#Why did they have to put this song in frontiers

[aliveko]

“Covered in scars

But roses keep coming through the cracks”

Another version under cut

[sonknuxadow]

is it true that they cut sonic unleashed medley and sonic 06 medley entirely from the sonic symphony live tour ...... so much hatred in the world

[romanarose]

If You Wanna Be Wild: Chapter 6

Co-written with @my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction my beloved Fen, who I could not do this without. Thank you for being my emotional sounding board, my dear friend, my wonderful cowriter and helpful beta reader. I adore you.

Javier Peña x Latina!sex worker!informant!Reader x Santiago Garcia

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Summary: Santi takes Candy out, and Javier gets jealous, but still he defends them both. Drama erupts, and Santi finds something out about himself.

Content and warnings for whole fic, not chapter by chapter unless something is added: Sex work, drug trade, some drug use/pressured used, sex workers and the mistreatment/stigma surrounding them specifically in the 70’s (my blog is sex worker positive) but ima put potential dub con depending how you look at it as a sex worker who works with dangerous men, some action surrounding reader and the guys and the drug trade, SMUT HEAVY, corruption kink (were corrupting santi here, he’s young, 25), no loss of virginity tho, threesomes, some slight m/m smut but that’s not the focus here, but as you know this blog is an lgbt blog so I’m always open to gay shit. Talk of war and some PTSD but I won't be going a whole lot into it. Covert/emotional incest in the past, Santi's mommy issues, m/m dynamics, internalized bi/homophobia

For the record, this is a fic that takes place in the drug trade and deals with the darker side of humanity, so anything from Narco's and Triple Frontier is liable to be discussed or mentioned here. This is your warning. This is not a dark fic nor is it centered around dark themes like Leather and Lace or Sunshine Starlight Sweetheart Brightside, but they are open to be talked about.

Reader has a nick name: Candy. Not her real name just what she goes by on her profession. Much of the inspo for this and for the title came from the Bruce Springsteen song “Candy’s room” so check it out for the vibes.

Reader speaks Spanish and has hair. I've decided Candy is just latina bc she's a sex worker in Colombia so this is what I'm doing. Reader also has curly hair and dark skin.

ADDITIONAL WARNINGS!: Santi's panicy trauma response. Santi's mommy issues in full swing. Javier is jealous, lots of arguments. Cumming untouched, titty sucking. We're in for it boys!

THE SMUT WAS 100% WRITTEN BY THE AMAZING @my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction i knew i needed mommy kink and he was the one to go to. If you like subby men, Fen, my dearest cowritter, writes great fics esp with Steven Grant <3 What Fen said when they wrote it "Yoooooo, what am I writing Romana? Madness? I think so."

6.7 words (I'm so fucking sorry okay A LOT WAS HAPPENING)

A/N Since I am apparently an incomprehensible writer, please know that the smut scene in the last chapter was not a threesome, it's Javi fingering Candy and Candy flashing back to her giving Santi a reach around handjob. I wanted to compare and contrast the way the two pairs care for and pleasure each other. but it came across as a threesome :(

Support writers! Reblog and comment!

***************

Santiago didn’t know why he was so nervous.

“What we need is to get out into the actual field!” Javier exclaimed, setting his mug down loud enough to make Santi jump. “Sorry, Garcia.” He muttered, wiping a bit of spilled coffee with his sleeve.

Santiago rolled his shoulders, reaching back to rub his spine over the scar. The surgery saved his life, but damn did it hurt. “S’alright. Listen, I had an idea, but I don’t know if it’s going to be anything. It does get us out of the office next week.”

“I’ll take it, what do you have, Pope.”

Santi smiled. “Well, the nickname is fitting. It’s a rally for the beatification of Laura Montoya.”

A smile quirked up on Javier’s grumpy face. Unbuckling his belt after a second round of stress donuts, Javi kicked his legs up on his desk. “Of course you would know that.”

“My tia invited me.” He shoved Javi’s boots off, then wiped his hands on his pants. “We know what his family looks like now, maybe they will be there? It’s something.”

Javier agreed, it was something. Tracking Lorea had not gone as well as Escabar had. Not that that was a flawless mission itself, but at least it had traction. Martin Lorea was far less public.

The pair settled into an easy rhythm of planning the event. Santiago would have to avoid his tia’s, he thought. That may be hard, considering he had 4 and several cousins who will likely be attending the event. Colombia doesn’t have a canonized saint yet, and she was recognized as venerable so her potential beautification was a big deal for Colombia. Still, he couldn’t be recognized at the rally, his family would want to talk and talk and talk and ask why he didn’t have girlfriend and talk and ask who Javier was, and Tia Lupe would ask him if he had a ‘modern arrangement’ with Javier which would make Santi sick to his stomach with anxiety and- fuck he felt like the donut he stole from Javi was coming back up.

“Gotta go, be right back.”

“I’ll be timing you.” Javier kicked his legs back up on his desk and closed his eyes.

Over the toilet, Santi dry heaved, unsure if he was really going to puke or just felt like it. What the hell was it with Javier these days that made him so anxious? Things had been going well, their friendship repaired in the months since Javier caught him and Candy together. Other than Frankie, who would always be his number one, Javi was his best friend. He’d die for him the way he’d have died for Will, Frank or Ben… but there was something more. Since the day they met, Santiago wanted nothing more than Javier’s approval, he strived for it… maybe it was that he saw Javi as a father figure, almost 15 years older than him… that wasn’t right either. He couldn’t place it until earlier this week.

The DEA ball was coming up, Javier had asked Santi if he wanted to carpool since they both didn’t have dates and lived near-by… to which Santi said he actually had a date. She was a surprise. So was the fact Javier wanted to go.

The “Oh” that had fallen out of his mouth though Santiago off. It sounded disappointed. Santi couldn’t stand Javier disappointed in him. That’s when the thought happened. ‘I wish we could just go together’ Not arrive together. Go together. As a couple. His first thought was no, that’s illegal. His second thought was no, he’d go to hell. His third was him mami, god rest her soul, would roll over in her grave.

He shook the thoughts away, but ever since then he began noticing the way he stared at Javi, the way his body buzzed with any incidental touch… He had to shove it down.

Certainly, Javier was open-minded, but he would to spend as much time as he did with him if he was gay, right? He wouldn’t incite Santi over for futball games on the tv, he wouldn’t take him with him to get lunch… he wouldn’t even want to work with him. It would all be over.

That’s what made Santi sick.

That, and the anxiety over who his secret date was.

*

You didn’t know why you were so goddamn nervous.

You had to admit, you were very surprised when Santiago showed up for his regularly scheduled appointment, flowers in hand, asking you to join him at the ball.

“Santi… sweetie… I don’t know…”

His large eyes looked nervous. “It’s a job! I’ll pay you, I’m not expecting anything free! And I I know what you’re gonna say, I don’t care about Javi freaking out. Imean, if you care I don’t wanna pressure you of course! I’m not trying to come between you guys, but I doubt he’ll even show. He hates these things.”

“It’s not that I’m worried about…” You take the flowers, thanking him genuinely, and walking to your kitchen. Santiago anxiously paced your walls, trailing his hands over your posters. “Sweetheart, I know we have a good time, but I am a prostitute, you know this.”

“I swear, I don’t have any notions about us being in love… I just want you there.”

Placing the flowers in the vase, you turn to look at him. “I just… well…” You hesitate, unsure how to not freak the poor kid out. “oh my god, there's no polite way to say this, but, Javier is far from the only DEA agent I’ve slept with. Hell, I slept with the janitor once.”

“Mario’s a cool guy, I don’t blame you.”

“What I’m saying is,” She sighed out her words. “You’re a sweet young man, and I know you’re a lot younger than most of the guys there. I don’t want to cause you any trouble-”

“Candy-”

“And I know I’ll cause you trouble if I’m there. They are going to make fun of you for bringing a hooker to a ball.”

He shook his head. “I don’t care. There’s no one else I want there with me but you, and I don’t care what Javier says, or any of them for that matter.”

You smile softly at the young man. He was earnest, but although you believed he didn’t care about the other guys at the precinct, you didn’t believe him for one second about Javi. Santiago worshiped the ground Javier walked on, it was clear by the way he talked about his partner.

“If you really don’t care, then yes, I’d love to go.”

His youthful face lit up. “Really?!”

“Yes” You giggle. “It sounds like a great night.”

Santiago ran to you, making you squeal as he threw you over his shoulder. “I’m gonna make you cum so many fucking times on my face, Candy, you don’t even know.”

You had to admit you were a little nervous. A lot nervous. He said he didn't think Javier would be there, but you weren’t sure, and hadn’t had a chance to try and prod him for information. You’d asked around, and Javi had been spending several nights with Gabby. This was not unusual, he was known to bounce around women, but he always came back to you. Today, though, it made you jealous as all hell. Santiago made you nervous too.

You wanted to at least make a good impression for him, so you went out and bought a brand new evening gown for the occasion, something classy, showing the curves but not your tits. Your big Farrah Faucet curls that usually accompanied a night with Lorea and his men were dialed down more to a simple look, your make-up more natural that a night on the town with high rollers would see. Still you were beautiful and you knew it. Just less like a hooker.

*

Javier didn’t know why he was so fucking nervous. He never went to these stupid things, much preferring to spend a night undressed with his cock buried between a pretty woman’s legs than stuff himself into a suit that had only gotten tighter in recent years. But, Pope was gonna be there, he was gonna be dressed up in some overdone suite, Javi just knew it. And his stupid curls would be slicked back and inevitably a few would pop out and he’d spend the night trying to keep them back but they would want to be wild and he’d eventually mess with his hair too much and it’d be all every-which-way and, and, and…

So maybe he was late. So maybe he was a little tipsy. Maybe he had been taking pulls of a flask in the back of a taxi but there was coke baggie and a cum stain on the seat so was it really the worst the car had seen? He pulled up to the dance in his too-tight suit, stumbling out a bit, and attempted to find his way inside. He didn’t really want to see Santi dancing with a girl, but if he didn’t show, Santi would worry, and Javi didn’t like Santi worrying.

Javier hoped she was nice. A nice girl because he was a nice young man. Someone to take care of him in some ways, to let him care for her in others… Javi knew he could take care of Sant. He had when he was sick, hadn’t he? Therein lied the reason Javi was drunk. The burn of the liquor was to press down the feeling he couldn’t ignore sober. He wanted Santiago.

“Buenas noche, amigos. ¿Has visto Santiago?”

Javi asked as he stumbled on a few men from the DEA chattering in a corner

One of the men, Freddy, chuckled, taking a sip of his beer. “Oh, you haven't seen him yet?”

This caused all the men to laugh, but Javier didn’t get the joke. He got the feeling whatever it was, they were laughing at Santi. Javier knew Santi hadn’t really clicked with the men. He was too straight laced, too honest… too good.

“The fuck does that mean?” Javier asked with an obvious bit of bite. Santiago was his to protect.

“Young Garcia came here with a whore on his arm.” Another man, Josue, with a patchy mustache he should just call it quits on attempting to grow replies. “Wonder if he knows what she is, or if he’s going to wake up to a nasty bill in the morning.”

The group laughs, and Javier feels panic rising inside him. No. No way. Santiago couldn’t possibly be that stupid, could he? He was the smartest man Javier knew. He’d never risk her like this… 

Freddy continued when he saw Javi’s confused look. “Yeah, Pena, thats what I thought too!” He said with a laugh that Javier knew was not the good natured ribbing he gave Santi. “You know Candy?”

“Uh, yeah, sounds familiar.” The room was spinning, lights and smoke and colors starting to blur.

“The whore on 7th that lets you play rough? Yeah, her.”

Javier snapped to attention again. “What did you just say?”

“Yeah, I can’t believe it either!” He turns to another man Javier doesn’t have it in him to focus on. “I bet Virgin Maria thinks he’s in love.”

Grabbing him by the shoulder, Javier turned Freddy to him. “What the fuck did you say about Garcia?”

“Relaje, Pena. You call him Pope, different name, same meaning.”

But it wasn’t. Santi was Javi’s friend, Javier cared about him. Javier called him Pope to his face and if he thought it upset him, Javi wouldn’t do it. Freddy and the guys were calling him Virgin Maria behind his back, intending on being assholes. It was meant to hurt, it wasn’t true (Santi wasn’t a virgin even before Candy), it was meant to make a mockery of his good nature, his religion, and his morals. The effeminate name was meant to mock his slight build and stature as well as his passive nature. None of them knew the Santiago that Javier knew. They didn’t know the intelligent, compassionate, incredibly capable young former special opes agent who had saved his life multiple times and had given more break throughs on Lorea than he could could.

“Tell me again what you said about Candy.”

*

Despite the fact everyone was staring at them, you had never seen Santi so happy, so relaxed. He had a few drinks and for his small body it probably left him feeling warm and content. You had opted to stay mostly sober, only drinking one glass of white wine from the open bar; Santiago’s generous and soft smile to the bartender only endeared him to you more. 

He was so much fun like this. You loved the time you spent with him in bed, that was fun too, but you’d also come to genuinely enjoy the moments where he wasn’t making you orgasm on his lips again and again. You genuinely cared when you asked him about his day, and had made a mental note of all the names he mentioned at the precinct that were causing him problems that you recognized. You weren’t sure how without outting him, but you’d figure out some way to fuck with them. One who was a massive dick to him, Freddy, was also a massive dick to you too.

Santi was indulging in a cupcake, telling a story of his friend Benny hitting on a woman only to realize her husband was standing next to her.

“It took me, his brother Will, Fish and Redfly to break the fight up. He still won’t go in that neighborhood anymore!” Santi giggles, taking a bite of the vanilla.

You laugh along; he’s an entertaining story teller. “Did he learn his lesson?”

“No! No! That’s the best part!” Santi said as he waved his hands excitedly. “He immediately, and I mean as soon as we cleaned the blood off his face, went and hit on another girl! And you wanna know the worst part?”

“It worked?”

“It work- how did you know that?”

“Women are easy, Santi.” Swaying to the music, you set his cupcake down. He has frosting on his upper lip, just under where his mustache sat.. “We love our men bloodied.” You pull him in close, eyeing his upper lip for the frosting, but he looks like he’s going for a kiss, and who are you to deny such a handsome man?

“Even when they lose?” He speaks, voice soft and sultry. Santi’s eye flick to your lips, his own push pillows parting to receive you.

“Especially when they lose.” You close the gap, taking his lips in yours and licking your tongue over his sugar-covered upper lip, brushing over his mustache. Sweet, just like him. Your sweet man. 

For a moment, you are lost in him, the sounds of the Jim Croce floating in the air.

'Cause every time I tried to tell you

The words just came out wrong

So I'll have to say I love you in a song’

*

CRASH!

Immediately, at the sound of excitement, Santiago is in front of you, guarding your body with his. He doesn’t move, thinking clearly and assessing the situation; looking for where the danger is at and where the best exit points may be. Keep Candy safe. Keep Candy safe. His only goal was her, keep her away from any narcos, terrorists, freedom fighters or drunken men that might be causing a stir. When the center of the commotion was coming from the north, Santiago took Candy’s hand and began to take her to one of the south exits, a lesser used one with less potential for a second assailant, when he felt her tug away.

“JAVI!” She shouts, running towards the danger in high heels, rust colored skirt fluttering just as her flowy sleeves did.

“CANDY!” Running after her, he catches up with ease without the hindrance of heels. Santi tries to stop her, not wanting her near the drunken brawl, but she is on a single minded mission. Javier was under Freddy, who Santiago did not like, and getting the shit beat out of him. If he had a second more, if his focus wasn’t so on Candy, he would have beat her too it… but Candy was quicker

Santiago watches in surprise as she lifts her skirt, pulling a knife out of her garter, getting behind Freddy and gripping his hair hard, knife to his throat.

Everything was a deadly calm, everyone saying so, so still to not disturb the crazy woman with a knife. When Santi looked to Javier to check if he was okay, he saw Javi looking up at her with his big brown eyes, clearly fucking enamored.

“Freddy, get off of him before I tell everyone the weird shit you’re into.”

The next few minuets were a blur. As soon as Freddy was off Javier and Candy’s knife was off him, he was a big man again and the group began arguing. Santiago couldn’t quite pick up what it was about except “KEEP HIS NAME OUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH!” From Javi.

They were all three escorted out by security; weapons weren’t allowed at the ball.

Outside the doors, a second argument erupted.

Candy tried to approach Javier. “Javi, baby, are you-” But as her hands reached for his swollen face, the older agent stepped back and turned his attention to his mentee. “Are you fucking stupid, Garcia?!”

