#Try to figure out which character is my favourite- IMPOSSIBLE CHALLENGE

[mothmanthebreadwizard]

doodle page of the goobers!

Better pictures (and my thoughts) under cut

Hydra age progression photos (in human years)- left to right

2-4, 7-10, 13-16, 17-19 [they leave the lab around this time], 21

words in picture,

Just got access to scissors and chopped all thier hair off., <- biggest smiles

*Going off the image. I headcannon Hydra as afab to nonbinary. The lab was a pretty sheltering place tho, and they didn’t really know gay people existed until they came to Troubadour. It is here that they realize what it is they’re feeling. The lab also put them under a pretty strict dress code, where they weren’t allowed to cut their hair. So being able to cut their hair, even if the haircut was self done and bad, was a huge deal for them.

words in picture,

Slick (looking pissed and exhaling exhaust): What the FUCK is wrong with you!?!?

Hydra: genuinely doesn’t know what they did wrong

*Going off the image. Young Slick and Hydra!!! Hydra wasn’t around many locomotives growing up, only the people at the lab. Their mannerisms are more human to reflect this. Although it got them in trouble a lot when Hydra first arrived at Troubadour, because human and locomotive culture is both very similar and very different.

words in picture,

Slick <-ADHD,

words in picture,

(pathetic looking Greaseball), “sorrry…”

words in picture, Rusty <- boy failure

Greaseball <- gay

If you read through all my madness, thank you! Here’s a gold star-> ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[directdogman]

Each Dialtown cast member shares their favourite Muppet!

Idea: Characters from the cast of Dialtown are asked to share their favourite characters from The Muppets, in order to get the Muppets fandom on board with DT, which winds up being a largely fruitless ordeal.

Gingi insists that Grover and Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street are Muppets when asked, and takes it badly when Gingi is instead asked to name a character FROM The Muppet Show. The ensuing discussion that follows is much too rancid to be published online, making the time spent trying to calm Gingi down entirely in vain.

Karen's comments are not published as she refuses to do ANYTHING other than vent frustrations about Kermit the Frog, making her comments unusable as they would undoubtedly piss off a large section of the Muppets fandom, who largely venerate Kermit the Frog.

Randy tries to make an argument for Scooter being the 'best one', feeling that he, himself, is the scooter of the Dialtown cast, and thus, must stick up for one of his ilk. This answer is NOT published because the internet would tear him to shreds for playing devil's advocate for the worst Muppet.

Randy is then given another opportunity to pick a favourite Muppet, provided he selects a different Muppet. Randy picks Pepe the Prawn. When asked why Pepe is his favourite, tears well on his screen and he asks if he can leave to get a glass of water. Upon leaving the room, Randy never comes back. The answer isn't included in the article, as it's impossible to discern whether Randy feels that Pepe the Prawn is truly a kindred soul or if he was simply put on the spot and felt pressured to simply name the first Muppet he thought of.

Oliver answers by explaining Gonzo is his favourite but every time he's given an opportunity to explain why, his explanation inevitably transitions into a rambling endorsement of anarchism. Each time, after he's been given an opportunity to explain himself, Oliver is asked to rephrase his answer to be less political and he accepts, apologizing for his mistake and swearing that he understands what the blog is looking for now. Oliver then proceeds to somehow transition back into an endorsement of anarchism until the interviewer gives up and decides to leave him out of the article.

We're not actually sure who Norm likes the best from the Muppets cast because before we could get to Norm, Gingi (irate that Grover/Oscar the Grouch were rejected as its answer) told Norm about Big Bird dying in the Challenger explosion (which happened in DT's timeline), prompting Norm to get really upset and leave before his turn came up. Norm's favourite character is PROBABLY Sam Eagle, but now, we'll never get to know for sure. Thanks, Gingi.

Mingus, when asked, declined to answer out of sheer disinterest. Upon being shown a photo of the extended Muppet cast, she arbitrarily pointed to Robin the Frog and said "That one, I guess." Upon being asked why she would pick Kermit's nephew of all characters, her response was: "It's no business of mine who this frog is related to. Nobody is well-connected enough to ensure they'll live if I deem them a threat to my success." After being reminded that Robin is canonically a child, Mingus retorted by pointing out that Robin is, in fact, a fictional frog puppet. Not sure what to do with this answer, but we certainly can't include it.

Stabby + Shooty are asked for their favourites and they pick Statler and Waldorf respectively. When asked why, they explain it's because they're cool, wear suits, deliver CUTTING jabs, and each hang out with their best bro all day, not unlike themselves. The blog operator remarks: "Oh. I figured it was because, like you guys, they're kinda interchangeable and are pretty much overlooked by everyone", causing Stabby to angrily flip a table and storm out of the room. Shooty apologies meekly for his outburst and leaves to calm his companion down. The answer is not published as the interviewer had no clue which was Stabby and which was Shooty, thus being unable to accurately attribute the answers to either of them.

Bigfoot's favourite character turns out to be Animal, and this is the only answer that ends up being published.

Here's the finished article:

DIALTOWN ARTICLE, EACH OF THE CAST'S FAVOURITE MUPPETS: BIGFOOT'S IS ANIMAL.

The article only gets 3 likes.

[lowpolynpixelated]

So, you don't wanna play Nintendo games, ROUND TWO!

We're back! Nintendo as of today (October 1st, 2024) has paid off the creator of the popular (and last remaining switch emulator) Ryujinx to shut down the emulator and destroy all assets related that he has access to! Which means its time yet again for me to recommend games (both new and old this time) to you to try and persuade you not to support this heinous act of corporate greed! These game recommendations are meant to offer you alternatives that can be either easily emulated or purchased on PC or your Nintendo Switch (unfortunate but at least Nintendo wont get ALL that money) to Nintendo's first party software. I hope it gets you to try something new! Enjoy! We're back to platformers!

Last time I wrote about this I put 3D and 2D platformers in separate lists, but this time I'll be combining hem into one! Starting off with 3D offerings, lets look at some Independent (Indie) games that are easily accessible through Steam and the Nintendo Eshop.

Time to jump, dash, and collect some pons in: A HAT IN TIME

Chances are you're probably heard of A Hat in Time. It came out in 2017 and made waves for being a Kickstarter success story. Created by Gears for Breakfast and published by Humble Bundle the game was on MANY people's best of lists at the time. A brief overview: A Hat in Time is a 3D platformer where you take up the mantle of one Hat Kid, a delightfully adorable space traveling kid with a big top hat (go figure, right?). The game sees you making your way through 4 worlds with several levels and bonus challenges each to collect Time Pieces, the fuel for her spaceship and home. The game boasts a wonderful art style and superb music, only being a bit on the rougher side due to being built on the now quite old Unreal 3 engine. Despite its edges though, A Hat in Time continues to be one of my favourite 3D platformers, and is an absolute joy to play. Coming in at only $30 (With an extra $15 that can be paid for its two wonderful DLCs) A Hat in Time provides that platformer/collectathon itch that a lot of fans of the genre get from time to time. I can't recommend it enough.

(In game screenshots, game available on Steam and Nintendo Switch)

Let's keep the 3D platformer train rolling with: PENNY'S BIG BREAKAWAY

Also available on both PC (via Steam) and Nintendo Switch for $30, Penny's Big Breakaway is for those platformer fans craving something a bit faster. Playing as the titular character, Penny, you'll use your sentient yoyo to roll, swing, slam, and absolutely tear through levels made of bright poppy geometry with a soundtrack that makes you want to go even faster. The game consists of platforming gauntlets that use Penny's momentum and physics to send her through them at blazing speeds. A built in speedrun timer and ranking system incentivize you to complete levels as fast as you possibly can, though thats not to say there isnt something for those who want to take it a bit slower. Each level also consists of side objectives which can range from defeating certain enemies as the level goes on, to collecting a few of a special item and returning them to one of the denizens of the world who populate the colourful landscapes you'll be dashing your way through. For fans of Sonic and things like Super Mario Odyssey's movement and potential for speedrunning, Penny's Big Breakaway is a love letter to classic 3D platformers with a slick modern feel.

(In game screenshots, game available on Steam and Nintendo Switch)

So we talked about 3D, but what about 2D? Well my first recommendation is sure to bee a new favourite for anyone who's a fan of the Donkey Kong games! It's: YOOKA-LAYLEE AND THE IMPOSSIBLE LAIR

A followup to the rather divisive 3D platformer Yooka-Laylee, Impossible Lair serves to reuse the title characters from the game developed by former Rareware devs as a solid and sometimes tough as nails 2D platformer. Anyone familiar with Donkey Kong Country, particularly Tropical Freeze, will feel right at home. The game has rock solid controls and uses the world's squareish nature and N64 reminiscent art style to near perfect effect. Yooka and Laylee control beautifully as a pair, able to roll through enemies and glide across gaps with ease. The game offers a unique top-down overworld map that actually serves as a sort of level of its own. Completing stages will have you unlocking puzzle sequences and smaller platforming challenges to unlock collectables and key items to progress through the game. The game also has a very unique offering as soon as you start. The Impossible Lair mentioned in the title is actually the games last level, however its the FIRST level you play in the game. The lair is a gauntlet of nightmarish difficulty and demands a high level of skill. Very few checkpoints exist in the level, often giving the player one shot at completing the level lest they be sent back to the very beginning. The kicker is that once you leave the level for the first time, you're tasked with rescuing a squad of superhero bees who will act as extra lives while you take on the Impossible Lair. The player may attempt the lair at any time, but the further you get in the game, the more bees you'll rescue, and the more chances you'll get at the merciless gauntlet. Impossible Lair also clocks in at a solid $30, and in my own opinion is well worth the price of admission. The Rareware charm is well at work in this title, so if that sounds like you're kind of game, give it a try!

(In game screenshots, game available on Steam and Nintendo Switch)

Maybe you want something a bit more classic feeling, for that look no f u r ther than: KITSUNE TAILS

A Mario Bros. 3 inspired romp through Japanese Mythology, Kitsune Tails in nothing less than a delight to make your way through. Delightfully dated visuals couple with 16-bit tunes with a distinctive Japanese flair to create a game that belongs just as much on a chunky NES cartridge as it does your steam library. Being only available on Steam and itch.io is a bit limiting to some, but if you have access to a steam deck or a computer capable of running at least a low impact emulator, you're in for a good time. (think NES, SNES, Gambeboy, and games like that. Most modern phones can run them, so if youve got a computer of some kind you can probably run this game!) Kitsune Tails offers dozens of stages filled with pixelated Yokai to stomp on or smash up with a small array of fun powerups like a drill and fireballs. There isn't much to say that the game can't show you itself. If you want a classic NES style platformer filled with critters and jams, pick up a copy and go have fun! For only $20 you really can't go wrong! (Bonus points are awarded for the game including a lesbian love triangle <3)

(In game screenshots, game available on Steam and itch.io)

BUT WHAT ABOUT ADVENTURE GAMES?

Don't worry! I've got you covered! Instead of spending money on the new Zelda game, why not read up on a different story: THE PLUCKY SQUIRE

Another wonderful independent game coming in at just $30, The Plucky Squire starts as a classic Zelda-esque top down action adventure game. However, things take a very sharp turn as you become able to leap from the pages of the book you start out in and onto the desk around you! The game then continues in 3D, letting you run around to the various parts of the bedroom your book was originally in, letting you shift back to 2D on various surfaces to take on side scrolling foes or fun minigames. Just to name a few of the things you end up playing on: the side of a mug, a cardboard castle, different books, the side of a plastic bucket, and many more! It's an adorably inventive take on the formula and includes several wonderful references to past games (like a Punch Out style minigame!). If you were captivated by the cutesy toy aesthetic of the Link's Awakening remake or Echoes of Wisdom, give this one a try instead. It's available on both Steam and the Switch, and at the very least least some of your money will be supporting independent developers. At best, maybe you'll have a new favourite adventure game!

(In game screenshots, game available on Steam and Nintendo Switch)

Now for a little bit of a different tone. A bit of a stretch, and a walk on the darker side (tired of the puns yet?): DARKSIDERS (warmastered edition)

Originally released in 2010 for PC, XBOX 360, and PS3, Darksiders is more of a hack and slash action game then your typical 3D Zelda stand in. It got a remaster, the Warmastered Edition, in 2017 and was released on all major platforms including PC and Nintendo Switch. The first caviat this one comes with before we get into theming and gameplay, is that the Switch version is $10 more than the PC version at $30 as opposed to $20. What you get for the money though, is certainly worth it. Darksiders throws you into a world in which Earth has become a battleground for the forces of Heaven and Hell. The four Horsemen, who usually keep balance between the two, are nowhere to be found until our unwilling protagonist, War, is called into action by The Charred Council. The game plays much like a 3D zelda type adventure game, with War going through an overworld populated with lesser enemies and sidequests in between dungeons filled with puzzles, maps, and new weapons/items to find. Where the game differs (aside from its M rating and semi-religious tones) is its combat. Instead of simple sword fighting and shield wielding, War fights more akin to Dante of Devil May Cry fame. Using unlockable combos and swappable secondary weapons you'll carve a bloody path through the holy and demonic alike to restore balance to the broken world. With 4 games in its series its certainly worth a look, though each sequel tends to take on different gameplay mechanics. If you're looking for a grittier take on the action adventure genre, Darksiders is a solid recommendation.

(In game screenshots, game available on Steam and Nintendo Switch)

So what else do we have?

So much more! The realm of independent games and emulation is super easy to break into! Places like itch.io have hundreds of games put up for free, and most indie titles tend to cost much less than their first party counterparts! In lieu of this post getting longer than it is, here's a little lighting round of some of my favourite titles to emulate and some of my favourite independent games, I hope you can find something you enjoy out of this post. Perhaps even a new favourite! And remember folks, play new games! Play old games! Hack your old hardware! Pirate new software! EMULATION IS FREE, LEGAL, AND FOR EVERYONE!

Indie Lightning round:

Emulation Lightning round:

(ps2 titles)

GET OUT THERE AND PLAY SOME GAMES!

So, you don't wanna play Nintendo games

As I'm sure a lot of you lovely folks out there have seen, Nintendo recently did its most recent act of evil by suing the dev team behind both the Citra and Yuzu emulators. While I won't get into how I feel about it as a fan of media archival work and a massively passionate fan of video game history, this is despicable to say the least. What I WILL do, is get straight to the point the title says! So, you don't wanna play Nintendo games? Well do I have some games for you! I've seen a few posts like this floating around, and I absolutely adored the concept of talking about niche/lesser known titles that get overshadowed in their genre by bigger names, such as Nintendo. As an avid player of weird and wonderful games throughout my life I think I've got some good ones that I've slotted into some neat categories below. I hope you enjoy this post! And I hope you take a new favourite away as well!

(Note: All of the games listed below are available to play on very easily accessible emulators.)

So, you like 3D platformers do ya?

-My first and foremost suggestion is always the woefully underappreciated game Taz Wanted.

This wacky platformer sees you in the role of the one and only Taz, or the Tazmanian Devil for long, from the Looney Toons property. The game revolves around you entering large colourful levels filled with goofy enemies and a lovely cell shaded art style to mimic that classic cartoon look. Within those levels your job is to find and destroy a certain number of wanted posters which can take the form of just about anything. From standing signs to blimps your goal is to solve various platforming challenges, puzzles, and minigames to destroy these posters and secure an item that will assist you in getting to the next hub world. With 4 worlds to explore and each world with 3 levels and a boss fight game at the end, I'm sure any fan of 3D platforming will have a blast.

-Next up is a package deal, the first of which is a 3D platformer predating Mario64! These games are none other than the Jumping Flash! games.

The two games play identically, and are both a seriously good time. Taking place entirely in first person you take up the mantle of intergalactic space hero robot Robbit tasked with collecting a certain number of items in large playground-like levels made with tons of verticality in mind. Why you may ask? Because much like the name suggests Robbit can JUMP. The game employs a fantastically implemented camera system which forces you to look down at Robbit's feet when you use your double/tripple jump, ensuring you can see where you're landing. On top of this, the game's level design feels like a never ending barrage of jungle gyms and challenging boss fights all set to a cartoonish story with bright poppy visuals, and not to mention a soundtrack of absolute bangers

Okay, but what about the Zelda fans?

-I assure you I haven't forgotten, and my first pick here is an all time favourite of mine ever since I played it when I was like, 8 years old. Sphinx and the cursed mummy is a 3D adventure action game where you play as both the titular Sphinx and the cursed pharaoh to be, Tutankhamen .

The game is heavily inspired by Egyptian mythology and sees you battling and puzzling your way through a world of mysteries and great evils lurking just beneath the surface. Exciting battles, puzzle platforming, monster collecting, and so so much more are all front and center in this game, and I really cannot recommend it enough to anyone who wants a different adventuring experience in their life.

-The second and last one in this category I PROMISE a lot of you have heard of but I really want to drive home just HOW GOOD it is. Okami stands tall as one of the best examples of non-Zelda 3D action adventuring.

Taking place in a GORGEOUSLY rendered fantasy rendition of classical Japan, the adventures of the sun goddess Amaterasu are yours to control. I really cannot stress HOW GOOD this game still looks today, even without the HD remasters its been given. The entire game is rendered in a cell-shaded art style reminiscent of classical Japanese paintings, giving the whole world a vibrant painted aesthetic that never EVER gets old. On top of this the game provides a truly unique combat and interaction system, seeing you use a paintbrush to paint your attacks and spells into reality. There isn't much I can say about this game that hasn't been said already, and it's certainly the least niche game on this list. Go give it a shot! You won't regret it.

So we did 3D platformers, but what about 2D?

-Fear not! I've got some solid suggestions for those too! Our first one here is another bundle of 2, those being the Klonoa games.

Klonoa: Door to Phantomile and its sequel, Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil, are two of the best 2D platformers I've ever played. Releasing on the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 respectively, these games utilize a 2.5D perspective to let you run back and forth through revolving dioramas of platforming goodness. With a cheery, almost circus-like soundtrack and an adorably charming artstyle to match, I have such fond memories of discovering these games for the first time. The 3D nature of the game's assets allow for some truly impressive setpieces and boss battles, along with the aforementioned circular scrolling you partake in. Bubbling and tossing enemies at each other never seems to get old, or using the same bubbled enemies to get just a little more height to reach a secret. Definitely give these ones a shot if you're a fan of fun 2D playgrounds.

-Here's a real weird one to cap this category off (and another two pack to boot!) Loco Roco 1 and 2 are a set of puzzle platformers with a bit of an unorthodox control scheme.

Coming out on the PSP these are some WILD experiences. In the games you control a horde of blobs that sing with childrens voices to some rather catchy tunes, and tilt the entire world around them with the left and right triggers to get them over under and anything in between, and then to the exit. Did I say you play as the blobs? I meant you play as THE PLANET the blobs are on! See what I mean? These games are absolutely a delightful time though. And with such poppy mid 2000s soundtracks I can't help but love them. The tilting gameplay is tough as nails to master, and getting through a level with all your little Rocos AND the collectibles is no easy task. Give these ones a look! Or at least listen to the soundtrack.

And at last we arrive at the one's I couldn't think of more for, or couldn't think of where to place.

The next two games are just rapid fire ones that are personal non-nintendo favourites of mine, covering a variety of genres.

Ribbit King is my favourite wacky sports game ever. You play Frolf instead of Golf, Frolf being Golf but with frogs, get it? Send your frog around the bright colourful stages to gather points and be the first one to sink your frog to get the full 1000 available from the hole. Alternatively go for a FROG-IN-ONE to get 1500,

Wipeout is a series of tough as nails futuristic hover-racing games a la F-Zero. The soundtracks boast an inumerable amount of Drum and Bass/Electronic jams and the gameplay is lightning fast and smooth as all hell. Not to mention the games are just SO stylish. I'd recommend Wipeout Pure on the PSP, but all of the PlayStation consoles before the PS3 have at least one Wipeout game. Highly recommend checking them out.

SO obviously I couldn't put EVERY game I'd recommend in one post. But I really do hope this list gives you something new to play. Gaming history is so monumentally important to me, and what happened to Citra and Yuzu is nothing short of a tragedy. Always remember folks, play new games! Play old games! Hack your old hardware! Pirate new software! EMULATION IS FREE, LEGAL, AND FOR EVERYONE!

[equal-shipping]

Why Kaishin Still Holds Up, Even Now.

I FINALLY watched the 23rd Detective Conan and let me tell you what...

Why are there not more episodes with these two working so closely together? Like please?! They got that solved so quickly and just shared information with one another and can I please just have them interact before the series ends pleaaaaaase.

Yet I'm not here for begging. I'm here to rant and cleverly disguise that rant as an essay.

I want to rant about trust in Detective Conan (specifically with a look at Kaishin) and the Enemies turned Rivals turned Friends turned Lovers trope.

[Mild Spoilers Ahead]

Trust as a Driving Force in Detective Conan

If someone asked me what is one of the many driving forces in the DC plot as well as the cornerstone of many of the relationships in DC it would be trust. Most of the characters in DC are living their lives with lies as the foundation of who they present themselves to be.

And here is something that I love about the relationship these two have with one another:

The trust that Shinichi has on Kid was earned and vice versa.

I don't think that Shinichi thinks that Kaito Kid is the most honest person in the world, but he does know that the magician works by a code and he trusts him to not put someone in any immediate danger despite the fact that Kaito Kid does not inherently talk too deep about his heists with him.

Ask yourself this. Where in canon did it say that in Kid's heist nobody gets hurt by Kid? I've read the manga and nowhere does he really say 'this is a safe show for everybody!' Let me tell you where it says it: Nowhere.

So why do we all assume it to be that way? Because even we have trust in our favourite thief that he won't do something to actively hurt someone. Since the story is being told in Shinichi's point of view, most of the times, we can rely on the trust that Shinichi has placed on Kid to not get anyone hurt.

One big example of this would be in the Detective Conan Movie: The Sunflowers of Inferno:

Leaving Ran in Kid's care is a conscious decision he is doing despite the fact that he doesn't know if Kid is even going to make it out. Shinichi loves Ran probably more than he loves himself and he wants her out of danger enough to place trust in someone that, situation wise, has no business whether Ran or Shinichi live or not. I honestly think that even Kid was surprised that Shinichi made that decision.

Now I'm not going to put my shipper goggles when I make this statement and go 'OH MY GOD THEY LOVE EACH OTHER SO MUCH IT SHOWS IT EVERYWHERE. LOOK AT THE SHOW, STUPID."

But these two have something that not many of the characters in DC have and that is a mutual trust without knowing all the details of their lives.

Kaito happened to guess that Conan was Shinichi and I doubt that Shinichi is going to meet Kuroba Kaito by the end of the series. These two barely know each other but through their interactions just happen to understand each other enough to work together amazingly when thrust into a situation where they have to help each other out.

