#I wanna get better at impact and battle scenes... study...

[random-cockroach]

Oh I haven't been properly animating for myself in decades...

I need to learn to make sound effects by myself nothing fits in my head...

[markantonys]

The show hasn't really gotten into the Breaking as much as I think they should have at this point. Which does kinda go into the fact that Lews Therin doesn't seem to be feared by the general public at least as far as we know? Which does make me a bit concerned as that is important. It does seem like the AOL flashbacks are leading up to Dragonmount and therefore the Breaking so maybe that's why it hasn't been addressed as much yet? Rafe did say there's less knowledge of the prophecies or at least less belief that they're 100% accurate since they're over 3000 years old and translated a million times so that might play a role too? Idk I'm curious for them to get into the prophecies more so we know what the world thinks and believes about the Dragon.

i just wanna say that as someone who studied ancient history and ancient literature, it is completely accurate that the current people of randland know very little about what happened 3000 years ago, that the average population outside of scholars doesn't care about what happened 3000 years ago, and that nobody is willing to put full trust in the accuracy of the few ancient texts and prophecies that survived to the present.

and mind you, i ran into all these things in my studies of events that happened only 2000 years ago. 3000 years, we are talking the late bronze age collapse in the mediterranean region - an event that's infamously mysterious precisely because we have so little surviving evidence to say what caused it.

when it comes to human history, 3000 years is a MASSIVE amount of time, and to be honest i don't think RJ/the books really understood just how massive (for example, randland should have been able to advance more, technologically, in 3000 years than it did, even considering how destructive the breaking was and how destructive the taint & false dragons & shadowspawn continued to be). the general population outside of scholars does not spend a second thinking about things that happened 3000 years ago or specific people who lived 3000 years ago. they just don't. realistically, lews therin shouldn't be anything more than a vague fable to the average population of present-day randland. of course they're not afraid of him. why would they be? he's insanely far-removed from and irrelevant to their lives - for now. i daresay they'll start to get nervous once they start to see true signs that the dragon has been reborn and that the last battle will happen in their lifetime. but until then, i cannot emphasize enough how much any dragon- & breaking-related shit is not on the general population's radar. they don't care about the bronze age collapse. they don't care about any sort of war or destruction or apocalypse until it starts to affect them personally (see: nobody caring enough to help falme in s2, just as nobody cared enough to help manetheren).

i will also add that as someone fresh from reading the books for the very first time, i can comfortably say the show is NOT lagging behind on Breaking Info-Giving compared to where the books were at this point. we had zero clue about the bore or any of that stuff until rand's rhuidean trip (and even then, i didn't really understand what the hell was going on in his visions until quite a bit later, and in large part due to learning some extra-book information that explained it better). as a show-only during s1, i can assure you that the 3000 years later flashback showing us a futuristic society made me go OH SHIT and hit home the full impact of the breaking far more than anything in the books, where we don't even see any AOL scenes onscreen aside from the rhuidean visions (which are very confusing to a first-time reader) and the dragonmount prologue (which isn't very useful since it's the first scene in the whole series and a first-time reader has zero context for anything learned there).

honestly, i think longtime readers forget just how much of our AOL/forsaken/breaking knowledge comes from extra-book sources like the companion, Word Of Jordan, etc; the books alone are very vague about so much of that stuff and i remember being repeatedly bewildered as to how you guys knew so much about the AOL when the books either didn't have those details at all or had them so vaguely that they flew right over my first-time reader head. i'm not 100% sure, but i believe latra posae decume isn't even MENTIONED in the books and comes purely from "the strike at shayol ghul", as do many of the details about the strike and the bore and the breaking. and so i definitely think the show has already included more information, and more CLEAR information, about the breaking than the books alone had by the end of TDR and in fact for much of the series.

[2nd2ndalto]

Fall Down With You

Chapter 2

(previous chapter)

He's back in Tartarus, again. Some distant part of him knows it’s just a dream this time, but that doesn't help the way it tears at his soul.

He’s here, again, standing in front of Achlys. "You are so perfect my child," she sobs, "so much misery."

At the time, Nico had let her words wash over him, barely registering their impact. He'd been so tired, so broken already. But this time, in this dream, he feels hot tears on his cheeks, a sob building in his chest. Fear at the scene before him and bone-deep sorrow for his younger self.

The image of Achlys blurs and fades and suddenly he's aware of sweaty sheets tangled around his legs, a warm hand gently rubbing between his shoulders. Nico takes a moment to catch his breath & wipe his face on his pillow before flopping onto his back. He scrubs his hands over his face. "Fucking nightmares."

"I know." Will's sitting on the edge of his cot, looking a bit like he's just shambled through Tartarus himself, the dark circles under his eyes visible even in the dim light.

"Sorry," Nico croaks. His voice feels scratchy, his face too warm. "Did I wake you?"

Normally Nico prefers to keep his nightmares to himself, but he's stuck here in the infirmary for at least a few days, having sustained a rather nasty wound on his triceps two days earlier.

"Nah," Will sighs, leaning back. "Couldn't sleep."

Nico studies the other boy in the weak light filtering in from the hallway. He looks tired and careworn. More than usual.

"You wanna talk about it?"

Will gives him a half-smile. "Just the same old stuff. Demigod trauma. You know. What I'd really like right now is sleep."

Nico nods. He pushes himself up, wincing as he accidentally puts weight on his bad arm. He clumsily attempts to fix his blankets one-handed. "You try counting sheep?" he asks Will.

"Yeah, but just as I'm dozing off they grow pointy teeth and glowing red eyes."

Nico huffs out a laugh. He gives up on rearranging the bed as Will moves to help. His injured arm is throbbing. It feels worse than it did when he fell asleep.

"Um. I hate to bug you, but could I get some more nectar?" Nico says.

Will rolls his eyes. "That's what I'm here for, idiot. Anyway - I found unicorn draught. Just for you." He produces a bottle from the pocket of his hoodie. "Jason tipped me off."

"Amazing." Nico sinks back down onto the narrow cot as Will measures out the dose.

"You're here all by yourself again?" Nico asks, his gaze lingering on the shadows under the blond boy’s eyes.

Will nods tiredly.

Nico frowns. "You can't keep this up, Solace. You need a break."

"I know, but everyone else is sick or injured. Kayla's still on crutches, Austin's got bronchitis..." Will trails off, yawning.

"Well, then tell Chiron to fucking hire a real doctor. You look like you're about to keel over."

Will looks completely defeated.

"Shit, sorry. I'm sorry, Will." Nico reaches out towards the other boy but then can't quite decide what to do next. He settles on wrapping his fingers around Will's wrist, and they both stare at Nico's hand. "I feel like shit and I can't even catch a break when I'm sleeping. I know you're in the same boat."

Will sighs. "Yeah."

Nico swallows, fighting a brief internal battle. It's not that he's reluctant to help, but it feels too intimate, somehow. He shakes it off.

"I can help," he tells Will, pulling his hand back. The distance feels a little steadying, honestly.

Will blinks. "What do you mean?"

"I can help you sleep. It's one of my abilities - remember I told you -"

"Oh - Nico, no..." Will shakes his head, sitting back, the crease between his eyebrows deepening.

"Why not?"

"It feels... unethical. You're still healing."

Nico rolls his eyes. "Solace, this whole camp is unethical. They let fifteen-year-olds reattach people's arms."

Will looks conflicted, but exhausted, and that’s enough to make Nico forge ahead, for better or worse. "I'm just going back to sleep afterwards anyway - the unicorn draught will help me more than the nectar did. I promise I'm not overextending myself. Come on, Solace. Let me help."

Will swallows, his eyes on his lap, almost looking tearful.

"Yeah, okay," Will whispers, and with that Nico's sure the other boy must be honestly desperate for rest. He feels a rush of sympathy.

"What um... what do you want me to do?" Will asks awkwardly. He pulls a face. "Sorry. I'm not used to being the patient."

"No problem. Um," Nico glances over to the cot next to him. "It's going to be easiest if you sleep in here - if that's okay," he says tentatively. "Just - proximity is easier. If I'm trying not to exert myself too much."

"Yeah, of course." Will makes his way over to the other cot, unhesitatingly toeing off his flip flops and climbing in, settling on his side to face Nico. The expression on his face is unexpectedly open, unguarded, and it makes Nico's breath catch.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to try anything weird," Nico jokes, trying to dispel the unexpected tension.

Will smiles faintly. "I'm not worried. I trust you."

Oh.

Nico tries to tuck that little bit of information away, so he can examine it later when he's alone. He supposes it shouldn't be surprising, but it sweeps over him in a way that's both warm and jarring. Does he trust Will? He’s a little surprised to realize it’s not even a question. Of course he does.

Will's healed him up, on multiple occasions. They've fought monsters together. They've bickered together, talked for hours together... it still catches Nico off-guard sometimes to realize he has friends now. And not just Will.

Does it sometimes feel as though it could be something more, with Will? Sure. Nico's never once felt his fingers itch to brush through Jason’s hair, for instance. He’s never been hyper-aware of every time Frank’s hand bumps his when they play Mythomagic.

But he's quite willing to put all that aside, because the thing about having something more is that it might just end up being far less than what he and Will have now. Besides, romantic love is overrated. Probably.

For now, Nico directs Will to close his eyes and make himself comfortable, telling the other boy to concentrate on a calming space, somewhere he’ll feel safe and relaxed. Will pauses, then nods, closing his eyes, and Nico sends a strong sleeping charm Will's way.

It's mesmerizing, the way the other boy's body relaxes almost instantly, the furrow between his brows smoothing, his breath deepening.

As Nico tries to make himself comfortable in his own bed, his eyelids suddenly feeling heavy, he realizes that Will never asked him a single question. Not, "will this hurt?" Not, "how long will it last?" Nothing.

Once he's fully ensconced in his own unconsciousness, Nico can't quite help checking on his friend. He's just making sure the nightmares are at bay, he tells himself. He drifts for a moment, brushing past other friends, other campers and then - there. He’s on the bluffs above the beach at Long Island Sound, and he can just make out a prone figure with blonde hair lying on a checked blanket not far from the water.

For a moment, Nico forgets to breathe.

They came here together, just a month earlier. A whole group of them had come here, all of Will’s cabin-mates and most of the Hermes cabin too. As the day wore on, all the other campers had left, wandered off in groups and pairs until just Nico and Will had remained.

They had lain side by side on the blanket Will had brought, talking about nothing and everything, finally dozing off next to each other in the late afternoon sunlight.

This is what Will thought of. This is where he thought to feel safe.

When Nico steps closer he can see his own sword and Will’s satchel holding down the corners of the blanket. Nico hesitates for only a moment before lying down at the far edge of the blanket and drifting further into sleep.

(next chapter)

[minijenn]

8 Favorite Works of the Year

So I wasn’t tagged to do this but I kinda wanted to anyway. Because I did a lot of creating this year and dangit I wanna look back on it fondly, so...

Rules: It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 8 (ish) favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. Tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome work!