Santi and Candy both are taken aback by this, but it’s Candy that speaks first. “Don’t talk to him like that!” 

Javier’s anger is turned back to her. “And you! You should know better than this! Than coming here!”

She rolls her eyes. “Javi. It’s literally a part of my job, I’m an escort.”

“FOR DRUG DEALERS!” Javier shouts, throwing his hands in the air and stumbling back. “Not for YOU!”

“So what, he’s too good for me to take out? Dirty whore like me belongs in dirty nightclubs and dirty crackhouses?”

“Oh for fucks sake THATS NOT WHAT I MEANT!”

Instinctively, Santi places himself slightly in front of Candy. “Tone it down, Pena.”

His icy glare turns condescending as a short, drunk, sardonic laugh escapes him. “HA! Do you think you’re in love, Santiago? Do you think you’ll be the magical man that can ‘save her’? That’s not how this works! You aren’t supposed to be bringing prostitutes to government functions, you absolute IDIOT! And you’re especially not supposed to bring HER!”

“ENOUGH!” Candy shouts at him, eyes flashing in anger. “You don’t get to tell him what he can and can’t do, Javi! And you certainly do not have possession over me! I am not yours! Just because we fuck does not mean you own me, and you don’t get to decide who I sleep with. Like you said, I am a prostitute, one of SEVERAL you frequent, so I wouldn’t be getting too high and mighty about being careful when everyone knows Helena nearly died working for you! I am not yours!”

Javier scoffs. “Oh, and he is? You think he’s your little lover boy, someone to play pretend that you are having a normal relationship with? He’s a scared child, he’s terrified of intimacy and thinks a finger in the ass will send him to hell!”

“Javier, fucking stop it right now.”

“He can’t protect you! He can’t take care of you!”

“Oh, and you can?”

“YES!”

Javier’s shouted words hung in the air, dripping with anger and venom. Santi simply watches, watches them like a scared child watching his parents fight, wishing it would just fucking stop, but it won’t. Not between them. Javier doesn’t back down and Candy isn’t scared of him.

Then, Candy starts to laugh. It’s short little laughs at first but grows louder. “Are you FUCKING KIDDING ME JAVI!” She laughs once more before shaking her head, tugging a bit at her hair as she walks a short circle. Candy shook her head, suddenly calm. “Thunder only happens when it’s raining, players only love you when they’re playing.”

Javi blinked, his voice now noticeably slurred. “What the actual fuck was that.”

Santi stepped up, sliding an arm around Candy’s waist. If she said what she wanted to say, he wanted to guide her away from Javier before he could be more hurtful to her. “It’s from Fleetwood Mac, Javi. You’d know that if you cared enough about her to look into her interests.”

Candy turned to him then, surprised, her soft eyes looking towards him; the hint of a smile on her face.

Javier, however, looked bewildered. “Her interests?You. Are not. DATING HER!”

“I still care about her!” Santiago defended himself. “Just because I’m not a sad slut who can’t emotionally attach to anyone anymore doesn’t mean I treat her like she’s not a person!”

Javier looked like he was about to speak, then shook his head. “This is fucking insane. This is not a Hollywood movie, there is no happy ending here, FUCK YOU GUYS and FUCK THE GODDAMN PRESINCT”

With that, Javier stormed off, angrily mumbling about one thing or another and his broad form shrunk down the street.

It was then Santi felt her begin to shake. Thinking quick, he took off his sports coat and wrapped it around her. “Hey, hey bebita,¿Estás bien?”

“Si” She shook her head a bit, then turned to him with an irritated look “He just really pisses me off sometimes, you know?”

Santi chuckled. “I know. He’s an asshole, let’s not worry about him, okay?” He wrapped his arms around her, and Candy allowed herself to sink into him. Santiago felt her relax, laying her head on him. He was angry, so fucking angry at Javier for the things he said to Candy, the way he spoke to her, it was hurting with jaw with how much he was clenching it… but it was clear Candy was upset too. His feelings didn’t matter, her’s did. He needed to be her man, be her strength, so he pushed his feelings aside.

Through the doors of the ballroom they could still here the live music playing, and he felt Candy gasp as The Eagle’s hit song, Peaceful Easy Feeling, began.

“I love this song…” She whispered, beginning to sway to the music. The stars were out, shining on her. It felt like they shined for her alone.

‘I like the way your sparkling earrings lay

Against your skin, it's so brown’

“I know.” Santi whispered against her skin. “I asked them to play it.” He sang the next line into her skin.

���Y quiero dormir contigo en el desierto esta noche

Con mil millones de estrellas alrededor’

Candy took her head off him to look into his eyes. Fuck, she was pretty. So so pretty. He wanted her with him all the time, even though he knew it wasn’t possible. He wasn’t in love. Santi wasn’t sure he was capable of romantic love, honestly. He wasn’t sure he was capable of a love that was safe. But whatever he had with Candy right now it was good.

“You requested this song for me?”

‘'Cause I gotta peaceful easy feeling

And I know you won't let me down

'Cause I'm already standing

On the ground’

“Of course I did… wanted to make sure there was music you liked.” Santiago stroked her hair, careful to not mess it up, just enough to feel her. He began to dance with her in earnest.

“You’re the sweetest man I’ve ever met, you know that?”

“And I found out a long time ago

What a woman can do to your soul

Ah, but she can't take you anyway

You don't already know how to go”

Santiago twirled her, making Candy giggle. 

“You listen to Fleetwood Mac?” She asked him through her laughs.

‘And I gotta peaceful easy feeling

And I know you won't let me down

'Cause I'm already standing

On the ground’

He shrugged. “I didn’t until I saw you had three albums, a Fleetwood Mac poster AND a Stevie Nicks poster.”

“So you… just decided to listen?”

“They're clearly important to you.”

He sings to her once again in Spanish

‘Tengo este presentimiento de que te conozco

Como amante y como amiga’

Candy whispers in his ear. “I enjoy our time together. I hope you know that. I do consider you a lover and a friend, Santiago.”

‘But this voice keeps whispering

In my other ear, tells me

I may never see you again’

Santiago believed her, but the ever-presant anxiety inside him told him this was temperary. Don’t feel safe, don’t feel comfortable. You are expendable. You are only loved as long as you are useful. You are only loved as long as you are perfect and good and right all the time. You can never mess up. If you do, WHEN you do, she’ll walk away just like Javi did. Still, he shakes these thoughts off and tries to focus on her. Focus on Candy. 

‘Porque tengo un sentimiento tranquilo y pacifico

Y se que decepcionarás

Porque ya estoy parado

En el suelo’

As the song ended, Santi dipped a giggling Candy down low, admiring the way the dress flowed over her beautiful body.

“Hey Candy, they aren’t gonna let us back in there, wanna hop some shitty bars?”

“I’d like nothing more, Santiago.”

*

Back at his apartment, Candy and Santi giggled their way into his bedroom. A slightly tipsy Santi flopped down on his bed, sighing out a declaration that this was the best night of his life. When he opens his eyes again, he sees you smiling at him. He thinks that he wants to see you in his home more often.

“You look really pretty in that dress, you know that?” Santi says with a love-sick smile plastered all over his face. 

You can’t help but smile back, unable to hamper the little laugh that lightens your chest. He was a bit more tipsy than you’d thought. 

He pouts a little, being overly dramatic on purpose as he leans up on his elbows, his left leg half hanging off the bed as you stand watching him. 

“Don’t laugh.” He pulls a face that has the opposite effect. 

You don’t give him the chance to retort again and poke his foot with your index finger, while you school your face into a mock disapproving scowl. “Shoes on in bed?” You tut, expecting another pout and tease back from him, a shrug and a chorus of ‘Well it’s my bed, I can do whatever I want.’ 

But instead, his eyes widened a little, a small dusting of light pink blossoming over his brown cheeks and nose and highlighting his faint freckles. “S-sorry.” He mumbles quickly, scrabbling up into a sitting position to undo his laces. He’s pulled off one shoe and dropped it carefully to the floor before you even have a chance to register what he’s doing. 

“Hey, hey,” you sit down next to him, your thigh touching his, and stroke your left hand through his curls. They’re a little stiffer than usual from the product he used for the occasion; it hasn’t stopped more than a few rough strands from breaking free though. 

Santi leans into your touch instantly, instinctively closing his eyes and sighing, a weight lifting from his ribs. You wouldn’t be surprised if he started purring. 

“You okay?” You whisper, continuing to run your fingers softly through his hair. 

He nods and hums an affirmative. 

You’re about to ask again, unable to stop yourself from double-checking his well-being. That seed of affection for Santi that first settled in your heart weeks ago has now grown and rooted into your chest, its vines and leaves twisted around your rib cage, seeking out your love like sunlight. 

Just as the words form on your tongue you notice the not-so-subtle bulge in his trousers and bite back a smile. 

Ah.

Not distress. Not panic. Nothing like that at all. Not right now, anyway.

Santi can’t see your expression with his eyes closed. He’s shifted closer, his temple gently against your shoulder as you stroke his hair. He sighs happily, almost dreamily. 

It’s nice to see him like this, relaxed into your touch. He too often seems anxious, worried, worrying about his military friends, worried about Javi, worried about his family although those details remain vague. He’s mentioned his sisters lives in the US, Atlanta she thought, his tia’s he saw so often here, and every now and then a brief mention of his mom but only in passing. You place a soft kiss on his forehead, leaving a faint lipstick stain on his skin and he presses closer to you, nuzzling into the nape of your neck. 

Languidly you run your free hand up his thigh, just tracing your fingers over his crotch before you squeeze. 

The sharp, low moan that escapes his lips is more than worth it, though the gasped word that tumbles out is a bit of a surprise. 

“Mommy,” 

He freezes instantly, his eyes going wide and teeth audibly snapping shut. In less than a second he’s racking his brain, trying to work out how, why, where did that word come from? What deep, dark recess of his mind forced that word to the surface? Something was wrong with him. Something fundamentally wrong with him, deep down in the recesses of his brain. He was fucked up. He was going to hell.

Maybe you hadn’t heard it. Maybe you wouldn’t notice it. But already Santi knew those hopes were a lost cause. The way your hand had tightened momentarily in his hair the second it slipped past his tongue. He’d had a drink, a few drinks- although they’d mostly worn off throughout the night- that was a good enough excuse right? Oh god. What must you think? What would you-

“You’re my good boy, aren’t you?” Your voice was low and sweet, a caress to his very soul and he shivered in spite of himself, moaning again and squeezing his eyes shut as you stroked his painfully hard cock. 

He nodded his head rapidly, not wanting to disappoint you. He’d be good, he’d be so fucking good for you. His breath hot on your neck as he pressed closer, angling his body completely towards you with a soft whimper. 

You continued stroking him for a moment longer, pressing the heel of your palm firmly against his thick base before you unzipped his fly and flicked open his trouser buttons. You always loved this, loved how needy he got, how desperate for you.

Santi groaned loudly, his lips against your neck, half muffling his words against your skin as he squirmed into your touch. 

“Hmm?” You halted your actions teasingly, waiting for him to repeat himself. 

The small sob and bob of his throat nearly broke your resolve, but he pulled his face away from you a fraction to speak. 

“Mommy, please,” he whispered. 

You couldn’t help yourself, it wasn’t like it was the first man to call you ‘mommy’ in bed, but there was something about sweet, innocent Santi who had blushed his way through your first encounter not that long ago speaking that world that set your blood ablaze. 

“Please what?” You teased. 

He squirmed again, bucking helplessly against your hand. “Please?”

“You’re gonna have to use a few more words than that pretty boy, or I won’t be able to help you.”

Santi let out an anguished sigh, pressing his face into your neck once more.

Quickly, you moved your hand away from his weeping cock and firmly pinched his chin between your fingers, pulling him back ever so slightly so that you could look into his dark brown eyes as you title his face up. 

“If you don’t speak, Mommy won’t be able to help you.” 

Santi audibly moaned, his eyes rolling back for a split second before he shut them tight. His dick twitched uncontrollably. 

“Yes, please, sorry, I’ll be good, I’ll be a good boy.” His words were all rushed together and there was a hazy look to his gaze when he opened his eyes again, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed. 

You petted his hair gently. “I know you will be, Mommy’s got you, sweetheart.”

He whimpered, rubbing his thighs together with every word. 

“Now, tell me what you want.” 

“Can I,” he swallowed again, placing his hand on the zip of your dress, “can I undo this?” 

That wasn’t what you expected him to say, and you raised an eyebrow at him lazily as you smiled and nodded. 

Santi let out a little nervous breath before hastily undoing the dress and carefully slipping it off your shoulders and down to your waist. You weren’t wearing a bra.

He held his breath as he gazed at your chest, his left hand hovering just above your skin as he stared with reverence. As if he hadn’t seen you semi-naked many, many times before. 

You stroked his hair again. “You’re such a good buy, aren’t you? Asking for what you need?” You say softly, just to gently break him out of his trance. You did enjoy teasing him, but never for very long. He always listened, always did as he was told, and you were happy to reward him

He nods quickly, never taking his eyes off your breasts. The tip of his tongue pokes out and wets his bottom lip. 

Ever so slowly he leans forward, placing a light, sweet kiss to your lips, the corner of your mouth, your cheek, before trailing down to your neck and collarbone. His kisses get messier, wetter, more urgent the further down he goes and you don’t expect him to pause, panting against your skin. 

He looks up at you with large eyes that send a shudder of heat through your core. “Can I kiss your breasts… mommy?” He adds the name shyly, looking down momentarily so that his eyelashes flutter against his cheeks. 

You keep stroking his hair as you nod, hooking your fingers around the nape of his neck and guiding him towards your chest. He takes the small movement and runs with it instantly, surging forward and covering your breasts in desperate, wet kisses. Switching back and forth between them constantly as if he simply had to lavish each with the exact same amount of attention. He moans as he lightly bites and sucks, his hands digging into your skin as he holds onto you for dear life. 

You press him closer, urging him on by digging your fingers into his curls and scratching your nails along his scalp. He rewards you with another muffled groan, the vibrations reverberating along your skin and sending a shiver of pleasure down your spine. 

Santi pushes closer, the force nearly knocking you onto your back as he latches onto your left nipple. You brace your right hand on the bed behind you so that you can keep your balance. 

“Such a good boy Santi.” You whisper and he whines, looking up at you once with lazy, lust-blown eyes as he keeps his mouth against you. He sucks demandingly, the sensation almost bordering on too much, but still somehow not enough, and swirls his tongue around your nipple before lapping at it and starting the process all over again. His hips are bucking desperately, but he doesn’t dare ask for attention. He knows you’ll take care of him. You always will.

He sighs, shifting, simultaneously trying to get something and not knowing what he wants at the same time. 

You know what he needs though. 

You coo at him, soothing and sweet as you pull in closer into your arms, cradling his head as you gently ease him into your lap. He moans so loudly, the sound quickly becoming a whine in his throat as you embrace him.

For a few seconds, he seems to relax into you, all the stress of the day and previous weeks and months draining from his soul and bones as he gently sucks. But then he starts to squirm, his thighs shaking and stomach muscles tensing. He pulls his mouth off of you with a pop and low, desperate groan. His eyes shut tight and eyebrows knitted together as he whines and presses his forehead against your skin.

“Gonna cum.” At the very back of his mind he has a sense that he should be embarrassed, embarrassed that he’s this far gone and going to cum practically untouched. But he can’t fight the pleasure as it bubbles up his spine, doesn’t want to. 

“You can cum Santi,” you whisper in his ear. “You’re such a good boy, cum for Mommy.” 

He shakes his head, unsure why, tears at the very corners of his eyes, “please.”

“It’s okay,” you soothe, holding him tight and kissing his temple. “I’m here.” 

He moans loudly, latching back onto your breast and sucking for all he’s worth.

“Mommy’s here.” 

He groans again, pulling away a fraction to get his words out. His voice is breath and high. “Want Mommy to cum.” 

The pleading in his voice spikes at the throbbing arousal in your core. “Santi, it’s okay-”

His whine is muffled against your chest as he reaches down, sliding his hands between your legs to caress your body the way he knows you like. You’d taught him exactly how you want to be touched, exactly how you touch yourself. He was an eager learner.

“Santi,” you manage to breathe out through his messy desperate kisses. 

“Mommy needs to cum now please,” he murmurs, his speech slurred against your tongue, 

Your breath catches, thighs squirming as he strokes you, the movements soft but sure. It only takes an embarrassingly short time before you’re moaning into his mouth and tensing as your release overtakes you in a rush. 

