#I really want to make a similarly animated background piece soon

[miyacchis]

Notes from a Con Man - Musical Great Pretender Stage Report Act 1

This is a bit extremely rambly, but I want to give some description of the distinguishing features of the staged version of Great Pretender as compared to the anime, although my plan is not to give a complete recap of the plot, as I’m sure anyone who is choosing to read this has watched the anime - or so I assume, but you know you do you. I try to control myself and keep it just to what is relevant, but I’m also a wordy bitch and that will never change, so, reader beware, I guess.

 The stage is set up with three levels (the stage level, the second floor, and the third floor where the band is). Both the stage level and second floor have a couple of rooms that can be pulled out or opened, and backgrounds are projected onto the set to create different settings. With the exception of the opening theme, which is taken from the anime, all of the music is live, and there’s very good interplay between the band and the performers, and I don’t know if I’d ever been to another show that felt so vibrant/alive/idk?

First, the biggest change made for the sake of clear storytelling on the stage is the addition of a framing device: the plot is conveyed to the audience through Edamura’s (Miyata Toshiya) narration as he tells his story to a prosecutor after the events of LA Connection. The play opens where LA Connection ends with Edamura being questioned at a police station, where it’s clear that he has been attempting for hours to convince detectives to believe the team-confidence-wild-and-wacky-adventures ™  explanation as to how he came to be in possession of a bag stuffed with foreign currency. Detectives are fed up with him and ready to go berniewiththesteelchair.jpeg on his ass. Enter Kitaoji (Kato Ryo), an elite prosecutor who seems to be on track to become attorney general, although it is unclear to those at the police station why he would take interest in Edamura’s case. 

Edamura is initially reluctant to open up to Kitaoji (Kato Ryo), certain that he won’t be believed, but after Kitaoji quotes from Shakunetsu (side note: I had no idea that in English Shakunetsu was turned into Die Hot which is an absolutely incredible pun and I really commend the translator), Edamura thinks Kitaoji might be just the person to believe him and help him to make amends to all those he had harmed through his life of fraud. Kitaoji encourages Edamura to start at the beginning and goes to eat a piece of candy, prompting Edamura to question, “What would you do if this simple piece of candy was sold for $5 million?” at which point he begins telling his story, transporting us first to a club in Hollywood where we are introduced to the plot with Sakura Magic and, more importantly, Laurent (Miya Rurika, goddess, dressed devastatingly in green), who is identified in quick succession as a French trader, an arrogant Don Juan, and the “bastard who got me into this mess.” 

Edamura bumbles through Laurent’s plot to build hype and clinch a deal with Cassano (Otani Ryosuke) by having Abby (Yamamoto Chihiro) “test” the “drug,” while giving small asides to Kitaoji to explain the main players and reveal to him that this is all a con job, but when Edamura is called to sign the contract to supply Cassano with the drug for $5 million, he flips out, pulls Salazar’s (Mikami Ichiro) gun, and flees the club, without the excuse of believing that he had taken drugs as he did in the anime. It is also not at this point that Edamura makes the connection between Laurent and Kudo and realizes that he’s been set up (Miyata!Edamura is overall a bit less perceptive than Kobayashi!Edamura, as we shall see, although I think this was a function of simplifying aspects of the characters’ interactions for the sake of clarity for the stage). 

Kitaoji pops in and out of the story from this point, donning different costumes (an unhoused person, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Razzie from the Shakunetsu series, etc.) to illustrate different aspects of the main characters’ conversations, and he serves as a way to get into Edamame’s head, allowing him to express what he is thinking and feeling as events in the story play out. It is in the metanarrative that we get some of these more comedic scenes, as well as additional insight into Edamura’s character as he grapples with his own identity as a scam artist and the son of a child trafficker.

After escaping Cassano’s henchmen outside the club, Edamura rejoins Kitaoji to ask if he’s following the story so far, which of course he is not (lol), so Edamura dives into how he met Laurent and came to be in LA. From here we flashback three days, joining Edamura and Kudo (Fukumoto Shinichi) in Asakusa as they spy Laurent as a potential mark. Edamura pulls the wallet-switch trick, and this scene generally follows the anime, although parts, such as the scenes showing Edamura selling water filters and Edamura and Kudo being raided by what seems to be the police, have been cut. After realizing that Laurent pickpocketed him and saw through his grift, Edamura quickly follows and catches him as he is about to depart in a cab to the airport. Just a moment to talk about this cab because it was such a cute, clever idea; it was really just a little push car driven by one of the supporting cast, and it can be disconnected in the middle, so as the driver pulls off, the back seat can be left behind, allowing the audience to watch Laurent and Edamura’s conversation as they are taken to the airport. 

Similarly to the anime, the successive scenes are nominally delivered in English, so Edamura switches to a dialect of Japanese to represent his accented English, which I mention only because Miyata discussed Edamura’s code switching with Kobayashi (Edamura’s Japanese voice actor) in an interview in vol. 51 of Stage Square and how he was concerned that he might confuse Standard Japanese and the dialect during scenes where he has to go back and forth quickly. Kobayashi reassured him that as he got into the character of Edamura Miyata would naturally fall into dialect whenever speaking to Laurent and Abby, and I’m very biased, buuuttttt throughout the run of the show, Miyata performed this beautifully, and as someone who for several years lived in the Tohoku region, the dialect of which Edamura’s accent reminded me of, his accent made me really nostalgic. 

Anywayyyyyy

After Laurent and Edamura bet on the outcome of Laurent’s upcoming “business negotiations” and it’s agreed that they will travel to LA together, the opening theme plays, the main cast is introduced, with Edamura running up and down the set to give a sense of action, the title in massive letters is lowered onto the stage, and we rejoin the main plot with Edamura trying to elude Cassano’s gang on the streets of LA by hiding behind the title. The supporting cast gives us some great background color as like random people in LA, like we’ve got some girls with Starbucks cups, some people breakdancing while simultaneously mugging a Dodgers fan, a skateboarder shouting “STREET”...for some reason. Perfect encapsulation of America *chef’s kiss*

Laurent finds Edamura and tells him to come home because he’s a good boy (😳), and Edamura is then introduced to Abby who, just as in the anime, kicks and knocks him out, after which they collect him and take him to an upscale hotel where Cynthia/Paula Dickens (Senna Ayase) is performing as a jazz singer. Laurent greets her briefly, but we don’t properly get introduced to her character until a later, very frustrating scene, but I’m not going to get started on that yet (it’s not her that’s frustrating, but it’s how they chose to have her and Edamura meet, but anyway we’ll get there). She sings “Summertime,” and it’s a lovely performance; all of her acting choices are very clearly informed by her experience in Takarazuka - she has these really dynamic, almost over-the-top movements and she uses that to her advantage to be one of the more comedic actors - and it’s really entertaining to watch.

Laurent orders them drinks; Edamura has something pink in a little martini glass, and he splutters when he tries to take a sip because he can’t handle his alcohol, which makes Laurent laugh, giving a lot of credence to Laurent’s statement soon after that he derives a lot of pleasure out of toying with naive boys like Edamura who pretend to be tougher than they really are. There’s also some funny adlib with Abby at this point where she gets brought different plates of food like fake fruit on one day and a tower of donuts on another. Laurent explains who Cassano is and the plan to defraud him and gives Edamura a notebook with a fabricated recipe for Sakura Magic, so the notebook is not part of what Edamura prepares himself when he goes later to get himself captured by Cassano to negotiate with him. Edamura has a couple of outbursts accusing Laurent and Abby of putting on airs, pretending to be carrying out justice, repeatedly interrupting the band who give him dirty looks and Shi-won, dressed as one of the saxophonists, loudly blows the saxophone back at him, and this prompts Laurent to be like nah we’re getting too much attention here let’s continue this back at the hotel. 

The hotel scene is fairly similar to the anime, but once Edamura is left alone, we get the first instance of him thinking about his family as he reflect on what Laurent had to say about how people don’t always believe the truth that is in front of them as they would rather believe whatever is most convenient. He flashes back to his family going home together after his father finished a case (the hotel room is on the second floor with his mom and dad entering on the stage level; the younger version of Edamura is done in voice over), and of course they seem like a happy family, although it’s interesting that what his dad has to say about ethics was cut from the script. The scene focuses more on Edamura idolizing his father as a great lawyer.

Okay, so we’ve finally come to the scene I absolutely hated and did not think was necessary, after Edamura leaves the hotel room. He is approached by three unhoused persons, one of whom he at first thinks is Kitaoji coming to interrupt the narrative again, but he soon realizes that they are “real homeless.” It was really just a disgusting, cruel stereotype; one of them is playing with a rat they found, another is acting like a junkie, and the ringleader is trying to get money off of him because they haven’t eaten in three days and then they steal his little Toyotomi Hideyoshi figurine and play keepaway with it and don’t stop until Cynthia/Paula Dickens (at this point she’s Paula tho so I’m going to refer to her that way) enters and is like knock it off. So that’s how they meet. Cool. They could easily have come up with something else and they just didn’t.

But, anyway, since he got his figurine back, he explains to Paula that his hobby is collecting capsule toys, and during his explanation, a gacha machine is projected up on the stage, out of which comes Kitaoji dressed as Toyotomi, followed by a bunch of other figures from Japanese history. This part always got a pretty good laugh out of the audience, and I think it was a pretty cute way to stage it. Paula insists they go to dinner together, so she can hear more about Toyotomi, and the capsule toy figurines all follow to a diner (serving “breadfast” 24hrs lol) where Shi-won is dressed as someone named Ricardo. The figurines all start to get drunk, while “Ricardo” fixes Edamura and Paula some tacos; meanwhile Edamura explains that Toyotomi began as a simple peasant, but because of his hard work and study, he was able to climb all the way to the top and unite all of Japan as a powerful lord. 

Edamura asks why she decided to help him before and he despairs that he must seem like a beaten dog, but she explains that while she might seem confident, she faces tremendous anxiety getting on stage every day, particularly as she wants to make it big as a performer but can’t expect to get the attention of a label just because she can sing a bit. (In the background, Francis Xavier is completely sloshed and ends up drinking with Ricardo) Edamura suggests that she take inspiration from Toyotomi as someone who was able to trick even his enemies into working with him and represent herself as someone more important than she is to get music producers onto her side. She seems fired up by this proposal, and she says that she’ll follow the example of Toyotomi, “Japan’s best confidence man,” which gives Edamura his own motivation to get back to trying to win the bet with Laurent. He asks Paula to wish him good luck and runs off, and we get the first dance scene with Edamura and a number of samurai as he builds up to confronting Cassano. The scene ends with him running into a video shop, presumably to rent Cassano’s movies.

Laurent and Abby are called to Cassano’s mansion - they argue if Edamura is capable of pulling off a job like this, although Laurent insists that he has a natural talent - but they are certain that he must be dead when they hear from Salazar that Edamura was taken into their custody at the airport trying to run. However, Edamura bursts onto the scene, dressed in a new Hawaiian shirt, and at this point, Miyata looks as though he has been in a swimming pool, but it’s just sweat lmao. Cassano informs them that he’s made a new deal with Edamura for $10 million, and when they ask how, we get a flashback showing how he got onto Cassano’s good side by praising Shakunetsu with Kitaoji, as Razzie, acting out scenes from the Shakunetsu movies on the second floor of the stage. Whenever Cassano hugs Edamura in these scenes, it was really funny because his jacket would get just absolutely covered in Miyata’s sweat just ugh gross lol 

Cassano’s accountant joins them and they play out the whole bit about confirming Edamura’s credentials as a pharmaceutical scientist, at which point Edamura finally realizes that Kudo is working with Laurent, when he calls Kudo to thank him for deceiving Cassano’s attorneys. After Cassano has confirmed Edamura’s identity, he takes the crew to his factory and insists that Edamura make Sakura Magic for them right there and then so that they can be sure to properly replicate his recipe. She does this the whole play, but particularly during this scene, you can really see how well Miya Rurika portrays Laurent as always calm and and in control before Edamura but as quietly losing his shit whenever he feels like they’ve been backed into a corner, and we also get some very cute like Laurent clearly being exasperated with Edamura but the two of them starting to be able to play off one another as they convince Cassano that the factory isn’t up to snuff for making Sakura Magic. 

They have to clear out because they hear someone coming, but Cassano promises that he will build a new laboratory for Edamura and entrusts his care to Salazar. The police bust in after everyone has left; Anderson does the absolute most to show off to everyone that he’s properly securing the scene, but he’s clearly relieved that Cassano slipped through their fingers once again oh my how does this keep happening oh well better luck next time. We get a proper introduction to Paula and Shi-won as members of the FBI who have come to investigate Laurent and his organization (Paula has changed into this beautifully tailored brown tweed pantsuit and she pulls it off so well), and Paula threatens to expose Anderson’s connections to Cassano if he doesn’t follow her lead.

After the scene in the factory, we return to the present in the interrogation room with Kitaoji and Edamura. Detectives bring Kitaoji additional files on Edamura, asking if the prosecutor has heard of the attorney Ozaki. They inform him that Edamura is Ozaki’s son, and Kitaoji is a bit shocked; he leaves, saying that he will review the files. The detectives collect the money before exiting the room, but not without getting in a dig at Edamura, telling him that he clearly takes after his father. Edamura is stricken by this statement, and the act ends with Edamura battling with this internal conflict. 

I don’t think anyone would want to read all of this, but if you have, thank you so much. I hope some of it at least was interesting or informative. I’m going to end there for now, as I’ve already gone on for too long, and I’ll finish writing up the second act in another post.

[himaeart]

hi! i literally just found your artwork and i just know im in love!!!! you’re so good at your art and it’s absolutely amazing! i just wanted to ask, i saw you answered similarly before but i just wanted to check again — would i be able to use ur artwork as an icon on a twitter account if i (obviously) credited properly and linked to your acc? completely totally fine if it’s a no!

as i saw in a tumblr post once, “thank you for participating in the mortifying ideal of being perceived, so i may partake in the euphoric experience of knowing you” — no matter what u do with ur art in the future, im glad to have seen what you’ve done now and how amazing it is!

Thank you so much! With credit, it's definitely okay to use my art as an icon, no need to ask! Though, most of my recent works are mostly background art so I'm unsure if it would work out as icons. But they can work really great as a header, if that's a better suggestion!

I love that quote; it's such a poetic way of saying appreciation for someone and I'm so happy that you're here to follow my journey. I've actually been taking a lot of classes created by artists in the film/animation industry, so I'm very excited to post my next pieces soon! For someone to say they love my art and share comments like this really shapes the person I will become in the future, and I just want to let you know that if I ever make my passion into a career, you have been the one that helped make it happen. Thank you!

I really appreciate it that you've sent this ask and you took the time to await my permission, I hope you're having a wonderful day, anon!

[bluesylveon2]

My My, I Could Never Let You Go

Summary: Sasha Zoe just wants her dad to walk her down the aisle. There is only one problem: she doesn't know who her dad is! Sasha invites 3 men in hopes of finding out which one is her father. What could possibly go wrong?

Pairings: Levi x Hange, Sasha x Niccolo, and other background relationships

Disclaimer: This is a Levihan Mamma Mia au. This fanfic is inspired by Mamma Mia which is directed by Phyllida Loyd, written by Catherine Johnson, and uses music from the pop group ABBA. Attack on Titan is a manga/anime series written by Hajime Isayama and published by Kondasha

A/N: Sorry for the wait! I had many tests and essays within the past two weeks. One of them sounds like a tragic fanfic backstory (Sorry Armin. He was in it lol)

Need to catch up? Catch up here!

Ch 6: Our Last Summer

After Hange leaves the goat house 

Sasha and her friends waited a few minutes after Hange left to make sure the coast was clear. She gave her friends the signal to get out of their hiding spots after a few minutes had passed.

"Was the 'throwing me in a barrel' really necessary, Annie?," Hanami complained as she rubbed her sore head. 

"You were taking too long getting in the barrel, and I didn't want us to get caught by Hange. Sorry about that," Annie replied cooly and got out of the barrel. She turns around to help Hanami get out. 

"Well, at least it got the job done" Hitch jokes as she left her spot behind a crate with Mina. 

Historia laughs at her friend's conversation. She was lucky enough to hide alone. 

While this was going on, Mikasa was busy helping Sasha get out of the barrel and fixing everything in the barn to look normal. 

Sasha zoomed out of the barn to find her fathers as soon as Historia fixed the final piece back to where it belonged.

Everyone sweatdropped, especially Mikasa and Historia.

Looks like we're going running again after all

---

“Sasha! Wait!” Mina yells. Sasha was running like her life depended on it (which it did, in a way). She was tired and exhausted, but Sasha’s adrenaline was too high to stop running. Sasha didn’t know which exact pier her fathers were in, so she was determined to check every pier Kalokairi had. 

She couldn't stop thinking about how this happened. How was there a flaw in her plan? The plan was for her and her friends to wait until her fathers walked past them and jump them before her mom caught them. She didn't think far ahead of where to dispose of the bodies. Probably somewhere in Mike's yacht. Sasha also wanted to slap herself. They must have left through the window or through the hatch on the roof! No wonder they managed to leave without Sasha noticing!

Luckily for Sasha, it only took two piers to finally spot Mike's yacht. There was only one ship nearby and three male figures on it. Sasha had an 80% chance of being right, and it increased the closer she got. 

"Wait!" Sasha yells at the trio. She prayed it was her father's, or else she yelled at total strangers. She noticed how her father's changed their outfits to suit the hot weather. Erwin wore a long sleeve polo shirt rolled up to his elbows with the first button open and shorts. Mike kept the same shorts on but was shirtless to show off his muscles. Levi was also dressed similarly to Erwin, except he unbuttoned his shirt all the way to show off his abs. None of the men seemed to notice Sasha’s call. 

Sasha stopped running once there was no pier left to run on.

Fine, she thought in her head. I have no choice but to swim. Thank goodness for Hitch's beach day idea, or else she would’ve been doomed.

Sasha turned to her friends. It seems as if they read her mind based on the shocked looks on their faces. 

"If Niccolo or any of the guys asks about my whereabouts, give them a random location, but not the beach. Send them on a wild goose chase if you have to."

"But what about our plans for today?" Hitch exclaimed, referring to why everyone had their swimsuits on. 

Sasha took her clothes off, leaving her in only her swimsuit. She hands her clothes to the nearest person, Historia. "We'll move it to tomorrow!" She yells back and jumps into the water. Sasha starts swimming to the yacht. 

The girls could only watch with shock as their friend swam away. Historia, who got over her's first, clears her throat to get everyone's attention.

"C'mon girls. We got a job to do."

---

Levi was the first to hear Sasha swimming towards the yacht. 

"Oi! Sasha is heading over here!" He points out to Erwin and Mike to get their attention. Erwin and Mike look at where Levi was pointing and headed over to meet up with Sasha.

"Were gonna sail around the island. Wanna come? I could use more hands since I let my friend explore the island" Mike yells.

"I thought you weren't coming to my wedding?" Sasha yells back as she swims nears the yacht.

"Well, Four-Eyes wanted us to leave, so we decided to get out of her hair," Levi says with monotone. He, Erwin, and Mike kneel down to pick up Sasha from the water.

Huh, Sasha thought. Levi never used Four-Eyes in front of her before. That was news to her. She always hears everyone refer to her mom as Hange and never any nicknames.

(Levi only referred to Hange at first out of respect to Sasha. He is letting it slide more now that first impressions are over.)

"You're mom freaked out when she saw us? What was that about?" Erwin asked once Sasha was on the yacht. He hands her a towel to dry herself off. 

"No!" She replied hastily. "She's just not thinking straight! She's been so stressed about the wedding. Things like decorations, food-" 

Sasha stops rambling when Mike holds his hand out as a sign to tell her to slow down. She turned red out of embarrassment much to Mike's amusement. Sasha reminded Mike of Hange. Once Hange starts talking, she won’t stop even after the sunset. 

She clears her throat. "Sorry. What I meant to say was my mom would be so happy to see you all as her surprise tomorrow!"

"You think so?" Levi asks skeptically.

"Mhm" was all Sasha says and takes a look at her surroundings. She has been on sailboats a few times. Mostly to travel between the mainland and Kalokairi. She would go when she and her friends rented a boat to explore the island or party. Sasha looks at Mike’s yacht in awe. She wants to buy one day to explore different parts of Greece with her friends and Niccolo. As Sasha was amazed by what she saw, she noticed something that definitely didn’t belong in Erwin’s arms. 

"You took Mom's guitar."

Erwin stops tuning it to look up at Sasha. It was a simple classical guitar to Sasha’s eyes, but it held more meaning to Erwin.

“I didn’t steal it. I borrowed it. See-” He turns over the guitar to show Sasha there was more than what she originally thought. Engraved on the wood were the letters H.Z and E.S. “-Hange Zoe and Erwin Smith.” 

Sasha’s opened her mouth in shock. Meanwhile, Levi and Mike just glanced at each other. They didn’t expect that out of Erwin.

Erwin notices everyone’s faces and chuckles. “Contrary to popular belief, I actually know how to play the guitar,” he says as if he can read everyone’s minds. “I bought her this guitar here on the island actually. There was once a shop here, but it is long gone now. I know because I checked when I arrived.” he adds solemnly.

Sasha sits down next to Erwin as he started plucking the strings to see if it was tuned. He starts playing it once he was satisfied with the sound. Sasha, interested in listening, sat with her legs crossed and rested her left elbow on her left knee. Sasha’s head rested on her fist as Erwin played. 

Levi and Mike still stood nearby awkwardly watching the two. The two looked at each other with mutual understanding and left Erwin and Sasha to bond as they prepared the yacht to set sail. 

---

“So what was my mom like?” Sasha randomly asks. Her mom's diary only showed one side of her story. Hearing from her fathers introduces a new perspective. 

Erwin chuckles just thinking about Hange. “She’s a very happy and intelligent woman. Her smile was very contagious, and it can make anyone’s day.” 

Sasha smiles at Erwin’s words. “What is your fondest memory of her?” she asks out of curiosity.

Erwin ponders on Sasha’s question. There were a few minutes of silence before Erwin looks down at the guitar on his lap fondly.

---

"Can I open my eyes now?" Hange asks for the fifth time since they left her house. She was beginning to lose her patience, and she was too excited for the surprise. 

"Not yet." Erwin laughs at Hange’s excitement. 

“Is it a new book?” Hange guesses as she walks blindly to wherever Erwin was leading her.

“No” Erwin chuckles and continues leading Hange to who knows where. 

Hange can feel the surface shift under her sandals as she walked. She could tell Erwin was guiding her on the beach based on the unstable sand, the wind blowing on her sundress, and the sound of waves crashing the shore. Apparently, Erwin had a big surprise for her, and they only knew each other for 3 days! He gave Hange a cloth that morning and instructed her to tie it around her eyes. Of course, Erwin made sure to take off Hange’s glasses first and put them in his shirt pocket before proceeding with his plan. Erwin has been guiding Hange by the shoulders for a while now. Hange wonders what the surprise was.

Suddenly, Erwin stops moving, and Hange follows along. She feels Erwin’s hands moving to untie the cloth around his head. Hange flinched as the sunlight hit her eyes. She felt Erwin gently grab her hand and places her glasses on her palm. Hange puts her glasses back on and waits a bit for her eyes to adjust. 

"Surprise, Hange." She hears softly behind her and looks down. Hange starts tearing up. 

In front of her was a big blanket full of food, drinks, and neatly placed towels that looked like it was set up for a picnic. There was a brown classical guitar in the center. The same guitar Hange kept staring at for the past few days. She never bought it because she didn't know anyone who could teach her. 

Hange put her hands over her mouth in shock as her tears became more prominent now. 

Erwin smiles at Hange’s reaction. He takes one of her hands away from her mouth and guides her to sit down next to him. He picks up the guitar and sets it down on his lap.

"H-how did you know? Erwin, I'm truly grateful for this, for everything really, but…" Hange was too shocked to even talk. "I'm speechless."

"I work spontaneously.” Erwin jokes, “In reality, I asked a few people to help set this up. You know the couple who were selling the guitars?" 

Hange nods. She wasn’t getting over her shock just yet. 

“Well, their children helped me set this up for you. I've noticed you eyeing this guitar for quite some time now.” Erwin continues and gestures to everything laid out in front of her.

“Do you like it?" He asks although he knew the obvious answer based on Hange’s expression. 

“Like it? I love it! Thank you! Thank you!” Erwin quickly puts the guitar away before Hange could accidentally hits it as she jumped on him. She wraps her arms around his neck and rests her head on his shoulder. Erwin wraps his arms around Hange to hug her back.

“Thank you.” She says softly next to his ear. Erwin smiles “You’re welcome, Hange.” 

Hange pulls away from the hug to look at Erwin’s face, her arms still wrapped around his neck. Suddenly, she leaned forward and kissed Erwin on the lips. Erwin felt like he was dreaming and kisses Hange back. Oh my goodness, he is whipped for her! This was the first time they kissed since they had met. He wanted to thank God personally for giving him a chance with Hange.