To be fair I’m gonna pick four pieces of art and four chapters from my fics, two of each from either Keys or UF to be fair about things. With that said here  we go, in kind of no particular order! Starting with fics: 

Keys to the Kingdom, Chapter 22: Rise and Fall and Rise Again: So I wrote this chapter kind of at the start of all the Covid/lockdown madness, when I had just started working from home and felt kinda trapped inside my own apartment, with a lingering sense of doom hanging over my head just about every day (something that hasn’t really gone away). As a result, I poured my emotions into this one, a chapter I’d been planning for such a long time, only for it to come out even better than I could have expected! I think this is where Keys really starts to get good (well, this one and the chapter right before it that leads into it). Its the longest chapter of Keys (so far) and it really is just a ton of angst and hurt and comfort and kind of a pretty good character study for both Sora and Kairi if you ask me, and it does pave the way for Keys 2nd arc (which we’re knee deep in the middle of now!). Overall it has a lot of very poignant lines in it, a lot of emotional scenes, and some pretty cute moments of fluff mixed in to leave you feeling good, its a real treat every time I go back to revisit it. 

Universe Falls, Ch. 80, Part 1: Rifts: So this year was kinda sparse on really BIG UF chapters, but Rifts is for sure probably the biggest chapter in UF yet. And I’m so, so proud of it, I think it has some incredible high points of action in it, its very intense and emotional and the situation just keeps building from bad to worse and you really just feel for Steven, and Dipper, and Stepper alike and Bill is such an asshole in it and gah! Its so good I love it so much and I had such a fun time writing it, especially after waiting YEARS to finally get the chance to. I think its fantastic. 

Keys to the Kingdom, Ch. 27: What Once Was Mine: This is absolutely my favorite Disney world chapter in the entire fic so far (tho that second Beauty and the Beast chapter comes REALLY close to it!); it has such a broad range of emotions, starting out really fun and lighthearted and sweet and then it starts spiraling into fear and pain and intensity and finally it bottoms out at sheer despair, culminating in probably one of my favorite Trinity Trio scenes in this entire fic. Its not always easy mixing Keys’ original plot elements with the Disney stuff, but in this chapter it felt so natural to do so, like the Tangled stuff just fit so well. I love how it turned out and it really is another big turning point in the fic’s trajectory if you ask me. 

Universe Falls, Ch. 80, Part 3: Dimensions: So I ALMOST picked Memories for this list (and don’t get me wrong, I LOVE it!) but I think Dimensions has it beat by just a hair. Its just so intense and dramatic from start to end, with a huge epic battle against Bill, a real show of just how much Steven and Dipper care for each other, emotional reactions from just about the entire squad, and lasting impacts for the rest of the fic. I think it was a perfect way to conclude a trilogy of chapters I’d been so excited about writing since UF’s earliest days, and I’ll never stop being proud of how it all came together in the end. 

And now we move onto some art!

The RMD Promo art was a fun little pet project I wanted to take on, more for me than for the chapters itself. They’re all pretty symbolic to the tone/events of each chapter, from coloring, to posing, to the flower symbolism (which was so fun to research and implement), plus I can never pass up the opportunity to draw my best boy Stepper! 

My Castle of Dreams Sokai piece really just blew up in popularity here on Tumblr. Again it was just something fun and cute I wanted to do, because I have the moment envisioned so vividly in my mind I figured might as well draw it out and I still think it looks so nice, the way these two are looking at each other with such love in their eyes is.... 100% if ya ask me

The Dimensions cover fucking popped off. The coloring, the dynamic posing, the expressions, I really did kinda flex on this one. Yet for as many moving parts as there are in it, its a very simple piece as well, though I do kinda love the idea of Bill just... looming over everyone coming to kick his ass; it really is accurate to how the chapter itself goes down if ya ask me. 

Ok so I know I literally just fucking posted this thing yesterday but I’m proud of it (also I made a self-imposed rule that  commissions aren’t allowed to be in this, only art I drew of my own volition) and I drew this yesterday mostly for funsies and it... kinda got intense. Anyway, I’m trying to learn how to pose KH characters more dynamically and this was part of that. And I loooooove how creepy it is, its hella cool on that front if ya ask me. 

So yeah, I’m supposed to tag people who wanna do this but ehhhghghghghghg just go ahead and do the damn thing if you feel like it, I mean i wasn’t tagged and here I am so go nuts :3

[behindtherobinsmask]

tagged by @runnfromtheak

Rules: list the first lines of your last ten stories. See if there are any patterns. Choose your favorite opening line. I write the most random things so if you can actually find a pattern then... let me know. Help a fool out. 

P.S. - I know it says opening line and not paragraph but come on, that doesn’t do any story justice.

Gonna do my tags before because this turned out to be longer than expected - @elwon @stevieraebarnes @epistemologys 

1. All The Times Damian Wayne Felt Loved 

This was a birthday fic I wrote for a darling friend of mine. The whole time I was writing this my biggest fear was that the characters were going to... just not be right. Still have that fear.

“Gripping onto a pillow, Damian walked down the dark halls of his grandfather’s house, uncertainty clouding every step that he made. At this hour of the night, no one seemed to be around yet he could feel eyes watching his every move. The eyes of the stars in the sky, the moon and the many trained soldiers that had years of practice when it came to blending into the shadows. It was their presence that forced him to walk with his head held high, to bat away the tears in his eyes and pretend that everything was alright. Pretend that he wasn’t afraid.”

2. To all the stars that are listening

Another birthday fic (maybe that was the pattern all along jk). I actually really enjoyed writing this fic because I felt like I was back in my zone (my zone being angst). Can’t wait to get started on the second part.

“Dick’s life had been anything but ordinary since he was a child. As someone who grew up in the circus, his morning was spent studying with the other kids that travelled with his troupe while in the afternoon, he practiced with his heart and soul to fly as beautifully as his parents. In the nights, he’d stand on the sidelines and watch them perform, absolutely awed by the way their bodies moved, each twist, each turn so seamless, every difficult stunt seemed easy in their skin. Clinging onto the edge of the tent, he wished with all his heart that someday, he could be just like them. A bird freed. With every wish, his voice grew louder and louder until somewhere, up above, a star heard his cry. It heard his desire to be free. The chains that grounded him slowly slipped away and he flew with practiced grace. And just as Dick spread his wings, his parents fell. Birds flightless.

Freedom he had asked for and freedom he had received.”

3. Come here, won’t you hold my hand?

Listen, I spend hours of my life playing genshin impact. Did you really think I wouldn’t write a fic for it? 

“After chasing the traveler away, Xiao sighed, wondering if now was the time to head back to Wangshu Inn. There he could stay away from the harbour and its people, away from the wishes made on stars that could never hear them, away from their fragile happiness that he could shatter with a single touch. Someone like Xiao, so burdened with sins, could never mingle among the mortals without bringing harm. Wherever he went, only misery ever followed. But even though he knew that it would be best for him to leave, a part of him, as silly as it was, worried that the journey back would make him miss out on the opportunity to see an old friend. While he never attended the Lantern Rite in Liyue, he always made sure to catch a glimpse of the Mingxiao lantern that always honored the adepti. It was only at that moment that he could lose himself to the past momentarily and remember a time when he wasn’t so alone, when his battle wasn’t only his to fight.”

4. Jon Kent Must Die

A jaydick flashfic challenge gave birth to this crack series and I will happily go down with this ship. I’ve written too many of these and maybe, in the future I’ll write more. Who will stop me? God? I don’t think so. 

“Damian was sick and tired of his siblings.

Never had he met two people who were so dependent on their partners that they needed them around 24/7. It didn’t matter whether it was day or not, whether they were at the manor or in their respective homes, wherever his brothers went, their fool boyfriends seemed to follow. The obligatory family dinner had been turned into a circus with Todd’s usual clownery that had Damian rolling his eyes so hard that sometimes he was afraid they’d just pop out of his skull. Kent was no better. In fact, on more than one occasion, he had encouraged Todd’s rambling as though he was God’s chosen prophet, sharing his truth with the world. Damian really wished, just for a day, the two of them would simply go away. It wasn’t that he missed his siblings or anything. He just wished to have a conversation with Richard that didn’t end with him wanting to stab someone. Hopefully a 5’11 man with black hair with a streak of white and deep green eyes that could find a conspiracy in Titus’s preferred pose for napping.”

5. I wanna be in your arms by the sea (studying your freckles so curiously)

Yes. It’s another genshin impact fic. Sue me. (Please don’t I’m broke).

“Every night, Zhongli saw the same dream.

Caressed by the gentle winds of the Guili plains, he watched over his people, Guizhong’s people as they lived in prosperity, enjoying the calm and gentle wind that wrapped around them. Serenity was a blessing and they had an abundance of it. In the beginning, when Guizhong had described such a scene, something knit carefully in her imagination, he had not believed her. But now that he was seeing with his own two eyes, he was glad that he had agreed to her terms. Glad that he had formed a contract that had been beneficial for all.”

6. I stay up late and talk to the moon (And I can’t stop telling her all about you)

A christmas exchange fic that I loved writing because it really got me back into the writing for jaydick. It had been a while since I touched anything fandom related. Then this story happened. 

“According to Jason, there weren’t many things that Bruce really got right. Not with his rules that could never be bent for anyone or his sickeningly righteous sense of justice. But if there was one thing Bruce excelled in, it was throwing the world’s most boring party ever. Every event that ever took place in the Wayne manor was the same. Classical music. Champagne flutes. Appetizers that could never replicate Alfred’s cooking and finally, the same old rich folks of Gotham who needed to be filled in on the latest gossip lest they melt into a puddle.”  

7. Now I’m going down on you (proving what I want is true) Who told me I could write smut? Please take away my license. “Click. Click. Click. With a heavy sigh, Dick switched off the TV and tossed the remote aside after an hour of clicking through the channels, unable to find anything that would keep his mind occupied. Two weeks ago, during a drug bust with the rest of the bats, Dick had suffered an injury to his shoulder which he considered rather minor. But Alfred and Barbara said otherwise as he was benched until he healed, his own city taken over by other vigilantes while he was forced to sit at home and entertain himself with murder mysteries with plot twists he saw coming from a mile away. Unfortunately, even when he hit the gym to let go of some restless energy, he could only do the most basic of workouts, the kind that simply weren’t enough for someone who was so used to being active all day long.”

8. Wayne Boys Unsolved

Another crack fic that I really enjoyed writing. Poor Yvonne though. She was really suffering. 

“Yvonne’s body was thrumming with excitement as she peeked out the window of her room, her eyes falling on the black car that just pulled up in front of her house. Four boys stepped out, ones that she was so very familiar with. After all, she had spent many nights watching every single video they uploaded on their blog. They were paranormal investigators of sorts, the kind that didn’t believe in the supernatural and lived to debunk the stories that revolved around each haunted location. Because people loved to watch them so, both alive and dead, the boys had become famous in every circle possible.”

9. You make me wanna die (I’m burning up in the light)

Another birthday fic and the first dark story I ever wrote. Writing this was fun but also nerve-wracking. 

“I think we need a break.

Two years, three months, four days and seven hours. That was how long it had been since Jason had said those words to Dick, sitting in the middle of the bed they shared, silk sheets pooled around his scarred waist, the white of his hair sticking to his forehead with sweat, droplets of it swimming down his throat and across his bare chest that was bruised red with bite marks, across the autopsy scar that he had been reborn with. He looked like a picture, each feature painted so delicately with colours that pulled, that hypnotised and drowned. The fingers of his right hand flexed, parted and then brushed across the back of his neck, tracing the bond mark that tied him down to Dick, shuddering slightly under the imprint, his heady scent spreading across the room like a drug. Strong, so fucking strong that Dick could still taste it on his tongue. Looking like that, after everything they had done, when he opened his mouth, when he said the words that had been sitting on the tipping of his tongue, it was only to end everything that they were.”