When it’s clear you’ve cum, he tenses, his orgasm following through him and bursting behind his eyes. His cock throbs as he empties himself into his pants. You smile softly at his face as his forehead pinches in bliss, your hand still stroking his hair. 

There’s a pause, a small moment of quiet just before he sighs deeply, feeling weak and boneless. And then he looks up at you with his dark, dark eyes. The softness, the relief, the adoration… the sleepiness. 

“So good, Santiago… you’re so good. My perfect boy…”

Santi sighs against your skin, relishing in the tender moment as you play with his hair. “Was that weird?” He mumbles into your skin.

“Noooo, no not at all. It’s very common, actually.”

He looks up at you through heavy lids and suspicious eyes. “Really?”

“Oooooh yeah.” You chuckle. “More often than you think. I’m not here to judge anyone.”

He doesn’t seem convinced, but he seems to relax. “Okay. Yeah. Okay.”

You opt to not talk about it anymore, at least for the time being. He’s so tired right now, coming hard and untouched, and you decide it’s time to put him to bed. By the time you lay him from your lap to his pillow, he’s half asleep, so you opt with minimal dress. Gentle, you unbutton his shirt and slowly, carefully slide his shirt off. When you take off his trousers and underwear fully, you replace them with sweats. You think he’s asleep, breathing slowly and eyes closed. He looks positively angelic. When your getting ready to zip up your dress again, and make your exit, you hear his voice once more.

“Stay the night?”

You sigh. “Santi, I dunno if that’s a good idea…”

His eyes open slightly, just enough so you can see him. “Please, I’ll pay you whatever you want, I just don’t want tonight to end…”

He looks so vulnerable in this moment… and you don’t want this night to end either. Rules be damned. Santi was different. Santi was better. Santi was good. And you?  You deserved some damn good.

“Don’t pay me, I’ll stay.”

Santiago sits up ever so slightly. “No, no Candy this is your job. I don’t expect free-”

“It’s not free, honey.” You begin to strip down, Santi’s sleepy eyes drifting down your naked body, staring at the knife at your garter. “We’re going to sleep, just like I would at home. And tomorrow, you’ll make me breakfast. Sound like a fair trade?” The truth was, sleeping with Santi, actually sleeping with Santi, sounded wonderful. You didn’t want it to feel like a transaction. 

So, you slip into his clothes. You wear a tee shirt and sweats and climb into his bed where you think he’s actually asleep this time. He snores lightly. He sleeps on his stomach, so you rub his back. He feels nice. 

You want better for him. You want him to have a stable life, a loving wife who wasn’t a whore, kids if he wanted them, his family and friends surrounding him. He should have to live in danger, work a dangerous job. He should be allowed to be happy. It wasn’t a life you could give him, you knew… but you could imagine.

You kiss the scar on his spine.

******************

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for reading!!!!

If you're still hear, please drop a lil HI! It's 12 pm here, inching towards 1 but i promised to put this out so i will!!!

Everyone PLEASE GIVE A ROUND OF APPLOUSE FOR FEN FOR THE SMUT IN THE COMMENTS AND REBLOGS SO I CAN MAKE SURE THEY SEE ALL THE LOVE

I hope everyone is saying as safe as they can be in these temps, my heart goes out to all those struggling but especially those in war zones, poverty, homelessness, or in areas that were previously never this cold and thus unprepared for a harsh winter. I know us northerners joke about how cold we get, but I know its different when your infrastructure isnt equipped to take this on.

So tell me friends

Did Javier have a reason to be mad at Santi?

Or was he overreacting?

TELL ME YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE ARGUEMENT AND YOUR THOTS ON OUR DEAR SANTI

@runa-falls @lunar-ghoulie @campingwiththecharmings @whatthefishh @persephone-girl @criticalarchitecture @not-a-unique-snowflake-blog @beelzebeth87 @pimosworld @millerscoffee @heareball @thatwonderouswoman @poolb @meveispunk @lovable-liar @millllenniawrites @read-and-wip @missdictatorme @the-fox-den @milkymoon2483 @k-ra @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin @rosellacwrites @legendary-pink-dot @dreamingofbucky @englandsgray @starsthatwatch @fairlyang @alwaysmicado @theywhowriteandknowthings @casa-boiardi @lostfleurs @ninebluehearts @puglover12 @sub-aro @laiisleiite @itspdameronthings @heareball @comfortlessjoy @csarab615 @calaveramangonda @bit-dodgy-innit @stevngrant @kirsteng42 @mrsjavierp @nanfafnan @lovable-liar @axshadows @cookielovesbook-akie @reallyrallyauthor @solar-fics @criticalarchitecture

[otakween]

Digimon Girls Festival (Image Songs)

It's been awhile since I've done a post about "audio-only" Digimon media. Digimon has so many of these!! If you're curious this site seems like a good place to see all the info about the albums out there. Digimon-Basic is where you're going to want to go if you want to download the albums, but most of them are on YouTube too. I gotta say, this fandom is nothing if not super well documented! I'm impressed.

Loving the cover art for this (why do they all look like they're going to different parties though?) As you can see, this is a collection of image songs for all of the girls from Adventure, 02, and Tamers. No Frontier, unfortunately :'( With most anime, characters get 1-2 image songs, with Digimon they get like 5 for some reason (spread across different albums).

Image Songs

Ruki Makino - My Style (Listen here subbed)

A very fitting song for Ruki in terms of the edgy rock n roll style and her singing about wanting to stay true to herself. I found her singing about wanting wings to be pretty random though. I feel like they just stick that in anime songs cuz it sounds cool lol (I think one or two of the other image songs talked about wanting wings).

Favorite line was "I don't want to imitate anyone, I want to be me." I feel like what Ruki is struggling with is that she does care what people think of her a lot (hence her angsty facade) but really wants to break free of that and be her true self.

The lyrics were kinda poorly translated grammatically, but I've tried to translate Japanese song lyrics before...it's super hard. I feel like some things just end up sounding dumb in English and it might be better to go the localization route instead of direct translation (if this were an official thing).

Miyako Inoue - Yamato Nadeshiko Panic (Listen here subbed)

Damn, it's a good thing I know what a yamato nadeshiko is or else this song would seem pretty weird. The subber decided to translate yamato nadeshiko as "japanese woman" which...sort of makes sense but it leaves out so much context. To be fair...it's a tricky one (as I said in the previous bullet, translaton is hard!)

Anyways, this song wasn't super interesting. It was basically Miyako singing about how she wants to be an elegant, "ideal" woman. Low key trad wife vibes lol Nothing wrong with wanting to be a good wife/partner, it's just not something I relate to 😅

I feel like I never fully got a grasp on Miyako's character. The only thing I remember is that she was a fangirl and kinda boy crazy. There was an episode about how she's really outspoken I think?

Sora Takenouchi - Sky-Blue Wind (Listen here subbed)

It seems like a lot of these songs are about not being honest with yourself. It's all very Japanese lol. Sora is singing about putting on a brave face for the sake of her friends. I guess that's fitting since we did see her run away when she was upset in the anime.

She sings that she "likes her role" as the optimistic one...reminds me of Ted Lasso and Waymond from Everything Everywhere All At Once. I can't tell if this kind of outlook is admirable or deeply unhealthy.

Shaochung Lee - My Future (Listen here subbed)

This one was disappointing because I liked Shaochung. It was a super unimaginative song about Shaochung wanting to grow up. Like...I guess that makes sense, but it's a very obvious and lazy choice (with her being the youngest). Maybe she could have sung about her relationship with her brother or Lopmon/Terriermon?

I did think the "I can't see the after-10pm world" line was pretty cute/clever

Hikari Yagami - Reflection (Listen here subbed)

According to fandom wikis, this is a response to the Takeru song Focus which I wrote about here. I still feel weird about these two songs. Why would they depict Takeru and Hikari as a couple when that wasn't in the source material (imo)? I don't remember the 02 epilogue saying anything about them being together! Maybe the image songs aren't canon lol

There's something funny about Hikari calling Takeru's eyes beautiful when I just picture them as generic anime eyes. I guess blue eyes would be something to sing about in Japan. (I actually think Hikari's light brown eyes are prettier).

Juri Katou - The Color of Someday (Listen here subbed)

Sheeesh this one was dark (I mean...to be expected). It sounded to me like Juri was singing about being depressed and anxious, unsure how to live a "normal" life. The color in the title refers to that "normal" future that she wants to achieve.

A lot of the song seemed to be about masking and being afraid to show any vulnerabilities to the world. She also says she doesn't understand what love is or how to love (probably cuz of her crappy parents).

Looking back on it, I kinda wish they had foreshadowed Juri's darker side better in Tamers. She started out as such a goofy, comic relief character that her breakdown felt less real to me (also, I cared less because my brain had already categorized her as "generic background comic relief girl."). If they had shown a tiny hint of a crack in her facade sooner, it probably would have made her more interesting.

Good morning/Goodnight Calls

(These should be easy to find, they're in the same playlist as the videos above)

I don't really know what the point of these are, going to be honest. The album contains random voice lines (around 20 seconds each) of the girls saying good morning and goodnight. It reminds me of those Vtuber voice packs. Personally, I'm a big fan of Japanese oddities like this, but they seem very niche.

I thought the appeal would be to pretend that the characters are talking to me, but in the first voice clip Ruki is addressing her grandma...guess I could pretend to be her grandma lmao

Okay, Sora's wake up/goodnight call literally sounds like waifu bait (very breathy)...which is strange considering she's an elementary schooler. Who was this made for?

Some of these would make decent alarm sounds, if you're into that sorta thing. I think it would get very annoying very fast to have an anime girl yelling at me first thing haha

Sora and Miyako's were so vague and general that they could have been from any series. No mention of digimon or anything like that.

Why is Mimi showing up now but didn't get an image song? Wasn't she the singer of the group!? (Her voice lines were very shrill, my ears are bleeding lol)

Hearing cheerful!Juri after listening to her song feels...uncomfortable

I wonder if these were just improv'd on the spot. I want more backstory.

[slexenskee]

The Evolution of Pop Punk Gojo / No Scrubs

Honestly the real answer as to why he's such a pop punk gremlin in May Death Never Stop You is bc I wanted him to be lol. But I did come up with a backstory for it even if I doubt it'll ever make the fic itself.

Keep in mind this is not at all part of the story and Gojo / No Scrubs can play whatever music you want, any songs I call out specifically are really just examples.

BABY PUNK IN THE MAKING ERA: 2000

It’s 2000. The Sony Walkman CD player has been around for over 15 years; the iPod is only a year away. 

Gojo is ten years-old and he’s just lost his useless minders in the crowded, tangled streets around Harajuku. 

Being allowed out alone (for a given definition of alone, but at the very least without the usual entourage befitting the young master of an ancient house) is a new experience for him. He’s spent the entirety of his life enclosed within the guarded walls of the Gojo clan, learning his clan’s history and techniques. It’s been a very sheltered and secluded existence, and not entirely without reason; since the heralded birth of the Six Eyes holder, assassins and curses alike have been after him. The existence of Gojo Satoru changed the world order, and he was guarded accordingly. It’s rare he has a chance to leave the clan compound, rarer still to be out alone. 

But he’s almost eleven now, and he’s mastered his clan’s Limitless Blue technique as well as Infinity; even first-grade curses wouldn’t give him much trouble anymore. He no longer needs the stifling protection of his clan to the degree he had as a small child, and accordingly the hold his clan has on him is growing tenuous. So he’s given the day in Tokyo, ostensibly to find himself a present for his birthday. 

He probably would have just gone with cake— he has a rampant sweet tooth, but is rarely allowed to eat sweets— but he’s distracted by blaring, foreign music. 

He finds himself alone in front of a record store blasting rock music from a boombox speaker in the front. The store is full of punk clothing, streetwear, and endless rows of CDs all stuffed full of questionably dressed youths. The whole store is very Western, which is a novelty for a child with a very traditional and secluded upbringing in the already secluded Jujutsu society— it’s noisy and loud and seems to be the antithesis to everything his clan has tried to teach him about etiquette and propriety as the scion of a noble house; suffice it to say, he loves it at first sight.

So of course the first thing he does is buy himself a Sony Walkman and grab a handful of CDs from the front table.

The hapless and chronically underpaid part-timer who happened to stock the front display that day was not prepared to accidentally set the most powerful Jujutsu sorcerer on his road of anti-establishment chaos, but really what else did you expect from putting up all that 90's alt-grunge?

Siamese Dream ℗ Smashing Pumpkins, 1994 | Nevermind ℗ Nirvana, 1991 | Third Eye Blind ℗ Third Eye Blind, 1997

Gojo basically grew up in a house with little exposure to music, so throwing himself directly into a genre baked in themes of social alienation, angst, and loneliness that happened to perfectly reflect his own life experiences was something of a happy coincidence. He didn't understand nearly enough English at the time to comprehend the lyrics, but the feeling was conveyed nonetheless.

At some point during his pre-teen angst era he gets access to a computer. His very traditional and insulated family have no fucking clue what the hell a computer even is, so when he says he wants one and goes and gets it they have no idea what kind of open frontier they're giving him with access to the internet. 2001 rolls around and Gojo gets his hands on his first iPod, and promptly becomes that kid on iTunes who racks up hundreds of dollars worth of music purchases before even realizing what he's done.

Most Played Tracks on Gojo's poor Sony Walkman:

Nirvana: Come As You Are, Rape Me, Smells Like Teen Spirit, In Bloom

Smashing Pumpkins: Mayonaise, Today, Cherub Rock, 1979, Bullet with Butterfly Wings

Soundgarden: Black Hole Sun, Spoonman

Third Eye Blind: Semi-Charmed Life, How's It Going to Be, Jumper, Narcolepsy

--MIDDLE SCHOOL GLORY DAYS ERA | 2002 - 2005--

He's in junior high when Fall Out Boy drops Take This To Your Grave in 2003. He's a tiny body of angst and arrogance at the time, so the rebellious-spirited, nihilistic bad-boy aesthetic of pop-punk really resonated with him. He gets really into it; middle school sucks for everyone, but it especially sucks when you've been heralded as a once-in-a-generation sorcerer with god-like powers yet somehow you're still shucked into an elitist young master's private school full of normal (if not blindingly rich) people.

Gojo is very good looking and very good at everything he tries his hand at, so it's not a matter of popularity necessarily. People flock to him all the time, but even amongst a crowd of enamored pre-teens he's never felt more alone. His arrogant personality keeps everyone at a distance, just as he likes it. It all seems so pointless to him, when he's going to Jujutsu Tech for high school anyway. These people don't matter, and they may as well be aliens with how much they live in an entirely different world than Gojo.

Take This To Your Grave ℗ Fall Out Boy, 2003 | American Idiot ℗ Green Day, 2004 | Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge ℗ My Chemical Romance, 2004

This is also around the time he commits himself to actually learning English well enough to understand the lyrics - no matter how fast or convoluted the accent - and he spends a lot of time ignoring the world in his room with his headphones at full blast. A rite of passage for any self-respecting preteen full of existential fatalism.

Completely alone even as he's put on a pedestal by Jujutsu society, music is really his only solace. It makes a profound impact on him, if only because it's the only human touch that can still reach him through his Infinity. He's pushed everyone out of his life but Gerard Way and Patrick Stump, which I also firmly believe is a preteen rite of passage.

He definitely lays around in bed and debates blowing things up, except unlike regular preteens who regularly stomp up to their room and slam the door shut and tell the world to fuck off he's actually capable of doing it. He doesn't though, and instead just listens to You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison for the hundredth time.

Songs that Made it Onto Gojo's iPod Shuffle:

Blink 182: What's my Age Again, Mutt, Stay Together For the Kids

Bowling for Soup: 1985

Fall Out Boy: Homesick at Space Camp, Reinventing the Wheel to Run Myself Over, Saturday

Green Day: Jesus of Suburbia, American Idiot, Holiday,

Good Charlotte: The Anthem, Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous

Lit: My Own Worst Enemy

The Killers: When You Were Young, Mr. Brightside, Somebody Told Me

My Chemical Romance: You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison, I Never Told You What I do For a Living, I'm Not Okay (I Promise), Famous Last Words, Helena

Sum 41: Fat Lip, In Too Deep

Weezer: Say it AIn't So

--HIGH SCHOOL ANGST ERA | 2005 - 2008--

Gojo finally starts his tenure as a student at Jujutsu Tech and it's... unexpected. There are only two other sorcerers in his year and he's not really getting along with either of them. Not that he really puts in anything but a nominal effort. He's spent all of his junior high career as the king of his school, and that was among a bunch of kids who couldn't even comprehend his actual greatness.

