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glindaupland · 9 months

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The Phantom of the Opera | Seoul, South Korea | October 8-14th, 2023 [REVIEWS]

Wow it's about time I posted these reviews that I kept lying about (this week! tomorrow! in 10 years!) Better late than never?

In this post I'll drop a few general things about the production, but the performances are analyzed in my reviews linked here. I recommend reading those all in order since I revisit points about actors I've made previously along the way to avoid repeating myself. Also leaving a disclaimer that these performances are from October so there are some changes in what the actors are doing now (with the exception of Jeon Dong-seok since he left in November) Apologies in advance for my wordiness, but this is more of a "release my feelings for my sake and if anyone else likes it that's cool too" kind of thing? Listen - I wrote a lot of notes on my performances there. So just go in knowing this is the more coherent version of my insane looking notes app!

Before I start I want to thank a few lovely friends who helped me out with this trip because it wouldn't have gone as well as it did without them!

Thank you to @lucygold95 for helping me so much with planning over the past months and for giving me the best time in Busan. Thank you @capitanogiorgio for all the shenanigans we went through and the most special time going to the 1500th and meeting Yoon Young-seok. Thank you to @fadinglandtragedy for the fun talks and the good advice before my trip! The best part of things like this is making friends of course! : )

PERFORMANCE REVIEWS:

STAGE & THEATER

This was as close to the original staging as possible. So I was able to take it in one more (or I guess 6 more?) times post-Broadway closing. The Charlotte Theater is a lot smaller than the Majestic so every view was pretty solid in my opinion, even the second to last row. I took a video of my view from 4th row under the chandelier during the exit music on October 11th so you can see! The angel and chandelier are shown halfway through. I'd say 5th row was almost the cut off for the chandelier drop (that was my spot next day) Broadway seats in this area were always too expensive for me so I'm glad I was able to grab these spots for this production

There were photo zones you can take pics at which you've probably seen. One was a large rose wall, the other was the cute statue of their mascot 오유령. People also take forever lining up for the cast boards for photos and yes I was one of those people. Here's a comparison of the cast boards from the second season (pictures I found when reading old reviews on Naver) and the cast boards now (I forgot to take a photo of one on the top floor though)

I found this review where someone took more detailed clean photos than I did if you're curious about the layout and decorations!

MERCH AND GIFTS

The tickets had these designs! If you booked on Yes24, you received a special envelope and a ticket holder with the face of the Phantom performing for that show

I only didn't receive a second Ju-taek because that was booked on another site - Interpark (bottom middle ticket). I also received paper masks with printed autographs every day I went to commemorate the 200th performance of the run/100th for Seoul and the 1500th overall Korean performance. We used them for the curtain call photos on those two dates (with Jeon Dong-seok then Kim Ju-taek). There are multiple versions of the program book and at the time of writing this I have all except the Daegu one. The first Busan program book was pretty bare and only had the teaser pictures - the same was the case for my Les Mis program book in Busan. -There are different photos in each one, so to me it was worth grabbing them all. My third version signed by Kim Ju-taek is currently on display as you can see below! (The writing says "내 노래를 날게 해 주오 - Make my song take flight") Once again thank you to Lucy for this! 🥹❤️

Here's some of my POTO merch (including a spare cupsleeve from the coffee shop next door, I also had a keyring, but I forgot to show it) RIP to the second program book I sacrificed for scans I still have the pages stored/displayed though! I'm not wasteful! I'll have more to post soon after sharing these reviews

TRANSLATION

Let me emphasize this: my Korean abilities are limited, so don't look to me as the expert on this at all. But I'll still share my notes and perspective as an outsider who's studying The lyrics have changed quite a bit since 2001-2. There are still lines kept or songs that are mostly similar. MOTN had a lot of similarity to 2009-11 even with its changes, STYDI was identical to 2009-11, but Angel of Music was pretty different from even the last season, etc etc. The Phantoms all have unique lines sprinkled here and there, mainly in MOTN (this happens sometimes in Korean musicals). You get some things like random single line changes in some parts depending on the actor or different order/wording of the same lines as well. Just tiny diversions from the script. This is the case for the Christines and Raoul to a lesser extent. Additionally, actors are often permitted to do some occasional improvisation/ad libs. Some unique lines are pretty normal parts of their interpretations now, some appear depending on the feeling of the performance, some are one time only events. I'll mention some of the actor-specific ones and such in their actual reviews, but I have been trying to mark down all of the differences like these for example

Of course, some things obviously have to be adjusted to make sense because of cultural / linguistic reasons. So one example would be the "Wrote...written" line in Notes I. Firmin speaks rudely and informally, but quickly tries adding a more respectful ending particle 요 after Raoul and André give him a shocked 'what did you just say?' kind of look. So "대체 뭘 썼다고 하는 건데...요!" is pretty much like "What the hell are you saying I wrote?" André would look so embarrassed by this each time 🫣

퇴근길 / STAGE DOOR

Stage door doesn't really work the same as it does in places like New York, London, etc. Most of the time if an actor comes out it's more like a quick greeting or chat with the fans. Some actors (not in this case) might sign or take photos in designated spots, but it really depends and it's not so common. It's gotten more restricted ever since COVID as well. 퇴근길 -> "way home from work" is literally what this is called. Dong-seok did wave at us a few times happily after the 200th performance, Gun-ha briefly came out to thank fans after the 1500th while Ceci and I waited to meet Young-seok who had agreed to meet us. I did not have the time (or strength) for the Seung-woo mob, but he usually greets fans after shows.

I literally asked Yoon Young-seok directly on Instagram if Ceci and I could meet him and give him gifts because I figured it didn't hurt to try! When he agreed, my anxiety was not necessarily about meeting an actor, but more about my ability to express my thoughts in another language. But he was truly the sweetest guy and incredibly patient. I think he got that I understood everything he said, but that replying was a whole other challenge. I'm glad I was making enough sense that he was able to get my points and helped me finish sentences if I looked stressed about it 😂 I basically told him I had been planning this trip since the cast announcement because it was too perfect to miss and that I came for 6 shows. I really like to listen to his Phantom on the cast recordings and I thought he made the shows I had seen so far so much fun.

We both said where we were from (the US and France) and he was amazed. He was also shocked when I pulled out my original Korean cast recording (I still laugh thinking about the way he said "와, 세상에!" like "Wow, oh my god!" and enthusiastically took it agreeing to sign when I was mid-way asking him haha) I also thought it was funny when he asked Ceci if she saw his Phantom last season. We wish! But she mentioned she had gone to Busan a few times and he looked very touched and appreciative that we went to multiple performances 🥹 This poor man was tired he signed our things with November (11.13) though and he also spelled Ceci's name wrong first time, but it was the 1500th show though okay. And if he says it's November...who are we to question him? Ceci should also legally change names so he isn't wrong. Anyway, ramble over you can find the art we made for him in this post

OTHER

Here's just bonus fun I had that I will manage to connect to POTO despite it not being POTO because I love doing that. I mean I went because I like these musicals as well (otherwise I would've been foolish enough to go see Ben-Hur but I have, uh, standards for my plots sorry to Park Eun-tae 😭), but it's fun to point out these things. I'm happy to share my show experiences in a different post if anyone's interested in my thoughts on those

Rebecca

I went to see Rebecca, mainly focused on seeing a scheduled date for 이지혜 Lee Ji-hye (Ich) and 장은아 Jang Eun-ah (Mrs Danvers). The whole cast was fantastic. Some Korean musicals have special encore bits they do where the leads sing a part of a song from the show during bows so that was really fun. Unfortunately, we don't get to have fun at POTO like that haha

Lee Ji-hye was in Y&K Phantom as Christine in the same cast as Jeon Dong-seok (Erik), Yoon Young-seok (Gérard Carrière), and Lee Sang-jun (Cholet). Two other cast members in Rebecca were in Y&K as well - 에녹 Enoch (Maxim) who was Philippe and 신영숙 Shin Young-sook (Mrs Danvers) who was Carlotta. Sadly, they had such few shows this season due to a busy schedule, so I couldn't see them (when will trot give Enoch back to musicals). Original Korean ALW Raoul and Y&K Erik 류정한 Ryu Jeong-han was also on rotation as Maxim, but I picked another day for my show so I didn't see him either

Les Misérables

I went to opening night of Les Mis in Busan! It was the Dream Theater, same place POTO played at before. As many of you already know, Choi Jae-rim is playing Jean Valjean at the same time as the Phantom.

I could recognize him easily as the Phantom, but honestly when he appeared at the very start of Les Mis it took me a minute to process that it was him! While I did enjoy his Phantom a lot, I think I enjoyed his Valjean performance a little more. It was only opening night, so curious to see how things develop!

The actor who played Javert that night, 카이 Kai (stage name), was a former Y&K Erik for two seasons too. So many Phantoms!

Frankenstein

On the last day I got to see Dong-seok and Ji-hye once more in a concert for the musical Frankenstein which they have been in together. So have some pics I took without a mask blocking his face!

Ending Note

Thinking back to December 2022 when I said: "Maybe I'll go to Seoul and see Dong-seok once or twice and that's it, I can have my first international POTO" That was funny. That was really very very funny and silly of me to say. 9 performances and 6 of those were POTO! But I'm so grateful and I have zero regrets about it. This is one of the best experiences I've had even if it might look ridiculous to some people to do something like this...I don't care! I hope my crazy essays can help paint a good picture for you!

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queerfables · 10 months

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Just got a mark back on an assignment I submitted 10 days late, meaning I got a full 50% knocked off my total. I also submitted it incomplete because I'd hit the absolute last chance deadline and I'd worked so hard to get something done that I couldn't stand not to hand something in.

Friends I got 36/100, which:

Combined with my other very good marks was enough to pass the subject with a respectable mark of 58

Means my original mark must have been in the realm of a high distinction?? How in the holy.

This is the lowest mark I've ever received for anything and I've never in my life been prouder. I want to print it out and hang it up on my wall in celebration. The alternative was giving up and let me tell you I came super fucking close but instead I get to put that class behind me and move on to the next challenge. Take that, prohibitively high standards for success.

Shout out as well to my subject coordinator who is both a brilliant teacher and also extremely kind. When I reached out to explain how late the assignment was going to be, even with my disability accommodations, she told me she knew I was working as hard as I could. With ADHD, I'm always braced for people to think that not meeting expectations means I don't care. Mostly it's the opposite, I care too much, and it paralyses me. So she was right, I really was trying as hard as I could, but even to me it didn't feel like it and I definitely didn't expect anyone else to see it. It was just a simple comment in an email but it made me realise that I wasn't submitting my assignment to someone who thought the worst of me; she was rooting for me even when I was ready to give up on myself. She saw the value in what I could do instead of being disappointed by what I couldn't.

Sending love to all my fellow neurodivergents and anyone else who's ever felt like they had to make up for falling short when the odds were stacked against them. May you all have someone in your life who makes you feel both good enough as you are and capable of achieving your goals.

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thepaperpanda · 2 years

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Make Your Wish || Ivar the Boneless x fem!reader

Masterlist

Summary: Ivar decides to cheer you up after an unfortunate event that left you feeling down

Warnings: none ♥

Word count: ~ 1175

Authors: Fenrir & Cass A/N: The prompt for today is: Stargazing according to my best friend, "Ivar speaks as if he watched too much Lion King before it was even animated, lol” ♥

There's no way you can believe it: Hvitserk cheated on you, and he isn't even sorry about the thing.

Even though you knew Hvitserk's tendencies, you hoped this time would be different; you hoped to love and be loved.

Now that you're sitting outside The Great Hall sobbing and trying to calm down as the feast is taking place, you realize you're a fool.

The inside of the building is filled with loud and happy sounds.

The only thing you want is to hide from everyone, even if others have already forgotten what happened.

