The 'thief that keeps on stealing' is interesting, because there's the obvious meaning of 'stealing my heart,' but also the implied meaning of stealing power etc.

Then of course, the idea of miracles. Lightning is also often associated with a dangerous form of love (See Romeo and Juliet for what is probably the oldest example of that). And the kalidescope and butterflies are of course related to the butterfly effect and the fracturing of the world through the mirror univserse/dimension.

And that's pretty much it. A nice simple set of lyrics for a short little song.

Conclusions

It follows on from the previous MVs and storyline. Although slightly different themes are explored in each MV, they seem to be very obsessed with the 'high' phase of the relationship, rather than, you know, the fallout and the healing from it. Maybe they're serially dating toxic people. Psychologically that would make sense. Storyline-wise? Not so much.

That said, they probably like keeping the romance for the title tracks since that sells well, and keeping the funky mind-bending curse stuff for award shows and bside MVs, since the fans love that, and it makes jaws drop in award show season. In fact, they released this basically just in time for award show season - was that for a reason? Or is that a conspiracy theory of mine?

As a matter of interest, this (generic title tracks and crazy bsides) is something that exists in the whole industry but ESPECIALLY in HYBE.

#txt #tomorrow x together #txt theories #mv analysis #the name chapter #tnc #the name chapter: freefall #chasing that feeling

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bokettochild · 2 years

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If the boys were in httyd, what dragons would they have? :)

*shrieks*

You could not possibly have better appealed to my inner fan. Combining my two major fandoms into one? Yissssssssss

Note: I will not solely be using dragons from the movies, but cannot reference books because I could never actually read them.

Okay! So! I would like to start out with Ravio. Yes, Ravio isn't technically one of the boys, but who really cares?

Smokebreaths. Ravio would have Smothering Smokebreaths, and they 100% steal all Legend's items for him (he exchanges their finds for metal for their nests, if only to avoid being made roast rabbit).

Meanwhile, I see Legend with...hmmm...lemme put a hold on him actually, he's tricky

Warriors would one hundred percent have a Sharp Class dragon, and I'm leaning towards a Razorwhip. They're fiercely loyal and both strong and agile. They're dragons fully capable of combat, but they're also very kind and curious outside of it. It suits him. Were he to actually have a dragon, I imagine he'd be assigned to work with it by the Crown and they just- bonded. I know you only asked what dragons, but I'd like to go on and say he and his dragon would have a partnership more akin to Astrid and Stormfly's: they're real close and caring with each other, but in battle they work not as a singular unit, but as a terrifying duo.

Time is more Stormcutter vibes I think. Like, maybe it's the faces Cloudjumper makes and the way he handles smaller, younger, more annoying dragons, but if Cloudjumper is a accurate representation of his species as a whole, I'd say they're a good fit. Capable of great tenderness, but with a face and form that really makes you wonder if they will or will not kill you. Stormcutters also have a somewhat owlish vibe, which ties in well to how JoJo originally had Time with an owl companion in LU. Stormcutters are loyal to death and mostly solitary, but can exist with other dragons when needed (especially, I'd assume, if that other dragon is their mate). They're capable, terrifying, strong, patient and capable of great mischief, perfectly compatible with one Gremlin Forest Hero.

Now, Twilight had me a bit stumped. See, a Boulder Class is just 100% wrong for him. He'd need a partner that's intelligent, strong, fast, and loyal. Now, technically, that's a Strike Class dragon to a tee, but the Strike Class is really small, like: nightfury, lightfury, skrill, snow wraith, deathgripper, triple strike and woolly howls. Now all these are all lovely and all, but they are not Twilight, which is kinda important. The dragon is like another half of your soul, to have your dragon it needs to be the one that compliments or completes you. And then it hit me: Deadly Nadders. They're an intelligent Tracker Class dragon that's a skilled hunter (with a preference for domestic meat), incredibly loyal, intelligent, and playful. The pride of the nadder definitely contrasts Twilight's humble spirit, but I feel like a proud dragon would be good for him. Not only would he want to spoil them rotten, but he might actually become more confident in himself and develop a better self image. Also, he'd 100% meet this dragon while wandering around as Wolfie, I will give no other context.

