#*insert throwing sound effect here*

[maranull]

fic where the Tarnished finds Therolina before Shitluvis turns her into a puppet and then it's road trip and bonding over loss time

and the description that says "A Maiden without a Tarnished. A Tarnished without a Maiden. And yet no guide to bring them together." now rings false because even without a guide the two found not the partner that they were assigned, but a partner nonetheless

[hisosisu]

okay here it is

Unofficial Rouxls Kaard Dialogue Guide

disclaimer: i am very much not a scholar of old/medieval/shakesperian english and can't say that i know much of the actual grammatical rules (haha) of it, beyond the difference between thy/thine or you/thou etc. luckily, neither does rouxls. i do not believe you need any prior knowledge of proper old english to effectively imitate toby's style in writing his dialogue, but i invite anyone with relevant knowledge to let me know if there's any hidden patterns/jokes that you can only understand if you do study that field :) i'm simply an autistic with a fascination for analyzing and replicating speech patterns, and a major rouxls fan.

#1: Balance is Key

if you take nothing else from this guide, let it be this! the number one most common mistake i see in fanworks involving rouxls is to go much heavier on the "medieval" dialect than is necessary, which often creates something unwieldy, difficult to understand, and frankly unfunny. when creating dialogue for rouxls, it is tantamount to keep moderation and variety in mind, to create a balanced and somewhat correct-sounding sentence, that flows well and doesn't fall into repetitive consonance (aka using -eth or -est sounds too many times in a row). a handy way to check yourself for this is to say it aloud and check the rhythm. it may be easier in some cases to reword the "base" idea of what you're trying to say, but there is a way to rouxls-ify any sentence, i think.

Example (Base sentence): You worms haven't seen the last of me! Prepare for battle!

Example (Too heavy): Thou wormeths haven'st seeneth yon lastest of me! Prepareth fore battlest!

Example (Just right): Thoust worms haven't seen the laste of me! Prepareth thou for battle!

if all else fails, err on the side of less "medieval" speech rather than more, especially for shorter lines, and feel free to throw in an extra word or two (such as the "thou" added above) to improve the flow if necessary.

#2: Rouxls-Specific Quirks

here is a list of common words or word-modifiers that rouxls commonly uses in canon, feel free to mix and match these and remember that rouxls is very inconsistent with his speech quirks. he does not, for example, use the word "thine" every time he says "your", nor is he consistent about which words he decides to append an "eth" to. it's all done based on vibes and flow, and he would likely say the exact same sentence in a different way on different occasions. these are just suggestions, not any sort of grammatical rule (ha) or language!

"thou"- very common, used in place of "you". similarly, "thy" and "thine", meaning "your" or "yours", though "thine" is used much more often than "thy", disregarding the actual grammatical cases of the words. goes along with using "mine" instead of "my".

"hath"- very common, used in place of "have", though not completely exclusively. in some cases, he will use "have" or "haveth" instead, usually for rhythm reasons. not often used in contractions ("hathn't" is usually just "hath not")

"-eth" as a suffix- very common. this has no meaning on its own, it's just a somewhat common sound in medieval english that he enjoys appending to random words to make himself seem more competent. most often used on command- or future-tense verbs ("prepareth", "solveth", "planeth", "bringeth", etc), or past-tense verbs with no "ed" ("sprungeth", "casteth", etc) but can also be seen much less commonly on past-tense verbs either before or after the "ed" ("appointethed", "checkethed", "kickedth", "wanderedeth", etc). using it with nouns or adjectives most often sounds janky and weird, and isn't recommended.

"art"- very common, used in place of "are" or "is", again not exclusively, but slightly more common than "hath". not often used in contractions ("artn't" is usually just "art not")

"doth"- somewhat common, used in place of "did", "does", "do", or sometimes "is"/"are". sometimes inserted into a sentence when you wouldn't normally use one of the other words (ie "you doth expecte me to complye?"). typically not used in negative form at all, but if it is, never in contractions.

"-est" or "-st" as a suffix- very common. this, along with "-eth", makes up the main meat of his dialect. like "-eth", it has no real meaning, but it is much more flexible in its usage. "-est" or "-st" can be appended to verbs as well ("likest", "completest", "readst", etc), but can also in some cases be used for nouns ("roomst", "fieldst", etc). it's important to use it sparingly with nouns at risk of confusing the plurals, and use it carefully with only certain adjectives so you don't just accidentally use the "most" form of the adjective (for example, if you're just trying to say "small", you don't want to say "smallest", meaning The Most Small). however, one of rouxls's favorite, and possibly most common, usages of "-st" is to append it to "thou" to make "thoust", or to add it to conjunctions/prepositions and contractions ("hadn'st", "won'st", "couldst", "didst", "uponst" "behindst", etc).

"-e" as a suffix, very common. can also be used along with doubling an ending vowel such as n or t if applicable. extremely versatile and perfect for adding a bit of frivolity in more dead parts of a sentence. often used for nouns, both singular ("moone", "kinge", "opinionne", "lettere", "internette", "thise", etc) and plural ("loverse", "puzzlese", "handse", "guyse", etc), but also handy for adjectives ("difficulte", "magnificente", "yellowe", "freakinge" etc), verbs ("defeatte", "carrye", "witnesse" etc) and sometimes even conjunctions/prepositions ("howe", "perhapse", "atoppe", etc). since the game has no voiced dialogue, it's up to you if this change is only for visual spelling or if it carries its own auditory accent.

capital letters in the middle of a sentence- somewhat common, often used for emphasis. most tumblr users probably understand how to employ that effectively and comedically, it's very similar in his speech.

"yon"- not as common, used in place of "the" or sometimes "a". this word is best used in moderation for best comedic effect, as my favorite canonical usages of it are randomly thrown in where you wouldn't even use an article anyway, ie "yon crud" or "yon losers". "ye" is sometimes also used in place of an article, but not as often as "yon".

"lo"- not as common, honestly often used correctly, as an exclamation similar in meaning to "behold", or "alas" (both of which rouxls also employs semi-frequently). almost always placed in front of a sentence (ie "lo, medieval L upon mine forehead") either followed by an exclamation point or a comma.

"medieval"- uncommon, randomly inserted as an adjective when the sentence doesn't feel olden enough, see above for canonical use case ^.

using a colon for a single list item- uncommon. this is a trait most often exhibited by queen, but rouxls uses it infrequently, like in the case of "no, i think: Freakinge Not". most often should be reserved for extreme emphasis, unlike queen, who uses it liberally.

i'm sure this is not an exhaustive list of all phrases and quirks he uses, but it covers the majority of his chosen speech, and mixing and matching these can create very effective canon-like dialogue on its own.

#3: Dropping the Act

while it's very important to not overuse the sudden drops in dialect, aka when rouxls speaks normally for a line or two (ie "GOD. DAMMIT." or "don't worry guys i'll get a refund for that one"), they do happen, mostly when he is overwhelmed, emotional, or embarrassed. all in all, his speech patterns are merely a facade to try and make himself... cooler? more appealing to evil monarchs...? if he's not paying total attention to it, he loses it for a moment and goes back to normal, which shows it is not how he naturally speaks, but while he doesn't often correct himself afterwards, he is quick to get back on the ball again. it might be interesting to explore how he speaks to himself while alone.

similar to the total drops, rouxls does often work modern slang and speech patterns into his fancier sentences too. he uses non-swears like "freaking" and "crud", adds in filler words such as "like" and "um", and exhibits a knowledge of internet slang and meme culture as well. he's just an insufferable weirdo that lives in the modern age, certainly not a genuine olden english citizen, if his complete butchering of the language itself isn't enough to prove that.

Conclusion?

perhapseth this isn't the most in-depth or completely accurate guide i could write, but most of this comes completely intuitively to me, so unraveling it into explainable guidelines was a challenge in of itself! i hope at least this helps some fanartists/writers in the fandom who struggle with his dialogue, as it can be somewhat hard to get a total grasp on. the problem with a character like rouxls is that it's nearly impossible to put solid rules (...ha) on his dialect, since the vast majority of it is based on vibes and sentence flow, instead of anything consistent or correct, and is executed most effectively when it comes naturally. toby is clearly a master of comedic dialogue writing, as evidenced not just by rouxls but many other characters in both games, and it can be borderline impossible to tap into his exact style of humor and flow for fanworks, but there's a rhythm and a pattern you can imitate nonetheless.

the bottom line for writing rouxls is to lean into silliness and comedy wherever possible, which is elevated by moderation and balance, and hindered by overuse and strict consistency. rouxls himself prioritizes melodic flow and sounding correct-ish over anything else, and is just as unlikely to say a butchered, ungraceful jumble of "eth"s and "st"s as he is to speak in fluent shakesperian english, and any actual rules (....) he may assign to himself are just as easily forgotten or overwritten when they're not convenient.

play around with his dialogue, practice by "translating" a line in multiple different ways, and most of all, have fun! even if you make mistakes, im sure toby would be proud of you for trying at all :)

[canon-gabriel-quotes]

Transcript:

M-Machine... I... I don't-I-sorry I haven't done VR before.

Oh wow, moving is really... Mm. No no I'm okay.

Uh, just have to get used to it heh. *clears throat* God.

It's just-it moves so fast *insert throwing up noises here*

I'm done.

End Transcript

Audio source

[crazysnor1ax]

I can FINALLY show off my design for Callie in my Defeated AU! Meet Defeated Callie, or Titless Callie lmao

Text in first image is from this song

AU lore undercut (which you can also find on her Artfight page):

The premise is, more-or-less, exactly what it sounds like: the story follows the events of Splatoon 2 after Agent 4 is killed by Callie in Hero Mode's final boss fight, and Agent 8 is successfully blended during Octo Expansion. After successfully killing Agent 4, both sides retreat; Marie, hopeless on her own, flees to grieve Agent 4 and losing Callie again, and DJ Octavio and Callie flee to continue preparations to take back Inkopolis. Not long after this does Octavio decide he wants to make the effects of the Hypnoshades more permanent. What this results in is Callie undergoing a procedure that completely alters her memories and perception of the NSS. Her memories are tampered with to make her believe she's an octoling who fought her way to being Octavio's number two. To her, there never was an Agent 1, or a pop star in Inkopolis named Callie. Octavio also figured he could put Callie's agent skills and physical prowess to use, too; what this resulted in is, during the same procedure, Callie being turned into a living bioweapon. Her strength was increased tenfold, to the point where she can pick up and throw a car if she wants to. Her knowledge of how to wield a weapon is honed and perfected. She essentially becomes a walking Great Octoweapon. Her physical appearance and genetics are altered too: her tentacles, mask, and beak are changed to that of an Octoling's, and she's given top surgery and tattoos. For fun. Callie's personality is drastically different after this procedure. She is cruel. She's stern, wild, and dead-set on taking back Inkopolis. Fragments of her original personality remain, but they're twisted into something new and almost unrecognizable (for example, her hyper, energetic self translates into Defeated Callie being loud, boisterous, stubborn, and sometimes violent). After Agent 8's defeat, Tartar inserts itself into Agent 3, taking complete control of her body and using her as a vessel to make movement and world-destroying preparations much easier (in this AU, Tartar is the sludge on the telephone, not the telephone itself). Important information for the plot I'm going to explain right now: After her procedure, Callie and Octavio begin to get into disagreements about how preparations are going. Octavio is focused on tuning and improving the Great Octoweapons, but Callie thinks focusing on building up the army itself would save a lot of time and be more efficient. This disagreement gets so heated that eventually Callie...overthrows Octavio and makes herself leader of the Octarian Army.

Not long after this does Callie meet Tartar. Realizing they both have the same goal of messing with Inkopolis, they team up-Callie helping Tartar with its machines and weaponry, and Tartar assisting Callie with building her army. It doesn't take long for Callie to find out that Tartar has been stealing and sanitizing Octarians under her nose and wants to kill everyone in Inkopolis (she had only wanted to overtake it and "put inklings in their place"). She immediately breaks the deal they had, making Tartar vow to kill her, too. Callie is now set on stopping Tartar's plan, but realizes she can't do it without help. Not without the help of a familiar, grey-tentacled inkling. She goes to Marie, hesitantly asking for an alliance. Normally she would never stoop so low as to ask an inkling for help, but Tartar's plan threatens both of them. Marie is horrified at what the Octarians have done to Callie and how different she is, but she shoves it down and agrees to help, believing that, maybe, she can figure out how to reverse what's happened to her. From here, they work together to research, plan, and train to stop Tartar. They even enlist Pearl and Marina along the way, who have much more knowledge on the Deepsea Metro than either of them. As time progresses Callie begins to realize that Marie is having some kind of strange effect on her. She grows affectionate for her in a way that she hasn't ever been with anyone else. She starts to become familiar in a way that isn't simply recognizing her face. Thoughts seem to enter her head that aren't hers, and fake, dreamlike memories come to her of a version of herself that is so unrealistic. Perhaps most concerning is the fact that her body begins to feel so, so incorrect, and when she looks in the mirror she doesn't quite recognize herself sometimes.

[furinana]

The rock stars that were the base for SMTIV's moral representatives

Queen and Sex Pistols contrasting each other like LAW and CHAOS? It's more likely than you think.

Disclaimer: This is a post made for highlighting similarities behind the musicians and their music contributions to the SMTIV alignments they're inserted into; in other words, there's not an intent to necessarily argument that the characters were planned to reference them to the same extent explored here.