Now he's returned to the Jujutsu World, and becomes the irreverent, chaotic, rule-flaunting little shit we all love and adore.

He's a bit disillusioned by it all, to be honest. Life, generally, but also all the pageantry that goes into every facet of it. There's a certain anxiety and depression that goes along with looking at your own life, which is the premise of most of Pete Wentz's lyrics on Fall Out Boy's Under the Cork Tree and also just the thematic overview of Gojo's high school existence. There's an emptiness that comes after the existential dread of self-introspection that Gojo promptly fills up with Fall Out Boy, and then with the addition of Infinity on High (his favorite album, entirely because it has Infinity in the name) even more Fall Out Boy.

From Under the Cork Tree ℗ Fall Out Boy, 2005 | So Wrong, It's Right ℗ All Time Low, 2007 | Infinity on High ℗ Fall Out Boy, 2007

It's an era of Fall Out Boy for him, interspersed with some other great bands of the time/genre. This is also around the time that online music radio Pandora was making its rounds amongst the online music scene, which Gojo spent a surprising amount of time in, for someone who had little to no interest in making music himself.

It would have been nice to be able to bond with his fellow students over music, like he's seen in plenty of movies, but Shoko is a die-hard City Pop fan and Suguru is one of those disturbing 'I just listen to whatever's on the radio' types. Maybe there are other kids in the other years that have better taste, but Gojo's not really the sort to be broadcasting his likes or interests like that - doesn't really fit his 'bad boy' image.

He starts high school pretty firmly entrenched in his pop-punk / emo phase, but it's a pretty tumultuous three years of his life - and society in general, with the internet becoming mainstream and smartphones hitting consumer markets globally - and his music tastes reflect this.

Most Played Tracks on Gojo's Hot Pink iPod Nano:

All Time Low: Dear Maria Count Me In, Six Feet Under the Stars, Coffee Shop Soundtrack, Stay Awake

Cage the Elephant: In One Ear, Back Against the Wall

Fall Out Boy: Sugar We're Going Down, Dance Dance, Nobody Puts Baby in The Corner, A Little Less Sixteen Candles, Thnks fr the Mmrs, This Ain't a Scene It's an Arms Race, The Take Over the Break's Over, Coffee's for Closers

Modest Mouse: Float On, Dashboard

My Chemical Romance: Cancer, Disenchanted

Panic! At the Disco: I Write Sins Not Tragedies, But It's Better if You Do

Paramore: Misery Business, That's What You Get, Decode

Red Hot Chili Peppers: Dani California, Scar Tissue, Under the Bridge

Taking Back Sunday: Makedamnsure, Twenty Twenty Surgery, Cute Without the 'E' (Cut from the Team)

The Strokes: Reptilia, Last Night, Someday

--- ADULTING IS FOR OTHER PEOPLE ERA | 2008+ ---

Post Star Plasma Vessel/Suguru's defection Gojo is a Mess™, but you'll never know it because he continues on acting like an irreverent little shit who doesn't care about anything.

He goes through a period where he doesn't consciously reject the songs that encapsulated his idyllic teenage life, but nonetheless pivots away from the pop-punk genre. He spends a lot of time pulling that Pablo Escobar Narcos meme and staring blankly out into bleak vistas in total silence and solitude. In hindsight, for all his teenage angst and loneliness, his time with Shoko and Suguru had been the least lonely he'd ever felt. Now that he's once again entirely on his own - Shoko off being a doctor and Suguru going off the deep end - he realizes he'd had a brief taste of the feeling of belonging he'd been missing his whole life.

He gets into a lot of indie pop and post-punk stuff, with more electric and synthetic sounds and upbeat tempos.

He traded in his trusty iPod Nano to an iPod Touch, and shortly after switched to the iPhone when it hit the global markets in 2009. Yeah, he was one of those Apple heads, the kind who always had to have the latest Macs and Apple products. In his defense, he was not a tech snob so much as a music snob, and at the time iTunes was the dominant music platform.

Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix ℗ Phoenix, 2009 | Oracular Spectacular ℗ MGMT, 2007 | The Modern Glitch ℗ The Wombats, 2011

He spends most of his early 20's in an indie phase, gets into a lot of electronic, and then from there uses the powers of the internet and gets into all sorts of other genres. One way or another he spends some time in the disco/house music neighborhood, a genre he and Makoto will spectacularly bond over, only to then do a total 180 and decide to form a pop-punk band together.

By the time he's stuck in his second life, it's been decades since he's listened to some of those songs he used to love as an angsty teenager. As an adult he lost track of all his old CDs, probably gathering dust in the attic of the Gojo clan house he avoids at all costs, and as the world moved towards streaming services he stopped keeping up with his staggering iTunes library. It's not as if he forgot those bands or anything, but as the world's strongest sorcerer he rarely had the time to listen to music like he used to.

When he gets dragged back into life as Todoroki Touya, it's been ages since he's heard Fall Out Boy and frankly, he misses it.

There's a glaring lack of the grunge, pop-punk and emo music in this new world he's in, and after digging around online - and begrudgingly, the local library for history books once the internet proves unforthcoming - he learns that most of those bands he used to love don't even exist in this world. Quirks appeared in this parallel universe just around the time Gojo himself had been born. The global upheaval that followed that profound change in human existence caused a chain of events that would have all the disenfranchised youths of the 90's and 2000's too distracted by global chaos, world wars and civil terrorism to make the music he loved and remembered. Music is art after all, and art is a direct response to the experiences of the people who make it.

As far as Gojo's concerned, not having the likes of Nirvana or My Chemical Romance in an entire human history is an absolutely travesty, so he sets out to not only bring those songs back for himself but also as the one good deed he'll ever care to do in this second life of his. And if he happens to make tons of money and reach critical acclaim while he does it... that's just a bonus.

[animehouse-moe]

Shangri-La Frontier Episode 1: What Do You Play Games For?

What happens when a gamer who only plays shitty games decides to pick up a so called god-tier game? Shangri-La Frontier is the answer to that and provides an insane opening episode for the concept. I'm just so excited to get 2 whole cours of this, and I really want to explain why.

Also, SiM's vocalist (MAH) on the OP with FZMZ? And Chico on the ending song? This series was made for me man.

First of all, C2C is an incredibly underrated studio considering the quality of the projects that they enjoy. This is one such project. Right from the start the quality is insane. 2D camera movement, detailed animation and character acting, the whole nine yards. Just look at this walking cycle! There's no 3D and their shoulders move!

It's just crazy to see the detail they put into these pieces early on. Walking cycles are super neglected due to how "plain" they are, but there's just something incredible about seeing that effort put into it with stuff like these examples.

And then there's this (sort of misleading) litmus test. Does your anime have really good art for a random cut? Odds are the production's doing really well. And, well, there's this really good looking beetle shown early on in the episode.

Anyways, to Shangri-La Frontier the game. The direction understands the assignment right away. This is a video game, we need to know it's a video game. So they show us it's a video game. First person perspective is our very first cut shown in the welcome screen and once we enter the world, setting the tone perfectly for what's to come.

But of course, a video game has more to it then just first person perspective, and of course C2C grasp that as well. Slow motion (which you'll see later), and more importantly camera movement are important in establishing that feel. The slow draw towards an endless expanse of world, the bird's eye view of a landmark or feature as the camera slowly rotates. It gets it, and it's able to create a living, breathing trailer for Shangri-La during the episode because of that.

And then, there's the fact that it's a video game. There's talks of skills and abilities and levels and whatnot, but I think most understand that that's a "staple" and that C2C/Shangri-La handle it quite well.

Let's talk about the good stuff, let's talk about action. C2C nails it. They put incredible effort into video game-styled choreography, and it pays off in spades. The slow motion, the harsh camera angles to accentuate the fight, the camera rotation, the way that attacks linger in the air. It's incredible stuff that's augmented by insane animation and visual effects. Seriously, pay attention to the fight and you'll see that they did an impact frame for a crit. Not in the traditional sense, but that the impact frame was the crit. This sort of stuff just makes me so excited because of how well it's handled.

And then there's the worldbuilding. The OP comes into play as well of course, but the details are super great. The enemies Sunraku faces in the starting forest are (mostly) beginner enemies. A goblin with a stone axe and some sort of large pig seem to be the "typical", but there's more to it than that. The Vorpal bunny is a "rare" enemy which makes sense, but the pig enemy only appears as Sunraku ventures closer to the second town rather than the first.

There's considerable detail and effort placed in the creation and appearances of these creatures in the world. The Vorpal Bunny featuring a better crafted weapon than the others that most likely came from somewhere else. Don't forget - we saw a rabbit in the opening.

It's just insanely cool stuff. The world is already shown to be more broad and deep than "it's a big video game world!". There's all sorts of little pieces like this peppered about, and it's just so damn good. Even the concept of Sunraku's "Wanderer" dropping him in a forest rather than the starter town. The detail to really sell this game as god-tier is so damn good.

But it's important to not forget, the god-tier part of the game is only one part of the puzzle. Sunraku here is famous for playing garbage games.

And it's a great way to offset the story and provide a fun angle, I'm serious. It allows them to add fun commentary and responses in regards to frustration from playing bad games, and at the same time provide a novel and excitable approach to a genuinely good game. The best of both worlds that sets the perfect stage for how they want to explore this story.

So, understandably so, I'm very excited about two cours of this and everybody else should be too. C2C is showing us they've got the potential to make the absolute most of Shangri-La Frontier and it's fun and surprisingly unique concept. Can't wait to see what they bring with the next episode!

[beevean]

Agree to disagree with you on forces vs Frontiers, I feel Frontiers was an improvement however I hope your opinion in it is sincere cause sometimes I see a lot of " WOW forces is way better then Frontiers actually "" and it mostly seems to just people hating it more because Flynn is involved, rather then a honest opinion about both games. Also not gonna convince me Infinite's theme is better then Vandalize, that one slams :P

Funny that you mention it, because I was actually accused of this. And, to be fair, I did groan when they revealed that Flynn would have written the game's story, so I understand why the assumption is that I'm unfairly biased 😂

But the thing is that we don't fully know what was his role in the writing: from what I got, he wrote the script for an already established plot. And if that's true, I can blame him for things like the constant references or Sonic's buffy speak, but I can't blame him for much more substantial issues like the general emptiness of the story or Eggman's role. I'm also taking the game's rushed, crunched development into account, which obviously isn't anyone's fault but SEGA. And ofc the flat voice direction kills the writing even more, and that is not the writers' fault. It's a mix of things, and Flynn is not the scapegoat here.

The little minority that is defending Forces mostly comes from a place of backlash against years of the Sonic community treating it like the worst thing that has happened in the franchise, replacing '06 with it as the acceptable punching bag (esp now that '06 is approaching its 20th anniversary and thus getting the "actually it was underrated" treatment), even going so far as insult the few fans of it implying that they're stupid or children (ah, Sonic Stadium is a wonderful place). It is tangentially related to Flynn because IDW came out a little after Forces did, and it was taken as proof that he's a near perfect writer that can do no wrong and oh wow it's so much better than the stupid pontaff games, sega hire this man asap. After six years, almost seven, it's safe to say that Forces, while far from being perfect and surely with a ton of flaws in its plot and execution of it, is not the absolute disaster that it was painted to be... and I personally think that Frontiers, a game that really comes off as wanting to be praised for being "a step in the right direction", and a game whose story was immensely praised and that praise put squarely on Flynn, really isn't in the things that matter.

(story wise, I mean. The gameplay is another matter, and I can't judge it. I have mixed opinions on the "open zone" style.)

And hey, Vandalize is cool! I never said anything of the contrary :P I'm only perplexed as to why it was associated with Sonic in the first place, since it's a song about a crumbling toxic relationship (lmao at the fans who thought it would be about Sonamy). But most songs from Frontiers are complete slappers, and I found myself singing Vandalize and Undefeatable for months :P I like both OSTs, they're different and they both have their highs and downs.

[aemondslefteyeball]

Sic Transit Gloria Mundi (2)

Part 1:

[Modern!Aemond x Fem!reader. Yellowjackets inspired.]

[Warnings: Gore gore gore baybbeeee, death, frontier medicine, Dark!Rhaena, substance use, peeing? idk]

[Summary: All they wanted was a little getaway. All they got was Nothing but Trouble!]

(Okay guys highkey did not expect to get more than like 2 notes so that was a very welcome surprise. POVs aside from Aemond/Reader won't be the rule, this chapter was an exception for plot reasons. Anyways, chapter 3 probably won't be coming until Sunday or Monday. As always let me know what y'all think ily)

Word Count: 5.4k

Song choice for a touch of ambiance

Chapter 2:

“I don’t know why she still hasn’t warmed up to me” Echoed from the hall, as Alys walked into the kitchen frowning. Aemond could still hear the angry yowls emanating from Vhagar, sounding somewhat like a possessed vacuum. 

Aemond set the bag of takeout down on the counter. A vibrating noise filled the air and Alys moved behind him, grabbing plates before glancing back towards his phone. “Do you need to get that?” She asked. Aemond could feel her gaze on the back of his head, and had to stave off the irritation that arose in him. 

“It’s Emerson being fucking hysterical.” He deadpanned, turning to look at her with a flat expression. “Apparently she’s got a bad feeling that the plane is too far north.” Wanting to move on from the topic, Aemond started scooping food onto his plate, Alys watching him curiously. She wasn’t the type to be jealous but something had obviously peaked her attention. 

“What does she want you to do about that exactly? You’re not an air traffic…” Alys waved her hand, furrowing her brow in concentration. Clearly deciding to let it go, she waved her hand and just said “Guy.” Aemond let out a derisive snort. As the buzzing started once again they met each other's gazes with mutual annoyance. Alys acted quickly, picking up the phone and accepting before blurting out a “Not available right now please leave a message!” and hanging up. Alys laughed and looked at him coyly, coming to lean against the counter so he could get a good look down her shirt. Aemond knew he should be taking the hint and ignoring the food, but he simply dug his fork into a piece of chicken and raised it to his lips. These days even Alys did little to bring him comfort. It wasn’t like he didn’t have ample time to fuck her until Y/N got home. Until you were back. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Whirring and intense clattering rang through the cabin. You blinked heavily, returning from the void. Pain bloomed across your side with each breath, and your right arm sat awkwardly outside the joint of your shoulder. Between the grinding sound of gears still trying to shift and the fog clouding your mind, another one of your father’s lessons came to you. 

90 seconds. His voice softly echoed in your ear. You tore your mask off and lowered your shaking hands to fumble with the belt buckle. Right hand moving clumsily,  barely finding a grip. You started to sob for a second before catching yourself and exhaling as steadily as you could. 90 seconds. You had to fight with the seatbelt to free yourself, your heart racing as it ate up more time you could not afford to waste. When you finally pulled the belt to an angle that unstuck it, you threw yourself from your seat. Your body protested, throbbing pain forcing you to grit your teeth. Focusing, you mustered a  “GET OUT!” knowing it didn’t make much of a dent compared to the cacophony that was already roaring inside the cabin. Breathing heavily, you pulled yourself to your feet and turned back. You crept into the aisle, putting your hand on the seat in front of you. Stepping over a metal bar stuck in at a weird angle, you hissed and pulled your hand back sharply as if you had been burnt. To your horror blood was smeared all over your right palm. As your gaze followed the source, you gasped at the sight of Tanselle. The metal rod you stepped over pinned her corpse to the seat by the collarbone, her oxygen mask still on. Electricity crackled loudly throughout the sweltering cabin. Ducking under an overhead compartment that had fallen loose, you turned instinctively when a bright light caught your attention. From one direction, sparks flared so you turned opposite. As you moved forward, the flimsy door was thrown back, and the immolated form of the flight attendant screamed in agony. An acrid scent akin to pork cracklings and burning polyester filled your nose as she let out a haunting screech. Doubling back in horror, you sighed in relief for a second. Baela’s little sister was throwing her small frame against the emergency exit. An escape. As your gazes locked you both understood and immediately tossed your good shoulder into it, hoping the door would budge. 90 seconds repeated in the back of your head. Your sore body screamed under the renewed abuse you were putting it through. Panic started to rise in the deeper animal parts of you as you felt irritation tickle at your throat. Coughing, you threw your combined weights into the door again, this time aided by Alysanne Blackwood. The metal protested and creaked as it gave way too slowly. A few of you had gathered around it by now, hysterical screams of “Push it out!” creating a chorus with prayers from Barba and Sara screaming at Floris to wake up. More coughs started to sound from the cabin as strange orange dust floated around. You couldn’t afford to register any of it happening, your focus had to be on pushing the door. Five hands forced the door open and you fell to the hard ground with an unceremonious thud. Not stopping to wipe the dirt off your face, you screamed “Help!” as loud as your hoarse throat permitted. Another voice joined yours before you raised your head. 

