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loverspersonas · 4 years

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the most beautiful moment in life | viii

pairing: ot7? x reader

genre: hyyh au, high school au, angst, drama, fluff, smut?

length: 5.5k

summary: Eight strangers with different stories happen to meet one day, by fate or some kind of cruel, exquisite happenstance, and realize that they’re not as different as they thought.

a/n: i realize i’m updating really slowly and the reason for that is online school which is taking up pretty much all my time BUT it hasn’t stopped me from writing at all. i actually have many different scenes written already, they’re just not in order, so i have to kind of make myself write the scenes that are happening first before any of those, which is hard sometimes cause i have so many ideas :)

i realize that the pace of the fic is also kind of slow and that’s because i don’t want to have such a big overarching plot (like some kind of mystery to solve or a big villain) but rather small subplots happening at the same time. it feels easier to me to develop characters and relationships and i get to include a lot of different plot ideas that way (and there is so much happening in hyyh). it’s also hard writing this cause the bangtan universe is really complicated when you think too much about it, and we don’t even know everything about it, so i have to work with what we have and what i know.

so thank you guys for liking what i’m writing! i hope i can do the hyyh era some (even if it’s the tiniest amount) justice, and i hope you guys enjoy it too. and if you have feedback or ideas, i’d love to hear it!

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Remembering details from a dream was a lot harder than a nightmare. Nightmares had you waking up in a cold sweat, sometimes plaguing your mind throughout the day if they were intense enough. Dreams, however, were only alive while you were asleep, and then they slipped away from your mind like they never even happened.

For the past few weeks, you’d been getting dreams that you could mostly or somewhat recall more often. Vague, obscure scenes or flashes that changed sporadically because even in your dream state, you had no control over your mind.

But you noticed that they tended to involve people in your life. Your mother, Sana, your old friends, and the seven boys you’d unconsciously formed a friendship with over the past month. Of course, it didn’t have to mean anything. But some of them strangely stood out more than others.

One time, you saw Namjoon standing in a dark area with a single white light illuminating his silhouette from above, and a cigarette slipping from between his fingers. Another time, there was Hoseok at what looked like a train station. He was walking along the train tracks at night like he couldn’t see you watching him. And then, there was a scene of Jungkook walking on to the road, changing almost immediately before a car swerved right into him. That was one thing you couldn’t forget. Because you remembered it had been you driving that car.

“Y/N?”

The voice of the exact boy you were thinking of broke through your string of thoughts. When you looked up, you suddenly remembered where you were.

There were a lot of nice vast areas of green fields that belonged to the Academy. With iron benches and tables and the smell of oak trees, it was an ideal setting for many fundraisers, picnics and outdoor events. You were currently sitting cross legged on top of one of those gray metal tables right beside a tall tree that cast a shade over you and the seven others sitting around you. Judging by the way some of them were looking at you, you must’ve missed something in the conversation.

“Hmm?” you asked, glancing at Jungkook who was sitting beside you, also on top of the table.

“See, I told you she wasn’t listening,” Taehyung said to the two taller boys on either side of him. “Face it, Namjoon. The books were boring.”

While Seokjin seemed thoroughly amused, Namjoon’s expression was just the slightest bit annoyed, so you could tell this argument might have been going on for a while. But his patience with Taehyung and the some of the other boys was astounding to you.

On the opposite side of the bench, Yoongi was sitting with Jimin and Hoseok, and quirked a brow in Taehyung’s way. “You literally said that you watched the Lord of the Rings a month ago.”

“Yeah, so?”

“So?” Namjoon repeated, and the tick in his jaw represented the snapping of his patience. “They have the exact same plot!”

You found yourself drifting from the rest of the conversation again, as some of the other boys began to chime in. On your lap was a notebook you realized you’d been scribbling in with a pencil while the others had been talking. It was hard to decide which was more concerning— the fact that you’d so effectively tuned out the boys, or that you were only vaguely aware that you’d been drawing at the same time.

You felt someone studying you in your peripheral vision. Jungkook decided to finally nudge you. “Not interested in fantasy novel series?”

“No, I—just spaced out for a second,” you answered lamely.

His earlier grin morphed into a slight frown. “Are you okay?”

Am I okay? “Yeah.”

His gaze dropped to your open book, widening a little in mild surprise. “I thought you said you couldn’t draw.”

“I don’t. Art class was an ironic choice that way.”

“What are you talking about?” Jimin said as he leaned over Jungkook to get a better look. Slowly, the others turned their attention towards you too. “This is pretty good.”

Hoseok, who was one of the ones in closest proximity to you, stretched out his hand so you could pass him the book. “Woah.” He went through a few various facial expressions, a lot of them where he scrunched up his eyebrows. “What’s the inspiration behind that?”

“Probably not those dry as hell books,” Taehyung retorted.

Namjoon didn’t hesitate to shove the loud mouthed boy off of the bench, earning more than a few laughs from everyone. Taehyung shot him a glare with an offended hey!

“Nothing,” you answered him. “I just got distracted.”

The notebook was now in Namjoon’s hand and his expression was contemplative as he fixated his eyes onto the page. “You got distracted and absentmindedly drew this? With no idea in your head?”

“I had a dream.” You gave a shrug, stealing a few potato chips from Jungkook’s snack. “So, I drew it.”

“A dream like this?”

You looked back at him, trying not to frown. “Why, is it that weird?”

“Not weird,” he assured. “Just… a little unusual. I’ve never met anyone our age who would come up with stuff like this from their subconscious.”

“Who’s the boy supposed to be?” Yoongi asked after the book got rotated to him.

“I don’t know,” you answered. There hadn’t been a real chance to glimpse the boy from that scene. All you remembered was the black hair and the white shirt he was wearing as he stood looking out the only window in a plain room with only a mattress and white flower petals scattered on the floor. “Some random guy, I guess.”

“Everyone we see in our dreams are people we’ve seen at some point in our lives,” Namjoon said.

You gave this a considerative hum. Though you knew maybe thirty people who could fit in that description. “Well, I don’t remember then.”

“Let me see,” Seokjin said, taking the book in his hand. A moment later, his face morphed into something you couldn’t quite decipher. But it was like for that moment, he had understood something without realizing it.

“Why the hell are so many people out here at this time?” Jimin spoke up as a few students or groups of them began to appear on the field or pathway, spilling out from the building. “This is when it’s supposed to be the quietest here. I was looking forward to not seeing… pretty much everyone.”

“It’s not like we own this place,” Jungkook reminded him.

Jimin shrugged nonchalantly. “As long as the bright young things don’t show up…“

And just like on cue, the group of cheerleaders and jocks were walking on the opposite side of the field. You didn’t let your attention linger on the old group of friends you didn’t want anything to do with anymore. But as you glanced away, Yoongi caught your eyes as though he knew what you were thinking.

“Way to go, Jimin,” Hoseok said, giving the boy a light shove. “You just manifested it.”

Taehyung leaned back in his seat. “Seeing them this early in the day is really bad for my digestion.”

“Who told you to shove two chocolate muffins down your throat?” Yoongi said to him, referring to the now empty plastic container sitting beside you. You’d made a large quantity of them the other day and after recalling how Hoseok had liked your baking—and all his following requests over texts to make more— maybe the others would like something too.

The younger boy didn’t acknowledge the harmless judging tone he’d used. “My inner subconscious, which by the way, I have no regrets about.”

“It’s great how you can say that so confidently about something in your life,” Namjoon said with slight skeptical wonder.

“Y/N made those muffins for us with all her heart and soul—“

“Actually, it was just flour and sugar...” you mumbled though your voice was mostly lost under theirs.

“I was just displaying my gratitude,” Taehyung said finally.

“The muffins were actually really good,” Seokjin said to you as he closed the sketchbook and handed it back to you. You made a mental note to ask him about it later.

“Y/N’s a good baker,” Hoseok affirmed before looking at you. “How long did you say you’ve been at it for?”

“Not that long.” You twisted your dyed blonde hair into a bun and slid the pencil you’d been drawing with through it to hold it in place. “I just picked it up this year.”

Taehyung looked at you with a grin. “I guess I’ll have to annoy you enough at work to get stuff for free.”

You returned it with an exaggerated smile. “You come to work during my shift, I’ll have security ask you to leave for harassment.”

His mouth fell open. “B-but I’ll tip!”

You shook your head, chuckling a little. “You’re ridiculous.”

With his arms folded over his chest, he glanced around sombrely. “This is how brittle friendship is, I guess. Like a dark chocolate bar.”

Namjoon, hiding his amusement with an arched brow, said, “Taehyung, remind me to never ask you for poetry recommendations.”

“Hey.”

Everyone seemed to fall into a silence, realizing that voice didn’t belong to any of you. They turned their heads towards the new arrival, but you didn’t have to look to know who’d approached the table. At first, you thought you could get away without saying anything, but the rest of the boys were casting imperceivable glances in your direction. Finally, one of the others did what you didn’t want to.

“Hi,” Namjoon said to the boy who’d once been the closest to you.

Min-hyuk stood there, as though expecting you to eventually say something to him. Then he looked around the group, smiling his friendly, star quarterback smile. “Sorry to interrupt. I’m Min-hyuk.”

“We know who you are,” Yoongi said, the cold undertones in his voice not going unheard by anyone. Leave it to him to keep things harsh but real.

Min-hyuk, probably not used to hearing that kind of tone with that sentence, stared at the boy, a little dumbfounded. “Oh…”

Namjoon—you reminded yourself to tell the guy what a blessing he was— stepped in again. It was probably good that it was him who was leading the conversation. You’d learned by now that none of the others were quite as sensible and level headed when they needed to be. “What he means is, do you need something?”

“Can we talk, Y/N?” Min-hyuk asked finally, the question you’d been dreading, because now it was explicitly directed at you.

You held back a defeated sigh and said, “I have class in a few—“

“It won’t take long, I promise.”

He seemed to be somewhat satisfied when you looked up at him and nodded just imperceptibly. He started to move away from the table, and you made a move to follow when a hand gently closed around your wrist.

“You know, you don’t have to talk to him if you don’t want to,” Jungkook said quietly but firmly. His eyes held something like concern, and gazing around the table, the others wore similar expressions.

“Yeah,” you said. “But he won’t stop until I do.”

Jungkook released his hand from yours, watching as you got up and walked over to where Min-hyuk was waiting.

You put your hands in your pockets, right away saying, “Let’s get right to point this time, shall we?”

“I left you a note the other day,” he said, not happy with your attitude, but not able to say anything to it either. “You didn’t reply.”

“That was you?” you asked, dumbly. “I didn’t realize.”

“Come on, Y/N. Who else would write you that?” He paused. “My mother said she saw you at the hospital yesterday. Is everything okay?”

You didn’t meet his gaze, instead mostly looking at the ground. If your eyes drifted around too much, you were afraid to see that other students were watching you like a movie scene. You knew that the seven boys you’d just left were certainly doing that. “Uh huh,” you answered, without any emotion.

Min-hyuk held back an impatient noise. “Look, I know you don’t want to talk to me, but I just want to know you’re doing fine.”

This time, you did look up to meet his eyes. “Why?”

“Why?” He was partly taken aback with surprise at your response. “We might not be together anymore, but it’s not like I just don’t care all of a sudden.”

“You didn’t care before.”

He stared at your expression, like he was wondering if you meant it. “Do you really think that?“

“You were never on my side.”

“What?”

Before, this would’ve been hard for you to talk about, because you’d only ever avoided it. To think about it would make you think about all the times you knew you should’ve walked away, the times that you stood there and just took everything when you knew you deserved better than that. But maybe it was time to rip the bandaid off. How long were you going to go back and forth like this? How long was he going to try to hold on to you when you wanted out?

“You wanted to know where it all went wrong,” you spoke. “How about when you stood there and let everyone, even our own friends, say all those things about me. And when I asked you to trust me, you didn’t.”

“It wasn’t that simple.” He shook his head. At least he had the decency to look apologetic, to sound like he meant what he thought. “I–I wanted to trust you—“

“I think I see it now.” It was taking a lot of courage for you to finally say what you needed to say, and now that you finally found it, you didn’t even care that other people were watching or listening. “We were both so good at acting like everything about us was perfect. And as soon as I stopped, things changed. The difference between us is that one of us still pretending.”

“Min-hyuk!” One of his friends from the football team—one of your former ones— came up beside him, tapping his shoulder. He looked at you with the kind of friendliness that was reserved for any random student in the hallway. “Hi, Y/N. What are you guys talking about?”