Which brings me to the second thing I want to talk about.

My Enemy Went From Being My Rival to My Friend to my Lover, What Happens Now?

I want to break into Gosho's house and ask him to please let Kaito Kuroba meet Shinichi Kudou. Like this is such a might need that I'm almost scared of looking forward to the ending of DC because I just have a feeling it isn't going to happen.

I might also ask him why the hell every side character needs a romance subplot but that is neither here nor there.

But now that the ships have been decided and canon has sealed the final nail on everything, I just want to talk about the trope that makes Kaishin just so amazing for me.

If I am remembering my facts right, Magic Kaito came before Detective Conan. Kaito was a realized character, somewhat, and was clearly a very likable chara with a ridiculous high IQ and a secret he couldn't reveal to anybody.

I mean he's a goddamn beautiful man is what I'm trying to say.

When I first read the series I could immediately tell that Aoko was set to be the romantic interest, Gosho really ain't fooling nobody. She seemed cute, extroverted and a girl who seems to really care for Kaito. Of course there was the juicy tidbit of Kaito being the thief her father is hunting down that also kept the relationship interesting.

So I was more than okay with having these two together.

I was already a bit aware of Detective Conan so I was all for the ShinRan as well. The pining, the secrets, the care that Shinichi has for her that transcends the organizations doing!

Also fun fact: Kaito/Aoko was the basis for Shinichi/Ran! Which is why ShinRan is thematically better than Kaito/Aoko but I will not go into that.

So one sad day during quarantine, I decided to rewatch the series to see if I could get any writing inspiration.

Now I don't know if it was quarantine or a change of heart or just me growing up but Gosho's friend trope seemed boring to me the more the episodes continued on. I AM NOT THROWING THE FRIENDSHIP TROPE DOWN, IT IS BEAUTIFUL I STILL SHIP SHINRAN

But I was tired of picking vanilla and wanted to see what else was on the menu.

And as luck would have it, I had decided to watch episode 515: Kaito Kid's Teleportation Magic and fate decides to deliver me a wonderful hit to the heart:

What is it about characters pointing guns at each other that I love so much?

And Shinichi doesn't react like a normal fucking person he just goes:

He knows this man ain't gonna shoot. They have had five interactions before this (if we are going by anime episodes) and through all those interactions Shinichi managed to get to a level of banter with this guy that he hasn't had with any of his other enemies.

If he even considered Kaito Kid an enemy to begin with.

Both Kaito and Shinichi have a mutual respect for each other's skill.

They test each other out in several situations and are pleased when the other figures it out, kinda transitioning their little chases to more of a 'two really smart guys trying to outwit each other' and less of a detective trying to outsmart a thief.

Shinichi enjoys figuring out his magic and Kaito enjoys the challenge of making some of his magic tricks near impossible to figure out. Their friendship is something really special and if they can have it without even knowing the details of each other's life, imagine how strong it would be if they truly met each other face to face.

I don't really want to cross into headcanon territory that would turn them into lovers, lord knows we have more fanfiction to do so, but it is just wonderful to see these two men both living a lie respectively but finding some solace in each other that they can shut their brains off for one second and just...play.

Hell, Kid's heists might be Shinichi's safe place. In those heists he is known as the 'Kid Killer' and not just some brat who happens to figure shit out. His opinion matters in those heists.

And not just to the police, but to Kaito as well.

BUT IM GETTING OFF TOPIC!

I just wanted to show love to this wonderful ship q wq

[eveningstar1516]

Rise Of The Demon King ~ Chapter 1

Rise of the Demon King

Fic: Multi Chapter Paring: MC x Everyone (Mostly Lucifer) Type: Angst with a Happy Ending Total Word Count: 26,758 TW: Major Character Death, Reader gets stabbed with a sword through their chest so..., Abusive Parents, Past Child Abuse, Demon Hunters, Loss of Control Summary: You’ve done it. You’ve finally done it. You’ve managed to anger the demon king. Now you hold your head high as he hands down your sentence. AO3 Portal: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27065362

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So I've been meaning to post this on here and I finally am. I'll be posting a chapter a day but the completed version is up on my Ao3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CHAPTER 1 - Awakening Day (1,526 words)

It’s been a few years since the exchange program ended. It was such a great success that Lord Diavolo had passed a law allowing inter-realm travel between the Devildom and the Human realm so long as you are approved with the proper paperwork of course. You were one of the few with a special pass to come and go as you pleased while skipping all the procedures. The day you visited was a special day. It had been the day the Demon King “Abandon” would awake from his slumber and return to the throne until he deemed Diavolo fit to rule as a permanent king instead of an heir. After much debate, you convinced your 7 demons to allow you to attend the ceremony. As they were high ranking Lords, they had to be present by Diavolo’s side while you stayed within the crowd with Solomon.

Awakening Day

“So what’s the Demon king like?” you asked the group on your way to the palace.

“Well, we’ve never actually met him. We came to the Devildom while he was still asleep” Satan answered.

“I heard that his aura is so powerful that even if you didn’t know him, which is impossible, that you would both fear and respect him on instinct. It’s rumoured that he is the only being in existence that could possibly challenge the Celestial realm and stand a better chance than we did!” Beel inquired.

“Well if Diavolo got any of his looks from him then he might be one of the most handsome beings in the three realms, after me of course!” Asmo added.

“Remember all of you, King Abandon is not like Lord Diavolo. Lord Diavolo might take enjoyment from your little escapades and shenanigans but His Highness will not tolerate any of that. You are all high ranking Lords, the “Rulers of Hell” I expect you all to behave yourselves and at least try to act the part. That means no inappropriate jokes, going off to steal something, sleeping at inopportune times, constantly snacking, or having your nose buried in a book or console. Our behaviour will reflect on Lord Diavolo and I will not have any of you tarnish it.”

“Oi! We can behave if we want to! Besides this is the King! We���d have to be absolute morons to try and do anything to him!”

“Well Mammon, we’ll just have to keep an eye on you, our moron of a brother,” Asmo said while ruffling Mammon's hair.

“HEY QUIT IT!”

“All of you enough! We will be arriving soon. Remember best behaviour-”

“Alright, Lucifer, you can relax. We’re not crazy enough to invoke the King’s wrath.” Satan said in an attempt to soothe over the eldest concerns.

“Y/N, are you absolutely sure you will be alright with Solomon?”

“Yes, Lucifer I’m sure. I’ll stay right next to him the entire time. I promise.”

With that, we arrived to see Solomon and a few other high-ranking Demons waiting outside the palace courtyard to be allowed in. Upon seeing us, Solomon walked over, extending greetings to each of the brothers before turning to me. Before he could do anything I gave him a big hug.

“How’s my favourite wizard?”

“Hehehe, nice to see you too Y/N. Are you ready to see the King?”

“Yes! I’m so excited. Reading about him just isn’t enough. Have you ever met him?”

“No of course not! I’m not that old!” Solomon replied between laughing breaths.

“We will be heading inside to meet with Lord Diavolo before the ceremony. I trust that you will keep Y/N safe right, Solomon?”

“Of course Lucifer. I love them as much as you guys do. Besides if I don’t you’d all just kill me and I for one enjoy my life.”

With that, the brothers bid me goodbye turning to head into the palace leaving me and Solomon waiting with the other demons for the ceremony to take place.

A little while later, the courtyard is packed with demons and sorcerers of all ranks, waiting to welcome their king back.

“Nervous?”

“A little but who wouldn’t be? I just hope that things won’t change so drastically now that the king is ruling instead of Diavolo.”

“I won’t be so sure, from what I’ve heard, he rules with an iron fist and is much harsher than Diavolo when it comes to his court. As Diavolo’s right hand, Lucifer will be very busy in the upcoming days. I imagine he will be even more stressed making sure his brothers stay in line.”

“Wow, you didn’t need to dump everything on me all at once…”

“It’ll be alright, you’ve handled worse, this’ll be easy in comparison. As long as you don’t anger him or anything like that.”

“Trust me, I don’t plan on doing any of that. Although things never go as planned for me huh?”

“No, they usually don’t do they?” he answered with a chuckle.

Before I could answer, we heard what sounded like fanfare and the crowd quickly quieted down. At the front of the courtyard stood Lord Diavolo in his demonic form with Lucifer at his right and Barbatos at his left also in demon form. The rest of the brothers and a few other high ranking elders and demons stood behind in their demonic glory in accordance with their rank. Diavolo then addressed the crowd.

“Denizens of Devildom! Thank you for coming out today to welcome my father His Highness King Abandon back to the Devildom. I will not keep you here so without further wait, HIS HIGHNESS KING ABANDON OF THE DEVILDOM!” As soon as Diavolo introduced his father, a tall dark man resembling Diavolo stepped up from the shadows in his full demonic glory. His demon form surprisingly simple and modest but still elegant enough to be fit for royalty. His horns unlike Diavolo’s curve upwards from the side of his head and onto the top forming a crown-like shape with gold swirling around it and admonishing the tip. His eyes like golden lava glowing in the lighting and you were convinced that he could set anyone ablaze with just his eyes and little thought. His upper body much like Diavolo’s is full of tattoos symbolizing his royal status. He brandished 4 large black leather wings with golden tips and blood-red accents. While he didn’t have a multitude of accessories like his son, the few he wore complimented his attire greatly making him look even bigger and more regal. He presented an aura that screamed for you to have the utmost respect when in his presence. As if on instinct, everyone present immediately bowed down taking a knee with their hands on their hearts along with those on stage. The kings’ eyes swept over the crowd taking in the different ranks all present for today when you felt a gaze settle on you, the only non magical born human here. I didn’t dare to raise my gaze or move, keeping my head down and as still as possible until I felt his gaze avert from my figure. Sensing my tension, Solomon risked a glance towards me without moving his head and I returned it with a slight smile to try and reassure him that I'm alright.

“RISE!”

At once, all that were present stood at once. Those on stage adopting a soldier-like pose with their hands behind their back, expressions betraying nothing. If this were any other situation, I would've sent them a smile and thumbs up. I wasn't used to seeing them like this and was impressed by their behaviour; though now was not the time for that.

The king then started addressing the crowd. Taking the opportunity, I studied him a little closer; never meeting his eyes and keeping my gaze as respectful as possible. During his speech, he raked his eyes across the crowd and would rest his gaze on mine more than once. Each time he did, I suppressed a shudder as his gaze looked like he was picking me apart and looking right through me. Solomon sensed my discomfort and squeezed my hand to assure me that he’s got my back should something happen. After he finished, everyone bowed their heads with their hands over their hearts as he left the stage along with everyone on it by ranking order. Soon after he left, everyone buzzed back to life talking among themselves about their king and leaving to get ready for the ball happening that night in honour of the king. As Solomon and I were leaving, Barbatos appeared by our side.

“Hello Y/N, Solomon”

“Hello Barb, is everything alright?”

“Yes, all is well. The king requests your presence is all. I’ve been sent to get you.”

“Oh,” I felt a pit form in my stomach. I’ve never interacted with royalty other than Diavolo and I didn’t know how to act when it came to the king.

“Alright. Sorry, Solomon, I’ll see you tonight right?”

“Of course. See you tonight.”

With that, he said his goodbyes to both Barbatos and I, then left. I took a deep breath and followed Barb into the palace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[agerefandom]

The TARDIS Playroom

Fandom: Doctor Who

Characters: Regressor!Thirteenth Doctor, Graham O’Brien

Words: 2,000

Summary: The TARDIS has had a playroom for a long time, and The Doctor doesn’t spend enough time in there. One day, while she’s regressing, Graham wanders into the TARDIS and finds her playing.

Warnings: Nothing that I can think of, aside from the accidental regression reveal! Little bit of baby talk around a pacifier near the end. Also, I didn’t bother to correct all my Canadianisms in this fic (ie. ‘pacifier’ instead of ‘dummy’), apologies if that bothers anyone!

for @andromedaspace​

It wasn’t often that The Doctor took a day off. There was always something interesting to do, somewhere to be, sometime that needed help getting back on track. But occasionally there was a lull: companions visiting families, no emergency broadcasts screeching through the TARDIS, just the hum of the ship and countless miles of corridors stretching into paradox space.

And then, maybe, if things had been busy lately, and there were injuries to nurse, and too many close calls… The Doctor would rest.

From the console room, the sounds of a Sheffield street could be heard through the front doors. Those doors were locked, the TARDIS tucked away into a little alcove between two fences down the street from Graham and Ryan’s house. Further into the TARDIS, music could be heard: an upbeat France Gall song. Hard to place the music in the twisting, impossible hallways of the TARDIS, but not impossible. Down a flight of stairs, and turning to the left, an open door revealed The Doctor’s current whereabouts.

Most of the TARDIS was warmly lit, crystals growing up the walls and in the centre of larger rooms. This room was no exception, stalactites hanging from the ceiling and providing a golden glow, but the floor wasn’t grated metal like the rest of the TARDIS. Here, the floor was covered in carpets, messily tossed over each other, and pillows and blankets on top of that, giving the room an appearance of a large and badly constructed bed.

The Doctor sat in the middle of the chaos, happily sucking on her pacifier. She’d chosen a new one after her most recent regeneration, blue and patterned with yellow jewels that sparkled in the crystal lights above her. A series of stuffed creatures were spread around her, some of the bigger ones leaning against the walls, and two of her favourites currently chatting in her lap, held up by her hands.

The policies of the N’ga’shto are more complicated than you’re making them seem! the blue Knashta was saying.

You’re being deliberately obtuse, his companion responded, a plush puppy The Doctor had picked up in Munich in 2032. The great Ish’ka is clearly a figurehead, and cannot be held responsible for the actions of his parliament.

The Doctor tilted her head back and forth between the two stuffies, making them bobble their heads as they argued. The act of playing pretend wasn’t something that had been practiced on Gallifrey, but the school-children were encouraged to debate foreign policy and challenge each other’s ability to recall the elders’ teachings. She enjoyed merging the two activities, watching her soft friends argue about things that mattered. If things got too intense or she got stuck, everything could be solved with a big hug and a nap. That was how playtime worked.

Sure enough, both the Knashta and unusually smart puppy were distracted when the next song came on, and started to dance, their soft legs tossing back and forth as The Doctor made them dance together. She laughed, her pacifier muffling the sound, and rolled onto her back, holding her plushies close. The puppy’s fur tickled her neck, and she pushed him off with a reproachful glance. The Doctor did not like to be tickled.

Well… did she? She certainly hadn’t, in most of her regenerations, but she didn’t think anyone had tried yet. Yasmin and Ryan would occasionally get into spats, trying to poke each other’s sides, but they never went after Graham or The Doctor. She would have to find some way to figure that out!

The Doctor ran her fingers down her sides, but it didn’t feel very ticklish when she did it. Sighing, she rolled over on top of her Knashta plush and rested her forehead on the carpeted floor. This was one of her favourites in the room, a rich oriental pattern that was so very soft to lie on. She ran her hands over the fabric, humming happily, and then pushed herself back to sitting.

It was while The Doctor was pushing herself up that she finally saw Graham standing in the hallway, hand raised as if to knock on the open door.

Her mouth opened in surprise and her pacifier fell out, landing on one of the pillows under her knees. She clutched her Knashta to her chest, automatically defensive. There was no reason to be scared, she knew, not of Graham, but this was her secret room, and he wasn’t supposed to see all this!

Oh, but she had been stupid, not asking the TARDIS to let her know if one of her companions used their key to come for a visit.

“I can go if it’s a bad time?” Graham said, finally lowering his hand from where it had been hovering by the door. “I didn’t mean to bother you, Doc. I texted a while ago and you didn’t get back to me.”

The Doctor had left her phone in the pocket of her normal clothes, which she didn’t wear at playtime. All at once, she was very aware of her bare knees. She loved her shorts and all of their many pockets, but they weren’t for people-time, they were for playtime! She tugged a pillow out of the pile and pushed it against her knees, frowning in Graham’s direction.

Then she felt bad for being rude: Graham hadn’t done anything wrong, after all. She was the one who hadn’t texted back.

“Ah, sorry,” she managed, gesturing for the TARDIS to turn the music off. “Don’t have my phone with me. Was it… important?” The Doctor tilted her head to the side.

“Not in the least,” Graham chuckled. “I was just wondering if you wanted to come for dinner, that’s all. Going to flex my cooking muscles, make some stir fry. Very impressive stuff.”

“Mmm.” The Doctor nodded, making her lips smile.

“Listen, I really am sorry for coming in without shouting first.” Graham pushed his hands into his pockets, looking guilty. “TARDIS has started to feel a little too much like home, but it’s your ship. I didn’t mean to intrude.”

“No, no!” Oh, she’d made everything bad and now Graham would feel uncomfortable and he wouldn’t want to come and visit her anymore. “I, you can come anywhere! The TARDIS is your home! This room isn’t just for me, it’s nice for sleepovers, and… I can share?” The Doctor held her stuffie out in front of her, trying not to look too worried.

“That’s a nice gesture, Doc. May I come in?”

“Yes, of course! No shoes.” The Doctor sat back on her heels and watched Graham toe off his boots, stepping onto the soft patchwork surface of the carpets. He was looking around, and The Doctor followed his gaze: mismatched pillows, piles of soft bedding, stuffed animals bigger than she could wrap her arms around, all scattered across the space. Did Graham think it was weird?

“Do you hate it?” she heard herself ask. She never did have a very good brain to mouth filter.

“Hate it?” Graham seemed genuinely surprised by the question. “No, kiddo, it looks super cozy. How often do you spend time here?”

The Doctor attempted to untangle timelines in her mind, straighten them out along human measurements.

“Every few months?” she guessed, rubbing the Knashta’s head between its many button eyes. “Not a lot.”

“That’s a crying shame.” Graham folded himself into a sitting position in front of her, hands on his knees. “Space like this deserves lots of time. Look at all these blankets!” He looked at her for permission as he reached out, and The Doctor liked that. She gave him a nod, and he tugged one of the fuzzy blankets onto his lap. “There, now I feel cozy.” He tucked it in around his knees and toes, and settled down with a sigh. “Who’s your friend?”

“They’re a Knashta,” The Doctor said, fighting down a silly wave of shyness as she held her friend out for Graham to see. “They’re a rebel and they don’t like big leaders, but they lack revolutionary nuance.”

“And do they have a name?”

The Doctor shook her head. She didn’t name most of her stuffies because remembering all those names would take a lot of memory space, and she preferred to remember the names of all the real people she saw from day to day.

“Hmmm, would you mind if I gave them a name?” Graham asked, running a hand over his stubbly cheeks as he smiled. The Doctor knew that Graham only did that when he was really happy, and usually when he was outside in the sun. It was nice that he was doing it here, with her, in the crystal-lit playroom of the TARDIS.

“You can give them a name if you want.” The Doctor’s shoulders were starting to hurt from holding up the plushie, but she would hold them up until they received a name. Names were important, so Graham needed to look closely.

“Well, let’s think for a moment.” Graham rubbed his chin, pushed his eyebrows together, and pursed his lips. The Doctor fought down a laugh at his exaggerated thinking expression. “I’ve got it! They look like a Greg.”

“Greg?” The Doctor said dubiously, looking at the Knashta. Knashtar usually had much longer names, but sometimes they took shorter nicknames when visiting other planets. It could be short for Gr’egtha’shvantanos, which was a proper Knashta name.

“Undoubtedly.” Graham smacked his hands against his knees. “I’d know a Greg anywhere.”

The Doctor brought Greg back to her chest, hugging them firmly. Their eyes pressed against the bottom of her chin, but that was alright. No one said love was easy. “I love Greg.”

“They love you too,” Graham said.

“Do they?” The Doctor wasn’t sure why the question slipped out of her. All of her friends in the playroom loved her, and she loved them. That was what plushies were for, loving and being loved. Soft and simple and comforting.

“There’s not a person who can get a hug from you and not love you, Doc. Take my word on it.”

The Doctor hid her smile behind her newly named Greg, glancing up to see Graham with a matching grin.

“You dropped this, by the way.” Graham hooked a finger through the handle of her pacifier and brought it up. “Yours, kiddo?”

The Doctor nodded reluctantly. She had been hoping Graham hadn’t seen it, but he clearly had. That was one of the things that wasn’t a people-time thing. Even if it was very comforting and helped her think, even when she was big.

“Here you go.” Graham offered it to her and The Doctor opened her mouth automatically. Graham blinked: oh, he’d wanted to hand it to her. Before The Doctor could correct her mistake, he reached forward and popped the dummy into her mouth. She hummed, relaxing with the familiar pressure on her tongue.

“T’nk y’u,” she said around the pacifier.

“Not a problem,” Graham said, and patted her on the head. Oh, that was nice… she had so missed people touching her hair. Almost before she knew what she was doing, she chased the touch, pressing into Graham’s hand. “Oh! Hello.” Graham chuckled, but willingly scratching his fingers through her hair, all the way to the back of her scalp.

The Doctor melted, her head coming to rest on Graham’s knee, with Greg the Knashta held close against her. They were her new favourite. But also, Graham was her new favourite, as long as he kept petting her head.

“Well. You’re over here now,” he said, and moved a piece of her hair out of her face. “Big flop, Doc. Thinking about a nap?”

“M’ybe,” The Doctor sighed, closing her eyes as Graham started to comb his fingers through her hair again.

“I’ve gotta be home at six to start dinner, but there’s plenty of time for a nap before then. I’ll stay here with you.”

“L’v y’u,” The Doctor said, the world already getting softer around her. She could feel Graham’s affection and comfort radiating from his hands. Thanks to the physical contact, she was receiving vague thoughts and impressions, so she heard Graham’s response before he said it out loud.

“Love you too, kiddo. Sleep well.”

[firefly-in-darkness]

Galaxy Princess - 2/3

Galaxy Princess - 2/3

Characters → Y/N & Peter Quill, Mentions of other Marvel characters.

Summary → After the birth of superheroes, several alien attacks and the blip, you were pretty much ready for anything. That was until you met Peter Quill. He burst into your life at lightning speed and nothing could have prepared you for the way he turned your world upside down.

Word Count → 2k.

Warnings → 18+, Smut - oral (male receiving), p in v (unprotected - wrap it before you tap it bro).

Series Taglist → OPEN - send an ask.

Beta → @princessmisery666 // all mistakes are my own.

A/N → Should have posted this at half 7 but everything seemed to go wrong BUT it’s here now… This is for @crushedbyhyperbole - I am so sorry that this is months late to your challenge! [Prompt: To the moon and back - in Part 3]. This is GOTG Vol1&2 Peter Quill set in a post-Endgame world. AND YES MY SCHEDULE WENT COMPLETELY WRONG.

Return to: Series List // Marvel List

Previously: Spare bedding was placed on the sofa and Y/N directed him around the apartment, “The shower is just down the hall. If you can’t sleep, here’s the tv remote and help yourself to food.” 