Hange pulls away from the kiss to look at Erwin’s blue eyes that held love to the woman in front of him. Her eyes had the same emotion too. Both of them had goofy smiles on their faces. Her eyes wander over to the guitar laying next to Erwin. She gasps. “You know how to play? Can you teach me?”

Erwin smiles at Hange’s excitement. “Of course,” he said. Hange leans over to Erwin to pick up the guitar. She starts plucking random combinations of strings and going on about how he should’ve got it engraved. 

Their kiss was the pivotal point of their relationship. Erwin, for the first time since starting his career, felt relaxed being around Hange.

---

Sasha was grinning from ear to ear after hearing Erwin’s story. She thought it was cute after hearing how her mom reacted to receiving the guitar. She could recall the times her mom taught her how to play the exact guitar Erwin held in his lap. 

“I’m going to be honest with you Sasha.” Sasha perks up after Erwin spoke. He looks up at the sky and curves his upwards into a small smile. He turns to face Sasha with the same smile on his face. “I’m thankful for you inviting me here. Experiencing all of this-” He gestures to the space around them. “-makes me realize what I am missing out on in life. Thank you for that. You’re a good daughter, and I know you make Hange proud.” 

Sasha smiled back. She would never expect that from one of her potential fathers. Maybe it’s a sign? She prays her mom would be proud of her during her wedding day. The day her family will be reconnected again.

They continue talking and sharing a few stories until Mike walks up to the pair. He cleared his throat to get their attention. “Hey, Sasha. Do you mind sharing some sites around the island? You’re the most familiar one out of all with the island.”

Sasha nodded. “Sure.” She stands up to look around her surroundings. She wasn’t paying much attention to where the yacht was sailing through during Erwin’s story. 

She scanned her surroundings until she notices a familiar cliff she and her friends like to go cliff jumping on. Sasha points to the area and turns to Mike.

“I know a stop.”

---

“Is this safe?” Levi asks. Levi was thankful that Hange didn’t force him to engage in cliff jumping. The cliff itself was 20 feet. Levi watches as the waves crash onto the cliff below them. It seems as if his luck of cliff jumping ran out after meeting Sasha. She’s definitely Hange’s daughter.

Sasha gave Levi a big grin. “Of course! My friends and I used to jump off this very same cliff all the time!”

Erwin and Mike smirked.

“Of course it is, Levi. You just have to not think about it.” 

“I’ve jumped from higher cliffs before. This one isn’t that tall. Just like you. Shorty.”

Levi glared at Mike as if that would wipe the smirk off of Mike’s face. Mike was lucky he was not standing next to him. Sasha was trying hard not to laugh too much and risk loosening her grip with Erwin and Levi. 

“On the count of three!” Sasha started swinging her arms a bit. “One… Two... Three!” she yells and jumps off the cliff. The others following as they were jumping and falling at the same time as her.

Yep. She is definitely Hange’s daughter.

---

The group sailed around the island some more before taking a break near the coast. They were sitting under a tree and eating some food Gelgar had made before leaving the yacht to Mike. Sasha wore one of Mike’s shirts to keep her warm after swimming earlier.

“Who’s Gelgar?” Sasha interrupts Mike while eating her umpteenth sandwich within the fifteen minutes since the group started eating.

Mike swallows the food in his mouth before answering. “He’s a friend I met while traveling around Europe years ago. He’s also the one to watch over my yacht when I’m away. He mostly uses it to sail around the Mediterranean anyway. I trust him. I get the satisfaction of knowing my yacht is safe while I’m on the other side of the world. Gelgar has something he can use to visit other countries and drink the number of drinks he wants. It’s a win-win situation.”

Sasha nods in understanding. It seems like a fun idea to go travel around and see the world. She wants to do that one day. Oh, the number of foods she could eat! It made Sasha’s mouth water. 

Erwin chuckles at Sasha as she continues to eat more food. She’s like Hange, who is hungry for knowledge, except Sasha is actually hungry. 

The group starts sharing stories after they finish eating. This time it was Sasha’s turn to answer the questions.

“So what was your childhood like with Four-Eyes?” Levi asks. He leans forward a bit from where he sat.

Sasha was quiet for a bit to think. She was unsure where to start. She looks up to find everyone staring at her. The look of their eyes reassures her they didn’t want her to rush the story.

“Well, I lived alone here on the island with my mom until I was 2. My mom had hired her current assistant, Moblit, to help her around the hotel and babysit me when I was young. Remember the tunnel I lead you through to get to the goathouse?”

The men nod. 

“That was only one of the tunnels I would hide from Moblit and sneak food in as he searched for me.” Sasha laughs nervously and rubs the back of her head. “Moblit is a nice and reliable guy. I don’t know where my mom and I would be without him.”

Erwin and Mike smile. On the other hand, Levi was jealous of this Moblit guy. He got to see some of Sasha’s milestones growing up. It’s no secret to Levi’s family that Levi dreams of raising a family (with the right woman that he loves. Not someone who he is forced to love). He did a good job watching over Farlan and Isabel’s kids. Plus, his mother wanted her son to give her a grandchild someday. 

Erwin, as if reading Levi’s mind, spoke. “Is your mother dating Moblit?”

Sasha laughs out loud that she had to hold her stomach for support. “Definitely not!” she says as she wipes a tear from her eye. “Moblit is too concerned with mom hurting herself and fixes the hotel. Mom is too busy trying to keep the hotel afloat and raise me! Trust me, those two would put dating each other as the last thing on their minds.”

Sasha continues on and on about her childhood after she calmed down. She talks about how she met her current friends, how she used to run track, her first boyfriend, Hange’s shenanigans, her current friends, her love for food, and her fiance. 

Levi notices how she never brought up the archery medals.

"Sasha," Levi calls out to get her attention. Sasha turns to face Levi. "I noticed the archery medals in the attic. When did you start competing?"

Sasha facepalms. How could she forget something like that?! She places her hands on her lap. "My mom had mentioned it one day when I was 6, and I begged her to find someone to teach me. She managed to find someone on the mainland who gave me private lessons on the weekends. In fact-"

Sasha rolls up her sleeve on her right arm to show off her arms. The males noted Sasha's muscles. She's athletic after all. "-I was pretty much a natural at it. I picked it up really quickly, and I’m a talented hunter. I can even hit a target with my eyes closed!" She starts flexing her right arm and smirks. "I'm a tough person to mess with."

Erwin was impressed. It seems as if he judged Sasha a bit too soon. She was hungry to learn new skills such as archery. Meanwhile, Levi kept staring at Sasha and analyzing what she said. Her talent almost reminded Levi of himself. His Uncle Kenny used to train him with how to fight with a knife (Kuchel almost had a heart attack when she saw them practicing one day. Kenny claimed it was for self-defense.) Levi was a fast learner and is skilled with knives and guns. Levi shook his head to stop thinking about it. Maybe he's just looking too deep into this? Nevertheless, he kept the thought in the back of his mind.

Mike smiles at Sasha’s challenge. He raises up his right arm and starts flexing. "Me too Sasha. Me too." He says as he looks at Sasha’s eyes. They were challenging each other in a staring contest. 

Almost two minutes passed when Mike gave in and blinked. Sasha let a loud whoop and jumped up and down with glee. Erwin clapped for Sasha’s victory, while Levi awkwardly pats Mike's back for reassurance. He's not that much of an asshole.

"Ok ok. You win Sasha. Now, what do you want?" 

Sasha makes an L with her left hand and rests her chin on it. Her left arm was resting on her right arm that she placed across her stomach. She taps her foot as she was thinking.

"Hmmm, what about you tell me a story about you and my mom? Also your views of her."

Mike looks at Erwin and Levi expectedly. Levi shrugs, and only Erwin speaks up. "She asked me the same question before." His mouth opens in an o with realization. Looks like it's his turn to share his story.

"Well your mom is energetic and the most intelligent woman I've ever met. She contributed to my decision of becoming a travel writer."

---

“Everything is all set, Hange.” Mike adjusts his outfit to make himself look presentable to Hange. He wore a pair of jeans he rolled up, a T-shirt, and sandals. To him, he looked like nothing compared to Hange. She wore jean shorts, a flowy long-sleeve blouse that showed off her shoulders, and flip-flops. 

Hange was excited about her lesson with Mike. She had asked him if she can go sailing with Mike after their first night of stargazing. Hange was hoping to at least steer the wheel once. Mike walks up to Hange. She was steadily holding onto the wheel of the yacht. The afternoon sunlight gave Hange a glow around her figure. The wind was perfect for sailing.

Hange had a huge grin on her face. She couldn’t hide her excitement, and she was interested in learning about sailing and the mechanics behind it. Mike had promised to teach her about steer first before going into the complicated parts of sailing. Hange struck a pose when Mike stood next to her. He held something behind his back and out of Hange’s view. 

“How do I look? Do I look like a captain yet?” 

Mike laughs at Hange’s question. She looked far from a captain with her outfit.

“You don’t look the part but-” Mike moves his arms from behind his back to reveal the captain's hat he was hiding from Hange. He walks up to get closer to Hange and places the hat on her head. Mike smiles at Hange fondly once he was sure the hat was placed firmly on her head. 

“Now you do, captain,” he says with a suggestive tone in his voice. Hange snorts and lightly punches Mike on the shoulder. Mike laughs out loud at her reaction.

“Shut up, Mike! You still have to teach me how to steer before I can do anything else.”

Mike walks behind Hange and places his arms over hers. He lightly grasps Hange’s arms and positions them in the correct position on the wheel. Mike moves to place his body close behind Hange’s. He rests his head on her shoulder.

“Ok.” He says next to Hange’s left ear. She shivers a bit from Mike’s voice. “This is what you do.”

---

It was sunset by the time Hange’s sailing lesson ended. Mike instructed Hange how to turn and he had her do figure 8’s and circles near the sea. The two were now sitting on the deck and drinking some wine Mike had brought. They were sharing childhood stories as some music from the radio played in the background. Hange was still wearing the captain’s hat. 

“Wait so you were just born with that nose of yours? There was no accident, and no one in your family had one before?”

Mike shook his head. “Nope. I just had this ability since I could remember.”

Hange nods in understanding. She was curious about her smell now that she thought about it. She can recall the times she was busy in college or exploring the island to even bother taking a bath. Levi used to point it out and even forced her to take a bath once or twice during their time together. Thinking about him did make her heart hurt, but now she’s moved on. She doesn’t need him. 

“What do I smell like?”

“You can smell some musk and vanilla. I can smell it the first time we met. Sorry about that.” he says quickly. 

Hange waves him off and smiles. “Don't worry about it. I think it's really cool and unique! It must be a useful thing to have especially around food!”

Mike chuckles at Hange. “It’s a blessing and a curse.” He can smell delicious foods from around the world, but he can also smell horrible smells like trash. The two continued sharing stories until the song on the radio changed to one Hange was familiar with. She suddenly grabs Mike’s arm and stands up. “Dance with me, Mike!” Mike, who was falling for Hange every second, agrees.

They danced to the music around the yacht. The song was upbeat enough to dance the tango to. Occasionally, Mike would pick up or dip Hange around. This caused Hange to laugh from all the fun she was having. The two were obviously not professional dancers, but they were having fun. Hange was surprised by how well Mike could dance. She felt like a princess dancing with her prince under the stars. 

Mike dips Hange one more time as the final notes of the song play. He pulls her back up and keeps her close to his body. One arm was behind Hange’s back and the other held her head. Their eyes met and their heavy breaths fanned each other's faces. 

“That was...wow,” Hange says in between breaths. “You’re a really good dancer, Mike.”

“You too.” Mike continues staring into Hange’s eyes and Hange stares into his. It was as if there was an invisible force pulling them together as they leaned closer to each other. Mike moves his hand from behind Hange’s head and cups her cheek. He and Hange closed their eyes, and they kissed each other on the lips. 

At that moment, Mike knew there was no turning back. 

---

Sasha smiles after hearing Mike’s story. Maybe Mike is her father? Sasha has a talent for smelling meat from a mile away. 

Erwin checks his watch and stands up. “It looks like we’ve been here for quite some time. Shall we head out?” It was almost 5:30, and they’ve been out for over an hour now. 

Everyone nods and stands up to begin packing their things. Sasha made it her mission to speak to Levi next. 

---

Sasha manages to speak to Levi during the walk back to the yacht. Erwin and Mike were conversing up ahead, so it gave Sasha some private time with Levi. 

“Hey, Levi.” she starts and looks at Levi as they walk. Levi hums in response. “What did you think of my mom?” Sasha was expecting good things similar to Erwin and Mike. Sadly, Sasha doesn’t know Levi well enough to know how he speaks. Bluntly.

“She’s reckless, loud, annoying, and a bit crazy (that is an understatement from Levi). She even asked me to go with her to Kalokairi after five minutes of meeting her!” Sasha wanted to roll her eyes. Levi was also crazy for agreeing to go with her mother. What a hypocrite. (In Levi’s case, Sasha did not need to know why he said yes).

“Yet,” Levi's voice turns from irritated to gentle. Sasha was shocked by the sudden tone change. “She is an intriguing woman.” 

Sasha stops walking and stares at Levi with her mouth wide open. To her, he doesn’t look like a guy to think of her mother fondly like that. His stoic face doesn’t give Sasha much to work with. Levi notices Sasha stopped moving and turns to face her.

“Oi! Stop standing there or else you’ll get flies in your mouth!” he yells and Sasha snaps out of her shock. She runs back to Levi and they continue walking in silence. This time Levi looks at Sasha. 

“Do you want to hear one of my stories about Four-Eyes?” Right. Four-Eyes is a nickname Levi has for her mother. Sasha nods her head.

---

“Get back here, Four-Eyes!” Levi yells as he chased Hange across the beach. 

“You gotta catch me first, Levi darling!” she yells back and continues running away from Levi. 

Hange and Levi were hanging out at the beach on a sunny day. Levi laid down to rest his eyes for a few minutes while Hange was busy making sandcastles. Apparently, Levi slept long enough for Hange to bury him in the sand saved for his head. The worst part was when Hange decorated his body with whatever she could find and took a polaroid picture of Levi. Levi considers himself lucky to wake up to the flash. Hence the situation going on right now. 

Luckily for Levi, Hange accidentally tripped from running in the sand and fell. Levi pounces on Hange and pins her to the ground. He was determined to get that photo. They wrestle on the sand for a bit, but Hange was too stubborn to let go. 

"Stop it, Levi!" Hange laughs as Levi tickles her sides. She slaps her arms around in an attempt to get Levi to stop. 

"You did this to yourself, Shitty Glasses. I'm just returning the favor." Levi continues to tickle Hange. She began loosening her grip on the photo.

"You have such a way with nicknames, Levi. I feel honored!." Hange laughs.

Levi wanted to roll his eyes, but he was determined to get that photo back. Even if he has to change tactics.

Hange didn't see it coming. Levi stopped tickling Hange, grabbed the back of her head, and picked her head up to kiss him on the lips. Hange was too shocked to react.

Hange was still stunned after Levi pulled away. She didn't notice Levi grab the photo out of her hands. He pocketed it away from Hange’s reach.

Hange shakes her head and notices her now empty hands. "Hey, that was dirty!" She exclaims and attempts to search Levi to get the photo back. 

Levi tsks at her many failed attempts. "That wasn't dirty Four-Eyes." He gets off of Hange (much to her confusion) and extends an arm out to help her up. Hange takes Levi’s hand but was suddenly swept off her feet as he carried her bridal style. 

"What are you doing?" Hange squirms in Levi's arms. Levi doesn't loosen his hold on her and starts walking to the ocean.

Oh no, Hange thought. This must be payback from a few days ago.

"Look. I'm sorry Levi! What happened a few days ago was a joke!" She exclaims nervously and tries to free herself from Levi. To Levi, he thought all of Hange’s attempts were cute, but he continued walking anyway. 

Levi stops walking the moment the water hits his knees. Meanwhile, Hange continues to squirm in his arms despite having no progress. She stops when she notices Levi staring at her. He smirks. (That asshole)

"This, Hange, is playing dirty." Levi suddenly drops Hange into the water. She sits up quickly and coughs up some water. She was ready to drag Levi in for revenge but stopped when she heard an unfamiliar sound coming out of him. Levi was laughing! 

Levi laughed like there was no tomorrow. Hange could tell he enjoyed it by the way he wrapped his arms around his stomach. Well, he was laughing at her, but Hange never heard the man laugh since they first met! 

Hange smiles. She'll let Levi enjoy his fun for now.

---

The couple returned back to Hange's house to shower (and maybe a bit more but Sasha didn’t need to know that) after their rendezvous at the beach. They laid in bed together hours after coming back. The house was dark except for the moonlight spilling into Hange’s bedroom. Levi only wore shorts and was absentmindedly playing with Hange’s hair. On the other hand, Hange was wearing her underwear and one of Levi’s button-up shirts to bed except kept the buttons open. She was laying on Levi’s chest with content. It was quiet and peaceful. The only sounds they could hear were their own breaths. Hange could stay like this forever.

Levi was too busy playing with Hange’s hair to notice when Hange started humming to herself. The song didn't sound familiar to him at all, but it sparked his curiosity. 

"What are you humming?"

Hange looks up at Levi from her spot and rests her chin on his chest. She stares into his blue-grey eyes. "A song I used to listen to as a child. It's actually one of my favorites."

Levi continues to stare at Hange. "What is it called?"

Hange smiles. "” I Have a Dream” by ABBA. The tempo is a bit faster than this and more upbeat. I just slowed it down a little bit." 

"Can you sing it for me?"

"What?"

Levi rolls his eyes. "You heard me. I asked if you can sing for me." His face turned red from embarrassment and he looked away from Hange's gaze.

Hange squeals inside. She thought Levi was too cute. She sits up and places a hand on Levi’s cheek. Levi looks up at her with shock. 

"Of course." She leans forward to peck him on the lips. "I'll sing it for you."

Hange leans back and sits criss-cross on the bed while Levi sits up to get more comfortable. She takes a deep breath and starts to sing the first line.

“I have a dream. A song to sing”

Levi was amazed by Hange’s singing. He genuinely thought she was a talented singer, and she should sing to him more often. Heck, she sounds better than Isabel and Isabel is the best singer he knew. 

Levi smiles as Hange continues to sing. He felt as if he could relate to the song in a way. Meeting Hange and spending time with her has been like a dream. She was a dream come true for him. A dream Levi longs for without the responsibilities life throws at him. He felt free and didn't want to wake up. He was happy, content, and in love with the woman singing in front of him now.

---

Sasha smiles sadly after Levi finished his story. Levi spoke about her mother bluntly and with a stoic look on his face earlier. She noticed the light in his eyes, the hint of sadness in his voice, and he had a longing look in his eyes. She never got the chance to ask Levi anything else as they had already reached the yacht. Levi had walked ahead of Sasha and boarded the boat, leaving Sasha to not see the sad expression on his face. 

---

It was already almost 6 when Mike’s yacht set sail again. Mike was busy steering the yacht. Erwin was laying on a bed reading. Sasha was sneakily trying to find a way to speak to Levi after their last conversation. She stood a good distance away from Levi and (tries to) subtly look at him. 

Levi was sitting at the front of the yacht, looking out into the distance deep in thought. Sasha noticed from afar but was too nervous to approach him. She wanted to talk to him more about her mother. Sasha lightly slaps herself on the cheek. Get it together! You already talked to him before, with others around, you can do it again! Sasha looks around the boat to see if anyone noticed her pep talk before walking up to Levi with confidence. 

She was just two feet away from him when he spoke. His gaze was still looking out at the sea. “You know, you’re not exactly subtle when you slap yourself like that. I’m not that much of an intimidating guy to talk to.” Levi turns to Sasha with a small, yet subtle smirk on his face.

Sasha felt all of her confidence go down the drain, and nerves got to her again. She took a deep breath before asking a question that's been haunting her since she read her mom’s diary.

"Did you really love my mom? After you met her, I mean."

It was a simple question, but it took Levi aback. He didn't expect that from Sasha. Maybe she asked Erwin and Mike a similar question?

"I did." That was all Levi says cryptically.

Sasha raises an eyebrow and waits for Levi to expand on his answer. When he didn’t, she decided to lead the conversation.

"So why did you leave and never come back?"

Sasha notes the shock that passed Levi’s eyes. It seems to her that he thought about the question before. Levi took some time to recover from his shock but remained quiet. Why did he not come back? Would Hange really forgive him if he came back days after leaving and begging her for forgiveness? He looks up at the other men on the boat and frowns. 

Probably not. She had Erwin, Mike, and now this Moblit guy who was basically living his dream. That asshole. Levi looks at Sasha expecting annoyance from his silence. He was met with the opposite instead. Levi could see the curiosity in her eyes as she waited patiently for his answer. He was nervous to reveal his reasons.

"I didn’t come back because I-" He stops because of his nerves getting to him. He takes a deep breath. Sasha was waiting with anticipation. "I didn't come back because-"

 "SASHA!!!!" Levi was interrupted by someone yelling from the beach nearby. The man was tall, had wavy blonde hair, and was shirtless. He looked over at Sasha questioningly. “You know the guy?” he asks and uses his thumb to point at the man.

Sasha wanted to facepalm herself. Of all the times! Right before the juicy part too! Niccolo is going to suspect something is up if she does not hurry!

“Yeah. That’s my fiancee calling for me.” She laughs nervously and takes off Mike’s shirt to hand to Levi. Mike and Erwin gather around her confused about the man calling for her.

“I am so sorry, but I have to go. You will be at my wedding right?” Sasha asks hurriedly. She starts running towards the edge of the boat so she could jump in the sea. She could still hear Niccolo calling for her.

“Absolutely.” Mike pats Sasha's arm.

“We’ll be there.” Erwin smiles.

“Promise.” Levi nods his head.

They watch as Sasha swam away from them and towards the shore.

Mike put his hands on Erwin and Levi’s shoulders.

“Let’s head back to shore. I don’t want Gelgar to come back with a hangover before we explore the island some more.

---

Sasha runs into Niccolo’s open arms. He hugged her tightly and spins her around on the sand. “Where have you been, Sasha? I’ve been looking all over for you all day.”

Sasha lets go of Niccolo as he sets her down and rubs the back of her head nervously. “I’m so sorry Niccolo. I’ve just been all over the island.” She laughs and reminisces about her father-daughter bonding time. Today has been nothing but wonderful.

Niccolo didn't want to ruin Sasha's happiness, but who was Sasha with earlier?

©: This is where I insert all rights reserved stuff. This story belongs to me. Do not modify or republish

Author’s Note:

I just realized that I want to write in present tense and I wrote in past tense before. Oops lol.

The next chapter should be out on Sunday! The infamous “Lay All Your Love on Me” scene! I’m excited 😁

[animebw]

Binge-Watching: Hyouka, Episodes 21-22

Well. That’s not the ending I expected at all.

What Happens Next?

Going into Hyouka’s final two episodes, I wasn’t sure what to expect. This show has never really had an ongoing plot, and its character development has been similarly subdued and backgrounded. There’s no obvious emotional or narrative hook to lean on for closure, unless you count Oreki and Chitanda’s developing romance, which is about as close to an overarching story as Hyouka’s had. But even that still leaves a lot of possibilities up in the air. What happens to Satoshi and Ibara? Do we find out anything more about why Oreki’s so reserved? What’s the big, cathartic Idea(tm) that will bring these characters’ aimless journeys to a close? None of these answers were obvious, and I was, if you’ll pardon the joke, curious to find out what was actually going to happen.

What I didn’t expect was to not really get an ending at all.

Like, okay, you can make the argument that some things are wrapped up here. Satoshi and Ibara are implied to finally be dating after things come to a head on Valentine’s day, Chitanda gets a chance to reveal her deeper motivations, and Oreki’s basically forced to realize that he’s smitten with her whether he likes it or not. But for a show that’s never really had a plot, I’m left feeling like there’s still way too much up in the air. Oreki’s development doesn’t feel complete! Chitanda’s internal struggle feels like it’s only just begun! We didn’t get to see Oreki really break out of his shell, or Chitanda really grapple with her sense of responsibility to her family, or Oreki’s desire to be a part of it. We don’t even get the confession! The way the final episode sets these things up feels like the ending to a first season that still needs a proper conclusion, bringing some things to a close while still leaving enough open for a continuation to really wrap things up. And yet, there is no continuation. This is the end of Hyouka’s anime, the ultimate conclusion it’s chosen to leave us with, and it feels more like the start of the next chapter than a “So long, hope you had fun.”