Min-hyuk seemed to have nothing to say, his gaze on you fixed, but his mind on the words you’d spoken. You were glad you had the ability to leave him speechless, to see him actually opening his eyes to a world outside that bubble he lived in. The bubble that you’d also been a part of, but were now glad to have found a way out.

“Well,” you said to both of them. “I have class now.”

With your bag over your shoulder, you turned and headed for the building without paying attention to any of the stares that followed you.

By the end of the day, that courage and energy that had allowed you to speak up to Min-hyuk had dissipated. Hopefully, he wouldn’t approach you again any time soon. Was it asking too much to not be approached by anyone else at all?

Now, you were standing in front of the doors to the pool once again, looking inside, but not having the courage to go in. It was almost a metaphor for your life. You were standing on the outside of a part of your life from the past, not being able to actually go in and see it properly.

Yoongi’s figure materialized next to you, not saying anything at first as though he could tell you were deep in thought. So, you broke the silence first and asked, “Long day?”

“You have no idea,” he answered. “Guess which asshole of a teacher decided to assign us a 10 page paper due in less than a week?”

Glancing sideways at him, you grinned. “The one who probably has hypertension from having to teach you?”

He shot you a dry look, but the corners of his mouth twitched a little like he was also holding back a grin of his own. “You’re hilarious, princess. But also probably right.” He noticed your attention on the pool on the opposite of the doors. "What, are you not allowed to go in or something? Weren’t you on the swim team at some point?”

Instead of answering, you turned away from the doors and started walking down the hallway. “Weren’t you on the basketball team?”

As Yoongi walked alongside you, subtle surprise appeared on his face. “It’s been a while since anyone’s asked me that.”

“You were captain of the team too, right?” you asked. “That’s how I knew you.”

Something else flickered across his face, though you didn’t know what it was. To you, it was probably the face you wore when you were briefly and vaguely recalling something in your mind. “Well, it’s always nice to hear that my reputation precedes me. And not just as a gothic, underground rapper.” He ignored your subtle roll of eyes. “I played shooting guard actually.”

You hummed, remembering all the basketball games you attended in the gymnasium with your old friends. As part of the cheerleading team, you’d had an obligation to be there, but some of the games actually got interesting to watch. The first time you’d noticed Yoongi was when one time you’d been running late and had been trying to not fall behind the rest of the team. You remembered dropping one of your pompoms while trying to tie your hair up, and in passing, he’d picked up and handed it to you. You didn’t think he remembered it, and maybe it was a little embarrassing that you did.

“You were good too.” You stopped near the front doors, most of the students walking around you with no interest since it was the end of the school day. Yoongi shot you a slightly puzzled look. “I was a cheerleader, remember? I’ve been to a bunch of games.”

“I remember,” he said after a moment, and it didn’t sound like something you’d say to someone just to blindly agree with them, so that was why you ended up meeting his gaze. There was something underneath those deep gray eyes that you didn’t really understand, but somehow, still found it startling to hold eye contact.

You half forced a chuckle to move the attention away from you. “Besides, it’s kind of hard to miss the only guy on the team with dyed blonde hair.”

He chuckled. “I almost forgot about that.”

“How could you forget? You were literally my inspiration,” you said, gesturing to your own bleached hair. When he threw you a dubious side eye, you shouldn’t have been surprised. Surely, that would’ve tricked one of the other boys. “Alright, fine, you didn’t. You know, I definitely do not miss the 5 hour practices, or the tiny uniforms or Yuna screaming at some younger, clueless girl to stop slacking.”

“But the outfits were so cute,” Yoongi teased, and though you were glad the topic changed, you shot him an unamused glance. “It was a joke. On a related note… what did the ex-boyfriend want earlier?”

You arched a brow and held back an amused grin. “You can say his name, you know.”

“Yeah, but that would give him too much significance. Unnamed means unimportant.”

You hummed in agreement. “Nothing really.”

“Is that why you ditched us afterwards without so much as a word?” he asked skeptically.

You tried not to sound irritated about it, but you’d hoped you could make it through the day without having to talk about it. “I ditched you, because I wasn’t in the mood to be interrogated about it.”

“How quickly you assume we would interrogate you.”

“Well, wouldn’t you?”

“Fine,” he grumbled after some seconds. “At least 3/7ths of us might. Can you really blame us for being curious? It looked kind of intense.”

Folding your arms over your chest, you looked at him with a grin forming on your lips. “Remember how you said you didn’t care? Well, it’s starting to sound a little like you do.”

He scoffed. “Please. You mistake my blind curiosity for something it isn’t.” He watched you a little longer as you shrugged before saying, “Remember when you said I was good at deflecting? You’re not so bad at it yourself.”

A part of you thought that this was a good time as any to actually talk about it. About how you’d cut things off with Yuna and Min-hyuk, and why you’d wanted to. By now, you felt like you could tell any of the seven boys and they’d listen—actually listen—and Yoongi, despite coming off as aloof and indifferent, wouldn’t judge you or anything. But this recent bond with them felt like a new and good thing, and you just didn’t want to jeopardize it, like you did with most things.

"Do you a need ride home?” Yoongi asked when he realized you were too deep in your head to say anything else about it. “I’m giving Jungkook one too, so I can drop you off after.”

“You go ahead,” you answered. “I have some stuff to do first.”

At first, he seemed almost reluctant to leave you alone, but you had a feeling he wouldn’t insist or comment on it. It would contradict his indifference to most things. Only after he left did you turn and start aimlessly walking down the other side of the hallway. It wasn’t like you had anything to do. You just weren’t sure if you wanted to be around anyone with curiosity like Yoongi’s lingering above your head. Talking about yourself and your personal life was never fun.

Eventually, you ran into another familiar face.

“Hey, what’s up?” Namjoon said as he approached you in the hall.

“If this is about this morning, I’d rather not talk about it,” you decided to say immediately because if anyone could get answers from you by asking the right questions, it was probably Namjoon.

Fortunately for you, Namjoon could’ve read that from a mile away and wasn’t one to pry. He nodded in understanding. “I figured as much. Oh, hold on a second.” From his backpack, he drew out some loose papers tucked into a notebook. “I went through some of these to find whatever was legible enough.”

You scanned the writing briefly. “Your English notes?”

“Yeah, I remember you said the last class went over your head.”

“I just don’t understand why it’s bought and not buyed, but it’s walk and walked? Like why can’t they can’t follow the same rule for every past tense conjugation?” you complained, but still a little touched that he remembered something you’d probably said in passing. “But thanks.”

“Also, if you see Taehyung, can you let him know I can’t walk home with him today?”

You nodded. “Sure. Staying back for extra work?”

“No, I—I have a shift today.”

You wondered why he sounded reluctant to answer. “Where do you work?”

“It’s a library,” he said with a small shrug. “It’s on the other side of the city, so I like to leave a little earlier.”

You shot him an amused grin. “Were there no libraries nearby hiring? Because I know if they saw your GPA, they would not hesitate.”

“Uh, this one has a nicer collection.”

“Alright,” you said, deciding not to question his responses since he hadn’t questioned you. But for some reason, it felt like he was trying to hide something. “See you tomorrow then.”

Smiling, he said, “Thanks, Y/N.”

As he walked away, you had to stop the curiosity from getting to you. It truly was an ordeal to be so curious and not want to intrude upon things that didn’t concern you. You had to remind yourself that it was better that information came to you at the right time rather than forcing it. At first, the reminder was about other people, but sometimes, you thought it was also about yourself.

After exiting through the west doors, you noticed Taehyung at the bottom of the staircase right outside the building. He was leaning against the railing, hood over his head and concentrated on whatever game he was playing on his phone. You slowed your steps, approaching the stairs. “You’re still here.”

Taehyung glanced up at you, slipping his phone into his pocket as you came towards him. “Waiting for Namjoon. The kid’s a genius, but his punctuality could use a little improvement.”

You quirked a brow. “Kid? He’s older than you.”

Folding his arms over his chest, he said pointedly, “And I’m older than you. So how about you don’t question me?”

You had to bite back a smile at his antics. It was hard to believe sometimes that most of these boys were older than you. “He told me to tell you he has work today, so he can’t make it.”

He let out a loud and dramatic groan, practically cringing at himself. “For real? I probably look like some idiot, waiting on the stairs for his even more of an idiot boyfriend.”

You shrugged, not hiding the smile this time. “Just a little.”

He looked back at you. “How are you getting home? I’ll walk with you.”

He already started walking, expecting you to follow, so you didn’t get a chance to reply. With a defeated sigh, you decided to go after him.

Your first mistake was choosing to walk all the way home instead of taking the bus. Your second mistake was letting Taehyung take the lead, because that boy looked like he’d never had a plan a day in his life. While you somewhat admired the spontaneity, you were used to routine or a plan of some kind. Although you did suppose that this year, everything that had happened, and was happening now, was not planned at all.

“I’ve never gone this way before.”

The buildings were older and a bit worn away, but almost in an intentional manner, posters and signs on the gray brick walls. You passed several small shops and restaurants and cafes that despite appearing quaint seemed very cute. The people that walked by were all in their own worlds, not so much as glancing at you or anyone near them. It was something like a secret tourist spot or a hidden gem.

“Really?” Taehyung said. He walked on your right, but a little ahead. You wanted to say it was because he was leading the way, but that presumed he knew where he was going. “This street’s pretty cool. Hidden away from the centre, though, so you don’t really know about it until you come yourself.”

You removed your eyes from an old bookstore with a chalkboard sign outside. “You must do a lot of exploring, huh?”

“Whatever gets me out of the house.” He stopped walking abruptly. When you stopped to ask what was wrong, you saw a mischievous smile form on his face. “I just had a brilliant idea.”

“Why am I kind of doubtful?”

Despite the many, many questions you asked, Taehyung didn’t answer any of them. He could try and be mysterious if he wanted, but you wouldn’t buy it, was what you said to him. Instead, you waited outside while he went into a convenience store for a few minutes. You shouldn’t have been so surprised when he emerged with a plastic bag in hand, full of bottles of spray paint. You opened your mouth to ask what he was planning, but he just tugged on your arm and made you follow him around the corner.

The street you stopped at had to be somewhat of a visual arts scene, because you recalled passing arts and crafts places and small galleries, and the wall that stood in front of you now was a graffiti wall.

“This is so cool,” you said in awe, all thoughts of skepticism at Taehyung’s actions gone. Your gaze roamed over the various artwork and writing, painted on by different kinds of paint and people and minds. It was like an anonymous outlet for creativity and self expression, something like in the olden days when things like freedom of expression was outlawed, so people had to get creative around it.

“I love all kinds of art,” Taehyung said, dropping his backpack and crouching near the ground. “But graffiti has become more interesting recently. Here.”

You looked to see that he was holding out a can of spray paint for you. “This is vandalizing.”

He half scoffed, half laughed. “This is an artistic statement.”

“They’re not mutually exclusive, Taehyung.”

“Relax, Y/N.” He placed the can in your hand himself after he decided that you wouldn’t take it, then took another out of the bag for himself. “I’ve done this billions of times. You won’t get caught.”

Despite yourself, there was an urge in you to just do it, get your hands a little messy. That was why you liked to bake after all, wasn’t it? That was why you chose art class. You could make a mess and make something good out of it. You could control something instead of being controlled. But turning back to the wall of art and messages and stories, you hesitated. “I can’t paint like this,” you tried lamely.

Taehyung shot you a look. “I saw your sketch today. It was far from shitty.” After a minute of waiting, he sighed. “Fine, I’ll go first.”

The way he walked up the an empty section of the wall with confidence, how he shook the paint can and effortlessly began to draw strokes in red paint told you that he wasn’t lying when he said he’d done this a lot.

When he finished, he stepped back to where you stood, briefly appraising his work before saying, “Your turn. Don’t think too much. Just whatever’s on your mind, let it out.”

So, you found yourself closing your eyes briefly, and releasing a breath before stepping forward. You pushed on the paint can’s nozzle and let your mind take over for your hand and for a few minutes, all that was heard was the faint car engines in the distance and the spraying noise of the paint. Finally, you let your arm drop to see what you’d made. It was a pair of blue wings like a butterfly’s.

Taehyung studied the wall for a moment before humming, “Interesting.”

“By interesting, you mean awful.”

He shot you a look. “By interesting, I mean interesting. You and Namjoon might like to have second meanings to your sentences, but I’m a simple guy.”

“Uh huh.” You watched him move back to the wall and start painting something else. It was funny how before you’d known him, you had him pegged for some kind of reckless skater boy with a rebellious streak. He was actually more of an artsy boy with a rebellious streak. “I guess it would be easier if everyone wasn’t always pretending to be something they’re not.”