“Thank you, Princess.” 

“Goodnight, Starlord.” 

“It’s Peter.” His cheeky smile had faded to something softer. 

“Y/N. Goodnight Peter.”  

“Sweet dreams, Y/N.” He laid down and continued to wave until she shut the bedroom door. 

Y/N was too tired to process that she was leaving a stranger on his own, in her home. There was an odd comfort from his determination to get back to his ship and crew; the place he belonged.

After spending the best part of an hour deciding when to leave the bedroom and greet her guest, breakfast the next morning was not as awkward as Y/N had imagined. The moment she sat down at the kitchen table; her apprehension disappeared. It seemed natural to be opposite Peter, eating toast and draining her mug of coffee as he did the same.

“I’ve got some clothes that you can borrow,” She mentioned, trying to sound casual.

“Boyfriend?” His eyebrow quirked, obviously noticing the drop of her eyes, “Ex-boyfriend?” 

The air in the room disappeared, sucked out like a vacuum. Y/N was unable to think straight as the image of the owner of the clothes flashed in her mind's eye. Tears began to form, blurring her vision but before they fell she bit down on her bottom lip. Redirecting the emotional pain.

“My um, brother. I’ll be right back,” She whispered and rushed from the room.

She pushed open the door opposite her bedroom, and breathed in the, now faint, scent of hazelnut and him. The feel of the clothes under her fingertips was bittersweet, and Y/N couldn’t help bringing the sleeve of his favourite hoodie to her nose and inhaling deeply. 

Approaching footsteps echoed around the almost empty room, she pulled out a pair of jeans and a cotton t-shirt, immediately failing at composing herself in time as Peter entered the room. Kindness lined his features, and she couldn’t look at him any longer than a second.

“I think they should fit, you’re a similar height but he is- was- a bit leaner.” She offered him the items.

 Skin ignited at the delicate touch of Peter’s calloused hands that wrapped around her forearm, “Thank you. What was his name?”

“Eli. Elijah,” She whispered, her eyes unmoving from the thumb stroking the inside of her wrist. “I don’t like talking about it. Why don’t you try the radio once more and I’ll head to the hardware store to see if I can fix the transmitter.”

Peter nodded, “Believe me, I know family is a tough subject for anyone.” She met his eyes, sincerity and sympathy stared back at her. “But if talking about it would help lighten some of the sadness in your eyes, I’d be happy to listen.” 

Y/N nodded and gave him a small smile, appreciating the kindness from the stranger.

The fixed transmitter sat on the windowsill. One of the three lights had finally turned on, it had beeped a few times which was, hopefully, a good sign. After four hours of waiting for something else to happen, Y/N and Peter resigned to watching Stranger Things.

Even though Peter was enthralled with the music and monsters that came from the television, he couldn’t help the way he felt as Y/N shared snippets of her life with him. The way she would talk to him about all the things she loved about science fiction, space and of all the new things on Earth. Y/N’s excitement was infectious, and he didn’t want to part with it.

To slow down and spend time with someone as enigmatic as she was a one-eighty on his usual fast-paced crazy life as a Guardian of the Galaxy.  And that’s when he knew that he’d have to stall his departure if possible.

While Y/N was getting ready for bed in the bathroom, Peter grabbed a cell phone from his red jacket and hopped out the window and onto the fire escape, perching on one of the steps. He flipped open the phone and dialled one of the few contacts he had.

“Hey, Bird Boy ‘Merica.” He chirped, glancing through the window to check that she hadn’t left the bathroom. “Can you give Rocket these coordinates? Pick up in five days? Cheers Cap.”

Pocketing the phone, he sat looking up to the sky, watching the stars twinkling in the distance, and for the first time since he was abducted all those years ago, he felt at home. Y/N’s footsteps brought him back to reality; he was leaving but not just yet.

“Whatcha doin’ out there?” She giggled, now in pyjamas and knotting the ties of her robe at her waist.

“Just checking out the sky, Princess.” He grinned at her.

Y/N climbed out the window and grabbed his hand, pulling him up the fire escape. They both greeted Stan on the way, a mischievous look on the older gentleman as he watched the pair laughing as they rushed up the stairs.

Once they reached the top, Y/N dropped his hand and twirled around with her arms open wide, then gestured to the sun lounger. “Welcome to my little piece of heaven.” She smiled proudly, “Take a seat.”

Peter sat back, legs either side of the lounger to allow Y/N to perch in between, “Come up here often?”

“Yeah, every Friday night, at least. It’s how I knew where you crashed,” She pointed to the woodlands in the distance.

“Well, I thank the stars that you were out here. Honestly, I don't know what I would have done.” Peter paused, watching the modesty line her features as she shrugged.

Y/N was different from the other girls he’d met. She had this look of adventure and passion for space, the universe, the unknown. Something that he had only seen in children. He could feel something blossoming; a desire to know more about her, spend more time with her, but he also knew that he’d be leaving and that was not going to put a downer on tonight.

Peter wanted to make the most of the time they had. However long they had. His hands gripped at Y/N’s waist, and he tugged her back, guiding her to lay on his chest. She hesitated at first but after a few seconds, she curled into his arms and rested her head on his shoulder. Watching the sunset over the trees.

The cool breeze sent shivers up and down Y/N’s body, she held tighter onto Peter’s waist. Her mind raced with all the possibilities only to be destroyed by her insecurity; maybe this could be my way out? Don’t be silly. He’s just going to leave. You don’t know him; he could be a serial killer.

Peter brushed the strands of hair away from her face, bringing her out of her thoughts. Her body tensed as he tipped her chin upwards. She looked at him in wonder and slight confusion. Peter cupped her cheek, his lips met hers, and she was frozen in place.

After a moment, she melted into him, their lips moulded together seamlessly. Peter deepened the kiss, and earning a gasp from her, it allowed his tongue entrance into her mouth. It silenced her worries and all thoughts of this man being a stranger and being from out of space left her mind. The fact that they were on a rooftop and anyone could glance from the neighbouring apartments slipped away as his tongue danced with hers.

She couldn’t refrain from his touch any longer and adjusted her position; swinging her leg over his and straddled his lap, not breaking the kiss for a second. Peter’s arms snaked around her waist, holding her almost impossibly closer to him. 

The dressing gown fanned around them, giving her body access to the delicious friction of his erect cock through his jeans and her pyjama shorts, the material dampening at her core.

She wished she’d changed into the black underwear set that she had bought on a whim a couple of days ago. She was confident in pursuing this with Peter and she was glad her instincts were correct; it was just bad timing.

Peter’s deep moan disconnected their lips and Y/N bit hers as she watched the pleasure take over his features. His hands trailed down to her hips, gripping tightly to the soft gown, and untying the rope and pushing it off her shoulders. His lips met hers once more, she whimpered as his hands lifted her tank top over her head.

He drank in her appearance, his eyes scanning from her face down to her chest. He surged forward, his mouth leaving wet kisses to her jaw, following the path down her neck. Y/N’s hands found their way into his locks, tugging at the ends as he nipped at a sensitive spot on her collarbone.

Peter glanced up at her, an unspoken request for permission. She nodded and Peter obliged, latching around her nipple with his hand palmed at the other breast. Y/N gasped as his teeth scraped at the hardened bud then she tugged at Peter’s cotton top. He huffed as he finished his assault across her chest and pulled off the offensive article. Y/N stood up and shimmied out of the shorts. Peter followed suit with the denim and boxers.

The summer breeze struggled to cool their heated skin as they admired each other’s exposed figures. The moonlight cast shadows over their naked bodies yet highlighted every delicious dip and sensuous curve.

Y/N dropped to her knees in front of him, ignoring the debris that dug into her skin as she levelled herself with his cock. She used her index finger to smear the beaded pre-cum around his head. She curled her hand, gripping his shaft and languidly pumped.

“Fuck, Princess.” He grunted as she twisted her hand up and down his length. “Want your mouth.”

Y/N immediately parted her lips and began licking his tip then took him fully. The tip of his cock hitting the back of her throat caused her to choke slightly but as she regained her composure she looked up at Peter. Flushed cheeks and the darkened glint in his eyes held her gaze turned her into a mess.

Raspy moans and grunts spurred Y/N on; her tongue swirled, and she took him deeper into her throat once more. His hands gripped her shoulders, tugging her away to stand. The passion erupted between them, a clash of lips, teeth, and tongues. Peter’s hands slid down her body, grabbed at her thighs to lift and she obliged. 

Her legs wrapped around his waist as he laid her down on the sun lounger. She was in awe at his strength while he pulled the cushions to soften her head and back before letting her go completely. 

Peter pulled the blanket across them both then nuzzled at her neck, nipping at her sensitive spots, behind her ear, the corner of her jaw and along the edge of her collarbone. He rested on his left side, to keep her from toppling off the side and to keep his full weight off her.

Y/N whimpered at the way his cock teased at her entrance with each of the restricted ruts of his hips. His hands snaked down to her core, fingers rubbing at her clit, coating in her slick before two entered her pussy. 

Peter’s mouth continued the assault on her neck, leaving darkening marks while Y/N’s soft moans rang through the night. It coaxed the fire burning in her belly; the pleasure shivered to the tips of her fingers and the curl of her toes.

Y/N arched her back, her nipples grazing against the hard planes of his chest. Her head tipped back into the cushions; he was filling every part of her existence with ecstasy. The stars above them blurred as he added another finger; widening her ready to take his dick.

Peter entered her slowly; both adjusting to this new level of intimacy as his lips connected with hers and their tongues joined the fray. Y/N’s core twisted in desire and impatience as she ground her hips to encourage his movement.

Peter pushed and pulled against her body, his pelvis hitting her deliciously with each thrust. Her walls clenched around him as he continued to grind and dip and tug at her. Y/N surrendered her body to him, letting him take control, and relished in every second as he brought her closer and closer to the edge.

Her hands gripped tightly to his shoulders, nails digging into his tanned skin as his thrusts slowed but hardened. Their bodies moulded together as one, the feeling of weightlessness reached every corner of their existence as they reached their climax.

Peter pulled Y/N to lie across him, her head tucked into his neck. Their bodies relaxing into the cushions, their skin glistening with beaded sweat and the moonlight shining delicately across them both.

Y/N felt the gravitational pull back to reality; he was going to leave. It was only a matter of time.

To Be Continued...

Everything Tag List; @reann-loves-sebstan​ / @aroyaldarknessblr​ / @thefridgeismybestie​ / @kitkatd7​

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[merakiui]

Wow! An imagines blog for afterlife! First one as far as I can see... I wish you lots of fun with this! I wonder what your favourite characters from the game are? For me it's going to be Sian and Quincy (I first think I was going to hate this little devil brat but here I am XD). If you don't mind you can do relationship hc's with them and characters of your choice if you don't mind. I don't really have anything specific in mind, just something fluffy, sorry for that! Welcome and have a nice day!

(Is it really the first? Whoa! My favorites so far would have to be Ell and Verine! There’s something refreshing about Ell’s optimistic energy, and Verine seems so soft uwu But Sian and Quincy are also growing on me too. Either way, you’ve got good taste~ Please enjoy these hcs and thank you for being the first request, anon! :D)

Relationship HCs (Sian, Quincy, Ell, and Verine)

🎤 Sian 🎤

He refuses to admit to his feelings in the beginning. Why, you may ask? Simple: It’s embarrassing.

So he does what any normal tsundere would do in that sort of situation. He pushes you away by feigning his disinterest.

Naturally, his behavior comes off as rude and abrupt, but you’re able to see past that cold exterior.

Whenever you send a smile his way or compliment him for his good work, he’s quick to deny it. Though the bright blush on his cheeks always contradicts whatever he might say.

Sometimes he thinks you just enjoy messing with him, if only to see him turn red. It’s quite cute, and you can’t help but giggle when he starts to yell.

“It’s not adorable, so stop laughing! And don’t call me cute either!”

Once you’re together, Sian drops his rude act and becomes very affectionate. He still gets shy over small aspects of your relationship, such as holding hands in public or even mustering the courage to kiss you whenever he feels like it.

Kati will definitely tease Sian whenever he talks about his wonderful, loving manager, and Cyrille will provide him with all sorts of scientific facts about the prospect of being in love, how long it exactly lasts, and why relationships are so important in terms of social interaction.

Sian does his best to ignore them, but he always finds himself getting embarrassed. “Stay out of my personal life! I don’t need your help!” Yes, he’s also blushing while he says this.

Underneath that tsundere behavior is a sweet boy who does his best to give you a perfect relationship.

He’ll take you to his favorite places to eat, claiming that you have to try some of the foods he normally gets. In return, you’ll open his horizons to the things you enjoy eating.

Definitely goes to karaoke with you! The two of you sing to your hearts’ content, sharing a few laughs at the impossible-to-hit high notes. Sian manages to surprise you the first time you hear him sing, and when you make a comment he gets extremely flustered.

On days where the weather isn’t the best, the two of you might stay inside to play card games, making small bets every now and then. Most of these bets are about the number of kisses or hugs the other will receive, and when that’s on the line Sian plays exceptionally better.

He’s written songs before, and now that the two of you are in a relationship some of these are about you. You wouldn’t have known about this had you not found a journal detailing different lyrics and song titles.

Waiting for a Sian x [insert utaite name here] collaboration.

When you confronted Sian about it, he became a mess.

Sian’s never let anyone see any of his creative work before, so this was enough to bring him close to tearing up out of pure embarrassment. He feels as though he could just die on the spot.

You understand his reaction, so you’re quick to close the journal, assuring him that you won’t pry further unless he willingly tells you more.

It takes a bit before he’s confident to actually show you and explain his thought process behind certain lyrics, but he trusts you enough and he knows you won’t laugh at him.

You’re his biggest muse when it comes to songwriting. (You’re also his biggest supporter.)

You’ll catch him humming under his breath to certain songs, and he’ll even start to mumble lyrics he’s made up on the spot. You’ll chime in with your own input, and he’ll be quick to write it down if it strikes a chord in his inspiration.

Unfortunately, his memory isn’t the best, so he often forgets things like anniversaries and special dates. He’ll always apologize with his head bowed whenever this happens, but you never seem too bothered. How can you be upset with someone as affectionate and caring as him?

In times of need, he’ll be there to assist you, as he doesn’t want you to stress yourself out. After all, it isn’t fair for his precious lover to carry overwhelming burdens all on their own.

You’ll always find yourself waking up beside the best boyfriend in the world, who will do absolutely anything for you. At the start of the relationship, he tried to do so many things to impress you. He cooked, cleaned, and made sure to always message you when you’re apart. Eventually, you had to tell him to just be himself and to stop taking advice from relationship blogs.

Please give this boy all the love in the world, and he’ll return it tenfold—albeit with a flustered stutter and pink cheeks.

🔥 Quincy 🔥

As the future Lord of the Underworld, Quincy’s quick to let others know of his position as a devil. Bow before him because it’s either his way or the highway.

He has high hopes for you and even higher hopes for himself.

Quincy will be especially impressed if you’re forward and confident in the relationship, but if you’re not that’s fine. It just means he’ll have to take the lead, which is obviously the best course of action, right? His judgement is flawless!

Just know that if anyone messes with his beloved manager, he’ll have no problem putting a curse on the unfortunate soul who decided to bother you. It’s all in good fun, so don’t worry about those silly humans who are now suffering under the weight of a heavy enchantment.

“Looks like my finger slipped. Guess you’ll have to use your puny brain to figure a way out of that. Hmph!” (Based on that cocky smirk, you’d say he’s quite satisfied with his work.)

He may even teach you a few things about the different types of magic, as he wants you to be as good as he is. Oh, but not too good! Quincy prides himself on his skills far too much to let anyone surpass him.

Every now and then, he’ll tease you about anything and everything—no matter how insignificant it is. Maybe you were late to clock in and Nyang Lead Manager scolded you, or perhaps you accidentally forget your lunch. Either way, he’s going to poke fun at those mishaps.

“Ehh? How could you forget when I reminded you earlier? Well, I suppose you can have some of my lunch. ...If you can handle it, that is.”

Spicy food is his life. He probably participates in those challenges at restaurants just to prove that he can absolutely own the competition.

Petition to get Quincy on Hot Ones.

If you’re also a fan of spicy things, it’ll be a contest to see who can handle the most spice. He ends up winning most of the time, but that’s mainly just because he’s a devil who’s used to scorching heat.

If you aren’t, he’ll be pleased to hold the title as someone who can handle extreme foods really well.

Quincy doesn’t like wasting his time on anything small, so there will always be a purpose behind what he does.

Your dates are quite the colorful variety, ranging from spending the day mixing up new elixirs to sharing stories about the Underworld. One day he’d like to show you around if you’re up for it, but the scenery might take some getting used to.

He’ll ensure that you’re never bored by dragging you around to do whatever the two of you deem exciting. When you get to relax from purifying vengeful spirits, you might find yourselves in the human world disguised under the deceptive properties of Humanizer to visit amusement parks, food vendors, and even occult shops.

The relationship is upbeat, and it keeps you on your toes. You’re never going to feel bored again with Quincy around.

Despite his teasing remarks and overflowing pride, Quincy values you a lot, and when it’s just the two of you he’ll be very endearing. It tends to catch you off guard; one minute he’s laughing about messing with Sian and the next he’s moving in to steal a quick kiss.

You’ll have to deal with any reptiles or insects that happen to cross his path, as he can’t stand them. But if you can’t handle them either, then you’ll seek out Jamie. At least he can keep them safe from Kirr and Aitachi. And from your spooked boyfriend, who wants those critters out of his sight. 

Quincy will remind you to come to him if you’re ever worried over something. His advice may not be the most ground-breaking, but it’s the thought that counts. He’s willing to spend hours giving you a friendly pep-talk, and you’re bound to come out of your gloom with a fresh perspective.

☀️ Ell ☀️

He’s a ball of energetic sunshine, so be ready for a very fun, joyful relationship!

Ell always puts you first, ensuring your happiness and well-being.

Honesty is key in this relationship, and that’s mainly because he can’t lie due to his constant sneezing.

And that’s okay because he has nothing to lie about anyways! He doesn’t want to hide anything from you; he’d rather you know than try to keep it a secret.

Imagine all of the cute dates! The both of you could go to bakeries and and sweet shops to try all sorts of delicious treats. Ell would be fond of anything sugary, insisting on playfully feeding you while you’re out in public. Or the two of you could visit craft stores so he can get more supplies for his needle felting.

He’s very big on PDA. Expect lots of hand-holding, random hugs, and kisses on the cheek—even around others when you least expect it. He’ll always smile at you, commenting on how charming you look when you blush at his sudden displays of affection.

Though he’ll try his best to tone it down if Nyang Lead Manager says something about it during work hours. He’ll quietly whine and protest as he tries to explain that it’s hard to resist. He just loves you so much! His complaints tend to get cut off once he starts to sneeze, though.

Along with gifting you his needle felting creations, he’ll also play the lyre for you. He’d be so excited to show you all of the beautiful music it can make. Sometimes he’ll play a few soothing melodies if you have trouble falling asleep.

Speaking of sleep, he adores cuddling. You’ll probably wake up each morning with him clinging to you, the blanket cast aside.

If you’re fond of taking photos, he’ll let you use the light from his halo to brighten the pictures. It makes for a perfect ring light, and he doesn’t mind others wanting to use it. After all, Licht and Kati like to use it for their SNS, so you should too.

If you’re ever having a bad day, Ell will be there to make it better. He’ll do all sorts of things for you, hearing you out when you vent to him about what’s bothering you and even attempting to make a few tiny miracles happen. Anything for his favorite person in the world!

There are times when he feels down as well, but it’s not for long. You’ll always be there to cheer him up. He’s fortunate that you have the patience to help him put his negative emotions into words, and you’ll even sit through all of the times he sneezes. For that, he’s very grateful.

His heart beats faster and he gets bashful when you praise him, but he’ll always fire back with plenty of genuine compliments so you won’t feel left out. There’s lots of love to go around.

Overall, the relationship is so sweet and enjoyable. Ell makes sure there’s never a dull moment when you’re with him, and he truly believes that the two of you will be together for a long time.

He loves you with all of his angelic heart.

“I wish we could spend more time together, but Nyang Lead Manager is giving us so much work. It’s really not—achoo!”

💊 Verine 💊

At first, Verine wonders if the reason you chose to be near him is because of the desire to protect such a sickly Soul Reaper. It bothers him to no end, as he does his best to stay strong despite always having to take different medicines and vitamins.

Once he realizes that you’re not there to pester him about his health, he’s pleasantly surprised. He’s used to others giving him looks of pity, so when you offer your support he can’t help but feel warm inside.

It actually takes him quite a while to confess; the stress of it all was like attempting to find the correct medicine for a specific ailment.

Still, he manages to push his self-consciousness aside in favor of his heart’s wishes, and it succeeds! Luckily for him, since Verine believed his chances were very slim.

While Mori considers him to be a paper doll, you think the opposite. Your boyfriend may be physically weak, but he’s got a strong will and is incredibly gentle with you.

Even if he acts like the presences of others disturbs him, he’s actually quite happy to be near the Soul Reapers. He’s always interacting with the Reapers in Diluculo, but he finds that your company is by far the best.

Most of your dates consist of staying indoors, since Verine doesn’t like the overwhelming temperatures of the outside world. (Occasionally, he’ll sacrifice his comfort so that you can enjoy the outdoors every now and then.)

However, the two of you still find plenty of things to do while inside. From watching your favorite films to assisting Verine with his medicinal herb garden, a lot of these cozy dates are quite serene.

He loves it when you cook his favorite foods. Any meal prepared by your loving hands is a gift he treasures—so much so that he thoroughly believes it’ll heal his aches and pains. Sometimes he doesn’t know how to return the gesture, so you’ll have to reassure him that you don’t need anything. Just his love is enough, and that makes him smile a bit.

Verine is touch-starved since most of his living life was spent in a hospital bed and the only contact he ever received was from doctors checking his vitals. So he’s always eager to let you hug and kiss him.

He might not be into cuddling at first only because he’s afraid his constant coughing will disrupt the calm atmosphere, but once you explain that that doesn’t bother you he’s willing to give it a try. He ends up liking it more than he thought he would, which results in lazy days where the two of you just nap in each other’s arms.

He’ll always be there for you no matter what, and he checks to make sure you’re healthy. Your physical and mental health is very important to him.

If the the two of you ever get into a disagreement, he may bottle up his true feelings for the sake of pacifying you. In the end, both of you talk through it, and this allows Verine to slowly but surely open up about how he really feels.

Verine might keep a lot of his emotions to himself when around the others, but with you he doesn’t have to.

“Ah, I must’ve fainted again. I really am useless.”