Brian May

Brian May (born 1947) is an English musician with a highly educated and overachiever background encouraged by his parents. He's most known as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of Queen, which he co-founded with singer Freddie Mercury and drummer Roger Taylor. His guitar work and songwriting contributions helped Queen become one of the most successful acts in music history.

He's still active as of 2025 at the age of 77.

Politically, Brian May would reiterate that he always believed in compassion towards people and grew to loathe corruption, inequality and discrimination.

“I don’t like all this separatist stuff and you know this sort of illusion that we can all stand on our own, to me the future lies in co-operation." Blabbermouth

Brian May had a sheltered childhood where he wasn't really a kid that would argue with his parents. He recalls the love of affectionate (albeit overprotective) parents that would later become a hurdle in his music career: “Dad was mortified when I chose the band over finishing my PhD. He thought I was throwing away my education. [...] When Queen was taking off, we didn’t speak for nearly two years."

The rift had a devastating effect on his mother’s health as she desperately tried to make the peace. “It drove her to a nervous breakdown. I inherited my dad’s stubbornness and she couldn’t get either of us to budge. I still regret that I wasn’t more conciliatory, but Dad and I were just too much alike.”

May only found out later there was an underlying reason for his father’s initial dislike of his lifestyle. “Dad confided in me that when he came out of the RAF, he’d like to have taken off and joined a band. But he had me on the way and needed job security. I realised then that he’d found it hard to accept my choice because it was a dream he’d been forced to reject.”

After his father's death, his mother would confess that they had a difficult relationship. "But as a kid I had no idea, it just felt like a secure and loving home. She felt she’d just submerged herself in Dad, as wives did in those days."

Queen

Founded in 1970, Queen released their self-titled debut album in 1973. Despite not being an immediate success, they quickly gained popularity in Britain with their second album Queen II in 1974.

Both were concept albums set in a medieval fairy-realm that "follows a royal line's magical battle against forces of darkness".

Notice the obvious similarity to Kaneko's depiction of a seraph. In SMTIV, Seraph is an end-game boss in both Neutral and Chaos routes that prevents Flynn from further entry into Purgatorium, a maze divided into "Crowns".

Here's a song from Queen II.

A word in your ear From father to son Hear the word that I say I fought with you Fought on your side Long before you were born Joyful the sound The word goes around From father to son To son And the voice is so clear Time after time it keeps calling you Calling you on Don't destroy what you see Your country to be Just keep building on the ground That's been won Kings will be crowned And the word goes around From father to son To son Won't you hear us sing Our family song? Oh, yeah Now we hand it on But I've heard it all before Take this letter that I give you Take it, sonny, hold it high You won't understand a word that's in it But you'll write it all again before you die

Initially characterised for its combination of acoustic/electric guitar extremes and fantasy-inspired multi-part song epics, the band later became known for their anthemic songs which are a staple of sports arenas and stadiums the world over, with several songs being written with audience participation in mind, such as We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions.

Additionally, the main reason behind the name 'Queen' was clever marketing on Freddie Mercury’s part. The crest mirrors the multifaceted meaning of the band’s name as it resembles the Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom.

Freddie studied fashion and graphic design so he thought ahead on the visual potential:

"I thought up the name Queen early on. [...] It was a very regal name and it sounded splendid. It’s strong, very universal, and immediate. [...] It lent itself to a lot of things, like the theatre, and it was grand. It was very pompous [...] I was certainly aware of the gay connotations, but that was just one facet of it." Freddie Mercury: A Life, In His Own Words

According to the same source, Freddie was also in good terms with Prince Andrew during their career and had "a lot of respect for royalty", declaring himself a patriot.

Brian May seems to share a similar mentality since he performed a guitar solo of the British national anthem God Save the Queen from the roof of Buckingham Palace as part of the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II celebrations in 2002 and accepted knighthood from King Charles in 2023.

By the way...

Here's the impact of Brian May in 1970s shoujo manga.

Left: マーシイは物理が苦手 Right: 恋のクッキング・タイム Some discuss that his figure also potentially influenced works like Rose of Versailles.

Sid Vicious

Simon John Ritchie (1957–1979), better known by his stage name Sid Vicious, was an English musician most famous as the second bassist for the punk rock band Sex Pistols. Ritchie grew up in a poor household with an absent father that provided no financial help so his mother resorted to selling drugs. His troubled family situation reached a point of being kicked out of home at 16 and getting accustomed early to drug addiction that came from his own mother.

In 1973, he befriended fellow classmate John Lydon "Johnny Rotten", who nicknamed Ritchie "Sid Vicious" after Ritchie was bitten by Lydon's hamster that was named after ex-Pink Floyd member Syd Barrett. Ritchie reacted by saying: "Sid is really vicious!". Lydon found hilarious that his friend could be harmed by his pet that he would describe as “the softest, furriest, weediest thing on earth”.

In 1975, John Lydon formed the Sex Pistols with Steve Jones, Paul Cook and Glen Matlock. Jah Wobble (a teen friend of Lydon and Sid) recalls these early years where the suggestible Sid would frequent pubs to watch the Sex Pistols as a dedicated fan and become shaped with the rebellious and drug-addicted behavior of the regulars.

In February 1977, Sid stepped into the role he felt he was born to play, replacing Glen Matlock as the Sex Pistols bassist.

The Sex Pistols

"The Sex Pistols' music was not formally groundbreaking, yet their simple meat-and-potatoes rock was filled with a power and aggression that was all but unknown in the mid-'70s, and the ferocious, sneering vocals of Johnny Rotten (as well as his pointed, accusatory lyrics) upended all expectations of how a rock frontman should look or sound. Even as the media treated them as pariahs, the potency of their music and their image spoke to an audience waiting for something different than the prog and soft rock sounds that ruled the charts in the 1970s, sparking a revolution that is still playing itself out." Mark Deming

The band gained widespread attention from British press after swearing live on-air during a December 1976 television interview. Their May 1977 single God Save the Queen, which described the monarchy as a "fascist regime", was released to coincide with national celebrations for the Queen's Silver Jubilee. The song was promptly banned from being played by the BBC and by nearly every independent radio station in Britain, making it the most censored record in British history:

God save the Queen Her fascist regime It made you a moron A potential H-bomb God save the queen She ain't no human being There is no future In England's dreaming Don't be told what you want to want to And don't be told what you want to need There's no future, no future No future for you God save the Queen We mean it, man We love our Queen God saves God save the Queen 'Cause tourists are money And our figurehead Is not what she seems Oh, God save history God save your mad parade Oh, Lord, God have mercy All crimes are paid When there's no future, how can there be sin? We're the flowers in the dustbin We're the poison in your human machine We're the future, your future

The band’s "(mis)manager", as they liked to call him, Malcolm McLaren, co-owned a clothing shop on King’s Road with his then-partner, designer Vivienne Westwood. A centerpiece of the punk movement and a kind of headquarters for the band, this shop was unlike any other at the time. Simply named SEX, it was a shock-and-awe clothing boutique of the latest fetish “anti-fashions” – chains, whips, rips, rubber wear, and all. Back when Sid was homeless, hanging out in McLaren's clothing store was how he spent time as he already had a penchant for fashion as a means of standing out from the crowd.

In The Filth and the Fury documentary, McLaren explained he wanted a group that seemed dangerous, but alluring, in other words, something to represent his store. “[I] launched the idea in the form of a band of kids who could be perceived as being bad.” Therefore the name Sex Pistols invoked an image of “sexy young assassins", with pistol as a double entendre for male body part.

Journalist Vivien Goldeman comments of a certain facet of punk where kids like Sid would "piss off parents on purpose" and camouflage their insecurities through edginess such as wearing swastika motifs for shock value (Sid obviously wouldn't be a Nazi as his dying love Nancy Spungeon was a Jewish girl).

With this intent in mind, their music manager would purposefully set the band into situations where chaos would broke in for scandals and sensationalism. Sid Vicious would be the most infamous example of the group, being chosen to play as a bassist for his looks and attitude while being encouraged to be drunk and disordely.

"Sid was offered up as a sacrificial lamb by the people around the Pistols. None of them would have gone over the top. He was their kamikaze pilot, and they were all too happy to strap him in and send him off." The Guardian

His romance-turned-tragedy with Nancy was another facet of this environment, with both being attracted by and ultimately aggravating their own self-destructive tendencies on the company of the other.

Even after the intoxicated accident that caused Nancy's death, Sid still couldn't leave his addiction and would reply in a cracked voice "I can't straighten up. I just can't be straight". For Sid, this grim reality was his basic nature and was going to kill him no matter the outcome, to which became reality when he passed away from overdose with only 21 years old.

In Jah Wobble's words, he embodied "everything in punk that was dark, decadent and nihilistic". Wobble would also reflect that even when Sid was still a bright kid, he would recall of "another side of him that was weird and brooding" thus realize his peer must already have been very hurt mentally.

Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, the Sex Pistols became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspired many later punk, post-punk and alternative rock musicians, while their clothing and hairstyles were a significant influence on the early punk image.

Sid Viciouses in Japanese pop media: Ren (Nana), Ritchie (Listeners) and Leon Kuwata (Danganronpa).

Queen and Sex Pistols' well-known beef

While Freddie Mercury is considered by many as one of a kind that broke molds in the music industry specially regarding rock masculinity, Freddie didn't want the Queen to be seen as revolutionary and never addressed publicly his own sexuality.

Queen drummer Roger Taylor has commented that Freddie wouldn't allow political themes and very early in their career they consciously decided that Queen's material would refrain from commenting on social affairs.

So understandably there would come a certain clash between them and a certain genre which Sex Pistols come from:

Queen's music couldn't have been further from the punk movement. In fact, the youth-propelled backlash of punk music and its iconography was very much seen as an antidote to bands like Queen. Of course, we're not just referring to the fact that the rock legends shared their name with Queen Elizabeth II, the focus of the Sex Pistols' snarling anthem 'God Save The Queen'. But Queen and their arsenal of songs that merged rock, opera, and unbridled theatricality was starting to be seen as snooty and elitist by segments of the youth population. As the decade unfolded, kids were in search of new meaning amidst the backdrop of political and economic turmoil, and punk music was the answer. No longer were musicians beholden to actually having to learn an instrument, they could just thrash out three chords on a guitar and vent down a microphone. What came of it was a cultural explosion that shook the foundations of music, art, politics, and society at large. However, Freddie Mercury wasn't too enamoured by the punk movement [...] Performing to thousands upon thousands of adoring fans every night was where Freddie considered his best work to come from. On the other hand, he couldn't quite understand why punk bands insisted on keeping their audiences niche, harnessing the power of community in smaller venues. Freddie revealed: "I think everybody wants to be successful. I don't care what they say. I know there was a fashion with the punk movement or whatever." "They said, ‘Oh, we want to play to the small audiences because we're being intimate' and all that. Load of rubbish!" he spat incredulously. [...] It's no secret that Freddie wasn't an overt supporter of punk music and its associated members, likely because he and Queen were very much the target of their vitriol. There's the infamous scenario where he got one over on his punk detractors, namely the Sex Pistols' Sid Vicious when both bands occupied the same studio during a recording session. A smirking Vicious tainted Mercury by saying: "Have you succeeded in bringing ballet to the masses yet?". Freddie told one interviewer: "I called him Simon Ferocious or something, and he didn't like it at all." and dragged him out of the studio by his collar like a naughty school boy. Gold Radio 1 / 2

Of course, while the Sex Pistols was an important vehicle for newcomers to discover the punk scene and radicalize themselves, it's also relevant to bring the debate within the punk community itself surrounding the authenticity of Sex Pistols: they're judged by many as one of the "earliest industry plants" with their primary motive being of profitting over a bad boy image.

As far as their manager McLaren was concerned, Sid Vicious was perfect in assisting Sex Pistols' career as national and international outrages, not caring less about even his total inexperience as a bass player. Guitarist Steve Jones would go as far as stating "Actually we're not into music, we're into chaos."

What doesn't help much their image either is that (now ex-)frontman John Lydon himself would later state in a 2012 interview that he never considered himself an anarchist despite having a hit called Anarchy in the UK. John Lydon went as far as paying tribute to Queen Elizabeth in her death and show support for far-right politicians, to the dismayal of many fans and to fellow members of the band that are still active. Vivienne Westwood that was the mind behind the punk fashion utilized by the band also showed to be someone that could be on good terms with the monarchy over the decades.

At the end of the day, both Queen and Sex Pistols at the time "played their parts" in order to give what the people wanted to hear through different methods.

Queen played "within" the system. Sex Pistols played "against" it.

The third 1970s rock icon representative

Surprise, surprise! It wasn't only Law and Chaos that got representatives based off rock stars.

A certain Neutral-aligned character was inspired by a figure of great importance in the early Japanese punk scene.

We're talking about Fujiwara.

He is Makoto Ayukawa from Sheena & the Rokkets!

Sheena & the Rokkets, sometimes abbreviated as Shinaroke, is a band formed in 1978 by Makoto Ayukawa (1948-2023) and his wife Etsuko (1953-2015).

The couple, who were already parents to twins, were able to start their career together thanks to Sheena's father's support, who pushed Ayukawa to go and try his luck in Tokyo while leaving the kids under the care of Sheena's family.

Etsuko adopted the name Sheena after the Ramones' song Sheena Is a Punk Rocker. "Sheena & the Rokkets" come from "Rock + Etsuko = Rockets", to which Ayukawa gave an old-fashioned spin and the quirky spelling for "more rock style".