“Was Min-hyuk pretending to be a super nice guy again?” He only glanced over his shoulder at you when he didn’t get an answer. Of course this topic would’ve inevitable come up although you’d also assumed Taehyung would avoid uncomfortable conversations whenever he could. “None of those guys are all what they show. It’s good that you hit one of them. You might accidentally activate some part in the brain that knocks some sense into them.”

You nodded at this, slightly amused. “If that was how neurobiology worked.”

“Let’s experiment. Hit me over the head really hard and tomorrow, let’s see if I pass my math test.”

You were holding back a laugh when your gaze fell on part of his drawing. “Is that your signature?”

“Oh, that... it’s kind of like my alias,” Taehyung said almost like it was embarrassing for him to say. This must have been the first time he’d told someone about his side hobby. “For when I’m out painting.”

“For when you’re out vandalizing,” you remarked.

He mocked the face you’d made earlier and said, “They’re not mutually exclusive, Y/N.”

You let out a scoff, but couldn’t hide your amusement. “What does it mean? The V?”

“It’s short for Vante.”

You hummed. “Interesting.”

“You mean interesting good or interesting bad?”

“I mean interesting,” you said, deepening your voice a little to mock him.

The side of his mouth curved into a grin. “Touche.”

Returning your attention to the wall, your eyes began to study the various drawings, fleetingly going back to another wall and another drawing. “You haven’t seen anything like the hwa yang yeong hwa we saw before, have you?”

“No,” Taehyung answered, then gave it another thought. “Not that I’ve been to a lot of graffiti places outside of this area. But from where I have looked around, it’s made me think that maybe this... Smeraldo person isn’t a regular graffiti artist.”

“As in, this was just a one time thing for them?”

“Maybe.”

“I guess that means it’s not just graffiti we should be looking at,” you speculated. “It’s definitely a start but could be any art form.”

“Or maybe the art is just a way to get it out there.”

You frowned. “Meaning what? Someone’s trying to say something? To send a message?”

He shrugged. “It’s possible, yeah.”

His attention refocused on the drawing he’d started, but your mind began to run through possible explanations. What if somehow someone was trying to say something? More importantly, what if someone was trying to say something to you?

The sun was beginning to lower by the time you reached Taehyung’s place. You didn’t even realize the two of you had been out for a while with his detour idea.

You tilted your head up to observe the apartment building complex. Since you’d never been to this part of the city before, you couldn’t say much about it. But by the oldness and the obvious low maintenance of the building, you guessed that the rent was affordable. Taehyung, like you, wasn’t one of the richer kids of the Academy. You supposed that the talent that had gotten him in was art related, if not painting specifically.

“Is this where you live?” you asked to break the silence.

“Yup,” Taehyung said, popping the sound at the end. “Home sweet…” He trailed off a little as his faraway gaze crossed the building, instead turning back to you. “Do you live close by? I can walk with you.”

You made a dubious face. “Are you sure you want to walk there and then all the way back?”

“Hey, I may be lazy, but I’m not that lazy.”

“I don’t need protecting, if that’s what you were going to say.”

He scoffed. “Obviously not. You broke a guy’s fucking jaw!”

“It wasn’t actually broken,” you muttered before shaking your head. “Wouldn’t you rather go home? Your parents are probably waiting for you.”

“No one’s waiting for me.” Before you could say anything, he waved it away, his long hair hiding the expression on his face you were trying to read. “It’s fine. Forget it.”

But he didn’t make a move to walk towards the complex’s stairs that led up to the first floor. Even as you stood there for another minute and he just stood with you, you realized he wasn’t about to head home regardless of if you left now or stayed. And for a moment, you wondered if this was what he had meant that day weeks ago. No one’s waiting for me. It was a thought that had held a place in your mind for a long time too.

It’s better not to force information you don’t even need to know, a voice in the back of your head reminded. Finally, you said, “Are you hungry? I could go for some coffee, and the Brew’s not far from here.”

Taehyung turned to look at you. If he was grateful for the chance to avoid going home, he didn’t show it. “Will you give me a discount?”

“If you stop talking, I’ll pay for your entire order.”

The carefree smile that stretched across his face as he started dragging you towards the next street was enough for you to know that he was, in fact, at least a little grateful.

chapter vii // chapter ix (coming soon)

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redbloons · 3 years

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Only Murders in the Building S01E08

Last week OMITB graced our screens with a virtually dialogue-free episode (for which I will anticipate some awards). The episode was no less than exceptional, but with a somewhat lackluster ending. I mean, who kidnaps people these days anymore, and in fricking New York City?

Following last week's stellar directing, sound editing and script writing, this week's episode, titled "Fan Fiction", serves as the 8th episode of the season and starts with a group of true crime podcast fans waiting in front of the Arconia building.

So why the ending last week if the rest was just so spectacular? As one of those fans puts it, "Why are you being so negative? [..] trust the team". So I'll do just that and keep watching with an open mind (and heart) and see where this is going (I mean, the show was renewed for a second season, so my guess is we are heading towards a mind-boggling cliffhanger, but hey, it's not over till the fat lady sings).

After the theme song plays the story resumes in Theo's van where Mabel and Oliver are currently held captive. Then, they meet up with Teddy and ride in his limo.

1. How long were they in the van? It's already sunlight when they met Teddy;

2. Was tying them up necessary? Mabel even had a blindfold on, I mean, you just untied them when switching cars. This is just lazy writing.

Nathan Lane as Teddy delivers some very good acting, in a grave tone, which we are not used to seeing him do, and so proves just how good of an actor he actually is. We already knew that, but, his versatility still amazes me.

So, Teddy blackmails Oliver and Mabel in producing a final episode of their podcast affirming Tim Kono killed himself due to loneliness or else he knows where they live (really good pun, good delivery!).

Oliver and Mable meet with Charles, who together with Jan, went through Tim's phone and discovered that Tim saw Theo pushing Zoe off the roof. A bit of wasted time, if you ask me, as the audience already knew this piece of information from the secondary narrative plain from last week.

Following setting up a rendezvous with detective Williams, at her request and to aid her in the official investigation, the team prepares a podcast episode releasing evidence found in Tim Kono's phone ("the who, the how, the why and the why now").

I feel obliged to pause here and to mention that Selena delivers her lines most of the time in a better-than-expected way, while mastering the art of sarcasm and low-key funny. Not to mention, that not even half-way through the episode, we got to see bagels and home-made pizza rolls, two quintessential NYC items, and someone was hungry while writing this.

Carrying on, Oliver invites the true crime podcast fans waiting outside to his apartment where everybody was working on putting the pieces together in solving the mystery and producing the next episode of the podcast. Amy Ryan's Jan gets funnier as the show progresses, in a subtle way (kudos to the writing team), playing the unknowing but very-sure-of-herself female character and love interest, by being "reverse-helpful" (Oliver's words, not mine).

Oliver starts directing a reenactment of what happened on the night of Tim Kono's death using the three fans as Tim, Theo and Lester the doorman.

Shall I mention that up until now, the highlight of this episode was fan#3's attempt at portraying Theo by covering his ears with his hands, at which point Oliver, righteously so, said "never do that again"? I knew I shouldn't have laughed, but my, I do enjoy some subtle comedy in a passive-aggressive voice. The writers have managed somehow to bring some old stereotypes in current media and politely telling society this is not how to do it. Congrats!

Jan tried convincing the team to look into other suspects, not aware of past effort. "Please, exit!" said Oliver and Jan left the apartment. Approaching her flat door, she discovers a note on it with a message saying "I'm watching you". Queue mystery music playing.

The following morning the trio releases the final episode of the podcast, incriminating the Dimases, with police showing at their door: grave-robbery and the murder of Tim Kono.

As the team celebrates the podcast release, Charles texts Jan, but without receiving an immediate reply.

[WARINING! SPOILERS AHEAD!]

But, do not wind down, we have two more episodes to go, so of course, right before the end we get hit with a plot twist. The tox report came back and detective Williams noticed Tim Kono was actually poisoned, which means he was already dead when he was shot. Shocking, am I right?

And it's not over yet, there is photographic evidence the Dimases were outside the building even before the fire alarm went off the night Tim Kono was murdered.

Upon hearing the news, Charles storms off saying that his girlfriend was right for suggesting earlier pursuing other suspects and goes to apologize to her with a flower bouquet for dismissing her views. He finds Jan's apartment door open and he enters. Charles finds Jan laying on the floor, facing down, bleeding from a gun-inflicted wound.

Plot Rating: 7.5/10

Acting Rating: 7/10

Cinematography Rating: 5/10

Writing Rating: 6/10

Ending Rating: 6/10

Overall Episode Rating: 6/10

Now, what did you guys think of Only Murders in the Building S01E08 "Fan Fiction"? What else are you looking for when reading a recap? Let me know! Suggestions and feedback are very much welcome :)

#only murders in the building #new york city #selena gomez #nyc #tv show #tv recap #hulu #steve martin #martin short #crime #podcast #aaron dominguez

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alternative-approachtochronology · 3 years

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Happy Anniversary to me!

One year ago I asked @rain-down-knowledge to be my girlfriend and she said yes!

To celebrate (and as part of my gift) I have written this incredibly self indulgent domestic fluff. No plot, no real point, but it was fun to write, enjoy!

Yang nervously shifted the plastic wrapped bouquet in her hands as she walked up to her front door. It had been three years but she still worried Blake wouldn’t like her gifts. She took a deep breath in, reassuring herself that Blake would love it, and exhaled as she opened the door and stepped in.

The empty downstairs greeted Yang as she placed her keys on the hook by the door, placed the flowers down as she sat on the bench by the door to take off her work boots. As she undid the laces she heard movement upstairs. Smiling, Yang stepped out of her boots, retrieved the flowers, and padded up the stairs.

“Blake?” Yang gently called at the top of the stairs, announcing her presence. Hearing a responding hum she made her way to the master bath.

As she walked in, Yang saw Blake, back to her, touching up her makeup in the mirror. Yang slid an arm across her shoulder and gently pulled her into an embrace, moving the flower into her field of vision.

“Happy anniversary Love” Yang pressed a kiss to Blake’s temple.

“Mm, happy anniversary to you too Babe. These flowers are beautiful!” Blake took the flowers from Yang and turned to give her a kiss on the lips, “I love you.”

As Blake turned to stand, Yang took a few steps back to give her room. As they stood face to face Yang was finally able to take in Blake’s outfit.

“Wow,” Yang’s eyebrows rose as she took her girlfriend in. Blake was wearing a loose floral button up adorned with dark purple flowers with yellow accents that draped from her chest and flared out with her hips, her dark denim pants contrasted the white background of the shirt and made the flowers pop even more. “You look-” Yang paused as she scrambled for an adjective, “so fucking good.”

“Gee thanks babe.” Blake rolled her eyes but couldn’t suppress the smile that bloomed across her face. Blake walked past Yang and across to their bedroom dresser. “I still have to choose a necklace, and do something with these,” she raised the bouquet in her hand, “ and then I’m ready to go after you get ready.” She placed the flowers down and picked up a simple gold chain. “A little help?”

“Hm, what time are those reservations again?” Yang walked up behind Blake and draped the chain around the front of her neck and quickly closed the clasp as Blake swept her hair aside in a well practiced maneuver between the two. Instead of backing away, Yang dropped one hand to Blake’s hip, the other brushing the hair back to reveal her neck again and pressed a lingering kiss where her neck sloped into her shoulder.

“About an hour.” There was a hint of laughter in Blake’s voice. “Just enough time for you to shower and change out of your greasy shop clothes.” Blake felt the hand on her hip wrap around her stomach and be joined by Yang’s other hand as Yang gently rested her head on Blake’s shoulder.

“Any way I could convince you to join me in the shower?” Yang’s voice was soft and warm in Blake’s ear. She was tempted to give in, but they had been planning to try this restaurant for weeks.

“Yang,” Blake was gentle, firm, and a bit teasing as she turned in Yang’s arms to give her a pointed look. “I already showered and got ready. You’ll have to go this alone.” Blake pulled her in for a quick peck on the lips before stepping out of the embrace to collect the flowers from the dresser. “I’m going to go put these in some water.”

Yang dramatically threw her head back. “Fine,” she huffed, a smile dancing on her face as she lifted her head. “Guess I’ll just have to get ready all on my lonesome,” her voice was teasing as she pulled the collar of her shirt over her head, reliably drawing Blake’s eyes to the plane of her stomach.