Throughout the entire feast thrown by his older brother, Ivar kept an eye on you, including the scene where you caught a drunk Hvitserk fucking a thrall. After seeing, you running out, crying like a child, he decided you shouldn't be left alone.

Since he is used to crawling, Ivar decides to leave his crutch against the wooden table.

As he crawls by, he hisses and curses people, trying to think of a place you could go.

Upon leaving the Great Hall, Ivar sits casually on the ground with his back against the wall; although he is good at crawling, this shit is fucking exhausting.

It only takes him a second or two to notice the shoe prints you left, and he instinctively follows them as he scans the path leading deeper into the village.

Sitting on stones, you wipe your tears away. Accepting it is still very difficult for you. Why does he do this to you when you tried your best?

You almost fall off the stone when something suddenly touches your leg. Sighing with relief, you realize it's Ivar. "By the gods, Ivar! You scared me."

He smiles mischievously. "I didn't mean to, I mean it," he says, sitting flat on his ass and adjusting his legs. "I saw you leaving and thought I'd check out the reason."

Leaving the stone, you sit next to him.

While Ivar isn't perfect, he can be a decent man when he wants to be.

"Check out the reason? You and everyone else know why."

"Hvitserk." The word is spit through his clenched teeth as if it were some kind of dark spell. It's always Hvitserk. What did he do today?"

Your tears flow again as you explain, "He fucked the thrall, everyone saw it, he made a fool of me! What the hell was he thinking? I was good to him, and he just treated me like I was nothing? Am I really that useless, Ivar?"

The abrupt, unexpected outburst makes Ivar blink a few times and grimace a bit; he had always had trouble dealing with crying people.

You quickly wipe away the tears, "I'm sorry, you probably don't care about this. I really didn't expect this to happen."

Ivar instinctively wraps his arm around you, pulling you closer to him. "Hush," he whispers.

Taking a deep breath and nuzzling him, you let out a heavy sigh; it feels so strange, but also so good and calming at the same time.

"Thank you," you whisper.

It's dark outside, so you cannot see his reaction - he smiles to himself. "You're welcome."

As you pull away, you look at him and say, "I bet you think I'm pathetic. At the end of the day, I heard so many things about Hvitserk and his unfaithfulness, so I don't see why I am surprised. I was so stupid, and now I cry for that!"

Nodding occasionally, he listens to you. To his utter surprise, he feels bad for you, and he feels he knows exactly how you feel. He has felt that way before, too. "I didn't say that, these are your words, Y/N," he tells you softly.

Nodding, you wipe your cheek, looking at him. "It must have been difficult crawling all the way here. Thank you for coming to check on me," you tell him, offering him a gentle smile.

Ivar shrugs simply. "Why are you worried about a cripple? You're going through hardship, not me," Ivar says calmly and improves his position to rest his back more against the rocks you sat on before. Ivar whispers, "Look," and he points his index finger at the dark sky.

As you gaze up at the sky, you improve your position so that your back also rests against the stones. There are many stars in the dark sky, like beautiful lanterns set against a deep darkness.

"Make your wish quickly, Y/N!" Ivar shouts, pointing at two shooting stars. As he closes his eyes, he murmurs something to himself.

Before looking at him, you also close your eyes and murmur your own wish. "What was your wish?" You ask him openly.

A shrug of the shoulders accompanies his response, "For Bjørn to die. What was yours?"

With a blink, you soon giggle and shake your head; it's never clear if Ivar's serious or joking. You respond, "To meet someone who will make me happy," without much thought.

After a moment of thinking, Ivar leans forward and kisses your cheek briefly. The smirk on his lips widens as he stares at you for a moment. "It appears that the second part of my wish has just come true," he adds.

Totally confused by his behaviour, you stare at him in shock. "Second part? What's that?"

"That if I kiss you, you won't smack me."

You smack him on the head with a frown, then kiss his cheek.

Looking up at the stars, he smiles brightly and rests his back against the rocks. "Do you like stargazing?"

"Honestly, I do. They are so beautiful, just like diamonds or other shiny stones," you nodded and returned to watching the stars. "How about you?"

"I do, actually. I enjoy spending some productive alone time overthinking all my mistakes," he smiles, more to himself, joking darkly. "As stupid as it may sound, I like to imagine that my father and otherwise kings, among gods, are looking down on us from this endless darkness above."

"It's what my mom says, too," you smile and point at the big, bright star in the sky. "I give you my left hand as proof that this is Ragnar right now looking at us."

After cocking his brow, Ivar nods. "It might be. But if you're mistaken, you'd be left handleless, wouldn't you?"

Playfully pushing his shoulder, you tease, "He's watching his youngest son."

Despite his eyebrows cocked, Ivar gives you a stern look before smiling widely. "I would appreciate some help with horses if you could join me at the stables tomorrow. It's my turn to take care of them."

"I would love to help you, especially now that I don't have to worry about Hvitserk," you nod your head a little too eagerly.

Ivar smiles and squeezes your hand, telling you "Fuck him, you deserve fucking better. "I already cannot wait for tomorrow," you laugh, squeezing his hand. It may be that the youngest Ragnarsson is not as bad as his depictions by others suggest, you think to yourself

#ivar the boneless #Ivar x reader #ivar x you #Ivar the Boneless #Ivar the Boneless fluff #Ivar fluff #Ivar the Boneless x reader fluff #Ivar the Boneless fic #Ivar's heathen army #Ivar Ragnarsson #vikings #vikings x reader #vikings fic #vikings fanfiction #vikings fluff #fic recs fluffember #paperpanda fluffember #fluffember 2022

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brainyxbat · 3 months

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Roronoa Venus- Hungry Days 1

New Friends, and Past Humiliation

One day after school, Roronoa Zoro was pondering a thought over kendo practice. His fraternal twin sister, named Venus, was always lonely; not to mentioned bullied frequently. Other than him, and their parents, she had no one to fall back on. No one to hang out with her during lunch, or after school hours. It didn't help that she was almost cripplingly shy; she had been for as long as he can remember, so he always protected her. Bullies mockingly called him her bodyguard in times like this, but he couldn't care less.

He himself had friends; Franky, Robin, Brook, Nami, boy genius Chopper, Usopp, and the group leader Luffy. Plus Sanji, to an extent... he shook his head in irritation at the blond Casanova wannabe. He didn't know them for that long, but they were all good people... even if Sanji was overeager with every pretty girl in school. What if Venus could join their little circle? Surely they would accept her; and she would finally have friends.

Huffing in fatigue, he set the bamboo shinai on its hooks hung on his bedroom door, and walked down the upstairs hallway to the room next to his. After a minute of waiting, the music from her electric violin had slowed a stop, before he heard her set it down. "Venus?" He knocked on the black-painted door. "Can I talk to you about something?

"Sure, come on in." He opened up, and lingered at the doorway. "What's up?"

One thing to know about his sister: She was a Goth girl. A "Mall Goth", to be precise. They both had queen-size beds with storage drawers, and black exteriors, but hers had a black dress-like canopy hung above the cushioned headboard, over an arch-shaped decal featuring the night sky with a full moon, so it wasn't hidden by the black wall. The window seat, and the small black tent, which was printed with white bats, were littered with small pillows, and stuffies, as was her bed around where her head laid. There were large moon and star shaped lights dangling front of the window, and alongside various cosmetics, her vanity had 4 different jewelry holders, one for more than just earrings. There was also a black and purple jewelry box with multiple sections for rings, bracelets, chokers, and... tragus earrings.

Now, she didn't have either of them pierced, but she planned on having the left done on their 18th birthday. What possessed her to have such a crazy idea, he still couldn't comprehend, but he didn't want to stop her. After all, it was her decision, and their parents approved of the idea when it was first pitched. And he supposed it was better than her actual face; their parents would each have an aneurysm if she came home with a ring in her septum.

"Well, tomorrow after homework, my friends and I are going to the mall for... stuff."

She nodded, while sitting on her bed. "Okay, hope you have fun-"

"Wait," He cut her off, "Do you want to come, Venus?"

Her eyebrows raised in genuine surprise under her green, asymmetrical bangs. "Really? Me?"

"Is there anyone else here named Venus?" He smirked coyly, earning a playful eye roll from her. "There's two girls in my group; you can shop around with them, and you could find some friends in all of them. You did just get paid, didn't you? And you're off tomorrow?"

"Y-yeah," She replied, "I did, and I am." In the same mall, she worked at a shop specializing in the Goth lifestyle, mostly stuff that was wearable, but with the occasional home decor, and some items revolving around witchcraft such as crystals. Basically, it was her dream job, despite it being only part-time, and even with occasional rude customers, she loved it there. "You really want me to come?"

"Yeah, if you want."

"But... what if they won't like me?"

"They will. Trust me; you'll fit right in."

After a moment of silence, she nodded, as a smile grew. "I'd love to."

"Okay. You can meet them during lunch before we go."

"Deal. Do they already know I'm coming?"

"Yeah, I texted them earlier, in our group chat. They're all good with it, as long as you're wanting to come. And they're eager to meet you."

"Awesome; feeling's mutual."

The next day, as the hours ticked by, Venus felt excited, yet nervous at the same time. She was going to not only meet Zoro's friends, but also hang out with them! But... what if they actually didn't like her, despite his assurance? What if they thought she was too strange? Or quiet? She never fit in anywhere, especially here at school; despite the love she received, she felt like the black sheep even in her family.

Before long, lunchtime came. Time to meet the friends. As she walked to the cafeteria with Zoro, her heart beat faster in her chest. He noticed her troubled expression, and her hands being more fidgety than usual. "You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm... just nervous."

"You'll be fine. They'll like you; I know it." They joined the line in the room, him watching for any bullies on the prowl. His heart boiled with fury at a certain, lilac-haired boy waving tauntingly at her; Zoro wished he could whack that smug grin off his insufferable face, but him getting detention wouldn't help her. When his turn was up, he looked over the pre-watered Nissin Cup Noodles available, while grabbing a Smokey & Spicy Sio for himself. "Looks like there's no chicken ones here, V."

"Yeah, sorry hon," Carmen, the flamboyant cafeteria lady, frowned apologetically. She was also the school's dance instructor, and had some boys, and girls, drooling with her fiery reddish-pink hair, purple eyes, and overall gorgeous looks.

"It's okay," Venus assured, and looked over the selections, "Hmm... I'll try this one. Thanks." She grabbed one of the mild curry cups, along with a pair of chopsticks, before paying for her meal, and following Zoro to the tables.

"There they are," He gestured to a particular one occupied by a certain group, and she looked nervous again, "They'll like you." Keeping an arm around her shoulders, he led her around the other tables, saving her from being tripped when passing one of the bullies. He also saved her noodles from being spilled, and her chopsticks from being dropped. "Damn bastard," He grumbled in irritation, before approaching, and turning to the group he sought out. "Guys, this is my twin sister I told you about, Venus."

"H-hi," She stammered, mentally observing them all, as Zoro introduced them. They all had cup noodles like them, but for the most part, different flavors each. One of the girls, aptly named Robin, had black, shoulder-length hair with even bangs, and an olive skin tone, while the other, paler Nami, had an orange bob, and a pink sweater vest. Luffy had shaggy black hair, and along with his school uniform, wore a straw hat with a red band on his head, while Franky, who looked pretty buff, had light blue hair in a cowlick almost like Ace Ventura, a red Hawaiian shirt with green palm trees under his blazer, and a bandage across the bridge of his nose. Tall Brook had a puffy, black afro, round black shades, and seemed to be merely skin and bones. He seemed to be holding a violin case in his lap.

Sanji was... reaching towards her? "Well hello there, Venus." He took her free hand with a chivalrous look on his face, as she looked on awkwardly. "Who would've thought a twin of Marimo would be so lovely?"

"Uh-" She was about to respond, but Zoro pulled her hand back for her, before the blond could kiss it.

"Back off, curlybrow."

Sanji sneered at him, missing her smirk of awkward gratitude towards her brother. "We were having a moment there, kendo brain."