There was no help. 

There was nothing but pine trees as far as the eye could see. Your father’s words faded as white-hot animal instinct acted. Terrified of the coniferous sea before you, a high-pitched buzzing sounded in your ears as you stared emptily out ahead. For a second you swore you heard something. The faintest sound of a chant echoing through the muggy wind. You stumbled onto bruised legs and attempted to run into the perceived safety of the plane. “We have to go back.” You mumbled more to yourself than anybody else, willing your legs to push you toward the plane. Sara grabbed you at the same moment your better senses kicked into gear. 90 seconds. Glass spat out in every direction available, copper licks of flame rushing out after it. The explosion sent you keeling back a few inches. As the fuselage lit up, you stumbled back to meet the distressed gaze of Aly. 

“Have you seen Sabitha?” She looked like absolute dogshit, her black curls splayed wildly around her face and her bloodied nose resting at queer angle. You shook your head no as she let out a choked sob, stumbling towards the next girl she found. “Has anybody seen Sabitha?” Echoed out while you stumbled over, giving into a fit of coughing. Your throat and lungs burned, and your vision doubled. “Sabitha?” Rang out desperately again, before a man’s voice joined the fold. 

“Help!” Came the distant plea from Criston Cole. You watched as Baela’s little sister stopped dry heaving, raising her head with a quiet muttering of his name. 

“Ser Criston?” She screamed out, her voice hoarse. “I’m coming, Ser Criston!” she screamed back out as you hacked your lungs out into the dirt. You wiped away globs of saliva that fell from your lips to mix with the dirt and once more forced yourself to your feet. Ignoring the acrid scent of melting plastic and burning hair, you shoved the discomfort aside, wincing at your first few steps. “Ser? Ser!” Continued the shrill cry, and you trailed after Rhaena to see Criston Cole lying under a sheet of the hull. A group of you now crowded around him and he struggled against it. Groaning, Criston turned to look at all of you. 

“Hey girls. Is it uh.. Can you move it?” 

“Yeah. Yeah.” Multiple voices piped up, and you silently nodded. “Here. Come on. Come on!” The choir continued, the faint chanting just a little bit louder off in the distance. Promising your body this would be your last major exertion for the day, you came to a squat and pushed against the metal with all the force that remained in your drained abused muscles. Your legs and left side ached with tension, your useless right arm throbbing with white-hot pain. The panel lifted with a heavy creak, and you got a front-and-center view of the mess that used to be Criston’s leg. It looks like the gel dummies from Spirit. Not sparing the time to admonish yourself for the thought, your body reacted on instinct as you let out an “Oh fucking Gods” before gagging at the sight, the smell of iron and raw meat weighing heavily in the air. Whimpering while Myrielle vomited into the brush, you got up to your feet and moved your attention to the soot-covered figure of Sabitha. 

“Surprise.” She said simply, giving Sara a pointed glare that you didn’t understand. Relief crossed Floris’s face at the sight of her, you couldn’t help but feel the same. 

“Sabitha!” Aly’s relieved cry broke some of the tension that hung in the air, and Sabitha let out a grunt as her arms wrapped tightly around the redhead’s form. The two of them embraced and you shifted your gaze back. Rhaena walked quietly past the group of you carrying an ax. Dread forming in your gut, you walked after her. 

“Rhaena what are you-” Baela and you looked on in horror as her sister raised the ax above her head, bringing it down in one fell swoop inches above the mangled ruin of Criston’s leg. Criston– mercifully– was unconscious for it. Myrielle screamed and Baela’s hands shook, staring at the blood spatter across her little sister’s face. Turning to Baela, the two of you held onto each other. “What the fuck.” She whispered, your thoughts echoed exactly. You raised your gaze to meet Rhaena’s and she unfolded her glasses, methodically putting them back on her face. You didn’t miss the tremor in her hands at the action. Wordlessly she discarded the ax, dropping her hands to undo the belt at her jeans. When it was in hand, she dropped to her knees and formed a rough tourniquet tying the barbie-pink leather off a few inches above the fresh stump. When she finished she turned back towards where the rest of you had gathered, blood running down her face. 

“Help me move him.” She commanded.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Despite Alys’s earlier actions, Emerson didn’t relent. After growing weary of his phone constantly vibrating, he simply turned it off. Thanking the Seven that nobody but staff knew the landline, he poured two glasses of wine, happy to enjoy his first night of vacation. Sitting next to Alys on the couch watching some trash TV show she insisted on, his mind wandered back to you. He wondered if your flight had landed, and hoped it would soon so that your girlfriend would go back to venting her neuroses onto you instead. He reminded himself to place a hand on Alys’s thigh, ignoring the way she brushed her leg to the side so his palm rested closer to the apex of her thighs. Not sparing her a glance, he impassively watched the moronic show ahead of them, wondering once again how people watched this sort of thing. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rhaena was giving instructions to everybody on treating injuries. You set about tearing  t-shirts apart, shredding items your friends had gotten days before the trip. You snickered under your breath for a second, suddenly glad for your packrat nature. Rhaena stepped over you to stand over Criston. Moving the fabric you had draped over the wound, she tutted approvingly. 

“Okay, bleeding’s slowing down. But we need to disinfect it somehow.” Rhaena paused, turning to you suddenly. Her gaze was less unsettling now that she had wiped some of the blood off her face. “Maybe something from the bar cart?” She asked, with the tone of a command. You shook your head no and sighed briefly. 

“I saw it go out before..” You stopped where you were, your gaze halting where Jacaerys Velaryon stood. The vein popping in his forehead told you he knew exactly what you meant. “I don’t know where it is, or if any of the bottles are still intact.” Disappointment weighed on you, even though you rationally knew nobody could have done anything. 

“Maybe somebody brought contraband.” Barba Bolton’s tone pierced the silence, her pale gaze lingering on Baela. With the weight of the group's eyes on her, Baela held back a smirk. Looking down, she leaned against the tree. “Okay, wow.” She chuckled. “Fuck you guys, first off.”

“Well did you?” her twin questioned, Baela sparing no time to roll her eyes and shrug. 

“Well obviously, but I stashed it in my bag, and only the gods know where that is now.” Her tone was annoyed, but the resulting silence was cut when Sabitha called out. 

“Guys how about this?” She asked, lifting a bottle of toner. Sara immediately protested, her face twisting childishly. 

“Hey that’s m-” when Sabitha brought her gaze back to Sara she looked away. The soot lining half of Sabitha’s face evoked some obvious guilt in the queen bee “-a great idea, Sabitha.” she trailed off. Sabitha continued her glare as Rhaena poured it over the wound and Criston woke up to scream. 

“Fuck.” Hissing out a breath as the last splash ran down mangled flesh, Criston raised his head. Screaming again, Rhaena forced him to lie back. “Fuck, my leg.” He wheezed between pained grunts. “Is it bad?” Before Rhaena could step in, Aly leaned in closer to Criston, shooting Rhaena a look. 

“You’re gonna be fine, Ser Criston. You got pretty banged up but Rhaena’s doing a really good job. Right, Rhaena?” Her mouth moved as if she was about to argue with Aly before the taller girl pulled her off to the side. As they bickered, you used a strip of cloth to dab some of the sweat off Criston’s brow. 

“It’s a break.” you added quickly, forcing a smile that you hoped was reassuring to trail across your face. It wasn’t technically a lie, but it would be better for him to find out in the hospital tomorrow. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aemond was in the kitchen when he heard the door slam. As Alys was the only other one home and he could see her sitting on the couch, he let out a huff as he realized who it was. Alys stood to meet the enraged Emerson before she sidestepped the older woman and slapped Aemond as hard as she could muster. It was pitiful really, and she slapped him on the side that was partially numb from scar tissue. “Selfish” Her hands came out to shove against Aemond’s chest, hazel eyes alight with fury. “Fucking BASTARD.” She screamed, half-mad as Aemond stood there. “Why didn’t you answer your fucking phone?” She demanded, Alys’s voice softly piped up from the living room. Aemond raised a hand to silence her. He turned his attention back to Emerson, who was pulling out her phone with shaking hands. Refreshing a tab, she cursed the buffering symbol. Alys’s voice rose again, her eyes meeting Aemond’s in a pointed glare that meant he was going to catch hell later. Turning back to Emerson he waited for her to show him whatever the fuck she was rambling about. A soft gasp sounded, but Aemond ignored it. 

“Guys.” Alys said, when Aemond moved to raise his hand again Alys groaned. “Godsdammit look.” She said, turning up the volume to the TV she was gesturing at. Aemond’s throat went dry at the newscaster’s entirely too-chipper tone. Happily rambling on about the news as if it were a favorable sports game. 

‘Shocked that it never arrived in the hangar. Originally destined for Gulltown, the flight last pinged in somewhere over Hornwood. Experts are now beginning to prepare search and rescue teams, mapping out an area of possible wreckage sites.’ 

He turned to look at Emerson, her face twisted in shock. Tears fell wordlessly as she shook her head and muttered quiet “No’s” over and over again. Quickly feeling something churn in his gut, he looked to Alys before turning away in sudden revulsion. They all stood quiet for a few more moments. Alys broke the silence as she grabbed her purse. 

“I think it would be better if I went home.” Stated casually, emotionlessly. Such was Alys. He nodded before swallowing hard and moving to the bar. Pouring himself a triple scotch, he looked to Emerson expectantly. When she nodded he poured a separate glass for her too and brought them over. Emerson looked a mess, her makeup smeared down a face swollen from crying. Sniffling again, Aemond slid her glass over to her and watched her take a hearty gulp. After taking another, and a few seconds to compose herself she finally spoke. 

“All you had to do was just call the fucking airline.” she was barely intelligible, her voice still choked by tears. Before Aemond could say anything, Emerson shook her head and got up. Leaving him to his thoughts and the blaring newscast. He fiddled with his wedding band, anxiously shifting it around his ring finger. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 You hissed as Rhaena fed your arm through a sling. It was nothing compared to the pain of her setting the joint back into the socket but you weren’t missing your fucking leg so you didn’t feel you had the right to complain too much. After she got the sling over your arm you thanked her and stepped away. The small form of Lucerys Velaryon was darting around the brush. “Dad?” He called out. Fuck. He hadn’t seen his father get sucked out with the door. You shook your head remorsefully, before going to Aly and helping her rummage through suitcases to pool everything that could be used. The two of you had set into your work with a steady rhythm you were grateful for. It was tedious work, but it was something to focus your shell-shocked mind on. Something repetitive. Grabbing a bottle of Midol from Tanselle’s suitcase and tossing it with the keep pile, Barba exclaimed from further down the clearing. 

“My bags!” Tearing into them with a ferocity you didn’t know the gentle girl possessed, you stood up and went to her. She hugged a teddy bear as close to her chest as possible, and you smiled at the sight. Suddenly pulled back down to earth by your circumstances again. Refocusing, you reasoned there were bound to be more bags near her that needed to be searched. A sigh of relief escaped you at the sight of your carry-on. Unzipping it with your left hand and tossing it over, you looked over the contents with a sigh of relief. While most of your things were undoubtedly going to the mountain of pooled resources at the center of the makeshift camp, you were relieved to have a journal just for yourself. The peace was interrupted by a shriek from Barba. You pulled her away from whatever was scaring her before looking up. Luke screamed seconds later, everybody’s eyes raising to Laenor’s unmoving body in the tree. A branch jutted out of his abdomen–the liver, you can survive that– but getting him down from where he rested 15 feet above them would be impossible. 

“It’s Dad!” He screamed again, his voice cracking this time. “Dad.” Wails rose to burnt treetops, as you moved to pull the younger boy in towards you. 

“Luke, Luke. Shhhh.” you whispered, wrapping your arms around his lanky frame as he sobbed. Anybody with a working set of eyes could see that there was no blood relation between the two, but the man still raised him. 

“Okay who has the best arm?” Sara asked suddenly, stepping forward and looking around. She looked stressed, her mask cracked for a few seconds before she returned to her peppy self. 

“What?” Other voices echoed in agreement as you looked at her bewildered. Raising your eyebrows at her to continue, she explained. 

“I was thinking we could.. you know,” Sara paused before looking to Floris for support, followed by Myrielle and you. “Try and.. throw things at him, see if he moves.” You shook your head while Aly stepped forward. 

“You want to throw rocks at his Dad,” she paused, gesturing to Luke’s cowering form. “Who fell out of a fucking plane?” She questioned, Sabitha stepping forward to bridge the distance between her and Aly. A sneer twisted across her face at Aly’s words. 

“I didn’t say rocks!” Sara defended, looking exasperated. As if the trials of leadership had been placed on her shoulders by the group. “Someone’s shoe or whatever.” She insisted. Sabitha chuckled at that, stepping forward again. 

“Oh yeah, that’s a fuck ton smarter. You’re on fire today, Sara. Oh, wait! That was supposed to be me, huh?” 

“What?” You interjected, before Floris stepped forward. 

“Okay guys, stop it. We need a plan.” Silence fell for a fraction of a second before Barba piped up. 

“We could lower him with ropes?” The suggestion came as more of a squeak than anything, and you felt bad. Barba was the sweetest person you knew, but this wasn’t the place for naivete. Baela shot her a look before she gestured wildly giving a “Vines, maybe?” followed with a shrug. 

“Oh fuck’s sake Barba we’re not gonna Tarzan him out of a tree with vines and ropes.” Baela rolled her eyes and turned back to the tree. 

“Do you have a better idea?” Myrielle piped up, crossing her arms as she turned to face the tall blonde. 

“Sure! Let’s just cut the fuckin’ tree down!” Baela exclaimed as sarcastically as she could muster, her pantomiming was cut short by another “Dad?” coming out of nowhere. Jacaerys looked up at the tree, starting to run towards it. “Dad!” 

“No don’t” You wanted to chase after him but your arm was still wrapped around the younger Luke. you shot a look towards Baela and she went after him. It was too late though, the older boy was climbing up the tree before the rest of you could do anything about it. Rhaena came out with sheets that she passed around to everybody. You let go of Luke and grabbed a side with your good hand, your palm sweating enough that you questioned what good you were even doing. As the rest of you worked to tie the sheets together you all held your breath simultaneously. 

Wood creaked under Jace’s weight, and Baela screamed at him to get down. As the brunette scrambled back you all turned away with a whimper as the branch holding Laenor crashed down. When you looked over, his fingers were twitching softly as the gurgling noises stopped. The branch that had been jutting out of his abdomen before the fall had wedged itself even further, you turned away from the grisly sight and thanked the gods for your iron stomach. Your eyes came to focus on the bark of a tree across the way from you. There was something etched into the bark, and your heart dropped into your gut in recognition of the triangular sigil.

Hours later you all sat around the campfire. Aly and Sabitha sat next to each other, with the latter digging into a bag of barbeque CornNuts. Baela stoked the fire and Floris broke the silence. “I’m sure the plane has an emergency transmitter sending out a distress signal.” came softly, only the crackling of the fire interrupting the silence after. “They’ll be here to rescue us by morning.” The reassurance in her tone was more for herself than the rest of you, but it was appreciated nonetheless. 

“Still..” Sara chimed in, looking into the fire. “Maybe we should conserve some food?” she suggested, looking to Floris for reassurance. After that, she looked over towards Sabitha, who put her most recent handful back into the bag. “In case they don’t get here until later in the day?” she questioned. The atmosphere tensed again, with Sabitha rolling her eyes.

Drawing her lips into a hard line and nodding, Sabitha looked directly at Sara. “You want to save the CornNuts?” Sara didn’t answer and shifted her gaze back to the campfire. Silence resumed afterward. You looked over towards Barba, who looked like she was on the verge of tears. Glancing over to Aly and raising a brow, she shrugged. “You okay Barba?” Aly questioned, reaching a hand out to gently pat her on the shoulder. Barba’s pale blue eyes were rimmed with tears, and she shook her head no. 