10. Come fire up the night (make me feel alive)

Who told me I could write smut (2)

“Staring at the ceiling of his apartment, Dick lay in his bed, tired but unable to fall asleep, the ticking of the clock haunting him. Tick. He took in a deep breath. Tock. He closed his eyes. Tick. He tried to sleep. Tock. Every memory of Jason came rushing back to him. The dark hair with a streak of white that framed his chiselled face. The plump lower lip that he often dreamt about kissing, pulled between his teeth until Jason was groaning. The freckles that were scattered across his nose and cheeks. Those deep green orbs that gleamed with mischief, teasing and taunting, burning with unbridled fury, one look enough to make Dick’s knees tremble. And as goosebumps spread across his arms, he found himself waking up, lest he did something that he knew he would regret. Like calling up Jason and confessing feelings that were better left unspoken, buried in a special graveyard from which there would be no sudden resurrections.”

[iwanttobeyourwonderwoman]

Nobody Gives A Shit, Git (5)

Act 1, scene 1.

Brahmpur, India.

-Enter Lata-

-Spotlight shines on first box-

Kabir Durrani swinging his bat and looks out to the crowd

-Spotlight dims, and shines on second box-

Amit Chatterji, legs stretched out on a bench, jotting down lines of poetry.

-Spotlight dims and shines on third box-

Haresh Khanna placing the contents of his bag neatly on his desk.

-Spotlight dims on all 3 as Lata stares into the darkness-

-Exit Lata-

HELLO HELLOOOOOO and welcome back. Totally steering away from the tension of the elections for this post because I just finished watching A Suitable Boy on netflix the other day and as usual I have certain scenes stuck in my head that need to be discussed.

So an introduction, (And lots of spoilers ahead!)

Netflix’s latest indian release has been A Suitable Boy, an adaptation of a best selling book written by Vikram Seth (which i now kinda wanna read) and in collaboration with BBC studios,  follows the lives of primarily Lata and Maan. Set in post partition independent India, it highlights the journey of self discovery as well as what the title suggests, the search for a suitable boy. Intertwined with lots of secrets and scandals, the show is overall captivating and takes a little bit of a modern twist, mainly because of the fact that the characters mostly speak in English!

The main actress, Lata, was portrayed beautifully as such a well educated and independent woman trying to follow her mother’s wishes of finding her a husband but battles with her own secret love for the dashing Kabir Durrani, a muslim star cricketeer of their school; amongst her slight attraction to her sister-in-law’s younger brother Amit Chatterji, a witty poet who holds the power to charm Lata’s brain as much as her heart, although much to her mother’s disapproval. Lastly, we have Haresh Khanna, a humble and talented cobbler who Lata’s mother has introduced her to as her choice of a suitable boy who is  constantly fighting for Lata and her mother’s approval. Overall this aspect of the show somehow reminded me of GIlmore Girls, because of how close mother and daughter were, as were Lorelai and Rory and also how it was always a battle between Dean, Jess and Logan. But who did Rory, and Lata in this instance, really want to be with in the end amongst their romances with each of the 3 men.

So before starting on the show I had only heard of the title and that the lead role of Maan was played by Ishaan Khatter. The rest of the cast included Tabu, Ram Kapoor and so on. A stellar cast to bring out the dramatic tones of the show and highlight the political and religious unrest, scandals and romance all across the 6 episodes. I mean look at the stellar performance and chemistry between Ishaan and Tabu throughout the show!

Starting the first episode, I realise like I mentioned above, that most of the show is in English which is great for a potato like me so I don’t have to read subtitles. Did it match the setting of 1950s India? Initially I wasn’t sure because how do you portray the accuracy in culture if it’s all in English and then I realised a damn good cast is all you need, which they definately had. Also because its a collaboration with BBC, the show has some actors with stronger British or American accents than others, and yet they transition from speaking in English to Hindi or Urdu very seamlessly. I think this would really help to attract the non Indian crowd to also take an interest in the show, as well as the culture.

Now the whole series has been made to be very theatrical, hence the introduction to my post. Throwing in a little fun fact some might not know about me is that I used to study Theatre and Drama, which made my appreciation grow for this style of directing/acting because I feel like it’s hardly being used nowadays. That being said, i feel like having the show in English was key to bring out all the dramatic aspects of the series. I think many people did not like that or maybe could not understand little aspects of it. I loved it though I thought it was a clever way to show off the historical side as well as attract a bigger audience.

*More spoilers ahead!!*

 My favourite scene though, was the ending of Episode 5!

Maan, in a fit of drunk rage and jealousy, had just stabbed his best fried Firoz.

Firoz enters the scene dragging his feet, hands clutched to his side, as blood gushes out of his stab wound. He stumbles and finally gives up as he falls to the ground and continues to bleed out as the scene ends. The best part is, the whole scene was set to be red in colour with very dim lighting all around but a huge spotlight on Firoz. Wow I cant even explain how well thought-out that scene was and how impactful of an ending they were able to portray in that episode. It’s like creating a whole other air of suspense and drama as you watch him as an audience bleeding out. I mean they could have just shown him bleeding out on the naturally lit street (but then again were streets ever well lit at night in that era???) But what I’m trying to say is that the whole show could have taken a very different direction but i very much enjoyed the theatrical direction. 

Overall, I really liked the series, took me some time to get through all 6 episodes though, but it was worth it. It’s also quite a nice and simple reminder while watching that that was what people were doing at that time, without technology and so on. It also makes us think back to (the unfortunately stereotypical) topic of parents thinking that they have to find a suitable partner for their child after a certain age. I mean as bright as Lata was, she was still made to believe that she had to follow the path laid out for her by her mother when she was portrayed to be an excellent student of English Literature. I mean you could actually cross refer this series to A suitable Girl on netflix (a documentary focusing on 3 indian girls and how they’re parents and society pressurise them to get married as well how their married life ends up looking like) and the problem comes back to society, expectations, religion, pressure and just the indian culture. 

So yes to end it all off, I do definitely recommend this show for primarily Indians but also to non indians to have a better understanding of issues ad culture of that time.

Cast - 5/5!!

Plot - 4/5

Ending - 3.5/5 (Why does she end up with Haresh!!!?????) 

Acting - 5/5!!!

Set/costumes - 5/5

That’s about all I’ve got on this show to end off yet another topic really nobody cares about! Well I’m off to watch The bonus episode of Hookup Plan/ Plan Coeur on netflix which is a French series, which I also previously reviewd back in season . So as usual, my other writings can be found in the gituuuu tab so knock yourselves out folks!! 

[hopes4gf]

Wings of Fire (A MHA Fanfic): The Pulse

Later, on we get our scheduled matches and I fight Mina.

As we prance around the ring, demonstrating our skills and quirks, I feel Dad’s gaze right on me. As I try to build walls of ice to block Mina’s acid, I shoot her with a fire ball, ripping into her uniform. Mina is knocked out of the ring and I’m declared the winner. To win the third place spot, I’m matched with Tokoyami and Dark Shadow which makes him one of my biggest challengers, since we’re both skilled in attack and defense.

I go to the stands to wait for my match.

Shoto faces off with Midoriya. A match that's sure to please my father. Shoto does as he told Midoriya, fighting him only using his right side. But Midoriya attacks the ice walls he builds. What happens next shocks me to my core, Midoriya shouts, “It’s your quirk, not his,” making Shoto’s fire quirk spark a jolt.

I watch Dad spark with victory.

“Have you finally lived up to your purpose? That’s it! Very good, this is the dawn of a new era for us! With my blood in your veins, you will surpass me and live up to the reason I created you!” Dad exclaims.

I growl underneath my breath at my father’s prideful actions.

Of course he would choose to make a scene in front of Shoto.

Shoto creates a surge of fire, wiping Midoriya out.

Midnight stops the fight before it becomes brutal. Shoto wins.

The crowd goes wild at the sight of Shoto’s fire.

Shoto looks to me, disappointed in himself. I glare and head inside of the stadium to the waiting room, preparing for my match. How could I top him? Dad’s pride at his best.

As I head towards the rooms, I see Dad approaching the entrance of the battleground to meet Shoto.

“What’s the matter? Not gonna tell me to get lost?” Dad assumes.

Shoto stays silent.

”You need to learn to control your left side. It’s dangerous to control so much energy like that. I’m glad you’re finally seeing reason. Now, that you’ve abandoned your childish rebellion, we can get back to what’s important,” Dad says, proudly, putting his arms out for Shoto to hug him.

I feel jealous watching their interaction. What happens next grinds my gears.

”Once you graduate, I want you to be my sidekick,” Dad offers.

“There’s no way I can abandon anything. I completely forgot about you...I’ll think about it,” Shoto says, starting to accept his abilities.

Dad’s eyes widen and Shoto walks past him.

Before he can spot me again, I continue down to the waiting rooms.

I sit in my room and I deliberate the situation. Was that Shoto’s exception? Is he really going to work for Dad? Is that why he’s been distant all this time?

Suddenly, the door opens. Shoto appears with a new gym shirt on.

”What’re you doing here?” I ask.

”I betrayed you. I told you I’d never use my fire. But I didn’t have any other choice,” Shoto says in a monotone voice.

I sigh and stand to face him.

”You should’ve thought about that from the beginning when you dragged me behind you at the entrance exam,” I spit.

”Why are you still mad about that?” Shoto asks.

”Because it keeps happening over and over again! Don’t you even care?” I exclaim.

”I do care,” Shoto says.

”Than act like you do!” I exclaim, pushing him back.

He doesn’t fight me. Instead, he turns away and leaves.

My match is called and I head to the arena.

Let’s just say my fire burned dark shadow pretty badly. Putting her down with only one blast due to the blue light.

As I walk back into the waiting rooms, I realize that this gives me the opportunity to face the person I dreaded ever coming across.

Katsuki Bakugo.

Later, our match is called and we both head to the battlefield. Dad stares down at me proudly, finally acknowledging this match up.

Katsuki doesn’t even speak before the match, respectfully acknowledging my father’s presence.

We both clash, his explosions attacking me while my ice guards against him.

”Never thought I’d ever fight you in a million years,” I comment, as I dodge his explosions.

”I guess you can handle the heat, hot stuff,” He winks.

I send ice shards in his directions but he protects himself from my attack with an explosion.

”You’re gonna have to better than that if you wanna take me down,” Bakugo smirks.

I raise my brow, challenged by his skill.

I push myself up and forward, creating a large ice barrier. But before I can trap him with my Hell Ring, he blasts through the wall, shooting up and creating a large explosion that shakes the arena.

I feel my body start to ache at the impact of his explosion, the heat making my eyes start to close.

My body finally meets the grounds impact.

“How’d you know I was going to attack you with my fire?” I ask, my breath starting to slow.

”I remembered the Quirk Apprehension test. You faint when you charge up to much of your fire. It’s your attack quirk. This was fun though,” Bakugo says, standing over me victoriously.

I can hear Midnight declare his victory over me before my body slips away.

———————————————

When I wake, I realize I’m in Recovery Girl’s wing. Next to me, Shoto waits.

”You okay?” Shoto asks.

”Yeah, just a little worn out from Katsuki’s explosions. He’s pretty damn strong,” I say, wincing slightly at my sore body.

”Katsuki? You two on a first name basis?” Shoto asks.

I blush softly as I realize that I called Bakugo by his first name.