And what’s particularly weird about this is that KyoAni doesn’t do non-endings. No matter what source material they’re adapting, even if they’re not adapting all of it, they basically always make sure to reach a natural endpoint where you’re not left wanting for anything. Both seasons of Chuunibyou close out conclusively enough that the movie almost feels like an afterthought. The first season of Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid told a self-contained story that didn’t really need a follow-up. Hibike Euphonium didn’t need its sequel movies to work as a complete narrative in TV form. Even Haruhi’s first season ended conclusively, and while I haven’t seen Disappearance yet, I’ve heard it’s about as perfect an ending to the series as one could hope. Kyoto Animation is not a studio that likes leaving things open; they understand the importance of complete stories more than basically any other studio. Sure, there can be sequels and sequel films to help flesh things out even further, but they’re never essential viewing: the shows themselves always work on their own. The only other exception to this rule is Beyond the Boundary, a show with such a fumbled mess of a TV ending that you basically need the sequel movie to even understand what was going on and why. But Hyouka’s ending isn’t even fumbled, it just feels like it’s cut off too soon. If you couldn’t fit the whole story into the timeframe you were given, why not do some rewrites so you could end at a satisfying stopping point? KyoAni’s done that before, and it’s almost always worked out for the best. So the fact they just chose to leave this show unfinished confuses me. I can’t even say I dislike where the pieces all fall, but I feel like it’s left me waiting for a conclusion that will never come.

I’m Curious

But okay, that’s enough bitching about the lack of an ending. Putting that aside, there’s still a lot to like about the stuff that does transpire here. It’s clear from pretty early on in the Valentine’s Day episode that Satoshi’s the one who stole the chocolate, and the show wisely doesn’t try to hide that information. Instead, it uses it to peel back the layers of fear that surround the characters and get to the heart of why they struggle to care so much. Satoshi cared way too much about everything when he was younger, and it seriously messed with his ability to enjoy life. When everything, even video games, are a life and death struggle, you end up a pretty miserable person who can’t keep anything in perspective. But now he’s course-corrected so hard that he’s fallen victim to the opposite problem, the same problem that Oreki’s eternally struggling with: he’s scared to care at all. What if he accepts Ibara’s confession and he just goes back to being obsessive all over again, destroying what they have in the process? It might not be a rational fear, but fears aren’t always rational, and it’s frustrating to realize how fallible the seemingly unflappable Satoshi can be (even if literally breaking Ibara’s heart might be a little too on the nose). And Oreki gets a taste of that same fear when Chitanda’s doll costume threatens to sweep him away. The thought of losing control of himself, of wanting something so desperately that he risks destroying it... wherever that instinct came from, it’s never been clearer why Oreki tries so hard not to get drawn into things.

And yet, he is drawn in. He can’t not be drawn in. He cares too much about the world outside himself, and about Chitanda specifically, to sit on the sidelines. She’s as brilliant as the pink sunset that illuminates the falling sakura petals, someone who gives him permission to stop being afraid and start being himself. Even just putting their heads together to solve yet another mystery and giggling as they write on their hands is enough to make his day better. And Chitanda clearly appreciates him just as much, wishing he could be a bigger part of her life, someone she can rely on for the simplest and silliest of life’s obstacles. They’re good for each other. And Oreki knows it, whether he’s ready to accept it or not. Even if he’s still struggling with fear, even if he feels painfully out of place in the rich-girl world she lives in, he’s, well, curious. Curious to learn everything about her that he can. Curious to understand her on a deeper level. Curious to see how his life and hers can intersect. And as time goes on, I’m sure it won’t be long before he’s finally able to voice those thoughts out loud and let her know why she means so much to him.

I just wish we got to see those moments too.

Odds and Ends

-”Next year, I’ll make you a masterpiece and shove it in your face!” YOU TELL HIM IBARA

-kjdfhsdf what was that little shuffle

-”I present to you: one bar of chocolate.” Tomoe ILU

-DON’T KICK IT ASKJDHAKJSDH

-”Trapezoidal?” pfft

-aklsdjasdkhas Chitanda has no tact whatsoever

-”Has anyone here seen chocolate?” “Come on, don’t kick me while I’m down!” Ah, valentine’s day.

-JESUS, those eyes. The emotions in this episode are way more intense than ever.

-”Come on, let’s stuff ourselves with cake!” I’m now picturing an AU where Ibara and Chitanda decide they’re too good for these dudes and hook up with each other instead. Somebody make this happen!

-Oreki casually vibing by a furnace while everyone else is talking about shit he doesn’t understand is a mood.

-”You’ve got your act together.” “First time anyone’s said that to me.” aksjdhaskjd

-I’m really digging this community of old dudes problem-solving together. It’s like Oreki got dropped into an entirely different slice of life anime.

-”About the business side... why don’t I take care of that for you?” GOD FUCKING DAMMIT THAT WAS EVIL KYOANI

And I guess that’s it for Hyouka, huh? Expect my closing thoughts later tonight!

[deanstwrtartcontext]

Who am I as an Artist? Moving Forward

There are so many different methods of printmaking, each with their own character and charms. Linocut prints producing patchy and carefree prints, etching specialising in tone and monoprints creating one-of-a-kind pieces each time. I am personally most inspired by screen printing, also known as silkscreen printing. Screen printing is a form of printing using a screen made of stretched fabric and a frame1. The artist creates a stencil by applying glue, film/paper or photoresist to the areas of the screen that they don’t want printed, then smears ink through the untouched parts of the screen to create a print. This method is primarily used on paper and fabric; however, it is possible to print on other materials such as wood and metal if using specific inks. Screen printing is wildly popular due to its ability to print bright and even colours regardless of the surface2. Screen printing works similarly to a reduction print, creating multidimensional art using layers rather than tone and shading. It is also praised for its ability to produce identical prints in little to no time, making it a key method in the mass production for the likes of posters. Screen printing started being used in the 1920’s for advertisements, even though the method dates all the way back to 221 AD China3, and was being used by artists only 10 years later. By the 1950’s, screen printing had become a widely appreciated media amongst artists. During the 1960’s, screen printing boomed in popularity after pop artists such as Andy Warhol and Keith Harring used it for their designs4. Screen printing was the prime medium for the pop art movement because of the ease at which you could create colourful block shapes and patterns, as well its ability to mass produce designs.  Screen printing has a long and diverse history, but not one that is going to end anytime soon. The method is still wildly popular today amongst printmakers, with its charming characteristic and accessibility maintaining its popularity as strong as ever.  

Ben Rider

Ben Rider is an illustrator and prink maker based in London. Rider is known for his messy neon prints with punk undertones. His work is created using a screen print to bring his illustrations alive, usually in a psychedelic pop art style. One of my favourite pieces of his would be ‘Pleasure Thyself.

5Print Club London. (n.d.). Pleasure Thyself by Ben Rider. [online] Available at: https://printclublondon.com/shop/pleasure-thyself/ [Accessed 13 Mar. 2021].

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This print includes a hand holding to smiley faces, as well as the name of the piece, ‘Pleasure Thyself’. This print is fairly simple; however, I feel as though there's a lot of depth to it. At first glance, it simply seems to be a print about looking after yourself and your mental health. The description of the piece states, ‘In these strange days it's good to be reminded to just be kind to ourselves too!’. I feel as though there could also be a comparison drawn between this piece and drug culture. The hand seems to be holding two smiley faces, which at first reminded me of pills. The slogan of, ‘Pleasure Thyself’ could also relate to the act of getting high or taking an upper. I feel as though the colour pallet helps strengthen this analysis. The piece includes bright pink and yellow, creating a psychedelic feeling. There are also a bunch of lines coming out of the faces, making them the main focus point of the piece. I feel that this also adds emphasis to the pill like shapes. However, some may say that these lines were included to replicate a sun. It could also be argued that this print was inspired by addiction. Many people fall into a dark hole and use drugs as a form of escapism, using the euphoric feeling of being under the influence as a stimulant during hard times. Over all, I feel that this piece was created with this double entendre in mind. It could simply be enjoyed as a print about looking after yourself and staying positive, but on the other hand, could also be viewed as a piece inspired by drug culture. With many of Rider’s pieces having a sense of social commentary to them, I don’t doubt that this was his intentions.  

Steven Wilson

Steven Wilson is an artist, designer and animator based in Brighton. Born in London, Wilson currently works for his own self-titled business alongside Pedro Cardoso. The company works in both analogue and digital methods to create unique and colourful pieces of art. Steven Wilson has found a great deal of success since launching his company in 2001, creating work for big names such as: Nike, The Oscars, Virgin and the New York Times, amongst many others.6

7 STEVENWILSONSTUDIO. (n.d.). Krunk Melt. [online] Available at: https://www.stevenwilsonstudio.com/prints/krunk-melt [Accessed 13 Mar. 2021].

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‘Krunk Melts’ is a screen print, made using 3 layers, by Steven Wilson. It includes a bear, with a rather unpleased look on its face, melting away. I really liked this print because of the bright colours and unusual subject matter. Many of Steven Wilson’s work has a huge pop art style to it, and you can definitely see the correlation in this piece. The print uses a lot of bright colours, creating a cartoon style. The bear is outlined with a dark blue rather than a black, softening the piece all together. I feel that this makes the print feel a lot more comforting, compared to creating a stark contrast between the bright colours and a solid black outline. However, this carefree style is contradicted with the expression on the bear’s face. It has a very disapproving look on its face, as opposed to the stereotypical cheery smile cartoons are often given. This changed the feeling of the piece completely. The look on the bear’s face, along with the fact that it is melting, created a more sombre feeling to the print. This is strengthened with the fact that the bear itself is blue, a colour often used to convey sadness. I really liked the contrast this created. The use of bright colours in a piece that feels rather negative confuses the viewer. The art that, at first, seemed so cherry and carefree now has a sense of melancholy that was not initially obvious. I feel that this depth, mixed with the simplicity of the design, created a really interesting and effective print. After closely inspecting the piece, you are almost left not knowing how to feel about it, highlighting how powerful an image it is.  

Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol was an American artist who explored a huge selection of media such as: painting, printing and sculpture as well as photography and film. Warhol was best known for his screen prints that explored the relationship between advertisement and celebrity culture. His art boosted him to fame during the 60’s, leading to him being considered a leading artist of the pop art movement with pieces such as, ‘Campbell’s Soup Cans’ and ‘Shot Mrilyns’. 8

9Revolver Gallery. (n.d.). Giant Panda 295 by Andy Warhol. [online] Available at: https://revolverwarholgallery.com/portfolio/warhol-giant-panda/ [Accessed 13 Mar. 2021].

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Giant Panda 295 is a screen print done by Andy Warhol in 1983. The piece was done as a commission by Ron and Freyda Feldman, and was one of ten pieces created inspired by endangered animals. The print included a red panda with a thin blue outline and pink and yellow details. I really liked this piece as I felt it was instantly obvious why it was created. The red and yellow together somewhat mimics a fire, creating a sense of danger and anxiety. The use of a blue outline really helps the piece stand out more, especially against the red. This choice was especially effective in the eyes of the panda. There isn't really much detail, however I feel that this colour choice makes them look a lot more unnatural. The blue against the red really helps the eyes stand out. I feel that this was done to make the view feel like the panda is looking right at them, almost as if the panda is shaming you for not helping. This small detail, along with the intense colour pallet creates a sense of urgency, almost pushing you to help the cause. I think that this was a highly successful piece, managing to capture so much emotion in such a simple print. Even without looking into the background of the piece, you can hazard a good guess as to why it was created. Proving just how powerful a print this is, highlighting Warhol’s talent as a whole.  

Screen printing inspires me for many reasons, and I feel that the more artists I research that explore the medium, the more passionate I feel about it. I really love that every artist that uses screen printing does it in their own way, with every artist’s work looking wildly different from each other's. Yet, the use of bright colours and layers ties them all together. I think throughout my journey as a printmaker, I want to experiment with screen printing more, taking into consideration how I can use both colour and layering to enhance my work.  

Word count- 1.487

1 Tate (2017). Screenprint �� Art Term | Tate. [online] Tate. Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/s/screenprint [Accessed 13 Mar. 2021].

2Customplanet.co.uk. (2020). What is Screen Printing? A Step-by-Step Guide to Silk Screen Printing. [online] Available at: https://www.customplanet.co.uk/what-is-screen-printing-step-by-step-i50 [Accessed 13 Mar. 2021].

3www.leicesterprintworkshop.com. (n.d.). A brief history of screenprinting - Leicester Print Workshop. [online] Available at: http://www.leicesterprintworkshop.com/printmaking/screenprinting/a_brief_history_of_screenprinting/#:~:text=A%20brief%20history%20of%20screenprinting.%20Screenprinting%20originated%20in [Accessed 13 Mar. 2021].

4My Modern Met. (2018). 8 Print Artists That Will Inspire You to Try Silk Screen Printing at Home. [online] Available at: https://mymodernmet.com/silk-screen-printing-artists/ [Accessed 13 Mar. 2021].

6STEVENWILSONSTUDIO. (n.d.). About. [online] Available at: https://www.stevenwilsonstudio.com/about [Accessed 13 Mar. 2021].

8Tate (2019). Andy Warhol 1928-1987 | Tate. [online] Tate. Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/andy-warhol-2121 [Accessed 13 Mar. 2021].

[risottostitties]

Hi! First time here to ask haha! Any HCs for La squadra with an Otaku s/o? Like she watches anime and even buys merch in secret cuz she's scared they might find her hobby lame and immature? (Also,what will be their fave anime? And genre?)

Oh boy let me tell you I have some THOUGHTS about these boys and their taste in anime

La Squadra with an Otaku s/o

Risotto 

at first he’s gonna be kinda confused, not gonna lie. Growing up the only ‘anime’ he knew was like, Pokemon and Dragon Ball Z but at that point he was too old to really get into Pokemon, and he never considered DBZ anime because it aired next to cartoons and stuff.

But that doesn’t mean he won’t appreciate s/o and their good taste. He’s the kind of guy who wants to learn about what interests the people he loves, and he loves you. So he’d honestly enjoy late nights spent binge watching your favorites.

Comes to realize that DBZ was low key his gym goals for the early years of him working out. If you bought him a ‘Swole like Goku’ tank he’d probably wear it to lift in, ngl.

Knowing your favorites he’d probably look to merch for his go to birthday or Christmas gifts. Considering the hobbies and interests of some of his co-workers, a scantily clad waifu figure is honestly a welcome change of pace.

Depending on the style or aesthetic of the anime (ie, is it goth) he would be down to couples cosplay, although he wouldn’t be comfortable with you posting pictures of his face or any identifiable features of him online

His fave is probably the original Dragon Ball Run, followed very closely by DBZ for the nostalgia bit. Something deep like Full Metal Alchemist (Brotherhood and the original) would also appeal to him

Is also a big fan of Beserk, disappointed by the anime. And Vinland Saga, not disappointed by the anime.

Partial to Princess Mononoke as well. He likes some Ghibli films, isn’t afraid to admit it. Thinks the score for Spirited Away is bomb af.

Prosciutto

Prosciutto doesn’t really get it at first either. Honestly? He probably didn’t know the difference between cartoon and anime until you explained it to him.

Unlike Risotto he might be a bit more judgey if you try to get him to watch some with you. So you gotta hit him with the real classics. 

But similarly to Risotto, he at least makes an effort to try and indulge in the things you like. He might not be as patient, but he tries.

Probably wouldn’t do cosplay himself, but would hunt down exclusive seasonal merch to gift you. He’d take careful stock of your collections and do some research to pick out only the finest figurines and posters for you.

Would buy that hella expensive premium bandai apparel for you too, might even pick something subtle up for himself if he really liked the show it came from.

Also back on the cosplay note, if you agreed he’d find the highest quality cosplay possible and have you model some of his favorites for him.

(In particular if you were comfortable in fem clothing, Faye Valentine gets him going)

He loves Cowboy Beebop. 100%, wants to watch it again as soon as it ends. Everything from the characters to the story to the music and the fliud animation that has aged like fine wine appeals to him. Prosciutto is a man who likes the finer things in life. He oozes class. Cowboy Beebop oozes class and prestige.

Also likes Maasaki Yuasa. It was his idea to go see The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl in theaters.

In general his tastes tend to lean towards arthouse type anime or bona fide classics.

Pesci

Pesci knows anime and has been doing his absolute best to keep it a secret from the rest of the gang because they already tease him enough.

He’s one of those secret weebs, you gotta know where to look. Your best bet is to look at his accessories. Is there a watch with a certain symbol from an anime you recognize? A lanyard with a familiar print? Something subtle that isn’t immediately noticed by people not looking for it.

He has a secret box in his room full of blue rays from his faves. He watches them sometimes when he’s home alone. There’s nothing X rated in there obviously, he just doesn’t want people to know.

Thank god he has you.

The two of you probably bonded pretty fast over your mutual love of anime. Hell, you being such an open and proud Otaku probably gave him a bit of confidence in expressing his interests too.

Yall are the weeb couple. Yall definitely go to conventions together. Couples Cosplays, the whole thing.

He’s a sucker for Shonen just as much as he is for the really good heart wrenching painful ones. 

He watches Boruto because he loves Naruto so much.

He would also tear up at Clannad.

Dango Daikazoku triggers almost a pavlovian response of heart ache.

So does Secret Base.

Ano Hana is probably his favorite, although even you’d need to pry it out of him. Its one thing that Prosciutto gives him shit for liking anime, its a whole different ball game if he found out Pesci liked girly anime

Fromaggio

He knows what hentai is. That’s about as far as his knowledge went before yall got together.

He thinks its pretty interesting though, so he’d be down to watch some with you.

Turns out he really likes action shonen. He got really, really into One Piece. Like, instantly. He likes the fact there’s so much to watch/read before he’s caught up too.

Another boy that would couples cosplay and be really into it. Especially if it continued into the bedroom.

He’s pretty go with the flow, so he isn’t picky about what y’all watch. Even if it isn’t his cup of tea he’ll sit through a few episodes on a night with you.

Fromaggio can’t tell the difference between a high quality figure and a shitty one. Its a crap shoot what he buys for you. Its more a process of ‘oh, so likes this character’ rather than checking the seams and paint quality and how dynamic the pose is/interchangeable parts. 

Definitely buys way too much in the dealers room because of this.

He tries his best.

His fave is probably One Piece, liked bleach a lot but never read the manga, Yu Yu Hakusho is another one he really enjoyed. The Dark Tournament arc had him at the edge of his seat and hype as shit.

Illuso

Had a passing knowledge of anime before dating you. Knew what it was, saw a few of the mainstream ones, thought they were enjoyable, moved on with his life.

Your dedicated interest in anime would surprise him at first, because he always figured it was kind of a niche thing.

Would snoop around your collection of manga/figures/plushes in the mirror world while you sleep.

Winds up reading a lot of your manga like that (he’s good at reading in reverse because of his stand)

He finds he appreciates the art style of 80s-90s manga a lot more than he does the modern stuff. He really got into Ranma 1/2 and thinks Rumiko Takahashi’s artstyle is excellent.

If you asked him to watch Inuyasha with you he wouldn’t say no.

Probably wouldn’t want to do couples cosplay, but he definitely has an appreciation for you in cosplay.

You could talk him into going to a con if you caught him in the right mood. It’d be a hard sell though.

Has a surprising enjoyment for J-Rock. 

Inuyasha is high on his favorites list, as is Ranma 1/2. Also a fan of Ghibli movies although its pulling teeth to get him to admit it.

Melone

This man has watched so much hentai in his life.

He probably actually knows them by title honestly.

He enjoys anime too, and is not ashamed unlike Pesci. Everyone already knows he has unconventional tastes there is nothing to hide here.

Melone enjoys traditionally feminine anime, especially Sailor Moon. That one has a special place in his heart as he has memories of his sister watching it with him when he was much younger.

Its more of a decompress thing than anything else, so he doesn't tend to favor heavy anime with dense plot and more mature subject matter.

He likes Maid Costumes. On you, on him, it doesn’t matter.

Doesn’t know a whole lot about merch and what makes something higher quality but he learns fast. Between you and him the Dealers Room at cons won’t know what hit them.

Is the type to preorder a figure he knows you’d like. And maybe one for him.

Buy him this and he’s putty in your hands for a month straight (SFW don’t worry) https://www.amazon.com/Bandai-Sailor-Moonlight-Memory-Locket/dp/B00UA9XB48

Sailor Moon is his favorite as I’ve said before, his favorite sailor scout is Rei. Is also a fan of Ano Hana, Violet Evergarden, and Toradora although he needs to be in the right mood to watch them.

Ghiaccio

He went down the Fate rabbit hole and we haven’t seen him since.

The gender bending grates as his soul but he is addicted regardless. There’s just so much dense lore that he can’t seem to stop going.

But also seeing how much care and attention is paid to the historical background of a lot of the servants is intriguing to him. Its the perfect blend of accurate and harem trash that infuriates him but also leaves him needing to know more.

He hasn’t played every game but he has Grand Order on his phone and has sunk an ungodly amount of money into the gacha trying to get his favorite (Its Jeanne Alter, in case anyone was wondering) and has seen all the anime (His favorite is the cooking spin off because its surprisingly calming to watch)

Fate Zero is probably his favorite ‘serious’ Fate adaptation. He enjoys the gravitas of the Holy Grail Wars (and hates how it was tossed out the fucking window in UBW/Stay Night/Heavens Feel) and the ritual aspect to the summoning and foreshadowing of future events as well as hints at a deeper magical lore in the universe hit all the right spots in his lizard brain.

The fact every fate anime has a different version of Saber (or a Saber Clone) pisses him off too.

He really loves Fate. And will scream about it for hours at you.

Getting him to watch or talk about anything else is like pulling teeth but he eventually relents because he loves you.

Its difficult to get through a single episode without him grumbling about something or another, but he tries once he sees its important to you. He does his best not to outright insult your favorite anime.

Can appreciate high quality merch as well, probably collects Jalter Figures himself.

If you’re comfortable in fem clothing, Cosplay Jalter for him and he will literally ascend then and there. Keeps pics on his phone. Would probably make it his background. He’s weak

Outside of Fate he finds he enjoys high fantasy shows. Historical fantasy pisses him off too much, and straight up historical drama would also have him grasping for inaccuracies.

Full Metal Alchemist is a non-fate series that he really loves because of the world building. The movie Maquia was one he enjoyed as well. Likes every Miyazaki film, don’t tell anyone. Cried (and raged) when Ushio died in Clannad.

In general he just likes really good world building. It has to be good otherwise he’s going to spend the whole time picking it apart.

[typewriterghcst]

Title: A Very Small Wish Fandom: The Cat Returns Characters: Baron, Muta, Toto, Haru, plus some OCs Rating: PGish maybe?? Words: 4724 Summary: A pleading request from a parent whose daughter has been cursed by a resentful witch is nothing truly out of the ordinary for the Cat Bureau— in fact, it might be so common so as to be routine— so why does something feel inherently off about this particular one? Notes: Third chapter of six of a Secret Santa gift for @deedee-sunflowers. It’s about here that the chapters start getting a bit long hhh. Tho I think they end up a little shorter again eventually Anyway, the first task. A lot of different influences went into these parts of the story, and I hope they’re not too blatant or distracting, aha ;;  Also, I forgot! I drew a very small doodle of the little patchwork creatures which feature in this chapter, if anyone’s interested `~`;;

                                    Ch. 3: The Sown Forest

The Sown Forest is near deathly silent, or… perhaps at least it feels that it should be, but the crunching of the snow under their collective feet and an ever-present rumbling ambiance akin to a distant earthquake means there’s little true silence to be had. And even without that unexpected ambient background, something about the place doesn’t feel quite right. In every direction grow thin, white trees, scattered haphazardly and yet also in just the right formation to make the forest seem far too organized, tidy. Patterned. 

No matter where they look, the horizon stretches out over an immeasurable distance, and the white of the sky and that of the level, milky ground meld into one. Only the wispy, bare branches of the trees break up the monotony of the landscape.

“Well,” Baron finally thinks to remark, “The bright red of a holly berry is likely to stick out like a rather sore thumb in this environment, isn’t it?”

“Sure, if you can find the one dumb enough to grow right now,” Muta grumbles, burying his nose into the warmth of the scarf wrapped around his neck and grumpily huddling further into his coat.

“Now, let’s not lose faith so early, Muta. Should we remain positive and keep a cool head about this, we’re sure to succeed.”

“Yeah, that’s what you always say…” More grousing.

“We have only a limited amount of time to triumph over all three of these challenges, and I believe we’ll cover more ground if we split up into groups. Muta, Miss Haru— the two of you start in that direction. Mr. Vanya and I shall take the opposite. Toto, see if you can discern anything from the sky.”

“A berry— even a patch of berries, might be difficult to spot from an aerial view,” Toto responds as a gentle caution. “Even in such a uniform environment.”

“I know, but there’s no harm in trying anyhow.”

Toto nods. Then, more firmly than before, “And how do you propose we find this spot again to inevitably reconvene?”

Ah, bless Toto again, Haru thinks to herself briefly, because Baron looks rather comically bemused by this question, and she and Muta and Toto (if possibly even Vanya, the newcomer that he is) know that this very important piece of information had not occurred to him while putting together his impromptu plan. He gives a pensive noise, one hand going to his chin as the other is planted on his hip.

Eventually, he glances at the trees surrounding them, appearing to have been struck by inspiration, and then removes his hat.