“This is all my fault.” She squeaked. You and Baela shot each other a questioning look. “I did something really bad.” When Baela shrugged you looked towards Aly who was clueless as everybody else. “I kept screwing up in my piano lesson last week.” She sniffled, pulling her legs tighter to her chest. “Mrs. Baratheon kept yelling at me,” more tears fell down her face. She looked apologetically at Floris as the group simultaneously questioned where the fuck this was going. “Sharp. F sharp. F sharp,” she continued. “I just... I couldn’t take it anymore.” Barba’s head shook as she continued, her long dark hair shaking over her shoulders. “So I called her a bad word. Just in my head, but the Gods heard.” She insisted, a finality to her tone as she sniffled once more. Curiosity twisted in you, and you had to hold back the urge to dismiss her. The way Aemond always did to you. “Now we’re all being punished.” Barba sounded heartbroken, the waterworks resuming before you piped up. 

“What did you call her?” You asked gently, shooting her a sympathetic glance. 

Barba turned to face you, looking both ways before leaning in your direction. “Cunt.” she whispered. She looked around again as if terrified she’d be smitten by lightning. Sabitha started laughing and Aly hit her lightly on the arm. Baela joined before Floris did as well. Aly let out a guffaw and Barba looked hurt at everybody laughing. Rhaena looks around, gauging everybody’s reactions before she starts laughing as well. Crushed at her reaction, you spoke up before you could stop yourself.

“My marriage is fake.” The words hung heavy in the air for a second. 

“What?” Floris questioned.

Figuring it was too late to take it back now, you swallowed, reasoning that if you survived this you could argue it was a lie you made under the influence of a head injury. “I only married him so I could get a green card. I love Emerson.” You confessed. Despite the general beating you took, you felt lighter finally being able to say that aloud to other people. The silence drove you wild as you watched people look at each other. Finally, Baela and Aly looked at each other, before Aly made eye contact with you. 

“We know.” She said softly. “We’ve always known. We just weren’t willing to let you go back to Lys.” tears stung at your eyes, as you nodded heartily. “If you asked us we definitely could’ve set you up with somebody better though.” You laughed softly, overwhelmed at just how much you loved your friends. While others went around telling their plane-crashing secrets, Rhaena grabbed a piece of shrapnel and put the end into the fire until it glowed. After Sara finished her story about watching nude scenes on her family’s flat-screen TV, Rhaena walked off. While you all laughed at it Sara eventually turned to Floris, her best friend. 

“How about you Baratheon, any secrets big enough to crash a godsdamned plane?” Floris suddenly looked antsy, shifting on the log. Before she could start, a scream punctuated the air. 

Rhaena held the shrapnel off to the side, Criston once again unconscious as she set the metal against a tree. The smell of cracklings hung in the air as you looked at Cole’s cauterized leg. “What the fuck, Rhaena” Myrielle demanded, before Rhaena looked back at her. 

“I had to stop the bleeding for good.” She seemed entirely too calm as she sighed. You left the scene in shock, increasingly indebted to and unnerved by Baela’s little sister. 

Exhaustion had set in for most of the camp, and you found yourself losing the battle against sleep. You sat up for a few more minutes, holding your left hand out. The wedding band was stunning, winding white gold inlaid with black diamonds and rubies. Watching the firelight glint off the stones for a few more moments, you brought your left hand to where your right poked out of the sling. After you slipped the ring off your finger, you stared at it for a moment before pocketing it. Easing your aching body against the hard ground, you set your head on the cushion of a plane seat you had torn out earlier. Looking to Aly on your left side, and Baela on the right you reflected on this officially being the worst fucking sleepover you’ve ever had.

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rhaena awoke suddenly, the familiar biological urge taking over as she groaned in sleepy frustration. Sitting up and putting her glasses on, Rhaena stared into the fire for a few moments. Looking at the sleeping bodies before gingerly stepping out of the campsite to go take care of her business. Twenty feet from camp she heard a twig snap and instinctively ducked behind a tree “I don’t know how Rhaena knows half the shit she does, but honestly thank the Gods.” Sabitha said Rhaena could hear the exasperation in her tone. “Sorry, I just..” Twigs snapped as the group continued walking. Rhaena pressed further into the tree. “We would be so completely fucked if she wasn’t here.” A wide smile split Rhaena’s face. She had always been the forgettable one. After her Mom’s death, it seemed like she just stopped existing. Her father could only ever be bothered to spend time with Baela. Everybody at Barth loved Baela. The girl who invited her on this trip didn’t even know her. She just invited her because she was Baela’s twin. She coasted through life in the background, floating by only because Baela would fuck up anybody who looked at her sideways. Euphoria flooded through Rhaena’s veins at the unwitting praise, she hadn’t recalled a time she ever overheard anybody saying anything good about her. Rhaena’s heart clenched as a toothy grin flashed across her face. Squatting down, Rhaena quickly peed. She reflected on all the times she took toilet paper for granted. Or scrolling through Instagram when on the toilet. Still basking in her high, Rhaena’s eyes landed on a strange red light reflecting off a branch. After she finished and pulled her pants back up she approached the source of the light. Stepping over the tree trunk in her way, she picked up the box in front of her. Flight Recorder was printed neatly on the side, and the red light kept flickering. Floris’s earlier words echoed through her head, and an urgent sense of terror gripped her. Rhaena wasn’t ready to go back to how things were. People loved her out here. She mattered. An entirely too serene smile came across her face, and she wondered what her father would think if he could see her now. Letting a soft giggle bubble up from her chest, Rhaena slammed the black box into the ground. As soon as it lowered she raised it back up and brought it down even harder into a rock. Her frenzy didn’t stop there, years of frustration vented into the sturdy metal box. Rhaena didn’t relent, grunting in exertion as she picked up a rock and slammed it into the box again, grabbing it one last time. Heaving it back onto her lap, she pulled on the one exposed wire as hard as she could, gasping as the red light went out with a spark. She fell back in shock, a smile wavering on her face as she tossed the cable to the side. Giggling, she leaned her head back and let her lashes flutter shut a second. Vacations weren’t meant to last one night, after all. She thought as she got up and walked back to camp with skip in her stride.

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

(I know that Dark!Rhaena is wildly OOC but the thought of Daemon's most mild-mannered child going Misery on Criston fucking Cole was too funny to pass up. Here's to Dark!Rhaena, you go you lil freak. Also let me know if you liked the song, and whether or not you guys would be interested in me linking songs that kinda fit the ambiance at certain points in the fic? Mostly ambient stuff and it won’t be an every paragraph thing. Mostly for oomph.)

Taglist: @chainsawsangel

[honeycombhq-22]

Episode 1: Pilot

[Jap dub] | [Eng dub]

❝It's the tournament that every player dreaming to become big pays attention to, the greatest battle ever: The Football Frontier International Tournament. Boys and girls from all over the world gather together to fight for the title of the best in the world. Everyone from the biggest countries to the tiniest of islands.❞

*insert intro theme song*

Taken place in:

Episode 68: The Gathering: Who's the Japanese Representative?

"Uh...who's that behind Coach?"

Oh no... She thought to herself as she watched everyone's eyes shift to her figure standing behind the man she knew as Hibiki-san. She fiddled with the hem of her navy tracksuit top, her fingertips collecting silver glitter from her shiny sides.

She knew they shouldn't have made a pitstop for breakfast, she never ate in the morning anyway. But she really didn't want to seem rude and reject the man's offer. After all, this man made all her other complex arrangements work, something as simple as a quick bite was the least she could go along with, but now they were one of the last ones to arrive at the school.

And all the attention was on her.

"She's kinda cute— *smack*— OW!"

Coach Hibiki patted the girl's shoulder. "This right here is Alex Jones." He introduced. With his hand still on her shoulder, he guided her to step in front of him for everyone to see her properly.

Snow white long hair tied into a neat ponytail and her chin raised as her shiny eyes stared at the wall above the players' heads instead of looking into their eyes. She looked like a self assured player to the other candidates.

Her ears perked at the sound of a female voice greeting. She turned and met a trio of girls all dressed in school uniform. A dark green haired girl in particular, who she assumed was the one who said hi, waved to her with a smile. "Are you going to be another manager?" She asked.

She took in a breath, preparing to answer when Hibiki chuckled, "Nope, she's a candidate."

And then the murmers started again until a voice cut through it like a knife.

"Oh cool!"

Next thing she knew, her hand was taken and shaken enthusiastically up and down. Her honey eyes widened and finally focused after a minute of shock.

Her hand was trapped by a pair of hands that were a little more tanned than hers. She looked up from the hands and met a wide grin. A chunk of chocolate brown hair hung over his orange headband.

Endou Mamoru.

"I love meeting new people! It's Alex right? I'm Endou, Endou Mamoru. Do me a favour and play to the best you can, okay, Alex?" He spoke so fast all she could do was nod slowly. Mr Hillman did give her a warning about the passionate goalkeeper.

The auburn haired girl from the trio facepalmed, heaving a sigh. "Endou, let the poor girl's hand go."

His eyes widened innocently and looked down at her hand still clasped in between his. "Oh?" He let go of her hand then scratched the nape of his neck. "Haha... sorry about that."

She heard A bit of a deeper voice speak from the crowd, "What position do you play?"

She straightened her posture and put her hands behind her back, "Anything is fine." Her eyes took note of the blue straps on his goggles and the matching cape that hung around his neck casting down his back.

Kidou Yuuto.

His eyebrows raised. "Anything?"

Her head tilted to the side as her eyes looked away from Kidou's goggled vision. "Well, I prefer not playing goalkeeper. But, if I'm needed there, I can play it."

She responded well, but his crimson eyes squinted behind his goggles. The playmaker couldn't help but feel something gnawing at the back of his mind. He just couldn't exactly pinpoint what it was.

Why does she look so familiar?

Putting the feeling behind him, Kidou gave a short and simple nod. Hibiki looked around the room. "Looks like everybody's arrived."

Suddenly, a ball came flying behind everyone. Quickly, Jude turned and kicked the ball back to the source. The source's face twisted into a deranged smile and everyone's mouths drop to the floor.

"Guess who's back like a vertebrae bitches"

"You're kidding me." A boy with an eye patch snarled. Soon, the expressions of many in the room turned sour, staring at the boy bouncing the ball off his knee.

"What the hek Fudou— What was that for?" Alex stepped back behind her comfortable spot behind Hibiki, hearing Kidou's once calm voice, raise as his fists clenched.

Fudou shrugged, continuing to focus on the ball he was playing with, his grin still as taunting as when the candidates last saw him. "It's just my way of saying hi. Looks like you guys still can't take a joke."

Eye patch boy— Sakuma scoffed, "A joke? Do you even realise—"

Then the three boys went back and forth.

The blue haired girl paged through the pages on the clipboard. "Fudou really did get called." She whispered in disbelief.

They didn't know what it was, but the trio soon became uneasy as memories came flooding into their minds. Flashbacks to watching Sakuma destroy his body with every kick, and all they could do was sit and watch in silenced horror.

Who wouldn't feel uneasy about Fudou's mere presence? He assisted in leading their friends straight into the hospital again.

Now, imagine what he could do at a high-pressure competition such as the FFI?

"Um...Excuse me."

The girls all turned to the source of the voice to meet the white haired— Alex. Ignoring the boys trying to hold Kidou and Sakuma back. She asked quietly, "Were you called in to play too?"

The auburn head—Raimon laughed as she shook her head. "Oh no no, I can't dribble a ball if my life depended on it! Aki and Haruna are going to be the managers for the chosen team."

Aki looked down at the clipboard. "Gosh, I guess you're the only girl called in."

Alex's expression dropped slightly. "Oh."

She looked at the group of boys then turned back to the girls, "Alright then, thank you." Then walked back to the group of boys fading away into the crowd.

"Do you know who she is, Haruna?" Aki asked her friend who was always up to date about players' data.

"Besides her name, not at all," she shook her head. "I've never seen a school team with that tracksuit either."

Nelly's arms crossed in suspicion. "And she's definitely not from Raimon." Being the chairman's daughter, she got quite familiar with the students of her school, even the unnoticeable ones.

She sighed, giving up on thinking too much about an issue that could be minor. "Oh well."

Man, will they regret not voicing their thoughts soon enough.

-

"I'm Chester Horse Jr and welcome to my amazing commentary!" He squaked into the microphone so loudly, and suddenly, Haruna and Natsumi jumped behind Aki.

"Oh Chester," she said calmly, "we didn't see you there."

"How did you not get surprised?" Natsumi asked.

"Oh?" Aki looked up at the sky while tapping her index finger on her chin. "I guess it's because I've gotten used to him."

But Chester was too riled up with excitement to have noticed the girls and continued,

"Today's a special day, everybody. All the superstars from around the country are here to play the game of all games. The game that determines the make up of the national Japanese team. Team A are in blue, Andou Mamoru as their captain. And to my left is Team B in white with Kidou Yuuto as their captain."

Everyone on this field is here for a reason. And everyone here has a reason to want to be a representative for Japan in the Footbal Frontier International tournament.

Alex's eyes roamed the field filled with the other 20 players as they did a mini exercise, shaking away their nerves. Her eyes stopped and slightly widened when they met a pair of teal-grey eyes.

That's... that's Shirou?

Yeah, Shirou... Fubuki Shirou

Fubuki gave Alex an encouraging nod with a soft smile. She nodded back then faced the opposition. The corners of her lips rose as a light feeling bubbled in her chest.

Noticing her softened features she cleared her throat and straightened her expression into a more calm straighter face.

Focus.

The whistle blew.

🌅[31 Dec 2023]🌅

𝙼𝙰𝚂𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝙻𝙸𝚂𝚃 | [𝙽𝙴𝚇𝚃 𝙴𝙿𝙸𝚂𝙾𝙳𝙴]

Outro:

×Re-edited: 11 Aug 2024×

[windfighter]

Dinnertime!

Prompt: ”Make Kouji a merman and have fun!” from @ran-orimoto

Frontier mermaid-AU time! Just Kouichi and Kouji having dinner together. A direct continuation of Siren's Song from a while back. Enjoy :3

--------

Kouji arrived through the southeast tunnel. Kouichi looked up from the cauldron, watched as Kouji swimmed up to the wall and put his forehead against it.

”Another one?” Kouichi asked.

Kouji grunted out an answer and Kouichi rolled his eyes.

”Why do you keep going up there?”

Kouichi had lost track of the amount of landdwellers that had fallen into the water or drowned due to Kouji. Maybe he didn’t want to think about it. He dropped a pufferfish into the cauldron and watched it swim away from it. Hm, maybe he should have tried a dead puffer.

”I like the wind”, Kouji answered.

”Just go stick your head into the stream up north.”

Kouichi dropped a few mussels into the cauldron instead, stirred it. Kouji was still just floating against the wall. Kouichi added some grounded up coral into the cauldron as well, some seaweed. Considered, for the hundreth time, to move north, below the stream and to the vents. He’d be able to do more if he had access to hot water. Kouji’s tailfin twitched.

”There’s others like us”, he said.

Kouichi stopped stirring, stared at Kouji’s back.

”What?”

”Other half-dwellers”, Kouji continued.

”Well… yeah”, Kouichi answered.

He hadn’t seen any, not up on the reef, but sometimes when he went to the stream, he could see their shadows in the depth. He hadn’t really talked with Kouji about it.

”It’d be weird it we were the only ones”, he said instead. ”Cursed landdwellers or cursed fish? We’d have to find a way to get free of the curse either way.”

”Isn’t that what you’re doing with that thing?”

Kouji turned around, gestured at the cauldron. Kouichi put his arm in it and pulled out a handful of the mussels.

”Dinner”, he laughed and ate one. ”Grab some.”

Kouji did, laid down on the floor and ate them, his eyes locked on the cauldron. Kouichi sank to the floor as well.

”Did you really think we were the only ones?”

”I met one”, Kouji said instead of answering.

A mussel got stuck in Kouichi’s throat and he coughed it up again.

”You WHAT?”

”Another half-dweller”, Kouji said. ”More like he found me. I think I scared him off.”

”Was it your singing?”

Kouichi didn’t think their voices reached all the way to he depth, but if they did they had some new problems to worry about.

”I don’t know, he didn’t say. Just asked for my name. Tried to stop me from saving the landdweller.”

”Hmm…”

Kouichi finished his mussels, looked at the wall, the patterns that he and Kouji had carved into it while they were growing up. Bad drawings of the fish and the plants around them. An attempt to bring the reef into their cave. Kouichi had tried to grow corals in the dark, but they had died. They needed sun, something Kouichi couldn’t provide.

”Do you think he’ll come back?” Kouichi asked.

He couldn’t tell if he was worried or excited. What if the half-dwellers of the deep were just as murderous as the landdwellers? What if they weren’t?

”Should we move to another part of the reef?”