”I didn’t mean to say his name, I just-“

”You like him don’t you?” Shoto asks.

I blush even harder at my brother’s questions.

”I- um. Well,” I stutter.

”He came to see you earlier. He told me to tell you he came because ended up winning. He thought you might cheer up hearing that,” Shoto says.

I smile to myself at the thought of Bakugo coming to see me and winning the festival.

”He wasn’t proud of it though. He kept urging me to use my fire on him. He wanted a fair match. But if Midnight hadn’t stopped the match, both of us would’ve died,” Shoto laughs softly.

My eyes widen at the thought. It was that important to him? Especially after winning against me?

”Are you serious?” I ask.

”He was determined. They had to muzzle him and chain him up to make him stop. He went completely nuts. But when he saw you, something about him softened,” Shoto adds.

Later, one of the doctors walks in to let me go.

Me and Shoto walk to the train station together.

”I went to visit mom recently,” Shoto admits, breaking his silence.

My eyes widen, remembering him and Midoriya’s interaction.

”So did I,” I admit.

Shoto turns to me, surprised.

”When?” Shoto says.

”After the battle trials,” I admit.

Shoto stops me in my tracks.

”Why didn’t you tell me? About mom and dad?” Shoto asks.

”Why didn’t you tell me you were gonna work for Dad?” I bite back.

Shoto’s eyes widen and his face softens.

”You really think I want to drag you into that?” Shoto asks.

”It’s not my fault that you ended up with that scar! You’re running right to the man who’s exploited you for years, Sho! You’re not only betraying me, but you're betraying mom. She told me before you so that we can form a closer bond and prove Dad wrong. That we didn’t need him. But instead your asking for his advice. You’re allowing him to continue tearing us apart. So if you really really cared, you would stop whatever bullshit you’re doing and apologize to mom!” I yell.

“You’re right. But if I want to make it anywhere I have no choice but to ask him. Because if I can’t protect you, who is?” Shoto says.

”That’s for me to decide, Shoto. Not you,” I say, stepping onto our train before him.

We ride on the train in complete silence. We reach our home and we enter silently.

”Shoto, Aki, is everything alright?” Fuyumi asks.

”Leave them alone. They’ve had a long day,” Dad says, appearing from his study.

”But I have news,” Fuyumi says.

”What’d you say about news?” Natsu says, appearing from his room.

”I...I've been hiding something from you all,” Fuyumi says shyly.

We all raise a brow.

”I....I have a boyfriend,” Fuyumi blurts out.

We all stand in silence.

Before bursting out laughing.

”Fuyumi? She has a boyfriend?!” Natsu laughs.

”That’s impossible! She’s the shyest member in our family. And she’s a teacher, what kind of guy wants a teacher girlfriend?” I laugh along with Natsu.

Dad smacks us both over the head as we continue to laugh.

”Shut up, the both of you and respect your damn sister!” Dad yells.

We finally recover from laughing.

”Guess what, Aki? My boyfriend is a pro hero,” Fuyumi says cheekily.

My smile drops and I stare at her, dumbfounded by her words.

“Do I know them?” Dad asks out of curiosity.

”I invited him to dinner tonight, so, you’ll see,” Fuyumi says.

We all stare back and forth at each other, questioning our judgment.

We continue with our routines and dress up in a casual-formal mixed style.

Soon, we hear our doorbell ring.

Fuyumi answers the door and I sit at the table waiting.

My eyes widen as I see the man at our door.

Slick blond hair, eyes yellow like the sun, sun kissed skin with light stubble and beautiful red wings tucked behind him. He wears a white shirt and some blue slacks, looking quite handsome.

My jaw drops at the handsome spectacle in front of my eyes.

"Hawks," Dad says, glaring at the man.

"Endeavor-san! You haven't been answering my calls, old man," Hawks says coolly, striding inside.

"Why are you here?" Dad asks Hawks, glaring at him.

"Dad...he's my boyfriend," Fuyumi introduces.

"You gotta be fucking joking," I say, my jaw dropped.

Shoto smacks my arm after my comment.

"You two must be the kids from the Sports Festival. What you guys did was awesome! Maybe even better than your pops," Hawks compliments.

I blush softly at his remark and Shoto coughs softly.

"Come on, don't be weird. I don't bite," Hawks adds with a wink.

"Hi," Shoto waves.

I choose to stay silent and suppress my thoughts. I kick myself, remembering he's my sisters boyfriend. Let alone she knows about Katsuki. So I decide to stay silent.

"And you must be the quiet one. You're one tough kid, eh?" Hawks asks, directing his attention to me.

"Actually, it's the opposite. But it seems like the roles are reversed today," Fuyumi comments.

"Loosen up, you knuckle-heads. There's a legend in your presence," Natsu says.

"And you must be the middle child, what's up man?" Hawks says, giving Natsu a handshake.

"All good, just waiting for midterms," Natsu says.

Later, we all sit at the table to enjoy Fuyumi's dinner. As Fuyumi explains what their relationship is like, Hawks's attention switches from her to me, intimidating me.

He probably thinks I'm a big dork.

"And then, he smiled. And I knew, I liked him from that moment on," Fuyumi says.

"Now, don't sugar-coat it, babe," Hawks says.

As the new couple laughs from across the table, I start to feel uncomfortable.

"I think I'm gonna call in for the night," I say, resting my utensils down and standing from my seat.

"Oh no, was the food not good?" Fuyumi asks.

"No, I'm just a little tired from today. Busy, you know," I say nervously.

"I mean you did pass out during the festival," Natsu recalls, on the verge of laughing.

"Natsu, respect your sister," Dad says, smacking him upside his head.

"Buenas Noches (good night)," I say, excusing myself.

I sigh as the light of the living room fades from my vision. I step into my room and push the door of my balcony out.

I grab my phone and dial Katsuki's number.

It pings three times.

"Hey, hot stuff," Katsuki says through the phone.

"Hi. Shoto told me you came by, I was wondering how you've been," I say.

"Does that mean you were thinking about me?" He asks, cheekily.

I roll my eyes at his antics, my heart starts to skip beats as I hear his voice through the phone.

"You were worried about me. All I wanted to say was thank you," I say, dodging the question.

"I'll take that as a yes," Katsuki suggests.

"Asshole," I say.

"Dumbass," He says in return.

"If you want my opinion, stop fooling around," I say.

"Okay, fine," He says, giving in.

"I just needed to hear your voice. Hearing about you made me feel a bit better. And, my sister decided to bring her boyfriend home today, so you can only imagine how I feel," I say honestly.

"You lonely, babe?" Katsuki asks.

I blush softly and stay silent.

"Admit it, you want me with you right now," Katsuki teases.

"Maybe," I say, giving in slightly.

I hear him chuckle through the phone.

"I knew it," Katsuki laughs softly.

I smile to myself.

"Is there anything else you need before I head out?" Katsuki asks.

"Honestly...I wanna see you again. Not in like a group setting but privately," I say.

"We can meet in the classroom at lunch tomorrow," Katsuki suggests.

"Good," I agree.

"Night, Aki," He says sweetly through the phone.

"Good night, Katsuki," I say softly before hanging up.

Suddenly, I feel a gust of wind behind me.

"Was that your boyfriend?" A voice asks.

I turn and see Hawks standing behind me.

"No, he's just a friend from school," I admit.

Hawks smiles at me.

"Your sister told me a lot about you," Hawks says.

"What kind of cookie cutter crap did she say this time?" I ask.

"She told me that if there's anyone I should keep my eye out for, it's you. She says you're the heart and soul of the family. The one who's always trying to keep everyone balanced and together," Hawks says.

"That sounds more like her than me," I scoff.

"Is that so?" Hawks asks, stepping closer to my side.

"She's the one who asks us all the protective questions. My old man could give less than a shit about how we feel, but she's the one who actually talks to us," I admit.

"She told me you'd say that," Hawks admits.

I turn my head to face him, his eyes are glued to the horizon.

"The way she puts it, you're the only sibling who refuses to believe whatever canned crap you're fed. You tell only truth to her. You speak your mind, unlike your brothers who tend to bottle things up, I'm not suggesting you don't but it takes you a bit to open up, which is understandable. I respect that actually," Hawks compliments.

"What're you trying to get at?" I ask.

"I'm quite interested in you, not gonna lie. I watched your performance at the festival. I'd really like to work with you one day. And from what your sister has told me, I hope we can be friends. I can see that your old man doesn't cut you enough slack so, if you need a friend or someone to distract him for a couple hours, just call me," Hawks says.

I look down and I realize my phone isn't in my hands anymore, rather, in his as he types his number into my phone.

"I should head back before Fuyumi gets suspicious. I'll see you soon, kid," He says, handing my phone back before flying away.

I stand there flustered and confused. What the hell is going on?

———————————————

“King Explosion Murder,” Bakugo says, showing the class his hero name.

”I think that’s a little too violent,” Midnight disagrees.

Today in class, we’re picking our hero names! Since we’re getting ready to start internships, it’s best to have a hero name so people know who we are once we debut.

But a lot of us are struggling.

“What do you mean?” Bakugo says angrily.

”Why don’t you be Explosion Boy?” Kirishima suggests.

”Shut up, shitty hair!” Bakugo yells.

“Who knew it’d be so hard to pick a damn name?” I scoff.

”I know right! At least give us time,” Kaminari says.

”Denki, it’s been two months since we’ve started school,” Sero reminds.

Two months...in two months we did so much. Summer is coming near so that’s probably why UA is pushing these internships.

Suddenly, the class quiets down as Aoyama, the French laser beam boy steps up.

“Hold your breath. The shining hero...my name is I cannot stop twinkling!” He says in a theatrical tone.

“Come on!” Me and my friends exclaim.

”Take out the I and shorten the cannot to can’t,” Midnight corrects.

”She likes it?” We question.

“This fucking ridiculous,” Bakugo huffs, still trying to think about a name.

”Obviously. We’re picking a name, for gods sake,” I say in agreement.

Our classmates come and go with their cool names. And then my brother steps up.

”Shoto,” He says.

”Just your name? Is that it?” Midnight asks.

”Uh huh,” Shoto nods.

”It’s cause he’s boring as hell and has no flavor in him,” I joke.

The class snickers and Shoto glares at me.

”Then what’s your hero name?” Shoto asks.

A name pops into my head and I write it quickly on my writing board.

”My hero name is Sub-Zero,” I say confidently.

”That’s an awesome name!” My friends exclaim.

”Makes sense due to your ice quirk. But what about your fire?” Midnight asks.

”Might as well call her icy-hot,” Bakugo snickers.

”Shut up, you idiot!” I yell.

”Make me, dumbass!” He yells back.

I blush softly at his response and he smirks to himself, asserting his dominance over me.

"Anywho, I prefer to use my ice quirk a little more than my fire, so it only makes sense, but  one day I'd like to use a combo of the two," I continue.

"Well, then, good choice!" Midnight compliments.

I sit back down in my seat and Kirishima gives me a high five.

"Awesome name, man," Kirishima compliments.

"No pressure, Kiri," I say, staring down at his blank board.

He smiles shyly.

I turn to see Bakugo staring at us with a glare in his eye and a scowl across his lips.

"Remind me why you two are my goody goody best friends?" Bakugo scoffs.

"Because you're a big old softie," I joke.

"SHUT UP, YOU DUMBASS!" Bakugo yells.

"Angry Pomeranian~" I coo.