When he gets like that, just tell this sweetheart he’s in no way useless. He’s perfect in your eyes, even with his coughing and eternal illnesses, and you wouldn’t have it any other way.

[a-forgotten-spirit]

Love Isn’t An Illusion (1)

Credit to Rightful Owners

Pairing: Todoroki x Bakugou, Todoroki x Reader x Bakugou VERY SLOW BUILD

Summary: Last competition at the sports festival

Words: +-6600

Warnings: Bad parents, mentions of a scary man, coughing up blood (Fake), UA sports festival violence, no friends, quiet kid, fear of failure, fainting. 

Tags (I tagged the people who commented on my post if you wish to be untagged feel free to send an ask): @kittycatspervertedheart​ @lemorrite​ @gwendlynn​ @marleps​ @thicctati2​ @saitamastamaticsoup​ @succulent-momma​

A/N: I wrote this for the fans. I do not own My Hero academia or the characters, I don’t own most of the plot for this story, I had watched the show and re-written the dialogue and plot as if the reader was the main character. Everything is centred around the reader. 

Masterlist  ________________________________________________________________

Chapter 1

It was the last round of the sports festival, I had made it this far. Sneaking and compelling people to believe in things that weren’t there, to begin with. This was my chance to show off my quirk and let everyone know I deserved to be here. This was my chance to show the world I could be a hero. My class didn’t know my quirk and that was helpful in times of need, I must admit, I had been training and awaiting this day. The girls had gotten into those cheerleading uniforms that Momo had made, it was cute but when Present Mic announced they weren’t meant to be in them I had to stifle a laugh. The side games started and I was so glad I got in.

When drawing lots we all began to go to Midnight and I sighed out trying to calm myself as Ojiro put up his hand and said he wished to not compete, this only would happen three times in his life for this school and that’s if he made it into the third round the next year. He began to explain he didn’t remember anything and said he blamed the player he was with, the boy with purple hair and black under eyes. Toru just said he should go but he brought up this pride and then someone from 1-B did the same thing. Kirishima flushed about manliness and it was nice. Looking at the board I smiled, I earned my place here.

Kirishima vs Tetsutetsu Tokoyami vs Yaoyorozu Ashido vs Y/N Shinso vs Midoriya Todoroki vs Sero Uraraka vs Bakugou Iida vs Hatsume Kaminari vs Shiozaki

So I was versing Ashido first, that wouldn’t be hard. I went into a room and tried to calm myself down. I had to be ready for this, it would be a lot. I felt bad but I needed to win, this was what I was made for. I would win this. My fellow peers were doing their things while doing the other side challenges which was nice to watch when I came back from getting some food. I was worried about this but as I came to the stands to watch I smiled sitting down.

The first match was Deku and Shinso, this Shinso character seemed to be very skilled but also has scared some of his fellow peers and created that show about wanting to go be in 1-A. I had to watch everyone in case they advanced. Immediately Shinso began to talk about how stupid Ojiro was and Deku yelled but then he just stopped dead in his tracks. I turned seeing Ojiro stand and say he told Deku not to talk, Shinso’s quirk needed you to talk.

Present Mic began to yell about how Deku just stood not moving and then watching as Deku began to just walk out of bounds, what was going on. He wasn’t in control of himself, this quirk was far too powerful. But Shinos' quirk wasn’t physical so he had little to no chance in the practical exam, so this was something to remember. He deserved to be in the hero course but it was almost impossible for him to get in. But then Deku stopped walking and the wind blew across the stadium as he stopped just in time, how did he break the hold, it looked like he too was stunned. I had to pay attention to both of them now, both could make it to the next round. Deku ran as he tried to push Shinso out of the ring, Shinso punching and trying to win. I felt bad, if not responded he would lose and with one over the shoulder throw from Deku Shinso was out of bounds. I felt bad but this is how the games worked. Shinso looked mad, I would be too if I was him. People cheered and congratulated them both but as Shinso walked to the stands heroes were congratulating him and saying he could be a hero which was lovely to hear. In reality, he would make a very good hero, villains tended to be loudmouths.

Next match was Todoroki and Sero, Deku came back and joined his friends as I sat at the back of the group in silence. Present Mic introduced both of them and within seconds Sero had grabbed Todoroki with his tape and began to swing him around the boundaries but Todoroki’s foot came down to the ground and ice just erupted into the stadium, crawling around Sero and in front of the class, it was strong. Stronger than anyone here so far, that power was extraordinary. Midnight asked if Sero could move and it was obvious he couldn’t so with a simple answer Todoroki has ready won the match and it was over, Todoroki had won, with ease. This was crazy, I don’t think I could beat him if push came to shove but I would have to do it to win. Everyone in the stands was just calling out “Nice try” no one could beat him, melting the ice they walked from the boundaries.

Next was Kaminari and that plant girl, her voice soft and hair made of vines, she was going on about being a hero and I lost interest quite quickly. Present Mic apologised and I noticed Kaminari have to compose himself, it was sad to watch. Kaminari’s attack was nothing as her vines gripped him and held him in the air, she won. Impressive. That blonde began to yell at us, eyes wide and mouth open, he was quite annoying but the redhead with large fists took him away. I could hear Deku mumbling to himself as he wrote in that little book of his, I could hear him from the back of the stands.

The fourth match was Iida and Hatsume, the match was boring. She just wanted to show off her work and then gloat about it, her mic called out over the crowd, she wasn’t my favourite but then again Iida was trying his hardest. She was smart I’ll give her that but this was extremely annoying. She looked crazy. After showing them all off she simply stepped out of bounds. He seemed mad but then again she was getting what she wanted out of it. Only this time I wasn’t watching from the sidelines but the tv in the room, I was next up and this was my chance to show off my skills.

I walked out and stood still not moving and my face showed not a care in the world, I had to remain calm this was my chance. Present Mic introduced us “The silent scary one Y/LN Y/N from the hero course vs... is there some kind of purpose for those things sticking out of her head, from the same class Mina Ashido” she was stretching as I simply stood still not wanting to move, I needed to focus.

“This match is going to be a piece of cake” she smiled and pointed to my form cutely if only she knew what she was in for. I felt bad that she didn’t know my quirk and I knew hers but I had gotten in on recommendation thankfully otherwise I'd be in Shinso’s shoes. I didn’t respond to her. I knew her friends would be cheering her on but I couldn’t help but be saddened no one would be cheering for me.

Once the match began she slid along the ground by her acid, like ice skating. I stood still and I could see the confusion and peoples faces. I turned and looked to her, she was smiling and so happy to be here and in this match, she was confident. She was fast but not fast enough. Closing my eyes I opened them and she froze instantly. My quirk allowed me to create illusions that not only I could control but could do damage if I so wished, I preferred fears. Her fear was hard to determine, she had a few but creepy things seemed to fit. It went dark for her though I could still see in the real world, she fell to the floor clutching her arms in fear. The crowd went silent as she shook her head.

“Get away from me” she screamed and I made the creature try to swipe for her and tear up the ground, you could see the ground tear and then with a simple breath out she got up and began to run, this is what I wanted. She was running and fell, she was so scared. I could practically feel her heartbeat “I said get away from me” everyone had their fears, no one could beat me, I could win this all. A few more swipes and then she was out of bounds and I stopped the view. She looked around. That's all I needed to do.

“Ashido” Midnight called out and she looked around and then looked to me in fear and shook her head “Is out of bounds. Y/N will be moving to the next round” it was silent as Ashido looked out to me and shook her head. She couldn’t see or hear during an illusion or manifestation. She didn’t know what was going on. The crowd was silent as I began to walk back to the door, I came out of.

“She didn’t even move” “How did the ground tear up” “Ashido looked terrified” “That was unfair” “What even happened”

I heard a few people ask and then onto the next round. I could have shown them all, what Ashido was seeing but then my next opponents would know my strategy. I didn’t want to attend the next match, I went to a back room and sat down looking at the monitor. I hoped Ashido was ok though, I didn't mean to scare, or, I did. I just needed to win, I wanted to show off.

Tokoyami and Yaoyorozu, their quirks were very impressive and it was hard to try and figure out which would win but I had an idea. I had been studying everyone through my time at UA. Yaoyorozu questions herself which is something she cannot do in a match while Tokoyami relies on Dark Shadow. Once the match began Dark Shadow was pushing her and within seconds she was out of the boundaries, she stood there for a moment as Tokoyami just walked out. That was incredible. He barely moved, barely did anything.

Then came Tetsutetsu vs Kirishima. The match was long and very boring but cute in some sorta way. They had the same quirk, they fought with a lot of passion but I left the room to wait for my next match. Walking in I wasn’t expecting to see Iida, Deku and Uraraka standing in there. I should have thought ahead. Uraraka looked scared but the other two I think are trying to comfort her in a way.

“Oh hey Y/N” Uraraka spoke and the two others turned to me with questioning looks. I stepped back as she looked me over. Why was she looking me over?

I bowed “Sorry I didn’t know this room was in use” I quickly turned and tried to leave as fast as I could. I could hear them talk but I was walking away by then. I didn’t want to talk to anyone, Ashido I didn’t doubt had told people what she saw and I didn’t want to face anyone just yet. Going back into the viewing room I was grateful no one was there.

The next match was Uraraka vs Bakugou, no wonder she was scared. I would be, I wanted to root for her but Bakugou was so strong and dedicated to being a hero I didn’t doubt he’d pull out all the stops to win. I paid close attention as I may have to go against one of them in the future.

When the match began Uraraka just sprinted straight for him with no mercy, this was insane. With one swing of his hand, she was sent barreling into the side of the boundaries, smoke weaving around them. Bakugou did another hit through the smoke but it was her jacket, behind him. His reaction time was crazy turning and simply blasting her once more. This continued, she ran at him and then he exploded. I applauded her determination and Bakugou’s power. Bakugou was far too strong to be in the first year, this continued her running then Bakugou blasting her away. She wasn’t resting and her energy would soon run out. People were complaining and Eraserhead quickly shut them up with saying Bakugou knew she deserved to be here and wanted to show his power. I had to agree but Uraraka released her quirk, rocks falling from the sky, he tore up the floor. A very smart idea, as they fell to the stadium she ran with the rest of her strength though all he did was hold his arm and let out an ear ringing explosion. I could feel my room shake with the force. How was he that strong, that is insane. As the smoke cleared he was fine, not a single injury, untouched. She stood up but her body fell to the ground making Bakugou stop. This was crazy, her body was giving up on her, exhausted. Though I couldn’t blame her, she had been exploded endlessly. She was taken out and Bakugou won the match. Round one, done.

The first match of the second round was Midoriya vs Todoroki. This was sure to be interesting. I hadn’t gone back to my class not wanting to face them until the end of the festival. I wanted to show that I could do this but the look in people's eyes when Ashido lost was heartbreaking. I had to pay close attention to them both. Within seconds Todoroki had let off an ice attack but Deku was able to counter it at the cost of his finger. Doing it again he was now four fingers down, two from his last match. This was far too intense, he was hurting himself to have a chance at winning. Deku just continued to break his fingers, his quirk was very strange indeed. Why did his quirk hurt him so much, a quirk was a part of you though he seemed to reject him. One hand down and he was caught in ice only to use his whole hand. With ease, Todoroki got up and was ready to fight again. Did Todoroki have a limit to how much he could use? His ice power seemed to be limitless. Deku then began to talk to him, there was no volume to the tv, though I did notice the shake in Todorokis' arm, he was getting cold. That was his limitation though why didn’t he use his fire quirk. Todoroki was just running at him, he was slower though, Deku was able to land a hit, that was impressive in itself. They were using everything in their power to win, to show off their power. I was leaning close to the tv to watch them, they both had so much power I didn’t know if I could win against them he was using his body no matter how much it hurt him. Deku landed another hit to Todoroki. Deku landed another punch and Todoroki seemed out of it, he looked out of this world but he still got up. The sound was off but he had said something, why was no one stopping this. Todoroki just burst into flames, his firepower in use, what had Deku said to get him so riled up. No way Deku could win this. Would I have to fight him, there was no way I could win against that. When their power collides the building shook once more and I held the TV looking around desperately trying to see who won but as the smoke cleared then Deku just fell, Todoroki won. I wouldn’t have to fight him, right? There was not a chance in the world I could win against him. I leaned back in the chair and shook my head, there was not a chance I could win. He had to be afraid of something, right? Shiozaki vs Iida was over quickly in my opinion, Iida was far to fast for her to do anything but then it was my turn once again. As I walked out the crowd went silent and I looked to Tokoyami.

“Begin” Present Mic called out and I could hear the cheering for Tokoyami but none for me, this was incredibly disappointing. I wondered if my parents were watching this, were they proud of me.

Breathing out, I could win this, with ease. Once the match started he brought out dark Shadow, a powerful quirk I have to admit but not strong enough to beat my own. The sad thing was that he feared his quirk, my illusion turned the sky into a dark abyss that only Tokoyami could see, I kept Dark Shadow out of it, in case he did indeed think he had more power than he did. Creating another view for Tokoyami was that his friends were in danger they both left fighting me to try and fight their inner selves. Dark Shadow was brought into his host quickly, the darkness was only a ruse it was easy for him to do so but with the image of Dark Shadow trying to get out I made a patch of light appear and he began to run. Once there the darkness cleared and he was out of bounds. He turned to look at me then down at himself and his eyes widened as I bowed and turned on my heel.

“Look at that, she didn’t even move” Present Mic called out and I looked to the ground as I made my way into the hall I came from. “What is her quirk” he called out and I looked up as people viewed me, looking back down I could hear him finish “I wouldn’t want to fight her”

The yelling began again, they wanted to know what I was doing. Not yet, my next match was Iida who was far too smart for his good. I walked out of the stadium and made my way back to the room I was in, the back one, the one no one went into. Then came Bakugou vs Kirishima, Kirishima had won against his opponent via an arm wrestle. I was next this was news to me but not an issue at all.

Kirishima and Bakugou’s fight was long but very interesting indeed, Bakugou continued to counter, Kirishima had a limit to his quirk. Bakugou laid hit after hit on Kirishima and then he was gone, Kirishima was knocked out and Bakugou was ready to advance. I was versing Iida and then either Bakugou or Todoroki, at that thought I shivered. I would have to give my all, both of them seemed level headed but I could create anything. I could do this. My quirk was strong and hero material I could do this.

Standing up I began to make my way to the stadium once more, walking out I breathed and came to stand opposite Iida. “Your quirk is strong” he called out, he was fast. I would have to use my quirk immediately and possibly still dodge.

“As is yours” I stated and everyone went silent as did he. I didn’t talk in class and tried not to as much as I could, he wasn’t expecting a response and neither was the crowd. I stood still once again and nodded to Iida who nodded back. Closing my eyes I breathed in.

“Begin” Midnight called out and my eyes burst open to take over Iidas view as I jumped to the side to avoid him though that was all it took for him to stop and take a step back. He didn’t quite fear what I was showing him but he cared about people far too much.

“Y/N” I heard over the loudspeaker “This is too show your quirk, please let the crowd see what you are doing” I sighed, I didn’t want to show anyone before the final round. I could see both Todoroki and Bakugou viewing my fight “This is your teacher” with a simple huff I let everyone see what Iida was seeing.

I was coughing as he stopped and it looked like the people in the stands cheering. I fell to the ground and when I looked up blood was falling from my lips “Y/N” he called and ran over as it looks like Midnight did too, coming to stand next to me as I continued to cough up blood.

“You see her quirk is illusions that is like a manifestation. Iida was trying to ask if I was okay and the look on the crowd was disbelief. “She can make you see what she wants, though she plays on people’s fears or worries. Iida cares about people too much”

“Take her to recovery girl, you’re the fastest. Go now” I coughed again my hands coming to hold the blood “It is ok she will be looked after” Midnight called out as Iida picked me up and began to run out of bounds once he had reached that point I fell into ash in his hands and he stopped and I let the view go back to normal. He turned and saw me.

“It was a trick, it seemed so real” he whispered and I bowed to him. I felt bad, but I was forced to show off my quirk, it was something I had to do. If Aizawa hadn’t spoken I could have won and the boys wouldn’t know my quirk.

“Y/N advances to the next round” a loud and roaring cheer erupted and I smiled lightly, I could hear my name being called and people talking only this time it wasn’t negative or confusing but positive and congratulating.

“With a quirk like that, she could be offence and defence not to mention they can cause physical attacks” “I want her at my agency” “Her quirk could be used in any hero setting” “Strong and in control of the situation, hasn’t move except that small bit with all her fights”

I walked out feeling in control and ready for the next match. Going back to my room I got ready to watch Bakugou and Todoroki. I was going to be versing one of the two and at this point, I didn’t want either. They were both so strong and had seen my quirk they could try and get out of it but I could just hide. I could do this.

I was watching them so intensely, as they walked out into the stadium, I could feel my heart pound. I was going to have to face one of these people and now they both knew my quirk. They looked so in control and ready for a fight. When the fight started I leaned forward watching as Todoroki placed his hand on the ground ice erupting at lightning speed towards Bakugou, faster than with Deku. He’s recharged. Bakugou was fast though his hands moving as though it meant nothing to him, I could hear the explosions through the stadium, they were giving their all. Ice encircled him, was this the end of the match. Did Bakugou lose that quickly? The ice was at the top of the stadium, sharp and cold. I felt a shiver run down my back at the thought of versing the ice maker. Then came the rumbling, rhythmic and strong, what was this, it had to be Bakugou. An explosion rang out the ice exploding around the stadium and Todoroki jumped back, they were so strong. Watching Bakugous' hands gently lean on the ice, steam was created, within seconds they were barreling towards each other. I leaned forward my eyes wide, I couldn’t fight them. I was scared and I was nowhere near the fight. Bakugou was too fast making a quick move and grabbed Todoroki flipping him over, ice is what caught the other. They could both do close combat and distance, offence and defence. I should be doing a Deku and writing down everything I could. Todoroki surfing ice, Bakugou made another hit but Todoroki just threw him away, why wasn’t he using his fireside? He could potentially win if he did. Little explosions burst from the palms of Bakugou only then he was running at full force, who would win this. Todoroki just stood there, Bakugou jumped using his explosions and then began to twist, creating a tornado of sorts, fire stretched along the others arm, this was going to be big. The impact was made the stadium shaking as it had so many times that day, I couldn’t look away. Just like with Deku's’ fight I looked desperately trying to see who would still be standing after that. The smoke cleared and Bakugou laid on the floor, with Todoroki now sprawled over his ice, out of bounds. Bakugou ran and yelled but there was no sound I couldn’t hear it, what was he saying? Then he collapsed Midnight’s clothing ripped and producing her quirk. Once Bakugou was awake and ready I was going to fight him. I was going to have to fight Bakugou. What could I do against him?

Leaning back I looked over when Bakugou’s face was seen on the screen next to my own, saying “Final round” I was shaking. He would awake soon and I was already shaking. My hands began to sweat, what could I do against a powerhouse like Bakugou. This was far too intense for my body and mind to take. I moved to grab the water next to me and downed it in one go, trying to calm my nerves. Standing up I began to pace. What could I do too not only wow the spectators and agencies but win? He knew how my quirk worked now, I couldn’t do a single thing. No one could hear him when in one of my illusions and it would be a lot of energy to use everyone in the crowd and keep my body from being exploded in real life if I got injured the illusion might break. A few more side games and I was being called out, Bakugou was awake and angry from what I had heard.

Walking out to the stadium, I breathed a sigh and walked up the steps to see Bakugou, small explosions coming from his palms and I stood still looking over at him “I know how your damn quirk works, you can’t fool me” he yelled and the ground went silent waiting for me to respond.

Leaning to one side I smiled an illusion come next to him “Oh really” it whispered and he growled, a hand moving up his arm the illusion exploded within a second, I smiled “I think I'll do just fine Katsuki Bakugou” his eyebrow raised in question before he yelled in anger.

“The final match Katsuki Bakugou vs Y/N Y/LN. Begin” he yelled and I smiled as he began to run full speed towards my direction. I wanted this to be a show, a show for all to see. But he was faster than I expected within seconds I created a wall around my body, a physical illusion, he was stopped for the moment. Moving away I made an illusion of myself on the ground kneeling as an explosion went off and I was laying on the ground, quickly moving to get up as the wall fell into ash.

He followed that one. It was easy to fool him, too easy. By letting the audience see what was happening, all except one. Aizawa. He could prove I wasn’t cheating once my plan was complete. Bakugou followed my running figure. I made sure to make everything look as it did, even the TV’s showed the copies. I could only control inside the stadium so the people at home would be seeing me standing, that was ok.

“You won’t get away from me” he screamed and I created a wall around fake me, just too look like I was trying to get away faster, he exploded it. Perfect smoke. The smoke clouded his vision and I made the boundaries a little bit bigger. Not enough to notice and moved me to make it look normal once more. I may as well sit down for this match. No, I had to stay focused.

“I think I'm doing pretty well” the copy called out and he growled explosions going off as I created one behind him as my fake me disappeared, an illusion inside an illusion. I kept creating them, faster and faster as he exploded them then with a final one. Boundaries were a bit bigger, each hit. The original fake me then got too close and exploded, making them physical she was thrown back harshly all illusions falling to ash. I looked to be struggling, trying to get up as the copy held their arm in pain, the arm they landed on. It looked so real, I was getting good at this.

“Your physical body can still be harmed” he smirked and I did too the real me. He hadn’t landed a single hit on my form, he was too focused on destroying my copies to worry about the size of the boundaries, he was getting closer. I was thinking too much I didn’t notice him running. So with a fast duck and punch to his ribs, the copy sent him flying.

“You make it sound like I don’t know hand to hand combat” the copy smiled and then clutched their arm again, the arm began to shake, he took notice, good. He was up within a second running once more, hand to hand continued but with one big blow to the copy, she was sent flying through the air and landed with a thud, a loud and bone-cracking thud. The crowd yelled and cheered. Stay focused, everyone would know my power. I could win this. I had to stay focused. I was so close to him going out of bounds.

The copy tried to rise and fell once, then rose body swaying in not only exhaustion but pain. This was a hard illusion to keep up, a lot of changing and moving. I had to work harder, I was losing focus and my own body swayed. Shaking my head I looked back to them, Bakugou was smirking and walking slowly to the shaking figure. Now was the time, the copy looked around and then more copies appeared and the original disappeared.

“You won’t beat me” explosions so many explosions went off. I continued to make them, running at him. Flipping and disappearing before reappearing in different areas. Hit being made and then being exploded. I almost fell, this was a lot to take. I shook my head, clearing my thoughts and expanded the boundaries with each blow. Smoke clouding his vision. I look down at my real body, I was still in the boundaries, I was losing the sense of where I was. I needed him out of the boundaries. The original fake appeared on their knees and breathing heavily, then I noticed I was doing the same. This was a lot of energy to produce. Aizawa could see both the illusion and myself in reality. I stood up as did the copy though they held their arm.