Blake felt her fingers itch with the desire to feel her skin but shook herself out of it. She grinned at her girlfriend’s behavior as she watched Yang stretch exaggeratedly and turn towards the bathroom as she began to take off her pants, twisting her head to throw Blake a wink on the way to the shower. Blake shook her head, starting down the stairs as the shower stuttered to life.

Having cut the flowers and retrieved Yang’s gift from behind the couch Blake settled in with her book as she waited for Yang to get ready. Yang never took too long to get ready, but a long day at the mechanic’s shop typically prompted a longer shower than usual.

Soon enough Yang was walking down the stairs and it was Blake’s turn to struggle for words. Yang had on a crisp, tailored, white button up, sleeves cuffed to her elbows, tucked into some slim fitting black jeans. Around her neck she was wearing a simple amethyst on a chain, drawing out her beautiful lavender eyes. “Ready to go?” Yang looked up from fidgeting with the leather strap of her watch to see a breathless Blake.

“Hm? Oh! Yes!” Blake snapped back to attention. “That shirt looks fucking fantastic on you.”

Yang chuckled, “Thank you, I think you say that everytime I wear it.”

“It keeps being true!” Blake countered as she stood. “You have everything?”

Yang hummed in affirmation as she retrieved her things from the entryway. Opening the door, Yang flourished with her hand to cue Blake to go first, “M’Lady,” she did a mock bow and looked to Blake who promptly rolled her eyes.

“Really? I’ve put up with three years of this?” Blake questioned as she walked through the door.

“Oh, you love it.” Yang followed behind Blake, locking up behind them.

“I do.”

Dinner was a quiet conversation tucked into each other’s sides in a corner booth over a steaming hotpot. Stories from their days, childhood, and dreams were exchanged between bites of fish and sips of broth.

Afterwards the couple found themselves on a bench at the beach to watch the sunset and exchange gifts.

“Ooh, a ring box! Babe,” Yang teased as she pulled a small velvet box out of a gift bag.

“Don’t worry, it’s not that. Not yet.” Blake said with a chuckle. Yang opened the box and immediately put a hand over her mouth. “I was talking to Tai and he mentioned Summer’s earrings and how he didn’t know what to do with them since neither you or Ruby pierced your ears,” Blake rushed through the explanation, worried when she saw tears well in Yang’s eyes. “ I saved one for Ruby too so-”

“Blake,” Yang’s voice was heavy with the sob she was holding back, “Thank you, I love it.” The hand she was using to cover her mouth stretched out to grab the hand Blake was waving as she spoke.

“You do?” At Yang’s nod Blake sighed in relief, “Thank the gods. I was worried I’d overstepped.” Yang quickly shook her head and Blake continued, “I know you can’t wear it to work, there’s a chain in the bottom of the box.”

“You thought of everything, huh?” Yang wiped the tears from her eyes and pulled the ring out of the box. A small ruby was set into a simple silver band. Yang slipped it on her finger and held out her hand to admire it. “I remember these earrings,” she said softly. “I lost one playing dress up once and Mom was so upset. We made cookies when we found them. I think she felt bad about blowing up.” Yang sniffed and Blake wrapped her hand around her wrist in support. “Anywho,” Yang cleared her throat and straightened up, “Your turn! Apparently we both went the jewelry route.” She pulled a larger, more shallow, box from behind her on the bench and handed it to Blake.

“Ooh!” Blake hammed it up a bit to try to lighten the mood, but her genuine excitement was betrayed as she eagerly took the box from Yang. She slowly snapped it open to reveal a traditional wooden fish hook necklace from Menagerie with a yellow garnet adorning the eye of the hook. “Oh,” Blake gently ran the pads of her fingers over the intricate engravings on the surface of the wood. “Yang, this is gorgeous! Where did you find it? I’ve never seen any Menagerie shops in Vale!”

“Um,” Yang blushed at the praise of her gift. “When we were visiting your parents for your birthday, I asked your mom about getting you something traditional.” She fidgeted with the new ring on her hand. “You’ve been doing all that research into your family history. I guess I wanted to give you something to connect you to it.”

“It’s perfect.” Blake held the pendant in her palm and used her other hand to cup Yang’s cheek and looked her in the eyes, “Thank you.” She leaned in for a kiss, Yang meeting her halfway and bringing a hand to rest on her collarbone.

The two shared their quiet moment alone together. The orange glow of the sky casting long shadows as the sun set on this beautiful day.

#bumbleby #yang xiao long #blake belladonna

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aclosetfan · 3 years

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are u still doing the ask game? can i ask for 19 or 20?

for you anon, of course! 20 is actually a really lame two-sentence note that isn't worth anyone's time, so I'll do 19!

19 is a really sad story tbh. I've always really liked the character Sedusa and it kills me that the writers never did more with her. I believe they said the reason why was because they couldn't think of many kid-friendly scenarios to put her in, which is fair lmao.

lol one of my notes for this outline is "this is my dark manifesto to [Sedusa] and it comes off like a bad CW remake," which was written way before the CW show announcement. so not to get a big ego about things, but I totally beat them to the punch. This fic is my only rated M fic (though arguably Acting Normal may also change into M just for its dark themes as well).

This story is adequately tilted "Sedusa" and it follows how a plain jane named Sara became one of Townsville's most notorious villains. The plot's below, though content warning, please don’t read if your triggered by abusive relationships, domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault/harassment, or gore. The outline won't be detailed (and tbh the actual story won't be heavily detailed either) but i believe that everyone still deserves a fair warning :)

The outline doesn't do the plot justice, but it's all I got so hopefully people just Get It.

CHARACTER NOTES:

Canonically, I believe the Sedusa's character was supposed to represent envy and lust. So, one of the main themes I try to stick with when writing her character is the definition of envy, which is a "feeling of discontented or resentful longing aroused by someone else's possessions, qualities, or luck."

PLOT:

Sara is a sweet and mousy little girl, who tries her best to stay invisible. She's rather plain-looking except for her really beautiful long dark hair. Originally, she's not from Townsville, but somewhere in the "country" where a person could be considered a bumpkin. Sara's a smart young girl, but her intelligence is rather unrefined. She spends most of her time obsessing over greek and Egyptian mythology.

She's from a rather big family, but she's the baby. Her father is abusive. Her mother is neglectful and Sara resents her mother for just standing by while abuse is occurring. To cope, Sara dreams of running away and falls deeper into her mythology obsession--specifically Medusa. Sara feels like Medusa would understand her.

At 16, she runs away to Townsville where she tries to be a hairdresser. With no money, she ends up in a really seedy part of town and the beauty parlor she works for ends up being a front for more illicit activities. She still does hair, but really makes her money as a call-girl of sorts. Just one of those girls who gives handjobs in the back to sad old men. It's easy money (I'm pro-sex work lol so I don't make this a big deal, but she's still a minor and it's wrong), but she's disgusted with herself (and men). At this time, she isn't very good at manipulating men--it's more like they have power over her and it reminds her of her father, only making her angrier and angrier.

It is also of note that while she's working at the Parlor, she encounters Sarah Bellum via tv (Ms. Bellum is just an intern with the Mayor at this point). She's instantly fascinated by this other Sarah and forms an odd (slightly toxic) parasocial relationship with her. Sara thinks it's amazing that Sarah went to school and is just so glamourous. Ms. Bellum is really everything Sara wants to be.

*time skip*

Sara falls in love with some jackass. Still slightly obsessed with Sarah Bellum. Still working at the parlor. Sara feels stagnant and worthless. Her jackass boyfriend and a few of his shitty friends end up attacking Sara and cutting off her hair (which was her prized possession). She gets away, but not totally unscathed.

In the process of running away, she bumps into a mysterious man who promises He can fix whatever is troubling her. The mysterious man manipulates an affirmative answer out of Sara and he "fixes" her problem. The man is HIM and he transforms her into the woman we all know as Sedusa (who goes by Ima when disguised).

“And what is it that you want?” HIM tsked, almost sounding bored.

She looked back at the mirror, at her broken reflection and lipstick smeared down her face. With a sore, croaking voice she sneered, “I want my fu-fucking hair back.”

Behind her, the entity smiled, Its facing splitting wide into two, “Oh, now that I can do.”

She watched through the shattered glass how It—HIM—snapped its odd monstrous claw. HIM’s smile grew more grotesque, as a thin bead of sweat began to break out on her forehead.

“This might hurt a little bit,” the entity giggled as she began to hyperventilate, “but what is that you little humans say?" HIM paused, watching her with a tilt of Its head as pain shot through her temples, "Oh, that’s right—”

She gasped and then screamed, dropping to her knees as she clutched at her head. Something wiggled underneath her scalp, pushing harder and harder to break against the resistance of her skin. It felt as if something was pressing against her brain, trying to carve away at her skull.

“—beauty is pain.” HIM growled, appearing next to her so Its voice—now low and baritone—was right in her ear, and It grasped her by the chin forcing her to watch the mirror as snake-like tendrils sprouted from her skull. She cried out at the sight and her body trembled with the pain.

One black, oily, twisted snake after another shot out of a bloody crater on her head. She tried her best through the pain to shake HIM off—to look away—but It held her still with a twisted laugh. She thrashed and howled in agony as the blood poured down her face in rivets. HIM didn't let go. Instead, HIM forced her still, grabbing her by the chin so she'd peer directly into the broken mirror.

Sara paled right before her very eyes, from a peachy skin tone to a white paste. She tried to blink away the tears that wouldn’t stop welling in her eyes—the green of them becoming more acidic with every passing second.

“The fun should be ending soon.” HIM giggled again, Its voice back to a soprano, but she was too forgone to hear him, as her eyes began to lull into the back of her head.

Eventually, when the transformation is complete, we see this:

Sara had stayed collapsed on her knees after HIM vanished into thin air. She stared with wide eyes as blood, sweat, and tears dripped onto and rolled off her thighs. She hardly paid attention to her surrounding, all she could do was listen. She listened to her hair. She listened to the constant moving, living, mass that slithered around her head, neck, and shoulders. The coils almost seemed to be cooing at her, comforting her through her pain, offering sweet apologies for what they had done. They promised her nothing bad would ever happen again. They were a dangerous shield forged from her own body to protect her.

Her body. A vessel for this odd new life.

“Heh.” A deranged giggle escaped her mouth, “Heh. Heh ha—hahaha!” She laughed until her throat burned and tightened, her tears finally drying.

It was instantaneous. It was powerful. Sara had never known love before, but she loved them. She loved every single one of them.

And here she had thought she'd never be a mother.

Sara becomes Sedusa--taking inspiration from Medusa, her childhood fascination. She wonders if HIM knew, but she wouldn't bother asking. She feels sexy, powerful, and unstoppable. Her hair has instilled a new confidence in her and she's finally able to stand up for herself. Soon, she realizes that she's an "exotic" beauty and has men eating out of her hand. She isn't someone who kills, but if she gets bored (or feels threaten) she will.

Things are going good until the PowerPuff Girls are finally created. When she sees them for the first time, she pities them, especially when they're run out of town. She relates to them for not being loved little girls, but is completely shocked when she finds out they've won the town over. This shock turns into resentment and she decides she'll get even with the girls

Then, cue canon. Sedusa seduces the Professor. We see what happens in that episode plus a little more. Sedusa takes out a lot of her repressed childhood trauma on the girls and is plain awful to them. By the time her stint with the Professor is over, she hates them all.

Then, there's the episode with Bellum. Bellum becomes the Athena to Sedusa's medusa. Bellum is still this elevated person in Sedusa's mind, and it only makes sense to Sedusa that she should become Bellum. To become Bellum, Sedusa seduces Bellum and they end up having a brief relationship. (Sedusa pretends to be an intern at City Hall and the two ladies bond over having the same first name). Eventually, Sedusa reveals her plot and the canon events happen. (Bellum is heartbroken over Sedusa).

I'd like to emphasize that Sedusa's relationship with Bellum almost turns her "good," but her hair coils (HIM's curse) prevents her from taking those steps. Her coils prevent close loving relationships--since they're supposed to be shield that keeps people out, preventing any chance that Sedusa's heart may be broken again. [coils represent her inability to heal from the past]

Then we run through a quick montage of her other appearances.

[throughout all of this, I would write how her hair coils are making her more and more insane]

*time skip to after the events of the og show*

This is where my plot can go anywhere. I think Sedusa becomes sloppy, maybe kills a politican. She's spirialing out of control and mad that she can't find any real happiness in her life. I think it'd be interesting to show her interacting with the rrb, not necessarily to show their relationship, but to show how Sedusa would be infuriated that HIM had sons, especially sons who hurt girls for fun ( i.e. the ppg) (a real 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' moment for her). She's also infuriated at HIM for turning her into a monster, so being mad about his "sons" is just an excuse to get even with the entity.