Bakugo growls under his breath.

Later, Bakugo goes up to the class podium.

"Kacchan? What does that mean?" Midnight asks.

I turn to see Midoriya blush softly. I recognize him calling Bakugo that. It's probably a childhood nickname or something.

"Tsk, it's whatever," Bakugo says in a scoff.

I see the look of disappointment on Midoriya's face.

"Don't say anything, idiot," Bakugo says in a low voice to Midoriya.

I smirk softly as he sits down.

"Got a problem, dumbass?" Bakugo asks.

"Not at all, 'suki," I say, using my own nickname on him.

The group's eyes widen but he doesn't lash out, he only scoffs.

"What the hell was-?" Kaminari starts.

Sero tapes his mouth shut.

"Just watch," I catch Sero whisper.

______________________________________________

Later, I head to the classroom and see Bakugo waiting for me like we planned.

"So, you finally gonna be honest with me?" I ask, stepping inside with a smirk on my face.

"What you pulled wasn't fucking funny," Bakugo scoffs.

"Sure it wasn't. Now, are you gonna admit that you were a little jealous of me and Kiri when we were talking?" I ask.

He blushes softly, realizing that I felt his gaze on me as me and Kirishima talked.

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about," He brushes off.

I put a hand on his chest, teasing him.

"Aw come on, I thought you liked me back," I say coolly.

"I didn't say I didn't like you back. But what if I was, jealous? Especially after that call last night, you hanging around with your sister's boyfriend and talking with my best friends," He starts.

"I knew it," I say with a chuckle.

"Just don't tell anyone," He says, turning away from me.

"Anyways, how are you feeling? You know after you won the sports festival and got a shit ton of offers from a bunch of pro heroes?" I ask.

"It's whatever. My mom's the one whose pushing my ass. But you sure calm my ass down, hot stuff," Bakugo says.

I smile at his words.

"Even if I yelled at you in class for being an absolute ass?" I ask.

"You know, that's different," Bakugo says, rolling his eyes.

"I know. It's just a front. But don't you think the group is starting to get a little curious?" I ask.

Bakugo pulls my hands off of him and puts his hands in mine. His skin is warm and slightly rough from his quirk.

"Listen, whatever goes on between us, is private. They don't have to know shit. They can stay curious for all I care. I want you to myself, which means no bullshit," He says sternly.

"Fine, but...what does that mean for us? Do you wanna just keep meeting like this?" I ask.

"You did say you were lonely, that you wanted me, that you wanted to keep seeing me-" He starts.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," I say, rolling my eyes.

"To me, that call sounded like you wanted to commit to a..."

"A relationship?" I finish.

"Damn you," He scoffs, blushing again.

"You're cute when you're frustrated," I tease.

"Whatever...all I'm gonna say is that I'm open to it. A...relationship," Bakugo says shyly.

"Why?" I tease.

"You know why, idiot," He scoffs.

"Actually, I don't," I say innocently.

"I like you. You don't pack on bullshit, you're...nice. I like talking to you...and teasing you. And you're hot," Bakugo says simply, thinking as he speaks.

"I'll take that over a 'just because your hot', any day. I can work with that," I say with a wink.

"Since you asked me, why do you wanna do this this, huh? Just cause you're the only one without a lover?" Bakugo asks.

"No. I just like the way you think. And like your little quirks and ticks around me, it makes you a little more likeable to me. Also, you're just...comforting. Someone I feel safe around...even when you are a egoistic, protective jackass," I admit.

Bakugo laughs softly at my words, that damn laugh sends butterflies to my stomach.

"I'm gonna be honest, I wasn't expecting you to actually like me. You were one serious bitch," Bakugo says.

"Really?" I ask. "Sure. And I'll admit, I am one too but...you're just a little more tolerable," Bakugo compliments.

"You must be really into me if you're actually complimenting me," I tease.

"Shut up, dumbass," He says.

"So what time you picking me up tonight?" I ask.

"What? You mean like...for a date?" Bakugo asks, caught off guard.

"Yeah, duh," I scoff.

"6:00 I guess. But don't tell anyone," Bakugo says.

"And what do you mean by anyone, 'suki?" I ask.

"The group, you idiot. Or your brother," Bakugo mentions.

"He knows. He could tell when you came to visit me after our match. Anywho, he's not the one you've got to worry about, Bakugo," I say, walking towards the door.

"So formal. Just call me Katsuki or whatever," He scoffs.

"I'm just teasing you, you big idiot. I'll see you later," I say, walking out the door.

After I walk out, my phone starts ringing. I see the caller ID is my new friend, Hawks.

"What's up, bird brain?" I say.

"Hey, kid. I've got some news that you might like," Hawks says.

"What?" I ask.

"Shoto may have told me last night a little scoop about you denying Daddy Endeavor's offer to be his intern so...I snagged you before he even had the chance," Hawks says.

I stop in my tracks.

"Dude, I just met you and you're already going out on a limb for me? Thank god I don't have to deal with him for two months," I sigh.

Hawks laughs from the other end of the phone, I can see his smile from here.

"You'd be working as one of my assistants, I'd help you collect information, figure out battle strategies and stupid dumb shit that you'd have to track in my life. Pretty weight-less, huh?" He explains.

"Better than my dad's hunk of crap," I say.

"Good, I'll be over with Fuyumi at 5:00 so we can talk a bit more, see you then?" Hawks asks.

"Oof, I can't. I got a date tonight with a friend," I say cooly.

"You mean your little boyfriend from last night?" He asks.

"He's not my boyfriend yet, but I think he'll ask me eventually," I say.

"And what makes you think you've pinned him down just yet?" He asks.

I stop in my tracks to think.

"If you feel uncomfortable or need an excuse, just call me okay? I'll fly over whenever," Hawks says.

"Sure, I'll see you soon, I guess," I say.

"Sure, kid," He says, before hanging up the phone.

I grab my Dr. Pepper from my bag and I start to gulp it down as I walk back to class.

_____________________________________

When I get home, I ignore everything in sight, racing upstairs to prepare for my date with Katsuki.

"Why are you so happy today?" Fuyumi asks, standing by my doorway.

"You remember the boy I told you about?" I ask her.

"The bully? What about him?" Fuyumi asks.

"He asked me out on a date," I say with a smile.

"What? But I thought you weren't interested in him. Hold on, isn't he the same guy who made you black out at the festival?" Fuyumi asks.

"Yeah, but he's not all that bad. he's actually sweet and caring and considerate," I admit.

"You think Katsuki Bakugo is sweet, caring and considerate?" Shoto says, joining the conversation.

"From the look of that guy, he looked like he was about to at you," Natsu comments, also joining the conversation.

"He's got a point, Aki," Fuyumi says.

"Aw, come on! We talk all the time. And plus, all you've ever seen is what he's like on the surface," I say, putting on powder.

"You're kidding, right? You've actually had conversations with him, civil ones, but only in private?" Shoto asks.

"Yeah, just ask Hawks,"  I say.

"You're saying my boyfriend knows about this before any of us do?" Fuyumi asks.

"He's the one who got nosy. And plus, I work for him now, I have to be honest," I add.

"You work for him?" The three of them ask.

"Yeah, I'm doing the internship at UA with him. Dad knows already," I say, spritzing perfume on.

I look through the mirror and the three of them stare at me like dogs waiting for food.

"What?" I ask.

"Dad's gonna kill you if he finds out," Fuyumi says.

"Well then, I won't have a problem. As long as the three of you keep your mouths shut, I'll be fine. And plus, since we're all very secretive, there should be no issues, right, Shoto?" I say, turning to my twin.

"Huh?" Fuyumi and Natsu question, turning to Shoto.

His face goes beet red.

"Have fun," I wink, grabbing my bag and patting his shoulder.

I fix my short red dress and pull my jean jacket on my arms.

I hear Katsuki's car engine outside and I open the door to see him in front of our lawn.

I see a red camaro with the window rolled down, revealing Katsuki, whose wearing a white hoodie with a green camo bomber jacket over it.

"You ready, hot stuff?" He asks.

I open the passenger door and sit inside his car.

"What do you think?" I ask.

He smirks and I kiss his cheek. He blushes softly as he turns back to face the road, revving his engine before driving off.

He turns on a playlist and the first song is Dreams by Fleetwood Mac.

"I didn't pin you as the type to listen to Fleetwood Mac," I comment.

"I listen to pretty much anything that has good beats," Katsuki says.

"Ahh, you're a drummer. No wonder why you're my type. I play guitar," I add.

I feel Katsuki's gaze shift to me for a split second. I hear him laugh to himself at my comment.

"You're fucking cute, you know that?" He asks.

"So are you," I say.

I turn and see him roll his eyes. I smirk to myself and hum softly as the song plays.

We drive around listening to different music, humming and singing along like dorks.

At one point, I catch him singing to Hey There Delilah and I record him. When he notices me, he starts blushing profusely.

"Don't post that," He says frustratedly.

"I know, that's just my personal keepsake," I wink.

Eventually we stop in Akihabara, shonen central and we walk towards an undisclosed location.

"What're you planning, 'suki?" I ask.

"You'll see," Katsuki says teasingly.

Soon, we stop in front of some stairs and above it is a sign that reads "arcade".

"How'd you know I liked arcades?" I ask.

"Lucky guess," Katsuki says, scratching his neck.

I take his hand and we walk up to the arcade.

We reach the arcade and I look around at the 80's style arcade, the colors of all the pin ball machines and anime themed machines mesmerizing me.

"You happy?" He asks.

"More than happy," I say with a smile.

"I assumed you don't get to have much fun at your house since your Dad's a total jackass, this'd be the place I'd take you," Katsuki says.

"That's awfully sweet of you, 'suki," I say with a soft smile.

"Don't mention it, babe," Katsuki says.

I head to the front desk and we both get chip cards to play games.

First, we challenge each other to air hockey.

During the match, we both keep our eyes peeled on the puck and on each other. We match each other's energy, yelling and cursing when the other loses a match. I swear I've never seen someone so competitive over a game ever.

During the last rounds, we taunt each other.

"You're weak, you really think your quick enough to get past me?" I ask.

"Says the girl who passed out during the sports festival because of me," He teases.

"Shut up, explosion boy," I reply.

"You'll pay for that one!" He says, then putting the puck down.

We both yell curses at the puck as we both hit it back and forth quickly. I hit the puck against one of the walls and it shoots past Katsuki.

"Damn it!" Katsuki exclaims, putting down his guarder.

"Told you, you'd lose. Good try though," I say.

Next, we move on to the basketball game.

We both start and once but he gains speed, using his quirk to accelerate his shots.

I catch onto his trick and start to angle my balls with my ice flurries. The cold wind blows them into the basket.

"Cheater," He says.

"Scammer," I say.

"So are you!" He says.

"No I'm not!" I reply.

We go back and forth with insults as we shoot the basketballs.

The timer beeps and I look over at our points. Katsuki is ahead by 250 points and he smirks victoriously.

"Cheaters never win, babe. Now you know how it feels," Katsuki says pridefully.

"Shut up, asshole," I huff.

"You jealous, hot stuff? You jealous that you got beat by a big strong man?" Katsuki teases.

"One more game," I say, not accepting defeat.

He smirks and we move onto our last game.

DDR...Dance dance Revolution.

"Come on! You're a dancer, this isn't fair," Katsuki huffs.