“You and these damn illusions” he yelled and began to run, as did the copy trying desperately to make illusions to stop him. I was running on empty. I took the last bit of my energy to make a copy behind him that twirled in the air and sent a hard and powerful kick to his back. Sending him falling, his torso was out of bounds, the real ones. Immediately the illusion fell to ash as I swayed. Bakugou looked down as everyone was confused then saw me and it was silent. “It was all an illusion” he turned.

“Y/N made illusions inside illusions to make it seem like she was there though that whole match” Aizawa paused as did the crowd “she did not move” I could see everyone turn to my heavily breathing figure. Cheers and congratulations. “She allowed me to see but not the crowd to allow a sense of realism” another cheer but it was blurred in my ears.

“Bakugou is out of bounds. Y/N is the winner” Midnight called and I could hear the cheering murky and blur but I swayed. Bakugou turned and looked at me, he was angry but I watched his face softened as my eyes rolled back.

I could feel my body falling, I had gone far past my limit to win. I wanted to show everyone I could do this. To show even with a deceiving quirk I could still be a hero. I knew the cameras would see me just standing there so everyone would know how much effort it took to create such a show but within a second. My eyes rolled back and I fell, my body hitting the floor with a thud and I passed out. I used too much energy. Before all my senses faded I did see Bakugou running “Y/N” I heard the yell but I was gone.

I came too, I had been told I was out for about twenty minutes as my body regenerated. The award ceremony would be happening in the next ten minutes so I should get into position. I had also been told I was brought here by “My opponent with the spiking hair and angry look”, known as Bakugou. I had to thank him. I drank some water and devoured a protein bar.

I walked to the area here pillars of rock would move up to show the finalists and smiled seeing Todoroki and Bakugou there. “Hey” I called my voice small and my hand waved. Todoroki turned and smiled too, well it wasn't a smile more of a straight line, but more than a frown. I made my way up the steps and could hear Midnight calling to the crowd that the award ceremony would be complete in a matter of minutes. “Bakugou” he turned to me, face angry and arms crossed. “Thank you for a good fight and for taking me to the nurse”

“Whatever” he started and I nodded, I was trying to talk to make this a little less awkward. “I’ll just destroy you next year, I’ll get better and kill you” he yelled his head high and body tense. That was Bakugou. I could see Todorokis’ eyes roll in annoyance and I nodded.

“I look forward to facing you again” I smiled and then a copy of myself appeared behind him whispering in his ear “Bakugou” he turned and his arm went straight through the copy with an added string of curses. I couldn’t help but laugh a little.

“Y/N,” Todoroki asked and I turned nodded for him to continue “Why did you say Bakugou’s full name when fighting him,” he asked, he had noticed that. I flushed lightly and swatted my hand quickly.

“Well it’s apart of my quirk” I started and Bakugou seemed interested now, his gaze turning from the now gone copy to my eyes. “I can make anyone see an illusion but only the physical ones work when I know someone’s name” I added and they both seemed very interested now.

“You need to know someone full name for the physical attacks to work” Bakugou questioned and I also noticed Todorokis’ mouth closed as I was guessing he was going to ask the same question as to his classmate.

“No I need to know a name, whether it be the first name, last name, nickname, a name they go by, hero or villain name. When I was recommended I tried it on Aizawa not knowing his first name or last name, still don’t know his first name but my quirk worked, he doesn’t know nor do any of the teachers, I tested this myself. I just need to put a name with a face and since I go to school with you both” I created copies to stand behind them whispering in time “I know your names” they turned and Bakugous’ yell rang out as Todoroki looked at the copy.

“Now the awards” the copies fell into ash before disappearing as the pillars were hoisted into the stadium, the three of us standing in silence as if nothing had happened between the three of us just moments before. The crowd cheered and replayed the best parts of the festival. I looked up and saw all mine were just me standing there though they did add in the one where I fell as Bakugou was fighting my copies, did they have to show that. “And who better than to give the awards” Midnight shouted as All Might came into view.

Jumping down and landing in front of us I waited for my turn. “Todoroki, you battled well” he continued to go on and they had a little conversation I didn’t pry into, I just wanted this to be over, I was tired and needed rest. I had to go home after this, I could show my parents my victory, I wonder if they watched it. “Bakugou my boy, you sure went hard” they didn’t care when I got into UA so would they care about this. “Y/N” I heard my name and looked up seeing All Might. “Still off in your little world I see, you fought hard and it was smart not showing your quirk to the stadium and allowing Aizawa to see that Bakugou did leave the boundaries. Strategic, you’ll make a great hero someday” placing the medal around my neck I smiled and nodded, bringing me in for a hug I couldn’t help but hug back “Now we just need to work on your stamina” I nodded and the ceremony was over.

I looked down at my medal and smiled, I won the sports festival, this was the best day of my life. I sat and watched this for so many years and now I was the winner. We were told our parents were picking us up after the festival and I could see people waiting. I watched as my mother rolled up and got out of the car I walked over.

“Mum did you see me” I held my medal proudly in my hand while it was still around my neck. I didn’t notice people looking “Mum I won. I won the sports festival” she walked past me and signed off that she was here to pick me up, when walking back I smiled “Mum I won” I repeated with a smile showing off my medal.

With a dramatic sigh and a lift of her brows and sunglasses, she looks to me, then down at the medal  “Very nice dear, a medal. You participated, good for you” then she began to walk off. I could see the way people looked down or their parents looked to my own. This wasn’t the time or place to show my parental problems.

“Thank you Aizawa” I whispered and walked to the car, everything was silent. She thought it was a participation award after I had said I won. I had been waiting for this day since I first saw the sports festival and she didn’t even give me the decency to congratulate me. Getting in the car I closed the door and put my seatbelt on as we drove off. I didn’t miss the saddened faces of my peers. ________________________________________________________________ Chapter 2 

[everybodylovesrand]

Raje Judkins answered some questions about the show. Filming spoilers for the show below:

Q: What part of the books should you be caught up on for the first season?

A: Depends on if you like to read something before you watch it or not.

Q: What are you finding most challenging about going from book to screen? A: The hardest thing is the physicality of production. In the first book alone they go to more than 20 villages and cities. To try to do that is physically impossible for the show, so most of the work we don in the room is geographical, figuring how to condense the story and move it through places we can physically create.

Q: Do you have a favorite chapter from the whole saga? Mine is Veins of Gold. A: So many. But Honey in the Tea is the one off the top of my head.

Q: We can’t wait to see Elayne, Aviendha and Min

A: Me either. Three of my favorites.

Q: Has any post-production work begun or does that not start until filming is completed?

A: Nope! We do it simultaneously. Before the corona hit, I was prepping 2 episodes, shooting 2 episodes, in post on 4 episodes and writing Season 2 simultaneously :-0

Q: Will there be a soundtrack? Who’s the composer? A: Of course! David Buckley. Plus a few incredible musical guests we’ve already had.

Q: Are Min/Elayne in season 1? A: The Wheel weaves as the wheel wills

Q: Are you going to merge Min and Elayne? A: Hell no

Q: First moment you were speechless on set? A: First time walking into Emond’s Field with my mom

Q: Is mat fluent in the old tongue yet? A: We’ve had a couple cast members speak in it already and they NAILED IT

Q: Which character has your favorite costume so far? A: Ooo this is tough. Probably Geofram Bornhald.

Q: How is the cast and crew weathering the pandemic? A: Our team in Prague did an amazing job of getting everyone out and keeping them safe. And now everyone’s home and we all live on Instagram.

Q: Who is your favorite Forsaken? A: Ahhh. I love the ladies. Graendal, Lanfear, Moghedien. And Ishamael holds a special place in my heart the more time I spend with him

Q: What’s been your favourite shooting location so far? A: Slovenia! Spectacular stuff there

Q: Yes or no. Have you had to make any cuts be it a scene or character, that has been painful for you? A: Yes.

Q: How are you planning to handle the visualization of the weaves? Any little tidbits? A: We are trying to stay as true to the books as possible. I’ve been giving a bunch of VFX folks long diatribes about channeling, weaves, threads, earth vs. air, etc and they early stuff has started coming in. It looks FUCKING AWESOME. I screamed when Rosamund started channeling

Q: Similar to Them performing in an old Inn, what other iconic moment filmed stands out to u? A: Rand and Tam walking through the Westwood

Q: Blink twice if Min is in season 1. A: 😉😉

Q: Will Jeff Probst be one of the Aiel? Can you make some calls? A: If he dyes his hair red 😉

Q: Which WOT book title best describes your self isolation experience? A: A Memory of Light…

Q: Can we expect a trailer for the show anytime soon? A: Probably not for a long while sadly.

Q: Can you guys do a big WoT Wed announcement during the hiatus to keep all us fans hyped instead of al A: Yea! It would cheer us all up and we have some fun news

Q: Is Lan going to be as much or an absolute stud in the show as he is in the books? A: You’ve seen @danielhenney right?

Q: If you were an Aes Sedai, what Ajah would you choose? A: Such a good question. They all have merits but GREEN for the win. If only to hang with @priyankabose20

Q: Will we have to wait till season 2 to see any Aiel? (Other than Rand)

A: Nope. And the one you see will shock you. Hah. Amazon shouldn’t let me be on here when I’ve been cooped up for a week.

Q: RJ writes a lot of internal headspace stuff. What’s 1 hint on how the show will handle that? A: That’s the biggest difficulty of any novel adaptation. Figuring out how to make the internal monologue come out clearly to the audience. A lot of the changes we make and stories we tell differently are designed to serve exactly that purpose – showing you what those characters internal monologues from the book are without them just saying it out loud in exposition

Q: Are you using taller actors to portray the Aiel, or camera trickery? A: Trying to get tall folks. But I’m less concerned with height and more concerned with acting ability.

Q: Since JordanCon was cancelled, can we maybe get an extra treat next month? A: Sure! What do you want?

Q: Do you have a favorite Wise One? A: Avi

Q: How many trollocs do I have to take out to become a writing assistant? A: Violence is never the answer

Q: What would you say the CGI to practical ratio is going to be? A: Tring to do as much in camera as we possibly can!

Q: How are you handling sword forms and their names? A: We have a for real sword master on the show who walks into every room and tests out everything as a weapon. He could most definitely kill me with any item in my office.

Q: How are the horses on set? Is Mandarb spectacular? A: They are so great. Honestly I love our horses. Mandarb and Aldieb are downright sexy

Q: When will we get more casting announcements to hold us over? A: I’ll try to get them to put out something soon. A lot of folks in all departments are affected by the state of the world right now though, so I can’t promise a timeline

Q: will we see the prologue from the Eye of the World on screen in season 1 A: You will hear that phrase

Q: What has been your favorite set so far? A: Fal Dara!

Q: Please tell me you’ve cut Narg!! A: Never!!

Q To what extent has Harriet McDougal been involved with the project? A: She’s a consulting producer so she’s been out to Prague to the sets and reads all the scripts and sends me her notes on them. She and Maria are hugely helpful for maintaining the truth of the series and always keep me honest when it comes to things that change too much

Q: Is any aspect of the show still in development, or has it all stalled because of the virus? A: A lot can be done virtually! I’m still doing VFX, editing and the Season Two Virtual Writers Room! And I can do it all in pajamas

Q: Will min, elayne, and avienda have to be combined into a single character?

A: Girl you crazy. I’m not going to combine huge characters like that. Maybe sometimes a minor character folded into a more major one to make better use of our cast but nothing nutso

Q: RJ created 1000’s of character. Given that did you feel the need to create new characters? A: Anyone “new” is inspired by characters in the books or a number of characters combined. If we paid to cast all speaking roles in the book we could only afford to have a radio play

Q: So far, what is your favorite prop in the show? A: Great Serpent Ring. We all want one.

Q: Will Loial portray the Ogier species, or will he be humanised for screen? A: He’s an Ogier!

Q: How involved, if involved at all, is Sanderson in the writers room? A: Brandon is hugely helpful. I talked to him before we started Season Two while he was in Prague to get advice and he reads all the scripts and gives notes. He’s incredibly thoughtful and understands the process of adaptation and what’s required from it. I feel so lucky to have him involved. I would have him do more if I could make him!

Q: What words of hope would you offer a fan afraid that the show will cut out a lot of content? A: I genuinely think we are cutting less than most people think. When I see people ask questions like “are you cutting Min?” It blows my mind. I don’t know how you do an adaptation without some of these characters. I think it’ll be more of the smaller stories you’ll miss. We can’t have Rand and May (sic) travel to many many inns on their travels across the countryside for instance. It’s just not producible. So that will be more of what you miss I think, and the books always exist to read for that 🙂

Q: I think Bella is such an important character, will the same horse play bella through the series A: We’ve already had to have two Belas. It turns out a horse for riding on film is not the same as a horse for pulling a cart and SHE MUST DO BOTH

Q: Can you please make sure you do a great job? Book are so great A: This is are a really good idea

Q: Now you’ve met them, settle the score: who’s better with women? Rand, Mat or Perrin? A: I think they’d all say it’s the other

Q: Will the show be understandable for those who didn’t read the books? A: That’s the idea. If there are little things they don’t get though, luckily google exists

Q: Who is your favorite Aes Sedai in the books? And you can’t say Moiraine/Siuan or the Wonder Girls A: So many rules. I honestly love all of them though (except Galina that bitch) Alanna Liandrin and Verin are probably my Top 3. And Siuan! There’s too many I love. Sheriam! Pevara!

https://www.wotseries.com/2020/03/22/show-runner-rafe-judkins-does-an-ama-on-instagram/

[neverlearnedtoread]

Spin the Dawn

⭐⭐⭐⭐; me @ the main characters: so many things would work out if either one of you had a slightly more developed (emotionally, intelligently...) braincell....and one of you is FIVE HUNDRED YEARS OLD 😡🤬

Oh?? 👌😉😏

diversity!! richly described southeast asian inspired-setting. as a southeast asian myself im always into that sweet sweet asian-inspired worldbuilding

inspired by the myth of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl! at least, im pretty sure. the story itself uses a lot of other elements that don’t happen in the original story but i still got that vibe from the characters

i liked the main character, maia - she was a little feistier than she was cold hard BDE, but! she put her money where her mouth was when it came to a challenge, and worked hard for her victory

lots of weaving imagery, which i love - if you’re gonna have a protagonist who creates some kind of art, you better believe im expecting extensive metaphors and painstaking depictions of pouring your whole heart into something breathtakingly gorgeous, powerful enough to bring the masses to their knees

No.. ❌🤢🤮

male love interest is *hand-wavey motion* much older than the female protagonist, on account of him being a hot sexy immortal magic man. im not too annoyed by this, because the dynamic was relatively balanced in-story, but it does annoy me as a trope on its own merit. why does he need to be that much older, especially when he’s not that much more mature??

not necessarily a complaint, but an observation: some of maia’s decisions were very YA protagonist; as in, i needed her to stop using her emotions as an excuse. if you’re gonna do it for the sake of a good dicking down, at least admit it to yourself, woman! it’s okay to be H word. you and i both know you’re gunning for that ass. just stop lying to me

Summary: Maia, the lone girl in a family of three boisterous brotherss, is a talented seamstress poised with the skills and the drive to take over the family’s tailoring business. Only she possesses both the patience and the artistic flair for making the most beautiful of dresses - so when the imperial palace summons the greatest tailors in the kingdom to become the new empress’s official dressmaker, she disguises herself as a boy (Mulan-style!) to take her aging father’s place. After some Project Runway shenanigans, the emperor’s bride-to-be throws a perfectly staged curve ball on things - she refuses to accept the royal wedding unless her appointed tailor is good enough to complete an impossibly gruelling task - crafting three beautiful, handsewn, uniquely-designed dresses to serve as her wedding gift. Oh, and if that wasn’t a tall enough order for one lone (and relatively inexperienced) dressmaker - the dresses she has in mind are made from the laughter of sun, the tears of the moon, and the blood of the stars. So that’s fun.

Concept: 💭💭💭💭 The cover. The COVER. Whew!! I make no pretenses about being a shallow reader, and this cover hit. right. Her cover artist really doesn’t miss! The blues! The stance! The spinning golden thread! The blurb actually managed to curb my excitement somewhat because I can smell a protagonist-falls-in-love-with-someone-she-probably-shouldnt subplot like a freshly rotting carcass, but I took another look at the cover and thought, I’ve made worse decisions than this. I’ll read it for the weaving metaphors. No regrets.

Vague spoilers under the cut!

Execution: 💥💥💥💥 And the verdict is....no regrets! Guess I will continue to go on being helplessly shallow about beautiful book covers. I didn’t love this story, but it was a fun romp through a well-paced plot and a gorgeously detailed fantasy world (the moon, sun, and star imagery.....monkey brain says huhuhu sparkly things do bring joy and I believe that), so there was really nothing to hate. I’m not too desperate for the sequel (except that I really need to know if my babe Sarhai gets her happy ending) but I want to pick it up eventually!

Personal Enjoyment: ❤❤❤ This book took me 3 days to finish this after taking two months (two attempts! why didn’t I just dnf..) to finish To Kill a Kingdom. It got me out of the bad reading slump so well, so fast! I really liked the writing style - the cadence rolled, instead of stabbed (insert bad weaving / sewing metaphor here). However, I really could’ve done without the rapidly intensifying no-braincell energy (NBE) of the two protagonists. While I’m in no way opposed to NBE, the fact is that the BDE wasn’t strong enough to justify the lack of thoughts - I kept thinking ‘where were the two of you when they were handing out the good braincells?? huh??? HUH????’. Love made them stupid but not more unhinged. *deep sigh* What a waste of a good simp

Favourite Moment: I have the distinct memory of Lady Sarhai stomping around the gardens with a handful of arrows and dead hawks (doves? she was trying to shoot the enchanter if i remember right. BDE honestly) and Lord Xina following after being a simp. maia did some shit too but i was paying more attention to the important stuff

Favourite Character: its a close match between Lady Sarhai and Lord Xina. Lord Xina only appeared like twice in this whole book but damnit im probably more invested in HIS love life than i am with maia’s. maia can figure her own shit out, she’s proved capable, but that Lord Xina dude willingly chose to simp for a highly pissed-off, hotheaded viper of a woman, and that can only mean one thing: he is a Man With Taste. we have no choice but to stan! plus in the narrative it’s pretty clear to me that Lady Sarhai and Lord Xina fully communicate their next moves (desperate, desperate moves on a sparse chessboard, bless their lovestruck souls) to each other before they pull anything. Sarhai’s next moves are calculated, and defiant, and Lord Xina plays his bad hand in a losing game with such precision. I just *clenches fist* we love open communication and clear co-conspirators in this house!!

[joealwyndaily]

Joe Alwyn recently met his childhood hero. The 28-year-old was attending the Academy's annual Governors Awards for the first time, where a who's who of Hollywood had gathered to schmooze with Oscar voters and watch this year's honorees receive honorary awards. The hobnobbing eventually led Alwyn to cross paths with none other than Zorro himself, Antonio Banderas.

"It took everything in me not to challenge him into a sword fight," Alwyn admitted.

Banderas, of course, starred as the masked vigilante in 1998's The Mask of Zorro and its sequel. "I was such a huge fan of Zorro growing up," Alwyn grinned. "That's one of the reasons why I probably ended up acting somehow. I literally just shook his hand and said, 'Hi!'" As it were, Banderas is in the awards season shuffle with Pain and Glory, while Alwyn was out in support of his new film, Harriet.

"There was no competitive element, obviously," he said. Still, the Governors Awards serve as the first pit stop for any potential Oscars contender. "You're sitting there watching these four amazing legends being honored for the most amazing backlog of work, someone like David Lynch and Geena Davis. And then you run into people that you have grown up watching."

Now, Alwyn is the one being watched. After studying at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, as actors such as Sir Laurence Olivier and Andrew Garfield did before him, a then-unknown Alwyn was cast as the lead of Ang Lee's Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk in 2015. "That was the strangest experience when it ended," Alwyn said.

"Because it was such a surreal, full-on experience: Going to a country I'd never been to before, being on a film set -- which I'd never been in front of a camera before -- with a group of people who I'd grown up watching, it was the most intense experience I'd had, ever. And then suddenly--" He snaps his fingers. "It's ended. And you are back in London and everyone's still over there and you're back to walking the dog and it's raining and you're trying to compute what's just happened. It was very surreal."

When I met up with Alwyn after the Governors Awards, he greeted me at the door to shake my hand and promptly offered to get me a water. "Or Coke? Or coffee?" he asked, surveying the spread of beverages. All of which is to say, he's polite. And humble, too, whether it be over compliments of his wardrobe -- a peacoat over a cerulean sweater, khaki joggers and great boots ("Thank you! They're not mine!") -- or the trajectory of his career.

If Alwyn's unlikely start feels nearly impossible to match, he followed Billy Lynn with a run of meaningful supporting roles, which were only possible because Lee took a chance on him. "Every opportunity since is because of that," he said, arm draped over the back of the chair. "I owe him everything."

"I felt very lucky to work with someone like him for the first time, and I thought, if I can, I want to keep trying to work with really interesting, great directors and not just jump into something that's a big role or big for the sake of it," he explained. "Trying to find parts in really interesting projects and build that way rather than just blindly jump."

That thinking led to a truly breakthrough year in 2018, with Alwyn appearing in Operation Finale, as the Nazi son of Ben Kingsley's Adolph Eichmann, in The Favourite, as the airhead paramour to Emma Stone, in Boy Erased, as a troubled love interest for Lucas Hedges, and in Mary Queen of Scots, as hand to Margot Robbie's Queen Elizabeth.

All the while he was gaining recognition for his acting, there was another angle of interest about Alwyn, casting him into the public spotlight for his personal life as the longtime boyfriend of Taylor Swift. How, then, was he able to reconcile the two?

"I just don't really engage with anything that I don't want to engage with," he said. "And so if there's any kind of extra noise about things that I'm not so interested in, I'll just turn it off. And so it just disappears, to a degree."

Currently, he's engaged with his return to theaters in director Kasi Lemmons' soulful Harriet Tubman biopic. Harriet is the first time the abolitionist and activist's story has been adapted into a proper biopic, and Alwyn acknowledged that, before being sent the script, "I ignorantly didn't really know much about Harriet. Growing up in the U.K., she's not part of the curriculum. I'd heard of her name, I'd seen the iconic older image of her, but I didn't know really who she was or what she did and what she achieved."

Cynthia Erivo plays the titular role, with Alwyn co-starring as Gideon Brodess, the son of Tubman's enslaver. The Brodess family is a matter of historical record, though Gideon exists somewhere between composite character and fictitious creation. That posed a challenge for Alwyn as he began the process of finding his way into Gideon.