Since it seems like I'm working with the older Links first, I think I'll touch on Sky next. Now, when I was trying to remember the Strike Class assortment I was thinking how Twilight wouldn't care for something with crazy fire abilities (pyrophobia anyone?) when all of a sudden I thought of the skrill, with it's lightning blasts. My first thought was 'keep that away from Legend and Sky' and than I paused and realized, 'Wait, Sky controls lightning too, sort of' and now I'm in love with the idea of Sky making friends with a skrill. Maybe it was enslaved to Demise and he just....befriended it, and now it won't leave him because loyalty. They're truly ferocious dragons, capable of debatibly the worst damage (out of normal, not behemoth sized dragons) and very strong and independent, mostly reclusive. But whereas a razorwhip is a match to Warriors, I feel a skrill would be a nice compliment to Sky. By all rights, at first glance, there is no reason they would bond, but look closer and there are some similarities and they could actually work really well together! Granted, you can't ride a living electrical current (unless you maybe borrow Wild's suit) but if Sky still has his loftwing, he wouldn't need to. He could still be partners with his friend, just never fly on him, just with him (although the image of Sky and the Skrill both sparking with lightning in a battle is gorgeous tbh).

Now we head into the dragons for the younger ones, and I finally figured out something for Legend! The Changewing! It's a highly aggressive and dangerous dragon, yes, but they're only that way to beings outside of their family groups. Within them, we see they are highly defensive, caring and even nurturing (I mean, as much as we get to see of them). They're dragons that don't rely so much on brute force in battle, but rather stealth and powerful attacks. Like Legend, who tends to back the others up from the sidelines or employ items more than a sword, these dragons have a unique blast and tend to rely on their camaflouge in battle or when threatened. A key point for me is that they aren't overly large and are very agile, which Legend would need, considering how often his adventures had him slinking through small places, darting around and whatnot. How our snippy vet befriended an even snippier dragon, I'm not sure, but I'd say one or the other probably met while one of them was injured/near death and something made them think twice of killing the threat and made them instead try to help the other. After that, unbreakable bond. Like Warriors, I imagine Legend working as a fluid team with his dragon, no words needed. Less battling though, and more solving puzzles, discovering new things and fighting dungeons.

Hyrule next. At first I thought Hyrule is one who would also need a smaller, more agile dragon. Something smart, quick, but also more of the protective sort, considering his world's current outlook regarding him. That's about when I started reviewing dragons and then realized...no. Hyrule doesn't need a dragon to help him run, he needs one to stand with him and strengthen him. He needs a dragon who contrasts him to the point of it being ridiculous, one that's his complete opposite in every way, because it views itself as only worthy of the best whereas he sees himself as the least. What does he need? Well, I'm pairing Hyrule with a Monsterous Nightmare. We've seen Hyrule in battle, burning the enemy armies to the ground, but what would it be like if we gave him a dragon to help do it faster? A dragon that's not just a bit vain, but outright one of the proudest of all; big, powerful, standing out and drawing attention. This relationship definitely wasn't started by Hyrule and he has no clue how it's continued, but I feel like a Nightmare would look at him and go 'ah, yes, truly the most powerful and worthy of warriors, I can work with that one' meanwhile Hyrule is over here kicking at rocks in frustration that he's 'not good enough!'. Where Twilight's Nadder would help him overcome his self doubts through association, a Nightmare would smack Hyrule upside the head with his greatness, which I think is the only way to actually get it through to him. So yes, lovely, powerful, dangerous, unlikely duo. They're still working everything out, but they get along, and Hyrule stays warm and safe this way.