"Will you two stop already?" Nami scolded, before turning to Venus with a smile. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"Y-you guys too," She responded timidly.

"Anyway," Zoro gave Sanji one last sneer, before returning to the original topic for the final introduction, "And this here is Usopp."

"Hi, I-" Venus turned to him, just as he looked up to her from the table, and they made eye contact... and she couldn't turn away. "I, uh..." His mop of wavy, black curls; his tan complexion; his dark grey eyes; his cute, long nose. Blood rushed to her ivory cheeks, turning them pink; he was so handsome. Wait, what? "Um, I-I'm Venus. R-Roronoa Venus."

Usopp in turn, felt like he was looking at an angel, as he lowered his orange headphones to around his neck in a daze. What with her flowing, yet messy green hair, her ivory skin, and her dark green eye; she was beautiful. Her uniform stood out with her white shirt having a black bat collar, and her sweater vest being black with a small, white moon at the neckline. "N-nice to meet you. Um, please sit," He stammered, "Room for one more."

"Thanks." She sat down on the bench, directly across from him, with her brother next to her. She noticed his noodles cup, and giggled at its familiarity. "You got the curry too?"

"Oh yeah, it's my favorite. Yours?"

"Well um, I love the tasty chicken best, but they're out of it right now, so uh, I decided to try this one today." Through her reply, she stuck her chopsticks in, and began twirling some noodles.

"Well, you're going to love it."

Zoro glanced back and forth, as his sister exchanged smiles with one of his friends. What was going on here? Were they... in love with each other? That quickly? From what he remembered, last year, Venus vowed to never date again after a... humiliating incident. But it seemed she was now retracting that statement. "Mm!" Venus' hum of delight snapped him out of his thoughts. "It's great! I do love it!"

"It is, isn't it?" Usopp agreed. "The little kick really adds to it."

"Little kick?" She blinked in genuine confusion, surprising him.

He was also flustered on how her long lashes fluttered from the movements. "Y-yeah, there's a-"

"She has a high tolerance for spicy foods," Zoro explained after a bite of his lunch, "Sour foods too. If her meal came with a lemon slice, like to squeeze the juice out, after getting some on her fish or whatever, she'd eat it like it was an orange."

Nami couldn't help but stifle a laugh. She could imagine the shocked expressions from any witnesses around them during such a thing. Not to mention any waiters realizing the wedge was completely missing from their platter when cleaning up. "Really?"

"Y-yeah," Venus nodded after swallowing some noodles, " I've been able to for as long as I can remember."

"That's pretty impressive," Usopp complimented, "You do take the seeds out first, right?"

"Thanks," She smiled shyly, before hiding it with gulping from her soda bottle. "Oh yeah, I do. Y-you should've seen our parents' faces the first time," She snickered, and they all laughed after she demonstrated.

The rest of the period went smoothly; Venus fit in very well with Zoro's peer group, as she felt less and less nervous by the minute. Needless to say, she was definitely going out with them after school. And she couldn't wait! Once they were seated on the bus later, Venus started on her homework, with Zoro staying alert next to her. He helped her on occasion, and she was done just as their home was approaching.

"See you guys later!" Luffy waved, as the bus stopped at the Roronoa household first.

"See ya!" Venus waved back, blushing again when Usopp shot a smile at her. After smiling back, she went to follow Zoro out, only for another attempted tripping to be successful. She toppled face-down to the floor, with her violin case thumping on her back. "Oww!" Obnoxious rich brat Charlos laughed mockingly, bringing his leg back in front of his seat, as her knee lightly throbbed in pain.

"Hey, you bastard!" Usopp glared, as Zoro helped his sister to her feet. "You can't do that to her!"

"What'cha gonna do about it, Pinocchio?" Charlos taunted him in retortion without looking back, as his sister Shalria, equally horrible, laughed next to him.

"If I had a nickel every time I heard that one," An unfazed Usopp rolled his eyes, "I'd retire at 18. Now leave her alone!" He recoiled nervously with a squeak when the porky bully turned to him with an intimidating, challenging look, but kept his defiant glare, before relaxing when he looked ahead again.

Venus smiled at him again in silent gratitude, with him returning it, as she and Zoro exited the bus. Tera, the twins' mother, turned to them as they entered the house. "Hey, how was school?" She gasped lightly in concern, and rushed to her daughter, as they stepped out of their shoes. She had a scrape on her right knee above her black uniform sock, that was an angry red, and starting to bleed a little. "Oh, Venus. Shalria tripped you again?"

She shook her head. "Charlos, on the bus."

Tera sighed deeply. "When will the principal ever do anything? You better patch that up, dear, before you bleed out."

"I will," Venus nodded, "I'll do that right now. M-my homework's already done." She rushed to the upstairs bathroom.

Zoro watched her go, before huffing in exasperation, running his hand on his short, green hair. "That damn Rosward won't keep them in line, no matter how many complaints I send his way. They get no more than a slap on the wrist; not even detention."

"Unbelievable," Tera frowned, "Something needs to be done."

"Agreed." He glanced up at the stairwell, as he heard Venus go into her room, gingerly closing the door. It was soon followed by her violin music. "So, after homework, my friends and I are going to the mall. Venus hit it off with them at lunch, so she's coming with us."

"That's wonderful!" She smiled joyfully. "I bet you'll have a great time."

"Yeah, and uh, lunch went pretty... interestingly."

"What do you mean?"

"You remember Usopp? Long nose, black curls?"

"Yeah, I remember him. He's a nice boy; what about him?"

"Well... it seems like Venus now has a crush on him." Tera's eyebrows raised in surprise. "And he her; like, when they were first introduced."

"Really? Aww, love at first sight!" She gushed. "Is she going to date him?"

"It's hard to say. I mean last year, she said she'd never date again, but I guess we'll see how today goes. I trust Usopp with her; I just dread something happening, that breaks her heart."

"That's understandable, honey. You're a good brother, looking out for her."

"Thanks, Mom. I do my best." Zoro glanced at the stairwell again. "I'd better get my homework done, and some kendo practice in before we go."

"Alright. But don't push yourself too hard in kendo; just because you can't defeat that Mihawk fellow, doesn't mean you're not amazing at it."

"Thanks, will do." He walked upstairs without another word.

Tera sighed to herself, as she watched him go. She wished he wouldn't push himself so hard; he was hospitalized for exhaustion recently, and had to have his shinai hidden, in order to make him take it easy. Venus was frantic, even having the idea of hiding it, and did everything she could to help.

She didn't want anything like that happening again.

After some practicing, she set her violin down in its coffin-shaped case, and began searching through her vast amount of clothes for something to wear later. This was the first time in years, if not ever, that she had friends to hang out with; she wanted to make a good impression. Especially on... Usopp? Yeah, that was it. She smiled, as her mind wandered; through the short time she'd known him so far, he was so sweet. Not to mention fun to talk with.

After snapping out of it, she stripped out of her school uniform, and for a start, pulled on her black fishnet tights with moons and stars accented all over. She scoured through her dominantly dark-colored wardrobe, before deciding on a black sleeveless dress with a pleather batwing collar, ditching the plain black belt in favor of one with a silver dual-rose buckle. In her hair, she shifted a black thin headband lined with five bows, before adding in ghost flower earrings that dangled with a light, delightful clinking. Noticing the oncoming, beautiful gloominess outside, she grabbed, and pulled on a black hoodie printed with clouds, some having fangs and lightning bolts. Under her tights was a bandage shaped like a Goth Milk carton to cover her small wound.

"Oi, Venus! Are you ready yet?! It's been almost 10 minutes!"

"Yeah, I'm coming!" She grabbed her spiderweb heart purse, lavender shopper tote, and black and purple batwing umbrella, threw her door open, and ran downstairs, oblivious to him tensing up at the latter. "I'm ready!" Zoro waited by the door, as she slipped her feet in a pair of black flats with shiny leather pumpkin faces in a darker black. He himself was in his usual black pants and shoes, with a yellow zip-up t-shirt.

"Mom, we're leaving!" He called out.

"Okay! Have fun, you two! Text me when you're getting home, so I can start on dinner!"

"We will!" Venus promised, before following him out to the public bus. "I'm excited."

"That's good. I told you they would like you."

"Yeah," She snickered, "You did. They're all really nice; though Sanji's kinda strange."

Zoro snorted with an eyeroll. "Do not look behind that curtain, I'm warning you. I'm just glad you like Usopp instead of that dumbass."

"Huh? W-what're you-"

"Venus, we're siblings." He cut her off, not buying her oblivious façade. "Twins at that; I can practically read your mind. And I saw it in your face."

She giggled, and pushed his hand away when he prodded at the side of her head. "Yeah, but... yeah," She caved, and shyly fiddled with one of her earrings, "He's just so sweet, and handsome."

"Well, I trust him, but I'm saying this because you're my sister... just be careful. Remember what happened last year; I don't want you going through that again."

"I know," She nodded, "But I have a good feeling."

Before he could respond, the bus stopped outside the mall, prompting them to disembark. Zoro held his much-shorter-than-him twin's hand to help her off the step without falling on her face, before checking the most recent text from the group leader. "Luffy said they'll be just inside this entrance."

"'Kay." With that, they began walking. In her peripherals, she caught him mindlessly wandering away, and yanked him back on the right path with a stifled snicker. "Going somewhere?"

"Shut up."

She giggled, as they walked through the automatic doors. She may have less emotional maturity between the two of them, but she had always been better with directions.

Less than a minute after entering, they found the familiar group standing close by, waiting on them by a large, digital directory. "Hey, guys!" Luffy called out with an enthusiastic wave of his hand. "Over here!" Venus brightened up upon noticing them, and made a beeline.

Now that they were out of their school uniforms, their real styles showed, and they their personalities quite nicely. Luffy was in blue denim Bermuda shorts, a red tank top, and a pair of brown flip-flops, along with what seemed to be his signature hat. Sanji was in a dark blue t-shirt with the word "Gentlecook" in lighter blue font, black jeans, and black Vans shoes. Franky was in his red Hawaiian shirt from school, dark blue knee-length shorts, and grey sandals. Brook stood out in particular, with his light pink skinny jeans with studs along the front pockets, brown loafers, blue and white striped t-shirt with "Summer Body" along the front in darker blue, and a large, cotton candy tie dye sunhat over his afro.

Robin was in a white button-up shirt-dress accented with purple specks, black shiny knee-high boots, and a black pleather jacket. Nami wore dark blue Bermuda shorts, brown strappy sandals, and a green tank top with darker green flower silhouettes.

She blushed at Usopp, specifically; he was in a white t-shirt, blue jeans with a lighter-hued belt, and patches on the knees, brown combat boots, and a thin, light purple button-up over it all, with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. "H-hi, Usopp," She stammered after walking up to him, avoiding eye contact. Crap, she was nervous again. Why did he have to be so cute?

"Hey, Venus," He greeted her in return, struggling to keep his composure himself, "Y-you look great." More than great; she looked adorable. But he was scared of being too straightforward, remembering how Zoro told all of them about her shyness.

"Thanks," Her cheeks flushed even deeper, "So do you."

Nami smiled widely to herself while watching them; something was definitely happening. "Okay, so where to first?" Robin asked around.

As they wandered, and shopped, Venus bonded even more with the group. At certain places, she stuck by Nami and Robin, while the boys did their own thing across from the shop. "So, Venus," Nami turned to the shorter girl, prompting her to look down at her hands browsing necklaces, "You and Usopp are getting pret-ty cozy there."

"W-what?"

"You have a crush on Usopp."

"N-no," She fibbed.

Nami tilted her head with a look of skepticism. "Venus, I may have only met you today, but I can already tell; you're a terrible liar."

Venus was silent, as she moved on to hair accessories. "It's nothing to be embarrassed about," Robin assured, "You've had crushes before, right?"