Kouji turned one of the mussels around in his hand. Stared at it as if it held all the answers and refused to share them.

”I don’t know”, Kouji said after a while. ”He heard my song. Said he liked it.”

”Oh.”

Part of Kouichi wanted to tell Kouji he needed to stop singing. That it’d get them in trouble for real one day. But he couldn’t say that.

”...did the landdweller see you?” he asked instead.

”Don’t think so.”

”It’d be fun to meet other half-dwellers, I think”, Kouichi said.

They hadn’t seen any since their parents got taken by the landdwellers. Killed, probably. There had been a lot of blood in the water. Kouichi had grabbed Kouji and swam away in the chaos. Hidden both of them in the cave that was now their home. Maybe it was time for them to move out, find something bigger.

”Do you know where he was from?”

Kouji shook his head. Finally ate the mussel.

”I told him to go away. Hopefully he did.”

Kouichi put his hands over his face and laughed.

”First time we see another half-dweller for years and you scare them off.”

”We don’t need others”, Kouji said.

Voice hard. Angry. Only Kouichi could pick up the pain hidden beneath it. And Kouji was right, probably. They didn’t need others and even posed a danger to anyone who got too close. Like the landdwellers Kouji kept drowning by mistake. But still…

”If he comes again, come get me. I want to know more”, Kouichi just said.

Kouji hmpfed, rose from the floor and left through the north tunnel. Maybe he would go to the stream. Kouichi laughed, rose as well and turned towards the cauldron. If they were actually just cursed, this time, he’d figure out a solution.

[emeraldthelynx]

Infinite

I think Infinite is a really cool character. When I played Sonic Forces, I think my only real complaint with the game was how short and easy it was. Everything else was really amazing! And Infinite was such a cool character with so many nuances, heightened by the lyrics in his self-titled theme. A lot of people seem to think he's just an angry guy who hates Shadow and started a war for no reason. And then the fandom puts him through therapy.

. . .

Let me explain why I think Infinite is a cool villain!

First of all, he's got a backstory the player becomes a part of in Episode Shadow. Shadow has been ordered to hunt down Infinite's mercenary squad (probably by G.U.N., although the scriptwriters probably didn't realize that.) He takes down the rest, then takes on Infinite. Up until this point, Infinite has been invincible, he was feared, he had power. Then Shadow breaks him instantly. Instead of having a moment of self-reflection or brooding, Infinite denies that he has a breakdown. He hides his face and it's almost like that the mask he wears is a sign of his 'rebirth.' So he's a tragic villain! He's still a bad guy, he was a bad guy before everything Shadow did, but Infinite becoming scared and vulnerable actually makes him sympathize with the audience.

Secondly, this guy is a real threat! If Eggman hadn't reeled him in when he did, chances are Infinite would of taken him down as well with his illusions. He literately tricks the brain into hurting the body while manipulating reality to his every whim. He doesn't need to have contact with his opponents to hurt them, which is more than can be said for a lot of Eggman's plans. He materializes Sonic's hardest opponents, Shadow, the perfect rival to Sonic, Metal Sonic, a machine who believes he's the real Sonic and will do anything to prove it, Chaos, the literal embodiment of Sonic's worst fear, and… Za…vok? (Sorry, Zavok works more as a Mario villain than a Sonic one. He's ruthless, we'll say that, yeah.) Excluding Zavok, these guys have been real threats to Sonic when they were separate, and Infinite puts them together. He breaks Tails. He makes the world believe that Sonic is dead for six months. Again, more than most of Eggman's plans have done.

Third, the dynamic Infinite has with the Avatar character. Both of them were reduced to trembling, fearful people. But Infinite hid away, and the Avatar chose to fight despite his/her fear and eventually overcame it. Infinite's theme literately sounds like he's taunting the avatar, hitting it especially hard with the line "it's only me and you, who is gonna save you now?" Infinite sees the avatar as the person that he was before putting on the mask, and likes taunting them. Do you realize that he's trying to hide his own fear by attacking the Avatar? And it makes him even more scared as the avatar stands up again and again which he could not do.

Fourth and final, his design and theme song?! That mask, the Phantom Ruby, the Persona-esque logo on the bottom of his shoes, that is a lot of effort put into this design to really sell the character! (As a side note, I know barely anything about Persona. Could somebody who's more familiar with the series tell me if Infinite embodies any of the Persona traits?) His theme song is really amazing. It embodies everything in his character. Do you realize that this was the first time there was a character theme in this style since Silver's theme in Sonic 06? Sure, we got cool things like Knight of the Wind or lovely tracks like Speak With Your Heart, but we did not get a full-blown character theme. Infinite is telling the audience (Avatar) who he is, everything about his power, how he's the one in control, but at the same time, you can hear him trying to convince himself of everything he's saying. (Especially with the line "this is an illusion, open up your eyes.")

I'm going to say it now that I got more happiness from playing Sonic Forces than I did playing Frontiers. The music was great, I actually felt like I had a world to save, and the avatar was really fun to design and use. I think if SEGA used a style similar to the Adventure games where each character (Sonic, Classic Sonic, and the Avatar) each had their own story segments, made the game a little longer, and fleshed out the story a bit more, Sonic Forces would of been one of the best Sonic games that came out in a while. I might make another post later that specifies those ideas a bit more, but for now, enjoy my rant about Infinite.

[gerogerigaogaigar]

Oh snap it is top ten time! These are the ten greatest albums of all time according to Rolling Stone magazine. Are they right about these choices or are they complete fuckups? Thank God I'm here to tell you all about this shit.

#10

Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill

Where to start? Miss Lauryn Hill deserves more. She was the star of the Fugees and her solo debut, this album, is one of the highest achievements in the genre of hip hop and soul but oh how suddenly halting your career will get people to stop talking about you. The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill is more than just a strong debut it is the perfect blending of hip hop and neo soul. It is what Hill started on The Fugees album The Score and makes it into something all her own. She switches between rapping and singing so fluidly that you don't even always notice it, but at the same time they don't sound anything alike. Hill is so beautiful with her rich contralto voice but when she switches to rapping she hits with an incredible staccato that usually contain copious Jamaican patois. But her style isn't what's new here, you heard her rap and sing on The Score after all. When given the freedom of an album all to herself Lauryn Hill gets deep into the politics of love, career, and family. And she comes at it from the distinct angle of a woman struggling to be successful in a male world. She talks about her pregnancy, the collapse of Fugees, past heartbreaks, she criticizes the hip hop industry, and she does it all without adopting the masculine kayfabe that most other female rappers of the 90s did. Lauryn Hill never once compromises her personal vision for her life and her music. And that's why she never followed this one up. She chose her family and raising a child over fame and if you listen to the lyrics on this album its obvious that she was gonna do that. I have to respect someone who has music as a passion and didn't want to fit that passion into a commercial box. Miseducation was always gonna be best as a one off thing and it is as good of a hip hop album as we are ever gonna get.

#9

Bob Dylan - Blood On The Tracks

1975, a decade after Dylan shook his fanbase by going electric. Bob Dylan had put out a couple good but not super successful albums with The Band but his career was realistically sundowning at this point. I suspect that this is a major factor in how Blood On The Tracks has been received over time. Receiving middling reviews upon release and then skyrocketing to the top of many best album lists in later decades. How uncool must it have been to admit that Bob Dylan released one of his best albums in 1975? Blood On The Tracks retains some of the production cleanness of his electric era, but the instrumentation is much more akin to his first few albums. Another thing that I think people may like about this album is that it is less lyrically obtuse than most other Dylan albums. That isn't to say that it's crystal clear straight forward storytelling but it isn't as cryptic as say A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall. Now here's the thing. I think Blood On The Tracks is a little overrated. It is a great album by a great artist, but it doesn't carry the sincerity or creativity of his earlier work. This isn't a new frontier anymore and while Dylan has matured as a musician it doesn't really change the fact that he's writing a bunch of songs about his marital troubles just like every other 70s rocker. Dylan just does it with a much better vocabulary and without talking about his penis. Still I would be a huge jackass to suggest that this is a bad album and if you, like myself, are horny for Bob Dylan's extremely long numbers then the song Lily, Rosemary, And The Jack Of Hearts is one of my favorites of his.

#8

Prince And The Revolution - Purple Rain

Oh yes. Fuck yeah! I couldn't agree more with this choice. Purple Rain is a completely transcendent album. Prince is always an immaculate performer but in Purple Rain he is just so much more extra. Every drum beat is more intense, every lyric more wild and sexual, the funk more unfettered. Prince screams in sensual agony constantly. His vocals dynamics more pronounced than on any other pop album ever recorded. And then there's the guitar. Did you know that Prince was one of the most skilled guitarists ever? He rips solos regularly in this album that put most metal guitar virtuosos sound like amateurs. Prince's career had done nothing but catapult from the very beginning and it all seems to have been building up to this moment. The bombast of the music, the flamboyant persona, the movie tie in to this fucking album. Prince had it all.

#7

Fleetwood Mac - Rumours

Can you even fucking imagine? You are in one of the greatest bands of the 70s, you are in the middle of a divorce and you're in the studio doing backup vocals on a song your ex wrote about how done she is with your shit. Being in Fleetwood Mac must have been wild. The two separate divorces that were happening while this album was being written really made for some of the best music of all time. It's not just breakup music either it's "I've moved past this" music, it's "I genuinely wish you well and hope we can still be friends" music, it's "you broke a sacred promise when you broke my heart and now I'm feral" music. All done in an intensely calm until it isn't calm anymore country/folk rock style. And it's all extremely catchy and memorable. From the eerily detached Dreams, to the jaunty Never Going Back Again, or the intense American gothic of The Chain and Gold Dust Woman. These songs are going to get stuck in your head. Fleetwood Mac were nothing if not accomplished songwriters and if that meant playing bass on a song about your ex's new boyfriend then godammit you better lay down a hell of a bass line!

#6

Nirvana - Nevermind

By all rights nothing should have propelled a band like Nirvana into the mainstream. They existed in a niche genre tucked inside of a niche genre. But something about Nevermind hit just the right chord with gen x. The music industry changed overnight with record labels rushing to sign and promote alternative artists and so the very notion of indie music went up in smoke for decades. If you think I'm being overdramatic or mythologizing too hard understand that this no name band of punk rockers knocked Michael Jackson off the top of the charts. The music industry of the early 90s was a very different place, major labels had the whole thing on lockdown, and this should have been an all but impossible move.

So what is this music that turned the industry upside down overnight? What is grunge? It really is just punk but with an anti-macho sensitivity and some influence from alt rock bands like R.E.M. and Pixies. It's lyrically witty and evokes both a fear of the mundane and a disinterest in the interesting. Cobain roasts mainstream audiences that have latched to alternative music (In Bloom), he paints a surreal portrait of middle class banality (Breed), and sings about the disenfranchisement of his generation (Smells Like Teen Spirit). What Cobain does that is interesting is always write from the point of view of who or whatever he is criticizing. Polly disturbingly portrays sexual assault from the point of view of the assaulter, Lithium has its main character be a Christian convert to show how religion can be a vice.

Musically Nirvana's brand of grunge is very punk, but there is a quiet loud dynamic that suggests, possibly coincidentally, emo as well. The distortion is heavier than almost any other alternative band and influence from recent tour mates Sonic Youth is probably partially responsible. Especially with the high wetness levels that the guitars frequently hit. There is also an undeniable hint of country twang that kind of permeates grunge music in this unstated way. You can certainly hear it on Polly and Come As You Are, but it's like an unseen specter surrounding all of Nirvana's music. I have a near infinite number of thoughts on the grunge movement and I may have let a few too many leak into what is supposed to be a review of a single album, but oh well, whatever, Nevermind.

#5

The Beatles - Abbey Road

With the impending breakup of the band looming over them The Beatles felt freer than ever before. The resulting album is in turn one of their happiest, their most unfettered, and probably their most unhinged. While there are a couple of relatively normal tracks in there, the love ballad Something, the dramatic Oh! Darling, or the sweet and hopeful Here Comes The Sun, a lot of the album is populated by weird shit. The jaunty murder ballad Maxwell's Silver Hammer truly feels like there was no point other than to go "hey wouldn't this be fucked up or what?" The nearly eight minute I Want You (She's So Heavy) is way too close to being stoner metal than anything by The Beatles should be and is my absolute favorite Beatles song. And then there are the surreal Because and Sun King the former of which is a psychedelic nightmare and the latter being much the same but with nonsense lyrics at least partially in Spanish for some reason. The musical diversity is very high with most of the songs on the first half of the record not sounding anything like each other. The second half contains a trilogy of medleys and is the more interesting half of the album in my opinion. You Never Give Me Your Money is split into three movements, which is such a McCartney move, and it transitions smoothly into Sun King. Then the rock n roll medley of Mean Mr. Mustard, Polythene Pam, and She Came In Through The Bathroom Window which all flow together so cleanly that they are essentially one song. I gotta respect the titular Mr. Mustard for shouting obscenities at the queen. What a legend. The final trilogy of songs that are also mixed together make up a sort of farewell for the band. They are clearly meant tow be the last song on the last Beatles album (Let It Be came out after but Abbey Road was the last recorded). So it's very funny that the album ends on an incomplete ditty that was accidentally tacked onto the record due to a clerical error.

#4

Stevie Wonder - Songs In The Key Of Life

The sessions for this album produced so many tracks that they couldn't even fit it all on a double album so it came with an extra 7" disc containing the last four songs. You'd definitely think an album that long would get tiring but no. Absolutely not. From the very first notes to the end, an hour and forty five minutes later, it is a masterpiece of 70s funk/soul. And even though the album runs longer than the average feature film when it ends you will be disappointed there wasn't more.

Wonder explores his main two sides, political activism and emotional maturity, to their fullest extent. The political side most ardently on Black Man, a song that argues for racial equality by listing the accomplishments of American men and women of all races and stating that we have all contributed to our society so we should all be treated equally. And on the emotional end Isn't She Lovely is the most beautiful and heartfelt love song ever written. Wonder wrote the song about his newborn daughter and her giggles can be heard in the recording. It is the sweetest thing I have ever heard.

#3

Joni Mitchell - Blue

Joni Mitchell's talent as a Singer cannot be overstated. She can jump octaves with apparent ease and move between smooth melodic phrases to cheeky staccato recitative in a heartbeat. She uses these beautiful vocal skills to lead us through ten confessional songs about heartbreak and breakups. As cliche as that sounds she has a beautifully poetic sense to her lyrics that help display a complex breadth of emotions.

Mitchell didn't just get more personal for Blue she also picked up some new musical tricks. She plays with open tunings on several songs l and makes notable use of the Appalachian dulcimer on Carey, California, and A Case Of You. Mitchell isn't quite in her jazz experimentation era yet, but a tendency for blues chords and improvised vocal flourishes show that it was always a part of her. Perhaps that buried sense of bluesiness trying to escape is reflected in the songs about trying to move on and escape.

#2

The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds

It's probably easy to look at Pet Sounds, see nothing more than some 60s pop rock and not think twice about it. What is it that has Pet Sounds always placing at or near the top.of these lists? Is it just some old men's nostalgia? Well, probably to some degree sure. But this is more than just an album with a disproportionate number of catchy hits on it. Brian Wilson was an eccentric perfectionist who constantly saw himself as being at war with The Beatles. The Beach Boys always had to be topping whatever The Beatles put out and they had recently released Rubber Soul, their first album that felt fully cohesive as an album. Brian Wilson stepped it up a notch adopting the theory of "the studio as an instrument". Every track on Pet Sounds is meticulously crafted from the writing to the performing to the mastering, and it manages to achieve a level of precision and perfection in every one of those fields that it cannot realistically be argued that it isn't a perfect album.

The albums arrangements feature some very interesting instrumentation, bike horns, and coke cans amongst the more traditional but still interesting tack piano, harmonium, and french horn. The album also features orchestral arrangements, but they are rendered in a more rock oriented style creating something in between doo wop and chamber pop. In terms of composition the tonality of most of the songs is vague. Few have a particular key and instead float around a tonal center. This contributes heavily to the albums dreamlike, hazy sound. The songs are so tight and focused though that the tonal vagueness just reinforces the emotional uncertainty of the lyrics. Meanwhile the drums, and instrument that you usually associate with, y'know keeping time, is used here to create texture rather than rhythm. The fills are used very tonally, almost like how Joe Morello approaches drum solos on Time Out.