Wordlessly, he hangs it on one of the nearest branches, positioning it just so so it won’t slip off or blow away (though there’s not been even the slightest whisper of wind since they’d arrived). 

“Here we are. We’ll all meet back here in an hour— keep an eye on your own footprints. They’re all four of them different, and they should help to distinguish our separate paths.”

Something in Vanya’s gaze gleams as he looks to Baron’s hanging hat, though he ultimately turns away from it to rejoin the group. Instead, he hops like a particularly excited toddler to Haru and Muta (well, Haru, to be more truthful). In one of his paws is what appears to be a skewered snake or worm, which he wastes no time in handing sloppily to the teen, much to her dismay.

“For good luck! This is a traditional Oostal charm good for finding tricky things. And we need all the good luck we can get!”

Haru looks swiftly to Muta for assistance, but the cat is leaning away from her with an expression that speaks to no less than utter baffled disgust. Well. Strained gratitude it is, then, it seems.

“O-Ohh… You’re right, that’s a good idea— th-thank you.”

Vanya beams in a manner eerily reminiscent of the Cat King before scampering back over to his place beside Baron (and it’s only through their long shared history with the cat figurine that Toto and Muta both glean the subtle apprehension in his own expression, that he is mutely waiting in terror for the fox to hand him one of these traditional charms as well). Vanya neglects to do so, however, and Baron’s subdued trepidation is gone almost as soon as it’d revealed itself.

“Remember— one hour. If all else fails, Toto at least should be able to reunite us.”

With that decided, they start off in their opposite directions, Toto taking wing into the sky.

                                                          &&&

It’s terribly easy to become disoriented in the Sown Forest, Haru and Muta quickly find out. If not for their own footprints, they swiftly agree they’d have long since been wandering in tight circles and not even realized it. The seamless boundary between land and sky and tree has Haru occasionally feeling rather like she’s walking on a spinning top which also wobbles across the table.

She eventually places the skewered… animal Vanya had given her down beneath a tree, shooting Muta an injured look when he comments on it.

“Looking a gift horse in the mouth, chicky? Didn’t think you had it in ya,” he cracks with a sardonic laugh.

“I’ll pick it back up before we head back to the others! He’ll never even know. B-Because there’s no reason for me to actually carry it with me the whole time we’re looking…”

“I’m just picking on ya. You dropping that thing is gonna do wonders for my nose. Smells like a spoiled fish.” Then, with an annoyed huff, he continues, “I woulda thrown it at him— try to give me some stinky dead thing on a stick—”

“Come on, he’s not that bad,” Haru tries, but she knows she doesn’t sound all that convinced herself. And Muta’s not about to let it go without comment, either.

“You don’t sound so sure to me, kid.”

Haru turns in her spot on her heel, feeling lost and restless in a hard-to-define way. The Sown Forest is devoid of rocks and bushes entirely; it’s nothing but thin scraggly trees, and she would never have imagined before now that to scour such a nebulous landscape might prove to be so exasperating. Where does one search for a pop of color when there are no hiding places? 

“...do you get… kind of a weird feeling from Vanya..?”

“Yeah,” Muta doesn’t hesitate to respond sourly. “He’s a tiny, annoying puffball with a bad laugh.”

“N— No, I mean— like an uneasy feeling. Like something is… um, off.”

“Probably ‘cause something is off about him. I don’t trust that puffball.”

The relief Haru gains from such a simple sentence is near indeterminable. She almost leaps in victory.

“I knew it couldn’t be just me! Well, and Toto, maybe, but he was more mum on the whole thing. You know how he is.”

“A gargoyle of few words, yeah, I guess. Real annoying, if you ask me. It’d be a lot easier if everyone just said what they mean instead of hanging on to secrets to keep the peace.”

Distantly, Haru gets the distinct impression this complaint has roots beyond the borders of the current situation, and she’s not sure what to say to it.

Muta, also, seems similarly surprised at himself, and in the end, he chooses to bulldoze past it, circling a few trees in the silence and eventually speaking up, “...Anyway, this Vanya creature pipsqueak is fishy, an’ I don’t like him. I don’t know what he is. Something old. And this place is, too.”

“What about Baron? Do you think he’s being careful enough? He’s wandering around alone with Vanya right now…”

“Eh, Baron’s kind of a soft-hearted ham sometimes, but he’s no peabrain. He’ll be fine.”

“Is that really the best you can do to reassure me..?”

“What? I dunno what to tell you, chicky, it’s the truth.” 

“Yeah, but a little more optimism wouldn’t have hurt,” Haru mumbles plaintively.

“If you want, ya could bust on to the scene and rescue him from the puffball to pay him back. Hey, maybe he’ll start crushing on you, then.”

Oh, that calls for a heated blush. Haru stares down at the snow-covered ground of the Sown Forest, hands balled loosely into fists at her sides, though she’s trying desperately to play it all cool. Unfortunately, she’s never been much of an actor.

“He’s my friend— of course I don’t want him to get hurt.”

Muta’s response of the beginnings of a chaffing laugh is not well-received; Haru spins around to protest, but— 

Something comes shuffling into their space from behind a nearby tree. And something is all Haru can think to describe it as— smaller even than Vanya and Siree, with a long, snuffling snout and a soft, bean bag body. The tiny creature lacks arms or wings of any kind, giving it an awkward, waddling gait. Missing also are eyes and any noticeable ears.

Yet the strangest thing is that it appears to have been sewn together out of scraps of colorfully-patterned fabric, much like a quilt. (It triggers a memory of her mother’s handiwork, in fact, and the very idea of her mother back at home, in the real world, throws Oostal’s alienness into stark relief. She’s so terribly far from home.)

Muta and Haru watch the little thing waddle between them and then down the way from them in silence before looking back to each other.

“What is it, Muta?” Haru asks. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

“What, you never had a stuffed animal before?”

“Stuffed animals don’t walk, Muta,” Haru responds with a huff.

“Eh, shows what you know.”

Whatever response Haru might have had to this lazy red herring abruptly trails off, because the funny little creature, having paused for a brief moment, now drops its floppy snout onto the ground and continues on in a faintly opposite direction, snorting softly the whole way.

“It must be one of the rumored inhabitants of the Sown Forest, right?”

“Yeh. Bet it’ll lead us to those rumored holly berries, too, if we’re careful about it.”

“Now you’re starting to sound like Baron.”

Muta darts out from beside her with a faint derisive groan. “Remind me to scratch you later for that one.”

                                                          &&&

Following a colorful (albeit very small) waddling quilt animal through an otherwise blinding array of white snow and sky proves to be astonishingly more difficult than either Muta or Haru would have expected. More than once they somehow lose sight of the thing, only to have to stop and strain their ears for its characteristic snuffling breaths. 

“It has two little stick legs and waddles like a sedated duck,” Muta complains at one point when they’ve lost it again. “How do we keep losin’ track of it?!”

“Hold on— Muta, I hear it again. It sounds really close.” Then, after a few seconds spent listening, she adds, “...Actually, it… sounds a little like it’s eating something, doesn’t it?”

This is all Muta seems to need to hear before turning on his heel and starting the opposite way.

“Where are you going?” Haru calls after him.

“I’m out!” He hollers back. “Nothing good comes outta anything that involves weird creatures feasting on stuff, I don’t care what it’s actually— woah!!”

“What is it— Muta, what’s wrong?” Haru dashes in the direction of his voice, fearing the worst. Yet she finds him with little difficulty, and in one piece, poised in the same horrified position a housewife might take were she confronted with a trail of muddy footprints across a formerly pristine linoleum floor.

At his feet, so close he could stretch out a paw and tip the little thing over were he so inclined, is the patchwork animal they’d been struggling to track… and the good luck charm Haru had abandoned earlier, which appears a little worse for the wear.

Muta dashes behind her with an unsteady gait, complaining the entire way. “Ughh, it’s even worse than what I was thinking—!”

“Come on, it’s not that bad,” Haru tries, even as she takes a repulsed step back at the faint sound of tearing meat and flinches. “...it’s still pretty bad, though.”

It’s as they’re watching from a couple paces away that the little thing lifts its ostensible head to… well, scrutinize them, Haru supposes, though it lacks the eyes to do so. Perhaps there is another, hidden sense that allows it to see in a less traditional manner.

Your trade is acceptable.

Haru can’t quite place it, how she Knows that this is what the creature before Muta and her is communicating, as it hadn’t spoken aloud, nor does she hear the words echoing in her mind as one might expect of a bizarre display of telepathy. Yet, still, the resounding statement is clear.

“O-Oh—” She starts, and her voice is like an echoing gunshot in the silence of the forest, which leads her to whisper her next words, “We’re, um, glad you like it.”

Then, as they watch, it drops its head again and continues tearing delicate slivers off the charm, seemingly oblivious to their presence again.

“Well, now what?” Muta says at her feet. He’s still eyeing the patchwork creature with no small measure of antipathy, but he’s at least not subtly hiding behind Haru anymore.

“I guess we… wait for it to finish..?”

“Great.” Muta sits down with an annoyed huff. “Doesn’t it know we’re on a tight schedule here?”

Haru laughs, but it’s tinged with a speck of nervousness.

If not for the unmistakable noise of flapping wings over the ever present hum of the forest, the resultant wind would certainly give Toto’s arrival away— there’s been not even the barest hint of a breeze since they’ve been searching. The crow perches atop a nearby tangle of branches, cocking his head in a distinctly avian fashion at the creature they’ve run across.

“Ha, looks like you’ve found one of the inhabitants.”

“What was your first clue?”

“The quilt creature down there, mostly.”

Muta, again feeling indirectly bested, only grumbles lowly to himself and crosses his arms. Instead, Haru speaks up.

“It’s taking this good luck charm as a trade for the berry. At least, that’s what it sounded like to me. I guess it’ll… um, show us the way once it’s finished..? I’m not sure how it works.”

“Sounds plausible to me. Baron and Vanya are some ways off in that direction,” Toto also adds, gesturing with his wing. “I’ll go to let them know they can stop searching, and bring them here. Be right back!”

Haru and Muta watch him take off, and for a little while until he’s too far in the distance for them to make out, before turning back to their… companions. It seems in their distraction, more of the little quilt animals had arrived, attracted no doubt by the scent of the ‘good luck charm’ Haru had laid down before the tree.

“They really like this icky stuff, don’t they?” Haru muses in an almost-laugh.

Muta pokes one of them on the top of its soft head, causing it to lose its balance and fall to the side. Grudgingly, he sets it rightside up again. “...Guess that little pipsqueak knew what he was talking about, after all.”

                                                        &&&

Elsewhere, Toto’s return trip hits an unforeseen, somewhat bizarre snag.

“The Very Pretty Vanya Creature does not fly through the air like an unsolicited blown kiss!” 

Baron and Toto share a puzzled, if slightly frazzled, look between them.

“Mr. Vanya, I sympathize if it’s a matter of a… ah, disdain for heights, but the time limit with which we’ve been burdened is perpetually ticking down, and we ought to do all we can to minimize wasted time,” Baron first tries.

“I’m a very careful flier, too. I promise you’ll have your feet on solid ground in no time at all,” Toto also adds.

But Vanya only shakes his head. “It is no matter of fear!” He begins in a manner that says fear is exactly the matter. “It is the principle! Pretty Vanya has no wings. He was meant to stay on the ground.”

It seemed there would be no convincing him. Baron turns to Toto.

“Toto, do you think then that you could fly a little ways overhead and guide us to the others? If we hurry, perhaps we’ll still make good time.”

Before them, Vanya wrings his paws fretfully before finally throwing one arm across his eyes and crying out, “Pretty Vanya must be left behind! He is the millstone dragging everyone else down!”

“N-Now— Mr. Vanya, please, don’t despair—”

“The Most Helpful Bureau must leave me behind,” Vanya insists again, this time without his face hidden, fixing Baron with a determined look. “I said it before, didn’t I? The Pretty Vanya Creature will meet you there in no time, because he is very fast.”

Faced with Vanya’s clear obstinate refusal and the added stress of a ticking clock, it doesn’t take long for Baron to give in, though the veneer of reluctance lingers over him still.

“V… Very well, Mr. Vanya. If you do insist. We’ll go on without you.”

"You will. But there's no reason to worry. It'll be all okay!"

"...Yes. Of course. Be careful."

As they’re flying away, Toto speaks up. “Do you think he’ll make it?”

Baron seems reluctant to answer, gaze distant and unfocused. Coupled with his stilted posture, it gives him the look of someone who is quite diligently trying to avoid jumping to an unpleasant conclusion.

“...It doesn’t matter,” he eventually responds quietly. “I suppose it’s not something which overtly needs his presence.”

“What about covertly?”

“Then we shall hope for the best.”

                                                          &&&

True to Toto’s ultimately fruitless attempts at reassurance, it seems only a matter of seconds when they have their feet back on solid ground, spotting Muta and Haru from the air easily enough and touching down just shy of them in the hopes of not startling the by now bristling crowd of tiny quilted animals surrounding the other two.

“Eh? Where’s the pipsqueak?”

“He chose to find his own way to our location,” Baron first explains in his impeccable manner.

“Scared of heights,” is Toto’s more honest addition.

Muta turns back to the quilt animals with an unimpressed scowl. “Figures. Just make us do all the dirty work.”

“Now, Muta, a genuine fear of heights is nothing to brush off.”

“Yeah, if it’s genuine…” Mumbled under his breath, but distinct enough for them all to hear, and that Baron (nor the other two) step in to offer a defense is telling… but also serves at least to inform them all that they’re all four on the same page.

“What about these little guys? Have they brought up the trade or the berry again?”

“No. I think they wanted to finish off the, um… trade first,” Haru says, looking from Baron and Toto to the gathering of quilt animals scattered about before them. She sits crouched on her haunches with her elbows on her thighs, gazing out at their odd companions with the same detached but amiable curiosity one might reserve for a child’s play.

“Can they really stretch out that one sticky charm enough for this many to have a bite of it?” She eventually notes with some incredulous amusement.

“They’re sure gonna try,” Muta snorts.

Finally, as they watch, in the distance it looks as if there are languid waves in the sea of brightly-colored patchwork, divots in the throng that speak to the movement of only a few individuals while the others part to let them pass.

It doesn’t take long; they soon find themselves approached for an apparent audience with a… particularly diminutive individual which separates from the group, one which also appears to have been adorned with a tattered shawl thrown over its body, which trails like a leaden weight after it (though upon closer inspection, this threadbare train is simply part of the little thing’s frame).

Some of the seams on its patchwork appear to be coming undone. Distantly, Haru wonders what will happen should they truly do so, and— quite swiftly derails her own thoughts before they can wander down distressing paths.

Strikingly, also, unlike the others, this one has been endowed with an eye— a single coffee-colored iris in startlingly familiar, human-shaped white sclera. Situated somewhat strangely off-centered atop its tapered, drooping head, it stares vacantly ahead, half-lidded.

The four of them feel themselves scrutinized by this seeming elder; even Muta has no complaint to offer in an attempt to hurry the process along.

Only one.

Haru can’t quite place it, how she Knows that this is what the little creature before them all is communicating, as it hadn’t spoken aloud, nor does she hear the words echoing in her mind as one might expect of a bizarre display of telepathy. Yet, still, the resounding caveat is clear.

Baron nods stiffly, appearing to have been caught off-guard in the same way the rest of them had. “Yes. Just the one.”

The quilt-like creature responds with some erratic, floppy movements that vaguely resemble an affirmative nod before placing the tapered end of its cloth snout into Baron’s hands, where it drops a single round, bright red berry. It’s about the size of a particularly plump blueberry, though it seems quite larger in Baron’s gloved hands. Seemingly satisfied, the little animal turns then, and begins to waddle away.

“Thank you,” Haru thinks to call after it.

Not too far into the future, they will all four find themselves remembering this particular phrase and wonder furiously why such an innocuous one seemed to have such a profound effect upon the Sown Forest’s minuscule inhabitants. For now, however, it’s little more than a curiosity, when the creature abruptly stops with an accompanying jerk, and then goes quite still.

The others surrounding them, too, copy this one’s motions.

“Uhh, I don’t like the look of that—” Muta starts, but he’s rather abruptly cut off by a hoarse, low-pitched bark which echoes through their surroundings. The four of them instinctively back up in alarm, a sentiment which only grows upon witnessing the little things begin convulsing, tossing their heads into the air and then back down, all the while emitting those same short roars like a baleful staccato.

“That’s loud—”

“I think it’s time we took our leave,” Baron says (he makes a motion to steady his hat, only to belatedly realize he’d left it behind). He’d liked that hat.

No sooner have they turned on their collective tails and fled that the Sown Forest’s inhabitants scuttle and crawl after them in whatever way they can, and despite their obvious disadvantages, the little things are startlingly adept at keeping up with them. Haru doesn’t have the nerve to give their pursuers the thorough, lingering look she wants, too intent on making sure her pounding steps remain even and sound, but the tight-knit mob’s thunderous pursuit is impossible to mistake. It’s not long before panicked discouragement sets in. To everyone’s surprise, it’s Baron who speaks up first.

“We won’t be outrunning them on foot—”

“Good thing we have a gargoyle chicken, then, isn’t it?!” Muta snaps, then calls to said ‘gargoyle chicken,’ “Hey, birdbrain—!”

“Toto’s many good and admirable things, Muta, but I doubt even he is strong enough to carry a full-grown human—”

Haru, overhearing this, burns with the inclination to wildly apologize, all too aware of the cracks of the trees and the deafening crunch of packed snow behind them. She bows her head in remorse, feeling fervently in this moment that her decision to tag along really had been a mistake. She’s so close to contemplating how far she might get should she separate from the group and divert the creatures away… when she notices something rather strange.

“Wait—” Haru gasps, glancing down to herself in a bewildered fashion, so much so that for a fleeting second she stops in her tracks and has to be tugged along by Baron. “I’m not the same size I was— when did I get this small—?!”

Baron sounds just as bewildered when he answers, though he at least moves past it, “Let’s not kick a gift horse, now— Toto!”

“Got it!”

If Toto at all struggles with the effort to carry all three of them, even if Haru has been unexplainably shrunken, then he’s quite gifted with hiding it. He takes off into the air with them, far above the swarming quilt creatures, with no less agility than he usually does, and Baron and Haru spend the next few moments surveying the horde raptly.

“Ya just had to thank them, didn’t you?” Comes Muta’s complaint from his not altogether eager spot in Toto’s talons.

“I was just trying to be polite!” Haru counters just as plaintively, but even she sounds at least a little remorseful. “What kind of place takes words of gratitude as an offense..?”

“They don’t show any signs of slowing down,” Baron notes.

“Are they really gonna chase us all the way to the border?! They barely have the legs to run! You really steamed them with that gratitude BS, chicky.”

“I didn’t mean to,” Haru laments.

“We know you didn’t, Haru, “ Toto tries to reassure.

“Ah, it’s Vanya,” Baron says with a nod in the fox’s direction; he looks quite small (smaller than usual, that is) from their height, rapidly looking between them in the air and the horde of… well, what look to be furious blankets swarming the forest below them. He’s motioning frantically to them to come closer, to land as quickly as they can.

“Is he crazy?! There’s no way we’re landing that close to the forest— if he doesn’t make a break for it, he’s gonna get smothered, too,” Muta says.

Seemingly as an exasperated response to their stubbornness, Vanya points to the forest behind them with an agitated zealousness, or, perhaps more specifically, the perimeter which is teeming with untold numbers of the tiny quilt creatures. The vast majority of them pace behind the line of trees, fretful and overwrought; the unfortunate few that have accidentally tumbled beyond it lie scattered and twitching on the snow-covered ground like marooned fish.

“What’s wrong with them..?”

“Looks like they can’t go beyond the trees,” Toto guesses.

When they land, still uneasy from the agitated mass of patchwork continuing to obsessively tread back and forth just a scant stone’s throw away, Vanya is swift to bound over to them, practically throwing himself at Baron and wrapping his arms around the Creation. If Baron had appeared disconcerted at the mere possibility of being given one of Vanya’s messy luck charms, he’s downright alarmed when being in no uncertain terms ‘glomped’ by the same creature.

“You made it! Pretty Vanya was worried!”

“What’s wrong with the forest’s inhabitants, Vanya?”

Vanya lets Baron go (much to his evident relief) and cants his head in thought.  “The Sown Forest exists as a powerful transformative milieu. Stay too long and one becomes part of it. The inhabitants can’t leave it.”

“What will happen to the ones that accidentally fell out of bounds?” Haru asks, glancing to the small number of quilt animals still lying pitifully just out of reach of the border of trees.

“They will die,” Vanya answers with a shrug. “Eventually.”

“But that’s awful! Can’t we just push them back into the forest..? Will they go back to normal then?”

“Yes.” Vanya sounds confused.

“Then that’s what I’ll do,” Haru says, starting for the border with a marked lack of hesitation. “There aren’t that many— it shouldn’t take long, should it?”

“Even less with assistance,” Baron agrees shortly, following after her.

“I guess we’re doing this now.” Muta, as well, trails after the two with a sullen grumble.

“Cheer up, kitty, exercise is good for you.”

“Don’t make me cook you.”

Behind them, Vanya, still holding Baron’s hat as if it were a priceless artifact, watches them leave with a hard to define look, moving just a foot or two from side to side (but never so much as a half-step forward). His tail twitches and flutters in a manner quite reminiscent of an inquisitive squirrel, with the searching mien to accompany it, but he ultimately says nothing and seems to content himself with killing time.

[pepperonijem]

i. kilig || marahuyo

i. kilig → series masterlist

Kilig (n.) Filipino: refers to the feeling of excitement due to various romantic situations, including the feelings of butterflies in one’s stomach, heart fluttering, and uncontrollable smiling

Pairing: Peter Parker x Filipino!Reader

Warnings: I write a few words and phrases in Filipino, but there’s a glossary at the bottom with the translations!

Word Count: 2.6k

Summary: Peter Parker gives you butterflies and makes your heart melt, kilig, if you will; prompt “Those things you said yesterday… did you mean them?”

A/N: I wrote this for @dinnafashsoldat’s (rip I can’t tag you :( ) wonderful POC writing challenge. This was so amazing to do and it made me feel really empowered as a Filipino to put out a fic that truly celebrated my culture. Thank you so much for giving this opportunity! 

The halls of Midtown were quickly clearing out as everyone went home for the weekend, and you wished you were included in the exodus. You let out a sigh as you slowly walked to your locker, overhearing bits and pieces of conversations as you crossed through. Lex was volunteering at the local animal shelter on Sunday, Jeremy was visiting his relatives upstate, and you were pretty sure you heard someone mention something about a carnival coming to town. Unlike them, however, your weekend was going to be filled with nothing but cooking, cleaning, and of course, your nosy and tsismosa aunts who loved to ask about your love life. But before you could even be home for their weekend-long interrogation, you were stuck here at school for an “emergency” aca-deca meeting.

You reached your locker and pulled out your deca notes, which at this point in the semester was just full of random doodles. You shut the door, but paused and opened your notebook to take a quick look at the scribbles that congested each of the recent pages. The doodles were pretty embarrassing, you thought, as they were mostly his name with a bunch of hearts around it, and the words “crush kita” beside it. There was the occasional round small flower, but the majority of them centered around him. Your notes were basically an unsent love letter to the boy who sat across from you every meeting, the one, the only –

“Peter Parker!” you exclaimed as you quickly shut your notebook, hoping that he didn’t catch a glimpse of the many times and the many fonts you wrote his name. His name came out as a squeak out of your mouth, and you mentally kicked yourself for being so awkward. You coughed to clear your throat, and attempted to lean against your locker to try and look natural, but came off looking all the more awkward. Peter let out a small chuckle and your heartbeat accelerated in reaction to the melodious sound of his voice. “W-what can I do ya for?” you managed to stutter out. He gave you an endearing smile, and you lost your balance, nearly slipping to the floor, before Peter’s impossibly fast reflexes caught you. He had both of his arms around you, and for a second you let yourself savor the feeling. He had a concerned look on his face and you realized that your mouth was agape and your eyes were wide. You snapped out of it and pulled yourself together, trying to shed the layer of sweat that built on your palms against the fabric of your jeans. “I’m fine, everything’s fine,” you tried to save. Peter didn’t buy it, but he nodded in response.

“I just wanted to let you know that Mr. H is about to start,” he explained. You nodded in response and let him know that you’d be there in just a second. Peter headed towards the classroom down the hall and you smiled at him when he turned back around before he entered the room. You groaned quietly and rested your head against the locker. You mentally chided yourself for the interaction before finally regaining your composure and walking into the classroom as well.

The desks were arranged in a cluster in some semblance to a dinner table, and since you were the last to arrive, you took the seat that was left in between your cousin Ned and Mr. Harrington himself. Ned waved to you and you smiled at him. The meeting went by quickly since it wasn’t really over anything important, and you were slightly annoyed at the fact that you had to stay after school to hear that it was Flash who called the meeting to talk about his uncle’s new car to replace the one Spider-Man trashed last year after homecoming. After the meeting you decided to linger for a little bit, since Peter and Ned were still there. Peter moved from his seat across the table to the one on the other side of Ned. Ned pulled out his phone to check his messages and leaned over to show you.