To hurt HIM, she decides to hurt the boys, but the girls interfere. They won't let innocent live be taken, no matter the person's moral alignment. This infuriates Sedusa even more than HIM ever could. Because again, despite all the shitty things that have happened to the Girls, they are still good as opposed to Sedusa, who ended up bad. She doesn't understand why she had to end up the way she did.

However, the girls aren't the people who finally "defeat" Sedusa. Instead, that honor is left to Ms. Bellum (Sedusa's "Athena"), who Sedusa still very much loves in her own sick twisted way. Paralleling the Sedusa/Bellum episode in the og show, the girls (while protecting the boys) are almost defeated by Sedusa until Bellum intervenes. It's revealed that Bellum had a shitty childhood too (again enforcing the parallels/differences between the two women) and believes that it's not too late for Sedusa to change her ways (it’s a real “I’m rotten work” “no it isn’t. Not if it’s you” moment) In a moment of mental clarity, where the coils (and by extension HIM) cannot affect her judgement, Sedusa releases the boys and the girls. Sedusa doesn't stay though, like Bellum pleads, she gets scared and runs away. (but does tell Bellum she’d always love her, whatever that’s good for)

[also I decide bellum to defeat sedusa to show that the girls are still to young and that adults should be the ones dealing with other adults] [and bellum has a good track record of doing just that]

Idk if she'd be gone forever, but it's implied that she hasn't been seen in Townsville for a long time. What she gets up to is left ambiguous. She can't be good because of her hair coils, but she doesn't want to be bad. idk I don't want it to have a sad ending, but I don't think it can really be happy.

-----

I try hard to play with the concept of beauty, womanhood, purity, love and how negative/positive responses to trauma affect these concepts. Idk it's really rough and needs to be thought out more, especially the end, but I think Sedusa deserves her own story.

#this isn't edited sorry I'm tired #outline ask game #my outlines #sedusa #this story is near and dear to me #but i don't think i have the skills to write it yet #my writings #the boys are literally not important btws they’re knocked out the whole time or something idk #this story ain’t about them

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vanishingpod · 4 years

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Sunday Audio Drama Recs!

Happy Sunday from Team Vanishing Act! Here are four more shows we love that we think you will love too!

1) Death By Dying: This show is an all time Hall of Fame favorite round these parts (these parts being our hearts? I guess, idk, lost the trail of that metaphor). Death By Dying is about the Obituary Writer in a small town, and every episode is centered around an obituary he is writing (or will write by the end of the episode). There is literally nothing we don’t love about this show, from it’s dark, wry tone to its hilarious worldbuilding to its genuine creepiness to its ability to turn on a dime from silly to genuinely melancholic and deeply touching. There are so many memorable characters (the Button-Eyed Raven, the Slapper, Pastor Jeff) and bits (the apricot battle in the town market, OW’s immaculate fashion sense, Gert, the line “he wasn’t the talk of the town, but he was the talker of the town”) Over the course of the five main-plot episodes it goes on a truly, insanely well-crafted journey with one of those tone shifts in the last act that feels at once like a huge twist but also inevitable and right. It reminds me so much of Over the Garden Wall in its final episode and I mean that in the best way possible--spooky and dark but also oddly comforting, existentially sad but also life affirming and hopeful. This show means a lot to us here and we hope you’ll give it a shot. Find them @deathbydyingpod

2) Windfall: Alright it’s acton-adventure time, y’all! This show has it all: a full, sweeping instrumental score; a sprawling large-cast fantasy/sci-fi action adventure vibe; reluctant, flawed, morally grey heroes; saying “fuck capitalism”; intricate, lived-in worldbuilding; some of the best voice talent out there; etc etc etc. The show takes place in the nation of Windfall--ever since a castle appeared in the sky, the city has been built upward towards it rather than out, and in a sort of vertical Snowpiercer move, the wealthy live further up, with the poorer classes down below. Our protagonists are a series of “grounders” who get tangled up with the business going on upstairs when one of their own is recruited into the military police (the Wolfpac), creating ripples among our cast that force them to decide where they stand. It’s a grand adventure in every sense told incredibly well--the writing on this show is some of the best you’ll find out there in audio drama and it’s executed in a fantastically immersive way that I hope will sweep you away like it did to me. (Not on tumblr, but find them on twitter here.)

3) Palimpsest: Gothic, atmospheric, psychological anthology fiction fans, this one is 100% gonna be for you. The first season of Palimpsest tells the story of Anneliese, who records an audio diary as she moves into a new house after a breakup, still dealing with the death of her sister--the story is very much a slow burn tale of Anneliese being haunted by the memories of the house, but also bringing her own haunting to the house. Horror stories like this need to be threaded so carefully--they have to keep that slow simmer at just the right level to feel like it could bubble over at any moment, and they have to know when to let it loose. Palimpsest knows what its doing, and rest assured you’re in good hands--trust these fantastic creators. As mentioned, its an anthology series, with a different setting and protagonist each season (season two is set in the 19th century, season three during the Blitz in London), with a common thread connecting them all, so choose what appeals to you! (Not on tumblr but find them on Twitter here.)

4) The Magnus Archives: I almost definitely don’t need to sell this here, it’s fantastic and has deserved love and acclaim--but we do love it and want to shout out what we love about it! We started listening around Halloween of last year and shot through two seasons in a very short period of time. If you want that perfect marriage of horror anthology and overarching slow build narrative, this is really the perfect example. The first season eases you in to the general concept with one-off stories of various people’s experiences with the supernatural entities, which they report to The Magnus Institute--these reports are read aloud by the Archivist, who we get to know personally as time goes on and he becomes less and less skeptical and more and more entangled with said supernatural entities. You, the listener, start to slowly hear commonalities, you hear names come up that you’ve heard before and recognize similar experiences from subject to subject, and the show trusts you to piece these together yourself early on, to be an active part of the narrative alongside Jon. It makes it feel like such an interactive, immersive, addictive experience, and you want to keep listening because you don’t want to lose track of the threads you’re connecting. Even when you don’t know the characters who work for the Archives that well yet, the stories are genuinely scary (the cave diving episode in particular is true Nightmare Fuel and an excellent stand-alone horror story), and when you do get to know them, it’s even scarier because you care about them getting caught up in this terrifying world where there are no rules of fairness and true evil runs free. (Also there’s a whole meta-narrative about how it feels to be a millennial stuck in a job you hate that actively seems to be set out to kill you in horrible ways and it. is. RELATABLE.) (Don’t think they’re on tumblr, but find them on Twitter here.)

If you love these shows, please consider leaving them a review on Apple Podcasts or Podchaser so they can get the word out to more potential listeners!

Previous recommendation posts: one, two, three, four, five, six.

#podcast recommendations #death by dying #the magnus archives #audio drama #fiction podcast #windfall podcast #palimpsest podcast #death by dying podcast #tma #rusty quill

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diyunho · 4 years

Text

The Joker x Reader - “A.N.N.I.E.”

A.N.N.I.E. (Artificial Non-Neurological Intelligent Entity) is an outdated android model that emerged on the market two years ago. The Joker purchased her as a toy for his son not knowing she will become the recipient of desperate attempts to keep Y/N with him. After the woman’s unexpected death, experiments meant to transfer her conscience inside Annie failed yet The King of Gotham couldn’t part with the only thing that reminded him of someone he actually cared about.

“Can you fix her?” The Joker asks the two programmers that have been assessing the android for the past 15 minutes.

“Hard to tell sir, but we are trying to determine what triggered the malfunction,” Zariah points at the 4 laptop screens simultaneously running diagnostics. “Recently there’s been a spike in flaws regarding A.N.N.I.E. models; after all they were released 2 years ago. I would recommend acquiring the most current technology…”

“No need to!” J bitterly cuts him off. “Just fix her!”

“We will do our best, sir!” Mickel reassures The King of Gotham: his wretched temper might interfere with today’s agenda and the two hackers simply can’t afford it.

“Your best is not enough,” The Joker growls. “She cornered my son last night and almost crushed him against the wall. I had to use manual override to shut her down. That’s not typical machine behavior, is it?!”

“No sir, although I’ve heard of similar incidents in the past months. If it continues, Annie prototype will be pulled off the market soon,” Zariah informs.

“Her name‘s not Annie,” The Clown Prince of Crime interrupts the unwanted advice. “Her name’s Y/N!”

Awkward silence and Kase’s voice resonates from upstairs.

“Daddy?... Daddy?...”

“My son’s awake; I’ll be back,” J abandons the two men in a hurry and stumbles on the numerous cables connecting the laptops to the cyborg on his way out.

“Goddammit!”, he huffs through his clenched teeth before vanishing around the corner.

“That was fucking weird,” Mickel whispers. “What does he means her name is not A.N.N.I.E.?! Am I crazy? Is this not Artificial Non-Neurological Intelligent Entity sitting in that chair?!”

“Of course it is,” Zariah confesses in low tone. “He gives me the creeps too how he thinks she’s in there.”

“What do you mean “she”?” the obvious question follows.

“Check those cords,” Zariah urges and continues: “You noticed he corrected me with the name for the pile of rubbish.”

“Yeah,” the other guy begins typing a bunch of configurations while listening to the scoop.

“Y/N used to take care of his kid. Nobody can say who she really was: some believe she might have even been the mother, that her and Mister Joker were together. Others swear the little boy called her auntie; maybe she actually was Mister J’s sibling. Who the hell knows? She was a strange woman and she looked… different also,” Zariah’s gaze circles the premises to make sure their employer is not eavesdropping.

“No shit!” Mickel frowns at the statistics popping up on the monitors.

“Yeah, I saw her a few times, gave me the creeps. Something was off with her, you just could tell. Mister J always had jerks working for him and I guess they clashed with Y/N quite often: it got so bad they dared planning a prank that ended horribly. Do you know the warehouse on 14th street? The 6 stories one?”

“No.”

“Well, supposedly it happened there: Mister J was out of town and had no clue about the scheme plotted without his consent. The crew took his son on the roof and threatened they will toss him off the building if she doesn’t jump instead.”

“And?!” Mickel halts his typing, intrigued.

“She jumped… … they didn’t think she would.”

“Holy crap! I had no idea!”

“Dude, it was a disaster!” Zariah shrugs depicting the facts. “Y/N splattered all over the concrete, broken to pieces… Despite the severe injuries, she didn’t die immediately: she was in a coma for almost a month before passing away. Mister J had Annie already, he probably bought her as a toy for Kase when it first emerged on the market. The rumor is that while Y/N was in a coma he kidnapped scientists and forced them to work on a senseless project: transferring her conscience inside Annie.”

“You’re shitting me!” Mickel exclaims at the insane disclosure.

“Nope.”

“Can’t be done; it’s impossible!”

“And who’d dare explain the obvious to him, huh? Not the researchers he killed the moment she stopped breathing if you get my drift.”

“That’s messed up!” Mickel forcefully exhales, infinitely more nervous about being at The Penthouse for the moment.

“Do you remember the serial murders that shook Gotham 3 months ago?” Zariah has more gossip for his partner. “It was Mister J hunting down every single person that was on the roof the day Y/N jumped.”

“We shouldn’t be here,” the anxious Mickel shrugs. “Maybe we should abandon our mission.”

“Bulshit! They’ll pay us double over anything he offers so don’t be a pussy! Speaking of, you should assemble the guns prior to his return!”

Mickel is reluctant to the whole scenario, yet he compiles the two guns out of items resembling computer parts scattered in their suitcases: that’s how they were able to deceive security.

“Done,” he stashes one finished weapon under his jacket, offering the other to Zariah.

“Remain calm and we’ll be ok,” the latest mumbles. “Let’s pretend we’re here to repair this junk.”

A couple more minutes pass by and The Joker’s presence alongside his offspring makes the two guys cringe.

The little boy hides behind his father’s legs, shyly glancing the android’s way.

“Don’t be scared,” J grumbles. “She’s in power saving mode, it’s fine.”

“Yes, it’s perfectly safe,” Zariah winks. “We are almost done extracting all the data,” he gestures at the laptop’s screens.

Kase giggles and rushes to climb on Annie’s knees, excited to see her after she wasn’t allowed to sleep in his room last night which is understandable since the robot went bonkers.

“Hi Y/N,” the child softly pulls on her long hair. “I want waffles pwease.”