Ayukawa received a Gibson Les Paul Custom from a friend when Sheena & the Rokkets was formed in 1978, and played the same guitar for over 40 years since moving to Tokyo. He is said to be the only musician in the world who has achieved this feat, even at a Guinness World Record level.

Despite having no experience as a musician at all up until that point, Sheena's confidence in her high spirits and unshakeable mental strenght led the band in a good direction and became a pioneer of Japanese female rock vocalists.

Holding a baby who loves rock A cute mommy is going away By the time this child turns twenty, the world will surely be a better place So for a while, mommy and you Let's do our best, let's do our best When I see you laughing with rock, I always feel courage I made you because I loved you, I gave birth to you because I have love I've been told all sorts of things, But until the world turns with rock, Let's believe in humanity and do our best This world is still ugly, But someday it will change for the better There's no point in hating each other, so let's keep smiling, let's keep smiling When I touch you asleep with rock, My heart starts dancing by itself Because I loved you, you're here Because I have love, Tomorrow and the future will surely come with you Until we can talk with rock, let's love humanity and keep smiling

If you asked an average fan to describe the music of Shinaroke, you'd get the strong impression of a live band that combines blues-derived rock and roll with punkish beats, with Ayukawa's edgy guitar as the core and Sheena's husky, powerful vocals. However, their early albums were also influenced by techno and new wave, showing they had a curious and flexible attitude that embodied the free spirit of rock.

Ayukawa was also sensitive to the changes of the times by using computers before the Internet became widespread in the world and being one of the earliest examples of a band launching their official website, "Rokket Web", in 1996.

Examples where Ayukawa's influence is seen: Left: the heroine Madoka Ayukawa of Izumi Matsumoto's Kimagure Orange Road. Right: Ayumi Hatsuyuki (鮎見初雪) from Kamijo Atsushi's TO-Y.

In the middle of a busy schedule, Sheena fell ill and was diagnosed with stage 4 cervical cancer, but at her strong request, her condition wasn't revealed to anyone other than her family and continued performing live until two months before her death in 2015.

Many fans admire and feel encouraged to this day by Sheena for her positive mindset and stubbornness in continuing to follow what her heart set her to do:

"Sometimes we rise up, sometimes we sink down. However, no matter how lost she'd become, Sheena's words and actions were always positive and powerful [...] Her lifestyle as a vocalist who performed dozens of times a year, a mother of three daughters, and a woman who stayed close to the man she loves [...] was dazzlingly pure, simple, and full of love." YOU MAY DREAM review

Regarding future activities, Ayukawa stated that he would carry on his beloved partner's wishes and continue with Sheena & the Rokkets. Ayukawa continued performing as a three-piece with original members Nara Toshihiro and Kawashima Kazuhide (with Ayukawa and Sheena's third and youngest daughter, LUCY MIRROR, later joining the band as a main vocalist) until he passed in 2023.

Ayukawa would say, "If everyone listens to rock, there will be peace. There will be no wars." and "Even if I were to be reborn again, I would still love Sheena". That was his will that he wanted messages of love and peace to continue to be passed on to future generations through rock music.

Sheena and Ayukawa's energetic live performances over the years, regardless of major or indie, have been supported and loved not only by music fans but also by many peers and juniors and shaped the Japanese punk rock scene. Even with their front couple gone, the music of Shinaroke still lives on.

The nuances behind Ayukawa's image

When describing about his style, Ayukawa said "I may have a strong image of rock, but when I was a kid there was no such word as rock, so music lovers called it pop. The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and the Kinks were all classified as pop. So Sheena & the Rockets' music is rock, but it also has the atmosphere of what is now called 60's pop." He was also close friends with the members of the Ramones, showing the influence of New York punk and London punk in the band.

Add that to nowadays' interpretation of the genre:

[...] Japanese punk rock has evolved into a distinctive blend of Western influence and Japanese precision. [...] Japanese punk culture is characterized by its meticulous attention to detail and a unique blend of rebellion and respect. Unlike their Western counterparts, Japanese punks often maintain a level of politeness and social awareness that might seem at odds with the genre's confrontational nature. This duality is evident in the way Japanese punks interact at shows, where they might thrash wildly in a circle pit one moment and politely bow to make their way through the crowd the next. Punk Rock in Japan: A thriving subculture of rebellion and precision

Relevant to the discussion is also the famous song My Way, described as "a song for those who have overcome, for those who are victorious." We have not only Sid Vicious but Ayukawa also partaking in it with their own interpretations.

And now, the end is near And so I face the final curtain My friend, I'll say it clear I'll state my case, of which I'm certain I've lived a life that's full I traveled each and every highway And more, much more than this I did it my way Regrets, I've had a few But then again, too few to mention I did what I had to do And saw it through without exemption I planned each charted course Each careful step along the byway And more, much more than this I did it my way Yes, there were times I'm sure you knew When I bit off More than I could chew But through it all When there was doubt I ate it up and spit it out I faced it all and I stood tall And did it my way I've loved, I've laughed and cried I've had my fill, my share of losing And now, as tears subside I find it all so amusing To think I did all that And may I say, not in a shy way Oh, no, oh, no, not me I did it my way For what is a man, what has he got? If not himself, then he has naught To say the things he truly feels And not the words of one who kneels The record shows I took the blows And did it my way

Sheena talked about how meaningful it was for them in her book:

"Many people in Japan think that this song is a sentimental song that looks back on one's life, but that's not true! 'My way' means 'the way I do things.' 'My greatest pride is that I've lived my life my own way.' This is a song that only Sinatra, who has survived the cutthroat world of American show business, could sing. So everything is never someone else's fault, it's one's own. I'm always positive. I don't have time to complain. I get a lot of power from the audience. The stage gives me magic. There have been countless times when the band was in trouble, both mentally and financially. But I'm lucky to be able to continue, and I'm happy just to be alive."

Another interesting cover is the classic Japanese nursery rhyme​ from the Showa era called Kono Michi that can be translated as "this road" or "this way". Sheena and Ayukawa were fond of it as they similarly were by Frank Sinatra's My Way (going as far as saying it was the Japanese equivalent) and made an arrangement with a punk tune reminiscent of the Sex Pistols that was also a source of influence for Sheena & the Rokkets.

This road is the one I once traveled Ah, that’s right Acacia flowers are blooming That hill is the one I once saw Ah, that’s right Look, it’s the white clock tower This road is the one I once traveled Ah, that’s right I went with Mother in a carriage Those clouds are the ones I once saw Ah, that’s right Hawthorn branches are drooping

Kono michi's lyrics give the impression of a thin haze, with the predominant color of the song being “white”: the flower sung as “Acacia” being actually a white locust tree; the white clock tower; the flashback image of his mother in his childhood; the white clouds and the white flowers of the three terns.

The composer, Yamada Kousaku, was very fond of this song:

Kono michi is a song that reminds me of my childhood days. I couldn’t help but recall the nostalgic paths I used to stroll down with my mother’s warm hand pulling me along, and the faint feelings I had back then. [...] I couldn’t help but recall the faint feelings of those days. However, even such a famous song has been dropped from music textbooks, and more and more children say they have never heard of it.

Despite Ayukawa's and Sheena's dedication towards a rebellious and uncertain lifestyle specially for what's expected in the conformist Japanese society, they broke against the preconceived notion that "punk youths are anti-family and destined to destruct themselves" by not only giving value to their roots but also having a happy marriage with love for their three kids and support from family members towards their dream.

Now....

for our last topic..........

Let's talk about the predecessor that influenced all bands mentioned.

One that contributed significantly towards the counterculture of the 1960s that shaped the alignments of SMTIVA. Can you figure out who I'm referring? He's the

rock representative of SMT4☮️

The design motifs that envelop the jumpsuit of our sequel protagonist says it all: a peace symbol pin, an imperative anti-war message and the most explicit of them all, the lyrics of a certain song...

Imagine there's no heaven It's easy if you try No hell below us Above us only sky Imagine all the people Living for today Imagine there's no countries It isn't hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion too Imagine all the people Living life in peace Imagine no possessions I wonder if you can No need for greed or hunger A brotherhood of man Imagine all the people Sharing all the world You may say I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us And the world will live as one

John Lennon (1940–1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and political activist. He gained worldwide fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame both as a member of the Beatles and as a solo artist.

John Lennon was an only child and due to clashes between his parents, his custody was given to his aunt. Lennon commented about his family and his rebellious nature:

"A part of me would like to be accepted by all facets of society and not be this loudmouthed lunatic poet/musician. But I cannot be what I am not... I was the one who all the other boys' parents – including Paul's father – would say, "Keep away from him"... The parents instinctively recognised I was a troublemaker, meaning I did not conform and I would influence their children, which I did. I did my best to disrupt every friend's home... Partly out of envy that I didn't have this so-called home... [...] I would infiltrate the other boys' minds. I could say, "Parents are not gods because I don't live with mine and, therefore, I know." All we are saying (2000)

At the age of 15, Lennon formed a skiffle group, the Quarrymen. By the summer of 1957, the Quarrymen played a "spirited set of songs" made up of half skiffle and half rock and roll. Lennon first met Paul McCartney at the Quarrymen's second performance and asked him to join the band.

In 1958, Lennon's mother was killed by a car driven by an off-duty police officer while she was walking home. His mother's death traumatised the teenage Lennon, who, for the next two years, drank heavily and frequently got into fights, consumed by a "blind rage". At college he began to wear Teddy Boy clothes and was threatened with expulsion for his behavior, and was "thrown out of the college before his final year". Lennon's bond with McCartney whose mother had already died of breast cancer in 1956 became tighter from then on.

The Beatles

"The Beatles" was formed in early 1960 and completed the four-piece line-up with Paul McCartney, George Harrinson and Ringo Starr in 1962; that would remain until the group's break-up in 1970. McCartney said that the other Beatles idolised Lennon: "We all looked up to John. He was older and he was very much the leader; he was the quickest wit and the smartest."

The Beatles achieved mainstream success and sparked the "Beatlemania" phenomenon in 1963, gained international superstardom in 1964. By the end of the decade, the Beatles were seen as an embodiment of the era's sociocultural movements, exemplified by the sentiment of their 1967 song All You Need Is Love.

In the wake of Sgt. Pepper (1967), their eighth album, the underground and mainstream press widely publicised the Beatles as leaders of youth culture, as well as "lifestyle revolutionaries". The elaborate cover depicted the group as the fictional band referred to in the album's title track standing in front of a crowd of cardboard cut-outs of celebrities and historical people. The heavy moustaches worn by the group reflected the growing influence of the hippie movement while the group's clothing "spoofed the vogue in Britain for military fashions" with their brightly coloured parodies in anti-authoritarian and anti-establishment display.

Viewed as an embodiment of "the social, the musical, and more generally, the cultural changes of the 1960s", Sgt. Pepper conveyed the optimism and sense of empowerment at the centre of the youth movement. Critics have also identified loss of innocence and the dangers of overindulgence in fantasies or illusions as its most prominent themes, with its underlying philosophy attributed not only to the drug culture and freedom from parental control but also to the non-violent approach of the flower power movement, the latter being explored by Lennon in its most evident form through his solo career.

Political and religious views

Lennon met Yoko Ono for the first time in 1966. Two years before the Beatles disbanded, Lennon and Ono began public protests against the Vietnam War and would use the publicity of their own honey moon in 1969 towards promoting world peace.

They often combined advocacy with performance art, as in their "Bagism": by catching the attention of the masses with an outlandish premise, they would deliver underneath it a social and political message to the world, whether by covering their bodies with a bag in order to strip the viewer from prejudices or doing week-long bed-ins because "people should make love, not war".

During this period, Lennon released Give Peace a Chance, being quickly interpreted as an anti-war anthem and sung by a quarter of a million demonstrators against the Vietnam War in Washington on 15 November, the second Vietnam Moratorium Day. In December, they paid for billboards in 10 cities around the world which declared, in the national language, "War Is Over! If You Want It".

"Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives. I think we're being run by maniacs for maniacal ends and I think I'm liable to be put away as insane for expressing that. That's what's insane about it."

Among other types of activism, Lennon and Ono acted in solidarity for blue-collar workers, towards the release of those arrested for possession of marijuana and against British Imperialism by giving support to the IRA. They also attended several meetings of the White Panther Party, a far-left group against racism and capitalism.

God is a concept By which we measure Our pain I'll say it again God is a concept By which we measure Our pain I don't believe in magic I don't believe in I-Ching I don't believe in Bible I don't believe in Tarot I don't believe in Hitler I don't believe in Jesus I don't believe in Kennedy I don't believe in Buddha I don't believe in Mantra I don't believe in Gita I don't believe in Yoga I don't believe in Kings I don't believe in Elvis I don't believe in Zimmerman I don't believe in Beatles I just believe in me Yoko and me And that's reality The dream is over What can I say? The dream is over Yesterday I was the dreamweaver But now I'm reborn I was the walrus But now I'm John And so dear friends You just have to carry on The dream is over

In this song, Lennon chants a list of things he does not believe in, ending by stating that he just believes in himself (individuality) and Yoko (his wife). The final section describes Lennon's change since the break-up of the Beatles. While the Beatles were basically his family throughout the 1960s, he refers to Paul McCartney's 1965 Beatles song Yesterday, and states that he is no longer the "Dreamweaver" or "The Walrus", but just "John". The final line of the song, "The dream is over", has been seen as declaring the end of the 1960s quest for meaning. "If there is a God", Lennon explained, "we're all it".