She was briefly hesitant, thinking about the previous year. "Yeah, but this time feels... different. Although..." She trailed off.

"Although?" Robin repeated with motherly patience.

"I'm... scared to date again. Since last year; I don't want to talk about it."

"And you don't have to," The raven-haired girl said, "But Usopp is very sweet. He would never hurt anyone. And besides... he seems to be quite fond of you."

Venus looked up at her with surprise, though her gaze stayed downward after a split second of eye contact. "Really?"

"So, Usopp," Zoro approached his long-nosed friend, who was trying to pick out a game to try out next, "You seem to be getting quite close with Venus, huh?"

He was startled out of his internal debate by the sudden query. "Oh, uh... y-yeah?"

Zoro snorted at his wariness. "Chill out, I'm not gonna kill you."

"Oh good," He chuckled nervously, "Sorry, Zoro. It's just when I first saw her, standing in front of me... I couldn't look away." He sighed with a headshake. "She's so cute, and pretty. And very sweet."

"I'm glad you think so."

"Has she dated before?"

Zoro sighed in hesitation. "She has, and I won't go into details for her sake, but they were... never good."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Usopp's heart swelled with sympathy. Who would have the nerve to hurt someone as kind and meek as Venus? She seemed like she wouldn't hurt a fly. "I won't pry, but she doesn't deserve that treatment. And I promise I would never do that to her. I'd treat her the way she deserves; like a princess."

Zoro smiled just a little. "Thanks, man. I trust you."

"No prob," Usopp nodded with a returning smile, before turning back to the two games in his hands, and holding them up for him to see the covers. "Which of these should I get?"

"Found it!" Chopper cheered, holding up the newest Super Mario game in victory.

A few minutes later, the teens regrouped after finishing up. Venus walked straight to Usopp, while he also did for her; it didn't go unnoticed by the others, as they smiled to themselves, and each other. "Can we go down that way?" She pointed to the left-side walkway.

"Sure," Nami agreed, and they headed in said direction. Zoro smirked to himself; he knew the reason behind her request, but kept quiet, so she could explain it herself. "What's down here?"

Venus pointed to a sign straight ahead. It featured the shop's name in a stylized font in black, with a dark blue witch hat bearing constellations on the first M, while the last O was a crescent moon. "You uh, you guys see that shop there, Modern Majo?"

"Yeah," Robin nodded.

"That's where I work."

Nami's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Really?"

"Yep, part-time at least. It's independently owned too. At times, there's um, some rude people coming in like you'd expect, but my boss is amazing, as is the shop itself. Can we, uh-"

"Yeah, we can go in," Franky replied, "Seems like a bit of Robin's speed."

The shop was... quite interesting. Not only did it have apparel, jewelry (those for body piercings included), hair accessories, and home trinkets, all in a Gothic style, it also had items commonly associated with witchcraft. The table near the entrance had crystals, tarot cards, and cauldrons. Her boss, Toribia Hekate, was delighted that her kind-hearted, yet lonely and introverted worker had friends; and like them, saw how Usopp looked at the girl.

They witnessed her barking at a particularly ill-mannered customer, effectively scaring him off, and heard sad stories from both her and Venus, about the latter receiving verbal abuse. More often than not, they had happy endings, but their hearts ached for her; especially Usopp's, and Zoro's, although the latter had already heard them all.

They soon left with Robin carrying a small bag, while Venus had one much bigger. Not only was she a hard-working employee there, she may be its best customer as well. "So um, what'd you guys think?"

"Cool place," Robin replied with a smile.

"Yeah, it is," Nami agreed, "I mean, it's not my style, but it's definitely yours; and it's great that you work at a place you love like that."

"Thanks."

Usopp was blushing, as he glanced around mindlessly; before they left, Hekate had pulled him aside by the fitting room, which had a huge, heavy curtain in place of two walls around two large mirrors, for a little, private chat. The short, yet intimidating old woman extracted a promise from him to be good to Venus, which he vowed to inact one day. She deserved all the love; and he wanted to give it to her.

When they passed by a quaint little bakery selling an extensive array of small desserts, he had an idea; he turned to Venus, hoping he won't make her nervous with his offer. "Um, can I buy you a little treat?"

She glanced over behind him, and nodded with a smile. "Sure, thanks!"

"Since you're buying-"

"No," Usopp cut Luffy off, "I only have enough for Venus, and me." With that little fib, he escorted her inside to the back of the short line. While it was just two of them, he couldn't help but notice; she was short. The top of her head had just barely touched the bottom of his chin. That just made her all the more adorable to him.

As a disappointed Luffy pouted, Zoro looked on in bafflement. "What's happening?"

"Oh, I'll tell you what's happening," Nami grinned widely, "They like each other!" She almost squealed.

"Like each other how?" Chopper asked innocently.

Robin patted his shoulder with a motherly smile. "You'll understand when you're older."

"Well yeah, but... th-that fast?" He stammered. "They only met just today."

"Dude, he's smoother with her than Sanji is with every girl in school," Franky laughed.

"Shut up!"

Zoro couldn't help but snicker at the embarrassed blond's expense. "Ah, keep sucking your candy." He turned his attention back to the others. "I don't know, I do trust him; I just don't want her to get hurt... again."

Robin frowned with sympathy. "We get it. You want to protect her; you're a good brother for that."

He smiled a little, as he remembered his mother telling him that same thing earlier that day. "Thanks. She hasn't had any good dating experience, so I worry every time." He didn't want to bring up the particular incident from last year; she could tell them when she was ready.

In the bakery, Usopp and Venus' turn in line came up. "What can I get you, young man?" The guy greeted.

"Hmm..." He looked over the individual cake slices, that almost made him drool, "I'll have the cookie dough kind."

"Mm." He smiled at Venus' hum of delight.

"And for the lady?"

"Um," She followed his lead, before perking up at spotting one of her favorite kinds. One she and Zoro commonly chose together. "T-the Oreo one, please."

"Coming right up." Venus licked her lips, as he promptly paid. "Name?"

"Usopp."

"Alright, once they're ready, I'll call you lovebirds over."

They both blushed deeply at that, before they nodded. "We-we're uh, just friends," Usopp reluctantly stammered, and she nodded with a sheepish grin, "Thanks." After each grabbing a spoon, they had a seat at a vacant table to wait. 'I wish we were more, though,' He thought to himself. Little did he know, she was thinking the same, almost word by word.

"Um," He turned to Venus when she spoke up, "Zoro and I would come here with our parents whenever we had an accomplishment of some kind."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yep. Like if we aced a test, Zoro won a kendo tournament, or whatever. I've won a talent show or two, which also brings us here."

"Ah." He had actually never attended any of the shows himself. None of the group did; except Zoro, that is. "What's your talent?"

"I play an electric violin."

"Oh yeah, Zoro brought that up once or twice," He recalled, "That's really cool."

"Thanks."

"Maybe someday, I can come over, and you can practice for me."

She smiled at the idea; that sounded great to her. "I'd like that." She hoped he wouldn't be put off by how her bedroom was decorated, and/or think of her as a weirdo.

He noticed her change of face, and frowned with concern. "You sure?" He must've been too forward there.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure," She replied, "I'm just worried you'll, um..." He waited patiently for her to find the proper wording. "You'll think I'm weird. 'Cause I'm a..."

"Goth?" He smiled warmly, making her blush deeper. "Yeah, Zoro mentioned that too. Plus I saw it in how you dress." His heart fluttered at her looking down at the table, fiddling with her hoodie drawstring. She was so cute; he wanted to hug her, but that would definitely be going too fast at the moment. "It's okay; I really like it on you."

"Oh, t-thanks." She gave a cheerful, teeth-baring grin. "You'll love my room, then," She giggled, and laughed with him.

"I bet I will."

"Usopp?"

"That's us." He stood back up, and as she followed his lead, he took her hand without thinking. She noticed just after she was on her feet; they blushed red, before they both drew back slowly with awkward grins. Little too soon. After getting their respective slices, they left the shop, and rejoined their friends. "We're back."

"We see that," Brook teased, "You treating your new girlfriend?" He laughed with a kind that sounded like a classic pirate, only more joyful.

Usopp rolled his eyes, as Venus giggled awkwardly, taking the clear top off her plastic platter. "I just met her earlier today, y'know. We all did, except Zoro."

Zoro looked over, and stifled a grin at Sanji's dark scowl. "Envy's not a good look on you."

"Shut up, Marimo."

"Mmm, so good!" Venus beamed, interrupting the tense moment. "Like always." She smiled up at Usopp, who began eating his own. "Um, thanks for buying."

"You're welcome."

Nami smirked at them, as they enjoyed their slices. "Trying to mock us there, huh?" She joked. "Treating her, and not the rest of us, Mr. Favorites-Player."

Usopp snickered. "Well forgive me for wanting to do something nice for a special girl," He retorted with a smirk.

Special girl? Venus felt like her cheeks were on fire, as she kept her gaze on her platter. He was so sweet; she wanted to tackle him in a big hug, but was much too timid for such a bold move. Not to mention his cake would wind up on the floor, and she certainly didn't want that.

Zoro raised a brow in her direction, before smirking at her flustered state. She's got it bad for his friend; wait until their parents hear about this.

Before long, the great day came to an inevitable end. "Um, t-thanks for letting me join you guys," Venus stammered, "This was really fun."

"You're welcome!" Luffy beamed. "You can hang out with us all the time! I like you!"

She giggled, as everyone agreed. "Thanks. I'd love that."

"Want me to drive you guys home?" Franky offered.

"You sure I'll fit?" Venus asked nervously.

"Oh yeah," He assured, "Room for one more, half-pint."

"Franky drives a vintage VW bus," Robin explained, "He fixed it up himself."

"Ah, cool!" Venus grinned. "Thanks, that sounds great!" She stepped inside to the back seats with Zoro, and admired the interior, as he shot a text to Tera. When Robin said Franky fixed it up, she wasn't kidding around; the seat was so comfortable, and it had the features of a modern vehicle, while appearing vintage on the outside. It was amazing.

"Go on, Usopp," Nami teased when he hesitated to follow his new crush's lead.

"Yeah, yeah," He snickered, "Don't nag me." After his jest, he climbed inside, and sat next to Venus, before he had to squeeze into her, so Chopper could fit by the window. She smiled up at him, as she held her shopping bags just above her feet.

Once everyone was inside, Franky started driving around the town, to drop them off at their respective homes. Nami was first; outside of her house was a tan-skinned young woman with short, light blue hair, standing by the front door to greet her. Chopper was next, with his adoptive mother, school nurse Kureha, waiting on him. When Sanji was about to leave, his attempt at a chivalrous farewell to Venus was interrupted by Zoro and Usopp, to her relief. "Thanks guys," She giggled.

Her heart sunk a little when Usopp unbuckled himself; she wasn't quite ready to depart just yet. "I-I'll see you in school," She stammered, so he stopped outside the bus.

"And I'll see you," He gave her a kind smile, before walking to his house, and entering.

Venus smiled dreamily, as she watched him leave. "Alright twins, should be you next," Franky announced, after he started driving again.

"'Kay," She nodded.

"You have fun today, kid?" He asked her.

"Absolutely," She replied, "I can't wait to hang out with you guys again. I like you all."

"Especially Usopp, right?"

She rolled her eyes with a smirk through his chuckles. "Yeah, I walked into that one." Before long, Franky stopped outside the familiar house. "Thanks for driving us," She almost stumbled out on the sidewalk, though stayed on her feet, with Zoro following more smoothly.

"No prob! See you guys tomorrow!"

"You too, Frank," Zoro called out, before heading to the door with her up ahead.

Later that evening, the day's events were brought up over an onigiri dinner. "Venus, did you have fun with Zoro's friends today?" Tera asked.

"I definitely did," She nodded after a bite, "They want me to hang out with them again."

"She fit right in," Zoro added.