"It was tricky. I mean, he's obviously a horrible person," he said. "And a horrible family. And they stood for something that is impossible to connect with today. For any good human being, it's impossible. The idea of slavery is repulsive and abhorrent, and so trying to find a way in is hard."

Instead, Alwyn searched for any relatable human qualities he could latch onto. Harriet posits that Araminta "Minty" Ross -- the child who would grow to become Harriet Tubman -- and Gideon Brodess would have been born around the same time, and Gideon might have even considered Minty a friend during their childhood. "Then, suddenly, a line would have been drawn and he would've been taught to hate or told to hate," Alwyn explained.

Their ties are further knotted when Gideon's father dies and he becomes Harriet's enslaver. "Whatever feeling it is he has for her that we touch on throughout the film -- whether it's love that's buried there, or whatever it is -- I don't think there was a language to understand that for himself. So I tried to hold onto some kind of confusion as a human being. Or to an obligation and loyalty to a family, even if that family is completely horrible."

He had the fortune of navigating it all alongside Erivo, with whom he shares the majority of his scenes. Erivo signed on to the project before anyone else and had spent years with it, in addition to the research and physical training she did before filming. Ahead of production, Alwyn and Erivo met with their director for a week's worth of rehearsals, during which they walked through the duo's most difficult scenes.

"It wasn't the kind of film where it would have been helpful to play mind games and go and sit in the corner and not talk to each other," he chuckled. "Because of the nature of it, you want to be in a safe space with each other and give each other a kind of understanding and a reassurance and permission to do whatever you need to do in order to service the scene, service the story in the way that we're trying to tell it."

And that story, he decided, was not strictly about a historical figure and what she was able to achieve in her lifetime. Harriet speaks to what has come to pass, now as much as ever: "If you're scrolling through Twitter or you go on the news, you're inundated with stories of division and prejudice and racism and families being torn apart," he said. "That's something that the film touches on, and Harriet is -- as much as any figure I can think of -- someone who fought and overcame those hurdles and is a shining light against all of those things."

With Harriet playing in theaters, Alwyn's next projects are already lined up: He's playing Bob Cratchit in FX's dark reimagining of the Charles Dickens classic, A Christmas Carol, opposite Guy Pearce's Ebenezer Scrooge. Then there is an adaptation of Jojo Moyes' best-selling novel, The Last Letter From Your Lover. And then? "I'd love to do a big war movie," he grinned. "Like a World War movie or something. That'd be cool."

And there are more awards season events ahead, too -- the Governors Awards being only the beginning of the race to the Oscars -- which means future opportunities to proclaim his love of Zorro. Alwyn didn't do it the first time. "I was just like, 'Hello!'" But it's bound to happen sooner or later." As I leave the hotel that day, who should stroll past me inside but Antonio Banderas himself? Perhaps it will be sooner.

[inhale-fandoms-exhale-asdfghjkl]

Starkid Musicals Ranked

So I know I've done this before but it was quite a while ago and Black Friday has come out now so naturally I've had some changes in opinion. Also I've got nothing else better to do in self-isolation and I had plenty of time so i thought why the hell not. 

I’m sorry for the fact that this post drags on a bit. I just really love Starkid if that’s not already obvious. Please keep in mind I wrote this at 3am so if it’s riddled with spelling errors or doesn't make sense, please bear with me.

This time I wanted to be really thorough in how i ranked the shows so i went through a few processes. 

First I ranked each of the shows based on the writing, music, production, humour, costumes and the cast’s performances (which is really just criteria that makes a show great for me personally). For each category i gave them a score out of 10 which I then added up and each show what given a score out of 60. 

The results of this were:

Hmb (53/60)

AVPS, Starship, Twisted (52/60)

AVPM & Black Friday (47/60)

The Trail to Oregon (46/60)

TGWDLM (45/60)

AVPSY & ANI (44/60)

MAMD (37/60)

Firebringer (35/60)

To be honest, i was quite surprised by some of these scores. Some shows were way higher or lower than i though they’d be but some were pretty accurate. However, i didn’t think these scores alone really reflected my actual personal opinions of these shows as a whole. There were a few shows with the same scores so I tried to figure out a way to kind of rank them by personal taste while still using the scores. Really all I did was I ranked the ones with tied scores.

HMB

Twisted

Starship

AVPS

AVPM

Black Friday

The Trail to Oregon

TGWDLM

AVPSY

ANI

MAMD

Firebringer

Now I definitely thought this list was much more accurate but I still felt a few shows were out of place. In particular, HMB. A good portion of the reason of why it got such a high score is purely for my love of the costumes. Therefore, I pretty much abandoned all the previous work I did and then just listed them based on my personal enjoyment of each show which actually isn’t too different. Because at the end of the day, no matter how high I score a specific criteria for a show, that doesn’t necessarily mean I enjoy other aspects of the show equally.

For each show, I go into a pretty lengthy description of things I love about the show, commenting on the writing, music, production, humour, costumes and the cast’s performances. I also give provide an MVP for each show which is just a specific cast member or two’s performances that I particularly like to or stood out to me. I also give my favourite song and scene of each show. 

Also this is just MY personal ranking of each show based on things that I do or don’t enjoy about them. I absolutely love every single one of these shows, don’t confuse me being a little critical with some of them as hate or disrespect. Please understand that these are my opinions, which I am allowed to have just like you and I ask you to respect them even if you disagree just like I would respect yours. 

So without further ado, this is my final ranking of Starkid’s musicals:

1. Twisted

In my eyes, this show is quite possibly the closest thing you will ever get to perfection. Whether it’s the soundtrack (BLESS YOU AJ HOLMES AND YOUR RIDICULOUSLY AMAZING SONGWRITING SKILLS) or the acting (DAMN YOU DYLAN SAUNDERS FOR MAKING ME CRY SO MUCH, IT’S REALLY NOT FAIR) or just Nick and Matt’s writing which let’s be honest is always amazing. This show perfectly balances both the comedy and dramatic elements of the story, which if I’m being truly critical, not every Starkid show does. It’s a ridiculously beautiful, heart-warming show but it never takes itself too seriously. It has this amazing ability to have you both laughing and crying at the same time. Aladdin is one of my favourite Disney movies and I have to say it’s an amazing adaptation, it’s legitimately better than Disney’s live action remake in my opinion. Like all of their adaptation/parody shows, Starkid is able to stay true to the original text while also making it their own which I think is what make their shows so unique and refreshing.

MVP: I mean I gotta go with Dylan Saunders. I know it’s an obvious choice but how can I not. I mean I can’t believe it took them five years before they have Dylan a lead role because let’s be honest he’s amazing and he absolutely nailed this fucking role. Not only does he perfect every single one of those heart wrenching monologues/scenes but like his comedic timing is perfect. But Jeff, Joe and Rachael are definitely honourable mentions.

Favourite Song: IF I BELIEVED. If you don’t believe this is the best song on the soundtrack then you can bloody fight me, alright. I’m getting emotional just thinking about this song, just imagine when I listen to it or worse, when I watch the scene.

Favourite scene: I really love the entirety of Twisted with all the other Disney villains but literally any scene with Achmed is very fun to watch.

2. Starship

So I explained this in my original ranking post but I’m going to say it again. This show holds an extremely special place in my heart. It was the first Starkid show I watched after initially joining the fandom through AVPM and AVPS. I honestly couldn’t tell you what my favourite thing about this show is or why I love it so much, I just do. This show was my favourite show (until Twisted was released) and I would literally watch it over and over again. I love the music, I love the writing, and I love every single one of the cast’s performances. I legit have almost close to zero critiques on this show. It’s one of Starkid’s best written and produced productions (I mean the set, the puppets, everything was on point). This is such a hilarious show with some of Starkid’s best and most iconic jokes and yet it still manages to be such a beautiful and inspiring show.

With all this being said, this show is so criminally underrated and I really do not understand why but I guess everyone’s got their own tastes and all but okay. You do you.

Also, just gonna go off on a tangent for a bit. This musical is what made me fall in love with the beautiful, amazing, talented Dylan Saunders. I could not believe that the same man could play the adorable and very loveable cutie pie that is Tootsie Noodles/Mega-Girl and the hauntingly charismatic Pincer who is by the way one of Starkid’s best villains. Yes I said it. Nonetheless 12 –year-old me was absolutely flabbergasted by this man’s talented and really had no choice but to fall in love with him. Apart from Twisted, this is most definitely Dylan’s best performance (Not that he has any bad ones. Let’s be honest, that man is perfect). Legit, I challenge anyone to try watch this musical and not fall in love with him. It’s literally impossible.

MVP: I don’t think I could pick just one, I mean they’re all so amazing. I’d probably have to go with Joey. I think Bug was a great character for him and really showcased his abilities, which have just grown exponentially over the years. It was great seeing him play a more serious role rather than his previously more comedic roles (Ron and Joey) while also getting to goof off a little bit. It’s so fun to watch him in this and I really don’t think he gets enough appreciation for this role. Oh and also Meredith is amazing in Starship. I absolutely love her as Mega-Girl and it’s my favourite role of hers.

Favourite song: The Way I Do. Bro the chemistry between Meredith and Dylan is off the charts and this song just shows it. I love everything about this song. It’s so beautiful, I can’t even. Also not too be too like generic but Kick it up a Notch is phenomenal and one of Darren’s best. Actually this show’s whole soundtrack is probably my favourite of the ones that Darren wrote.

Favourite scene: I don’t think I have a favourite but I love the scene with Junior and Mega-Girl where he calls her a toaster and all that. Some of Brian’s best acting and he and Meredith’s chemistry really is really present here. It’s not often you get to see these two play opposite each other so it’s fun and interesting to watch.

3. A Very Potter Sequel

As a major Harry Potter fan, it’s only natural that I hold the Potter series with the highest regard. Despite the fact that this show is a parody by a bunch of college kids, it literally is a better adaptation than a whole eight-part, multi-million budget film series and that’s saying something. How the hell did Nick and Matt write every single one of these characters more accurately and consistently than professional screenwriters and at times, JK Rowling herself? It’s very rare that you ever hear me say that a sequel (I guess it’s technically a prequel) is better than the original but here we are. Don’t get me wrong, AVPM is iconic™ but this show just somehow improved what AVPM already perfected. The plot was much more fleshed out and every single character was written so perfectly and also everybody was casted perfectly. If you follow me you probably know of my love for Remus Lupin and while his character is AVPS is written absolutely ridiculously, it is one of my favourite things about the show. In this show Remus is written to be like this total mess of a person, who is like homeless and just walks around the school half naked, covered in blood and forces a child to eat a dead deer and is just drunk all time and yet I can just totally accept it. Like if the movies had written Remus like this I’d be like “hmm no” but when Brian Holden does it I’m like “um yes this is amazing”. This is quite possibly Starkid’s funniest show, I literally cry of laughter EVERY TIME. Honestly this show is comedic gold for any Harry Potter fan. From anything that comes of Lupin’s mouth or the entirety of Umbridge’s character to Lucius’s dancing.

This being said, I can totally understand why anyone wouldn’t like this or the other Potter shows as much as the others or not think it’s funny if they’re not a fan as most of the humour is based on knowledge of the original series and obviously this for the other parody shows like HMB or ANI. Nonetheless I still think anybody could enjoy this show and its humour as Starkid pretty much has the same sense of humour running throughout most if not all of their shows.

MVP: Brian Holden. I don’t think I need to explain again. But also Tyler Brunsman and Joe Walker are scene-stealers too. Also Corey Dorris as Yaxley in this show is peak comedy.

Favourite song and scene: okay so these kind of go together for me for this show. The whole scene with Those Voices brings me to tears every time. I fucking love the whole marauders era so them showing Sirius Black seeing James and Lily in the Mirror of Erised is more than my heart can take. Nick and Darren in this scene is just *chef’s kiss* and then you add Brian Rosenthal harmonising in the background, well it’s enough to make any girl break and you bet it does every time.

4. Holy Musical B@man!

Oh my god this is just such a fun show and if it was a person, I would die for it. When I first watched this, I wasn’t that big of a DC fan at the time so I couldn’t fully appreciate it for what it was. It’s actually so amazing and it’s a real shame that it sometimes gets overlooked. Nick Gage’s song writing is actually amazing and I really love this soundtrack. I mean I literally get chills every time I listen to the end of Dark, Sad, Lonely Knight. You know which part I’m talking about.

Also can we talk about the costumes for this show? June really fucking outdid herself with this show, they are literally the best costumes out of the whole Starkid canon and you cannot tell me otherwise. Not only did she nail like the classic comic book character costumes like Batman and Superman, etc. while also making them her own but she also created completely original and amazing costumes like Sweet Tooth and Candy. I wish I had even a small percentage of that talent and artistic ability. Anyway this show is so hilarious and also so emotional at the same time it’s not even fair. I’m not a big fan of Batman or Robin and yet this show almost has me changing my mind. And honestly, Nick Lang deserves the fucking world, I absolutely love watching him act and it’s unfortunate he doesn’t do it a lot because he’s amazing.

MVP: Joe Walker. Don’t get me wrong, I love watching Joe play all of his over-the-top comedic roles but I particularly love watching him play a slightly more serious role like this, it’s really refreshing and I really think he knocked it out of the park. Also Jeff Blim as Sweet Tooth is one of my favourite Starkid characters. No joke, 12-year-old me was OBSESSED.

Favourite song: either Dark, Sad, Lonely Knight or Rogues are We.

Favourite Scene:  the whole To Be a Man scene.

“Batman or should I say Butthead”

“Aaaaaaahhhhhhhh”.

If that’s not comedic gold I don’t know what is.

5. A Very Potter Musical

This show is and always will be Starkid’s most iconic show. I think it says a lot that a silly parody musical put on by a group of college students has been able to inspire a whole decade’s worth of beautiful, creative, crazy works of art which only continues to grow. This show was never meant to become what it did but how lucky and fortunate are we all that it did. I am so grateful that 8-9 (tbh I can’t even remember anymore) years ago I decided to watch a silly musical about Harry Potter because I cannot imagine my life without Starkid in it. No this show might not have the best set or props or costumes or sound/video quality (it was 2009 guys, give them a break) but it is absolutely amazing in every single way and that’s all I’m going to say.

MVP: fucking everyone. I mean I’m around the same age they were when they started all of this and I can’t even imagine being able to create something even remotely as creative and wonderful or having any kind of success as close to that any time soon.

Favourite song: I feel like I should go for a classic like Not Alone but I’m not gonna lie I’m a real sucker for Missing You.

Favourite scene: oh man I don’t know the whole show is so iconic. I don’t know how I can pick just one.

6. Black Friday

I’m sure some people would be surprised that this show would be so high on this list for a number of reasons. Mostly due to the fact that I’ve been known to be quite fond of, and pretty biased towards some of Starkid’s older shows. But I think that’s just because I’m really nostalgic for how the fandom was back 8 years ago when I joined. And also when I joined the fandom, HMB was like our TGWDLM. It was the newest show out and everyone was talking about it. And also this is the show I have been rewatching the most lately and vie literally had the album on repeat for the last month.

A lot of people don’t really like the new direction that Starkid has taken with this show and honestly I don’t get it. Yes, it’s considerably darker than their other shows and while they classify it as a horror-comedy, it doesn’t really have a whole lot of comedy. But in my opinion, I think that’s what makes the show so great. The main focus of this show is the characters – their pain, their desires, their struggles and I think any excess of comedy would just take away from what’s really important. I really love watching Starkid delve into this new kind of story-telling and I think they’re doing an amazing job with this Hatchetfield series. I think this show did such a great show of introducing us to all the new characters, developing their arcs and really establishing their role within the world of Hatchetfield while simultaneously blending them perfectly with the already established characters from TGWDLM. What I really like about this show and even TGWDLM is how the characters are written. They feel so real not as cartoonish as some of the characters in Starkid’s previous shows which are why the audience can really relate to these characters.

Also this editing and cinematography of this show is fucking amazing and unlike anything else we’ve gotten from Starkid over the years. The choreography is outstanding and the musical is phenomenal. This is easily Jeff Blim’s best work and I have a feeling some people might disagree with me on that. The music in this show is so beautifully intricate and the lyrics have so much depth and emotion which I just feel like TGWDLM lacks. I know some people have been a bit offstandish about the singing in this show and I guess I’d have to agree. The live vocals on the youtube version do seem a bit off but I just suspect some cast members may have been sick or maybe they were just having an off day (it happens guys, even to professionals). Also I love the additions of some new members to Starkids, everyone was absolutely great in this show. For some of these actors, the characters they played were completely opposite to roles that they’ve played in the past but they all nailed it – Joey, Jon, Lauren. My only complaint in terms of casting is that I wish they gave Jaime more, while she is often praised for her singing skills (rightfully so), she often gets overlooked in her acting abilities and it would be great to see her play a bigger role in the next show.

Also I get it, Santa Claus is going to High School is very hilarious and great but please don’t make it another Workin’ Boys thing. Don’t go demanding Starkid to make a short film for this too, let them focus on their other bigger and better projects, please.

MVP: this show had some of my favourite performances from many Starkids but if I had to say someone who particularly stood out to me it’s definitely Kim. Before Black Friday, I will admit I hadn’t really seen anything with Kim in it so this was a great surprise for me. I am literally in love with her voice; it’s one of the most beautiful things in this world.

Favourite song: Take Me Back. Dylan and Kim are just amazing in this song I can’t even explain how much I love it. I’m also a major fan of Feast or Famine and If I Fail You. Ooh and Made in America.

Favourite Scene: I really love the scene with Tom and Becky in the movie theatre but I also really love the whole What Do You Say scene, I think it’s hilarious. But I think my favourite is with the whole Black and White scene with the President, Wiggly and Wiley. One of Joey’s best performances in my opinion.

7. The Trail to Oregon

So on my last list, this show was considerably higher but, on my recent rewatch of the AVPM shows and HMB, I’ve realised how much I really love those shows and unfortunately TTO had to be downgraded. Don’t get me wrong, I still very much love this show. It’s one of the most fun shows to watch and has me smiling the whole time without fail. In saying this, this show also does an amazing job of adding in these beautiful emotional dramatic scenes that brings the audience to tears. At the end of the day, this show really is just about family and how important it is to love and appreciate them no matter how insane they are or how much they annoy you. I know Jeff is really beloved in the fandom but I still don’t think he gets enough appreciation for how good of a writer (both script and song writing) he is, as well as an actor. This show is so unexpectedly beautiful and I’m really grateful for Jeff creating this story.

I don’t really think this show gets enough credit for how good its production actually is considering it only has six cast members. This show is proof of how diverse, creative and talented all these actors really are. It’s such a different concept from their other shows and I think they executed it so well.

MVP: Joey absolutely smashed it, I’m sure it’s not easy having to play all these different characters and literally change between them in a matter of seconds while giving each of them their own separate, unique identities. Another performer I got to give credit to in this show is Rachael, When the World’s at Stake is an amazing performance and Corey is so funny to watch in this show. Grandpa is probably my favourite character as well as the son.

Favourite song: probably When the World’s at Stake but also Independence. I cannot possibly estimate how much time I spent trying to learn those lyrics and sing it at that speed and get it right but I finally got there.

Favourite scene: the whole scene when the Grandpa, Son and Daughter are hunting makes me laugh every time, it’s so funny. But there’s something about that scene with McDoon and Cletus that ends with them riding on the horse together that makes me crack up.

8. The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals

Okay so I know the last time I did this, TGWDLM was like no 5 or 6 but like it’s been like a year and a half and a lot of my opinions on this show have changed. I’m also aware that by the time the next Starkid show is out I’ll probably also have changed my mind about Black Friday but who knows. I am eternally grateful to this show for introducing me to the amazing Jon Matteson. In a matter of 2 hours, this man somehow became one of my favourite human beings in the world. His portrayal as Paul is just, I don’t even know but something about it just sticks with me and I absolutely love it. This concept of this show is actually so amazing and you really gotta give the Lang’s credit for being able to come up with stuff like this. A lot of the beauty of the show is that it seems like such a simple concept but if you really think about the implications, you can actually understand why it’s so terrifying. Production-wise, this show isn’t anything fancy in terms of set, costumes props, etc. But the lighting design is amaaaaaazinggggggg!

The soundtrack for this show is pretty great but if you’re comparing it to Starkid’s other scores, it’s not the best. I said it before; the music in this just lacks the depth and emotion that is so heavily prominent in the Black Friday score.

MVP: Jon Matteson for the reasons above. And also Joey’s monologue as Ted to Bill gives me chills every time.

Favourite song: I feel like as the show goes on the songs do tend to get more personal, detailed and emotional which I why I probably favour those over many of the songs in act one. Let it Out and Inevitable are two songs in particular that I love and definitely stand out to me.

Favourite scene: the whole Let it Out scene with Jon trying to resist the apotheosis. And also Lauren’s acting at the end of Inevitable is amazing. Her running around the stage, distressed is both so horrifying but also absolutely hilarious.

9. Me and My Dick

I mean I guess I understand why a lot of people don’t like this show but that doesn’t mean I can forgive the fact that it’s so underrated. Yeah the humour is a bit crude and I get that’s not everyone’s thing but literally this show is two and a half hours of pure golden comedy. Honestly, who thought a show about high school kids and their walking and talking genitalia could be one of the most wholesome and heart-warming things in the world. I don’t think anyone other than Starkid could pull of something like this which honestly says so much about them. These people come up with some of the most craziest, outrageous stuff and somehow turn them into beautiful, amazing works of art.

The soundtrack for this show is so freaking good man. And AJ Holmes is literally one of the most amazing and talented people on this earth. How the fuck does he write such good music? I need to know, it’s really not fair. And for all those people who complain that it took Corey Dorris ten years to get a solo, I urge you to simply watch MAMD.

This show doesn’t have the best production and the sound quality is not great but you know what? Fuck you. Because the acting is this show outshines all of that. The energy each of the performers has in this show is crazy and they are all extremely talented. Literally AJ as Joey’s heart is next fucking level. And Arielle is criminally underrated for her role in this. And Nick Strauss is a comedy king. I’ve said it before and will say it again; The Old Snatch and Flopsy are the most iconic duo.

MVP: AJ and Nick. Like I said. Next level and iconic™.

Favourite song: Listen to your heart. But also Even Though. And Finale is a certified bop.

Favourite scene: I love the scene with Dick and Flopsy but I don’t know if it’s my favourite. But one of my favourite quotes is when Dick is talking to Joey about Miss Cooter’s hair and Joey’s delivery of “on her vagina?” cracks me up every time. And honestly there’s not a lot that can beat Brian during Gotta Find His Dick just intensely repeating “Someone tell him where his dick is”. It makes me laugh so hard I really don’t know why.