"So you think you're gonna lose, huh? I thought you were a big strong man who is determined to beat me?" I ask teasingly.

Katsuki's eyes narrow, glaring at me. He stands at player two.

"Game on, icy-hot," He says with a newly discovered confidence.

I smirk and pick a vocaloid song.

I focus on the steps, gripping the back rail as I move my feet to the beat.

The steps move across quickly, as I move I score perfects. Suddenly, I'm caught off guard as the board says to switch sides. Me and Katsuki switch sides, quickly fumbling. Before I know, I'm almost off the edge of platform.

I trip over the steps but before I fall, Katsuki catches me, our bodies meet and the game ends.

"You good, idiot?" He asks, focused on me instead of the game.

"Yeah. Thanks for that," I say slightly out of breath.

We both stand upright and look at our percentile score.

We both score 85 percent, tying our score.

I laugh at Katsuki's face as he stares disappointedly at the screen.

"I thought you tripping would impact the score," Katsuki says.

"Oh shut up, you ass!" I say, smacking his arm playfully.

We both move to the prize table and cash in our earnt points. I spot a bunny plush from Ouran Host Club and grab it.

"Damn, it's 1500, I only have 1200," I say disappointedly.

I turn to Katsuki and he huffs, handing me his card. I hug him, thanking him.

As I hug the plush tightly, I see Katsuki's face turn pink.

He takes my hand in his and we walk down to the street.

"That was fun! You should gift me things more often," I say.

"It was only because you looked helpless," Katsuki says, scratching his neck nervously.

"Do you think that's cute?" I ask.

"A little," He scoffs.

"Then I think I should be cute more often, or is that a little too much?" I ask.

"I don't know. I kinda like it when you're feisty too, it makes you even hotter," Katsuki admits.

"Well, then I'm gonna have to find the balance of both. Anyways, what you did was sweet, I appreciate it," I say.

Katsuki blushes softly at my compliment.

"Why do you blush so much? You not used to getting complimented?" I ask.

"Shut it, d-dumbass," He says, getting more flustered.

I grip his hand tightly and we stop. He looks at me with soft eyes.

"If I'm doing something wrong, just tell me," I say.

"Nah, that's not it. I just...you make me feel happy. I feel really happy right now," Katsuki admits.

I laugh softly at his words, as I do, his tenseness is relieved. I feel his muscles relax in my touch. I caress his cheek his my hand, swiping my thumb across his skin.

"You make me happy too, you big idiot," I say through a giggle.

"So what now?" He asks.

"We could get some dinner, or we could go to your car and talk...but if you're up for it, we could try something else," I suggest.

"Like what?" Katsuki asks, raising a sly brow.

I pull his head towards mine, our lips close the gap between us. We kiss. It's a sweet but passionate kiss, I feel his touch on me start to get hungry as I taste the sweet flavor on his lips mixed with my strawberry lip gloss.

He pulls away from the kiss and takes a breath.

"Car. Definitely car," Katsuki says.

I laugh and grab his hand, leading him towards his car while gripping onto the plushie he helped me get.

We get inside the car's backseat and I straddle him down, sitting across his lap.

"Fuck, why do you smell so good?" I comment.

He laughs softly at my comment.

"That's my natural sweat, babe," Katsuki says.

I dig my nose into the crook of his neck.

"Why does your sweat smell like caramel?" I ask.

"My sweat has glycerin, glycerin is a sugar, dumbass," He says through a chuckle.

"Then that makes your kiss even more sweeter to me," I tease.

"Oh yeah?" He asks, his pitch starting to lower.

"Don't get any ideas, lover boy," I say seriously.

"Fine, but if you ask, I'll be here to grant it, hot stuff," Katsuki growls deeply in my ear, sending chills down my spine.

I kiss him once more and we sit there, making out until the sun completely sets over the city.

[thelazyhermits]

hello again! I wanted to know, is there any tips you could give on writing conflict between characters? I've read many of your stories, and if there is any, it always seems well written! Its ok if there's not much to say on it ^^"

Hi! ^-^ I’m not used to being asked for writing advice, so I’m not sure how well I’ll do. But I’ll give it a shot! haha

I’m interpreting this to mean you’d like tips on how to write the kind of conflict when characters are clashing in a non physical way rather than an actual battle scene so that’s the route I’m going with the tips.

The first and most important tip is know your characters. What kind of situation would normally put them in conflict with someone else? Have you have seen these characters butt heads before, or is this completely new territory? If it’s the latter, study how they interact with other characters to get a better idea of how they might react if they were to get in a fight with the other character. I also recommend this tip if you’re wondering how to make them clash in a believable way that suits both characters.

Another tip I’d give is to plan everything out in advance and set up the pacing. Make sure things aren’t resolved too quickly since it’s likely to come across as unbelievable. Unless of course it’s a really minor issue then that’s fine. If you want to drag out the conflict, keep it at a steady pace, mention it throughout the story, but don’t just keep throwing it into the readers’ face. Have other things going on but occasionally remind the readers that this problem is still there and still very much an issue.

How much buildup you do depends on what kind of reconciliation you wanna have. If you want something big that will grab the readers’ hearts and really impact their reading experience, then the more time you put into it the better.

Hopefully this helps! If you’d like more tips, just let me know! ^^

[snacc-noir]

Kim Week, Day 2: Hero/Villain

Day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

(This is a continuation to my random-as story ‘Oblivious’ on Ao3, where basically Alix has a tantrum to Max and Kim about Marinette and Adrien not dating, so Kim suggests they try to set them up being quote: ‘shipping superheroes’. I had no idea what else to do for this prompt so here)

Three pints of ginger beer from the Kubdel’s pantry, a shambolically filled-up notebook of ideas and two exhausted teens lying on a pile of skater gear later and Alix and Kim were finished their game plan.

Unlike Alya and Marinette’s complicated ‘Operation: Secret Garden’-type schemes to make ‘Adrinette’ happen, the pair opted for creating a plan most defiantly quick and easy—that they were sure was going to work by the end of the day—as both had had enough viewing of slow-burn to last them a lifetime.

“Our class is going to love us,” Kim during his sleepy drowse murmured to the wearied pile before him. After discussing few ideas at Max’s the previous day, their scheming expanded into a sleepover (with zero sleeping) at Alix’s. “I told you this ‘shipping-superheroes’ idea was a good one.”

Her half-lidded eyes blinked up at him behind pink tuffs. “I still think the ‘superhero’ thing is a weird a title.”

The hoarseness whirring in her voice was so clear Kim would’ve mocked her about it if not his own voice were identical. “It’s the biggest ‘heroic’ thing we’ll ever do for our class, so let me have this.”

Alix closed her eyes and hummed in response.

…

The pair were so beat the following Monday morning that the commotion of the latest akuma attack was a mere buzz in their ears.

Kim only caught something about, ‘Gabriel akumatized again’, ‘Carapace, Queen Bee and Rena Rouge joining’, ‘LB and Chat leaving halfway to come back blushing messes’, and that the battle was ‘really long’.

At least whatever happened during the disastrous battle wasn’t going to affect their success in setting up Marinette and Adrien.

“You’re on phase one, remember?”

Alix couldn’t care less about yesterday’s kerfuffle if it distracted her from her task at hand. She’d waited enough months taking part in pointless operations that she wasn’t going to allow one bigger-than-normal akuma delay her plan, especially when her eyes fell like falling out from exhaust and arteries to burst from ginger beer over-consumption.

“Um, yeah.” Kim peered around the classroom to see Adrien slumped in his desk and without his usual bright smile. Only Alya was seated behind him. “I don’t think Marinette’s arrived yet, though.”

Alix planted her fists in the curves of her waist and glared at the class president’s vacant desk. “I’m astonished.”

“Do you think I should wait a bit, too? Adrien looks sorta out of it.”

She shot him a look that said her answer enough for him. “I’m not waiting any longer for the oblivious punks to make-out. Phase one happens as soon as Marinette walks through that door.”

Kim turned to scrutinise the entryway. Ivan and Mylène were sauntering in wearing smiles as they exchanged pleasantries with animated hand gestures.

“And if she doesn’t come until during homeroom?”

“Then do it as we’re walking to our next class.”

He nodded and moved off the stairs to take his place, as she did the same. Max was already performing calculations at his desk and didn’t address the pair in his usual form. Instead, he sighed as the two instantaneously began confirming details about their scheme again the moment they sat down.

“Are you two still doing the Marinette and Adrien plan? Or was the probability of success too low for you to proceed?”

Alix leant her weight on the wall behind to stare hopelessly at the door Marinette had yet to stumble through during her mad flap. “We’re still doing it. And we’re sure it’s gonna work.”

Kim drew out his tablet and slid it on his desk. “We figured out the phases and stuff last night. We’re going straight for the homerun instead of gradually easing them to get together, since there’s been enough time for that. By the end of today, our mission as shipping superheroes will be complete!”

Alix pulled a face. “Superhero thing’s still weird.”

“Certain, huh?” Max pushed his glasses up with a forefinger, smirking sideways at Kim. “You’re sure your need of force will have the appropriate impact you want it to have on their relationship?”

“Well, yeah—”

Kim cut himself off when hearing a, “Gah!” holler from nearby. He searched for the noise and was delighted to see the notorious sight of Marinette tripping headfirst through the doorway, only to catch herself in an odd position at the last minute.

He didn’t need Alix to tell him what to do next.

Whilst Kim ambled down the classroom’s staircase—attempting to do so as nonchalant as ever—he failed to see the way Marinette took one glance in Adrien’s direction and turned into a blue-headed fire hydrant, nor did he see how the model quickly resembled the same after his sight caught her.

When he headed to initiate phase one, he didn’t expect to see two furiously blushing teens in front of him.

Though the surprise wasn’t great enough to cloud Alix’s whispers of, “Go.”

“Whoops!” Kim blurted as he frantically stumbled away from Marinette—the same Marinette who he had just shoved bumped on his way down the stairs, leaving her ‘unfortunately’ in the lap of a wide-eyed and pink as a pig Adrien Agreste.

“I’m so sorry, Marinette.” He pressed a hand on his heart and looked at her earnestly for good measure. Alix’s wide grin behind him was almost palpable to sense. “I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

Her awkward smile stretched beyond her crimson cheeks and her pupils were still frazzled. “Uh—um, it’s—it’s okay, Kim. I’m sure you didn’t mean it.”

Then, as if she’d just realised her position, Marinette gasped and flipping leapt off of paralysed Adrien and faced him with one of the most mortified expressions he’d ever seen.

“Oh! I’m terribly sorry Cha—Adrien! Adrien. The model. Yeah. That’s you!” She took a deep breath but it didn’t calm her. “I’m, uh—” It was only right to say she squeaked halfway through her sentence and bolted past him to her seat, while all Adrien could do was turn himself to stare stupidly at the front of the classroom.

Kim and Alix shared a victorious thumbs up across the room.

…

Phase two, in their opinion, went even better.

After a mad race of downing their food before even reaching their lunch table and finding their assigned idiot to corner, the pair had gained information only the class’s girls could dream of having.

When Kim discovered Adrien tossing a popper in the trash during a mission to ask him about Marinette and his love life, he did not expect a bottle of emotions to be flooded out to him during an extemporaneous therapy session.

“I love her—I really do love her,” Adrien had blabbered on, raking a hand through his blond tresses as they sat in the corner of the cafeteria, “but I know she doesn’t love me.”