"I'm glad to hear that," Arashi remarked.

"And Venus has more than a little crush now, on one of them," Zoro smirked, snickering at her blushing cheeks.

"Oh really?" Arashi said in surprise. "Which one?"

"U-Usopp," She shyly mumbled behind her water glass, before shaking it off, "And I heard that he likes me back. Or he could."

"That's great, dear, but please be careful," Tera gently warned, "We don't want you getting hurt again."

"I understand," Venus nodded, before sighing sadly, "I don't want to go through that again."

-Last Year-

"I got asked to the prom!" Venus announced the second she entered the house after school.

Zoro lowered his shintai, and exited his room in curiosity. "By who?"

"His name's Spandam! He said that he likes me, and wants to be my prom date! Of course, I said yes!"

"That's great, honey!" Tera beamed. "I'm sure you'll have a great time!"

Zoro squinted his eyes over the excitement, staying quiet. He couldn't help but feel suspicious; Spandam didn't exactly have the best reputation in the school. He decided to keep it to himself, in fear of ruining his sister's joy. Maybe it could work out...

If only he knew how wrong that preposition was.

After changing to look their best, the two headed for the school, with their parents driving. "Have fun, you two!" Tera called out when they exited the car.

"We will," Zoro called back, and they entered the building. He followed Venus along the decorated halls, until they reached the gymnasium, where the event was currently kicking off. "Want to wait for him here?"

"Yeah," She nodded, "I'll be alright on my own."

That didn't help his suspicions at all. "If you say so. I'll be with my friends."

"'Kay, have fun."

"You too." With that, he wandered off, and miraculously located his newfound friends by the punch bowl, where she happened to be out of their sights.

"Surprised you found us that fast, Moss-head," Sanji smirked.

"Shut up, moron," Zoro dismissed the annoying blond; he was more focused on keeping his ears open, for any sounds of distress from Venus.

Meanwhile, she lingered at the entrance, blissfully unaware of the devious plot she would soon be apart of, front and center. Behind her back hid her so-called "date", looking down at her with evil intentions, while gripping a large pot. Time to put the plan into action...

Venus stood with a small smile, looking for a familiar head of lavender hair, when... it happened. She gasped sharply with a shriek at a disgusting-smelling, off-white, curdled substance raining down on her from the ceiling, leaving her drenched. She panted heavily, tears welling up, and not just from the odor, as certain students broke out into laughter. The substance slid down her hair, arms, and legs, and stained her black dress nearly beyond recognition.

Zoro turned sharply at the commotion. "What happened?" Usopp went to look, but his vision was blocked by some large athletes around all of them. Even Brook and Franky couldn't see.

"I don't know," Zoro sneered behind his back. Though he had a feeling that he did know.

Spandam leaped over in front of her with great clumsiness, but quickly regained his composure, towering over her, as he laughed mockingly. "This is what you get, little freak! You really thought anyone would want to be your date anywhere, much less the prom?! Ha! Have fun stinking up the place!" With that, he joined the other bullies in enjoying her misery.

"That's an improvement!" A portly boy named Hordy Jones guffawed.

Zoro pushed past the burly athletes, and just barely saw Venus running out of the room with her face hidden by her hands. "Guys, I gotta go, now."

"But you just got here-"

"I gotta go!" He snapped, interrupting Luffy, before making a mad dash after her. "Venus!" 'What did that bastard do to her?!' He thought furiously. 'I'll kill him!' He saw her disappear into the girls' room, and quickly followed. "Venus?" He held his nose at the terrible smell, as she hid in the handicap stall, leaving it unlocked. The hell was that? She never had it before; unless... Spandam. "V?" He peeked in, and she was sitting on the toilet, sobbing into her hands. "You okay?" He knew it was a stupid question, but he didn't know what else to say. Her only response was a head shake, which sent some gross lumps sliding from her hair, and splattering on the floor. "What did that bastard do?"

He waited patiently for her to calm herself enough to answer. "He... d-dumped some... sour milk on me."

That certainly explained the smell. Her fancy dress had to have been permanently ruined; nothing would get the stains, or odor out of it. "Go rinse yourself off in the girls' locker room. And throw out your dress; here's my jacket." He stripped it off, so he was in his matching black pants, and navy blue button-up printed with whirlpools.

"O-okay, thanks." She took it when he handed it over, and ran off.

In the boys' locker room, Zoro scrubbed off his sister's heeled shoes for her, boiling with rage. Rosward was going to hear from him; Spandam wasn't his offspring, so he would hopefully be punished for this. While cleaning, he called Arashi; he and Tera had to have been home by now, but they needed to come back. No way were they staying at the prom; not after what had just happened. "Dad, you and Mom need to get back here, now."

"Why, what happened?" Arashi sounded worried.

"I'll explain later. Just get here as soon as you can; we're not staying."

"Okay son, we're on our way." With that, he hung up.

In the girls' shower, tears fell down Venus' face. She should've known it was a set-up; who would want to associate with her? No one, that's who. She was just going to die alone. After finishing up, and putting on her undergarments, she pulled on, and buttoned up her brother's jacket, which almost reached her knees, and shoved her pungent dress in the garbage bin. She never wanted to see it again.

Zoro came back less than a minute later, with her now clean shoes on hand. "You better now?"

"I guess," She almost whispered, "T-thanks."

"I called Dad. He and Mom are on our way here." He set her blocky kitten heels on the floor.

"'Kay, good. I just want to go home." After stepping into her shoes, she took his hand, and walked the halls with him. His heart broke at her sniffles, and shuddering breath; she didn't want to cry at risk of other students hearing, and making her feel worse.

After a minute of waiting outside, a familiar car pulled up, and parked close by. Arashi and Tera jumped out immediately, concerned at their daughter wearing their son's jacket instead of her dress, with her hair out of its former braid crown. "Venus?" The second Arashi knelt in front of her, she collapsed into him, and sobbed in his shoulder. "Oh, baby." He held her close, and stroked her damp hair, as Tera rubbed her back. "What's that smell?"

"Sour milk," Zoro replied, his hands clenched his fists, "That bastard dumped it on her."

Tera gasped in shock. "He what?!"

"She had to rinse off in the locker room, and throw her dress away."

"Come on, let's go home, so you can have a proper shower." After Arashi kissed Venus' forehead, they all piled into the car, and took off. Venus sobbed in Zoro's neck and shoulder during the whole drive.

Once they were inside the house, she made a beeline for the bathroom. "I'm never dating anyone again!" She cried while running up the stairs, and grabbing her bat-print bathrobe.

The moment she disappeared into the bathroom, and the shower turned on, Zoro let his rage out. "I knew it, I freakin' knew it!" He dropped to his knees, and his fists pounded the coffee table. "I knew Spandam was bad news! I didn't want to say anything, because she was so excited, but now I know I should have!" His forehead dropped down between his hands. "Now she's humiliated, all because I-!"

"Zoro, it wasn't your fault!" Arashi cut him off. "It was that brat who caused this, not you."

"Yeah, please don't blame yourself, honey," Tera added, "Venus doesn't, I know it."

"Tell Rosward on Monday," Arashi suggested, "Something has to be done about this."

"Gladly." After several minutes, Venus emerged from the bathroom, now smelling like her lemon shampoo/conditioner; she went straight to her room, and shut the door without a word. "I'm gonna-"

"I think she should be alone for a while," Tera stopped him.

"Okay," He nodded after some hesitation, and walked into his own room. He shut the door, grabbed his shintai, and turned to the dummy he always practiced on. Out of nowhere, he imagined Spandam's smug face on the head, laughing tauntingly; seething with rage, he tore into the dummy with loud grunts and shouting battle cries, almost totaling it in seconds. How could he just humiliate his sister?! And with no shame?! She never did anything to deserve it! She was one of the sweetest, most harmless girls in the whole school! "YOU FILTHY BASTARD!" He screamed with fury over her sobs close by. Along with sword slashes, punches and kicks were added in. "HOW DARE YOU HURT MY SISTER!" Venus sat curled up in the small tent, her face buried in her knees, as her shoulders shook.

Minutes later, the dummy was destroyed, now in shambles scattered about. Zoro panted heavily, tears streaming down his cheeks; he put his shintai away before any other damage was done, and sat on his bed to calm down, with his head in his hands. He wanted to check on her, but he couldn't if he was shaking like this.

Once he was chilled out enough, he walked to her room, surprised to notice the door slightly open, and peeked inside. Venus was still sitting in the tent, but was now silent. "Sis?" He cautiously entered the room, and knelt in front of her. "You doing okay?"

She sniffled, and raised her head up. Her cheeks were blotchy, and stained from the tears, and her eye was red. "I guess."

He pulled her into a hug, which she accepted immediately, her head resting on his chest. "I had a feeling there was something... not right regarding Spandam." He sighed deeply. "I didn't say anything, because you were so excited about having a prom date."

"It's not your fault."

"I know, but I still-"

"You couldn't have seen it coming," She raised her head to look at him, "Neither of us did. It's all on him, not you."

Zoro didn't know how to respond, as he simply kept her close. He felt responsible, no matter what, although it couldn't be fixed. It happened, and it was over. But Spandam was going down for this; he would make sure of it.

After a few minutes, she had fallen asleep from emotional exhaustion, still clutching his shirt. He picked her up from the floor, and laid her down in her bed with one of her many blankets; after loosening her grip, and adding a stuffie under her one arm draped over her chest, he left her be.

Venus sighed heavily at the memories, before shaking it off. "I'll be careful, I promise."

"Good," Tera nodded.

Later that night, now in her pajamas, Venus laid on her bed, lost in her thoughts. She surely didn't want a repeat of last year, but... Usopp was so different from Spandam. He was nothing like that jerk; he was so sweet, and a lot of fun to be around. Heck, he treated her to a slice of cake after they knew each other for only a few hours! And he was a lot cuter too. No way would he ever mistreat her... right?

No, right. He wouldn't. He'd never.

She soon drifted off to sleep, with her new crush on her mind.

Elsewhere, while laying in his own bed, Usopp was thinking hard as well. About Venus, in particular; she was the sweetest, cutest, and most lovely girl he had ever known.

Over dinner, he recalled the day's events to his mother, Banchina, while swooning over the short Goth. She was over the moon at her son having such strong feelings for someone, and her heart broke at hearing how she was bullied in school.

He smiled, as he recollected the day's events; he knew buying Venus a little treat was a good idea. She was so happy, and seemed to enjoy it. He wanted to give her heart a break; show her she deserved all the love in the world, by giving it to her.

He remembered their private chat in the bakery; he really wanted to hear her practice her violin for him one day, hanging out one-on-one. He was eager to learn more about her. And meanwhile, she felt the same about him.

Neither could wait to see each other again at school tomorrow.

#bxb fanfics #one piece #roronoa venus au #hungry days #nissin #roronoa zoro #one piece oc #venus x usopp #spandam

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sparklepocalypse · 4 months

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🥑☁️🐝🎨 please.💜

🥑 ⇢ you accidentally killed somebody, which mutual(s) do you text for help?

I'd get in touch with @cha-melodius for her anatomical knowledge (y'know, maybe I can resuscitate whoever it is?) and @happiness-of-the-pursuit for his legal expertise, in the likely event that the resuscitation doesn't work.

☁️ ⇢ what made you choose your username?

You know, I've had this username since about 2010, and I honestly can't remember the backstory. I'm fairly sure it has something to do with some sort of arts and crafts project and then-untreated ADHD, though...

🐝 ⇢ tag your biggest supporter(s) and say one nice thing about them

This might get long, so I'll come back to this one and toss it under a jump. 🤣😅

🎨 ⇢ link your favourite piece of fanart and explain why you like it

You know, prior to the latest RWRB zine being published, I wouldn't have been able to narrow it down to just one, but this JC Leyendecker-inspired piece by @artofobsession is possibly my favorite piece of fanart that's ever been created. It's just -- even nearly a month after it was first posted, it causes beauty aggression in me and I just want to bite it because it's so pretty and glowy and ethereal and lovely and they're just so blushy and so into one another. It's the first fanart print I've ordered in years, and it's going to go on my wall of ephemeral pretty things with my Lindsay van Ekelenburg art and my various tarot card prints from Kickstarter decks.