While neither he or The Beatles explored the ground of proto-punk compared to other contemporaries, there's still fairness in considering that John Lennon espoused punk values before punk had begun to germinate; John Lennon made a statement in jest in a 1966 interview for Evening Standard that crystalised the anti-establishment ethos that would develop into a vital aspect of the punk spirit over the coming years: “Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink.” A perceptive opinion for even back then as religion was in decline owing to the advent of science, technology and music. However, he did not stop there. He opined that The Beatles were “more popular than Jesus”. This wasn’t all, either. He concluded that “Jesus was all right, but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It’s them twisting it that ruins it for me.” Some elements of society were so enraged that it lead to protests, death threats and to The Beatles being banned from apartheid-era South Africa. Lennon’s quip made such an impact that even after the Beatles called it quits in 1970, his solo work was also banned from the airwaves of South Africa. In the most sensational yet hilarious reaction to Lennon’s comment, the South Carolina Ku Klux Klan nailed Beatles records to a cross and set them on fire. Retrospectively, the furor that ensued in the wake of Lennon’s comments may seem ridiculous to the 21st-century reader, but it does hold some significance. A lot of the shift in opinions and attitudes would come via the punk movement of the late ’70s, and it is clear now that Lennon turned the anti-establishment feeling up a couple of notches. So fast forward to 1980, and John Lennon would unsurprisingly show himself to be a fan of the ground-swallowing punk movement. In an interview with Playboy that year, the former Beatles frontman revealed: “I love all this punky stuff. It’s pure. I’m not, however, crazy about the people who destroy themselves.” He was then asked by the interviewer to share his thoughts on the iconic Neil Young lyric, “It’s better to burn out than to fade away”, which was taken from My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue): “I don’t appreciate worship of dead Sid Vicious or of dead James Dean or of dead John Wayne. It’s the same thing. Making Sid Vicious a hero, Jim Morrison… it’s garbage to me. I worship the people who survive.” Lennon continued: “I don’t want [my kid] Sean worshipping John Wayne or Sid Vicious. What do they teach you? Nothing. Death. Sid Vicious died for what? So that we might rock? I mean, it’s garbage, you know. If Neil Young admires that sentiment so much, why doesn’t he do it? Because he sure as hell faded away and came back many times, like all of us. No, thank you. I’ll take the living and the healthy.” This statement is wickedly ironic given that later that year, Lennon was to be murdered by the religious fanatic Mark David Chapman, owing in part to his Evening Standard comments fourteen years prior. Although he was the world’s biggest rockstar, his legacy was really cemented by his tragic death, affording him a mythos that his bandmates did not have. His frank discussion of not making cult heroes out of the dead is something that society could learn a thing or two from, as we have a tendency to fetishise death, particularly within popular culture. Far Out Magazine

The U.S. vs John Lennon

Following the impact of Give Peace a Chance and Happy Xmas (War Is Over) on the anti-war movement, the Nixon administration heard rumours of Lennon's involvement in a concert to be held in San Diego at the same time as the 1972 Republican National Convention and tried to have him deported, as Nixon believed that Lennon's anti-war activities could cost him his reelection. The next month the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) began deportation proceedings, arguing that his 1968 misdemeanour conviction for cannabis possession in London had made him ineligible for admission to the United States.

In 1973, Lennon was ordered to leave the US within 60 days. In response, Lennon and Ono held a press conference at the New York City Bar Association, where they announced the formation of the state of Nutopia; a place with "no land, no boundaries, no passports, only people". Waving the white flag of Nutopia (two handkerchiefs), they asked for political asylum in the US. Soon after the press conference, Nixon's involvement in a political scandal came to light, and led to the president's resignation 14 months later.

In 1980, John Lennon was shot and fatally wounded in New York City. The killer, Mark David Chapman, was an American Beatles fan who claimed that he had been enraged by Lennon's infamous, much-publicized remark in 1966 that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus", and by the lyrics of Lennon's songs God and Imagine. Despite advice by his lawyers to plead insanity, Chapman pleaded guilty to the murder, saying that his plea was the will of God.

After Lennon's death, historian Jon Wiener filed a Freedom of Information Act request for FBI files that documented the Bureau's role in the deportation attempt. The FBI admitted it had 281 pages of files on Lennon, but refused to release most of them on the grounds that they contained national security information. In 1983, Wiener sued the FBI with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. It took 14 years of litigation to force the FBI to release the withheld pages.

The CIA and FBI spying on Lennon due to his left-wing activism and the actions of Chapman have led to conspiracy theories postulating CIA involvement in his death.

And to wrap it up...

Partnership with McCartney

From all band members, Lennon's most intense feelings were reserved for McCartney. In an interview three days before his death, he said: "Throughout my career, I've selected to work with... only two people: Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono... That ain't bad picking."

When McCartney and Lennon met as teenagers and began writing songs together, they agreed that all songs written by them (whether individually or jointly) should be credited to both of them. In Lennon's 1980 Playboy interview, he said of the partnership:

[Paul] provided a lightness, an optimism, while I would always go for the sadness, the discords, the bluesy notes. There was a period when I thought I didn't write melodies, that Paul wrote those and I just wrote straight, shouting rock 'n' roll.

Although Lennon and McCartney often wrote independently—and many Beatles songs are primarily the work of one or the other—it was rare that a song would be completed without some input from both writers. In many instances, one writer would sketch an idea or a song fragment and take it to the other to finish or improve; in some cases, two incomplete songs or song ideas that each had worked on individually would be combined into a complete song.

A Day in the Life, the final track of their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper, is one of their highest acclaimed songs done in collaboration:

I read the news today, oh, boy About a lucky man who made the grave And though the news was rather sad Well, I just had to laugh I saw the photograph He blew his mind out in a car He didn't notice that the lights had changed A crowd of people stood and stared They'd seen his face before Nobody was really sure if he was from the House of Lords I saw a film today, oh, boy The English Army had just won the war A crowd of people turned away But I just had to look Having read the book I'd love to turn you on Woke up, fell out of bed Dragged a comb across my head Found my way downstairs and drank a cup And looking up, I noticed I was late Found my coat and grabbed my hat Made the bus in seconds flat Found my way upstairs and had a smoke And somebody spoke, and I went into a dream (Aah, aah, aah, aah) I read the news today, oh, boy Four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire And though the holes were rather small They had to count them all Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall I'd love to turn you on

A Day in the Life was centered around drug use, being strongly informed by Lennon's LSD-inspired revelations, where the "concerned 'reality' was only to the extent to what had been revealed in the eye of the beholder by the drug. The separate song fragment by McCartney ("Woke up, fell out of bed, dragged a comb across my head ...") was used to flesh out the middle of Lennon's composition ("I read the news today, oh boy...").

It is a drug song, but not a drug song in the way that other drug songs have often been interpreted or misinterpreted. The narrator clearly finds the real world disturbingly mundane and meaningless and wishes to “turn you on.” He is disillusioned by the media, in terms of what it presents and how it presents it. The impetus was an article in the British press that Lennon read concerning the death of Tara Browne, a young rich society friend of the Beatles. Browne drove his light blue Lotus Elan at high speed through a red light in South Kensington and was killed instantly. Presumably he was tripping or at least Lennon assumes so. From this tragically commonplace incident comes a searing critique of the modern condition. The same newspaper also contained an article about the deplorable conditions of the road in Blackburn, Lancashire. The article stated that there were “4,000 holes in the road, or one twenty-sixth of a hole per person, according to a council survey.” Lennon matched this up with a reference to the Albert Hall and the war. Again the tragic mixed with the mundane. The middle Paul section is that of a man awaking from a dream and then falling back into one. The lyrics have a feeling and emotion not present in Lennon’s flatter emotionless delivery. The subconsciousness and mysticism of the dream world meets the real world and trumps it, albeit only temporarily. But that final chord suggests the conflict never ends. Nick Moyne

As Lennon stated in 1969, "We write how we write now because of each other. Paul was there for five or ten years, and I wouldn't write like I write now if it weren't for Paul, and he wouldn't write like he does if it weren't for me."

When reporters asked McCartney for his reaction to Lennon's death when it just happened, his response ended with "Drag, isn't it?". McCartney later said that he had intended no disrespect and simply was unable to articulate his feelings, given the shock and sadness he felt over Lennon's murder. Reflecting on the day two years later, McCartney said the following: "How did I feel? I can't remember. I can't express it. I can't believe it. It was crazy. It was anger. It was fear. It was madness. It was the world coming to an end. And it was, 'Will it happen to me next?' I just felt everything. I still can't put into words. Shocking. And I ended up saying, 'It's a drag,' and that doesn't really sum it up."

Paul McCartney would later open up about his friendship with John Lennon in an emotional interview in 2019, when asked if he still thinks about his late Beatles colleague:

"I dream about him. When you've had a relationship like that for so long, such a deep relationship, I love when people revisit you in your dreams. I often have band dreams and they're crazy. I'm often with John... I have a lot of dreams about John. They're always good." Sir Paul spoke of how he has often thought of his Beatles bandmate as the "villain" in terms of their friendship, but was reminded by a photo of the pair together - shared by Colbert - that "we were good friends". "Knowing really, we were, but there were so many rumours about it. That photo, when I saw that, it's like, 'Yes. We were friends.' It's a beautiful photo for me because it just reminds me of us working together and how cool it was."  Lennon, much like McCartney, lost his mother at a young age. The Beatle said that the tragedies bonded them together. "We both knew about that. We both knew that feeling," he said. "I never thought it affected my music until years later. Gold Radio

Epilogue

After reflecting on the parallels to the alignment representatives, some might think "John Lennon is linked to Bonds/Peace because he was a pacifist messenger, correct? What about Massacre/Anarchy? Where's its rep?".

the anarchist "punk" vs the pacifist "hippie"

The truth is, Lennon's ethical trajectory in his professional and personal life was, to say the least, troubled. Before meeting Ono, Lennon was aggressive towards people, including women. And as shown above, John Lennon also rejected religion, was sympathetic towards punk and had other themes that could be associated to what Dagda's ending represents.

It cannot be understated specially that John Lennon's political lyrics emboldened many musicians to be anti-authoritarian and anti-establishment, complementing with the growth of what would become the punk movement of the 70s. This is even more evidenced by Sex Pistols's John Lydon commenting of Lennon's song Working Class Hero that "for the first time in my life, I felt that this anger and frustration was real." and former Police member Sting saying, "It's because of John that we rock musicians can say anything."

One can reach the conclusion that John Lennon ultimately had the "seed" for both SMTIVA alignments, befitting our SMTIVA protagonist of dual nature.

[copious-zygomaticus]

I just imagined a scenario, so uhh, TAKE THAT *throws Obey Me drabble at you*.

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Video Killed The Radio Star, Or A Firstborn Son I Guess

Characters: Leviathan x MC

Reader Insert Pronouns: Gender Neutral (Largely Lacks Pronoun Usage, They/Them If Used)

Dynamic: Platonic

Summary: MC shares a hilarious habit they have picked up since being in the exchange program as a guest on Levi’s Otaku FM podcast.

Warnings: Passing Comedic Reference To ‘Sexual Innuendos’; None.

———————————————————————————

It’s a crisp morning in the Devildom, the bats are screeching, the mooning is shining, and there’s a warm cup of Hellroast coffee in your hands. The only thing that is topping that at the moment is your excitement for what is about to take place. You see, Levi had asked you a week ago if you would like to be a guest on his podcast, Otaku FM. You immediately agreed with stars in your eyes. Of course the breath your took before agreeing had the avatar of envy quickly rattling off his usual list of self-deprecating phrases, but after hearing your reassurance and seeing the warm excitement on your face, Levi couldn’t deny your passion for the commitment you just made.

So here you are in a local recording studio, aptly named “Incubus Records And Radioshows”, that Levi rented out to record this next week’s episode of Otaku FM.

The violet-haired demon seems uncharacteristically confident in this moment, his thin fingers dancing over a complicated soundboard and adjusting his headphones. You sit across from him, gazing in fascination and admiration as you observe this silly man when he’s obviously “in the zone”. He looks up at you, the faint pink of embarrassment tinges his face when he notices your attentive gaze.

“I’m ready to start if you are MC.” He says while gluing his eyes to the desk in front of him. You smile wide, ready to start this new experience of yours. With a smile and a nod, you respond quickly, “let’s do it Levi!” His pale fingers clicked a red button as a large “on air” sign above the studio door flashed on, and a mental flip switched as Levi began to say his introduction.

————————————————

Everything has been running so smoothly as the recording went on. The conversation was sweet, playful, and natural. The music shared and discussed was a wonderful dive into Devildom music that you have never heard before. But now it was time for the fan question segment of the show.

“Alright MC, ready for some fan questions?” Levi asks as he lightly scrolls through his D.D.D with Devilgram opened.

You promptly quip back, “lay ‘em on me,” which draws a light laugh from your co-host for the day.

Levi clicks his tongue against his teeth, thinking as he looks through all the questions his audience submitted online before letting out a sound of approval and scootching closer to the edge of his seat to get closer to his mic. “MCCCCC- @Nobelest_Sinner asks “what is a habit you have picked up since being in the exchange program at R.A.D?” Levi looks at you with an expression crossed between genuine curiosity and a mischievous smugness.

You put your hand to your face as you vocal stim in deep thought. So many little things about your daily life and behavior has changed since you were initially iseki-ed into the Devildom, how could you possibly choose just one thing- oh. OH! Comedy gold strikes you quicker than Mammon can pickpocket. You have the perfect thing in mind for this. You slowly lean in really close to the microphone in front of you with the expression of a feline trickster before dropping your voice for comedic effect, “I don’t think ya’ll are ready for what I’m about to tell you.”