Kim could’ve sworn he heard Adrien mutter, “anymore…” under his breath a second later.

Alix’s situation went likewise, and she reported that Marinette almost said the exact same thing during their private talk under the stairs, confirming their un-doubtful suspicions that good-old mutual pinning was involved in their set-up plan.

During excited bubbles of laughter after the story exchange, they declared ‘phase three’ to commence.

…

Phase three was the last and furthermost challenging aspect of their scheme. The risks of getting detention or even loss of friends, they decided, were totally worth it for the high chance of progression in Marinette and Adrien’s intimacy levels.

The girls in the class had spent hours constructing plans to set the two up on dates that always ended up in failure. Kim and Alix studied the approaches and realised its failure was because of A: spontaneous akumas. B: the time it would’ve taken Adrien to figure out it wasn’t a ‘friend date’. And C: how both teens had the sovereignty to flee the set-up scene whenever they wanted.

Hence why forcing Adrien and Marinette to be together without a chance to escape was to be the most successful idea.

In other words, locking them in empty room was the mission’s clincher.

…

“I cannot believe you just did that.”

Kim wiped his hands on his sweatpants to remove the imaginary lint, only glimpsing up to give Alix a smirk. “You better believe it. It was your idea anyway.”

“My one-hundred-percent joking idea.” She shot a nervous look to the boiler room’s door, barricaded with excessive amounts of stolen desks and chairs.

She could only hope her and Kim’s crouched place in the corner of the vacant hall was enough of a hiding spot for Adrien and Marinette not to hear their conversing. “How long are we giving them? The guilt’s eating me already.”

Kim rolled his eyes and shuffled up next to her. “There’s plenty of space in the boiler for them to sit twenty meters apart. It’s not like we went for the closet idea.”

Alix wondered if the closet idea would’ve even been easier. Luring Marinette to the boiler (‘Oh, I accidently left my spray cans there. Can you please get them while I help Kim with this thing?’) to leave her wandering on a wild goose-chase for invisible paint cans was difficult enough, but getting Adrien to stay there—Alix was surprised he even bought Kim’s, ‘You wanna meet up in the boiler to talk more about your Marinette situation and stuff? Just a warning; the door sticks. But I’ll come anyway if that happens.’

When they heard gasps of names inside the boiler after Adrien had stumbled in, Kim moved the desks to obstruct the door.

Alix hugged her knees. “That’s ‘cause our school doesn’t have a closet.”

“Whatever.” He tipped his head back to lean against the dim-lit wall. “Either they’re emotionally confessing to each other, trying to find a way to break the door, or making-out.” He slipped her a sidelong grin. “See? Nothing to feel guilty over.”

Her features pressed into a frown as she salvaged her phone from her shorts pocket. “You’re lucky Max prohibited me to punch you.” The illumination of her screen was a contrast to the dusky hall-light they’d been enduring for three minutes. She noticed she’d received two messages. “Nate’s in the art room for our free period. Everyone’s wondering where the art desks are.”

They simultaneously looked at the blockage items securing the boiler door’s lock.

“Um…” Kim trailed. “Say you and I are going for a hunt for them.”

“On it.”

…

Ten or so minutes past before Kim and Alix returned the desk and chairs to their original places, claiming they found them in the woodwork room (everyone bought it). The former revisited the boiler alone and burst out apologies to Adrien (‘Alix was helping me with this thing so I couldn’t come in time—by the way Marinette, she found her cans.’) to which Adrien responded positively; beaming at Kim with a ‘no worries’ and tightening his grip on Marinette’s hand as she discreetly wiped away—were those tears?

At Kim’s offer to continue talking about the Marinette problem, he was more than elated to hear the response: “We’ve worked it all out”.

Alix was more than elated too.

…

“So they’re totally together? Like together, together?” Alix practically squealed in question, trying to no avail to stifle her excitement as she bounced up and down on the school’s entry steps.

Kim stood with arms akimbo, smiling down at her. “Yup,” he said, popping the ‘p’. “Operation: Shipping superheroes was a success.”

She halted her bouncing to shoot him a look. “You know, for someone who as an akumatized villain had the aim of destroying love, I find it quite ironic you claim to be a ‘set-up superhero’ for Marinette and Adrien.”

He frowned. “I couldn’t help it; Hawkmoth’s fault. Besides, I was a villain tearing apart Ladybug and Chat Noir. Now, I’m a hero setting up Marinette and Adrien—different position, completely different people.”

She rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”

He grinned and leant downward (goodness how she hated that) to be closer to her eyelevel. “Can you believe we actually did it, Kubdel? Like, us. We were the ones who set up Marinette and Adrien. It was all our influence and doing.”

Alix chuckled and pushed his face away. “Gaining ten pounds from sugar in ginger beer and waking up with your quiff in my mouth was worth it.” She released a sigh of contentment. “The two idiots are actually dati—”

She paused. Her eyes sparkled.

Kim gave her a questioning look. “What?”

“Does this mean we can do phase 4?”

His face dropped.

“No.”

“Yes!”

“If you dare—”

“Dare? Kim’s daring me to do something? Okay.”

He stepped forward. “Alix Kubdel you know that is not what I meant—”

“La la la, I can’t hear you!” she sing-songed in an unnaturally high pitch, bouncing around him with hands pressed on her ears and smiling giddily. “My senses don’t register rubbish!”

He huffed and glared at her twirling figure. “You were totally joking with phase four. We are not doing it.”

“Oh? Is that so?” she asked dubiously. “I thought I was totally joking with phase three, but we did that anyway. Guess we’re doing this too.”

Kim inhaled with frustration and tipped his head back, casting a defeated look to the sky. The girl was a nightmare.

“They’re gonna hate us forever.”

She retracted her hands from the sides of her head. “I’ll just mention what our plan did for them then. You could even speak at their wedding.”

Kim began to mutter something along the longs of, “Oh, so you heard that?”, but Alix’s jovial yelp cut his grumbling to a close.

“There they are!”

He glanced in the direction of her outstretched finger, smirking instantly at the love-sickening sight he’d usually cringe at.

Adrien was ambling out of the school’s bulky entry doors, a smiling Marinette attached on the side by the wrap of his arm, both seeming to be submerged in a world of pure bliss.

The perfect couple, it looked like.

So of course Alix just had to initiate phase four.

“Oi Agreste!” She cuffed her hands around her lips, and Kim was pretty sure his heart tripped out of existence at her bellow. “Hurry up and shove that tongue of yours in her mouth!”

To her astonishment and Kim’s—well to be fair his was more gaping horror—Adrien smirked at the incongruous demand as Marinette let out an incredulous squawk. Then, not only that, but it was another stilling moment of silence before the girl was swooped in a bow with famous Agreste lips planted on hers.

...

Kim and Alix walked out of school feeling like heroes.

[aion-rsa]

Why Pokémon Has Endured For 25 Years

https://ift.tt/3aGzdnP

This article is presented by:

In 1996, Joseph Tobin was a professor of early education at the University of Hawaii when he decided to walk into a hobby store in Kaimuki for field research.

“They had some Pokémon stuff—the Japanese versions of the cartridges,” Tobin recalls. “People could buy them in this store before they were even available elsewhere. We interviewed the owner and decided that Pokémon would be a really interesting thing to study.”

Tobin had a pre-existing interest in Japanese culture from time spent in Japan as an exchange student and therefore continued his research in other hobby shops and toy stores throughout Honolulu. As the years progressed, he traded Pokémon cards with children who were adamant that he would not get ripped off in lopsided swaps. He followed as a colleague’s six-year-old son spent 90-plus hours with his Pokémon Blue cartridge for the Nintendo Game Boy, learning to read, understanding maps, and calculating sums in the process.

The years of Poké studies culminated in Tobin hosting an academic conference in 2000, where educators, anthropologists, and other cultural experts gathered in Honolulu to discuss this massive, yet certainly fleeting, Pokémon phenomenon. The findings and arguments of the conference were collected in the insightful and thoroughly-researched, yet tragically named, Pikachu’s Global Adventure: The Rise and Fall of Pokémon.

“We thought we better hurry and get this out before the craze is over,” Tobin says.

25 years later and the Pokémon craze is nowhere near over. 

Today, Pokémon is one of the most successful, if not the most successful entertainment entities in human history. Pokémon is the highest-grossing media franchise of all time, having taken in an estimated $88 billion in revenue. According to eBay, there were 160 million searches on the platform for Pokémon cards last year, and they outsold even baseball cards. In December of last year, a Base set 1st edition PSA-graded 10 “shadowless” Charizard card sold on eBay for a staggering $350,100. The Pokémon games are now in their eighth generation and have sold over 340 million units. The long-running anime is in its 24th year and features more than 1,100 episodes. 

In defense of Tobin and The Rise and Fall of Pokémon’s title, the franchise, created by Game Freak and Nintendo, did seem like it was on the ropes in the early 2000s. “Pokémania” had largely died out and financial markers like the Pokémon card market had cooled. But Pokémon didn’t need a lengthy Pokémania to become one of the most successful entertainment franchises ever. To find success, all Pokémon needed was a consistent track record of innovative creators behind the scenes and a dedicated fan base of children—and eventually adults—willing to catch them all. 

“This will probably be something you hear from me and the rest of the team at Pokémon a lot. But Pokémon really is for everyone,” says Daniel Benkwitt, Senior Manager, Communications & Public Relations for The Pokémon Company International. “As long time fans will tell you, Pokémon has always been around throughout many iterations. The fans have been dedicated to Pokémon for 25 years, no matter when they came in.”

Benkwitt has a unique perspective on the nature of Pokémon’s ebbs and flows. Now working on the franchise’s 25th-anniversary celebrations, Benkwitt joined the Pokémon Company during Pokémon’s 20th anniversary—the same year that the massively popular augmented reality mobile game Pokémon Go debuted.

“I was excited to work on an exciting franchise, but who knew what it was actually going to be once Pokémon Go had launched?” he says. “Truly, Pokémon Go on the 20th anniversary brought Pokémon back into the zeitgeist.”

In many ways, Pokémon Go served as a reminder of what the Poké die-hards already knew: this is Pikachu’s world and we’re just living in it. Whether it be through the series of beloved games, a highly successful card game, long-running anime, or sheer power of brand alone, Pokémon is one of the last quarter century’s big pop culture winners. 

The reasons why Pokémon survived its early fad status to blossom into a titan of entertainment are varied and innumerable, but it all starts with accessibility.

“There’s a variety of different ways and different touchpoints that fans can enter into Pokémon. My personal story is the anime,” Benkwitt says. “For a lot of folks, it was the video games, because that truly is the core of the franchise. Everything emanates out from there.”

Let the Poké Games Begin!

Pokémon Red and Green first premiered in Japan on Feb. 27, 1996. Its English counterparts, Red and Blue, would arrive in North America in 1998. Just about everything that’s appealing about the Pokémon franchise is apparent in those first two installments: exploration, training, trading, battling. The games capture creator Satoshi Tajiri’s experience of collecting insects as a boy in Japan, scaled up and fine-tuned for a larger, and eventually more Western audience. 

The games have evolved over the years, moving from a Matrix-green original Game Boy sprite display to the gorgeous, full-color three dimensions of Nintendo Switch. Along the way, new generations of fans have found their respective access points into the games and the franchise at large.

Pokémon content creator Ron Sroor is part of the next wave of Pokémon fandom, having been born after Red and Blue even debuted. He knows as well as anyone that the appeal of Pokémon has been constant, even if the heights of the franchise have waxed and waned. 