[Send me emoji from the Writers Truth & Dare Ask Game and I'll answer the corresponding questions!]

Aight, back to 🐝 ⇢ tag your biggest supporter(s) and say one nice thing about them

I mean, obviously I'm tagging you first, @ad-astra13, because you're the Most Excellent of Doc Gremlins and your flailing in my Google Docs has been so, so motivating. Your fiber work is really cool and creative! I'm always intrigued to see which project you'll take on next.

And then there's @hgejfmw-hgejhsf, who even with a bunch of stuff going on IRL still takes the time to DM me a screenshot when someone has recced one of my fics, which -- warm fuzzies just everywhere. Val is one of the sweetest, most deeply passionate RWRB fans I have ever met, and her encyclopedic knowledge of all things book and movie have come in handy on like, dozens of occasions in the few months since I've gotten to know her.

@kiwiana-writes and I basically have the same brain in different bodies on different continents, the vibe is so consistent. Half the time I read his work it feels like it could've emerged from my brain instead of his, and now it turns out he's a pretty gifted songwriter too? Incredible, awe-inspiring, iconic, etc.

@artofobsession and I have a Spider-Man meme thing going on where I yell at Hann about their art, and they yell at me about my writing, and it's just a never-ending cycle of yelling. Pretty amazing to consider that I was Too Scared To Say Hi ™️ for awhile there, because I'm a big ol' introvert. Regardless of what Hann's got going on, I've never read an unkind word that's emerged from their keyboard, and they're super well-spoken and yeah, really glad I started making unhinged bulleted lists of art reviews as a way to break the ice, because they're good people.

Speaking of Spider-Man memes, @seanchaidh7 and I have also been Spider-Manning back and forth these last few months. She's created some really, really incredible art for my Big Giant AU, and just genuinely seems like a cool person. I'm happy we stumbled across each other in this fandom!

@duchessdepolignaca03 is one of the best unhinged idea riffers I've met. She deserves at least partial credit for the idea for my RBB fic, because a simple "fic where [x]" message can lead to a thread of dozens (or hundreds) of messages back and forth just flinging ideas out there to further the prompt. Half the time the riff is all that happens, but occasionally, the riff spawns something way bigger.

And there are folks who either I haven't found on Tumblr, or who left Tumblr behind in like 2013 and haven't looked back -- super grateful for everyone who's enabling my weird little brain to do the thing!

#ask me stuff!#ask meme

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skullsfigurepage · 11 months

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Trafalgar Law - Banpresto Maximatic Figure

Note: I won this figure in a claw machine and it fueled my ego so much before I kept losing at every other claw machine I played. Stay humble.

Review and more photos under the cut :-p

If you follow my main account (@skullc0r3) you might know that Law is one of my favorite one piece characters so walking into an arcade and seeing Several boxes of this figure stacked in a claw machine felt like crazy luck even before I won. I'm so used to all the merchandise for things I'm into being rare or super expensive (persona 5 scalpers I hate you more than I can say) so getting into OP has been interesting because of the sheer volume of merchandise for it that's below $50.

Onto the figure!

For starters this is the first time I have ever seen a figure with such an obvious front and back to the sculpture. In this case it's because the back has significantly less painted details. In the last photo above you can see on his leg closest to the camera the back of his pants and the front have different shadow qualities. This isn't because my lamp was strong enough to cast such harsh shadows, its because the front of his pants (and the front of the rest of the figure) has painted on shading while the back does not. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, most people wouldn't notice or care since they were only ever going to display it from the front, but the box did hype up all the detailed painting that would be on the figure. In their defense though, I understand why this would be necessary from a production standpoint. My biggest gripe with this (still fairly small) is that on his back hand, Law doesn't have his signature (stupid) knuckle tattoos.

Here's his forward hand. The tattoos are all printed on and thank god for that because I can't imagine how miserable it would have been to force someone to hand paint them.

And then here's his back hand. I wonder if the issue was a matter of the tattoos being harder to place in this position, or at least to do it efficiently enough that it would be worth it. Again, not something that impacts the actual quality of the figure but I find it a fascinating insight into the production.

That being said the paint job on the front is super neat, it really does add so much depth to the figure (especially on the yellow and blue parts of the figure; it makes it look less like cheap plastic, lol) and I really enjoy it.

Next, the scale of this figure. I didn't realize when I won it, but this thing is huge. I can hold him like a small carp (and I have). He's huge. I'm guessing here, because I don't feel like finding a ruler right now but I'd say he's probably 10" tall? including the stand, which makes him one of the biggest figures I own. It also means the scale of the sword is perfect for just kind of, pointing at tiny stuff with. Which I have done. I have fun.

I think the figure's pose is super fun. It's dynamic and getting photos of him with a wide-lens is really fun. The actual sculpting details on the clothes and arms in particular are so fascinating to me, they're incredibly well done in my opinion. The composition is good too, the lines create a few triangles which really helps balance the figure.

(had to fudge it a bit here to show the triangle with his hands and head since one hand is hidden in this shot, oops)

The only issue I've had with the figure is it's kind of wobbly. I've fixed this by either putting his lower foot against a "wall" or putting something under it. It's not really a big deal if you don't disturb the figure too much.

From looking around online this figure is around 30$ including shipping (and that is a higher estimate), so as far as figures go this is pretty affordable and imo it's worth it (so long as you have enough display space).

Final Thoughts: I love this freak figure. It's fun, its got great details, it fueled my ego for a week, it has a pole going up the ass of the figure, what's not to love.

Thanks for reading!

#one piece #anime figure #trafalgar law #one piece figure #figure review #figures

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tellthemeerkatsitsfine · 2 months

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I've had a terrible day full of significantly elevated anxiety for no discernible reason (aside from, it's too fucking hot and this always happens when it's too fucking hot, also a number of other things but the level of anxiety is disproportionate to any of those real situations, probably because it's too fucking hot). I looked around my room to see some things I like to cheer myself up. I have don't quite a good job of making my bedroom into an over-decorated museum of things I like, which is convenient on a day when I want to just look around and quickly see something nice. Anyway, here are some pictures of my comedy-related collections.

On the wall - the old Josie Long poster that I got her to sign when I saw her in Montreal, and then I got Grace Petrie to sign it when I saw her live a couple of months later, even though I was so anxious about approaching either of them at all, much less giving Josie Long the weird request to have her sign a poster from ten years ago, or giving Grace Petrie the much weirder request to have sign Josie Long's poster from ten years ago, but I explained to her how it's because I already have Josie's signature and I'd love the idea of both their autographs on one thing, and I did also buy Grace Petrie's CD and have her sign that too, even though I already owned that album off Bandcamp, I just felt obligated to buy it rather than only say "Hi could you sign something that isn't even yours?", and to pay her money for the CD as a bribe to briefly talk to me. Anyway, as nerve-wracking as it was to get, I love that I get to look at it every day now. I have it on my wall next to the lovely quote from The Bugle episode 66 that @nyomkitten made in fancy fonts, and that I jokingly said I want on my wall, and then realized I actually do so I went and had it printed on cardstock.

Books on my shelf. Most of my Britcom books are in ebook or audiobook form, but some are on a shelf.

CDs and DVDs. The top one is Grace Petrie's Connectivity, which I bought to bribe her to talk to me long enough so I could get her to sign Josie Long's poster. There's also Kitson's Shenaniganagain CD, and the Lucksmiths CD that I bought on eBay because Kitson wrote the liner notes on it. Then we have John Oliver's stand-up special, Flight of the Conchords, Thick of It and In the Loop DVDs that I picked up at a Celtic music festival once, couple of Monty Python movies, a hard move away from comedy in the BBC House of Cards, some DVDs purchased back when Joss Whedon was still cool, and I did used to be a big hockey fan and follow the Edmonton Oilers really closely. Haven't cared in years; they made the Stanley Cup finals this year and I didn't give a fuck. But I used to.

Stickers on the side of my book shelf. The Taskmaster seal and Nish Kumar with a coconut on his head, both gifts from my then-girlfriend, attached to a Christmas card she gave me a couple of years ago. Now a somewhat painfully tainted memory, but I still like the stickers. A couple of other stickers that I took off the packaging from Daniel Kitson's CD, the official seal of Higgldy Piggldy Enterprises, which is how he incorporated himself. And a couple of playing cards that Ed Gamble threw into the crowd last year during the Max & Ivan pretend wrestling event, as his thing was "Ed The Gambler Gamble" so he had a bunch of cards. Cards that audience members could just pick up if they wanted to, and one of the people who did that happens to be a friend of mine who sent a few of them to me, which is fucking cool.

And finally, this weekend I moved some stuff around from my old hard drives to have more things in one place, on the big comedy folder that's on my 5TB hard drive. I've actually bought two 5TB hard drives this year, which might not be the best use of my limited funds, but I don't want to risk losing all that. So I have the one hard drive that lives in a pocket on the back of my laptop and is always connected to it as a working drive with this massive comedy folder on it, and another with a second copy of that folder. Part of why I bought the second one was I think I'm going to take the first one with me when I got to the UK so I can put stuff on it there, but if I don't have a backup at home, I'll be too worried about losing it.

(Note: I do not endorse the views or work of every comedian who has a folder on my hard drive. Most of it is there because I like them, but please do not assume I am a fan of all things expressed by, to pick 2 examples just in the As, Alfie Brown or post-2019 Alun Cochrane. Technically there are three people in the As whose views I do not share, because Alan Partridge has some ideas about immigration policy that just wouldn't be feasible. Oh and I don't like how Adam Hills got an MBE a couple of years ago and suddenly started expressing monarchist sentiments a lot. Only one letter in and I'm already disagreeing with plenty. On the other hand, I'm almost sure that Alice Fraser has never said anything wrong in her entire life.)

Of course, the hard drive lives on the back of my laptop next to my other Nish Kumar sticker, which I got because of the laptop that Nish had in season 4 of The Mash Report, which got filmed in his home due to lockdown:

I've definitely posted all of this before, but collecting those things again put me in a slightly better mood, which was the goal. Hope everyone's having a nice week and they solve climate change soon.

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floralcrematorium · 11 months

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I don't know if youve answered this before, but what made you come back? I'm not that old in the fandom, maybe half a year and it's so interesting how that fandom changed and how it used to be.

Thanks for the ask! I'm gonna be real with you, it was an accident. This is about to be a loooooooong ass post so I'm putting it beneath the cut:

It happened steadily in July. A very slippery slope.

I left in or around 2018 just because I lost interest. A friend in 7th grade introduced me to it in early 2014. I had been running my Instagram account since Summer of 2014 with my best friend (who at the time had been my partner, and by 2018 we had broken up) and our other friend. We'd all moved on and the account became dead. It wasn't a good account, but we'd amassed 1.1k followers during our tenure. Those were the days of if you wanted to post a comic, there were no Instagram slides. You had to post it all individually. The account was deleted in 2021? I think? 2020?

So come July 2023, I was poking around in my old Google Drive and found some of my old Hetalia stuff. Which included a fic with the aforementioned friends. It uh. Is not good. I reread it and oh boy is it a product of its time (we were probably 13-15 when we wrote it) and it was a 3 way POV that we all wrote with self insert characters. It was basically Heta characters get thrown in the setting of Outlast but with the plot of FNAF. Yeah. So uh. Not much to defend there. I jokingly went to my friends like "Hey, what if we rewrote this but not horrible" and we genuinely thought about it! For a night.

But for me it wasn't one night.

I kept thinking about it.