Levi’s eyes widen in shock before sharpening into curiosity. “Well now you gotta tell us normie.” You roll your eyes at the normie comment before divulging your newest habit the audience.

“I have started to just make up words and phrases, talking to Asmodeus about them as if they are real ‘human things’. He gets either really hyped up or invested in what I’m saying. Then I tell him that it’s not real and I made it up and his expression just,” you make a wide hand gesture while making a *whooshing* noise with your mouth, “falls and he looks at me like I just killed his firstborn son.” You smile widely at your co-host as you finish your story.

Levi’s jaw is just on the floor. Before you can make a comment on his shocked expression and something about ‘catching flies’, his voice perks up so much you thought his microphone was going to peak. “WAIT- wait wait wait wait. How is this a habit?” He says waving his hands around in confusion.

“Because no matter how many times I keep doing this, Asmodeus falls for it every time and the outcome is exactly the same.”

A silence fills the studio as you and Levi slow-blink at each other, you for comedic purposes and Levi in utter disbelief. The eye contact becomes too much as you both let out raucous laughter. Your head is thrown back and your hand is slamming at the table while Levi has his hands in his hair as his distinct laugh racks his body. The two of you are physically shaking with laughter for at least a minute before you both calm down enough to compose yourself and continue the commentary.

“He does this every time????” Levi asks in comedic disbelief.

“EVERY TIME!!” You say wiping tears of joy from your eyes.

“Why??”

“Why what?”

“Why,” Levi scrambles out jumbled noises, “why do you do this?? Why does he keep falling for it?? Why- whu- no wait, how did you even find this out?”

“Well Asmo and I were randomly talking about -isms, funny sayings and euphemisms and innuendos and whatnot. And I have this, well I guess you can call it a ‘bit’ with my human friends where instead of talking about sexual activities with actual words, we just make up words instead and we all just automatically understand what’s happening. Like- okay the example I used when this happened originally I said something like ‘squingusing my bimbus’ or something stupid like that. But Asmo didn’t question it, he just kinda tilted his head before he got excited about this possible new trend or human discovery he thought he made when I said that. So like, I rolled with it but I eventually told him that I made it up and the look on his face was just- death, despair, devastation.”

Levi makes an attempt to hide his laughter as you speak, failing miserably the more you reveal.

“So I guess you tried to do it again to see if he would make the face again?” Levi asks between chuckles.

“Yeah, that’s exactly what I did. But I expected him to eventually just stop believing what I was saying or become disinterested or have a less intense reaction. But he never did! Just kept on being shocked!” Out of the corner of your eye, you see a large LED timer draw closer to the end of your scheduled studio time and wrap up your thoughts with Levi about the whole situation before saying goodbye to the listeners and hearing the familiar sound of Leviathan’s outro.

————————————————

For the next few weeks after your guest appearance on Otaku FM was aired, all you could hear about was sound bites of you saying “like I killed his firstborn son” and laughter. For a minute, you were afraid that people would tease Asmo about the whole situation, but in reality no one was mean-spirited about it and he was getting a lot of satisfaction from the buzz his name was creating around R.A.D. So when you brought up the idea of possibly guest-starring on Levi’s podcast again in the future, he said yes without hesitation.

———————————————————————————

Well there’s a random thing I thought of in the library bathroom and typed when I was supposed to be studying for a huge anatomy test. Enjoy dorks!

[trixter-god]

Just for shits and giggles here’s a very old self insert fanfic i wrote in high school instead of doing my homework.

It’s in first person (I know I’m sorry) and I don’t think the “main characters” name is ever actually said… lmao.

Richard Grayson X random female (me duh) Jason’s also makes an appearance <3

It’s very short so if you’re bored give it a look.

The moon was full, the night was loud and my head was pounding. Being hung upside down is not the best way to spend your Friday nights. I look to the fight below me. Nightwing and the Redhood were back to back fighting off the goons. Pretty much owning them actually. Batman raced off about 10 minutes ago after the joker to who knows where.

“Hey boys, as much as I like hanging out, My leg is starting to fall asleep'' I yelled. Nightwing and Red Hood both looked over to my detection then to each other. Redhood kicked a goon into another before racing his way to me. Throwing something in my detection. I close my eyes knowing what’s coming. A small snap and I’m falling. My head stops protesting as I feel myself rush to the ground. Holding a scream, two fit arms brace my fall. My head pulses in shock and the pounding seems harder. “Are you alright?” nightwing says, rushing next to hood. The goons laid in piles on the floor. I give him a glare while I’m lower on my feet. “Besides my head wanting to come off my shoulders and the fact that I can barely feel my legs, I'm fine.” My words were then, like always, used against me as an unknown pain shot through my leg. My leg gives out, sending me back into red hood arms. Gently I try to stand only for the pain to return.

“Okay maybe not” Red Hood transfers me into Nightwings arms, most of my weight lying now on my right foot and nightwing.

“Hanging upside down probably pulled your ankle out of socket” Red Hood grumbles in agreement as he takes his time detangling me from the rope while nightwing keeps me grounded. I rested my head on his shoulder. The dizziness of being upside down for that long was finally catching up with me.

“Go for nightwing” His right hand came up to meet his ear. I could tell he was keeping his voice light to not cause me any more pain. Hood Finnish off the ropes now using them to tie up some of the forgotten guards.

“She’s safe and sound” Nightwing hummed effectively.

I shifted my weight seeing if I could stand my own. Another sharp pain runs up my leg. Deciding that was not going to happen I relaxed in defeat. Resting my head in the crook of his neck I closed my eyes not realizing how tired I truly was. Must have been the adrenaline. Nightwing continues to replay what I had witnessed upside down over to I assume Batman. His voice was light and clam but I could hear his heart betting a mile a minute.

“We’re on it,” dick said after a good pause. “ you wake down there” he quips as he pulls me up bridal style. He smelt like sweat, kevlar and Vanilla. “No” I half mumbled, wrapping my hands around his neck. “We’ll let you rest when you get to the hospital” nightwing informed. I rolled my eyes playing with the zipper on the back of his collar. “Let’s move,” Hood said at the door nightwing did like he was told to and raced after Red Hood. I was given the civilian runaround answering random questions they asked until I was reluctantly placed on a stretcher and loaded into the ambulance. Nightwing gave one last wave to me before the doors were shut, leaving me in professional hands. Doctors spoke and prodded my body to check for concussions or breaks. I answered the same basic questions as before as I drifted off the sleep with the permission of the EMT.

I woke to the sound of solf beeping and the hard kick of an air conditioner starting up. Slowly opening my eyes. I let myself process where I was. It was dark in the room, the only light coming from a lamp over in the corner. Walls were a sickly white with a matching ceiling. It smelled of cotton and lemon cleaner, Gotham General Hospital. My eyes adjusted to the little light enough to read the bright red clock numbers from across the room. It was almost 5 in the morning meaning I had been out for at least four hours grimacing at the thought of how long I have been here for I rubbed my eyes now, aware of the weight that is pinning my right hand down.

Dark hair seemed to disappear into the shadows of my blanket as an unseen hand held my own. I wondered lightly how it would have looked to the EMTs that brought me in to have seen Dick Grayson racing through the door. lightly wiggling my captured fingers was just enough to stir the oldest Wayne as he turned his head to smile up at me.

“Hey.” His voice is a little raspy from sleep.

“Hey.” I repeated back to him with a smile.

His tawny skin seemed to glow in the darkness as it did in the city lights.

[the-broken-truth]

A Mad Lion's Love - Yandere Leona Kingscholar [Oneshot]

Broken: This Oneshot is inspired by a Yandere Leona Kingsholar Audio I heard. I literally cannot get it out of my head and I have decided to make this one-shot in hopes of getting it out of my head.

Here is the Video, give it a listen; you just might like it:

'How long have I been here?' That was the thought that crossed Yuu's mind as they lifted their head from their knees as they looked around the dark room from their lonely corner in the unknown cabin they found themselves in; the only light allowed to them was coming from the moon as it shone through the cracks of the board up window which allowed a few slivers of light into the dark cabin. Yuu hated the dark, or rather, they hated being alone in the dark; however, they were going to remain that way until he arrived.

Yuu flinched at the thought of him - both in fear at what he is capable of and in anger for what he has done to them when all they wanted to do was survive in this world until there was a way for them to return to the world they came from. Everything was manageable, Yuu was even enjoying their time in this world but their heart was always set on finding a way to return to which they came; everyone they knew understood their desire to return home and they accepted that choice... Everyone but him.

Yuu flinched when the sound of footsteps echoed outside the cabin door, the sound of a key being inserted and the lock twisted caused them to watch as the door opened and a towering figure walked into the dark cabin before closing the door behind them, making sure to lock it once again. The figure walked over to a stack of firewood neatly placed in the corner of the room, collected a few logs before walking over to the fireplace and threw them in before lighting a match and throwing it over the wood; the fire grew, as did the light and warmth in the cabin. Yuu closed their eyes at the feeling of the warmth filling the once cold cabin, also because they didn't want to see him; however, he seemed to have other plans.

"You didn't eat the food I left you." His voice called out as his green eyes looked over his shoulder at the bowl of meat and bread untouched on the stand beside the bed where Yuu was sitting on.

"I know that food is laced with something and I'm not taking a chance with you again. Not after what happened." Yuu hissed at him before looking up at the man who placed them in this situation; The Prince of the Afterglow Savana - Leona Kingscholar. Leona was always the Brooding Prince type, always unhappy with what he had and always wanting more; however, if there was something he wanted or something he deemed to be his, he was going to get it, regardless of what measures he had to take to get it within his claws. Unfortunately, one of the things Leona wanted to possess was Yuu.

"You need to eat something. This is the 3rd Day you have gone without eating and you'll start to waste away if you don't get something in your body." Leona said as he looked at Yuu, who looked away without saying anything to him. Leona scoffed at him before he turned to look at the fire flickering in the fireplace.

" You have done nothing but refuse to eat, barely drink water, won't talk to me, and just pout in that corner even since I brought you here..." Leona's gloved hands balled themselves into fists before he spoke again - his voice laced with an unknown emotion that Yuu never heard before, "What can I do to make you understand?"

"What?" Yuu asked.

"I'm desperate. I've tried everything I could so that I wouldn't have to result in this. I even tried the potion on you but to no avail; you somehow managed to resist its effects even though it was supposed to be the stronger version of that potion. It should have worked. If only it did, you would have given yourself to me without issue and we wouldn't be in this situation." Leona said as he continued to look in the fire.

Leona talked about a potion called the Everlasting Love Potion that he had stolen from Professor Crewel's Display Case of Prized Potions. Crewel was known to have the hardest-to-find and most powerful potions in existence, and he loved to show off his collection. That's how Leona found out about the Everlasting Love Potion. The potion was believed to have permanent effects, and there was no cure for it. Leona needed it to make Yuu fall in love with him. In the dead of night, he broke into Crewel's classroom and used his skills to open the display case without triggering any alarms. He then swapped the Everlasting Love Potion with a common Love Potion that looked identical and left the room without leaving any evidence that he was ever there.

The next morning, Leona got Yuu's Favorite Drink from the cafe and poured the entire bottle into the drink, making sure to mix it so there was no visible trace of it being there. The Prince located the Herbivore in the hall and gave them the drink, telling them it was an apology for yelling at them a few days ago. Yuu thanked Leona for the drink and finished it right in front of him; the prince waited for the effects of the potion to kick in but they never did. Yuu thanked Leona once again before heading off to class, leaving a stunned, angered, and even more determined prince behind them.

"You really crossed the line with that potion, Leona. Trying to enchant me into loving you was going too far." Yuu growled but this only caused Leona to laugh and run his hand through his hair.

"You're making me cross the line. I'm going crazy without you around and you constantly resist me. Constantly running away from me when you are mine." Leona looked over his shoulder at Yuu before speaking again, "Should I break your legs so you don't run away again? It will be painful...but effective."

Yuu glared at Leona with hatred in their eyes but the prince just smiled at them.

"Don't make that face... You're cute when you smile. Come on, smile for me. Just once." Leona coddled but Yuu just closed their eyes, allowing the tears they had been holding back to flow freely.

"Do you think tears will help you in getting me to change my mind and let you go? You're wrong, Herbivore. You're not going anywhere that I don't want you to go: Not leaving this cabin, not returning to Ramshackle, not returning to NRC, especially not returning to the world you originally came from. You aren't going anywhere until you love me." Leona growled out but Yuu started to sob, angering the Prince more.

"Too noisy. You're being infuriating. Stop it, now." Leona growled out but Yuu couldn't stop, they had been holding it in for so long. Leona scoffed once again and turned to look at the fire.

"It's your own fault you're in this situation right now; if you had just given yourself to me when I told you to none of this would have had to happen. I can't live and breathe without you and you kept leaving me, you kept avoiding me to spend time with other males. I was sick of it, so I took what belonged to me." Leona said, trying to justify his actions.

"You're mad, Leona. You've gone mad!" Yuu yelled through their tears.

"Oh, I'm really mad and this madness is proof of my love for you" Leona finally pulled his gaze away from the flame and turned around, walking over to the bed and sitting on the edge before placing a tender gloved hand on Yuu's cheek, making them look at him.

"You understand me, don't you?" He started caressing Yuu's cheek in a circular motion, "I'm not intimidating you. I'm warning you: A Lion mad with love will always get love from its prey. This is our law..." He started leaning into Yuu's face, "And YOU are a part of it."