“My mom’s already at your place,” he mentioned. “She just texted and asked if we can stop by the store to buy some stuff on the way home.” You pulled out your own phone to make a note of it and noticed three texts your mom had left you.

From: Mom

Anak, u need to buy bell pepper for the pancit.

From: Mom

Where r u now?

From: Mom

*Picture Message* see? The pancit doesn’t look good without the bell peppers

You laughed quietly and showed Ned the messages, causing him to laugh as well. Peter leaned over Ned’s shoulder to look at the messages and you held the phone closer to him so he could see the picture of the noodles your mom sent you. Peter’s eyebrows shot up in curiosity and he let out a hum in delight.

“What’s that?” he asked Ned. “It looks really good,” he added and as if on cue, you heard his stomach growl. He quickly placed his hand over his stomach to try to quiet it, and Ned let out a laugh.

“This is pancit,” you began explaining. “It’s a really popular Filipino food. Ned’s and my relatives are coming over to celebrate…” you trailed off and furrowed your eyebrows. “Actually, I have no idea why they’re coming, but I know we’re having a party,” you said. “My mom’s been cooking all morning, and Lord knows, the minute I step foot into the house, I’m headed straight for the kitchen too.”

Ned nodded as you explained the day to Peter. “Yeah, we have to go pick up some bell peppers before we go, and judging from the picture, they’re expecting a lot of people.” He added. “Why don’t you come, Pete?”

Your eyes widened and you felt yourself choke on air at Ned’s invitation. Part of you wanted him to reject it, wanting him to save himself from the incessant and relentless questions all your titas would have for him, and by association, you as well. But the other part of you wanted him to come, so you could introduce him to the colorful and delicious world of Filipino culture and of course, spend time with him. Peter had a thoughtful look on his face and you watched him intensely as he considered the offer, your heart and brain tearing you in two desires, until he finally nodded his head.

“Sure,” he shrugged. “If your parents are okay with that?” he looked towards you for permission. Your mind was screaming for you to tell him that your parents are suspicious of any male friends you have, that you would be too busy to entertain him, but against your judgement, your mouth opened.

“The more the merrier,” you smiled and the three of you packed up and made your way out of the building.

You, Ned, and Peter drove to the Asian market that was near your house and you and Ned showed Peter the various smells and thrills inside. The two of you showed him the snacks you would eat as children, your dad’s favorite brand of cheese flavored ice cream (the one that had real chunks of cheese, you explained), and even took him to the seafood section to show him how you and Ned used to make the crawfish fight each other with the tongs. Peter looked like he was having the time of his life, and the childlike amusement that was etched onto his face made your heart skip a beat. All of a sudden, you felt more relaxed around him, now that you had shared a piece of your identity and your heritage with him, you felt excited to bring him home. The three of you were having so much fun that you almost forgot to buy the bell peppers your mom asked for.

As soon as you pulled into the driveway, the familiar scent of garlic and soy sauce flooded the car and you heard your stomach growl in response to the smell of adobo. The three of you walked to the door and even from outside you could hear the sounds of a teleserye playing in the background. Peter stood behind you and Ned, in hopes that if your mom yelled at the two of you for coming home late, Peter would act as a buffer. However once you opened the door, you were faced with one of your titas whom you haven’t seen in years, and she smiled at you sweetly. You squealed as she pulled you into a hug and she kissed both of your cheeks. “Ay nako, you’re both so big now,” she exclaimed before turning to Ned and greeting him similarly. She pinched his cheeks and Ned gave an uncomfortable smile in return. Peter let out a laugh at that and your tita looked over your shoulder, her eyes widening as they saw him. You and Ned shared a look of panic, not knowing what was going to happen next. She pushed past both of you and stood in front of Peter, whose jovial face was now replaced with one of worry as she looked him up and down. “And sino ito?” she asked with a smile. Before you opened your mouth to respond, Peter cut you off.

“Uh, I’m Peter,” he introduced himself and extend his hand for her to shake. You looked at him with disbelief, not knowing if he actually understood her question or if he just blurted out his name. Your tita laughed at his extended hand and instead pulled him into a hug, the same way she greeted you and your cousin. Peter grunted at the tight hug, but smiled nonetheless.

“Peter,” she repeated. “We don’t shake hands here. Here, you’re our kapamilya, part of our family,” she explained with her hands still on his shoulders. “I’m Tita Baby,” she introduced, before ushering all three of you in the house. You and Ned began to slip off your shoes, and Peter followed suit, mimicking everything you and Ned did without question. He continued to follow the two of you around, introducing himself to your aunts and uncles and even your cousins, who got him to agree to a Super Smash Bros. tournament later that night. Peter blended so well with the people in your life, and your heart warmed at the thought of having him over at future parties. You even introduced him to your parents, and your dad made a quip about Peter being your boyfriend once he walked away to follow Tita Baby as she introduced him to more people. You showed Peter the different foods your mom had made, everything from biko to the lechon that was sitting in the center of the buffet, but the pancit was his favorite. And when your dad turned on the tv to the karaoke machine, the adults cheered loudly, and Peter looked at Ned with a panicked look as Ned dragged him to the living room. You followed behind them, waiting for a turn as you sang loudly with your Tita’s rendition of Fame. This was your favorite part of the night, as it was a time to be ridiculous and extra and to just have fun.

As you sang and danced, you didn’t notice the way Peter was looking at you. He felt a smile creep up that he had no desire to suppress. There was something about the way you looked when you thought no one was watching that had him absolutely smitten. This wasn’t the first time he was able to see you in this state of pure bliss, but he was grateful for every time. Of course, he thought it was just as cute, the way you got all flustered around him, but he loved these moments just a little bit more. He thought about today, and he was so glad the plan he and Ned had devised actually worked and how flawlessly it went too. Ned had told him about this party a few weeks ago, when Peter explained that he wanted to finally tell you about the way you make him feel, and Ned came up with this plan to get you two to spend time together and for Peter to know you better. He was still on cloud 9, but when you finally turned to him after your fantastic version of Open Arms, he snapped back to reality and he felt his palms sweat. You smiled and leaned over to let him know you were going to get more food, and he decided to go with you and stood up, following a few steps behind you. He turned towards Ned, and gave him a thumbs up, thankful for his guy in the chair.

You and Peter turned into the kitchen, now empty as all the adults were busy singing. “Singing sure works up an appetite,” you joked as you reached for a new plate. Peter chuckled along before clearing his throat. You looked up to see the worried look he had on his face. “You alright, Pete?” you asked and stepped closer to him. “I know the sinigang isn’t for everyone and I’m sorry I made you taste it –” you began to ramble before Peter cut you off.

“No!” he exclaimed. “It’s not that, it’s…” he trailed off and drew in a breath. “Okay, this is gonna be really bad, but I’m gonna do it anyway. Kailangan kong sabihin sa’yo, na talagang mahal na mahal kita.” You dropped the paper plate in response at the way your native tongue rolled out of Peter’s mouth and you saw him begin to panic. “Oh my god, did I say it all wrong? I’m sorry, it’s just Ned has been teaching me some Filipino and showing me some Filipino movies, which make me cry by the way, and I thought it would be cute and –” You were about to respond when Ned entered the room, and talk about awful timing, told Peter that his family was going home, so Peter needed to come too. Peter looked at you sadly, with his words still hanging between the two of you like a red string. Your brain was still in shock, and you didn’t even recall walking to your bed or falling asleep, until you woke up the next day.

The rest of the weekend went by uneventfully, and you avoided looking at your phone at all, believing that if Peter did text you, it would be to take back what he said. You couldn’t let that happen. So, you thought, if you didn’t check your phone, you could still pretend that you lived in a universe where Peter Parker liked you back. And that worked for the rest of Sunday, but as soon as Monday morning rolled in, and you pulled up in Midtown’s overcrowded parking lot, you saw him waiting at your usual spot. He waited for you to get out of the car, and his mouth opened to say something, but closed once again. You took his silence as your cue and you softly asked, “The things you said the other night… did you mean them?”

“Every word,” he replied just as quietly. Your heart did a million flips and before he could add anything, you leaned forward to land a soft kiss against his lips. As you pulled away and saw his eyelids flutter back open and you nervously pulled your lip between your teeth. “Wow…” he trailed off, still surprised at the contact.

“Mahal din kita.”

G L O S S A R Y:

Tsismosa: gossip, one who gossips

“Crush kita”: I have a crush on you

Anak: child

Adobo: a pork dish

Teleserye: Filipino soap operas

Tita: aunt

“Ay nako”: oh my

“Sino ito?”: Who’s this?

Biko: A dessert made with sticky rice and coconut milk

Lechon: a huge roasted pig

Sinigang: a tamarind-base soup with pork and vegetables

“Kailangan kong sabihin sa’yo, na talagang mahal na mahal kita”: I need to tell you that I really, really, truly, love you.

“Mahal din kita”: I love you too

TAGGING:

Permanent –

@wowkenobi @poeticbarnes @parker-peter-parker @marvel-biatch @freightcarcap @somethingintodarkness

Peter Parker –

@tomsfireheart @almighty-rogers

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[bnhavillaintriozine]

How to Submit a Good Portfolio

Since public applications will be opening soon, I thought I would make a simple guide on how to send a good portfolio when you apply to zines.

I’ll mostly be referring to art, since that’s what I’m most familiar with, but I’m sure a lot of these points can apply to writing as well.

A lot of my drawn commentary is meant to be lighthearted (and oh so messy), so please don’t take anything too seriously.

What is a portfolio? Anywhere you post your art is technically a portfolio, since you’re showcasing your work to a potential audience. If you showcase your artwork via Tumblr, Instagram, or any other site, you’re free to submit it for review. You don’t need to have a fancy, paid website to showcase your work. Let your art speak for itself.

What makes a portfolio bad? Like I mentioned before, anywhere you post your art is technically a portfolio. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a good one. In a portfolio, you want to show us your best work. While instagram may be a good place to show us your artwork, if there are some food pictures, con pictures, memes, or any random posts, it’s a bad portfolio. We don't want to sound harsh, but we would appreciate only seeing your work and not your outside life. That way, we can solely focus on your portfolio.

What makes a portfolio good? Good portfolios showcase completed pieces that demonstrate your best skills and capabilities. If you post your artwork on tumblr, you may have some random content in your blog, but if you have a tag specifically for your finished pieces and best work, please send us the link with that certain tag. It will save us the hassle of scrolling down multiple pages and it tells us you’re serious about the project by showing us your true potential.

What to submit:

1) Submit complete URLs. We want to easily copy and paste your portfolio onto our browser. We don’t want to type out the whole website. We have hundreds of applications to go through, so typing up the website can eat up a lot of our time. I’ll admit that I’m guilty of doing this, but I’m also learning from my mistakes. Typing up the URL (even if it’s as simple as mywebsite.com OR myartblog.tumblr.com/tagged/best-work) only takes a few seconds to do, and we’ll definitely be grateful to you for doing this.

2) Show us how versatile you can be! While we can appreciate the beautiful technical skills from various artists, if you submit a portfolio that only includes headshots and not much else, you run the risk of being declined. We want to see different compositions, interesting uses of color, or cool angles! You don’t need to show us that you can work with 10 different types of media, or hundreds of different angles, but give us something more than just the same pose.

3) Send us completed work. While sketches DO look nice, a majority of zines want to see your completed artworks. In most cases, they are going to be releasing a finished, printed project, so it’s reasonable that we would want samples of what your completed art looks like. By looking at your finished pieces, we can gain a better insight of what to expect from you.

What to avoid:

1) Don’t send us a portfolio full of sketches, as mentioned above. If you have a sketchier / messy style, that’s fine. What you consider as finished is what you should be trying to send to us.

2) Don’t make us scroll through tons of pages. This one applies similarly to the previous point. If your blog only includes doodles and a few finished artworks, don’t make us scroll for so long just to get to the completed stuff. Please save a life and tag your finished works. We will thank you for it.

3) Don’t send us multiple links. Some zines may ask you to link them to 3 of your best works, but instead of sending us 3 different links, create a tag or Google Drive folder with those 3 pieces included. This saves us the time of copy/pasting every single link into our browser, plus it allows us to better compare your work side-by-side. You also get the added benefit of not needing to copy/paste multiple links for your next zine application.

4) Don’t send us a portfolio that doesn’t include humans. This one is kind of weird, but I have received some applications that only feature animals or backgrounds in their portfolios. If you’re applying to a zine that needs certain people or characters drawn, we can’t properly judge your portfolio if you don’t show us that you can draw the subject matter. The same can be applied vice versa. If I made a corgi zine and you send me a portfolio full of humans, how am I supposed to know if you can draw a dog or not? When applying to zines, take note on what they’re looking for, so you can submit accordingly.

5) Don’t submit work that’s older than 2+ years. As an artist, you’re always growing and learning. A lot can change in a year or two. We want to see your recent stuff, since that’s the most accurate representation of your current skills and knowledge.

A Simple Suggestion

1) If you don’t want to tag your work or delete some things from your social media just to show us your best & completed work, make a Google Drive folder that shows us your best pieces. Keep it short and simple by including a minimum of 3 pieces and a maximum of 8 pieces. Make sure the Google Drive folder permissions are changed to shared! (This is very important).

Advice & Final Thoughts

Don’t be afraid of rejection. Spots are usually VERY limited in zines. There’s no way we could fit everyone into one zine (that would be a heavy and thick book, not to mention SUPER expensive). I’ve been rejected multiple times, but you can’t let that discourage you! Just keep applying and continue to improve your artwork. And even if you’re accepted, still continue to improve your artwork! Practice, practice, practice a whole damn lot!

If you know you won’t have enough time to dedicate to the zine, please don’t apply. If you apply and get the slot, only for you to drop out last minute, you just took the spot of a potential artist that actually wanted to be a part of the project and it’s unfair to them.

If you get accepted and life gets too hectic for you to continue with the project, PLEASE don’t vanish and make the zine organizers hunt you down. It will not make us want to work with you again. We want things to be pleasant between the both of us. Life happens, but communication is ESSENTIAL in every situation.

I’m not against having sketches in a portfolio (I have a few on my own website as well), but a majority of applicants can’t afford their own website, so they use free sites like Tumblr or Instagram. These websites don’t really allow you to properly separate your doodles / finished work, so this is why I keep reiterating this point.

Zines are meant to be fun and something to bring the artist community together! Interact with your fellow artists and let’s all have a good ol’ time.

[saocaptivebehindglass]