10. A Very Potter Senior Year

Alright so let me take you back to 2012. I remember the day they posted the video announcing they were not only making another Harry Potter show but that they were bringing back almost every Starkid member. It was actually such a weird time for the fandom because it really did seem like this show was going to be the end of Starkid. When you watch the show, you can see that the actors are not only saying goodbye to Harry Potter and the characters that they had been playing for the last 3 years but also they were saying goodbye to each other. It was heartbreaking to watch then and it still is now 8 years later. 2012 me was absolutely devastated because I had only just discovered this fandom and I thought I would already have to say goodbye to something that become so special to me in such a short amount of time. Luckily for us all this was not the end of Starkid.

This show really holds a special place in my heart, for so many reasons. First off, it was the first Starkid show that I got to watch as it premiered. Second, I was still grieving the end of the Harry Potter movies and these musicals had kind of replaced that for me but then this was ending too. And third, it really just is the most perfectly executed ending to the AVP series.

This show makes me both laugh and then cry and then laugh again and then cry and laugh at the same time. In my opinion, it is one of the best written Starkid shows, on par with the other Potter shows and I think the only reason why it gets overlooked is the fact that it’s a stage reading rather than a proper production. But you know what, considering this show was literally put together in such a short amount of time and the actors literally had a few days’ worth of preparation, they still managed to put on an amazing show. I wholeheartedly believe that if this show had been a proper production, it would be pretty fucking perfect. The soundtrack for this show is probably the best out of all the Potter shows for me. Every one of these songs is a bop and I love them all so much.

Long story short, people need to stop sleeping on AVPSY and appreciate it more.

MVP: Joey Richter. I don’t even need to explain. Just watch Act 2 Part 11. Actually him in the entirety of Act 2. And also that delivery of “losers like us that’s who” just makes me cry every time. How did Starkid portray Ron more accurately in these musicals that WB did?

Favourite song: it’s a tie between I Was and I’m Just a Sidekick.

Favourite scene: The whole scene with the resurrection stone and Everything Ends. Absolute Perfection.

11. ANI

Like the Harry Potter shows, I can understand why people don’t like this show. If youre not a fan of the original text, you probably won’t like the comedy or understand the entire plot or whatever. And honestly that’s the only reason I put this show so low. I have very very little knowledge of Star Wars so pretty much all of the jokes and that go right over my head. However, I still find it very enjoyable to watch and most of that probably has to be credited towards the fact that it has a killer soundtrack and a pretty perfect cast. Also like I said with HMB, I love the rare occasion that we get to see Nick perform. This soundtrack, oh my god, it’s so amazing. Why do people keep overlooking it? I get that it’s different because it’s not the character’s singing it but like that choreography though. Clark Baxtresser has one of the most beautiful voices so you’ll never hear me complaining about a whole score of pretty much just his voice. But that’s just me. I hate how much hate I see for this show. Everyone worked extremely hard on this show, particularly Nick and Matt who wrote the whole thing and the lack of appreciation for it is horrible to see. It’s actually such a fun show, and you can tell the cast had so much fun doing this show because their energy is so great in this.

MVP: Nick Lang. Again, he deserves the world. And Chris Allen is incredible in every role he does but particularly this.

Favourite song: With My Own Eyes and Long Ago and Far Away. I just really love the vocals.

Favourite scene: Nick’s scene as Obi-Wan.

12. Firebringer

CoNtRaVeRsIaL oPiNiOn  but sorry but I don’t like Firebringer. It’s not that I hate it. I’m just not really fan of it or its comedy – mostly because I don’t think it has any. I’ve seen people say that Twisted or MAMD rely too much on using swearing/ profanities for humour but honestly I think that’s more of the case for this show. That’s not to say that there’s not things I don’t like about it. Apart from HMB, this show probably has some of the best costumes. I can’t really fault Nick and Matt’s writing too much but I have to say this is some of their weakest work. I don’t think the plot as a whole is bad I just think there’s parts that don’t work for me or just don’t feel right. And I’m not really a fan of the characters and their development. I never thought I’d ever be able to say that I dislike any role of Meredith’s but honestly I find her character really unlikeable and I know people might attack me for that but it’s just my opinion. I like Zazzalil, I think Lauren did a great job, as always but I don’t know I just don’t think there’s any particular character or performance that really stands out for me in this show. If I’m being completely honest, I have only been able to watch the full run of this show twice, maybe three times and it has been a while since the last time I watched it but if I’m being honest I don’t see myself sitting down to watch it again any time soon. One thing I can definitely praise this show on is the female and LGBTQ+ representation, although that should go unsaid but even in 2020, seeing positive representations of female, LGBTQ+ or POC in media is still somehow refreshing and surprising and ain’t that just a little bit sad?. Another thing I can praise this show on is the music, I actually quite enjoy majority of the soundtrack.

MVP: Both of the Lauren’s. Lauren Lopez because she’s amazing in everything but especially in this, I’m so happy she finally got a lead role, she deserved it 100%. And Lauren Walker is just fucking hilarious. Why hasn’t she been in another Starkid show since?

Favourite song: probs climate change

Favourite scene: like I said, there’s really not a lot that stands out to me in this show so I really don’t know what to pick.

[fwns]

First time crying because of a pokemon game

Literally no one:

Me: I’m gonna write about pokemon shield because it’s a great game and i love it

Man the last time i got to review something was probably 7 years ago during high school english class. I am by no mean a writer, yet again a game reviewer. This is just my honest take on the game bc it saddens me to see that a lot of people are shitting on the game especially with the dexit, short game, lack of action and the paid DLCs just announced. I‘ve been playing pokemon for 10 years or so (my first game was saphire) and despite the flaws this game has, i truly enjoy it.

1.) First of all. dude u gotta appreciate the visuals of the game!! LOOK AT THOSE!!

The screenshots above are from some of my favourite areas in the game. The concept of wild area is really cool and it makes the pokemon journey more realistic like the ones we used to see in the anime or how we imagined it. That it would take days to reach a city and u need to set up a camp whenever you need to rest or fill your belly. Also getting chased by strong wild pokemon in the wild area really got my blood pumping lmao

2.) THE SOUNDTRACKS. THE FRIGGIN. MUSIC. I’m such an aficionado for great music whether it’s an album, movie scores, and even games like these. Seriously the gym leader battle theme is an absolute banger (especially the crowds’ chants!!). Like it makes my 12 yo character more fired up to kick a grown up’s ass in front of a packed stadium and live tv.  The last time i was this excited to kick a gym leader’s butt was when i was battling winona years ago bc my dumb ass haven’t quite figured out the concept of type advantages.

^more appreciation for the gym leader battle theme. From all the shits this game has received, i haven’t seen a single complaint about the music so explain this, science side.

3.) I love how in this game some of the NPCs have actual character like our rival hop, leon, piers, marnie and bede too. BUT ESPECIALLY OUR RIVAL HOP. SERIOUSLY HOP IS BEST BOI AND ONLY DESERVES THE BEST 😭😭😭. Hop is (i assume) childhood friend/neighbour who happens to be the little brother of the current champion leon. Now this may seem like a usual pokemon protag - rival trope, being the protag is a nobody who just stepped into the world of pokemon trainer and the rival being someone related to someone important in the region (like how green/blue, barry, and hau was). Being a champion’s little brother is quite a big deal for hop but hop isn’t the snarky arrogant rival like green was. Instead he’s just a happy kid who dreams of surpassing his brother and want to form a healthy rivalry/friendship with you (he’s kinda a mix of barry and hau imo). Throughout your journey, hop helps you with the ropes and just generally be there as a friend...a real good friend.

And just like the previous games, as the story progresses you get to battle hop quite frequently and in order to advance further in the game (and keep those pocket money to buy varsity jackets) you gotta beat him over and over again. The thing is, unlike some other rivals who were like ‘wow ur so strong! k i need to train more bye’ hop actually TALKS TO YOU. Sure he did acknowledge our strength, but after he would talk to you abt other things like the next city/gym leader or even abt his life atm. I really appreciate the developers for making details like this bc through the dialogues you can actually see the depth of the characters and it makes you actually think. Like for example from my battles and dialogues with hop, i can see that he’s quite pressured bc of his background as the champion’s brother and people have high expectations of him, yet he keeps on losing to you (his rival). There is even one point in the game in which hop fell through a downward spiral bc he keeps on losing to you (the protag) and another NPC rival. You can ACTUALLY FEEL the stirring of emotions through the battles with hop and the dialogues bc at one point he even said something like ‘i don’t wanna drag leon’s name through the mud bc i’m too weak’ and i was like NOOOOO WHO HURT YOU 😭😭😭😭 (but then i realized it was partly me oh god i’m so sorry hop). Never in all my experience playing pokemon game that i feel bad about beating a rival, i do hope in future games they would let the rival beat us....well probably during an offscreen battle :p

Also, for the longest time we finally have our champion doing actual champion duties (?) like protecting the region from catastrophe. Like i understand that this is probably where the ‘lack of action’ comes from because let’s face it, team yell isn’t actually a threat to you or the region, and whenever a ‘real threat’ comes up, leon would beat you to take care of it first. Tbh there are moments when i was like ‘damn leon let me in on the fun too!’ but then again i realized there are actual adults in this game with their actual jobs (champion, researchers, gym leaders) who can actually do their job without relying on a 12 yo to do everything for them which is pretty realistic if you think about it

but don’t worry, in the end we’ll get to play a big part in saving the region too :))

4.) THE GYM LEADERS AND GYM BATTLE IN THIS GAME ARE JUST *chef kiss* the developers really put all their effort in this. Although i admit some of the gym challenges are kinda ‘lazy’ like just pummel through these gym trainers before facing the leader (especially on the last gym???really????). But the battles against the leaders are never boring.

WE FINALLY GOT A DARK TYPE GYM LEADER WOOTTT!! Plus he’s that one dude from the pop punk band that we love during our middle school years.

God i wish i had a big brother like piers, not only he’s one of the most challenging gym leader in our journey but he also helps us not just once but twice. At one point he throws an impromptu concert to cause a riot for us to be able to get through a heavily guarded area

gOD i love that chaotic energy 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻

Last but not least...man...MY BEST BOI RAIHAN!!! JUST BEST GYM LEADER, DRAGON TAMER (lol sorry lance), A GENIUS, 100% WILL TREAT YOU RIGHT, JUST 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻💦💦💦 💕 💕 💕💯💯💯 

just thank you gamefreak for creating him 😭😭😭😭👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 

OH AND GYM BATTLE UTILIZING WEATHER EFFECTS??? that’s some solid strategy there. I’m not a really strategic pokemon trainer, so i usually just pummel through every opponent lmao so when i saw this man controlling dragons and the weather i just 😮

AND THE FRIGGIN SELFIE GAWD 😭😭😭😭 LIKE WHO THOUGHT SNAPPING A SELFIE IN THE MIDDLE OF A SANDSTORM HOLDING A GIANT ASS POKEBALL IS A GOOD IDEA??? BUT THIS MAN SOMEHOW MAKES IT WORK. Also pls give me that camera bc the quality is bomb.

Well this turns out to be longer than i expected but i really just pour out how i feel about this game. It’s true that it’s not perfect and there are some aspects that can be done better, but as a long time fan of pokemon I REALLY ENJOY THIS GAME. I can see that the developers really work hard for this game to be able to cater to both old and new fans, and we all know that it’s impossible to please everyone. And for those of you who begs to differ or have different opinion about this game it’s perfectly fine and i’m not hoping to change anyone’s opinion. But PLEASE STOP HARASSING THE DEVELOPERS AND NEW FANS ESPECIALLY YOUNGER ONES! because we all know people who shames others’ interest are the worst kind of people :))) And if you have the time and money i suggest you give this game a try.  Well that’s all i gotta say, have a good day/night everyone!!

[gracie-p8-officialblog]

Defending Christine Daae

I never thought I'd have to write a post with that title, let me tell you.

Because when I first heard of Phantom of the Opera, I was under the impression that everybody loved Christine just as much as I did. I mean, how could you help it? Well, I was wrong. It would seem that there are, in fact, people out there who don't share my exact opinion (shock of shocks) and who dislike Christine for various stupid reasons.

Now, I'm not here to point fingers at anyone or to belittle anyone's opinions in anyway, and blah-de-blah [fill in the rest of long boring disclaimer any way you wish]. But I AM here to defend one of my favourite female protagonists in a work of fiction! And defend her I WILL! IN THE NAME OF THE MOON!

Um, pardon me. Don't know how that last sentence got in there.

Now, on the internet, I've heard some flak about Christine, and though I'm not here to make anyone feel bad (see above) I do want to refute those points about her, point-by-point. (Hmm. Redundancy.) One of the biggest points against Christine is her choice to be with Raoul instead of the Phantom, who *ahem* TOTALLY needed her because he had a bad life and he taught her to sing! My opinion?

I don't think that means Christine owes him love. Appreciation and thanks, yes. But not love. The only thing he ever did that was worth any kind of love was letting Christine go. And she isn't some sort of consolation prize! It's NOT her job to fix the Phantom, only he could fix himself!

C'mon people! The two pretty much fit the qualities of an abusive relationship (emotional manipulation, throwing her around, restricting her from seeing other people etc.) And it’s kinda disturbing. “BUT!” You cry, “CHRISTINE REJECTED THE PHANTOM FOR A SHALLOW REASON! HE WAS UGLY!”

While I do understand what you’re coming from, I would like to inform you that it was actually his toxic behaviour towards her and murderous qualities that drove her away from him and made her choose Raoul. In “Final Lair”, she said one of the biggest burns in Gothic thriller history “It’s in your SOUL where the TRUE distortion lies...”  The Phantom's problem isn't with his disfigurement. No, the problem is with what he's allowed his disfigurement to make him. He's become so obsessed with the idea that no one loves him and no one will ever really care for him that he believes anyone who stands remotely in his way is just out to get him. So what does he do? He murders people whom he gets annoyed with. First Buquet, then Piangi, and finally (almost) Raoul. And that is DEFINITELY not okay! 

I think Christine saw him as more of a teacher, or a friend, or a... father figure, in a messed up way... which is more evident in the book on how she is both afraid and sympathetic for the Phantom. 

While not condoning his actions,  I do wish the Phantom could have found someone to love him. Good gracious, his final lines “IT’S OVER NOW THE MUSIC OF THE NIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGHHHHHHTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” makes me tear up every time.  Gah. I'm in danger of sobbing, too, but I really want to get this post done, so I will conquer myself and think of something Funny instead. *thinks* I know! Gerard Butler’s version of the “All I Ask Of You (Reprise)”. That’ll cheer me up and make me laugh XD!

In all seriousness, I know that Erik is unstable and violent. But I also know that he really IS a gentle, misunderstood soul. You can be both, you know. The unstable and violent side of him, unfortunately, triumphed- and his dreams, his desires for love, his castle on a cloud came tumbling down because of it.

And so... onto the next point, another common argument used to bash Christine is that she’s considered to be flat, boring and goes through ZERO development! But in actual fact, there’s so much going on in her head and goes through quite an emotional travesty that it’s almost impossible to call her bland!

She is deeply wounded by the loss of her father, and has this incredible musical talent which stayed in a state of diamond in the rough before being discovered by her “Angel of Music”. He trains her, not realizing that she is becoming the center of an unhealthy obsession, genuinely believing in her naivety that he is some benevolent spirit sent by her father, therefore bringing her a sense of comfort. She is a pious girl, after all, and being religious myself, well, such a reaction from someone who believes like her is believable though naive. Can we blame Christine for that? NO. How is she supposed to guess?

And now, let's talk about "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again", aka. The Christine Empowerment™ song! I feel like the difference between a good portrayal of Christine and a great portrayal of Christine, is based on how good their rendition of this song is. It is a crucial part of the plot. One of the reason The Phantom and Raoul appeal to Christine is because of the connection they represent to her dead father. Of course, Raoul actually knew her father and the Phantom uses his memory to manipulate her. At this point in the show, Christine has become disillusioned with Raoul and is afraid of the Phantom. She realizes through the song that the only way she can’t move forward is through letting go of the past, and getting over the death of her father. This fuels her actions through the rest of the show as it makes her realize that if she wants her happy ending, she must take charge of her destiny and earn her own agency! And the Phantom, trying to use her in the moment where she was probably at her most vulnerable since she is questioning herself about her entire life, only catalyses her decision. She performs in Don Juan Triumphant, because she knows that everything is up to her, and that she cannot let the Phantom keep on destroying her life.

As for her unmasking the Phantom in "Point of No Return", Christine did this in a way to show him that she refused to be controlled by him any longer. It is certainly not the most intelligent thing to do, nor the nicest, but again, her behaviour is explainable. But as said above for Erik, it doesn’t excuse her. And it shows how she was beginning to be able to resist his pull/spell/enchantment/whatever you like to call it on her!

I adore and admire Christine Daae as a character so much, and it was her actions and story arc that really started my love for this story. Christine's ability to love unconditionally and selflessly is so profound. Even though the Phantom put her and everyone else through lots of horrors, she still doesn't hesitate to show kindness towards him but makes sure that her abuser NEVER hurts anyone EVER again. She loves Raoul so much that she's pretty much willing to sacrifice her freedom and happiness so Raoul could be free. No matter what circumstances she is given, she will still put the ones she loves before herself no matter what, even if it means giving up a chance to save herself. I know most of us won’t ever be put in such an extreme scenario but Christine is such an inspiration of how to love others and believe in them despite flaws and bad sides. She inspires me to see the good in people. It’s so easy to be cynical and hardened in this world, and I think that Phantom of the Opera reminds us to have kindness and light in our hearts, even in challenging circumstances.

I would also like to add another moment of character. Think what it must have taken to prepare for the female lead role in a 3-act opera. Christine wasn’t even an understudy. In a matter of minutes, she went from member of the ballet corps to the lead role, and she had to rehearse and remember new music, character, blocking, and vocals. Not only did she prepare in time, she performed so well that she became a hit. This reveals, not only the skill and beauty of her voice, but also her concentration, diligence, and acting capability. Everyone hails the Phantom as the ultimate musical genius—and he is—but they overlook the implied extent of Christine’s skill.

She went through the loss of both parents, manipulation, being stalked, and knowing that the person she loves most has his life on the line - because of her. And then she literally gets off of her knees and shows her abuser the first form of kindness he has ever known. Not even the Phantom was strong enough for that; he gave up on the world far too early. Christine is the embodiment of courage and kindness; she teaches us to love and forgive those who have been awful to us, and to protect those we love even if it means our own suffering. But she no longer succumbs to the Phantom and makes sure her abuser never hurts anyone EVER again. Seriously, this girl is AWESOME! And this was in the 18th century! It's really sad that such a great character is overlooked by many...

It seems that Leroux really understood women... That we can be emotional, we are vulnerable but not weak... And emotion really helps us when we keep them in control!

Christine, in a nutshell, is a kind, observant, compassionate, trusting young woman–a too trusting at first–but with a spine of steel and determination once she’s drawn the line. She loves people deeply, but she picks up quickly on the realities of the situation. She has the strongest character arc in the story and makes the choices to grow and to move on. Yet she remains gentle and compassionate, uses her love to bless and not manipulate. She’s a layered character who grows. And there’s so much more to her than meets the eye.

[gb-fics]

Art Class - Monday (1)

AU Fanfiction:

Kiryuuin Shou x Kyan Yutaka (Golden Bomber)

Note: This is a high school AU, which means it’s really soft except for the gross teenage boy alert now and then XD There are five chapters, but I’ll post them all at once. Not sure this is what any of you asked for, but I hope you enjoy anyway (^-^) Also, yes, I’m pretty sure you know the weekdays but I’m numbering the chapters anyway.

To say that Shou was bad at drawing would have been an understatement. His sense of proportion was dire, his taste of aesthetics poor and when it came to an eye for colour, Shou was nearly blind. He did not care about art history, nor about different drawing techniques. He was barely able to hold a paint brush the right way around.

Yet he was here in front of the art classroom. He would be here every morning for the rest of the week, that the school euphemistically called “project week”. They might as well have called it “pain and suffering”, had they asked Shou. But as usual, no one had asked Shou. The world did not seem to care for his opinion very much.

The girl’s name was Sakura. Because whenever Shou did something extraordinary stupid, something that went against all of his preferences and believes, it had to do with a girl of course. She wasn’t the prettiest girl in their grade, nor the smartest. But she had a cute face, that looked even cuter when she laughed, and a pink handbag and she wore cute bangs. Shou was very much in love with her. Like the rest of the female population on this earth, she seemed to have no idea that Shou existed. Since Shou wasn’t friends with anyone from her class who might have introduced them and since he would never have gathered the courage to just speak to her on his own accord, he hadn’t really had a chance to do anything about her obliviousness so far. But project week had been near. And Sakura loved drawing. The plan had been perfect, absolutely fool-proof. Except that Sakura wasn’t here today.

Shou checked the waiting students around himself once more. They were a small group of no more than fifteen people. Pretty much all of them were girls. That was good, Shou figured. That way it was impossible for even him to let the entire week pass by without talking to a single girl. Still, Shou did not allow himself to feel joy over that fact. The only girl he wanted to talk to was Sakura.

“Good morning, everyone”, Utahiroba Sensei greeted them and fumbled with his keys to unlocked the art room.

Utahiroba Sensei was exactly the type of guy you’d expect to teach art. Mostly, because he dyed his hair weird colours all the time. Currently his hair was purple.

When Shou entered the art room, he realized that it looked different from usual. First of all, the desks were gone. Instead canvas stands were arranged in a circle.

“Everyone, please take your own easel”, Utahiroba Sensei said and waited for the rustling to stop.

Shou walked up to one easel by the window, because it was the farthest away from the door. The places by the window were the equivalent of choosing to sit in the last row.

It took another few minutes for everyone to take off their jackets and drop their bags. When it finally became quiet, Utahiroba Sensei cleared his throat.

“Welcome to this week’s art class. I’m happy so many of you chose to be here today. All of you will have the privilege to focus on a creative project of your own choice for the next five days. We will …”

The classroom door flew open with a loud bang. Shou had not known that one could create that much noise with a door. But obviously, you could, if you just slammed it hard enough into the next wall.

A boy rushed into the room. Rushing worked like walking, just louder. His jacket was crumpled, his shirt not buttoned up properly and his bleached shock of hair was a mess. His name was Kyan Yutaka and he looked like he meant trouble.

Shou heard two girls next to him giggle and whisper. He felt a pang of jealousy instantly.

It wasn’t fair that guys like Yutaka existed. Guys who were loud and rude and always late, and who still had all the girls swooning over them because of their good looks. Shou had never exchanged even one word with Yutaka, but he disliked him anyway.

The school bell rang out loud and clear.

Yutaka froze in his motion, then turned towards Utahiroba Sensei with a wide grin.

“I’m not late, Sensei”, he announced cheerfully.

Utahiroba Sensei raised his eyebrows in what seemed to be slight amusement.