The hackers exchange meaningful glares and The Joker replies:

“She can’t for now,” he mutters. “She’s defective. Frost will take you out for breakfast, alright?”

“Does it hurt?” the 5 year old pouts at his parent’s affirmation: he doesn’t comprehend all the words and it’s difficult for a kid to process the concept of transference.

After Y/N died, The Joker told Kase she moved inside Annie: he wasn’t delusional about his failed experiment but it was easier to make his son cope with the loss of the woman that raised him. J doesn’t literally believe there’s any trace of Y/N in the machine: how could it be? Several months passed and nothing proved what he tried to accomplish succeeded: a twisted concept originating from a distorted mind was doomed from the start.

“It doesn’t hurt,” The Clown Prince of Crime sighs. “She’s resting.”

“Sir, I think you should see this,” Mickel gets his attention.

“What am I looking at?”

“You used voice command to lock down the android?” Zariah pinpoints at the monitor to his left.

“I did.”

“That’s not what turned off the system: see the numbers flowing borderline with the central matrix, the tiny squares? She wasn’t locked down by external command, she was terminated from within.”

“What do you mean?!” Mickel scoots over in his rolling chair, baffled.

“Somebody trespassed the firewall,” his accomplice utters the obvious.

J is less than happy with the random discovery still he requires confirmation of his suspicion.

“Meaning?”

“Annie, I mean Y/N is the recipient of a cyber-attack: she’s been hacked.”

“Hacked?” J scoffs. “What for? She’s just a companion android, it doesn’t make any sense.”

“Not sure, sir…” Zariah lifts his shoulders up, baffled.

“Can you find the source?” the green haired individual suggests.

“Analyzing the algorithm shows puzzling results: these numbers should be repeating themselves every so often, yet they don’t; never seen anything like it and I’ve been dealing with computers for a long time,” Mickel adds. “The most interesting detail is certainly challenging our expertise: tracking the root of the signal is pretty much unachievable. We should see input bouncing around from different servers because this is how hackers disguise their trail; but… this particular livestream happened simultaneously from various servers around the country.”

“There’s practically 0% chance for such abnormal hacking with today’s technology!” Zariah scrunches up his face at the baffling discovery. “How in the world was it done?!”

“You’re the experts!” The Joker barks. “I hired you based on strong recommendations from others that used your skills. Can you fix her or not?!”

“Of course, sir.”

“Yes!” the two associates ease The Clown’s doubt. “We’ll unplug the cables, we already removed all necessary info.”

Kase watches them detach the cords from Annie’s access ports, the child sulking at their action.

“Y/N, does it hurt?” he asks and hops off her lap. The empty shell doesn’t respond since the robot is in power saving mode.

“It doesn’t hurt,” The King of Gotham duplicates his earlier statement. “Frost!” he addresses the henchman entering the living room. “Take him to our restaurant on Madison Avenue for breakfast then he can play at the property on Foster Creek until we are done here. I want a 3 cars escort.”

“Yes, boss. I’ll call in advance and tell them not to open the place until we’re done.”

“Good,” J agrees with his henchman’s proposal. “Kase, go and eat!” he urges the offspring having a few more secrets to share with Annie. “Come on, let’s go!” the impatient father encourages.

The 5 year old obeys and kisses Annie’s cheek, whispering:

“I’ll bwing you beck’fast auntie, ok?” and he rushes at Frost’s side screaming up a storm. “Byeeeee daaaaaddy!!!”

The programmers are so absorbed by the mystifying enigma they stumbled upon by accident they don’t pay attention to the little nugget’s promise: even if they would, Zariah and Mickel wouldn’t be able to untangle the convoluted riddle of Y/N’s true identity.

She wasn’t The Joker’s girlfriend nor Kase’s mother: Y/N was nothing less than The Clown’s younger sister.

The woman protected the only family she had like a hawk, thus she didn’t hesitate to give her life in exchange for her nephew’s.

Too bad she had no idea those jerks were mocking her when she ended up on that accursed roof.

Too bad her brother didn’t guess their intentions and extremely regrettable he was left alone without the only person he ever trusted.

Too bad she died granted J’s desperate efforts to keep her with him.

And so sad he didn’t know how much Y/N meant to him until she was gone.

“Isn’t it weird someone breached my android in the same time it was malfunctioning and closed her down?…” J stares outdoors on the terrace. “Why would anyone go through the trouble?... What’s the purpose?”

The familiar click of safety being taken off a gun awakens The Joker from apathy and he turns around: it’s not easy to surprise J but he’s stunned to notice the two experts he recruited pointing guns at him.

“What the fuck are you doing?!”

“Cashing in a huge payday, sir,” Zariah sneers. “It’s not often you become a legend for murdering…”

The Joker is not listening, his attention diverted by the strange phenomenon occurring behind the two hackers threatening his life: Annie is standing up from her chair and that’s clearly not possible; she is in power saving mode!

The android grabs Mickel’s arm and twists it to 90 degrees, using his own pistol to blow his brains out. Before Zariah can react he’s knocked to the ground with such violence J starts backing out, unsure on what to do when Annie steps on the man’s neck.

The sound of fractured bone plus the cyborg’s attention clearly directed towards him now makes him shout:

“Code 71345, emergency override!”

“Access denied!” the robot approaches still calibrating its joints and electronic synapses.

What the hell is wrong with this thing?!

“Code 71345, emergency override!”

”Access denied!”

J wants to make a run for it but he’s aware Annie is faster; why is she glitching like this?!

“Code 71…”

“Why are you trying to shut me down when I tried so hard to come back to you?” the cold voice halts the rest of his sentence.

The Joker takes a strenuous breath, dumbfounded at the shocking revelation:

“Y/N?... … Is… is… that you?!... …”

The android tilts its head to the left while an eerie smile flourishes on the plastic lips:

“Missed me?”

Also read: MASTERLIST

You can also follow me on Ao3 and Wattpad under the same blog name: DiYunho.

#the joker x reader #the joker fanfiction #the joker imagine #the joker jared leto #the joker suicide squad #the joker #joker #joker jared leto #joker suicide squad #dc #mister j #Mistah J #dcu #jokerleto

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alison-anonymous · 5 years

Text

flawsome bandits pt. 10 ♡ sonic

Flawsome Visions & Pains

Welcome back to part 10! Gahhh I’m so excited for you guys to read this!! Let me know what you darlings think, enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: some of the concepts/creations talked about in this update do not line up with the original Sonic the Hedgehog video game timeline. I have altered it in order to fit this story, so please no hate ♡ Special thanks to @naenae130 for helping me out with the plotline!

Warnings - mentions of robotnik x stone, slight angst

♡♡♡

Ah~, ah~.

Y/n’s bloodshot eyes popped open once again as the song evaded her eardrums. The singing hadn’t stopped for a half an hour and she was beginning to lose all hopes of getting any sleep tonight. Letting out a defeated sigh, she hesitantly raised herself up into a sitting position, making sure not to disturb Sonic in the process. Her torso already felt cold from the lack of his body heat. She shivered, e/c eyes glowing in the dark as she glanced around the empty room.

This better be worth it.

Ah~, ah~... The song rang mysteriously throughout the house, sounding like it was coming from the kitchen. Y/n let out a soft groan, but made a gradual transition to stand, wincing as her ankles cracked from the new introduction of pressure. Her ears flattened against her hair-like quills as she looked towards the darkened kitchen. The only source of light came from the milky moonlight shining through the window, but it was still enough to send shivers down Y/n’s spine. The tune rang out through the air again, the song that only she could hear, prompting her to move.

Closing her eyes, she sighed and timidly walked into the kitchen. “Hello?” She whispered into the air, already feeling stupid. Before she had a good idea where it was coming from, but now she had no idea. “I can hear you. Where are you?”

Ah~, ah~. The tune ended on a sharper note, it was more urgent this time. Her heart began to pound against her chest as her ears flickered back and forth, searching for the source. It finally clicked in her head as she turned towards the patio that led out into their backyard. It was bathed in moonlight at this hour, so at least she would be able to see. But that wasn’t what worried her. What worried her was the fact that it was coming from outside.

Well, she was already awake, so why the hell not?

She gulped down her fears and quietly unlocked the door, sliding it open with intense precision as to not make a sound. It made a small whooshing noise as the scent of damp grass and midnight air seeped into her nostrils. The moon loomed beautifully in the sky above, surrounded by dozens of loving stars that twinkled in the dark night. She hesitated on the threshold, wondering if the voice would be okay if she just stayed inside.

Ah~, ah~!

Apparently not.

Yes, this was insane. Following a strangely beautiful and potentially dangerous voice out of her house and into the dead of night. But, when was her life ever not insane? Swallowing her pride, she crossed over the threshold and dropped onto the deck a few inches below her. Her e/c eyes scanned the backyard carefully and the tree line before her, wondering what she was supposed to be looking for exactly. Of course, the answer came to her almost instantly as a little light caught her eye. It was small, not much larger than a quarter, with her signature ice blue color hinted to it. It reminded her of the wisps that Merida had followed into the woods from Brave, she thought as she took in the little fireball’s figure. Her eyes widened in surprise. She had never seen such a beautiful creature before. It hovered in the air before her, its flames lapping at the air around it. She couldn’t help but feel like it was watching her as she cautiously stepped closer to it.

“What are you?” She whispered curiously. Her e/c eyes were illuminated by the little ball, feeling an intense connection to the adorable being. Could this thing be a part of her subconscious, perhaps? Was that even possible? Maybe her abilities were a lot stronger than she had thought they were.

Ah~, ah~... Y/n’s eyes widened once more, her heart stopping in her chest momentarily. The singing… it was coming from this ball of energy. She froze in her place, staring intently at the being as it began to inch closer to her, its movements slow but forceful. Like it was trying not to scare her, but whatever it needed from her was needed urgently. Y/n’s shock took control of her body as she could do nothing but stare at the creature as it came ever closer to her. But for some reason… she wasn’t afraid. The creature came closer, and closer, until it finally touched her forehead.

The world became illuminated with a paranormal bright light, and then everything went black.

It took several moments for Y/n to recover from the light changes, but once she finally opened her eyes, she wasn’t in her backyard anymore. She wasn’t sure where she was. Everything she could see was covered in fuzz, making it all hazy in her perception. She blinked multiple times in an attempt to focus, but it refused to go away. She turned around slowly and tried her best to figure out where she was. There were… trees. Lots and lots of trees. And there was a man in a red and black suit with what looked like giant sausages growing from his upper lip. No… no, it couldn’t be.

Was that Robotnik?!

Before she had a chance to do or say anything, another bright light attacked her eyes, causing her to shield them once more. When the light faded back to normal, her surroundings had changed. Confusion riddled her mind as she looked around the room. Thank god, she thought, recognizing it as her living room. Only it wasn’t night time. Her brows furrowed in concentration as she tried to make out what she was looking at. Four figures stood in the middle of the living room. One electric blue blob, which was obviously Sonic. One orangish yellow blob, that she didn’t know. One human standing taller than the rest of them. And one icy blue blob. Wait. Wait a second.

Holy shit.

Was this… a vision? Was she having a vision right now? The surroundings slowly began to dissipate, signifying that something was changing.

“W-wait!” She cried out, reaching her gloved hand out towards the blobs. But she was too slow as the light burned her eyes once more. Now she was standing in a field surrounded by trees. The stench of smoke harassed her nostrils as her eyes began to water. She quickly covered her mouth and nose with her hands and glanced around the area. There was a giant drone-like structure taking up most of the land. The trees seemed to be dark with soot and the grass looked like it had been trampled on one too many times. But right in the center of her vision was her. At least, what she assumed to be her due to the icy blue coat that stood out amongst the rest. She was holding something to her mouth. Something that looked very dark. Dark and… deadly. An unsettling feeling went through her stomach as she stared at it. Her feeling only got worse as she realized there was something else in this vision.

Or someONE.

A dark figure stood behind her with its hands on her shoulders. It was a little taller than her, but definitely not one that she recognized. A pang shot through her chest in fear. Who was this person? What were they doing? She tried to step closer, but the second she caught sight of little red streaks going throughout what she thought to be the figure’s hairline, the image began to dissolve.

“No!” She yelled, racing towards the image. She had to see it! She had to know what was going on. But the second she reached herself, the vision was already gone. The world went dark again, and when she finally opened her eyes she was back in her backyard.

Her whole body was trembling. E/c eyes wide, knees and hands shaking, and a mix of adrenaline and fear coursed through her veins as she raised her gaze to see the little wisp still floating before her.

“W-what was that? Was that a vision?” She asked, not really expecting an answer.