SAO: Captive Behind Glass

Once again, Asuna was a captive.   First, she had been trapped in the death game of Sword Art Online for two years. Second, she had been transferred to Alfheim Online and imprisoned within a cage at the top of the World Tree by Nobuyuki Sugou, a corrupt executive in her father's company who wanted to force her to marry him. This time was different.   Before, she could work toward freeing herself.   She became one of the strongest players in SAO and the Vice Commander of its premiere guild so that she could go home again.  With all of her fighting abilities sealed away in ALO, she had used stealth and guile to almost escape by herself.  Even in failing, she had helped Kirito come to her rescue, which he couldn't have managed otherwise, save perhaps with the intervention of Kayaba's digital ghost. But this wasn't the virtual world.  Everything was terrifyingly real, and now she was completely powerless to save herself. She had been kidnapped.  She couldn't quite remember how it had happened, only that she must have been drugged.  That was bad enough, but then her captor revealed to her that magic wasn't just limited to the fantastic realms of Aincrad and Alfheim. She hadn't believed it, not at first, and tried to force her way past him to freedom.  But he raised a hand, said some strange words, and she suddenly felt her strength fading away. And somehow, her kidnapper was starting to look a lot bigger... "Or am I… shrinking? It can't be!" But unfortunately for Asuna, it was. As her strength faded and her size dwindled, her legs buckled despite any effort to stay on her feet. As she slumped down, Asuna caught a glimpse of her hands turning very pale as her body appeared to freeze and soon take on a new texture, making it seem like porcelain. If that didn't alarm her enough, the sight of joints forming in her fingers certainly shocked her. She screamed, but soon found that her face was being pulled by an unseen force into a smile. She tried to resist it, but found her voice silenced before her face froze. Her clothes, Asuna noticed, had shrunk with her thankfully. But at the change in what her kidnapper was chanting, they began to shift, stretch and change. Her jacket started to turn a red colour as it fused with the shirt she'd been wearing underneath, and her skirt. She started to recognise her new outfit as a dress as it finished forming. It was conservative in its cut, stretching down to her ankles, but it went overboard on its ostentation, with lacy white trim against red finery delicately embroidered with intricate patterns.  The dress billowed outward around her body, supported by a tiny corset and bustle, harkening back to Europe's old Victorian style, and was further decorated by several satin ribbons. Her shoes were plain by comparison, black and with only slightly raised heels, yet they were made of authentic leather.  Only a hint of her stockings could be seen between the hem of her dress and her shoes, yet they were no less detailed for being out of sight.  Even her panties had lace patterns!  He also accessorized her outfit with white fingerless evening gloves, a big (obviously a relative term) matching bow tying her braids together in the back, and a fancy umbrella placed in her hands and resting upon her shoulders.  He then crowned her with a tiara, making her seem like a princess.  The only accessory that brought her any comfort was her necklace, shaped as a cross, the symbol her guild, the Knights of the Blood Oath had used back in Sword Art Online.   From what Asuna could see of the new outfit, she thought it looked ridiculous. She brought her hands up to her face to attempt to make sense of what had happened to her. She couldn't move her face anymore and soon, the pieces began to fall into place in her mind. "A doll?!" She thought. But Asuna had no time to contemplate on the fact that her kidnapper had turned her into a living doll, she had to get out of this place. Sluggishly, Asuna tried to get to her feet but her movements felt... off. She managed to get to her feet, and walk a small distance but her balance was definitely off. She soon tripped, but ended up falling into the hand of her captor. As the man lifted her up, he pinned Asuna's arms to her sides. "You turned out very well." He commented, taking her over to a nearby table. He moved her hair out of the way, and opened up her dress with the zipper in the back. Asuna struggled, but found a new, strange feeling on her neck as he drew an arcane symbol on the base of her neck before she felt any control over her own body slip away. He placed her down on the table, in front of a small mirror. Asuna could see the forced smile plastered on her face, and the blush spots painted on her cheeks. Despite all the changes, her hair still seemed like it was real. She wasn't happy with this at all!  She wanted to be with Kazuto, not this… freak. Her captor's tastes seemed to be a strange combination of the old and the new.   While she was wearing a fancy dress, and there were a handful of dolls nearby her with similarly styled but less elaborate attire, others wore outfits like bikinis or the costumes of anime characters.  She could also look out into his room through the glass of the case that he kept her in, and saw that it was also decorated by several wall scrolls, like a typical otaku's room.   But given the terrible power that he had, she wouldn't have been surprised if a number of the figures and dolls in the room, and perhaps even some of the posters and wall scrolls, had once been real girls like her.  No, she was certain of it.  But try as she might, she couldn't talk to any of them, and it seemed that none of them could speak to her.  Neither did they have a means of nonverbal communication, for none of them could make any expressions other than the ones they had been given, and notions of using some sort of telepathy were pure fantasy. He said that she was the pride of his collection.  He had admired her for so long from afar, even back in the days when they were both trapped in Sword Art Online.  But she would never be his, not as a girl anyway, and so he had settled for having her as a doll.  Besides, it was good to have her brought down a peg from when she was the Vice-Commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath and to know that she couldn't ever leave him. And wasn't she so pretty now? It was all thanks to a strange book on the occult that he had found after getting out of SAO.  Yes, some of his other collectibles had been once real girls who had caught his eye and also spurned his advances, and he even introduced Asuna to them.  Yet though they had come before her, they had been but tests so that he could perfect the spells for her, and now they were afterthoughts next to the attention he lavished on Asuna.  His captives, including Asuna, were well-hidden in plain sight among hundreds figures and numerous scrolls that covered every inch of available wall space. It made her feel sick.  But she could only wait and have faith that Kazuto would find and save her one day, as he always had. The days passed by in a blur, an endless tedium broken only when her owner opened the display case to adjust her pose or change her clothes, sometimes snapping pictures of her for scrapbooking or future reference, or more horrifyingly, when he added new girls to his collection.  She wanted to cry out and help them, but she was incapable of doing so from her perch behind glass and with her doll's body.  Just like her, they would become seemingly lifeless dolls or figures with bright smiles on their faces, or else they'd be made to assume really embarrassing poses before being converted into dye upon cloth, usually with some sort of background added in.  Yet they were mere amusements to him, and she remained his clear favorite.  Thankfully, the frequency of his "acquisitions" also seemed to drop off with time. Asuna could see a calendar on the wall across from her.  First it was a month, then six, then a year, then two years.  At that point, he smugly told her that the authorities had stopped looking for her and that Kirito clearly didn't care enough about her to find her.  But she wouldn't have to worry: he'd always take care of her. Soon, Asuna wasn't sure how long she had been there.  The calendar said it was 2032, but she couldn't remember when she had first joined the collection.  She was still in mint condition, free of dust and with not even a scratch on her paint job, thanks to her owner's diligent care.  It was a simple existence that demanded nothing from her, unlike the stress of running a guild or cramming for exams, yet a fulfilling one that filled her with the knowledge that she was appreciated, and she had come to love wearing her dress.  Its every stitch was testament to how much her owner loved her, and she took pride in the fact that she remained his favorite doll. Though they only arrived rarely now, the new dolls seemed frightened before assuming their forms for display, but  their smiles afterward assured Asuna that they would eventually come to find happiness as she had.  She wished that she could talk to them though and tell them that everything would be all right.  She could really use a good conversation too, but she never got one, and thus any words from her owner, especially those about the state of the outside world, were precious.  But most of the time he just told her how beautiful she was and how lucky he was to own her, and that was no less gratifying even with its repetition. Yet something nagged at the back of her mind.  There was something, no someone important that she had forgotten.  He was a black-haired swordsman who she had met in her past life.  What was his name?  Kaz… Kiri…?  It was muddled in her mind, yet the brief time she had spent with him was something that she would always treasure.   She wished that she could see the swordsman at least one more time, so that her memories of their time together could come rushing back to her.  Perhaps she even go off on another adventure with him… even if that adventure was simply to join his collection instead.  In spite of how well she was treated here, she knew that the black-haired swordsman was her rightful owner, and that her glass case was like a gilded cage.  That seemed vaguely familiar as well, a cage somewhere among the trees and the sky… And he had come for her then, hadn't he?  So a part of her stubbornly held onto her faith, and would do so no matter how long it took her first and truest love. And then one day her owner did something outside of his usual routine, taking her down from her shelf.  He didn't seem to have a new outfit that he wanted her to wear, for he kept her in the red dress, and Asuna felt anxiety creeping over her.  What was going on? "It's your big day, Asuna," he said with a smile. "Today I finally get to show you off, along with the other highlights of my collection." He seemed to have a case prepared for her, with foam cut to her shape inside, and set her down so that it acted as a cushion around her.  Asuna felt a little reassured by his gentle words, and the foam ensured that she wouldn't break in transit, but she couldn't entirely shake the feeling of uncertainty.  Was he showing her off so that he could sell her to another collector?  He wouldn't do that!  Would he? But then the case closed, and Asuna was left in complete darkness.   Asuna felt herself panicking a bit.  The foam was snug enough around her and not at all uncomfortable, and she knew that she couldn't suffocate in the case; she didn't breathe in the first place as a doll.  Yet claustrophobia had quickly set in all the same.  Maybe it was because dolls existed to be where people could see them, either playing with them or appreciating them on display.  Thus, being hidden away like this was a terror to her. She felt the case being picked up, and soon she was on her way… to wherever her owner was taking her. -------------------- For Kirigaya Kazuto, the last five years had been a nightmare. Yuuki Asuna, his girlfriend and wife within the virtual world, who had been his partner since the death game of Sword Art Online, had vanished without a trace in 2027.  They had both been in college and had been talking of moving in together and getting officially married to each other in the real world soon.  But someone had abducted her while she was on her way to the campus one morning, and the realization of this had been like a knife through Kazuto's heart.  No ransom demands were made, and he grew even more worried.  Asuna was incredibly beautiful, and unfortunately Japan had plenty of perverts.  Had they kidnapped Asuna just so they could rape her, just as the despicable and now disgraced Nobuyuki Sugou had once attempted in the virtual world? Since he was one of the closest people to her, he had naturally been questioned about her disappearance, but no further action was taken because there was no evidence to link him to any crime.  Asuna's mother still seemed to blame him somehow, even if she knew that he hadn't actually been responsible.  Yuuki Kyouko had never been particularly fond of him, looking down upon him as being "beneath" her daughter in spite of the everlasting bond that they had forged together.  She would have much preferred that her daughter marry some well-off businessman or a young heir.  It was the sort of thinking that had once led to Asuna being betrothed to Sugou, though Kyouko still contended that the match had been her husband Shouzou's idea and that she hadn't liked Sugou.  He had a feeling the two of them would never be able to see eye-to-eye. Two years after Asuna's disappearance, she had been declared legally dead. But Kazuto refused to believe it.  Asuna was strong, and she would survive.  And he would find her one day. Indeed, finding Asuna became his obsession to the detriment of all else.  He didn't sleep well anymore, and he would run himself ragged poring over any leads he could find.  His hair became wild from a lack of care, and his grades slipped, though he had enough natural brilliance with computers that he was still able to find enough part-time work to support himself while he worked on upgrading the capabilities of his A.I. daughter, Yui, who used her ability to sift through information at speeds impossible for a human to help him in his search for Asuna.  Suguha and the others were really worried about him, yet thankfully they had the decency not to make advances on him once they realized he would never be over Asuna.   Then one day in 2032, Kazuto heard the words he had long dreamed of. "Daddy!  I've found Mommy!" Yui shouted, waving him over to the computer terminal she was connected to.  His daughter still didn't have a body of her own, but she could navigate a simulated facsimile of the room based on camera feeds, and he now wore one of the first Neuro Linker models around his neck, projecting her image into his mind as if she were really there.  Invented within just the last year, it operated on similar principles to the NERV Gear and AmuSphere but it had considerably greater processing power and utilized a low-power quantum connection with the user's brain.  Unlike the devices that had preceded it, which were strictly for gaming, one could be fully awake while using a Neuro Linker, which allowed it to provide for Augmented Reality.  Not only did this let him experience Yui in his room, but it also functioned as a personal computer in which applications could be opened, closed, and used through thought, though it retained full dive capabilities.  It was a miraculous piece of technology, and he suspected that someone may have stolen some of his ideas to make it, but he couldn't bring himself to care with Asuna missing. Kazuto ran over to his daughter and her computer screen.  She still had the same child-like appearance as always, though recently she had begun to consider gradually updating her appearance so that she could "grow up" like any other couple's daughter.   "Where is she?" Kazuto asked anxiously. "Here, at the convention center," Yui replied, effortlessly bringing up a picture through her connection to the terminal. "Huh?"  Kazuto didn't see Asuna.   He saw someone's collection of dolls standing on a table.   "Yui, I think you've made some sort of mistake." "No, I'm certain of it, Daddy.  Look closer."  She magnified the image, zooming in on one of the dolls, one wearing a fancy red dress, a tiara and a white ribbon in its hair, and holding an tiny umbrella again its shoulder.  "Her face is the same as Mommy's, within a certainty of 95%."  Yui brought up several more pictures from different angles.  "Adding these to my analysis drives my certainty up to nearly 99.7%.   Her hair color is identical, and the style is similar - notice the braids on the sides of her head.  And this doll's name is even Asuna." Kazuto felt his mind spinning.   Was this just like the start of his journey into ALO, a picture leading him to Asuna?  But how could that really be Asuna?  It had to just be a doll based on her appearance.  But it was the best lead they had found in a while, and in his gut he knew it couldn't be a coincidence.  Someone couldn't have made such a doll without having plenty of references to Asuna's appearance on hand… or maybe, just maybe Asuna captive herself. "When and were were these pictures taken?" "Just a few minutes ago, in a convention center here in Tokyo, Daddy.   I'll search for the address for you."  Bringing up a search engine on her terminal, it only took moments for Yui to find the information.   "Thanks, Yui.  I'll check it out right away.  I owe Asuna that much if there's any chance that this could help me find her again." "Bring Mommy back soon, Daddy!" --------------------------------- The convention center was packed with people.  It had been a long time since Kazuto had been around so many people, in the real or virtual worlds, and he keenly felt his old awkwardness once again.  Otaku of all stripes were showing off their collections, and while he would have liked to check out the more technological exhibits, he was on a mission to find a very particular doll collection. And finally, he did. ------------ Asuna found it exhilarating to have so many people around admiring her, or even just going about their business, talking about various things.  The simple pleasure of being around people other than her owner was one she had been long starved of.  Yet the crowds also encouraged her rebellious thoughts.  Perhaps the black-haired swordsman, her true owner, would be among them and would come to see her. And then, she saw him!  He had come for her after all!  Even after five years, he was instantly recognizable to her, even if his hair was messier than she remembered it.  Seeing him also jogged her memory somewhat.  His name was Kirito! She was desperate to reach out to him, despite the fact that she had never been able to communicate with anyone since becoming a doll.  "Kirito-sama!  It's me, Asuna!  I'm down here!"  Maybe it was her sheer determination, or maybe it was her ability to easily empathize with Kirito given how well she knew him, but this time she actually got a response.  His head turned so that he was looking right at her, his eyes widened, and she heard another voice in her own mind. "Asuna?". ------- Kazuto clearly heard Asuna's voice, and, through his Neuro Linker, Yui heard it too ("Mommy!").  But when he turned toward the source of the voice, all he saw was the doll that Yui had pointed out to him.  But how could it have spoken?  Was it really Asuna after all?  Was this some kind of telepathy?  What was going on? "Yes, Kirito-sama, it's me, Asuna.  It's been so long since I've seen you, but I knew that you'd come for me one day." "Wait… Kirito-sama?  When did you start calling me that?  And how can you be a doll?  Please tell me that I'm not going crazy." Kazuto sensed an edge as sharp as steel pressing against his mind.   "That's mean, Kirito-sama.  You're my only true owner, so of course you deserve that honorific.  Though I suppose it's a long story as to how I got like this…  To make it short, magic.  Is that so hard to believe? We're already talking telepathically.  I can't speak on my own as a doll, so even this conversation with you is a miracle.  It's been years since I've been able to talk to anyone!" Kazuto supposed that made sense, and he was glad that some of Asuna's fierce personality remained, although the years of isolation had clearly gotten to her, muddling her memories and making her view herself as his doll rather than his wife.  Well, hopefully with time the independent Asuna who was his equal would return.  But first he had to figure out how he could help her get back to normal. "Okay, Asuna.  I believe you, and I promise you'll be back to your old self soon.  What do I need to - " "Can I help you?" the man displaying the doll collection asked, breaking Kazuto's concentration. "Oh - I was… just admiring your collection," Kazuto fumbled, while trying to see if he could somehow keep talking to Asuna.  He could still hear her voice in his mind, but he was having trouble reaching out to her now.  After all, it was nearly impossible to hold two coherent conversations at the same time.   "Ah, yes."  He beckoned down to Asuna.  "This doll is the pride of my collection.  Doubtlessly she's the one that caught your eye." "He's the one who stole me from you," Asuna continued, a venom that she had almost forgotten entering her tone.   "Does the doll have a name?" Kazuto asked, trying to sound natural. "Of course.  This one is named Asuna."  He paused.  "Do I know you from somewhere?" "Be careful, Daddy!" Yui chimed in through the Neuro Linker.  "He's getting suspicious!  Could he be another SAO survivor?" "He is," Asuna confirmed.   "I know, Yui, and thank you, Asuna" Kazuto thought back.  Returning his attention to Asuna's captor, he truthfully replied, "I can't say that I recall your face."  Trying to change the topic, he continued, "Would you be willing to sell Asuna?" It would surely be expensive, but if he could get Asuna away from him without any confrontation that would be all the better, especially in such a crowed convention center. "Sorry, but she's not for sale.  Asuna means too much to me.  Now maybe one of the others..." "Find out where he lives, and come for me." Asuna whispered into his mind.  "All you have to do is steal me back, Kirito-sama.  You've done that before, haven't you?" "I'll think about that then.  How may I contact you?" The collector handed him his card, complete with an e-mail address.   Bingo!  Kazuto could see that Asuna's captor was wearing a Neuro Linker as well, so all he would have to do is send an e-mail inquiring about the rest of the collection and attach a computer virus to it.  Once his foe's Neuro Linker was compromised, he could learn everything that he needed to know to rescue Asuna and he'd be able to confuse her captor's senses as well.   "Thank you," Kazuto replied, before turning to leave.  It would do him no good to further rouse suspicion here.   "I'll be back for you soon, Asuna." "I know." --------------------------------- "All too easy."  People just didn't learn, did they, even when the Neuro Linker had made it more important than ever to be vigilant in the security of one's computer, as it interfaced directly with one's brain. If you were a good enough hacker, you could even read the target's memories via the neurolinker.  Finding a particular memory wasn't easy, since they weren't organized quite like files were, and there would necessarily be a bit of fuzziness in the recall, but Kazuto had extensively studied the brain as part of his interest in VR technology, so he was sure that he could do it.   So what exactly was he up against?  To answer that question, he needed to know exactly how the man had abducted and transformed Asuna.  He figured that the best way to accomplish this would be to induce the stimulus of Asuna's appearance before her transformation, so that her captor would naturally recall the relevant memories.   And then he had them, the mental images triggered in the man's mind, which were relayed to Kazuto's own Neuro Linker, allowing him to experience them as if they were firsthand.   There were flashes of Asuna within Aincrad, of the man lecherously watching her from afar.  Of the man discovering his powers and testing them on other girls, just as practice for Asuna.   A flash of how he approached Asuna one day as she was leaving from class and hypnotized her into following him.  And he saw the man cast his fateful spells upon her, shrinking her and then drawing a mark that robbed her of mobility.  From there, the man put Asuna in a fancy dress and then on display on his shelf, where she stayed for five years. Kazuto could barely contain his rage, but he had to remain focused on what he was seeing so that he could formulate a plan. And then Kazuto saw another memory, one that was far more recent.  The man seemed to have decided that Asuna needed some friends to accompany her on his shelf, and he didn't mean just any friends like the other girls he had transformed over the years.  He had his eyes on Asuna's friends - Rika and Shino.  Sure, they now were "older" than Asuna, but they were both beautiful in their own right, and the man thought that it would be fun to dress them up in frilly outfits too, especially Shino. Now Kazuto's rage boiled over.  What the man had done to Asuna was already unforgivable, and now the villain planned to kidnap his friends too? And what sort of sick joke was it that it always seemed like there was some sort of stalker after them?   If the man's thoughts were any indication, Shino was his preferred target.  He'd approach her like he had Asuna, hypnotize her, and then lead her back to his apartment, where he'd transform her into his newest doll.  But as tempting as it was just to break into the man's apartment, immediately retrieve Asuna, and ambush him when he arrived with his would-be victim, Kazuto knew he couldn't do that.  Firstly, he couldn't let any of his friends be subjected to the man's control in good conscience if it was within his power to prevent it.  Secondly, it would be all too easy for the man to transform him there if the advantage of surprise was lost, and while that could reunite him with Asuna, it certainly an outcome to be avoided.  Lastly, there was the issue of what would happen to the man in the aftermath.  If he was allowed to go free, he would just keep transforming more young women… it wasn't as if the courts recognized "involuntary transformation" as a crime.  And if Kazuto broke into his apartment or killed him, Kazuto would find himself locked up for his own crimes and wouldn't be able to be with Asuna again.   So the solution was to catch the man in the act of trying to kidnap Shino - that was recognized as a real crime after all.  Once that was accomplished, retrieving Asuna from the man's apartment would be simple. Given how recent the memory was, he had to assume that the man would be going after Shino very soon.  As he hurried to where he could expect to find Shino, he could only hope that he wasn't too late to save her. --------------------------------------- "All too easy,"  the man thought.  Asada Shino stood before him, a distant look in her eyes, under his thrall, at least for now.  For an officer in training, she wasn't that tough.  The mind could be such a fragile thing, even if one gained a measure of inner strength over the years.  Sure, she had put up some mental resistance, but it was just a matter of finding the flaws in her resolve, punching holes in them, and then filling them in with pleasant visions that would pacify her.  She would see him as someone she trusted now, so that if he were to politely ask her to follow him, she would not object.   And then she would be his as a cute doll, right next to Asuna with a nice smile on her face. It had also been too easy to approach Shino as she left from work.  It was relatively late, and while the city was always busy, it was less so at this hour.  To any onlooker, he was probably just an acquaintance of hers who had paused to talk, and then they would leave together. Surely, there could be nothing suspicious about that.  Even when Shino was found to be missing, the chances of witnesses testimony leading back to him was slim at best.  Besides, he liked to change his attire regularly, and also varied his hairstyle or wore wigs while acquiring his new dolls, so even if people did report seeing someone talking to young women before their disappearances, the police wouldn't have a consistent description for the subject. Of course, if someone was to get too nosy, they'd notice Shino's stupor, and that would be suspicious.  But people were always in a hurry, so few would pause for a closer look. Yet… someone was getting closer right now, hurrying toward him with undeniable purpose.  How had he messed up?  Was it an acquaintance of Shino's, come to meet with her unbeknownst to him, who was alarmed at seeing her with a stranger?   No… this wasn't a coincidence.  The would-be meddler was familiar to him.   He had seen the black-haired man at the convention, where he had showed off Asuna like she was any other doll proudly in his collection.  And then it clicked.  The man was Kirito, Asuna's boyfriend!  Kirito would have recognized her anywhere.  How had he been so careless not to realize the black-haired man's identity before?  And Kirito was Shino's friend as well.  He didn't know how Kirito had pieced together that Shino was his next target, but that wasn't important right now… stopping Kirito was. Other eyes were already being drawn to Kirito's motion, and then he shouted "Shino!".  Now Kirito had really made a scene, and Shino blinked next to him, a sign that his hold over her was wavering.  He'd certainly lose control over her if he had to hypnotize the whole crowd.  Could he even manage to do it for so many people at once?  Even if he could, the strength of his suggestions would certainly be diffused among them. That was not a viable strategy, especially when Kirito was nearly upon him. No, he'd have to flee with Shino while he could still control her, and then he could fight back against Kirito when there were fewer people around.   Once it was just the two of them, he could turn Kirito into a doll as well… and then smash him into pieces.  He wasn't interested in collecting male dolls, and he was feeling rather vindictive after Kirito had ruined what should have been an easy acquisition.  And so he grabbed Shino by the arm, and began forcibly dragging her along with him. But then, a shadow loomed over him from behind.  Turning around, he saw a giant, black-haired girl, who seemed to be getting bigger by the moment.  Or was he shrinking?  It was utterly absurd, but he found himself rooted to the spot. "You're going to pay for what you did to Mommy," the black-haired girl said as she reached down toward him with a now-massive hand.   He was powerless to resist.  Was this how his dolls felt after he transformed them?  All he could do was scream. He didn't even notice that Shino had woken fully from her trance, and he only felt himself getting bludgeoned in the back of the head by her bag before losing consciousness. ---------------------------- It wasn't long before the raving lunatic and would-be kidnapper was taken away by the police. Shino, of course, had to make a statement, stating that the man had indeed tried to kidnap her, but Kazuto had apparently slipped away in the aftermath of the incident.  Wasn't he going to tell her what was going on?  It was infuriating! Finally, she was free to go, and soon thereafter she received a call from Kazuto, asking to meet with her.  It was about time! Kazuto was there to greet her when she arrived at his residence.  There was a look of relief on his face that she hadn't seen in years.   "Please, come in." She nodded, and stepped inside. "I believe I owe you an explanation, Shino." "You've got that right." "Firstly, this all has to do with Asuna." There it was again.  Kazuto had never been able to get beyond the grim truth that Asuna had been kidnapped and likely murdered.  But seeing that he had saved her tonight, and for old times' sake, she felt compelled to listen to him. "I'm listening." "The man who tried to kidnap you tonight was the same man who kidnapped Asuna five years ago." "How do you know that?" "It's a long story… you'd think I was crazy if I didn't have proof with me. But I do."  With that, he picked up an exquisite porcelain doll with strawberry-blonde hair and a gorgeous red dress and a tiara, making it look like a princess, and reverentially set it down in front of her. "Um… I'm sorry, Kazuto, but I don't follow." "Look more carefully at her." This was getting really weird, but Shino played along.  Adjusting her glasses (although she didn't really need to, since the lenses were non-corrective), she squinted and bent forward to get a good look at the doll's face. Wait!  That was Asuna's face!  And the braided hair…  Kazuto couldn't mean? "Hello, Sinonon.  It's been a while, hasn't it?" Asuna's voice said directly into her mind, using the affectionate nickname that she had once used for Shino. Shino almost fell out of her chair, and narrowly avoided knocking the doll over in her surprise. "Be careful, Sinonon!  You wouldn't want to break me on my first night among friends in five years!  Unfortunately, I'm very fragile right now." The doll was talking to her.  The doll was Asuna! "I'm dreaming," Shino told herself.  She gave herself a hard pinch.  It hurt.  "But I'm not.  How can this be?" "I'd be lying if I told you that I fully understood it myself," Kazuto replied.  "But it seems that some sort of magic really exists in our world.  And that man used it to turn Asuna into a doll.   He was planning to do the same to you next, adding you to his collection and putting you onto a shelf next to her."   "Though I would have enjoyed your company, it's good Kirito-sama was able to get to you when he did.  And then, he came back for me, so I got to see you again anyway.  But I can't help but think of how cute you would have looked, Sinonon.  You'll have to dress up for me one day." "What?!"  Shino felt her face burning red. "Was it something I said?" Asuna asked innocently. "Of course there is!  Me, dressing up as a doll?  And why are you calling him Kirito-sama?  You were close, but you never had that kind of relationship!" "You'll have to forgive Asuna," Kazuto replied. "The ordeal took a toll on her, and it may be a while before she's back to her old personality.  But the more she can interact with her old friends, the faster I think her recovery will be." "I see… well, I suppose I can do that."  But no sooner had her embarrassment passed, another thought occurred to her.  "Kazuto, why weren't you at the station when they brought that stalker in?  Of course, the police wouldn't have believed the story about Asuna being a doll, but you still should have been there to give testimony." "I was retrieving Asuna." "Are you saying that you used me as BAIT so that you could break into his apartment while he was detained?" "He was going after you anyway, it was the best way too…." SLAP!  "Unbelievable!" "Sinonon, how could you?  Even if Kirito-sama did have an ulterior motive, if he hadn't come for you when he did, you would have been captured too." "Hmph.  Fine.   But don't think I'll forget this soon." "Oh, before I forget, Asuna, there's something I should take care of," Kazuto added, carefully lifting her up again, and lifting her hair to reveal a mark on the back of her neck.  Rubbing out the mark, he set her down again.  "Do you feel any better now?" -------------------- Asuna felt a strange sensation throughout her porcelain body.  She still didn't have any muscles or blood flowing through her veins (or veins at all for that matter), but it was animated nonetheless.  Experimentally, she flexed an arm, and then took a few dainty steps off her stand.  High above her, Sinonon was freaking out, but Kirito-sama's smile was beaming down on her.   How odd it felt to be able to move on her own again… she had almost forgotten that she had enjoyed this sort of freedom once, how she had once been the Flash, gracefully dashing across the battlefield.  Well, that had been in world other than this one, in another life, with a virtual body, but she remembered it all the same. Of course, she wouldn't be setting any speed records with her current porcelain body, lest she risk tripping and smashing herself.  If that happened, she had no idea if Kirito-sama would ever be able to put her back together again, let alone restore her to how she had once been… a human being.  Her range of motion was also far more limited than when she had been human, as she could only move at her joints.  Consequently, she was stuck with the same smiling expression that she had worn for five years, only now, she sincerely felt that way.   For all of the shortcomings of her situation, it was enough for now. Carefully mounting her stand once again, she let herself become still, though the animating energy continued to flow through her. "I think I'll rest here for now," she said telepathically to the one whom she truly belonged to in heart, porcelain body, and soul. "I don't mind if you keep me on your shelf until you figure out how to restore me to my old self.  You can do that, right?" "It will take some time… I'm going to have to study that book that creep had in his room... it's where he learned his magic.  But I promise you Asuna, I will, no matter how long it takes." "I waited five years… I can wait a few more, and I don't mind if it's for you.  In the meantime, we'll have to invite Liz and all of the others over, and have a party.  I can't wait to see the looks on their faces." "What about your parents?" She would have frowned if she could. "It's… probably best if they don't see me like this.  They wouldn't understand.  But once I'm restored… we'll see them then." "I agree.  Well, I'll make things as comfortable for you here as I can in the meantime… and get a lot of cushions for the room." "And I," Sinonon added, having finally composed herself, "will pretend I heard none of this, especially that part about breaking and entering. But no matter what you've forgotten Asuna, never forget how lucky you are to have him, even as a doll."  Was there jealousy in her voice? And so began the next phase of Asuna's life.   She had no idea how long it would be before she would be human again, but she looked toward that future with hope, secure in the knowledge that she was no longer a captive behind glass.        

[writesandramblings]

The Captain’s Secret - p.10

“Minimally Invasive Procedures”

Full Chapter List << 9 - Under the Wire 11 - The Cure for What Ails >>

Aside from the house lights shutting off while they made their way out, exiting the Dartarans' house was uneventful. But once they were back in what Lorca considered to be the safety of the trees, there was apparently a problem. "All right, folks, let's head on back to the shuttle and get the hell out of here."

"We should wait here!" Lalana was, of course, the only one who would dare to suddenly contravene the captain's stated intention, but at least she had a reason. "It is very dangerous at night."

Lorca sighed. Why was nothing ever easy? "I thought the leskos was the most dangerous thing out here. It's dead."

"One of them is dead," said Lalana, because of course the Dartarans had thought it a good idea to own more than one of those murderous monsters, "and they are not active at night, but the things that are active at night..."

Lorca checked his watch. "It's eight hours until dawn. We are not going to wait here doing nothing for the next eight hours. I'd sooner land the shuttle on that pad over there and wake the Dartarans up." Particularly when he'd already made the internal decision not to waste any more time.

Billingsley perked up at the mention of the shuttle. "Is that an opt—"

"Absolutely not!" said Lorca, cutting her off. "Now move out."

Lalana fell into step beside Lorca in the rear, uncharacteristically quiet as they began the walk back to the compound's outer wall. After a minute, she finally said, "I know you prefer I stay down here, but I really think I should go into the trees, to see if there is danger."

"You realize I almost shot you earlier," said Lorca in a low voice. Lalana's rotating hands suggested that even if this was news to her, she did not mind it. "I assure you, a human with a gun is more dangerous than almost anything else out here."

"I don't think the non-human lifeforms are likely to attack me, captain."

"Because you have the same 'resonance' as 'background radiation?'" he said, sounding vaguely mocking. "I'm pretty sure the monsters here aren't using scanners."

"Because I don't have a scent. What would hunt me when I don't smell like food?"

"Dartarans for a start," said Lorca pointedly. "And humans, and Tremi, and Gorn."

"In the forest, I mean, and excepting you."

He hadn't meant it like that, and hearing it put that way gave him pause. "I wouldn't hunt you."

"Mm, because you wouldn't be able to catch me?" There was a smile in her voice, and a wink, despite the fact neither of these were actions she was physically capable of performing. The dire tension evaporated in an instant. Lorca had to bite his lip to keep from smiling.

"I'll have you know I'd catch you in a heartbeat," he said.

"A heartbeat, what is that?"

Lorca glanced down at Lalana. Her hands were rotating with contentment and her eyes were fixed on him, awaiting his answer. "A heartbeat. Where to start..."

They made slower progress in the darkness, but Lorca was determined to get them out of this nightmare of a jungle and back into the shuttle as soon as possible. If there had been any sort of clearing large enough, he would have called Carver to bring the shuttle over and drop it down under cover of darkness. Unfortunately no such clearing existed. At best they might do a hover extraction with a lowered harness. Such an action came with its own set of risks. He could already picture Billingsley managing to bungle some part of it and fall from a height he couldn't safely catch her. Billingsley was a frustrating person but he didn't want her dead.

Their first encounter in the darkness was with some sort of razor-clawed squirrel. It came screeching through the trees and onto Russo's head, attaching itself to Russo's scalp. Morita took one step, wrenched the thing off, threw it into the air, and shot it. A quick examination revealed some scratches on Russo's head, but nothing life-threatening. Morita patched him up with the medkit and they continued.

Next came a lurking something that no one was sure what to compare to, because it rustled around them in the undergrowth but never actually emerged. Something sussing them out, deciding they were too large or too numerous to take on, but returning periodically in the hope one of their number might have straggled off. It stalked them for a good half an hour before finally giving up on the cause. Probably it found another meal source to occupy its attention. (Lorca supposed it could just have been some form of curious herbivore, it just didn't seem likely given everything else around them.)

Another sliggen approached. Since they hunted by vibration, sliggens seemed not to care whether it was day or night. Lorca recognized the sound from before and dispatched it with ease. After they left its carcass, he thought he heard some sort of whooping animal behind them, perhaps alerting others of its kind that there was freshly dead sliggen available. "How many sliggen are there?" he asked Lalana. "Do they have a nest around here?"

"Probably hundreds," said Lalana. "I don't know if they nest, but they are very common."