He moved his head to where his mouth was right by Yuu's ear before growlingly whispering his next words, "Accept it."

"You're a monster, Leona Kingscholar. You've destroyed my life...all for your own selfish desires." Yuu whimpered.

"I'm not a monster - I'm a Lion in Love. There is nothing I won't do, no lengths I won't travel, no line I won't cross to make sure my love stays with me and only me. You were made for me, Yuu. Accept your fate and be happy with me." He placed a tender kiss on Yuu's forehead before leaning back and yawning. "I'm tired of having a long conversation. Come and pet me. I'll sleep here with you tonight." Leona pulled Yuu's legs out before resting his head on their thighs, waiting for them to pet him.

The Lion's Captive hesitated for a while before their hand started caressing Leona's hair and scratching his scalp between his ears; just like he loved it.

[END]

[dailydelulu]

Tips for Writing X Reader fics

All of these are just my personal opinions/thoughts! If anyone has any other suggestions, feel free to share them in the comments!

Tips for writing the reader

Give them a personality!!!!

Okay, so I know this is probably overstated a lot, but hear me out-

Oftentimes, reader fanfics are not well-loved or considered cringey because of the overly cringey personality "Y/N" usually has. Personality varies from person to person, so trying to pick one while still making it relatable can be difficult, so here's a few of my suggestions!

Avoid cliches (unless they apply to the plot)

For exp., don't make her "not like other girls" or fall into tropes such as hating makeup, only wearing Converse, hating Taylor Swift, ect. BUT!!! It's also okay to write "tomboy" fem! characters or readers as long as they don't come across as "pick me." One of my reader characters, for example, does wear sneakers with dresses because she likes to, but also supports all the women in her life and enjoys listening to pop music with her little brother figure in the story. People are complex, and don't fit into boxes anyway!

Others include the "babygirl" trope of being extra innocent, sweet, or submissive to a male counterpart. Writing soft female characters is fine, but make sure to give them a backbone and independence!

On the opposite of that, don't make them fall into the OP, stonecold, always badass girls either. I LOVE writing a badass reader, especially if they're fem! because *feminine rage*

The issue with this trope is they're often written as flawless and constantly winning battles. Instead, don't make them TOO OP, and give them flaws. Maybe they have a trigger from a past experience that makes them panic, or maybe they have a habit of lying or backstabbing, maybe they're really, really stubborn which causes conflicts with the team.

For example: Instead of slaying the dragon, what if they befriend it instead? Riding a fire-breathing bestie sounds a lot more badass than simply stabbing it.

Ask yourself both, "Would I do this?" and "Would I not do this?"

This becomes a bit more complicated, as you don't just want to insert yourself into the story, but also make the reader relatable. Usually, when the reader is faced with a decision or stuck in a situation, ask yourself: Would you react this way? Would you not? For example, in one of mine, when faced with a literal monster, the reader throws a pillow since that's the only thing around. It seemed like how I, and almost anyone else, would react with the pillow the only thing around.

Let their actions and choices be guided

Going back to my previous point, their actions should be guided by motivations and past experiences. Treat them like any other character you would write! Motivations should be driven by the plot and circumstances, which can help mold the personality of the reader.

Past can help shape their personalities

Trauma can mold a characters responses really well, or family dynamics. Maybe they suffered a great loss and it makes them clingy, or instead pushes people away so they won't ever have to grieve again.

Were they bullied as a kid? Did it make them softer towards others? Or did it give them rougher edges?

How did their parents, mentors, siblings, or friends effect them?

How would their personality clash or match with canon characters?

Don't make them the center of attention!

When writing character x reader, there tends to be a trend of making them the center of EVERYTHING!

Yes, the plot should be moved by them, but the plot should not revolve around them! Don't make the entire cast automatically fall in love with them, or change their personalities drastically for their sake. Tropes such as love-triangles are common in these kinds of fics, and even if they work sometimes, most of the time it just makes the reader seem like the most "special-special" of them all. Other times, the reader can come across as borderline narcissistic when they demand that all problems within the plot affect them and ONLY them. Try to balance between growing the reader's character arc and relationships with other characters as well as growing canon character as well through these interactions and plot points

Lastly, don't let the reader simply stand back and "watch" the plot

If you're writing the reader into the events of the movie, show, book, or whatever you're writing about, make sure they affect the plot or characters in some way. Readers should cause a butterfly effect since they weren't in the OG plot in the first place, so their presence should change a few things

(Sorry for the long post!)

[cyborgkanojo]

Hey so uhhhh, how do you feel about reader being Stelle 👉👈 because I'm a rabid Stelle self inserter and I was thinking about this scenario where we'd decide to give our favorite space cowboy a good scolding for scaring Luka shitless because let's be fr we're his coach and Argenti is absolutely cockblocking us by being the one to "talk" to him, we're robbed!! (I ship Argenthill I'm just a jealous bitch and ship Boothill with me more) Anyway so we go find him in his room to verbally throw hands but surprisingly he's very compliant about it and offers to make it up (without our knowledge as to where this is going at first for comedic effect) (my sense of humor may be ass) and thus ensues our fuck around and find out event where we find him first, fuck around second? Eh?? Nah that was such a mid ass pun I'm sorry

But also feel free to completely ignore this bc self insert Stelle isn't everyone's cup of tea I'm guessing 👉👈 That and you just posted a Wardance smut and might not wanna write another so soon? I'm just grateful I get to talk your ear off <3

I can definitely give it a shot! It doesn't sound far off from something I'd normally write at all and you've been plenty supportive of my writing haha, so even Boothill x Stelle isn't off the table Again, need to mention I've seen some top tier stuff of that ship, specifically from this twitter artist hehehe

I might post it here or make a new series on ao3 for non reader-specific stuff. I know that I do have other ships I'd like to eventually write, it's just a matter of motivation.

[idontknowreallywhy]

Resurface 11 - Revise

Previous bits here

Um, sorry John…

<insert swirly back in time sound effect here>

🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙

John growled and swiped his organic chemistry notes off his desk. The file sailed over the bed, slammed into the wall and, inevitably, the pages popped out of the binder and fluttered all over the room.

It was useless anyway, he couldn’t focus. None of it was making sense. Chemistry made no sense. His lack of ability to THINK made no sense. Probably because his entire life, right now, made no sense. His scattered notes had more chance of putting themselves back together than his family did. But he couldn’t let himself start thinking about that.

Not now. Not yet.

John had managed to get nearly back on track over the last couple of months, after that first four weeks of agony. He’d have respected the determination, the sheer bloody-mindedness that only John ever came close to taking his title for.

John just had to get through the next 3 weeks then he could… fall apart or whatever.

He clawed at his scalp in an attempt to release the constant tension that was making his eyes hurt and to distract himself from the suspicion he already had fallen apart or whatever.

Everything was… too much. He had so much to do. And 418 hours 47 minutes in which to do it all. So much still to get in his head. Which was way too full of all of the other thoughts he couldn’t compartmentalise properly because apparently he was weak minded and about to throw everything away. And on top of all that, with Dad doing whatever he was doing with the GDF big wigs, John was expected to cook for everyone and look after the kids and generally pick up the slack Virgil had just abandoned for a five day binge of complaining of a headache and creeping around the house muttering nonsense to himself.

John was actually a little worried about that. More than a little. But he forced himself to shut it away. It would be fine… Virgil would be fine. He had to be fine. Just like John did. Was. Fine was the Tracy way. Scott was always…

No. Stop.

Later.

He dug his fingernails into his thighs, bending one of them slightly back on the thick seam of the chinos he’d been wearing for 19.7 days. Nobody had noticed. All the other pants he owned were annoying. So. Whatever.

Scott would have noticed and quietly ordered him a second pair…

His fingertip throbbed angrily.

Argh, this had to stop. None of these thoughts were a good use of time. All of it was irrelevant, except the work.

A tiny voice asked how he could possibly betray his brother’s memory by adding him to that list… he quashed it with a mental fist of steel. He’d want him to do well. He’d always been proud, cheered him on… been sat in the front row between Dad and Virgil and clapping excessively loudly as John reluctantly shuffled red-faced on to the stage at high school prize-giving...

Breathe, John.

He picked up a well thumbed tome on astrophysics… it may be a waste of time - this was easy and didn’t need revision, but he needed to stop these unproductive trains of thought. This was easier to get absorbed in.

Approximately 8.25 minutes later his focus was broken yet again by a scratching noise above him. Aaaaah. Not bats again! Please no, they gave him the creeps but it was illegal to shift the things once they took up residence. He’d have to swap rooms with Virgil. He couldn’t sleep up here if there were…

Hell, they were massive sounding bats…

John flung open the window to peer up into the eaves… Dad had blocked the hole last year so how had they got in there to…

Some sixth sense made him suspicious of the volume of the scrabbling noise overhead and he ducked his head back inside, very narrowly avoiding having his face smashed in by a falling roof tile. Closely followed by… a shoe. A big shoe.

What? It hit the ground with a thud and John squinted down at it. A boot? One of Virgil’s he was sure of it but why on earth…?

A thud overhead, a clatter, a muffled curse in a very familiar baritone and two more tiles slid past his horrified face in quick succession.

Everything in his head went grey and screechy. He rushed from through the house yelling for Dad. Screeching for Dad. It was him screeching. He had no control over his vocal cords anymore, they had short circuited with his amygdala and were bypassing all coherent thought.

There was only panic.

🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙

Thank you to @astranite for helping me voice this one better - I’ve not got inside John’s head much before, at least without EOS for him to bounce off…

[written-and-readen]

henlo !!

here 🎟️ is my ticket to enter the world of your bungou stray dogs self insert / oc >:3c

im excited to hear more if and when you're ready to share !!

tell me everything 😌

Hi Zoie!!! This is my first time talking about her on this blog so I'm very excited. I'm pulling out my 39-page doc of all my OCs for this one.

Her name is Andalah Hemingway. She’s 20 during the events of the story, so one of the younger Agency members. Her ability is called For Whom the Bell Tolls (I have not read it but the book is right next to me so I'll get there soon). It lets her turn the waves of any sound she makes into a physical force.

She usually activates it through the silver bell she wears around her neck or the tuning fork she carries in her pocket.

She also keeps a couple marbles on her to throw and activate her ability from a distance.

Her ability can activate over really long distances, like if she calls someone to make their phone ring.

The waves produced by her ability aren't very lethal themselves. You won't die if you're hit by one, but they can have a lot of force behind them, so you may be thrown into a wall. (On Atsushi's first mission with her, she protects him from a barrage of bullets by countering them with the force of her ability)

After joining the Agency, Fukuzawa's ability helps her hone her own. She learns to control who and what the sound waves affect instead of them going off on anyone in the vicinity.

Her parents are Ernest and Mary Hemingway. Her father is the head of a firearms company. They're very rich and own an estate out in the countryside. As their only child, Andalah was expected to be the heir to his company, so they've been honing her from a young age for that.

Ernest's ability is Farewell to Arms. It gives him immunity against physical weapons. (Things like hand-to-hand combat and poison will still have an effect on him. Certain abilities can too.)

Mary's ability is The Torrents of Spring. She's a musician and anyone who listens to her music can become mind controlled by her. Although, the target has to be fully paying attention for it to work. At a young age, Andalah learned how to resist this ability.

At 18, Andalah runs away from home. At the train station, she meets Kenji who is headed to Yokohama to be scouted by the Agency. He lets her accompany him, and Fukuzawa allows her to take the entrance exam to join the Agency.

Kenji is very special to her. She heavily associates him with finally getting away from her parents and being able to be happy.

Even though he can take care of himself, she is very protective over him and will lose it if she finds out someone hurt him.

They share a room in the Agency dormitory, and she learns how to cook for him after he's been using his ability all day.

She can seem very cold towards the rest of the Agency. She didn't get a lot of human interaction as a kid, and she doesn't completely trust them at first.

In Yokohama, Andalah develops an acute sense of paranoia. She's used to her parents being in control of every aspect of her life, so it makes her uneasy that she's seemingly gotten out of their grasp so easily. Oftentimes, she'll think she's being followed or watched.

When the Agency faces off against the Guild, Steinbeck reveals that her parents have associations with them. He also throws her off by telling her that they are actually looking for her.

After the Guild is dealt with, her parents send some agents after Andalah to bring her back home. They have been keeping an eye on her since she left, merely seeing her running away as part of a rebellious phase that they're determined to end. This is where I put her own mini-arc in the story. She gets kidnapped by her parents and the Agency has to go rescue her.

I had some ideas for people who worked for the Hemingways that the Agency would have to go through. None of these really have much rhyme or reason for which authors I chose.

Aesop: Andalah's previous tutor. His ability, The Fox and the Crow, makes him extra persuasive and others are more inclined to follow his orders. He's sympathetic towards Andalah's situation but never willing to go against her parents.

Ray Bradbury: Andalah's martial arts teacher. His ability, Fahrenheit 451, allows his hands to heat up to burning temperatures, and he can resist them as well.

Jack London: The guy Andalah's parents were going to marry her off to. He sucks and she hates him. His ability is Call of the Wild, allowing him to communicate with canines.

Honestly, I think none of those guys are a match for the Agency, so they get taken down pretty easily. Kenji goes to find Andalah who's under the control of her mother's ability. When he does, her mother releases Andalah and takes control of his mind, so her daughter can watch as her friend restrains her, about to break her wrists. Andalah uses her own ability to ring the bell around her neck, drowning out her mother's music just enough for Kenji to loosen his grip on her so she can direct an attack at her mother.