Ah~. Even though it was just a short little couple of notes, Y/n couldn’t help but feel like it was an affirmative. Her expression softened as her heart rate began to slow down. She was about to step closer to the little figure, but the moment she raised her foot, it disappeared into thin air. And once again, she was alone in the night. Disappointment processed through her brain as she looked down at her trembling, gloved hands. Was that a vision of the future she just had? Her future?

Were her powers growing?

♡♡♡

Agent Stone was miserable.

It had been five months, twenty six days, forty eight minutes, and two seconds since Doctor Robotnik had been tossed away like garbage into that “Mushroom Planet.” His blood still boiled every time he thought of those two putrid, paradoxical, plot-twisting, alien-resembling hedgehogs. They took away the only man he had ever-

No. No, he shouldn’t be wasting time thinking about stuff like that�� No matter how many times he had made his heart flutter, no matter how many times he wanted to tell him how he truly felt he knew he never could. Robotnik was… Robotnik! And true, he was his right hand assistant that knew him better than anyone… but that was all he was.

An assistant.

His fingers traced over some of Robotnik’s old blueprints he had created back before his technological advancements to make the eggbots. Of course there was a better scientific term for them, but eggbots was a rather suitable nickname. Things hadn’t been the same at all since Robotnik was banished from earth. They were very… quiet, to say the least. Since Stone was his right hand man, it was only natural for him to be put in charge of figuring out what to do with his stuff. And naturally, he had opted to keep it. Like he was going to let his love- I mean, his boss’s hard work all go to waste? Ha! He would laugh at such presumptions.

Stone let out a long sigh through his nose, feeling the weight of reality once again press it’s hands down on his shoulders. It made him sick how everyone just instantly forgot about his existence the second he was gone, like they were happy to be rid of him. Sure, he was a bit eccentric from time to time and was often referred to as “mad” or “insane,” but he was a damn good scientist.

He was just misunderstood.

If only there was a way to bring him back. If there could be a way to reach out to him, to at least be able to communicate with him. Life seems meaningless without him here, in all honesty. And what was Stone supposed to do? Just move on with his life? Ha!

Then, a little memory locked into place in his mind. He slowly turned his head towards the locked cabinet where Robotnik had stored everything relating to those two hedgehogs. He approached it and placed his thumb upon the scanner, waiting until it hummed in approval and heard the familiar click of it unlocking. Robotnik had designed for everything in his lab to have some sort of scanner that only he and Stone could open. He felt very privileged to be held that highly by someone so great.

The cabinet opened to reveal a small plastic case amongst a bunch of cluttered files on the two and DNA samples and such. He carefully extracted it out of the cabinet and placed the box down on one of the counters. Using his thumb, he carefully flipped it open and was greeted with the sight of two very small vials containing about a centimeter each of the yellow and ice blue fluids. In case you are sitting here reading this in confusion, here’s a little explanation for you.

Back after Robotnik had received the vials from the anonymous sender, he had had Stone run multiple tests of each tube and even recreate some miniscule samples of them just in case they were to go missing or for something horrible to have happened. That was something that Stone couldn’t help but admire about Robotnik - he always had a Plan B. As he stared down at the vials, the gears in his brain began to turn faster and faster until an idea popped into his mind once more.

Sonic and Y/n both had very unique abilities. But what if he could find a way to combine both of those abilities and more? What if he could make something invincible?

An Ultimate Life Form, perhaps.

He already knew much better than to send himself to Robotnik as he wouldn’t be of any help at all. But sending something much more powerful than himself, than even Sonic or Y/n, could maybe help bring Robotnik back home.

Stone grabbed a pencil and some scratch paper and got down to work.

♡♡♡

Three weeks later, Agent Stone had successfully managed to drink Robotnik’s entire supply of coffee and go through every single lab report he had done surrounding the very concept of those two alien hedgehogs.

Oh, and he had also created one himself.

I know, ironic right? The Doctor’s right hand man turns out to be the one to create a life form meant to do only one thing: destroy and bring back his love-I MEAN boss. Well, actually two things. People seemed to have forgotten that when Robotnik was choosing someone to be his right hand man, he had standards. And one of those standards including him having at least one PhD.

Agent Stone had been able to successfully create what he called the Ultimate Life Form: a hedgehog-like creature with Sonic’s super speed, super strength, Y/n’s telekinesis, and even immortality. He had lost tons of sleep and had attempted and failed too many times than he failed to admit but at last, he had finally gotten it right. His savior. The one to bring Robotnik back home where he can finally exact revenge upon the two who sent him to that dreaded planet in the first place. The creature he had created resembled Sonic more than Y/n, with his quills being a lot more spiky and his fur being a dark onyx rather than a delightful shade of blue. He had red streaks going throughout his fur as well, to match Robotnik’s signature colors of choice. And of course, it was only right to give the thing a name as he was his creation after all.

Shadow the Hedgehog.

After his creation, Stone had spent countless hours working with the hedgehog to teach him the ways of everything and what his mission was to do, what he was created for. Of course this meant he lost a lot of sleep, but for Robotnik? I think you know the second part of that sentence. Shadow was a very quick learner, adapting to the english language at an instant and mastering his powers and abilities three days ahead of schedule. He knew what his purpose was, and that purpose was the driving force of his existence.

Finally, it was the day.

Stone drove Robotnik’s lab all the way out into an abandoned field near Green Hills where no one would see them, leading Shadow out to a nice hill with acceptable throwing distance. Thanks to his quick thinking, Stone had swiped some of the golden rings when he had been out investigating the case of the two hedgehogs, so he had a couple on hand. The dark hedgehog turned to his creator, his expression determined as Stone set the rings into his gloved hands.

“Alright, Shadow. Today is the day. You know what to do?”

“Find Robotnik. Bring him back to Earth. Destroy Y/n and Sonic.” Shadow repeated like a well-rehearsed play line. Stone nodded, his hope climbing to the roof without him even noticing. He took one of the rings out of his gloved hands and tossed it into the sky, watching with wide eyes as it formed a portal to the Mushroom Planet.

It still amazed him, the magic of it all.

“If he isn’t here, your next stop should be Sonic and Y/n’s home planet. Do you understand?” He looked down at the dark hedgehog, who nodded sternly.

“Yes, sir.” And with that, he leapt up into the portal and Stone watched as the portal closed with a flash of light. The wind resistance it had created slowly died down, leaving him standing there in the middle of the field. He wrought his hands together nervously, his adrenaline levels through the roof.

He could only hope he was doing the right thing. He needed to get Robotnik back and this was the only way he could do it. Everything was going to be just fine. Things would work out in the end! Shadow would find Robotnik, use the rings to bring him back here, and then they could give Sonic and Y/n a gentle slap on the wrist and everyone could go back to how it used to be before all of this crap happened.

Everything was going to be just fine.

...right?

♡ a.a.

#sonic #sonic x reader #sonic imagines #sonic the hedgehog #sonic the hedgehog x reader #sonic the hedgehog imagines #sonic the hedgehog movie #sonic the hedgehog movie x reader #sonic the hedgehog movie imagines #sonic the hedgehog 2020 #sonic the hedgehog 2020 x reader #sonic the hedgehog 2020 imagines #flawsome bandits #robotnik x stone

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takonei · 4 years

Text

Beta AU - Main story: Prologue

Hehhhehhehh since I couldn’t summarize the prologue I wrote it entirely despite my non existent writing skills.

Forgive me guys, I snapped.

Also yeah towards the end I kinda gave up because everyone knows the rules of a class trial by now.

Edit: Forgot to add that while the main story and context remain the same, I added my own twists as to repair plot holes and just for fun.

Day: Unknown.

Place: Unknown, Japan.

A young highschool student makes his way to the address given to him on the sheet of paper he holds on to tightly.

He looks up to the large building before him.

“I still can’t believe any of this is real.”

He doesn’t realise how much time he stared at it until he heard another voice beside him.

“You’ve been staring at this for about two full minutes. You good?”

He snaps out of whatever trance he was in to face the other boy. Another highschooler, with messy light green hair and physical aspects that could be described as feminine.

“No I just…”

He looked back to the building.

“I never thought I would get in in the first place.”

“Me too, and yet here we are.”

He sighed. “It was about damn time.”

…

-----------

...

Day: Unknown.

Place: Unknown.

Shuichi woke up in a confined space. If he were to guess, it was probably a locker. He tried to get an idea of where he was, but his movements were very limited.

He heard footsteps coming towards his locker, and out of panic, Shuichi stayed still hoping the person outside didn’t notice another presence.

“Is someone in there?” another voice questioned. A male voice. But Shuichi didn’t recognize it, and didn’t know if this person was nice or not.

“I’m not here to hurt anyone, I just want to know where am I.”

Perhaps this person wasn’t a bad guy after all. Shuichi pushed the door and got out of what was indeed a locker. Around him was a classroom, with a modern aspect, but looked like it was abandoned years ago due to the long vines on the roof and walls.

It was only then that he faced the only other person in the room.

A male teenager around his age from his looks, perhaps a bit younger. He wore a dark blue, comfortable looking jacket, a white shirt and dark blue pants. But what was the most noticeable thing about him was his light green hair and intense green gaze, staring at him. It wasn’t in an angry way, but it still intimidated Shuichi.

“You don’t look like you have any idea about where we are.”

Unfortunately he was right.

“No clue, sorry.” he scratched the back of his head.

They looked around to get, perhaps an idea of their current location. The other boy swept away some dust on one of the desks.

“Strange. Even though we were brought here, this place looks like it hadn’t been stepped in in at least years.”

Shuichi frowned. “Brought here? What do you mean?”

The unnamed boy turned around to face the blue eyed student.

“Unless you went here on your o-”

He was brutally interrupted by a high pitched voice.

“Rise and shine, ursine!”

The two teens were startled by the sudden apparition of… A bi-colored teddy bear, red and white, with a scarf and a shuriken.

“A teddy bear??”

“I’m not a teddy bear, I’m Mo-”

“Let’s get to the point. Are you the one who kidnapped us?”, the green haired boy interrupted, clearly, already annoyed.

“How rude to interrupt me! I’m Monotaro, from the Monokubs!”

Shuichi was confused by what was happening. “I’ve never heard of you though…”

The bear looked at the two boys.

“Alright! We’re good to go then! Let’s tackle each issue one at a time! Any questions?”

The green eyed teenager didn’t waste a second.

“Where are we?”

“This place is called the Ultimate academy for Gifted Juveniles, an academy made for you two and the other fourteen ultimates!”

Shuichi was getting more and more confused. “The Ultimate academy for… What?”

The red and white bear looked more than glad to explain things, which was the only plus in the situation.

“There are 16 Ultimates at this school! Students chosen and recruited for the Ultimate initiative for their talents!”

Shuichi seemed to understand the situation, but his ‘partner’ raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Anyway, it’s time for you to greet the other ultimates of the academy! It will be important for you guys’ activity later!”

The duo looked at each other.

Monotaro seemed satisfied.

“Alrighty then! So long, bear well!”

“Wait!” Shuichi reached out to it, but it was too late.

“We were definitely kidnapped.” the other boy said bluntly.

The chestnut haired teen looked at him. But turned his gaze back to the ground. “Unfortunately there isn’t much we can do about it for now.”

“What’s your name by the way?” Shuichi asked.

“The name’s Rantaro Amami. I’ve been called the ultimate medic from time to time.”

“Oh, you work in hospitals? That’s nice!”

He chuckled. “Not exactly, but whatever. What’s your name?”

“Oh, my name is Shuichi Saihara, the ultimate violinist. At least it’s the title I often get from the people I play for.” He didn’t want to brag about his talent, perhaps in fear of being judged.

The two made their way out for their quest for the other ultimates. But as they were walking, Shuichi had a question on his mind, something his ‘new friend’ had said.

As if reading his mind, Rantaro turned to him. “You look like you want to ask me something, but you don’t dare to.”

“Ah!-”

The medic chuckled. “Hey, it’s fine, really. But what’s on your mind though?”

Shuichi looked for words. “Earlier you looked confused when the red bear said we were recruited as Ultimates, and you are absolutely sure this wasn’t on our will. Why is that?”

“You’re observant, I see.” Rantaro affirmed. He looked away from Shuichi. “Because my place is not here. Even if it’s an academy for us ultimates, I don’t belong here.”

“What do you mean?”

“My place is on the battlefield, with my crew, helping soldiers recover from their injuries. Not in an academy studying to work in a hospital.”

Shuichi’s eyes widened. “You’re a war medic?”