Mindful that the sliggen was probably being eaten, Lorca decided they ought to take a wide berth around the leskos corpse. There was no telling what kind of scavengers might be disposing of the evidence of their earlier misadventure. Lorca pointed out to Lalana that at least something was probably eating the leskos, but she didn't seem comforted. "I don't want to talk about that," she said, knocking her hands together. He didn't mention it again.

They were making decent time, all things considered. Lorca began to think they were going to make it home free without further incident.

It hit Morita first.

She was on point, combining a sensor data overlay on her night vision glasses with her naturally sharp and attentive instincts to lead them forward with a level of calm certainty and caution that inspired great confidence right up until the moment it didn't. She stopped, whipped her gun upwards, and began turning her head back and forth as if tracking something visually.

A moment later, Russo dropped the equipment case and his hands flew up in front of him and began to shake, as if he were defensively terrified. Billingsley, who was half a step behind him, suddenly screamed, turned on her heel as if to dash for the trees, but predictably tripped on the uneven ground and landed splayed out in the dirt like a fallen scarecrow.

Lorca brought up his rifle, looking for a target in Morita's rapidly switching sightline, but there was nothing there. Lalana seemed similarly confused.

And then Lorca felt it.

It was like icy cold water running down his back. He gasped and released his rifle. The sensation suddenly spilled and wrapped around him, like he had fallen into the arctic ocean, and he could not move. He struggled to breath as his throat seized. He felt icy daggers pierce his shoulders. A stinging sensation burned his eyes.

Lalana jumped onto his back, climbing him like a tree, her hands knotting into the fabric of his jacket at the collar and her legs locking around his torso. She covered his mouth and nose with the broad end of her tail.

It seemed like she was trying to smother him, but when he inhaled, it tasted like a breath of fresh air and his head cleared. The icy sensation fell away. He could hear Lalana whimpering from his backside, a desperate chant: "Shoot, shoot, shoot, please shoot..."

His eyes were still bleary and raw, but he saw a softly glowing shape drift in on the air from the side, like a piece of luminescent cloth floating on the wind. No, more than one something. There were three of them. Five. Eight? He couldn't tell. One descended onto Russo's head and wrapped around it like a turban. Lorca lined up a shot as best he could at the one nearest Morita, blinking away the watery tears in his stinging eyes, and fired.

It wasn't a direct hit, but as the shot illuminated the area, the floating creatures startled and let out a haunting, low warbling sound, stopping in place. Lorca's next two shots hit targets, dropping one to the ground and winging another in such a way that it went spinning off into the trees. The remaining airborne floater began to ascend with puffing motions like a jellyfish, and the one on Russo's head unwrapped itself and followed, but jerkily at irregular angles, like it couldn't quite pick the right direction. Lorca fired at it, but his eyes were even blurrier than before and he missed.

On the ground, Billingsley began crawling away. Falling had gotten her clear of whatever it was that was still paralysing Morita and Russo. An airborne toxin of some sort. Lorca crouched down to the ground as well, elbowing Lalana off his back. The stinging in his eyes lessened with the reduction in altitude. "You all right, chief?"

Billingsley sneezed. "Yes, captain!"

Lorca put his rifle down, wiped the burning tears from his eyes, took a deep breath near the ground, and dashed over to Morita, hooking his arms under her shoulders and dragging her away and downwards. He could feel the exact moment when the paralysis broke and she relaxed. He grabbed another breath at ground level before going for Russo.

They regrouped a short distance away where the air was clear. Russo's scratches from earlier were now purple with irritation. "They went for him first," noted Morita, doing what she could to tend the scrapes. "Smelled his blood, maybe."

"I'm okay, captain," Russo said. "It just stings." But when he tried to stand, he was dizzy and couldn't stay up. Morita injected Russo with an anti-nausea antihistamine and they waited a couple minutes, but the dizziness didn't seem to improve.

"Course of action, sir?"

There were a lot of things people might say about Lorca, but one of the truest was that he improvised very, very well. "Get the ladder, we'll use it as a stretcher."

"I'm really sorry, captain," said Russo.

Lorca clapped a hand on Russo's shoulder and smiled reassuringly. "No need to apologize, lieutenant. It could have happened to any of us."

While Lorca and Morita readied the ladder by attaching the equipment cases to it to condense the number of items needing carrying, Lalana approached Russo. She said something and Russo nodded. She put her tail over his scrapes. "Lalana, what are you doing?" Lorca called out.

"Lelulallen."

She'd killed the leskos with that. Lorca paused with his hand on the ladder. She'd said it was for healing, but... did she know what she was doing? She wasn't exactly an expert on human biology. "Maybe leave the medical care to the doc?"

"I'm done," she said, and withdrew her tail. There were a few patches of dark purple discoloration on her tail corresponding to the scratches on Russo's head. Lalana vibrated and the discolored bits of fur fell off onto the ground. "Some of it was too deep, but it should help."

"It does, thank you."

"I don't suppose this means you can walk now?" asked Lorca.

Russo started to try and stand, but quickly sat down again.

"I only made it sting less," said Lalana. "I think those were something called pevar-pani? Margeh and T'rond'n call them mind-eaters. They do not kill their prey, they only render them unconscious, so you should be fine in a few hours."

"Only unconscious," grumbled Lorca, holding the ladder steady while Morita helped Russo onto it. Dizzy was certainly bad enough.

"If your eyes are still bothering you, I can lelulallen them, too," offered Lalana.

"We're gonna give that a hard pass," said Lorca. The last thing he needed was Lalana accidentally blinding someone. "But what you can do is take Mr. Russo's communicator, go up in the trees, and direct us away from any more creatures. How's that sound?"

"Yes, captain!" bubbled Lalana, happy to be of help. Morita showed her how to work the communicator and then she was off.

"Should I have had her doing that the whole time?" Lorca asked Morita.

"Honestly, sir? I'm not sure she should be doing it now, but..." Morita shrugged and took the other side of the ladder with Billingsley.

"If she's attacked, we won't be able to help, and we'll be down our alien," said Russo. He sounded genuinely concerned. Only Billingsley said nothing, her glare burning a hole in the back of Lorca's head as they set out towards the shuttle.

By the time they reached the outer wall, two more sliggens had been killed, and Russo was recovered enough to walk again. While Russo's recovery meant Lalana could have rejoined them on the ground, she seemed to be taking her scouting duties with the communicator so seriously and enjoying it so much, Lorca let her continue all the way to the wall. At one point, they heard some sort of a violent commotion up in the trees where Lalana was, but she reported all was well, even when Lorca pressed the point, so he let it go. She was supposedly one of the galaxy's toughest prey to hunt. He had to assume that extended to all sorts of hunters.

At least Lalana hadn't used the communicator to turn on them, as Morita had briefly suspected she might. She met them at the wall with the communicator in hand and returned to it Russo, commenting, "I really liked using it. Thank you."

"Sure thing," said Russo, wiping it down as if concerned about what germs she might have gotten on it. (He'd let her stick her tail on his face, but when it came to communications equipment, Russo didn't mess around.)

They crossed over the wall. Even though they were exhausted and the high-pitched sound was no less painful than before, no one slipped, tripped, or fell. Lorca and Lalana were the last to go up. "Go ahead, captain," said Lalana, waiting for him to proceed. Lorca pursed his lips, suspicious, but went up the ladder, joining Billingsley at the apex. Lalana suddenly bounded up after him, arriving at the top of the wall a mere moment after he did, then jumped down while he was busy collapsing the back half of the ladder.

It struck him while he was coming down the other side that there were three things bothering him about Lalana's behavior. First, that she had been first up and onto every climbable object they had encountered until now. Second, that she wasn't moving when anyone was looking directly at her. Third, that she was keeping herself facing them at all times.

While Billingsley reset the energy barrier, Lorca ordered Morita and Russo to take the communications case back to the shuttle. He didn't have to ask twice; Morita and Russo were all too happy to get away from the annoying sound of the fence.

Despite the lingering risk that Billingsley would fall coming down (but certain she had embarrassed herself sufficiently to take steps to avoid it), Lorca took the medkit and gestured for Lalana to join him away from the wall. She fell into step behind him rather than alongside, further confirming his suspicion, and stood with her tail against the ground once they were clear of the piercing tone.

He put his hands on his hip and raised his eyebrows, fixing her with the Look. "All right, what's wrong with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean. Turn around."

Her knuckles began knocking.

"Turn. Around."

She took a short, twisting step, half-turning left. Her right side looked perfectly fine.

"Lalana!" he barked impatiently.

"It's fine, really," she said, but turned the rest of the way, leaning heavily on her tail to do so. A large patch of fur on the rear side of her left haunch was flattened, the strands tautly hooked together.

"If I have to ask one more time," he warned her.

The tendrils of her fur delicately pulled apart to reveal a large, gaping hole at least two inches wide, and rather deep.

"The hell," he said, dropping down for a closer look, and shone the light from his rifle inside. It was an absolutely massive gash. The interior walls of the wound were lined with ghostly little tendrils, like cobwebs, that seemed to be trying to stretch to fill the area, but not quite succeeding. His hand hovered near the gash, but he didn't touch it. "Doesn't that hurt?"

"No," she said nonchalantly. "It just keeps pulling apart when I move, so I cannot get it properly alalalu."

"Alu... alalu..."

She hooked her fingers together in illustration. "Ah-lah-luh-lu. When two strands come together and connect."

"Knit," he offered. Stitched, knotted, or woven might have been just as appropriate. He opened the medkit and wondered what the best course of treatment was. Probably leaving the medicine to Dr. Ek'Ez, as he had suggested she do earlier with Russo, but he couldn't leave a giant gaping wound unattended for the several hours it would take them to return to the Triton. At least it didn't seem to be life-threatening. "I guess I can staple it."

"Staple?"

"This is why we should leave your translator on 'full,'" he admonished her, brandishing the medical stapler. "We just put this over the gash, and..." He popped his lips while tapping his finger against the trigger without pulling it. "Staple goes in, closes it up."

Using the word "staple" to define the act of stapling was not entirely helpful, but Lalana seemed the understand and responded with enthusiasm to the idea. "Excellent!"

There were three anesthetics in the kit. It was probably a bad idea to try and use any of them without knowing which might be safe. "This'll hurt."

"No it won't. I am quite certain there isn't anything you could do which could cause me pain, captain. Physically, in any event. Certainly, there are other capacities in which intelligent creatures can hurt each other..."

She had said the wound didn't hurt. Still. "Stop talking, and don't move." He put one hand firmly around the wound, pressing the gash closed, and popped a staple into place. Lalana didn't flinch. Her flesh had a vaguely jellylike feel to it. He added another staple, and a third, which was probably overkill, but she had said the wound kept popping open when she moved, so it seemed prudent to reinforce it. He sat back and admired his handiwork.

"Those are very nice," she commented. "Sterile! Can you put some here, here, here, here, and here?" Her fur parted in five spots along the bulge in her haunch where the wound was.

Lorca considered the request. The staples were supposed to be used to seal the outside of a wound. They weren't particularly deep and it seemed unlikely they would penetrate far enough to seal the wound internally. He said as much. "Please, captain?" She looked at him with her enormous eyes, creepy as they were in the darkness.

On the one hand, this was a potentially frivolous misuse of medical supplies and an unnecessary additional procedure that might merit a lecture attempt from Dr. Ek'Ez. On the other, she had asked nicely, and the staples were sterile and unlikely to do anything beyond damage her skin cosmetically. "Sure, what the hell."

By the time he got to the fourth spot, he noticed something strange was happening. The first staple was disappearing into her skin, pushed in by the surrounding tendrils of her fur, and the second.

"Captain?"

"Yeah." He stopped staring and popped in the last two staples in quick succession. "You're all set."

She pressed her tail over the spot, compressing the area. "Much better. They aren't melting."

That seemed worth a question, but he had a more pressing thought on his mind. He returned the stapler to the medkit and sat back on the ground so they were speaking at eye level, one leg up, elbow resting on his knee. "Mind telling me what happened?"

"I collided with a Dartaran wasp. I was jumping where it was flying, and I did not see it until it was too late to avoid. They are... burrowing wasps. Usually into trees. When I hit it, it tried to burrow into me, according to its instinct. It was very effective at this."

The corner of his mouth twitched downward. It was a lot of information that failed to address the main problem at hand. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"It was such a big deal when Russo was hurt, I didn't want to inconvenience you, and... I did not want you to think I could not handle myself after I told you I could."

Lorca considered that carefully, eyes narrowing. "If you were a member of my crew, I'd have busted you back down to ensign for this."

"Because I was hurt? Then, will Russo...?"

"Because you lied to me." He let that sit in the air a moment. "I asked you, point blank, is everything all right up there, and you said it was. I asked you twice. And what, you didn't trust me enough to tell me the truth?"

Her hands began knocking. "Captain, I—"

"Ah," he stopped her, finger raised. "I am risking everything to help you and your people. Now I think it's a good cause, but if you don't trust me enough to tell me when something happens that might jeopardize the safety of anyone involved, yourself included, we are not going to get very far, and you can go find yourself another Starfleet captain."

All the Southern drawl in the universe couldn't soften the blow of this lecture. Lalana turned her head away. "Yes, captain." Her tail shifted from her haunch to her eyes, a now-familiar move of distress.

"Now hold on, don't do that," he said with mild alarm. "I'm not trying to make you feel bad, Lalana. I just need you to understand: you do not make the decisions here, I do. And in order for me to do that effectively, you have to keep me informed so we don't have a repeat of this mistake. That's not a problem for you, is it?" It wasn't really a question so much as a statement of her general tendency to overshare details.

He tail shifted, her leftmost three pupils peeking out. "Then you are not mad at me?"

Truthfully, he was a little angry, but it was very far down on the list of his feelings about the situation. She wasn't a member of the crew, didn't know much about Starfleet, and had been trying to be considerate, albeit in an idiotic way that could have turned out very badly for all concerned and had ended up being mildly inconvenient to him personally.

He took a chance. "Oh, I'm mad, all right. Absolutely, positively furious. Steam out the ears and everything. Any second now, my head'll explode like a volcano, killing us both. Probably take half the moon out, too." She looked, but there was no steam, no volcano, only a very telling smirk. Her tongue clicked tentatively. Emboldened, he went on, "In fact, I'm so angry, I think I'll conscript you. How's the rank of lieutenant sound? No, lieutenant commander. Hell, let's make it a full commander. Commander Lalana, welcome to Starfleet, and you're being demoted."

The trickle of tongue clicks turned into an explosion of clicks. She thumped her tail against the ground for good measure.

"Demoted! Captain, no!" she managed gleefully through her laughter.

"Ensign Lalana! You'll be scrubbing plasma conduits with a toothbrush for the next month. And no cheating and using your tail. And if I don't—"

Someone coughed. Lorca whipped his head around, startled.  "Billingsley! Goddamnit, how long have you been standing there!" Between the faint buzz of the wall and the conversation, he hadn't heard her approach. Lalana might have mentioned the engineer's approach. (In fact, she had tried, but he'd cut her off.)

Billingsley grimaced. "Sir. Is there any answer to that question you'll like?"

Lorca grabbed the medkit and stood up. "Probably not, chief." But he made her tell him anyway.

Part 11

[hollymountcastlecreatives19]

Design Process

I started off my planning process by writing down a bunch of ideas. Having initially chosen Illustration as the path I would go down, I looked further at what I could do specifically. Environments? Game Art? Character Design/Illustration? 

To help narrow it down I went into some of my likes and inspirations. For example, I have recently been playing a lot of Red Dead Redemption 2 and have been enjoying the world it is set in with its vast landscapes, ranging from mountains to deserts. By choosing a theme I could decide if I wanted to do an illustration, character design, environmental or fanart piece.

I came to the decision of creating a full illustration, possibly including new, original characters and a small animation if I thought it do-able. I looked at what atmosphere, movement and expressions I may want featured, creating a list to base my ideas off.

Now, with some ideas in mind I decided to jump right in and start sketching to help me come to a better idea of what I would like to do.  I started with environmental sketches, creating landscapes and including notes of what extra I could include like people, buildings and animals.

The first idea uses perspective and foreground/background. At the front is a hill ledge, where a character or animal may stand looking out at the forest, village, river and mountains below/in the distance.

The second sketch features a camp, very similar to what is featured in the game RDR2. In the centre is a fire, surrounded by logs, skins, tents and chairs. From this I could add characters and set an emotion, whether it be happy or sad.

For the next sketch I did a very basic idea, often seen in books and films where the sun is large and either setting or rising in the distance, with characters walking/riding along the horizon. This would mean there would be a lot less detail in characters due to the lighting but it could be too basic. 

Next I looked more at nature and a different environment, moving up into the mountains where it’s covered in snow and filled with thick pine trees. In the snow could be animal tracks and I could add either animals or characters battling the snow.

For the fifth, and similarly, sixth and seventh sketch, I looked at rocky environments, similar to places you might find in Arizona, USA like the Grand Canyon. The colour theme would be quite orange but could be edited by setting a specific time of day (morning/afternoon/evening/night). I looked at ways of including characters up close and in the distance, such as higher up on the ledge in the first of this set or following a winding path much further in the distance like the third. 

Finally, a river where the point of view is close to the ground, pointing upwards towards a hill that shows a path. Characters could be included going through the water or up the path.

After looking at the very brief sketches I had made I chose some of the ideas that I liked most. For me, it was the final and the ones that included the rocky environments. 

Going into slightly more detail and including characters I re-sketched these ideas, combining previous sketches to make a more intricate one, like how I combined parts from each of the rocky sketches into one, by adding the higher grounds with the path below, leading away.

I still wasn’t sure on what I wanted to choose, so to further help me I turned to digitalising these sketches and creating thumbnails for the final piece. By doing so I could add colour and move things around how I like, also allowing me to pick a style to use for the final.

Backtracking I did all three rocky scenes and the river sketch. Whilst both have their benefits, I liked the challenge that came with the two-levelled sketch (bottom left) as it allows me to play with perspective more so than I usually would.

STILL unsure I further finalised the sketches, messily painting over the thumbnails, adding some textures and, eventually, sketching out some characters. Whilst I didn’t go into full colour, I wasn’t 100% sure if I wanted to, at the time quite liking the colour theme. The characters included would be original which if I were to continue I’d need to create simple reference sheets for.

I made sure to include something extra than just a basic environment, in this case the fox in the corner and if I had added more detail there would be prints in the snow.

Eventually, whilst I did like and was very close to finalising the sketch I made for the rocky scene, I thought it over more and realised it wasn’t what I really wanted to do. 

I much prefer to include lots of colour in my drawings and was further reminded of this after I watched the film Spiderman: Into the Spider Verse. It easily became one of my favourite films and I quickly lose interest in my previous idea. I wanted to create something with more movement and colour. 

As I hadn’t drawn anything similar to the Spiderverse before I started by referencing scenes from the film, sketching the characters and taking note of their body shapes and clothing. My original idea- though I was running out of time by this point- was to include all six spider people in one drawing, but soon realised I wouldn’t have the time nor was I confident enough to do so, narrowing it down between three.

In the end I chose the protagonist of the story, Miles Morales. He had the easiest body shape and I preferred his character design over the others.

The next stage was planning the drawing. I still wanted to create an illustration only this time I would be focusing on the character rather than environment. Spiderman is known for being... well, spider-like, using webs to swing from tall buildings and easily to climb up them with his sticky hands and feet. So, naturally, I created some thumbnails of him featured on buildings or leaping from one (a common occurrence in the Spider Verse film). 

I asked the opinion of a friend and narrow it down to the first and last sketch. Finalising the sketches I eventually chose the first one, including Miles’s clothing which he wears on top of his spider-suit which helped add more movement.

Despite the fact there is no theme this year, it’s still the Nottingham Young Creative Awards and came up with the idea of including Nottingham in the background.

[ais-n]

some random updates and manga commentary

I read more manga than books usually, but then don’t always say much about it because idk, usually I just have a thought or two and then move on. Sometimes I do these posts where I mention a bunch of series in one place in passing. If that sounds interesting, read on. 

But first:

I’m fucking obsessed lately with One Piece Treasure Cruise somebody stop me I have problems I already spent $10 on it help

Ok, now onto manga mentions, commentary, etc:

I bought the latest Livingstone volume (4) and was all excited to continue reading that series only to realize unexpectedly the other night that it was the end of the series. MAN. It’s been awhile since I watched Deadman Wonderland but I seem to recall feeling the same way about that as Livingstone, only maybe less dramatically so, and that’s this: the creator is the same for both series, and comes up with really interesting ideas and throws in some interesting characters. But then the story itself feels like it ends before it explores the concept as deeply as it could or should. It’s not that I recall Deadman Wonderland’s ending being terrible, and it’s not that Livingstone necessarily had a bad ending either; it’s just that I feel like it ends right as it’s developing, so some of the impact is lost on me because I feel like so much more story still should have been told.

Finally got caught up (again) on Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler and D.Gray-Man. I’m seriously getting worried about Hoshino’s health for DGM :( I’m so worried something will happen to her that is more permanent even than has happened already, and I’m also worried the series will not be able to end properly as a result. Which is really sad to me because I want Hoshino to be okay, and I want her and her readers to not have any regrets about the series itself. I wish she would get an assistant to draw for her while she dictates the story, if for no other reason than to preserve her health more, but I imagine she is hesitant to do so because she has such a beautiful art style and it has to be incredibly difficult to struggle against health issues when you know once upon a time you easily could do far more than now you struggle to achieve. It’s so sad :( I don’t want her to push her health beyond its limits. Ganbatte, Hoshino! :( As for Kuroshitsuji, I swear to god that series is simultaneously the most ridiculous and sometimes most amazing thing XD I’ve been pretty embarrassed by the whole pop star thing because idk lots of reasons, but that’s happened for me before on other arcs that have happened and it always swings its way back. Anyway regardless I love Ciel and Sebastian and everyone and YES UNDERTAKER YESSSSS. Also, it’s been cracking me up seeing how much Soma seems to be having a ball in the latest arc XD

Just realized I’m a couple chapters behind on Magi, that’s the next thing I need to catch up on. Also I need to check on Love Stage!! because it’s been months since I last looked. Yotsuba&! came out with a new chapter too! But I need to read it still. Same with a few BL manga I’m following whose names I’ve managed to briefly forget so I have to track that down to look for updates ugggh I’m real good at this lol

btw did I mention I watched the Seven Days live action movie awhile ago? Because I did. I liked it! I was worried I wouldn’t but I did. I mean, I fucking love Seven Days so that’s probably no surprise, I just rarely watch live action of manga or anime, especially BL, so that’s why I wasn’t sure how I’d feel. But oh my god they paid so much attention even to little idiosyncrasies and movements! Good job, guys, good job

I still need to read Haikyuu!!, I don’t know why I haven’t yet. It’s my goal to do so at some point, because so far I’ve only seen the anime and read the first 2 volumes, and I want to read everything and be up to date with others! 

I started Black Clover and was pretty excited about it but then it started pulling full on bullshit fanservice moves in the 3rd volume or something and it annoyed me so much I stopped reading... I should probably start up again but ugh, so sick of unnecessary fanservice 

WAIT have I read the latest Noragami?? ....Shit yes I did I FORGOT ok so that series THAT SERIES goddamnit I love that series...

Same with Natsume Yuujinchou like goddamn, just as soon as you think surely you won’t cry at some new story in it because surely you’re immune by now, the series is like “So anyway here’s this really bittersweet or heartwarming-slash-heartrending story I’ll casually throw out there and Bee-Tee-Dubs, just a reminder that as nice as Natsume is, his life will probably always be a pretty sad and precarious mess because he cares too much about both humans and Ayakashi”

which now that I’m thinking about it is a bit Allen Walker-like.... no wonder I love both Natsume and Allen; they both are stuck in between all these other things but don’t use it as an excuse to hurt or hate others; if anything, they hurt themselves while trying not to hurt others. I just really love characters and people who don’t use misfortune as an excuse for harming others

There’s probably more but I’m getting so distracted by this gif faded in the background on tumblr that I can’t focus omg wut

Oh right, I hope Gangsta comes back sometime in the future. They have some spin off out I think, right? Based on Marco Adriano, called Cursed? I’m debating if I should give it a try.... Actually I don’t remember, maybe I bought the first volume and haven’t read it yet lolz0r Anyway if anyone’s read it, is it as good as Gangsta? The thing is, I don’t really care about Marco, so that’s why I haven’t read it yet. Not that I hate him or anything but I feel pretty meh about reading something solely based on him so I’ve hesitated. I mostly like Gangsta primarily for Worick and secondarily for Nicolas, and then I liked others like Doug, and it’s not like I hate the rest of the characters but they work best for me as the background to Worick and Nicolas’ story. So idk.