Then, Andalah finally faces her father in a fight. She has to use the martial arts training he forced her to learn due to his ability, but she gets some help from Dazai, nullifying Farewell to Arms for just a moment so she can stab him in the chest. She lets both her parents live, but that's her warning that they could never make her return to them.

After seeing everyone in the Agency risk their lives for her, she becomes much more open with them. She sees how they saved her and want to protect her, so she's willing to do the same.

That's her big moment. The only other plot note I have is that, once the Agency members are framed as terrorists, she hides out with the remaining Guild forces led by Steinbeck, sure that he'll believe the Agency is innocent until everyone can regroup.

Ever since the Agency regrouped, some members have not been mentioned all that much like Kyouka and Yosano, especially in the airport fight. So, I'm not sure what Andalah would be up to during that since we don't really have the full picture yet.

I also have a reference for what she looks like (picrew link) along with a few notes that I couldn't convey. (I can very particular about the appearance of my OCs in my head)

She usually ties her hair into twin braids

Her sweater is supposed to be a sweater vest that she wears over a white button up

She also always has her silver bell on a leather cord around her neck

Anyways, that's my Andalah infodump! She's one of my favorite self inserts/OCs, but that's probably because I love Bungou Stray Dogs a lot! I have a few short things I've written for her so I may post those at another time.

I also have this playlist of songs I associate with her

[oddmawd]

I was trying to write before and it’s didn’t turn out good and I just stop writing and it don’t take practice you just have to be good at writing the first time you do it that is my opinion tho

i'm gonna assume you're like...12 years old...because there's no way an adult would be able to type that with a straight face

i'm not about to coddle you and give you a happy little pep-talk about ✨believing in yourself✨ after the way you treated that author...calling them a "bitch" because they don't PANDER TO YOUR SPECIFIC TASTES was a bully tactic and you should be ashamed of yourself

FURTHERMORE using a gendered insult like "bitch" and then demanding they write you a male reader insert story (while insulting female/gender neutral inserts in the same breath) is misogynistic as hell, i don't feel even the littlest bit sorry for you, so save the "woe is me, i can't write" bullshit for someone who gives a damn

but let me give you something to chew on while you throw yourself a pity-party about "not being good at writing" and pretend that gives you the right to bully people who actually TRY to be good writers:

Do Olympic athletes show up winning gold medals without ever setting foot on the practice field?

Do painters show up to their first class knowing how to use oil paints and watercolors and how to hold a brush effectively?

Did Hemingway roll out of the womb and write The Old Man and the Sea without writing a single damn thing beforehand?

no, they didn't...every writer you love wrote some SHITTY first drafts they didn't share with anyone because they sucked first (in private!) and THEN got good (in public)....and they got good by showing up and failing and trying again, and failing again and trying again and FAILING AGAIN (because that's what practicing is!!!!) until they finally started succeeding regularly...

UNLIKE YOUR CLOWN ASS THAT RAN AWAY SCARED WHEN YOUR FIRST STORY DIDN'T TURN OUT PERFECT

i'm not gonna take the easy road here and point out how fucking LAZY you sound when you say you tried once and gave up, because that's a cheap fucking shot and way too easy (you set me up so badly bro, like c'mon)

what i'm gonna do instead is point out that you just admitted that you were too fucking scared to try more than once

"BOO HOO, i wrote something, it was shitty, i was scared of what people might say and then i gave the fuck up" - you, probably

and that's the difference between we "lazy bitch" reader insert writers who actually post our work, and you: we show up and we TRY, every goddamn day, and we put ourselves out there despite the risk of being bullied by people like you who can't be bothered to try more than once

do you know what writing is, at its most fundamental level? it's showing your work to people and saying "please read this and enjoy it, i worked really hard," and PRAYING they don't tear your hard work apart for no reason at all, but that's what YOU did! you saw someone writing something they enjoyed and went "fuck you, i don't care that you labored and practiced for weeks and months, it wasn't to MY TASTES and therefore you're a lazy bitch," and you're apparently so un-selfaware that you don't realize the irony of YOU, a person who can't be bothered to try writing more than once, A) calling someone lazy, and B) demanding they spend their time/expertise to write something just for widdle ol' you, in the same breath

do you not fucking hear yourself????? huh?????

you tried writing ONCE and found out it was too hard for you, so now your answer is to bully writers and make demands of them? when you should know through your ONE attempt how difficult writing must be?

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK BRO?

you should never message a writer again with your demands when you can't even be bothered to live up to your own standards, you entitled tone-deaf hypocrite

writing takes courage, and you have ✨N O N E✨

[lv-tangle-universe-blog]

The whole sketch sheet is complete, finished shaded, and more. I spent too much time on this... Of course, when I took the picture.It's been a week or more since it been done, i thought it'd be fun to try to write the story a little bit while posting the other pictures. Since it's a little undercooked now, I fear I burned it... These next words are more of closing thoughts...

(Game over, she swore she saw those words before up there. In the blackness of the void, but they're a lot more sugary than last time, last time? The memory slowly came to rear its ugly ahead. Oh yeah, this happened before.... But back then, there was more of a red glare. This was a soft, sugary game. Of course, the game over would be different, but the words underneath it... Insert four quarters to continue, rummaging around the pockets. Those are normally filled with the brim of code data to help her, to find nothing. Of course, she looks down at her body. Seeing the sugary facade slowly go first pixel by pixel, revealing the horrible truth underneath, and pretty soon that will go to... But why is it so painfully slow? The deletion process was a lot faster last time,... A sigh escapes her lips. She has accepted this situation... There's nothing here, but a void of black and a mistake, and the words...

She figured she would reflect on the past. Well, she's here to review everything, as her thoughts scramble for panic that she's trying to suppress, a memory popped up a good memory of the twins, helping her decorate and make her own little garage area sense she didn't have one,... She saw what happened to road blasters from the highest point of the bleachers quickly running down to her siblings that she loved even though she caused chaos on the track whenever she was on, she still cared about them, she tried to yell at them, tried to get them out of the game, but they wouldn't listen, "i should've drive them out myself. Or at least put myself in the player position so the game would still run, i guess I can't change it now. I hope wherever they are, they're okay. ".... A clunking sound could be heard to roll out.The void, like a quarter, was being inserted. She looked up at the words, Insert three quarters to continue,... She stared at it confused, didn't it say four?, penny for your thoughts munch?, with a huff, she tried to think of something else for a bit since the thought of turbo time is so painful,

Vanellope...oh... I wish I would have been nicer to my little sister... Teach her how to glitch more effectively... at least keep her safe... I couldn't even do that..."If it makes up for anything, I am sorry, my little glitch," she mumbled... Another quarter sound can be heard, 2..."So I guess this self reflection is helping somewhat. "... A bit of desperation finally seeps into her code, encouraging her to think of something else as the last bits of pixels fade from the sugary facade. Revealing an inverse coloration of turbo, looking down at herself, she is reminded that she is just a copy of a shadow of a man.That is so selfish it hurts...

Now, thinking about it, what is she even supposed supposed to be... Everyone tells her that she has removed the code, but no one tells her what that code is... Or what it is, since she's not a her anymore... Can she even keep that monocle... She doesn't see why not since she has nothing else to show her identity... thought it occurred to her. She never thought of what she's supposed to be doing. Or what her code is telling her to do, thinking back. She always finds joy in driving and causing chaos for the other drivers around her throwing stuff, knocking over barrels, she had to keep that on the down low for sugar rush, and it drove her mad, when getting those sugar cubes during a race? Oh, it was heaven either to wait until an affordable opportunity to screw over as many racers as possible or do it right away. Just for the heck of it and to see the look on their faces... I'm an enemy racer, of course, I take joy out of seeing a player, spin out... Whoa, where did that come from... She blinked a couple of times. It must have been her code that finally reached out to her to tell her what she was... An enemy racer,ha, everything makes sense now... her want to ruin her game, other games just for the sake of screwing over the players. She can kinda see why her code was kind of removed now, but to go to extremes, to completely crash, sugar rush was a little overboard, "i guess taking things too far is kind of my specialty"..."And besides, the game wouldn't be fun without some form of antagonist,"... She laughed and giggled, finding pure joy, just the thought looking up at that face behind the screen with an angry scowl. On their face, mad at her for ruining their fun time... Then, the realization hits her. She's just deleted code. The code itself had to reach out to the spreadsheet of turbo and invert the colors just to give her a model..."i guess in a way I was doing my job, hehe," her laughter died down, that doesn't excuse her actions, not even close, causing a pit in her stomach, the quarter sound hitting the bank plays again...1...

She started to cry a little... She couldn't think of anything else that she wanted to reflect on, only her anger on turbo and what he had done. It makes sense now. On why is she so angry at him all the time. She's supposed to be a rival or a straight-up. Antagonist to him... It doesn't give her an excuse to be so mean to him. She could have been better about it, then again, given what he has done to Sugar Rush. She should've knocked him in the head until he passed out, but instead, she thought she would be the better person and work alongside him to keep herself safe... She couldn't even guarantee that she wouldn't be erased... So half of his actions did fall upon her to do... All for what... Attention that she's probably never gonna get... That word came up again... Attention... Does it even matter?... The players are gonna hate her anyway... Maybe because she saw the ego in him growing and did nothing about it... If she did do something, He would just probably ignore her or call her names, throw her in a corner, and forget about her... Maybe she's mad at him for being such a selfish monster... No, that's being a hypocrite... Cause she was a monster herself... She wanted this goal so bad that she was willing to hurt herself for it... Well, that's not a healthy thought process... And it clearly shows on her precious lowrider...huh... "I guess I have a problem. Maybe if I asked ralph for help, he would help me to?".... She thought about it... ralph did say there was a support group for bad guys... And under some technical terms, she is a bad guy... Maybe they could help... That's if... She was still alive... She slowly looks down in despair...

Half of her actual body is gone... But the sound of a quarter filled in the space as her head snapped up, the screen was going bright... And she can see, it's starting to sparkle, like the sugar cubes, she tried to make out something in the brightness, and she swears she could see mister lickwhack but she wasn't able to get much details before something jabs into her from her back, regenerating the sugary facade, and everything else in a blink of an eye, knocking her out, slowly wiping her memories of this experience, only keeping the important stuff, before everything going bright again,... Press start)

This was mostly inspired by the game over fan Fics that I came across. If I ever figure out how to link text, I will put them here..

[darkness-ren]

Shinso x Long Lost Twin Reader

(3/???)

Quirk: Siren: has the ability related to the mythical sea creature, using their voice to hypnotize the target however they want or command. It leads for the victims to feel dazed under the effects by it. As an example: the mind will sense the relaxed all over their body, eyes turn milky white.

Warning: Violence, Sadness, EraserMic moments, Kurogiri mention, Self doubt about quirk, clueless moments, Nomu-Humaniod appearance

(Y/N)’s POV

I couldn’t move my arms. I felt afraid of what's going on while I’m unconscious. Since I pulled myself out of the waters, my entire body seemed like I was on fire while I was painfully transformed into humanalike. A man. The thing I’ve despised.

I was worn out when my tail became actual legs.

Later, I was getting all tired which led me into passing out in the boat with the blanket.

I didn't have the strength to stay awake.

.

.

.

.

Then I heard a strange beeping sound?

I open my eyes slowly but hiss at the bright vision that I held my hands in front of, shielding my sight from it. But my arms seem heavier? Why?

While I rub my eyelids slightly. Getting clear vision to see….I was wearing some strange silver cuffs? A long chain enough for me to move only far yards? I noticed I was in a room with the window. Then what shocked me, I had this needle insert into my veins. Immediately I put it out and toss it somewhere. I got to move my legs but none were letting me get up. Like last time.

My throat was squeezing tightly. I didn’t understand what was going on, but I knew I was getting scared. I’ve twirl my head to see if there was a way to leave or any water around. But a strange cup filled with water I got it and drank it, slowly. It taste good.

“Ah, I see that you're awake, child?”

I turned my attention to the person. An man wearing white uniform. I’ve started scream at him as if he was threat while he slowly approached me,

“Come down..”

1st Person POV

A crash was heard from a distance that had Aizawa and Present Mic immediately rushing to the scene. Since they believe it was the girl that Shinso found unconscious on the docking boat.

The purple haired boy looked up at his adoptive fathers rushing towards where the girl’s room is at, he begin to followed behind them.

Aizawa felt responsible for not warming any of the staffs that this girl is a nomu humanoid, it was likely would respond to violence if she saw people.

In the hall, the male doctor grunted painfully while trying to get up from the ground fill of broken shattered glass beneath him. After that the girl incredibly managed to throw him with no struggle. But still it cause him to fear if he goes into that room alone,

“Doctor?”

He turned to see two pro heroes that brought that girl here then saw a few nurses quickly assisting him up but cautious.

“She’s…she-”

“It's okay.” Aizawa said, not wanting to be told what this doctor saw. Isn't a normal child. Present Mic felt a bit scared but he snapped out of it and realized that this situation was child victim that was expose in endangerment and likely abuse with that monster who desecrating his friend’s corpse and likely hers as well. But somehow she looked almost human. Could she really be nomu creature?

Shota slowly walks into the room. As soon as he saw her, she flashed him her razor teeth. But hissing at him.

He put his hands up, “it's alright.” He used his soft voice as if he was talking to one of his troublesome students, “I’m not gonna hurt you..” he says while cautiously walking slowly bit not close enough.