And one thing led to the next, I was revisiting old Youtube videos I liked and reread a fic I used to like.

I think what really did me in was listening to the character songs again and a couple of hetaloid covers. I was doing artfight and listening only to Hetalia music while I drew.

I genuinely did not really use my normal Tumblr before floralcrematorium came to be. I have an entirely separate account for personal stuff and art (I will not be sharing it) and it got to a point where I was seeking so much Hetalia stuff that I figured, why the fuck not, and eventually made an account. I also eventually made my first A03 account (I was on Wattpad and FFN back in the day) because someone wrote a CanUkr fic where Mattie had overexerted himself and was in the hospital and Katya and Alfred were going to kill him because he kept insisting he could work (I CANNOT FIND THIS FIC AGAIN, I FOUND IT ON TUMBLR ORIGINALLY, PLEASE HELP IF THIS RINGS A BELL!!).

And uh, so here I am!

I draw Hetalia stuff on occasion (I should... draw more considering that's what I went to college for but whatever) and have a couple of ideas for illustration series in my head.

I've got a lot of fic ideas I want to write. I have a literal list on my phone. I think about it in bed, at work, and little things remind me of Hetalia all the time.

I've gotten back into RP (I used to use Shamchat and Kik).

I've met so many cool people and I've been having a wonderful time being back so far. When I was originally in the fandom, I consumed a lot of content, but as far as mutuals went it was just me and my two friends. Meeting so many new people has been absolutely wonderful.

Hetalia is really the only fandom I've been in. I've liked other media and consumed fics/enjoyed art/bought prints (COUGH RWBY), but Hetalia is the only media I've ever had fan accounts for. It's the only media I've so deeply entrenched myself in that I feel comfortable writing fics. My walls used to be covered in Hetalia -- both official wall scrolls and shitty art I'd made myself (I have pictures I can attach at the end of the post). I had... so much merch. When I was 14 I only asked for Hetalia related things for my birthday. Every now and again I get that "am I doing the right thing?" ick because of the negative fandom reputation and reactions I'd get from people when I would admit to having liked Hetalia in the past, but I don't care about that now. Genuinely, fuck that. I like this piece of media whether I want to or not. I'm not going to be a self-hating Hetalia fan like I was in 2018-2021/22. I've come back to the show with completely different... motives? Idk what the right phrase is here -- I'm here to explore the characters of these little freaks (looking at you, Francis), I love all of the fanart I see, I like the exchange of historical and cultural information/resources.

Sure, I'd consider my fandom niche to be humanverse Francis and FACE fam, but I genuinely enjoy exploring outside of my corner of the fandom. I try to spread myself out -- I want to consume everything. I want to be exposed to everything.

Hetalia is one of the single most impactful pieces of media in my life. Without it, I wouldn't have my best friend, who broke up with me for APH Austria in 2015. The friends I ran the Instagram account with and I are all still in contact. I talk to one much more frequently than the other, but they are both so near and dear to my heart and I can't believe that this silly show is what got us to where we are. The youngest of us is about to graduate college a whole year early. I met her when she was 11 and I was 12 or 13? I couldn't be more proud of her, of the three of us, and it's been so fun to have these occasional nights where we (okay, just me) get tipsy and go through old fandom media/watch the dub and go ooooof. I was in a really bad place when I was originally into Hetalia. Coming back now feels like coming full circle.

The old fandom had plenty of its own issues, and the fandom now certainly isn't devoid of issues, but now that the fanbase has shifted to an older audience and I actually have like. Social skills. I love talking to other people. I like creating. I like thinking about these stupid characters before I go to bed.

My single favorite thing about the Hetalia fandom now is the care put into historical work as well as the exploration of portrayals of the characters. Because Hetalia lacks a plot and Hima is constantly retconning things, everyone has their own interpretations of everything. Everyone has their own version of Francis Bonnefoy, Yao Wang, or Alfred F. Jones. And that's so cool!!! You don't see that anywhere else.

I know I'm typically a pessimist on main, but I'm genuinely glad to be back. It's weird to be back. I've had mixed reactions from irl friends that I'm back.

But who the fuck cares?

I'm having fun, I'm making friends, and I can't believe there are still people here.

I genuinely hope I'm here for a while. I have so much I want to write. I want to draw all of the things my skill level was too low for back when I was a teen.

CRINGE IS DEAD AND I AM FREE.

The following images are certainly about to destroy any cool perception anyone has of me, if they even do. I was... certainly a teenager, is all I have to say! I am,,, thankfully not like this anymore. I hope.

Here are those pictures of my bedroom circa 2015 I promised:

DO NOT ASK ME ABOUT THE LIVE LAUGH LOVE.

That drawing of Russia with Neko-Talia Russia? Yeah. Uh. I did that for an art project in the 7th grade for class. I also did a ceramics piece with the mochis, that I've since lost. These images scream "I'm 14 and like Hetalia in 2015."

I used to have little hearts with all the ships I liked in them (I think that's AusHun in the picture on the left?). I also had "I love you" written in like 20 languages on index cards taped above my headboard.

Also a literal timestamp I found in my old emails with the friend who got me into Hetalia:

Being a young teenager in the old fandom certainly,,,, was something. I would not relive that, but by god would I do ANYTHING to get my favorite pieces of fan media back from that time. There was a video called "Hetalia What Did You Do To Panda" which was a bunch of clips from the anime with Katie Herzig's "Hey Na Na" playing in the background. Every now and then a dub audio clip would interject with the song.

I also really miss this one very specific Character Theme Songs video that had Poland in the thumbnail. Mein Gott would play between each song and I could tell you most of the songs that had been assigned to each character.

I would do ANYTHING to get those videos back. I miss them so much.

Anyway, if you read this whole thing, thanks for reading??? I am very Cool And Normal about the things I like, unfortunately. It's nice to come back to Hetalia and like... be a normal person about it.

All I've got to say is, when I like something, I like it a lot.

#floralcrematorium ask box #floralcrematorium is so normal and cool #ne ne papa echoes in my nightmares #soph's public diary

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billy-theratking · 2 years

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I'd Know You Anywhere, My Love - Part 1

Billy Hargrove x Steve Harrington

AN: Just a little excerpt on Billy and Steve after the Star Court Mall battle. Get ready for Upside Down infected, monster Billy!

Warnings: Panic attacks

Part 2

Steve lazily cracked an eye open, groggily squinting at the familiar layout of his bedroom. Nothing looked out of place, which only left him even more puzzled. He focused on his body and found that his heartbeat was perfectly steady and his breathing was even. So, if he wasn’t awake because of another nightmare…

Then what woke him up?

His question was answered in the form of a muffled clatter that came from the apartment beyond his door, the sound prompting him to quietly climb out from beneath his warm blankets and retrieve his trusty spiked bat from where he’d stashed it under the bed.

Robin had gone out for yet another date with a cute girl named Hannah that she’d met at a poetry reading and had told him not to expect her to return to their apartment until well into the morning.

Steve considered the preferable scenario where Robin had changed her mind and came back early, but she would’ve called to warn him of her imminent return just in case he was… busy.

Surely he would’ve heard their landline ring, he was an incredibly light sleeper since he’d found out about the Upside Down and all the things that came with the territory. Which could only mean that Robin didn’t call, and that indicated that the second -and much more distressing- option was the most likely one.

He had an uninvited visitor, which was unexpected because their apartment wasn’t in a particularly bad neighborhood.

Sure, it wasn’t like there had never been a break-in that was in the area, it’s just that… Steve had never thought it would happen to them.

He and Robin didn’t have a whole lot of stuff that was worth stealing, other than their hard-earned TV of course. Though, even then it would be pretty difficult to take considering the fact that the thing was heavy. Like ridiculously so, to the point where he and Robin had struggled to get the appliance up the flight of stairs and into their living room.

His train of thought was derailed by the almost inaudible sound of his fridge door opening. The noise reminded him why he was standing stiffly in the cold corridor. He took a step forward, moving out of the hall and into the living room, his foot slipping slightly as it came in contact with the wet hardwood floor.

Looking down, the meager light of the street lamps shining through the windows allowed him to see some sort of slime smeared across the ground, the puddles parallel and evenly spaced like footprints.

His gaze tracked the path back to his right, the prints beginning in front of the wall next to his TV. The off-white wall was just as pristine as it had been when they had moved into the apartment, with no sign of tampering.

It was as if the prints had just appeared out of nowhere.

Memories of gateways to other dimensions and the creatures that followed flashed through his mind before he viciously stomped down the reminder. He hoped -prayed- that this had nothing to do with the Upside Down.

Steve carefully stepped over the ooze slathered across the floor, creeping up to the wall separating the living room from the kitchen. The golden light from the small bulb spilled out onto a small portion of the tiled floor of the dining room and kitchen, softly illuminating the surrounding area in an eerie glow.

He peeked around the corner in order to peer into the kitchen and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion upon seeing the absolute mess of the place.

His various plastic magnets were scattered across the floor, some cracked and in pieces as if they’d been stepped on. Wrappers and shredded Tupperware was strewn about with half-eaten and abandoned scraps of food left haphazardly everywhere.

He was so furious at the sight of the absolute disaster he almost missed the figure rummaging about his fridge. Examining the little bit of the silhouette he could see, he stared wide-eyed at the gap between the bare fridge door and the floor, where he could see a pair of slimy feet.

Although, it took him a second to register that what he was staring at weren't feet at all but talons, ones that looked freakishly akin to something one might see on a bird as opposed to something distinctly human-sized.

Steve must've made some kind of noise, because the nightmare-inducing crunching abruptly cut off, the shadowed figure straightening from its hunched form in order to stare at him from over the fridge door.

Some sort of swinging metal caught in the yellow light of the fridge, giving Steve a good eyeful of an eerily familiar earring. Unfortunately, Harrington had only seen that particular earring on one person.

A familiar pair of bright blue irises swam in dark pools of black, lazily raking over Steve's frame. After an uncomfortable moment of mutual staring, the other male’s petal pink lips curled up into an unsettling grin that showed off inhuman needle-point teeth. Regrettably, Harrington would recognize that smug face anywhere and Jesus fuck-

It's Billy Hargrove.

A dead teen is standing in Steve's kitchen, a half-devoured rotisserie chicken held in the loose curl of his… fingers? At least, that's what they resembled. They were more like claws, Billy’s usual sun-kissed tan skin steadily fading into a smooth matte black from his elbows down to the tips of his fingers.

Unsure of what else to do, Steve wound up and viciously swung at the Billy look-alike, who swiftly ducked to avoid the deadly spikes that were periodically scattered throughout the wood.

“Hey! Hey! Easy, Pretty Boy. It’s me, Billy.” It drawled and Steve’s lips twisted into a scowl at the casual use of the degrading nickname, anger rearing its ugly head at this… impostor’s words. Harrington knew it wasn’t Hargrove because there was no way in hell Billy would come looking for Steve of all people. Max maybe -perhaps even El- but certainly not him.

“I don’t know what you are, but I know for a fact that you’re not Hargrove. He’s dead. I watched him die.” Steve swallowed heavily, ignoring how his voice cracked.

The look-alike’s face creased with exasperation, the creature clicking its tongue in clear disagreement.

“Well that’s kind of impossible considering that I’m right here.” It both looked and sounded completely done with the brunet’s perfectly valid argument, thank you.

“He’s dead.” Steve repeated, for lack of anything else to say.

“No, I’m not.” The impostor stressed, frustration bleeding into its tone.

The creature carelessly tossed the half-eaten carcass of the chicken onto the nearest counter before taking an aborted step forward, causing Steve to backpedal and plant his feet, readying his bat.

The brunet swung as the blond reached out to grab him, getting a solid hit right on the look-alike’s chest, a flash of metal drawing his gaze down to where nails met flesh. The thin gold chain around the impostor’s neck had gotten tangled around the bat, the delicate jewelry snapping when Steve yanked it away.