Similarly, I gave up on Dogs! Bullets & Carnage around volume 9 mostly because I love one character (Badou all the way, motherfuckers!) and am mostly ambivalent or not in love with the rest. Badou totally carried the series for me in the beginning, when he and Heine had all those great interactions, but now Naoto’s more prominent with Heine and I’m like bleggggh not a fan of Naoto almost at all, and Heine’s okay but I feel like he’s kind of a non-character so he doesn’t really work as the primary MC for me. The pacing of the story is not the best so it makes it harder for me to care about what’s going on. Basically I just want the series to follow Badou around and tell me occasionally about the crazy shit the others are getting up to. Give me a spin off on Badou and I’ll buy that any day! Come on! Anyway so if anyone is still reading that, I’m just curious if I should keep going... I’m a little curious about what the hell is even going on with the plot and background and etc but mostly I just want more Badou :( ...wait a second, I just saw there’s a prequel called just Dogs, that may be more along the lines of the story I want to read. I want just Dogs, man! Did I read it already years ago? Fuck if I can remember...

I also gave up on Tokyo Ghoul:re after it was so incredibly different from Tokyo Ghoul and the pacing and just everything kind of fucked around with what I was hoping to read as a continuation of that series, and in particular with me wanting to see more of Kaneki. I’m months behind at this point and idk man. I will probably read further at some point because I do think it’s an interesting world and I liked a number of characters in Tokyo Ghoul quite a lot, especially Kaneki. But :re has just been... I’m trying not to say mean things lol it’s just that I guess the pacing and style and story and character designs and just everything is basically like a whole different series. Which would be fine, if that was what I wanted. But what I wanted was more Tokyo Ghoul, so I’m disappointed so far. idk. I don’t think I’ve given up completely on it. I just think I have to wait until I’m in the right mood...

That just randomly reminded me I never finished Claymore. That was another series that started out interesting but then idk. The pacing or story or what just dragged a lot after a while, or made it difficult to follow. I should finish it sometime I guess. I think I probably only have a few dozen chapters to read to end it. 

I did the same thing with Shingeki no Kyoujin/Attack on Titan... I was pretty obsessed with it when I first started reading it, then the story/style started wavering around the same time I got caught up with Japan and had to wait for new chapters, I read as chapters released for a few months, and then idk. At one point I just got too annoyed/frustrated with the series and stopped reading. I guess that’s another series where maybe I should wait until it’s ended and then read it all at once. I’m curious about some of the plot lines but I really only liked one or two characters pretty well and the rest I was ambivalent about or my feelings on them varied too much, and since I’m so character-driven as a reader/viewer I just can’t stick with series that don’t have strong and consistent plots while also having strong and consistent characters and character development. At least not week by week or month by month, one chapter at a time. It doesn’t seem to work for my attention span.

In anime news, I wish we’d get some sequels of some series like re:Zero or K Project or my god wouldn’t No. 6 be nice?? But these are all light novel based so my hopes are probably for naught. Actually, I take that back. K wasn’t based on LN, it just has novels in addition to the anime. But now I’m realizing, maybe I missed some things. That series is kind of weird with stuff all over the place and individualized outside of the anime itself so I probably missed things. Unsurprisingly, I’m sure, Shiro is my favorite, Kuro secondarily. But I primarily watched for Shiro lolz

Wow ok I just managed to use up all my time on StayFocusd rambling on all this shit so there you go, there’s a bunch of random thoughts about a bunch of random series, and I didn’t even cover everything but I had to stop somewhere I guess.

Probably no one even read this far but that’s fine; sometimes I write this even just to remember later my thoughts on some things. Like I said earlier in the year, I wanted to do Voice as my word for 2017, which means not silencing myself on stuff unnecessarily, so for things like this where I want to write a post talking about a bunch of different stuff just touching on them it’s silly to not do it if it’s something I want to do. If that makes sense.

Anyway if you are reading this, I hope you have a lovely day/night/whatever it is for you! And hey, let me know if you have thoughts on any of the series I mentioned or I guess if you want me to go more in depth on something if it was of interest to you. idk, just whatever.

Hmm maybe I’ll make a tag for these kind of posts so I can find them later... I think I’ll do “ais manga ramblings” hmmmm

[ssteezyy]

Ask the Cat Behaviorist with Mikel Delgado: Cat Constantly Begging for Food, Two Cats Don’t Get Along Anymore, and More

Welcome to our regular “Ask the Cat Behaviorist with Mikel Delgado” segment. Once a month, we’ll post a reminder for you to post your questions for Mikel. She’ll answer as many of them as she can each time, and I’ll publish her answers in a subsequent post.

Mikel is a Certified Cat Behavior Consultant at Feline Minds, offering on-site consultations for cat guardians, shelters, and pet-related businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area, and remote consultations around the world. She obtained her PhD in Psychology at UC Berkeley, where she studied animal behavior and human-pet relationships. Mikel is co-author of Jackson Galaxy’s forthcoming book, Total Cat Mojo: The Ultimate Guide to Life with Your Cat.

Does my cat not like our other cat because she doesn’t have a tail?

I have 4 cats and 3 dogs all together. My 1 1/2 year old Maine Coon Mix does not like my 4 month old Calico Bobtail Mix at all but she gets along with the other two cats and the dogs. I was wondering if my Maine Coon Mix could not be liking my Calico Bobtail Mix because she doesn’t have a tail. Does my Maine Coon Mix know that the Calico Bobtail is a cat? I’m just trying to figure out why my 1 1/2 year old cat absolutely despised the kitten. Please help!! She attacks and chases the kitten constantly. (Jennifer Falbo)

Hello Jennifer,

Much to my chagrin, there’s no way to really know what our cats are thinking. 🙂 Since we are so visual, we think that vision is the most important thing to how other animals perceive the world, but that is probably not the case. We know that for cats, other things are important, such as olfactory signals.

Now cats with stubby or missing tails are not able to display one important signal between cats – the “tail up” – that tail held high with a question mark at the top. That is a classic sign of “I come in peace” – a cat who is sending a friendly signal to another. So while I don’t think this missing signal would make or break a relationship, it could be just one more thing working against your Maine Coon Mix liking the kitten.

I wish it were guaranteed that just because a cat likes some animals, they would like all of them. But similarly, do you like every new person you meet? Probably not. A lot could depend on how the animals were introduced, as well as individual personalities and energy levels.

What I can say with some certainty is that you should start over and reintroduce the kitten and your Maine Coon Mix, controlling their interactions and building positive associations. Ongoing fighting and chasing is a sign of stress and of two cats that need some help!

Cat vomits after eating too fast

Hi Mikel,

Our baby boy is 6 years old and his name is Smokey. He seems to vomit very randomly and sometimes its consecutive for a few days at a time. We asked our vet about it about 6 months or so ago and he said, Smokey is gorging his food at times and that’s why he’s vomiting. Or it could also be hairballs? He is a healthy and happy cat otherwise. I just thought I’d get your take on the situation because I don’t want something to happen later on down the road, when he could have an illness. He eats both wet (fancy feast gravy) and dry (Purina indoor cat chow), and I feed him twice a day. He also loves temptation and Sheba chicken sticks treats. We try not to overdo it with the treats too! Once or twice a day we give him a few pieces at a time. Appreciate your feedback! We love our boy so much and hate seeing him get sick like this. (Tracey S.)

Tracey,

I’m not a veterinarian, but I do believe that the current thinking about vomiting in cats has changed – and we no longer consider it “normal” cat behavior. If Smokey is indeed gorging on his food, then food puzzles may be helpful! They can slow down his eating and keep him mentally stimulated and occupied. There are puzzles you can use with both dry and wet food – just check out foodpuzzlesforcats.com for suggestions! Cats who eat wet food too fast can also be slowed down if you spread the wet food very thinly over the surface of the bowl or plate (“frost” the plate with the food).

However, if the vomiting continues, I would recommend seeking a second opinion from a veterinarian, perhaps an internal medicine specialist, who can help you pin down any potential medical issues, such as allergies or digestive problems, that are causing the vomiting.

Indoor/outdoor cat stopped coming inside

Hi Mikel,

4.5 years ago I adopted a two year old female cat from the local shelter (ACC). I met her at Petfood Express, the summer I visited about once/ week for a “kitten fix.” I sat on the floor with the kittens and Rosie, who was good with them and so allowed out of her cage while they were playing. She came and sat near me. She didn’t want to be petted more than a stroke or two, she definitely did not want lap time. She’s so beautiful, I kept thinking, she will soon be adopted. (I already had two senior cats at home and was not looking to adopt another.)

But 2 months went by, and she was sent back to the shelter because no one had adopted her. Another month went by, while I checked the website every Monday hoping to see she had been adopted over the week end. Didn’t happen. I finally couldn’t stand her being in jail any longer and went to get her out. I learned Rosie had been living in a feral colony and was brought into the shelter by a volunteer who was feeding the colony and TNRing the cats. At the shelter, people thought she was friendly enough to get adopted. She was friendly. But when I got her home and spent more time with her I understood why she had spent so long in the shelter. She had feral traits which most people wouldn’t have patience with for long. She did NOT want to be picked up and would make that Known immediately. She has never decided she wants to be in a lap or even petted much. But some. On her terms. I had spent a year making friends with a feral cat who then moved in with me, so I wasn’t put off by Rosie’s behavior.

She easily made friends with the two male cats already living with us. She obviously liked other cats.

She went outdoors thru the catflap in the back door. It’s a safe outdoor area, and she insisted she absolutely had to go outdoors. For 4 years, she came and went as she pleased (except for the few days she had a vet appointment). She came in to eat and sleep, occasionally playing with a toy. When she wanted canned food, she would come in and come to me to tell me. She made friends with the male cat the same age who lives on the first floor in the apartment under ours on the 3rd. The two of them play and travel together. Often, if we call one, both come.

Last summer, Rosie stopped coming indoors to eat and sleep. I take food outdoors to her. She will still, sometimes, come upstairs with me on the indoor stairway. But when she comes into the apartment, she goes directly to the back door to go out the cat flap. I’ve tried a few times to keep her in for a little while, thinking perhaps if she sees that nothing “bad” will happen to her, she’ll get comfortable indoors again. Nope. She stays right by the back door and cries until I let her out again. One evening recently, her best friend came up with her. Xing Xing has been in and out of our home since he was very young, and he was comfortable — ate, played, napped while Rosie continued to sit by the door crying off and on until I let them go out again.

I don’t know what happened to cause Rosie to move outdoors. I don’t know how to get her comfortable coming indoors again. It’s raining now, I thought the rain would bring her in. Not happening. I think she’s sheltering in the cave like space under one of the buildings in our apartments block.

I understand this is long. Perhaps, Mikel, you would like me to make an appointment with you? I’m in San Francisco, and I think you’re in the SF Bay Area? (Cheri Collins)

Hi Cheri,

I’m sorry to hear about Rosie’s change in behavior; likely something happened last summer that tipped the scales for her, but regardless, we have to deal with the behavior she is currently showing.

Unfortunately, it sounds like Rosie got more attached to her outdoor territory before she developed much of a relationship with you. We know that cats form attachments to territory FIRST, and subsequently to whomever or whatever is in that territory. For whatever reason, be it her feral background (certainly a likely contributor) or being let outside perhaps a bit too early, she has decided home is outdoors.

Giving her food outside only reinforces that there’s not much of interest for her inside your house. Can you start luring her back inside to eat? Gradually place the food closer and closer to the door, then prop the cat flap open and feed her just inside, etc., until you are back to feeding her indoors. The more delicious the food, the better. You may also want to try providing her with a shelter (feral box) close to the home at least so you know she has a safe place to be, and then eventually move that indoors as well. The idea is to give her some reason to come indoors, since human attention dos not seem to be a primary motivator for her.

Honestly, if you want her to come indoors, you may have to make the hard decision to go cold turkey and keep her indoors ONLY and work on re-socializing and building a relationship with her. This will probably not go over well with Rosie at first, since Pandora’s Box has been opened, so to speak. Once cats have a taste of the outdoors, it can be hard to go back. My experience is that moving to a new location makes it easier to convert a cat to indoors only, because the cues that indicate “I go outside” have changed. That said, I’ve seen plenty of formerly indoor-outdoor cats convert to indoors only, with patience and enrichment.

If you’d like to discuss this problem further, and you’re interested in a consultation, I’d be happy to schedule something with you (you can find us at felineminds.com), or you can always find a qualified (and certified) consultant at iaabc.org.

Cat is constantly begging for food

I have an 8 year old Torti (Ginger Diana) and I’m desperately trying to get her to lose weight. I’ve got her down to 11 lbs but I’d like to get her down to at least 9 as she is a runt. The problem is whenever I am home, she is constantly begging for food. When I say no she gets upset, scratches on the walls, bites wires and bites me. I don’t want to give in to her but I don’t want to see her gain the weight back (she was 16 lbs) and I don’t want her to get destructive and then I have to answer to my landlord or see her do something that could end her life like biting through wires. (Arleen Fackina)

Arleen,

First of all, congratulations on the weight you have already gotten off Ginger Diana! Getting weight down with overweight cats can be challenging. I hope you are working with a veterinarian to figure out her ideal weight, what diet would be most helpful, and how much you should be feeding her. There a few ways to encourage weight loss – one is to reduce caloric intake, and another is to increase exercise. I love food puzzles for “food obsessed” cats, because they can slow down eating while giving the cat more physical activity. Cats who eat a little more slowly may feel satiated before they’ve wolfed down all their food.

I’d also think about how often you’re feeding Ginger Diana. Cats naturally eat somewhere between 8 to 15+ small meals per day. They are designed to eat several small meals (aka “mice”) each day, throughout the day. For some cats I’m a fan of much stricter meal feeding, but you may find it more effective to feed Ginger Diana several very tiny meals throughout the day, if you are around. If you aren’t around, again, several food puzzles would be great. The puzzles should be challenging enough to slow her down without her becoming frustrated. The website foodpuzzlesforcats.com has several examples of food puzzles that can be used for wet or dry food, and gives plenty of options based on the cat’s skill level! Can you tell I’m a fan of food puzzles????

As she continues to lose weight, she’ll hopefully feel more like playing – so try to engage her with interactive toys a few times a day. Play sessions can be brief, but be sure to make them part of your daily routine. Anytime she’s playing with a toy is a time she is not going to be begging for food!

Finally, it’s important to not reward Ginger Diana’s destructive attempts to get you to feed her. Unsafe situations should be managed (cord covers for wires) so she cannot hurt herself. You may find that once she is able to nibble small amounts through the day, she is less likely to bother you for food. You can also use clicker training to reward her with small amounts of food (you can use small bits of her regular ration) for GOOD behavior, like sitting, scratching her scratching post, or for cute parlor tricks.

Cat bites and attacks pillows, blankets and stuffed animals

Hi, I’m hoping you might have some advice for me. About 3 months ago I adopted a sphynx from a shelter. He’s estimated to be about a yr old & he’s neutered. He has a tendency to bite/attack pillows, blankets & stuffed animals and he’s starting to put holes in everything. I have been trying to keep stuff picked up but I have 3 small kids. He also likes to cuddle with me under blankets at night & will be very calm & then nip me in the leg outta nowhere. I’m not sure if these cuddling nips are just hard love bites or he wants me to move over or what. I’ve generally found if I put my hand in between my leg & his mouth it usually stops him. For now the nipping isn’t major (no broken skin yet) but I don’t want it to turn any to anything more aggressive either.

I have “catified” as much as I can afford currently & play with him (using fishing pole style toy) for 30 minutes to an hour every evening. I try to keep the game going til he loses interest & walks off. As far as “catification” goes he has his own cat tree, two litter boxes (scooped daily, emptied weekly), multiple scratching posts, a pop up tent & tunnel, solo toys (mice, balls), a turbo scratcher, a couple food puzzles, a few wall mounted shelves (which he doesn’t really use), and I also feed birds in my yard so he can watch them.

I’m not really sure how I should correct him when I see destructive behavior…for now I’ve been telling him “no” gently but firmly then picking him up & moving him to an appropriate toy or scratcher.

The shelter couldn’t give me much history on him but they said the lady who surrendered him claimed he had been repossessed by his breeder after the breeder learned he was being kept in an outdoor cage which violated his adoption agreement. The breeder then gave him to this lady to re-home; she surrendered him to the shelter where he lived in a foster home for about a month. His foster mom told me she thought he was “gross” and admitted to locking him up frequently. He also had sores on his feet which I imagine came from spending too much time in the wire cage in his foster’s living room. If his backstory is true prior to arriving at the shelter it seems he moved around quite a bit the first 9 months of his life…so not much stability til now.

Any suggestions on how I can help him are greatly appreciated. Thanks! (Kayleigh)

Kayleigh,

Thank you for giving this guy a loving and patient home! It sounds like he definitely didn’t have the best start to his life. It sounds like you are providing him with lots of activity and enrichment which is fantastic. From what you wrote, there are two major concerns: the biting of fabrics and pillows, and the nighttime nipping. Let’s start with his bad habit of putting holes in your pillows and blankets.

My first question is whether he is just chewing, or actually ingesting fabric (a condition called pica). Chewing can be for attention or can stem from boredom and frustration. One way to tell if the behavior is for attention is considering whether it happens when you are gone. If it does, then typically we are looking at frustration and stress. If it happens ONLY when you are around, then attention is likely the PRIME motivator (although frustration and stress can also be factors). We typically address this by using (clicker) training to teach the cat ways to get attention and other rewards by doing “good” behaviors. The hows and whys of training are more detail that I can go over in this column, but there are plenty of good resources available out there, both printed books and websites!

If your cat does have pica, then I would recommend working with your veterinarian or another behavior professional to discuss this issue. Pica can be dangerous, and if he is at risk of an intestinal obstruction due to his chewing behavior, then he may need an anti-anxiety medication as an adjunct to behavior modification.

Because the sphynx kitties need a little help staying warm, it’s not surprising he likes to snuggle under the covers at night. You may find the best way to discourage the nipping of your legs while you sleep is to encourage him to sleep elsewhere – by providing him with a heated bed (perhaps one that is only turned on at night). It can be on or near your bed if you like him being nearby at night (and since he is used to sleeping with you). I also recommend an evening play session followed by a meal or snack at your bedtime to encourage him to sleep more soundly through the night.

Cat suddenly started to scream at other cats in the household and chase them

I have a cat named Thomas who recently came to my house through a family member. He is a five-year-old cat that was used to being in a one cat household and indoors. Now in the two months he is been with us he has become part of a family of 3 other cats and in the beginning they all got along famously and Thomas did venture outside at times. Out of the blue last week Thomas started reacting in extreme duress toward the other cats by screaming (sounded like a woman screaming) either crouched down or chasing the other cats out of the house… there is not one trigger to start this behavior, it has been multiple things and we never know when he will do it again. We separate Thomas from the other when it happens for up to twelve hours to calm him down when he comes out everyone is fine until something triggers another reaction. I now have Thomas separated again and plan to leave him apart for another 3 days. When I go visit Thomas he is a different cat so calm and loving and sits in my lap so contentedly…he never comes close to us and lets us pet him just a little when he is out around the other cats. Why the sudden change after 2 months of seemingly being a part of this clowder of cats? This has stressed us all out and the other cats avoid him more and more. My brother has agreed to take Thomas to put him in a one person and him only as pet home if we cannot work this out. Thanks for any advice and insight. (Susan Lunday)

Hello Susan!

It’s not unusual for cats to “seem fine” at first, and then as a newcomer becomes more comfortable in the territory, tensions arise. I’d first be curious as to just how much a part of the clowder Thomas really was – did you see him co-grooming with the other cats, sleeping with them, and playing (not fighting) together? Sometimes we assume that the absence of overt fighting means everything is peachy-keen, but we also need to look for the presence of POSITIVE interactions. If those positive interactions were missing, I’d be less certain about how strong that relationship ever was.

His extreme reaction and the lack of clear triggers for his outbursts is troublesome. I would need more information to rule out redirected aggression. Has Thomas been examined by a veterinarian? Sometimes pain (such as dental pain or digestive troubles) can be sporadic, but intense; they can also be “blamed” on whoever is nearby, such as other cats.

In some cases, increasing resources (litter boxes, feeding stations, bedding, vertical space, scratching posts, etc.) can help diffuse tension and at the very least allow cats to co-exist peacefully. However, I think you will also have to work on a much slower, more controlled re-introduction based on positive interactions – the current system of just going back and forth between with the cats and then separated when there are outbursts isn’t working. In some cases, as much as we love all the cats, some of them might be happier living as an only cat. I would certainly give a re-introduction a good go, but it should be a systematic process, not just throwing them together until something bad happens!

Cat hissing and spitting

Hello, we have an almost 3 yr Tortie with much attitude. She is a “fight” in lieu of “flight” cat. She has become an indoor/outdoor cat and loves going outside. Has her own play area, cat tree, numerous scratching posts, balls, wands, etc. Get plenty of attention and play time, she is very spoiled and shows us that she runs the house. We have had numerous hissing/spitting, chasing while hissing occurrences which is what let to suggestion from the Vet to let her outside which has helped the issue. I am just looking for any other suggestions and I am uncomfortable with the behavior but my husband handles it very well. (B)

Hello B,

I’m not sure that I completely understand the nature of the problem you are having with your kitty. I assume that your cat is only displaying the hissing toward you and your husband? Is she biting and scratching or just hissing? Sometimes hissing is just a warning “I’m not comfortable” in which case I’d want to know more about what elicits the hissing. Is it when you pet her, approach her, ignore her, etc.?

In general, I’m a big fan of letting the cat control the interactions; some cats enjoy handling and petting and the like more than others. It’s kind of like the Henny Youngman joke about the doctor; “Doctor it hurts when I do this…the doctor says, “don’t do that.”

If your cat predictably hisses when you try to pet her, stop petting her. Let her come to you for petting, and find other “hands off” ways to interact – especially interactive play where you move the wand toys for her to chase. This is a good way to build a bond and have fun together, plus we know that exercise has stress-reducing properties… and tired cats are less likely to bite and scratch! If she is being affectionate, give her treats and praise so she knows you like that behavior. I also recommend giving cats breaks from petting regularly if they are prone to overstimulation, even if they seem interested in handling. Some cats aren’t so good at saying no, even if they are worked up!

That said, I do like clicker training with cats who have tendencies to have issues with being handled. This is because it allows you to reinforce behaviors you like, and behaviors that get reinforced are more likely to be repeated in the future. It’s also a great way to train a cat to accept certain types of handling while they are young. Far too many cats don’t get the medical treatment they need because they bite or scratch when handled. It’s good planning for her future to address some of those issues now.

Finally, if anyone is roughhousing, wrestling, playing chase games, or otherwise encouraging your cat to see humans as a toy, I highly recommend giving up those bad habits. Even if your cat engages in that type of play, she can be redirected toward a toy. Allowing her to “play rough” is giving a green light to be aggressive.

Two rescue cats no longer get along

Hello! I have two rescue cats (I got them at 8 and 10 weeks respectively) that do not like each other. They are 3 years old, Zazzles is older by 6 months than Mercedes. Zazzles is my shy, skittish girl, Mercedes is bold, assertive and outgoing girl. They are two prides of one instead of a pride of two.

At first, they seemed to get on just fine. They slept together, groomed each other and teamed up against the dog. Now Mercedes seems to pick on Zazzles. She pounces on her when Zazzles seems to least expect it. There is some hissing and growling on Zazzles part then they go their separate ways; that’s as serious as it gets. They usually keep to different parts if the house. They have separate food, water and litter. My husband says they only fight when I’m home, and usually it’s near me.

Is there hope for my cats? I am not interested in rehoming either of them, they deserve forever homes and I love them both. Thank you, Beth Audet

Beth,

It is not uncommon to see cat relationships change at adulthood. When cats reach social maturity, there may be more struggles over access to preferred resources, and sometimes one cat just wants to play less than the other.

What I find most interesting is that your cats only fight when you are home – do you feel this is true, or do you feel that your husband tolerates more squabbles than you do (or are both the case)?

One thing that is encouraging is that aside from some pouncing, hissing, and growling, things don’t sound like a situation where I’d say someone definitely has to be rehomed. But do you ever see positive signs between your cats, such as sleeping near each other and playing together? What are they doing all day when you’re not home? Are you seeing other behavior problems, such as litter box avoidance, or signs of withdrawal? If not, I’d say that you can work on this situation, if not getting the cats back to BFFs, to at least decrease the tension between them.

It’s great that you are providing your girls with separate resources, such as food, water, and litter. I would also look at other important resources, such as vertical space, sun spots, scratching posts, and the like. Having more resources in the key rooms of the house can make it easier for them to share those spaces, rather than spending time in opposite sides of the house to avoid each other. Also be sure to give each cat some one-on-one private time with you each day, because YOU are also an important resource.

More exercise and mental stimulation is always a stress-reducer for cats. It sounds like Mercedes especially needs more to keep her occupied. You can also work on actively creating positive associations between your cats by having what I like to call a “treat summit” – each day, the two cats should get their absolute favorite thing in the world…but only when they are together. With repetition, your cats will associate these special treats with each other.

Do you have a question for Mikel? Leave it in a comment, and she’ll answer it next month!

The post Ask the Cat Behaviorist with Mikel Delgado: Cat Constantly Begging for Food, Two Cats Don’t Get Along Anymore, and More appeared first on The Conscious Cat.