She didn't listen but snarled at this black haired man as he was walking towards her. Big mistake. She wouldn't lose her attention to him if he tried anything, why can't he just leave or better yet get closer so she could bite his flesh.

Present Mic was quietly peeking from the door frame, he was worried about Aizawa being alone with her. But see her attention facing his friend. Like studying his every move without blinking.

“I'm gonna sit down…would it be okay if I can?” He asked her while trying to get near the chair, almost closer to her. Which had the purple haired girl started to charge at him. She doesn't like anyone else in the room with her. Luckily the chain cuffs had pulled her back as tug from attacking Aizawa.

Growling at him that she didn't care if her wrist were hurting against the silver cuffs which caused them to nearly turn red.

“St-”

“Stop, girl..”

The purple haired girl hisses until she stopped, noticed an boy behind the pro hero.

Aizawa turned to face his apprentice, just as he was about to say something.

“B..bro-brother?” Her crackle voice replied in confusion.

Shinso doesn’t seem to get on what she was referring as if she think of him as creature like herself or she could mistaken him as someone that looks like her brother.

As Shinos was sit on the comfortable chair while the purple haired girl was chewing an sandwich that the nurse sent to her room, but mostly give the tray to Shinso only. After she stop hissing or shown aggression behavior when he walked into her room. She remain calm, only with him.

Not that black haired man nor another male that tried to take Shinso out of the room. That when she started going back on trying to charge on both adult males, not at her tired savior. Seen him as her kin, another siren.

So, they kinda allowed their adoptive son to try to bond with the girl, if only they watched them from the window. For any safety measures. So far, she looks comfortable with him while he kinda kept quiet since he doesn’t seem talkative when it comes with someone like her, a girl who has been physically hurt by her abusers almost all her life. He could tell she was the exactly the same age as him.

Poor girl he thought while watches her eaten her sandwich,

“Do you..like it?” he asked softly.

The purple haired girl faced him, showing her confused expression but with curiosity as she stop eating. She looks at her eaten sandwich then at him. Hands her sandwich.

He shook his head,

“Thank you. I meant if you like how it taste.” he says but felt himself bit smiling even he tries to hide it.

She looked at her sandwich, nodded her head,

“y-yes.” she says trying to sound clearly when after how long she talked. All she does was remained quiet almost all her life after everything she went through. Even using her quirk on those intruders.

After she hasn’t heard any news about Kurogiri, she wonders if maybe he was here?

Looked at her friend,

“K…kur.” she tries to say his name.

“Huh?” Shinso asked softly on what was she was trying to say, even Aizawa outside of the room was listening along with Present Mic as well.

The purple haired girl whimpering but thinks of another word she could pronounce.

“Papa..papa!” she cried out saying those only words that has Shinso almost flinch but nodded, “Papa? What does he look like?” He asked curious.

Soon she looked around for something, but points at herself, “me..like me..” she says.

That had Shinso completely confused on what she was even saying, “Like you? He has purple hair too?” he said.

But she shook her head in ‘no’ response.

Now he was absolutely lost with this game.

Until he thought of something, “Like you? As he is an nomu too?” he asked.

“No..nomu?” She says confused on what the word ‘nomu’ means.

“Oh wait.. As he is too an special person too?” He asked but correct sentences.

“Special? Papa is special.” she said.

Shinso sighs in exhausted, he seem to given up. Clearly he doesn’t blame her for not knowing on how she could describe her ‘papa’ or even say his name.

While Aizawa and Present Mic both were confused on what this siren-mutant girl was trying to say in her father’s name. Sadly she was uneducation.

“Yes, papa is nomu.” She said, remembering the word nomu. Then she flop herself against the mattress for forgetting things.

Shinso’s eyes widen, in shocked. That her papa is nomu. But which one?

Then Aizawa and Present Mic realise how Oboro mentioned the location of his cabin, and the handmade white dress in one of the bedrooms. Was their friend raising her?

She seem to smiled when she named him as her ‘papa’, it broken their heart when she doesn’t know. How could they explainy to her, when her only father-figure is in lockup in Tartarus prison.

“So..Shimkumo or Kurogiri raise this girl in good care..” Mic said softly that he started to tear up. Until he heard sniffle from Aizawa, faced his husband that he was crying the second time.

The voice pro hero embraced the long black haired male into his arms, he started to sobs even when he tried to held in, but couldn’t.

“Papa..is..th-the greatest p-papa..” The siren humanoid nomu says with warm smiled on how she still remembers Kurogiri’s mist appearances, lot how he will always be her hero.

Shinso nodded while he watches this girl smiling softly how important papa nomu is to her.

While both teens were bonding as friends. As the first step for the purple haired girl to slowly trust this boy, only him.

He seem like he too, was her hero and kin. As if instinct that he might be her real brother, while he seem to think she was lost girl, was bit weird but special. He was bit scared if she doesn’t understand on what he is. His quirk might scared her if she knew.

He hopes maybe he’ll explained his quirk so she could properly understand it, and view it as if dangerous ability to possessed.

Time Skip

Dabi along with Tomura where discussing somewhere away from their teammates.

“That little brat got some quirk that hypnotizes only males, Dabi..”

“Yeah, no kidding, crusty.”

Tomura scratches his neck in frustration after losing the important assist that the doctor told him. Except her quirk. How he saw his teammates under her control like puppets, it enraged him and almost got Toga killed when she wasn’t under the influence. Now that it was captured by EraserHead and another pro hero. He felt totally mad.

His red eyes held the desire to kill the purple haired girl in his clutches.

But, he has other plans then wasting time on some girl, he looked at Dabi, “Be sure you located that girl, and capture her alive.” He ordered.

The spiky black haired male scoffs, "yeah yeah. No killing, got it.” he said.

The light-blue haired male scoffs but walks away to deal with important stuff on locating another assist then the siren nomu.

Meanwhile Dabi smirks, “she got some guts for using her quirk..” he said, remembering how his whole mind went into nothing but somesorta relaxation. How he lost himself under the casted spell. Until it wore off, leaving him almost nearly burned Toga and Tomura.

Now, he hopes to find this purple haired girl, and plot something for her quirk to be use for his own benefit. All he could do, was to find her and bring her alive. Willing or by force.

Few week later

The purple haired girl was randomly drawing something on this piece of white paper with Shinso kinda watching. As if he study her behavior, to noticed that she was mental a child then her actual age. But it didn’t seem to bother him, except when she tried to play with his hair. Lot like his adoptive sister, Eri.

It wasn’t he dislike when the unicorn girl play with his hair, it just when someone around his age, kinda make him feel nervous. But nevertheless, this siren nomu was a lot like his sister. Both curiosity, just like cats.

So far, Eri hasn’t met with the older girl because how violent she is towards people like adults, fortunately for him, that girl hasn’t shown her violent side that much.

When Aizawa tried to step into the room, all she does was hissing at him to go away or throw whatever she could get her hands on. Only Shinso was allowed to calm this girl down, as she saw him as kin. Possibly his hair color, but she smelt something from him, like her instinct were telling her that he was brother.

The boy wonders why hasn’t there any updates about her background? It made him wonder if she was orphan, just like he was once until Aizawa and Hizashi adopted him and Eri. So, it was only the four family members.

It made him feel sad for the cyan eyed girl. How she couldn’t ever allowed anyone closer to her but him. It was difficult situations on how there was anyway to handle an rowdy teenager?

“Brother?” Her angelic voice speak to him, that he lost himself in deep thoughts.

“Excuse me?” He asked, confused on what she said.

Shinso taught her some easy words during their visits. She was learning fast, just bit slow.

“Brother!” She says with smiled, even her razor sharp teeth were shown. It didn’t scared the messy purple haired boy, it made him let out an low chuckled,

“You’re speaking clearly. Good job.” He praise her, petting her hair as she smiled happily by his praise for making him proud of her pronounces.

Aizawa seem to watch how both purple haired teenagers were definitely getting along these past few weeks. He seem to think that maybe, he should move her into UA, btu felt worried if she might shown violence towards his students.

Until thought of few students that might assist on this delicate situations even if she wouldn’t dare warm up to him nor Hizashi, saying how her attentions was always on both of them. And hopes maybe few kids around her age might ease her little bit, just with Shinso.

He already had the students on his mind for this, hopefully they wouldn’t tried anything she isn’t familiar with, like cell phones.

The next day

The purple haired girl was sleeping with an fish plushie that her brother given her as gift. She treasure it with her whole heart. It made her happy that her brother realise they were kin and how he shown good potentials mate that someday he’ll build a family and she’ll be the good aunt to his children. She always thought about his future, like good sister, but does hope his mate will be strong for his and their future children unless she assist her in-laws for protecting her kins.

As she smelt something sweet in the air, it had her eyes widen open. Stood up from her bed, sniffing the air of the unknown scent, it was unfamiliar smell.

Until the door opened, revealed….an odd yellow haired boy with black lightning bolt streak, his clothes were exactly like her brother.

The poor boy stared at the beautiful girl, with gorgeous purple locks. Her cyan eyes that shine so brightly.

“She's cute…like a goddess…no ..an angel..” he mumbled quietly. Then suddenly he fainted on the spot while she stared at him from far distance from her bed to the door,

“He smells like lemongrass… Did he bring those treats?” She mumbled but noticed something about his strange black streak. She let out gasps and her cheeks became flushed.

“Kaminari? I said to wait before I explained who we were meeting..” Aizawa said, angry at this knucklehead student, he had rushed into the hospital room without explaining that he was about to warn four of his students along with Shinso.

Just as Aizawa’s black hair was visible to the siren nomu’s sight. Immediately she strongly tug the chain from her ankle, breaking the chain so easily that she charges straight toward them. Aizawa was about to grab out his capturing weapon. But she tackled the unconscious Kaminari into her arms, hugging him like she was protecting him. She let out hiss at the grown adult, as her teeth grew bit sharper and her cyan eyes glow, “Back off, old man!! He’s my pikachu!” she shouted.

.

.

.

“Old man??!! Pikachu?!”

Aizawa didn’t seem effect by her childish shout, but it looks like Shinso taught her about something pokemon stuffs even the yellow creature that had her thinking that Kaminari was the creature disguised as a human like herself.

Just how in the hell could that apprentice care to explain the difference about quirks and animations.

[krispyweiss]

Flashback on 60: Grateful Dead: Formerly the Warlocks (2010)

Editor’s note: The year 2025 marks the 60th anniversary of the Grateful Dead’s birth. This is the second Flashback on 60, a periodic feature in which Sound Bites revisits the band’s career.

Everybody knew what was happening.

The Grateful Dead wanted to play Hampton. Dead Heads wanted the Grateful Dead wanted to play Hampton. And Hampton wanted the Grateful Dead wanted to play Hampton.

There was one big problem, though. Previous Dead shows had found the area around Virginia’s relatively small (10,000 seats) Hampton Coliseum overrun with hordes of ticketless fans. So, in a ruse, the city and band conspired to sell tickets late and only locally for Oct. 8-9, 1989, gigs billed as Formerly the Warlocks.

Everybody knew what was happening. Though nobody knew what would happen or that what did happen would be magical enough to merit both concerts’ release as 2010’s Formerly the Warlocks.

When Oct. 8 arrived, the former Warlocks seemed as amped as the fans and played spiritedly as a result - particularly bassist Phil Lesh and drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, who inserted their collective rhythm section into the melody.

The vocals, too, were strong, though Jerry Garcia had one brain fart after another at the mic, making for a quite messy “Candyman” that also found the head Dead man unable to dial in the MIDI effects he sought.

Such stumbles were forgiven when the band opened set No. 2 with the first “Help on the Way” -> “Slipknot!” -> “Franklin’s Tower” since 1985. And when the Dead brought forth “Morning Dew” with a nicely executed winddown and buildup and closed with the recently revived “We Bid You Goodnight,” the Warlocks’ first gig since 1965 was a success.

But the Warlocks’ second gig since ’65 was when the Dead’s penchant for screwing up the big ones was obliterated.

The band was settled a bit by this point, though Garcia’s ability to recall lyrics remained occasionally problematic. Following an energetic, career-spanning first set bookended disco-like with “Feel Like a Stranger” - gonna be a long, long, crazy, crazy tour, Brent Mydland sung on the homestretch - and “The Music Never Stopped,” the Grateful Warlocks Dead went back to the old school in the second set.

The first “Darkstar” since 1984 followed after “Playing in the Band” surrounded an “Uncle John’s Band” so littered with lyric lapses, Mydland asked: “How does this song go?” The “Star,” however, was a doozy; highly improvisational, majorly spacy and nearly 20 minutes in length.

“Death Don’t Have No Mercy” subsequently crawled out of “Space” so efficiently, the audience never heard it coming. Yet they definitely heard Garcia, Bob Weir and Mydland trading verses. Mydland took over for “Dear Mr. Fantasy” into the “Hey Jude” coda, where he switched between songs while his bandmates na-na-na-na’d behind him. Weir played rock star on “Throwing Stones” and “Good Lovin’” and then … to celebrate the short rebirth and death of the Warlocks, “Attics of My Life,” the elegiac ballad making its first appearance since 1972 and finding Garcia, Weir and Mydland handling the tricky harmonies quite beautifully.

And that was it for Formerly the Warlocks, who left the stage without a word. Interestingly, “Attics” was also the final song Weir, Lesh, Kreutzmann and Hart played together under the Fare Thee Well banner in 2015.

Read Sound Bites’ previous Flashback on 60 entry here.

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