“I wasn’t accusing you of anything, Mr. Kyan Yutaka. If you would be so kind to close the door. The way you treated it, you own it an apology, too.”

“Sure thing”, Yutaka said and turned around to close the door while performing a small bow towards it.

Utahiroba Sensei watched him with a sarcastic smirk. Shou was not surprised that he remembered Yutaka’s name. Yutaka was the kind of person who got into trouble, because he always talked back to teachers, but was still everyone’s favourite. Most teachers had difficulties remembering Shou’s name. The same went for his classmates and even his friends, who always seemed to leave after a while as if they had forgotten who he was, too. Sometimes, when he walked into the living room, even his mother looked at him as if for a moment, she was wondering what that stranger was doing at her house. Shou assumed he just had the kind of personality that one forgot about easily.

Shou heard some more giggles as Yutaka turned around and scanned the room attentively. Although most of the easels were taken already, he took his time to pick.

Finally, the grin returned to his face and he walked towards the empty easel besides Shou. He walked right through the circle of his classmates and Shou thought that it taught him all about Yutaka’s character that he needed to know. He himself would have taken the long way around the circle, so people wouldn’t look at him. Yutaka seemed to enjoy the stares.

He dropped his bag on the floor next to Shou.

Shou was not surprised Yutaka had picked the empty easel by the window. He was the typical individual who sat in the back row.

“Alright, if we are complete now and everyone is seated, we might continue. Or are we waiting for anyone else?”, Utahiroba Sensei asked.

A girl close to the door raised her arm hesitantly. Shou stomach twisted immediately. He didn’t know the girl’s name, but he knew she was close friends with Sakura. If she was here, Sakura had enrolled for drawing class as well for sure. Maybe she was running late.

“Sensei”, the girl said. She spoke quietly as if wanting to apologize for breaking the silence. Maybe she had a crush on Utahiroba Sensei. Quite a few girls liked the arty type. “My friend Yoshizawa is enrolled for the class as well, but she fell sick. She won’t be in this week.”

“It’s alright”, Utahiroba Sensei said. “I received her notification of sickness already.”

Shou felt his insides turn very cold. She wouldn’t be in for the entire week. Now, he was stuck with drawing class while he could have done something that he actually enjoyed instead. But even worse – his only chance to talk to Sakura had just vanished. An opportunity like this would never rise again before graduation.

Shou felt ready to throughout pity himself, when a voice interrupted him.

“Oi!”, Yutaka whispered really loudly. It took Shou a moment to realize that he was talking to him.

Guys like Yutaka usually did not talk to Shou, ever. He was popular with the girls and hung out with the sporty guys. He went on group dates all the time. Shou was glad, if he found only one person who wanted to hang out with him. They seemed to live in different spheres and he couldn’t quite believe that Yutaka was trying to engage in a conversation with him.

He turned his head to look at Yutaka suspiciously.

He seriously wondered what he was doing here in drawing class anyway. Shou would have expected him to do something related to sports, like all of his friends. Or take the theatre workshop at least. Yutaka treated the world like it was only a stage for his appearance anyway.

“You think they’ll teach us to draw nudes? Cause I’d be up for that”, Yutaka said with a grin.

Shou stared at him and finally managed a meek smile. He felt like he was supposed to laugh. And had Yutaka been his friends, he might have laughed about it indeed. Jokes about nudity were usually right up Shou’s alley. But he didn’t know Yutaka very well and didn’t know what he was expecting of him. He didn’t want to make a fool out of himself in front of someone who was that popular. He also didn’t want to try too hard to please Yutaka, or really just encourage him to keep talking. Shou had already decided that he hated Yutaka after all.

Luckily, Utahiroba Sensei relieved him of the decision on how to react.

“As I was about to explain, Yutaka, every student in this class is free to pick an object of their choice to portrait during this week. Everyone is strongly asked to keep on their clothes, though.”

Some of the girls giggled.

Yutaka snorted.

“What I want you to do, is to draw an object of your choice. It can be anything. You can choose the material you work with and the drawing style. This isn’t regular art class, it’s a project week. And you will each have your own project to work on. I want you to challenge yourself. The outcome, however, will receive a final grade on Friday, that will appear on your next report, so you better try hard.”

Shou made a face all to himself.

The grade wasn’t that important all in all, they would have to take exams for job applications or to get into university anyway, but it would still look better, if he had chosen something that he was actually good at.

“To make sure, you give your best”, Utahiroba Sensei carried on. “You will work with a partner for the entire week. You help each other and offer advice. It is also an important lesson for your social skills. As you know, this project week is meant to support the teambuilding along people from different classes. So, now, please team up with someone from a different class. You will work together closely for the rest of the week.”

Shou swallowed hard around the dry knot in his throat. He was awful at approaching strangers and most of the students in class were female. His own awkwardness would disable him of finding a partner for sure.

Someone punched his upper arm hard. Shou winced with pain and reached up to cover the hurting spot.

“We’re partners?”, Yutaka asked.

Shou stared at his beaming face. Working together closely for the rest of the week. Five days. He wanted to say no. He wanted to work with a cute girl. Someone who was as shy as him. In the entire room, Yutaka was surely the most annoying person to spend a week with. But on the other hand, Shou wasn’t keen on having to ask one of the girls himself. And he would be nervous around a female partner all the time anyway. With Yutaka, at least he would feel at ease. And you didn’t tell someone that popular no. Shou’s reputation would never survive turning Yutaka’s offer down.

He wasn’t sure why Yutaka had asked him to begin with. All the girls would have loved to work with him. But Shou figured it was because they were standing next to each other and Yutaka was too lazy to put in any more effort.

“Sure”, Shou said, not feeling very sure.

“Great”, Yutaka said. “I’m Yutaka, by the way.”

Shou furrowed his brow. The “I know”, nearly slipped out, but he held himself back just in time. Of course, he knew who Yutaka was. Everyone from their year knew. But Yutaka had obviously been so unaware of Shou’s existence so far, that he couldn’t even imagine it to be different the other way around. To him, it must feel like they were meeting for the first time, although they were in the same grade for nearly three years already.

“Shou”, Shou said.

“Great”, Yutaka said again, which didn’t really make sense to Shou.

“Now, if everyone is paired up, we are going to start with an exercise to spark your creativity”, Utahiroba Sensei announced. “We are going to walk around the schoolyard for you to be inspired to find a motive for your project. Please, stay with your partner and discuss different ideas and their possibilities. Oh, and take jackets, it might be cold outside.”

Groaning Shou put on his jacket. He did not feel very enthusiastic about walking outside in the cold, moreover with Yutaka by his side. He would probably try to talk to Shou some more.

“Amazing, I need a smoke anyway”, Yutaka said and got out a pack of cigarettes, slipping it to the back pocket of his pants.

“Aren’t you taking a jacket?”, Shou assured.

Yutaka rolled his eyes.

“It’s almost spring”, he said.

Shou decided not to argue with him. In a chattering group they went outside.

Utahiroba Sensei remained standing close to the entrance door, watching over his students. Shou watched the girls strolling around as well. If only Sakura was among them.

“Hey, come on, this way”, Yutaka urged him and grabbed the sleeve of Shou’s jacket to pull him around a corner of the school building.

Shou knew this part of the schoolyard, though he usually didn’t spend time around here. It was were the sportsmen gathered. They were out of Utahiroba Sensei’s sight now.

Yutaka walked over to a low brick wall and sat down on it. The casualness of his motions indicated a certain routine.

He was fumbling with his pack of cigarettes now, getting out one as well as a lighter. He put the cigarette between his lips and lit it. Deeply he inhaled.

“You’ll get in trouble, if Utahiroba Sensei catches you”, Shou pointed out.

He felt uncomfortable, because they had snuck off like that. They probably weren’t supposed to get away from where their teacher could see them and they sure as hell weren’t allowed to smoke on school’s ground.

Yutaka shrugged.

He did not look as if he was interested in working the task they had been given. Shou didn’t want to look like a bore by bringing it up, but he also didn’t want to get into trouble.

“You want one?”, Yutaka offered and waved the pack of cigarettes, while blowing out smoke through his nose.

“I don’t smoke”, Shou said.

Yutaka tapped the ash off his cigarette.

“I should quit, too”, he admitted.

Shou watched him inhaled another time.

He felt more awkward than ever. If only he was a little bit tougher, he would have accepted the cigarette. At least he would know what to do with his hands now. He shoved them into the pockets of his jacket. He was pretty sure it looked as if he was sulking. He turned his eyes to the ground.

“So, why art class?”, Yutaka asked. “I thought you’d join the music group for sure.”

Shou looked up again in surprise.

It was true that he liked music, but he hadn’t expected Yutaka to know. He hadn’t expected Yutaka to know who he was. Maybe he had just taken a guess, though.

“Why would you think that?”, he wanted to know.

Yutaka took another drag from his cigarette without hurry. Shou felt queasy.

“I saw your performance at the high school festival in summer”, Yutaka explained calmly. “The one with the sausages. I thought it was pretty amazing.”

Shou sucked on his lower lip.

Not a lot of people had been there to see the performance. He hadn’t thought that anyone remembered. Back then, it had seemed like a good idea. Shou had thought that he was good at singing and good at performing and that maybe he would make his classmates notice him. But as far as Shou had been concerned, he had gone unnoticed.

“Anyway, I asked a friend from your class about you afterwards, because I was curious. And he told me you play all those instruments and are something like a music nerd. Pretty impressive.”

Yutaka had reached the end of his cigarette now and stubbed it out on the stones next to himself.

Shou felt his cheeks heating up slightly. He wasn’t used to compliments. Especially not by someone like Yutaka, who socially ranked so much higher than him.

“And what are you doing here?”, he inquired to change the topic. “Why didn’t you enrol somewhere with your friends.”

“Ah”, Yutaka exhaled and grinned. He had a lopsided grin, as if he was still holding a cigarette in the corner of his mouth. “I’m lazy. I thought art class would be an easy job. Just drawing some and getting a grade for nothing. Utahiroba Sensei is a chill teacher, I thought I’d be able to slack off.”

He looked around as if he encouraged Shou to do the same. They were still alone in this area.

“Proves to be right”, Yutaka added.

He threw his lighter into the air and caught it again with his left hand. He seemed unable to sit still. Shou still had his hands buried in the pockets of his jacket.

“And you? Some hidden drawing talent as well?”

He threw the lighter again. Caught it once more. The motion looked light and playful, but Shou couldn’t get rid of the feeling that he was showing off. His carefreeness was too much on display to feel natural.

“Actually, I can’t draw at all”, Shou admitted with a sigh. “I don’t even like drawing.”

“So?”, Yutaka said.

Shou hesitated.

He thought that it was none of Yutaka’s business, but he also considered that he would be stuck with him for the rest of the week and that there was no point in lying.

“I enlisted only because of this girl, Yoshizawa. She’s from another class, so I thought it would be my chance to talk to her.”

“Isn’t that the one who’s sick this week?”, Yutaka assured and threw the lighter once more. This time, he only caught it barely so.

“Yep”, Shou said dryly.

Yutaka chuckled.

“Bad luck for you, man.”

Then his face lit up.

“But I will introduce you to her, once she is back”, he offered.

Shout tried to ignore the sudden tightening in his chest. He wouldn’t get his hopes up. Because Yutaka was an idiot and he would probably forget about Shou’s existence once the week was over just like everyone else.

“You know her?”, Shou assured hesitantly.

Yutaka threw up the lighter to catch it again. This time, he missed. It clattered to the ground.

And for a moment, there was something on Yutaka’s face. A quick, embarrassed grin that had nothing to do with his attitude. It was the first expression that didn’t seem like it was meant for an audience. His features looked softer when he smiled like that, less aggressive and less mischievous. The smile looked a little self-ironic, too, as if he was inwardly mocking himself for his own clumsiness. Just for this short moment, Shou thought that Yutaka actually looked likeable.

He bent forward to pick the lighter from the ground. Ruefully, he pushed it back into the pack of cigarettes.

“I don’t know her yet”, Yutaka admitted. “But I will just introduce myself first.”

His grin was back on full volume. It looked challenging.

“You really don’t have a problem getting to know girls, do you?”, Shou said, feeling a slight pang of jealousy again.

He wished it was as easy for him as it was for Yutaka.

“No”, Yutaka confirmed. “The girls and boys love me.”

Shou needed a little longer to process the last sentence. Did Yutaka mean that he had no problem finding friends in general? That he got along well with people regardless of their gender? Or did he mean that he was so irresistible that even boys fell for him? Was he trying to tease Shou with that? Was he implying something? Or did he mean what Shou thought he meant? Had Yutaka just confessed to him that he didn’t care if he was with a girl or a boy? And if so, why had he told him? To test Shou’s reaction? But why? Because he wanted to make sure Shou wasn’t so narrow minded that he would judge him for it? Or was he trying to flirt with Shou? Was that how guys flirted with other guys? Or had Yutaka, plain and simple, not meant anything specific at all?

Shou tried to keep on a neutral face. It wasn’t hard to not look any more awkward, since he was looking pretty awkward to begin with.

Suddenly, Yutaka burst out into a short laugh.

Shou thought that it had been a test and that he had failed. He thought that Yutaka was laughing at him.

Yutaka shook his head slightly.

“I thought someone who put on a show like the one with the sausages would surely be super creative. I wanted to be your partner, because I thought you’d be good at this art shit for sure. But if you are just here for a girl, we’re both bad at drawing.”

He shook his head again.

“Ah, shucks.”

“Looks like you are not lucky either”, Shou observed, glad that Yutaka had changed the topic himself.

He felt not very comfortable thinking about the fact that Yutaka might feel attracted to guys. Of course, he knew that some of his classmates had grown curious before, though Shou had never been one of them. He wasn’t sure, if that was due to a lack of curiosity, though, or due to a lack of opportunity. And technically, he knew that there were guys who felt as attracted to men as Shou felt attracted to women. He just couldn’t imagine Yutaka to be one of them. Homosexuality was something that, well, that still happened behind closed doors. If someone wasn’t straight, it would be the outsiders, the weird kids, who stuck to themselves anyway, as if their secret was separating them from everyone else. It wasn’t guys like Yutaka, who walked out in the open loudly and were so popular with everyone.

Yutaka chuckled again and then rubbed his arms.

“I think we should go back inside”, he said. “I’m cold.”

“Utahiroba Sensei told us to take a jacket”, Shou said. He did not point out, that he, too, had reminded Yutaka to take a jacket but had been ignored.

“Yeah”, Yutaka said and jumped off the wall with dash. “I don’t listen to good advice. It’s my signature move.”

Shou pouted. He had never met another person who celebrated their own idiocrasy like Yutaka did.

“What are we going to draw anyway?”, Shou added on second thought.

“Ah, right”, Yutaka groaned and clapped his hands as he looked around. His eyes fell onto the meadow behind the sports field in the distance. “How about we draw a flower or something? It’s like the only pretty thing out here.”

Shou rolled his eyes visibly.

He had planned not to pick any argument with Yutaka during the week. He might be annoying, but Shou didn’t mean to get on his bad side. This time, though, he couldn’t hold back.

“We’re not going to draw flowers”, he clarified. “Everyone will do that. Everyone will look around right now and think: Oh well, flowers are the only pretty thing here, let’s draw flowers.”

“And what’s wrong with that?”, Yutaka inquired.

“Since we both can’t draw, we shouldn’t risk the direct comparison. If we want to stand out, we won’t be able to do it through skill. So, we have to do it through being different”, Shou explained impatiently.

To him, that was pretty evident.

“See!”, Yutaka exclaimed and laughed. “That’s why I wanted you as a partner. You are creative. I would have drawn flowers. So, what is different from that?”

Shou shrugged and looked around. He tried to spot the least appealing thing, that surely no one else would want to draw.

“I’m going to draw the trash bins”, he announced.

Yutaka snorted.

“You could try to find a middle way, you know”, he pointed out.

Shou shook his head. He knew where the middle way led – straight to mediocracy.

“If one way doesn’t work for you, head the opposite direction, that’s what I believe”, he stated firmly.

Yutaka blew out his cheeks and looked around. Shou had expected him to talk back some more, but he stayed quiet.

“I’m going to draw a toilet bowl”, he finally announced.

Shou raised his eyebrows in disbelief.

“No”, he said.

“Why not?”, Yutaka shot back.

Shou hesitated.

“It’s vulgar”, he said.

Yutaka shrugged.

“Utahiroba Sensei said we could choose anything”, he said. “And it’s definitely the other direction. Also, I love toilet jokes. As soon as a toilet is involved, everything becomes funny instantly.”

Shou stared at him for a moment. Yutaka did indeed strike him as the type who thought toilet jokes were the peak of comedy. Shou did not really agree with that, but on the other hand his own sense of humour didn’t exactly pass as sophisticated either. And all in all, he still thought toilet bowls were better than flowers.

“I hope this won’t get us into trouble”, he mumbled and turned around to walk back towards the school entrance.

“What does it matter?”, Yutaka asked lightly. “We’re going to suck at this class anyway.”

Shou couldn’t help but grin.

“Good point”, he agreed.

As the rounded the corner, the main entrance came into sight. Utahiroba Sensei was standing on the stairs, while a crowd of girls had formed in front of him. They were talking to each other and showing each other pictures on their phones. Shou wondered, if they should have taken photos, too, as a model for drawing. But Yutaka was right: They would suck at this class anyway. They might as well take creative freedom.

“Ah, our lost boys have returned as well”, Utahiroba Sensei observed dryly. “Now that we are complete, we should head back inside and start with the drafts. Everyone picked an object?”

There was some mumbling, but no one raised their voice to protest, which Utahiroba Sensei obviously took as affirmation. He led them back into the art room. Shou kept watching Yutaka next to himself.

Yutaka wasn’t quite what he had expected him to be. He was easier to talk to, most of all. Shou had expected him to be more ignorant or act more superior. But he had seemed interested in what Shou had to say. He had liked his stage show, too. Their different ranks of popularity had created less of a distance than Shou had thought they would. Had he been a little less dumb and noisy, Shou could have imagined them to be friends. But then again, friendships never lasted long. Many of his classmates had seemed interested in what Shou had to say for a while, but then pulled back after a couple of weeks. Shou couldn’t hold anyone’s interest for too long. Surely, Yutaka would grow bored with him soon as well.

“At the back of the class, there is one canvas for everyone”, Utahiroba Sensei told them. “However, there is also paper. I’d advise you to make a rough draft on paper first, to work out a composition, before you start working on the canvas.”

“I’ll get us some canvases”, Yutaka shouted cheerfully and dashed off to the back of the room.

Shou watched him hold up different canvases next to each other for comparison. It looked as if he was searching for the two largest canvases. Even from the distance Shou could tell that they were all of the same size.

Everyone else went for the stacks of paper.

Yutaka returned to their easels by the window.

With a grant gesture he handed Shou one canvas and put up his own.

Shou weighted the canvas in his hand thoughtfully. It felt lighter than he had expected. He hadn’t really worked on canvas before.

“Shouldn’t we try on paper first like Utahiroba Sensei said?”, Shou asked.

Yutaka gestured at the other students in the room.

“That’s what everyone is doing!”, he shouted without lowering his volume. “No compromises!”

Shou chuckled, mostly because he felt slightly embarrassed by how much importance Yutaka seemed to give to his words.

“Also”, Yutaka said and pulled out a tube from his sleeve. “I found some paint at the back.”

“You want to start with paint immediately?”, Shou asked doubtfully. It seemed a bit much of a risk to him.

“It’s not for the picture!”, Yutaka said and unscrewed the lid from the tube. The print on the outside indicated that it contained black paint.

Yutaka extended his forefinger and squeezed black paint from the tube all over it. Then he ran his covered finger across the space above his lips. He drew himself a moustache. Then he grinned at Shou proudly as if he had just performed a great stunt.

Shou looked at his face and wondered why all the girls in school liked Yutaka. Sure, he was handsome and there was something innocently charming about his smile. He had a way of looking at you and talking to you and smiling at you, that gave you the feeling that he really meant you and no one else. When he looked at Yutaka grinning like this, Shou could almost believe that Yutaka had drawn the moustache to impress him and not just because his idiot mind had deemed it funny. But it was also pretty evident, that Yutaka wasn’t the smartest guy around and his sense of humour hardly seemed appropriate for a delicate girl.

Shou wondered, if his good qualities were enough to redeem his bad qualities. Shou also wondered, if he would feel differently about Yutaka, if he was a girl. But then Shou remembered that Yutaka had hinted at the fact that he was liked by both girls and boys. If boys liked Yutaka, too, Shou was technically in a position to judge if Yutaka was likeable or not. The thought made him feel confused. Shou felt himself blushing.

He lowered his gaze.

“Here”, Yutaka offered and held the tube out to him as if making him a present.

“Eh, no, thank you”, Shou said weakly.

“Come on, I know you want to”, Yutaka said. “It’s like a natural instinct.”

Shou seriously wondered about what instincts Yutaka had.

He had to admit, though, that the idea of painting his face was kind of entertaining. He would look like a fool, but making a fool of himself was nothing that Shou feared, as long as it made people laugh.

He extended his forefinger and allowed Yutaka to squeeze paint onto it. The paint felt irritatingly cool.

Shou reached up and drew a goatee on his face by touch. He wasn’t sure how it had turned out, but Yutaka’s expression indicated that it looked superb.

Instinctively, Shou found himself smiling back.

Now they both looked like idiots. It felt like a bonding moment.

Utahiroba Sensei cleared his throat and hastily Shou turned back towards his canvas, searching for a pencil.

Utahiroba Sensei had entered the circle of easels and was now walking around, looking at his students without being able to see what they were drawing. He started by the door.

Shou shot a quick glance around the room. Everyone except for him and Yutaka were eagerly bending down and he could hear the sound of pencils scrapping on paper. Otherwise, only the sound of Utahiroba Sensei’s steps was to be heard. They paused when he reached Shou and Yutaka.

For a long moment, he just looked into their painted faces. Shou tried to meet his gaze, but ended up casting down his eyes. He was pretty sure that next to him, Yutaka did his best to stare down their teacher.

“Well”, Utahiroba Sensei finally said. He didn’t say anything else. Then he walked back to the teacher’s desk.

Shou exhaled loudly. This time, he had really thought they were in trouble.

Yutaka slapped Shou on the shoulder lightly to get his attention.

He was still grinning widely and ready to challenge Utahiroba Sensei, the school and possibly the world.

“I think he adores us”, he said.

Shou burst out laughing. He hadn’t meant to laugh this loud or this violent, but when he saw how genuinely happy Yutaka’s face looked when he heard Shou laugh, he did not try to keep his voice down. Yutaka most definitely was an annoying idiot, but it was true nonetheless: In his own way, he was sort of adorable.