The familiar necklace dangled from the black-coated nails, glinting insidiously as it swayed with the brunet’s trembling hands.

It was Billy’s.

Steve suddenly recalled the day that he’d finally gathered enough courage to ask Max about the jewelry’s significance; she had told him that it used to belong to Hargrove’s estranged mother.

Steve tore his eyes away from the necklace, braving a glance at Billy and he instantly wished he hadn’t, a cold chill running down the brunet’s spine at the blond’s severe expression. It was the same look he’d had that night at the Byers house, the night that Billy had attempted to beat him to death.

Steve flinched when those crazed arctic eyes darted away from the necklace to hone in on him, prompting the brunet to drop the bat as if it had burned him. The crack of wood hitting wood was deafeningly loud, the sound ringing through the kitchen like a gunshot.

He immediately clapped his hands over his ears, hoping that it would at least muffle the noise. On the contrary, it just seemed to grow louder and louder until it was the only thing he could hear.

The distant crash of a plate shattering broke through the white noise, Steve’s hands dropping away from his head as he felt the pieces of porcelain rain down around him. The left side of his skull throbbed in time with his frantic heartbeat as he flashed through memories of Billy kneeling over him, pinning him to the ground as blow after blow landed.

Steve couldn’t breathe, choking on the thick metallic flavor that flooded his mouth. His aching eyes squinted open, his pained gaze meeting the manic grin on Billy’s face as the younger boy kept throwing punches.

Every inch of his body hurt and he could feel his skin split, bruise, swell up, Billy’s unhinged laughter echoing throughout the Byers living room, as if it were coming from all around him. Then there were hands on him, pressed against the back of his head.

He flinched away, but the hands were persistent and they weren't hurting him, so he gave in to the instinct to lean into the gentle touch. His breathing slowed some, the ringing lessening in volume until he could actually hear a voice.

“Hey. Hey. Stop that.”

The fingers moved lightly over the back of his head and he hissed as it ran across a painful bump. The prodding hand came back around and paused in front of his face, a bright crimson coating the tips of the pointer and middle finger that Steve distantly registered as his blood.

He focused his vision past the hand and to the figure crouched before him, who still talking. “Damn, Bambi. You hit your head pretty good.”

Billy looked different now, the claws, talons and weird eyes were gone. The blond looked perfectly human, exactly like the Billy from his memories.

And, as if sensing his eyes, Billy’s sky blue gaze lifted to meet his. “Are you okay?”

Steve just blinked uncomprehendingly at the blond as if he was seeing him for the first time. Then the glint of metal pulled Steve out of his daze, his attention caught and held in a vice grip when his eyes settled on the golden amulet that dangled from Billy’s free hand.

“Billy…” Steve breathed softly, tearing his eyes away so he could look at the figure kneeling before him. He reached out, cautiously touching the cool skin of Billy’s wrist, feeling the thump of the younger teen's heart when pressing his fingers against his pulse.

“It’s you. It’s really you.”

He stared in puzzled astonishment as Billy shuffled closer, the blond’s brows furrowing in confusion. “Yeah. Yeah, Bambi. That's what I was trying to tell you before you went all Babe Ruth on me.”

Suddenly remembering the sound of metal tearing flesh, Steve released his grip on the other male like it had burned him, and dropped his wide eyes to Billy’s unmarred chest.

“But… but I hit you. I know I hit you. How are you okay?” Steve felt his breathing begin to pick up the longer he stared at the inky black that was smeared across Billy’s golden skin.

“Nope. No. We are not doing this again.” Billy hissed, hands frantic as they moved over Steve’s frozen form. “Come on. Come on, Bambi. It’s just me, it’s just me.”

He carefully framed Steve’s face with both of his cold hands, bringing their foreheads together. Each of Billy’s warm breaths fanned against his face, sweet like candy and somehow soothing.

Steve was surprised when the panic released his lungs, his breathing slowing to match Billy’s calm puffs of air. The blond leaned back, but didn’t go too far, staying practically nose to nose with the other. This close, Steve could count each individual freckle sprinkled across Billy’s cheekbones and the bridge of his nose.

They’d messed around a few times but then everything went to shit at the Byers house and Billy started ignoring him, so Steve stayed away, giving Billy the space that the blond so obviously wanted.

And then Billy was flayed and people were dying and he was trying to avoid being killed by angry Russians and there was no time to think about what was happening as Billy stood over El, facing the creature that was towering over the two of them with squared shoulders, looking all to the world like the stubborn, brave teen that Steve remembered catching glimpses on during their brief fling.

Then Billy was screaming and Max was screaming and when Billy went horribly silent, leaving only Max’s heart-wrenching sobbing to fill the sudden oppressive quiet that had descended over the group, Steve stared down at Billy’s unmoving body with a mess of confusing emotions all battling for attention, watching numbly as black oozed from the wounds on the blond's sides, chest and hands.

The rest of the night was a blur of colors and noise as they ran, avoiding the authorities and Russians alike, and then he was suddenly standing in the shower fully clothed, his hair and stupid sailors uniform plastered to his goose-pebbled skin as he shivered under the spray of water that had long gone cold.

Steve cleared his throat, trying to dislodge the lump that had suddenly formed there, and carefully pushed Billy out of his personal space. “What uh- what happened?”

When Steve had a panic attack, the details of what exactly triggered him and what had transpired during were kind of a blur. So he was left wondering why the back of his head was throbbing angrily and why he could taste blood.

Billy stared quietly for a moment, slowly giving him a once over, before answering. “You hit me with the bat and my necklace broke. And when you looked at me, you froze up. Next thing I knew, you were unresponsive.”

Steve’s lips pressed into a thin line, ashamed of himself. Billy was the last person that he wanted to see him like that, weak and pathetic.

“Then you kind of collapsed and backed up when I tried to approach you. You began to slam your head against the cabinets behind you and I’m guessing that when you hit your head, you must’ve bit your tongue.”

Steve’s eyebrows shot up in disbelief, that was odd behavior. Robin had never said anything about self-harm during any other episodes, so this was a first.

“And no matter what I said, you wouldn’t listen. You just kept repeating ‘no’ under your breath while hyperventilating and staring off blankly into the middle distance.” Billy sounded kind of odd as he spoke, almost as if he were actually rattled by the incident. “It was like you couldn’t see me. It was terrifying.”

Steve almost broke his neck with how fast he jerked his head up to look at Billy -Billy Hargrove- who had just admitted that he was scared and worried about Steve.

The whole situation was insane and had Steve feeling like the rug had been pulled out from underneath him, leaving him trying and failing to regain his balance.

“It was a panic attack.” He heard himself explaining without his say-so. “I have them sometimes when I’m reminded of shitty situations I've been in.”

He didn’t know why, but Steve felt the irrational urge to comfort Billy, who was still staring at him like he might shatter if the blond moved away. Billy slowly rose before holding out his free hand, palm up, in an offering. Steve took Billy’s extended hand, gratefully letting the other male to help him up to his feet.

“How about we set you up with some pain meds? Have any Advil or Tylenol?” Billy scratched at his chin in thought and Steve stifled the need to smile at the adorable expression on the blond’s face.

This was nothing like the Billy that he was used to, but he couldn’t allow himself to let his guard down just because the blond expressed a bit of kindness. Billy had shown himself capable of being nice if it benefitted him somehow. Steve had to remember that the blond was still a ticking time bomb and any misstep could set him off.

“We have some in the bathroom, but I can’t have any kind of pain reliever because of the meds I’m on.”

Billy halted all movement and side-glanced at the brunet, piercing eyes drilling into Steve’s head as if he were trying to pull the unsaid information from the brunet's brain.

“How about some alcohol then?” Billy moved back toward the fridge and Steve stopped him with a hand on his shoulder, the blond going stock still for a second time underneath his hand. Frustration overtook Billy’s face, making it do some unattractive things as the blond attempted to get a lid on his emotions. “Let me guess, can’t have that either?”

"Yeah, pretty much." Steve nodded, releasing his hold on Billy so that the younger male could pace freely.

“What do you do if you get hurt or have a headache?” The blond sounded furious, as if Steve’s lack of options personally offended him somehow.

Steve just shrugged, not really sure what to say and not wanting to push the blond further into a rage. He left Billy in the kitchen -the blond muttering to himself- in order to grab a large black garbage bag to start cleaning the kitchen.

Steve desperately wished that he could take his medication. He felt overwhelmed, anxious and guilty; viciously cursing the fact that he couldn’t fuck up his schedule by taking any before eight am.

Billy joined him a few minutes later, wordlessly grabbing one for himself. Steve abandoned the blond to pick up the various food-stuffs scattered around, Steve went to investigate his magnet problem.

He picked up the blue rose that Robin adored and tried to put it back on the fridge door, but the minute that he let go, it fell. He glared down at the magnet before squatting to pick it up and try again, only to get the same result.

He attempted the same with every single one of his magnets with the exact same thing happening every time he let go. They had demagnetized, all of their stupid magnets did, and the last time something like this had happened, a rogue piece of the Mind Flayer had awoken and possessed Billy.

He glanced over at the blond, who was considering a half-eaten slice of pizza very intently, before shrugging and tossing it into the trash bag he was dragging around behind him. Steve couldn’t help but wonder if Billy’s sudden appearance had something to do with the magnet's odd state.

It took the two of them around an hour to finish cleaning up the mess in the kitchen, Steve allowing himself to be distracted by the monotonous task. He didn’t want to look into Billy’s mysterious resurrection, much less how the blond had even found him or got into the apartment with all the windows and doors locked.

Billy moved into the living room and Steve followed. The blond made a move as if to flop down onto the couch and Steve’s hand snapped out in order to grab his wrist and tug him away from the furniture with a disapproving frown. The kids liked to call it his ‘Disappointed Mom’ face.

Billy gave him a questioning look and Steve explained himself. “You are covered in unidentified shit and, therefore, not allowed on any of the furniture until you shower.”

Billy gave Steve his trademark flirtatious grin at the command, saddling up next to him and shamelessly pressing into Steve’s personal space.

“If you wanted me to get naked, you could’ve just asked.”

That attitude was more like the Billy he remembered, the familiar behavior putting Steve at ease for some reason.

“Dude, get off me. We’ve just established that you’re covered in yuck.” Steve complained, shoving at the suddenly clingy male. “Go get in the shower. Towels are in the cupboard to the right of the bathroom, you animal.”

Steve gave him one last push to send the blond on his way, waiting until the younger man was out of view before going back into the kitchen for something to eat. It was now nearing five in the morning and his stomach was complaining about the lack of food.

He was about to open the cabinet when he noticed the black spots on the door and counter. Moving toward the light, Steve flicked the switch, illuminating the room and revealing the horror that was once hidden by the dark of the room. There was a thick, ink-like substance all over the kitchen floor and Steve’s own blood coating parts of the hardwood and lower cabinets.

He probably stood frozen in shock for several minutes, just taking in the utter mess of the room, wondering what the black liquid was and where it came from.

Then he recalled how black welled up in the wounds when the bat hit Billy, coating the nails in dark ink. Ripping the bat out must have flung the blood into all sorts of directions, which explained the drops of obsidian shining innocently at him from various surfaces.

Steve considered all the clues that alluded to the fact that Billy was not exactly human.

The odd slime on the floor and coating his skin, the horrifying limbs and eyes, the odd coloring of his skin, the fact that he was cold to the touch like a corpse and bled black blood.

Something was going on here and it had something to do with that dreaded dimension. He needed help and he knew exactly who to call. Grabbing the landline, he listened closely to make sure that the shower was still running loudly before dialing.

“Robin, you need to get home, like right now. Billy Hargrove is in our apartment… and I think he came from the Upside Down.”

#stranger things #steve harrington #billy hargrove #harringrove #steve x billy #what if?#mutated Billy #abomination!Billy #canon divergence #angst and hurt/comfort #i might continue this #idk

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