“To the people who were around at the beginning of Pokémania, it seemed like it was dying down, and it definitely was,” Sroor says. “But it never stopped being big. It was going from the biggest thing ever to just a normal, big thing.”

Like Benkwitt, Sroor came to Pokémon through the anime before coming to appreciate the larger tapestry of the franchise through the Pokémon Black and White games, which are set in a world approximating his native New York City. Now Sroor interacts with Pokémon fans via a variety of creative YouTube videos in which he discusses elements of the games like tier lists for powerful Pokémon, and shares his own artistic Pokémon renditions.

“I think the Pokémon are the draw of the franchise. They’re the perfect formula for creating creatures that aren’t too monstrous, but also not too childish or too cute,” he says. “Every single Pokémon is based on something, whether it be an animal or myth, and every location in the game or in the show or whatever is based on places in the real world.”

Cardboard Craze

Though the Pokémon series of games were the progenitor of the franchise, Pikachu and friends quickly proved too big to be contained by only one medium. The Pokémon Trading Card Game was first published by Wizards of the Coast in October 1996, just eight months after Red and Blue’s debut. These days, the Pokémon Trading Card Game (now under the auspices of The Pokémon Company) is considered one of the “Big Three” TCGs, alongside Magic: The Gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh!. 

Competitive Pokémon TCG player Andrew Mahone recalls experiencing the first wave of Pokemania when he was in fourth grade. 

“1999—it was everywhere. Kids were playing the cards at recess, at the pool, wherever we went. I got captivated by the initial craze as it was the cultural phenomenon happening at the time. And being 10 years old, you’re the same age as the hero in the Pokémon franchise. So it really hit home with me there.”

Like many other kids of his generation, Mahone set Pokémon aside throughout his high school years and picked up a diverse array of other interests like soccer, skateboarding, and competitive running. It was during college, however, that Mahone met back up with the franchise that never truly went away, playing Pokémon Diamond and Pearl on the bus to and from track meets.

Read more

Sponsored

Pokémon Trading Card Game: Ranking the New Amazing Rares

By Anthony McGlynn

Sponsored

The Best Pokémon TCG Decks for Players Cup

By Anthony McGlynn

“I fell in love with the franchise all over again doing that, and I played the DS game for hundreds of hours throughout my college career. When I graduated college, that’s when I was like, ‘Okay. Well, now I want something else that’s competitive to do now that I’m done with sports.’ That’s where I got into competitive Pokémon.”

Mahone attended his first competitive TCG event in 2012 and won his first regional championship in 2015. By 2017, he was making YouTube videos about the competitive Pokémon TCG scene. That channel has now evolved into his multimedia enterprise Tricky Gym, supported by Full Grip Games.

As part of the Pokémon TCG diaspora, Mahone has had a front-row seat to the game’s latest renaissance, this time likely driven by young adults looking to connect with their past while stuck indoors due to COVID lockdowns.

“We see a lot of young adults now in their mid-20s and 30s revisiting Pokémon because they have such strong nostalgic feelings for it. It came out in this very impactful time in their early childhood.”

I Wanna Be the Very Best…

One of the reasons that so many adults have warm fuzzies for the franchise is the storytelling around it. Premiering in 1997, the anime story of Ash Ketchum and his quest to become a Pokémon master has been a constant companion of the franchise through 24 years and hundreds of episodes. It also had a tremendous impact on the woman who would one day voice the young hero of Pallet Town.

“It was hard for me even as a kid to see it as a fad, because of the show,” Sarah Natochenny says. “It had heart, relatable characters, and adorable, unique creatures. This wasn’t just a game or set of toys. Pokémon had a story.”

Natochenny is an artist with eclectic talents and interests. After winning a bronze medal at the Junior Olympics in rhythmic gymnastics in 1999, she studied at the Strasberg Theater Institute for four years while also doing improv at UCB, and taking voice and dance classes on the side. In 2006, she auditioned for the role of Ash Ketchum in the Pokémon anime’s English dub, taking over for the role’s progenitor, Veronica Taylor.

“Pokémon was the biggest job I booked. It was only my second voiceover job, after a medical industrial,” Natochenny says. “I was the perfect age when Pokémon first came to America, and I loved the show and remember begging my parents for the cards. I had one deck. I have no idea where it is or whether or not there was a million-dollar card in there.”

Since 2006, Natochenny has voiced Ash, his mom Delia, along with a host of other human and Pokémon characters (Buneary being a particular favorite because it’s very cute). As part of the Pokémon 25th anniversary, Natochenny is most looking forward to wrapping up work on Pokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle, along with some of the other planned festivities. 

“I’m looking forward to celebrating with fans and continuing to bring joy to people who grew up with my portrayal of their favorite character. I’ll also probably dance to the music that comes out, so tune in to my social media to see if those dance classes paid off,” she says. 

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

25 Years of Pokémon

As Natochenny suggests, The Pokémon Company indeed has big plans—musical and otherwise—for the franchise’s 25th anniversary.

The team has been working on the celebration for over a year and has partnered with UMG and Katy Perry for a year-long musical campaign called P25 Music. Other corporate partners include Build-A-Bear Workshop, General Mills, Levi’s, McDonald’s, Jazwares, Scholastic, Mattel, Funko, PowerA, and The Wand Company (which is manufacturing a lifelike Poké Ball). And there are still more announcements to come.

“All I can say is, stay tuned because the rest of the year is going to be quite exciting with more surprises. Pokémon likes to surprise its fans,” Benkwitt says.

One thing that wouldn’t surprise its fans is if Pokémon one day observed a 50th- anniversary celebration, or even a centennial. It certainly wouldn’t surprise Tobin, who is still an early education professor, now at the University of Georgia.

“I’m not surprised that [Pokémon] has lasted this long in the sense that I think it’s really good,” he says. “It was really cleverly designed and it has a really rich narrative. I’m happy to see that it’s made it.”

Shop Pokémon on eBay today!

The post Why Pokémon Has Endured For 25 Years appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3aJSIfe

[jazzforthecaptain]

hi I know you’ve just finished field work so pls dont take this the wrong way kay, I'm only asking out of love. Do you have any sastiel fics planned for the future? Regardless of your answer to that, tell me about your favorite tropes or just like, general Stuff, when it comes to both writing and reading those two together. Everyone’s got different tastes right & i think is always fun to see people explaining (or trying to explain) why they're into certain stuff

Oh heck yes I have more sastiel I want to write, don’t you worry. <3

I want to try some canon!verse scenes. I’ve spent a lot of time writing Castiel, but didn’t study Sam’s character closely until I launched off on the first draft of Field Work. That story was posted this year, but the process of finishing and editing it was about two years’ worth of work.

If there’s a story concept or an AU you’d really like to see me tackle, I’m all ears! Just let me know. After all, Field Work came from a random request on the sastiel tag - I saw it, and in a few minutes the scenes from the first chapter were in my head.

This ask tickled me so much, because I would love to talk about sastiel but I’m better at answering questions than trying to write an organized Ship Manifesto. So now I have a relatively narrow avenue of attack!

That said? I’m still gonna write paragraphs.

I’m busily working my way through the sastiel available on ao3, but I can tell you right now that I’m always a slut for Castiel reassuring Sam that he’s Worthy and Lovable and A Good Person (and for Sam to do the same for Cas). I’m also a big, BIG fan of anytime Castiel gets to talk to Sam about the Big Bad Shit that’s happened in a way that gives them both relief and bonds them, if not absolution (because sometimes absolution just… well… isn’t appropriate or possible). Castiel getting to apologize/explain himself for the choices he made that negatively impacted Sam, and vice versa, and each discovering that they’re still loved and valued by the other because they have a similar tendency to judge themselves more harshly, and fail to forgive themselves, while forgiving their loved ones even when the consequences of poor choices were horrific. Good God these two need a confidante and a champion (and a mitigating voice), and I love it when they find it in one another.

Also, it should be noted, I prefer to take my Castiel the way I take my coffee; that is to say hot, strong, and bitter af. I love it when Castiel is characterized as the soldier he is, with real doubts about the chain of command he came from and a massive distrust of authority. I love it when his battle scars are as relevant to who he is as Sam’s are to him. I love it when Castiel is a sarcastic shit who struggles to take orders even if they came straight from the Big Man himself. And I love it when Sam is internally rage-y, fighting his own temper and his own demons, when he’s drowning in self-loathing, when he takes zero shit, when he questions Castiel and comes back at him and stands up for himself (and others). Trust is slow coming between a couple paranoid war vets with PTSD and a Complicated History so fraught with lies and broken promises you could write a soap opera on it. And yet. Both of these guys are the grand fucking champions of giving people second chances and letting past offenses go - I think they need each other. To help one another heal. To remind each other that they’re not monsters. To remind each other that there are good goddamned reasons to keep on keepin’ on even when the skeletons in their respective closets are dancing the fucking samba. Being a good man isn’t something you’re born as. It’s not something you lose with a single mistake. Being a good man means taking responsibility for and the consequences of your actions, actively caring, and trying hard not to repeat past mistakes - and those are things they both already do. Red_River’s story “Light Up the Sky” has a fantastic quote from Castiel that I think succinctly sums this up:

“You are no monster, Sam Winchester,” Castiel told him, the words less than a whisper.  “You are not the best man I have ever known, but you try the hardest to be.” 

So, spiraling off into AU territory, there’s a couple things I really like in that regard. I’m a sucker for Magical!Sam (thank @awabubbles!), and she’s got a story series started where White Magic Sam accidentally summons a badly wounded Soldier of God Castiel (have I mentioned I love Soldier of God Cas? Because I so fucking do, omg). Just, you know, think about Sam tending his hothouse full of rare plants while Castiel (who isn’t healing as fast as he expects to be healing, dammit) follows him around like an irritated cat. Don’t touch me, don’t touch me, don’t touch me, wait don’t leave my sight dammit don’t touch me, wait okay rub my ears while I shove my face into your lilies.

Insert deflowering joke here.

I also adore non-paranormal contemporary romances (Castiel is a firefighter responding to a minor fire in Sam’s apartment building, aaaaand go~), high fantasy sword and sorcery (especially if it involves Castiel as a knight, have I mentioned I like soldier Cas? I have, haven’t I?), historical romances, and I hear there’s some excellent merfolk fiction but I haven’t as yet gotten to it. To be honest, I’ll give anything a fair shake at this point. I’m still discovering the fanfiction that’s out there, so in six months Idk, I could be begging for locked-room mysteries or something.

The thing I love the most about sastiel is how supportive the fandom is. Everyone is so encouraging about everyone else’s work - if you wanna write a thing there’s always someone else like ‘YEAH! Do the thing!’ And y’all show the fuck up. I cannot begin to express how much it meant that people were reading what I wrote and telling me about it. It’s renewed my commitment to leave feedback on works as well, because I want to pay it forward.

Sure, there are things I’m definitely not interested in reading that are out there in the sastiel tag, but I’m not here to throw down a list of Stuff That Annoys Me - I’d rather talk about the stuff I love. That seems to be the modus operandi of the community as a whole, and that gives me so much life. I hope it never changes.

Don’t worry - I’m slow as fuck but I’m not going anywhere. <3 <3 <3 You made my day with this ask, apologies I was super slow getting you an answer. I tried like three times but my drafts kept getting eaten by the site.