Okay, Wind next. Wild and Four are giving me the most trouble, so I'm doing Wind first. Wind would have a Thunderdrum. No, not just because they're a water dragon, I actually considered giving him a Speedstinger at first, but really, Thunderdrums seem to suit him better. Thunderdrums are highly powerful water dragons, but their main form of attack implements the air. They're aquatic dragons, so the likelihood of them surviving well in his world is higher than most other sorts, and while they aren't really the most intelligent of dragons, they are strong, powerful, occasionally playful, and even empathetic. I think Wind would have met his dragon while either traveling with the King of Red Lions or with Tetra. maybe they sailed close to a pod for a while and eventually became somewhat familiar with them. (While Wind would have met his dragon this way, Tetra wouldn't have cared for the Thunderdrums so much and yes, I know this is for the boys but Tetra has a Scauldron please and thank you). Wind and his dragon would be more buddies than actual partners. They have their disagreements and struggles, and don't always work well together, but they would die for each other and they know it.

Okay, Wild time. I had a bit of trouble with this one, but I finally figured it out and it was a total accident that it happened to be the Sentinel. Hear me out! Sentinels are blind, stone like dragons who rely on their other sense rather than sight, they're protectors, and as long as whatever they're protecting is safe, they're happy to remain still as statues, (to the point people usually think they are statues). I think this suits Wild; not only is he harmless unless he or his are threatened, but much like Wolfie the Sentinel wouldn't interfere unless it sense he was in need of help, something which I'm sure we all know he'd appreciate greatly. I feel like a Sentinel is a quiet yet stern sort of companion who could help ground our wildling a bit without caging him, and who could look out for him from close or afar without getting in his way. Also, it's fun to think of Wild, fresh from the Shrine, running across what seems to be a really cool dragon statue, just to realize that oh crap! it's alive! And this big dragon takes one look at this tiny, naked Hylian and goes 'well there's nothing else to take care of anymore' and just claims him.

Now, finally! Four!

Okay, so Four absolutely is the reason this took me so long to answer. I'd hashed out nearly everyone else's dragons the moment I saw this ask, but Four has haunted me and made life difficult because of something very simple: Four is complete.

Okay, so, Four is four kids in a trenchcoat, or four heroes anyway since they hate being called a kid. The Four of them complete each other in a way no other hero completes themselves. See, the rest of the heroes have dragons that compliment or complete them, but as I was going through every class, every dragon, and trying to pin down something that suited Four, all I could find were dragons that suited one or two of their colors, not all of them. There was nothing to complete Four because the colors themselves already balance and round them out. As for complimenting, how do you compliment something that's at once four and one? Now, you could say that a Snapptrapper would be ideal, but that dragon species is just a venus flytrap of dragons and doesn't do much more then smell nice and kill stuff. Not Four's style.

And then it hit me. I was about to settle on Smothering Smokebreathes for them because Smokebreathes would make sense to a point. Instead of complimenting or completing Four, they would just be companions. Four isn't as likely as the others to need companionship, help or protection from a dragon because he can just split, so I thought some scavenger/smithy buddies would be nice. Maybe Smopkebreathes broke into their forge one day and they ended up befriending them as a way to get their stuff back from them. Then maybe they trained them to work with and not against, yada yada... And that's not a bad idea, but it mademe sad to think that Four might not get a dragon best friend.

And then, walkiing along, my brain was suddenly invavded by a nightfury and I just had to stop and go 'of course!'. Now, i wanted to avoid giving the coveted nightfury to any of the boys simply for the sake of the Nightfury being the literal best dragon out there. Additionally, I kinda wanted Four's dragon friend to be big as a way to oppose his own size (partially for kicks), but I guess not.

A nightfury suits Four best because it suits all the colors, both seperate and together. they're strong and dangerous, powerful creatures that Blue would respect. They're fast and good team-mates, which Green would enjoy (especially as his brothers don't always work well with him). They're intelligent and observant, and can create awesome nightlights for reading which Vio would most definitely love. And they're empathetic, understanding and loyal, all traits Red would appreciate. Furthermore, a nightfury is complete in itself. it doesn't need a human/hylian, which is why it suits Four so well. neither need each other, but it doesn't stop them from being good friends and working together.

And that concludes the Chain!

Sorry I took so lomng to answer this, some of the boys were difficult :/

#linkeduniverse #linked universe #lu warriors #lu time #lu twilight #lu sky #lu legend #lu hyrule #lu wind #lu wild #lu four #dragons

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