Bringing it into the studio Wilson himself lead most of the production and was inspired by Phil Spector's wall of sound. What Wilson does that is not revolutionary by modern standard was make sure every song on the album was mastered in a way that made them sound like they all came from the same album. Compared to other albums from the era it made Pet Sounds seem more like a classical song cycle than a rock album. Nearly every artist followed suit which makes it impossible for us to really hear how unique Pet Sounds was at the time.

The only surprise about Beach Boys being at this place on the list is that it wasn't at number one.

#1

Marvin Gaye - What's Going On

"Mother, mother there's too many of you crying / brother, brother, brother there's far too many of you dying"

The opening line of this album is clearly as relevant today as it was in 1971. The whole album is writhing with fear and confusion over the state of the nation, Vietnam, the civil rights movement and the violent intersection between the two that saw US citizens shot dead in the street by their own government. Perhaps the fine line toed by What's Going On is best summed up by this quote from Four Tops singer and title track cowriter Obie Benson "My partners told me it was a protest song. I said 'no man, it's a love song, about love and understanding. I'm not protesting. I want to know what's going on.'"

The number one thing that What's Going On understands is that protest has to be an act of love. It doesn't spend as much time on the acts of police brutality as it does on the people actually affected. It talks about environmentalism because we need a planet for future generations to live on. Marvin Gaye sees everything that is going wrong and says 'we can get over this, it will be okay if we can work together to fix this'. Affected by the trauma his brother experienced in Vietnam Gaye made his protest album a concept album about a Vietnam veteran coming home only to find suffering and hardship.

Musically Gaye uses a lot of repeating motifs and lyrical phrases, especially the titular question of what's going on?, to link all the songs thematically. The songs all running together in a gospel soul song cycle.

[sleepdeprivedsimp234]

~A time that Mass scared the living crap out of Alaska because of a book~ (To be fair, he had a good reason-

=======================================================================

(Also, a little HC for some context for this: Mass really loves reading books and practically LIVES on BookTok. He decided to read "The Song of Achilles", and to say he was an absolute wreck after would be an understatement.)

He just wanted to get a few drinks to restock his fridge. That’s all he wanted. Alaska did not expect to get jumpscared by Mass, who was sitting at the kitchen island with mascara and eyeliner running down his face and a bottle of whiskey in his hand, and a rather "relaxed" smile on his face to top it off. Alaska wasn’t even sure that Mass even knew he was there.

"Hey Boston. Ya good?" Said the Last Frontier with a chuckle. "Did your favorite sports team lose or some sh*t?? Cuz ya look like you’re having an existential crisis." He was smirking teasingly at Mass, but he quickly wiped that smirk off his face when the smaller snapped his head up to glare friggin’ SWORDS into his soul. Not daggers, not even butcher knives, SWORDS!- into his soul.

"Shut. The. F(SPEAKS BOSTON)K. Up." Mass said darkly with a slight eye twitch.

"Dang, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." Alaska said teasingly. He saw York walk into the kitchen with an empty coffee mug and gestured to Mass, who had gone back to staring at the table with something only be described as either hatred or peacefulness.

"What’s up with im’??" York asked with a confused expression.

"I’m not actually sure. He ain’t lookin’ to hot right now." Said the tallest.

"Yea- well no dip Sherlock." York said, rolling his eyes. He walked over to Mass and leaned on the table next to him. The glare that Mass gave him honestly sent shivers down his spine just a bit. "H-hey Mass…..Um- Are-are ya doin’ aight?"

Mass sighed a bit and laid his head on the table. "Shut up."

"No. I don’t think I will. What’s wrong? Is it a book you read or somethin’?" The younger asked. He smirked knowingly when Mass nodded. "Yup. Thought so. What book was it?" He asked. He watched as his older brother pointed at a book that was on the table in the living room. York got up, walked over, and picked up the book, carefully reading the title.

"The Song of Achilles…..OH- Ohoho you poor, poor soul…." He said out loud. He too, had read the book and knew EXACTLY what was wrong with his brother. York walked over two his brother and put a gentle, yet firm, hand on his back. "Yea bud, yer not gonna be okay for a good long while."

"Why. Just why. I thought it would have a happy ending, York. But it wasn’t. It personally attacked my emotions." Mass said as a few more tears rolled down his face, dragging more eyeliner with them. He took a swig from the bottle of whiskey he was holding and smiled maniacally.

"Shh… I know, I know…." York comforted. This was gonna fun.

"Is he seriously crying over a book?! It’s just a d*mn book, what’s the big deal??" Alaska said, chuckling a bit. He instantly shut the f😶 up when Mass started glaring swords into his soul again.

"If you don’t shut the f(speaks Boston) up right now, I SWEAR TO GOD, I will PERSONALLY unbraid your DNA from the inside and I will PERSONALLY DEMONSTRATE, why kneecaps are a privilege and not a human right." Said the Bay State with an amount of malice that seemed impossible to comprehend.

"Pfft- but I ain’t-" Alaska started but got cut off by York saying:

"Listen, I know we don’t really get along, or he//, even talk, but I would highly recommend that you not say another word and go back to the safety of your garage before he actually decides to follow through with his threats." York said with a surprisingly sympathetic look on his face as he wrapped his arms around his brother in case Alaska decided to say something else and he would have to hold his brother off as long as he could. Alaska looked he was about to say something else but didn’t. "Good choice."

Alaska just rolled his eyes, grabbed a few drinks, and went back to the garage. One things for sure, well two-, but whatever: One, he was never gonna forget that look that Mass gave him, and two, he just barely dodged a bullet.

=======================================================================

[egg-emperor]

Heya I just finished Sonic Frontiers and while I was trying to avoid spoilers, I did think of you when it came to the Eggman stuff in the game. I can definitely understand why you would be disappointed in the direction they went with with his character in the game. I don't mean to come off as trying to argue against your take away or say your feelings are wrong at all, how you feel is totally valid, but I just wanted to say when it came to how my interpretation of it was:

to me it felt like Eggman having a view of himself as Sage's father felt like it came from a place of his typical narcissism and psychopathy. There's the Egg Memo where he looks down on the idea of creating life as "just a bunch of proteins bumping together" and that the life HE created is so great and awesome because HE made it. It felt like almost like self deification or something. HIS creations, and his method of creating them, are superior to the genetic accidents of nature. He even kind of comes across as thinking the idea of procreation via sexual reproduction is sickening to him.

When he says he's proud of Sage it's like saying "I'm so proud of the new song I just put out" it's not like you're saying you think the song is doing a good job. It's an expression of self pride. He's literally saying he's proud of the thing he created, he's proud of HIMSELF. Anything she accomplishes is a reflection of his own genius. And in the end he's still willing to let her sacrifice herself without hesitation. There's no emotional second guessing or doubt, he just says "yup, go do it, I know you'll succeed (cuz I made you and I'm awesome)." That's just how it came across to me anyway.

I mean Eggman's usual ego tripping is still present all over the game. In the Egg Memo where he mentions Maria, he literally says "why was everyone so head over heels with Maria when I'M THE REAL STAR OF THE SHOW HERE!" And when he teams up with Sonic on the last island he does so under the rationalization of inducting Sonic into a part of the Eggman Empire and then ORDERING him to go collect the chaos emeralds. It felt on brand to me anyway.

Like I said I definitely get why you would come away from it feeling sour. Hopefully the idea that Eggman is canonically a DILF now is comforting? (I was making a lot of "I call Eggman daddy too" jokes during the final stretch of the game >.> )

I appreciate the understanding of my feelings about it. It's nice and refreshing to have someone finally present a different perspective without insulting my intelligence and denying the knowledge I have about Eggman and raising some actual points.

Your interpretation is definitely one of the few accurate ways I feel it would go if they wanted the dynamic to exist at all and I'd really like to believe it was the case and intention with it. And it actually almost would've came off that way to me as it mostly felt one sided from Sage only on an actual genuine sincere level, if it weren't for the weird parts of the memos where Eggman called her "the best" and acted like he sees her as an actual being and family, and how the final scenes tried to make it sad and dramatic and imply sincerity on a deeper level than pride in a creation.

He should've just said something typical like she's his greatest creation yet, so he's especially clear that he's praising himself as creator because he'd never say any other being was "the best", as they imply he sees her as a person rather than AI. They almost got that reflection of ego in it right in the memo about being able to create life and the superiority of him being the creator and I liked that (and how it can be interpreted as aversion to actual sexual reproduction lol) but again, the implication of seeing her as more than an AI and like family doesn't feel right to me.

His selfish thoughts on Maria (aside from the weird questioning of if Sage was like her because why would he care) and how he acted towards Sonic with his childish stubbornness in needing to feel he was still getting his way by ordering Sonic for the Empire are my favorite parts and this interpretation would've fit in perfectly with them. I can see him saying he's proud and she's his greatest creation yet for her loyalty like he has with other creations and yeah, everything he praises and is proud of is actually just reflecting pride in himself as her creator no matter what.

But calling her the best and seeing her as anything more than artificial and even as family made it seem too personal and sincere. There were memos that seemed to be going in the right direction but took weird turns, and especially in the final scenes as if they wanted us to believe that he suddenly saw a creation as important beyond serving their purpose, saw her as a person and family, and cared about someone in any way since he seemed upset to let her go and lose her, rather than just disappointed like simple line changes would've done.

And that's what bothers me most about it really, how it feels like they got so close to getting it right at multiple points and it kind of seemed that this interpretation was the real intention and I love it- but then the implications of thoughts of being like family and caring for "the feels" had to be abruptly forced into the memos and final scenes and ruin it and made him seem like Mr. Tinker with Belle to me, instead of anything the real Eggman would think and feel and act. But just small adjustments to the English dialogue would've changed everything.

It makes me feel better to try to think of the scenes with this interpretation in mind but I feel like that's not what they were really trying to go for with those weird parts that stick out and feel ooc in particular and I'm sad about it because it would've been so much more accurate this way instead. But it's been done in a way that has people thinking he might suddenly stop being evil, actually has a soft caring side, is genuinely a family man, etc and it really irks me. It was already bad and overexaggerated enough in fanon when it wasn't part of game canon and it's about to get worse.

In a way yeah being able to call game Eggman a dilf now too is one good thing that I could take away from it but also he's my daddy, back off Sage >:( lol

[willowlillysunnyday]

why The End of Sonic Frontiers isn’t that bad.

With the Sights, Sounds & Speed update for Sonic Frontiers (2022) having just dropped, I’d thought I’d revisit the ending of the blue rodent’s latest adventure. For those unaware, a secret, true ending lies for those playing the game on hard mode, but not everyone was exactly ecstatic about it. Without spoiling too much, the special ending is said to feel like an anticlimactic finale to a very good sonic game.

           (Shock horror; there is actually a ‘very good’ Sonic game within this decade.)

           But my thesis here is that the true ending isn’t the issue with the finale of Frontiers. No, it is actually the fault of the ‘final’ boss fight before it.

           (Spoilers for Sonic Frontiers from here on.)

           If you’ve played Frontiers, then you know the euphoric feeling of collecting that damn final Chaos Emerald on top of Giganto, transforming into Supersonic, and hearing that titillating guitar riff to be followed by intense screamo. You’ll know the absolute elation of hitting a perfect parry against Wyvern and watching Sonic whip them around and around until he lets go to throw them into a nearby cliff. You’ll know what a rush it felt like knocking Knight’s massive sword from their hand and seeing Sonic lift it up and point it directly at the titan before slicing them clean in two.

           Now, did you feel that way with Supreme?

           Ouranos Island already had its issues. You can tell where they had to cut corners to meet deadlines or the budget just ran out. Sage’s memory tokens looked just like Amy’s, the island itself was cut up from Kronos and Rhea, and enemies were mostly just harder versions of enemies we’d seen on other islands. Hell, Supreme is literally just waiting for you to show up to their forest once you collect all the Emeralds. When you approach the arena before you’re ready, they just spout some nonsense and you’re pushed on your way again.

           These latter complaints are more so to do with the writing team, most likely due to their ideas having to be cut down due to time and budget restrictions. A simple solution is that it could be Sage holding back Supreme in the forest while they try to gather their strength, and anytime Sonic approaches, she warns him that it’s too dangerous to face them just yet. Wow, I’ve fixed it.

           So, what about the actual boss fight, then? Okay, so you’ve collected all the Emeralds again, learned some lore about the ancestors of Chaos, and Eggman secured the last Emerald and called you a slow bitch. You transform, once again, into Supersonic, hoping for a fight as epic as the last three, but… it doesn’t come. This battle is… kinda slow. The music is subdued, you just have to dodge and weave obstacles and get close enough to land a hit. It feels very… formulaic. You’ve done this three times now, it’s not as cool anymore. Supreme barely puts up a fight as you punch and kick them in silence.

           ‘I’m here’ is a very subdued song to begin with and the lyrics don’t even kick in for this boss fight until the second verse so it doesn’t really feel as epic as the last three fights whose lyrics and metalcore sound kick in quite early on or even straight away in the case of ‘Find Your Flame’. The beginning of ‘I’m here’ would better match a prequel section to the boss fight, one where you still have to dodge and weave Supreme’s obstacles but the song really kicks off once you land that first hit, driving a bigger impact on the player.

           More on the subdued note, Supreme is small. They aren’t a big Titan compared to the last three. You’re looking down on them half the time you’re trying to land hits and this doesn’t really fit tonally. This is the ‘final’ boss, the final titan you must destroy to save the island and the wider world. They should be huge, towering over you, a true threat that intimidates you with its size. We actually almost reach this point in the game, however. Once you get to phase two, Supreme launches into the sky, birthing neon wings from its back like some sort of harbinger angel. It’s cool! The bridge of the song plays and you hear this awesome guitar and thump of the drums and its cool! But it doesn’t really last as they’re still small, you positioned above them, barely defending themselves as you punch and kick your way to an easy victory.

           Now what if Supreme actually talked too? Similarly to the true ending, Supreme could occasionally say something as you battled; called you annoying as they swatted you away, or a ‘Get back here!’ as they tried to grab at you. Meanwhile, they could also be spouting the same tyrannical, bullshit from the true ending, how they knew Sonic by how he ran about in cyberspace, knew all his weaknesses from looking into his memories, and how they couldn’t be stopped by a mere rodent.

           And then they are, you do stop them, and they fall to the ground. But then they laugh manically, you were only used to buy time, for The End to gather their full strength and depart from their metal prison, you didn’t stop them at all.

           And so begins the true ending of Frontiers, the Galaga-esque special stage you’d been training through hacking missions for this whole time. The End tells you of all the worlds they’d destroyed, how you are no match, all while you dodge bullets and lasers to weaken the darkened moon as much as you can. The End could be akin to the special stages in previous Sonic games; the ones where you have to race for a Chaos Emerald, or collect as many blue spheres as possible. It’s a bonus stage as it were; ‘well done for making it this far in hard mode, here’s an extra challenge’. Of course, players of normal or easy mode wouldn’t have to go through this bonus stage, and would instead just get the final cutscenes and quick-time event. But it’s understandable why players would be pissed off with the true final boss battle. You’ve just fought four colossal titans and now the true final battle is just bullet hell?

           Now hear me out. Would that final, true boss battle had felt as anticlimactic, as useless and redundant if the battle with Supreme played out how I suggested earlier? If the battle with Supreme was as awesome and exhilarating as the first three, would the battle with The End still feel like a chore? Or would it feel like a special stage? A bonus for completing one of the hardest battles of the game?

           If the battle with Supreme was better, I believe The End would have perhaps been a more satisfying experience, for both battles.

[ravenwolfie97]

6, 12, 23, 25, 29

your current “on repeat” song - i've been flip-flopping lately but when i think about it i did legitimately have this on repeat the other day: "Don't Know What" by Rachel K Collier from the latest installment of Andrew Huang's 4 Producers series

a song you can scream all the words to - i am completely blanking on this even though i know i def have some ;; i wanna put another song on here though and i sang this earlier today too and it’s a valid answer to this tbh: “Vandalize” by One OK Rock but the Sonic Frontiers version bc it’s better imho

your favorite cheesy pop song - listen i was a disney kid so Hilary Duff was big in my brainspace for a while, and this has The Vibes of a cheesy pop song whether or not it was actually that popular: “Why Not” which i forgot was from a movie

the song currently stuck in your head OR the song you are listening to right now - i’ve been listening through all the other answers i’ve given khjbjnlk but uh earlier today i suddenly had the urge to listen to “Tunak Tunak Tun” just out of nowhere because it’s a bop

your favorite album closer - in all honesty "I Never Told You What I Do for a Living" is an extremely good one... but my first thought was "Great Day" by Tokio Hotel it's chill in a sad kinda way and it's a nice note to end the album on