“That’s what I’ve always been. And even if someone handed me a letter to say I was accepted here, I would have refused.”

Rantaro didn’t seem mad, or sorrowful in those words. It was barely a statement, but Shuichi couldn’t help but look away.

“Don’t be sad, even if my work conditions aren’t the best, that’s the future I choose for myself. My duty. My role as a war medic.”

At least he didn’t look like he was too much forced into his position, which was a relief.

The two explored the academy, finding one by one the other ultimates.

Tenko Chabashira, the ultimate judoka, a cheerful girl who had a positive attitude despite the situation they were in.

K1-B0, a stoic robot who didn’t remember if he had a special talent besides his nature.

Himiko Yumeno, the ultimate astronomer, a young looking girl who was determined to befriend everyone here.

Kokichi Ouma, the ultimate karma, a very timid boy who preferred to describe his talent as “Ultimate unlucky pest”, already unsettled by Himiko’s cheerful attitude towards him.

Ryoma Hoshi, the ultimate weapons maker, a calm and small yet mature boy, whose soldier nature stood out more than Rantaro.

Maki Harukawa, the ultimate tailor, whose outfit was clearly homemade with a skill living up to the name of ultimate.

Kaede Akamatsu, the ultimate writer, very passionate about her talent and didn’t miss the occasion to talk to the other girl in the room.

Miu Iruma, the ultimate street artist, very flirtatious and confident in her talent as an artist, calling herself “firefly of the city”.

Tsumugi Shirogane, the ultimate prodigy, a calm girl who didn’t have a lot of friends from the look of things.

Angie Yonaga, the ultimate craftswoman, clearly foreign from the way she looks and speaks, but being with Japanese people doesn’t seem to bother her.

Gonta Gokuhara, the ultimate zoologist, who looked reluctant to meet everyone but talked nonetheless.

Korekiyo Shinguji, the ultimate therapist, a bit creepy on the outside, but it was easy to see he was not ill intended in the slightest.

Kaito Momota, the ultimate biker, confident and up to meet the rest of the ultimates, proclaiming himself “the best biker and mechanic you could ask for”.

Kirumi Tojo, the ultimate maid, who looked very serious and mature, and would probably be the mom of the group if it wasn’t for her cold demeanor.

Despite their friendly interactions with them, the gut feeling that something wrong was going to happen didn’t fade away.

Rantaro and Shuichi were suddenly startled by one of the monitors suddenly lighting up.

“Rise and shine, ursine!” the already annoying jingle ringed through the speakers.

It was only then that the two realized there were not one, but five of those bears speaking to them.

“Hiii! Thanks for bear-ing with us!”

“...”

it didn’t take long for Shuichi to start getting annoyed at the bear puns. After glancing at Kirumi and Rantaro, he realized he wasn’t the only one.

“Kept you bastards waiting, huh!?”

“Everyone, make your way to the gym please.”

“The opening ceremony can finally begin!”

“Phew! We already finished our preparations!”

“... You do realize you just read your lines backwards, don’t you?”

Their catchphrase was already starting to get stuck in their heads.

“So long, bear well!”

The monitors turned off, leaving the trio alone. They looked at each other.

Kirumi broke the silence. “It looks like we don’t have a choice.”

Rantaro frowned. “I still have a bad feeling about this. You go without asking questions?”

The young woman briefly stopped in her tracks. “I am a maid. If I am requested at one place, It is my duty to go.”

Shuichi was not optimistic about the situation either. “I guess all we can do is get there.”

After a short walk, they made their way to the gym, finding the rest of the students here.

Some of them were talking about the new academy. But some were also worried about what everything was about.

Their talk stopped when the ground started shaking, only for five huge robots to come out of nowhere, almost crushing them.

“Yoo-hoo! Rise and shine, ursine!”

Some started screaming, telling everyone to run away, but the robots had already them surrounded.

“What do we do?”

“I don’t know! Those machines look powerful!”

“I’m not experienced in fighting robots!”

A voice came out of one of the exisals. “They’re exisals, not robots! Highly mobile, bipedal weapons platforms! They got lotsa hometown pride, too!”

“I can’t keep track of these backstories.”

Miu got the attention of the rest of them back. “It still doesn’t change the fact that we have to run!”

“Wait.”

The voice came from K1-B0.

“If they wanted to kill us, they would have done it right away, don’t you think?”

The rest of them were septic, but the exisals weren’t doing anything. The robot faced one of the exisals.

“You five asked us to join you here for a ceremony. I assume this isn’t to crush us with these machines?”

Tsumugi faintly, but surely joined in.

“I-If you took those giant robots, that means you guessed we wouldn’t cooperate with whatever you want to do to us…”

The yellow exisal seemed to react the first. “Aren’t you a wise girl?”

The blue one exclaimed “I’ll start us off! Listen up! Here’s what we want you punkasses to do…”

He paused, then laughed.

“My heart’s goin’ 100 miles per hour! I’m gonna say it! You ready!? Hell yeah! It’s a-”

He didn’t even finish the sentence that the green exisal spoke.

“KILLING-GAME.”

A sudden silence fell on the students.

“A… What??”

“If that’s a joke that’s not funny!”

The exisals started to fight between themselves, blaming one another for ‘ruining’ it.

Some of the ultimates looked at each other. This… Didn’t look like a prank. They were thinking about a strategy to run away until an unfamiliar voice was heard.

“Now, now, now…”

Shuichi looked at the origin of the sound, even though nothing was there.

“My cute little cubs… You gotta knock off this awful fighting…”

The monokubs suddenly got out of the exisals to go on stage, leaving the huge mechas on the sides of the gym.

“Father!? Father, is that you!?”

“Papa Kuma! Papa Kumaaaaa!”

“Daddy!? Where are you, Daddy!?”

The others were confused to say the least. The light suddenly shut off, only for a single spotlight to light up, in the middle of the stage, revealing a sixth bear, black and white, landing on the ground with what could be grace, if it wasn’t for the fact they were talking about a teddy bear.

“I am the god of this new world, and the headmaster of the Ultimate Academy! The one, the only… Monokuma! Nice to meetcha!”

The kubs and their so called father started arguing in front of worried and confused students.

“What is this…?”

“It’s aura is certainly not blessed!”

“Why is there a sixth one of those teddy bears??”

As if offended by that word, the black and white bear turned back to the students.

“First of all, I’m no teddy bear. I’m Monokuma. Show some respect! I’m the headmaster of the Ultimate academy for Gifted Juveniles!”

Kirumi, despite declaring herself as the ultimate maid, was having none of the bear’s nonsense. “Don’t try to make me believe you are the headmaster of an academy like this.”

The robot on the students’ side spoke up. “I know robots when I see them. But I have a bad feeling about this.”

Ryoma stared at Monokuma. “Alright. You bots talked about a ‘killing game’. What are you even saying?”

Said bear started to laugh.

“What’s so funny about a killing game?!” Miu butted in, both mad and afraid.

“I want you students with your Ultimate-level talents to participate in a killing game.”

Kaito stepped in. “You want us to kill each other? Who would even try to do so?!”

Tenko raised her hands in a combat position. “If it’s just those six bears, we can take them!”

Monokuma laughed again. “We have the exisals on our side. You can’t defy us. In other words… I have the power of life and death over each and every one of you.”

Himiko, despite her short stature, yelled at the bear. “Why on earth would we kill our friends?”

“You guys aren’t friends, you are enemies! After all, a game where no one dies isn’t fun!”

Shuichi didn’t even know what to say. The situation was so absurd.

Monokuma, with his frozen smile, continued the conversation.

“How about an explanation of the killing game? Let’s get this heart pounding killing school semester started already!”

“You are allowed to kill whoever you want, however you want! Stabbing! Drowning! Poisoning! Chocking! You ultimates have all the potential to create some of the most creative methods of killing! After all, there is no better place for a killing game than the ultimate academy!”

No one really dared to respond.

“Once a murder is done, the remaining students proceed to an investigation, then a class trial! The blackened must deceive the spotless! After the trial, it’s voting time! If a majority guesses correctly, only the blackened killer will receive punishment. Buuut! If you vote for the wrong person, the blackened gets away, and all the spotless students get punished instead!”

Kaede’s voice was shaking. “What kind of game is this…?”

Rantaro frowned. “And what is the punishment you talked about?”

Monokuma looked at Rantaro.

“Well it’s simple! The punishment is an execution. After all, it’s only suited for a killing game that a murderer gets killed for their crimes!”

Shuichi couldn’t believe that was real. It all felt like fiction. Yet they were here.

Kokichi was holding onto his sleeves. “Why would we… Why would I… I don’t want to be a part of this! There’s no way I’m doing this!”

Monokuma smiled widely. “You think you have a choice? The killing game is the only reason you’re here!”

For the first time since all this nonsense, Shuichi spoke.

“There… There is no way we’re gonna kill each other just because you told us so!”

Monokuma laughed once again. “I love that spirit of resistance! That’s what I’m looking for in a killing game!”

“But what’s better is to watch you crumble one by one… And then there were none.”

“It’s my role as a headmaster to ensure this killing game is done according to the rules!”

Monokuma went again through a fit of sadistic laughter.

The students all stood there. All of this felt unreal.

But now was not the time to give up. They were going to survive, no matter the cost.

They were not going to be part of this sick, twisted game.

#ndrv3 #danganronpa v3 #ndrv3 au #beta au #main story

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tev-the-random · 5 years

Text

Why I Love... Lord Shen

Warning: it might sound a bit comedic, but that’s how I generally sound when I’m excitedly exposing my discoveries.

Warning 2: I took about 99.9% of the images directly from the film, most of them are for illustrating whatever I’m affirming, I DO NOT OWN THEM AT ALL!

Warning 3: this is long. Reeeally long.

Kung Fu Panda 2 has a special place in my heart: one of my favorite movies, possibly my favorite animated movie ever! Everything in this movie is downright amazing: the animation, the score, the relationship between the characters, the development they had from the previous movie, all the fight scenes, the way they treat certain subjects of family and identity, the new characters... And, of course, the villain.

Let me tell you, Lord Shen is quite the antagonist. The peacock was quick to steal my heart and become one of my favorite characters. That struck me as odd: what makes him so fascinating? I was determined to find out, so I started analyzing! And oh boy: this is one complex character. Much more than I initially thought!

I re-watched Kung Fu Panda 2 three times in a roll: first casually, second with production commentary, and third with my own analytical look. I might have a problem.

Here you have my notes from that adventure:

First of, he’s Gary Oldman. Gary Oldman is an impeccable actor and the voice he gave Shen was simply perfect, so yeah.

“He isn’t obviously physically strong, but he’s very cunning, very smart...”. Let’s give it to him: he’s got to be really intelligent. He created his own massively destructive weapon from scratch, he orchestrated this whole plan by himself, he’s (almost) always one step ahead of everybody... And he couldn’t possibly have all those wolves and gorillas working for him for years if he at least didn’t know how to convince people.

He’s a leader. He’s a boss. He’s an emperor. He knows what needs to be done and he expects it to be done.

But hey, even like that, he still believes in hard work and doing things on his own - say what you want, but making strategies actually takes a lot of work. We can also say that he acknowledges there are certain things in life only he can do for himself.

He has this “peacock thing” where he’s “sort of proud, entitled (...) in spades!”, like a person who would say ‘Don’t you know who I am?!’ upon meeting someone. He has this sense of importance. He thinks his goals and himself are so important, Heck, he literally likes to tower over the city!

(couldn’t find many GIFs, but oh well. The camera backs away from him to show the full perspective of this freaking peacock on the top of the tower, towering over the city)

“He doesn’t have to hide”: He’s a big, theatrical, dramatic show-off. He just comes back to Gongmen from his exile and takes “his own tower” thinking ‘Ok, I’ll make my entrance right through the front door at a moment when all the masters can see me and know for sure that sh*t’s going down, but I’ll be completely calm and collected as I do so.’ Even when he’s supposedly won, as he’s crossing the city with his boats full of weapons, he clearly enjoys making quite the scene.

(Look who’s talking!)

So much of a show off, his cannons are actually designed as this fire-breathing demon, so people would know to fear him and the kind of power he had. It’s intimidating in a ‘LOOK AT MY CANNONS!’ kind of way.

He’s a perfectionist. No other words needed.

He’s also tremendously arrogant. Because he created this “unstoppable weapon” and has all weaponry at his command, he thinks he’s outdone everyone else. He thinks that his plans are fail-proof; he underestimates everyone.

Despite that, he’s not completely stupid to assume he can do everything on his own. He knows he needs help to succeed sometimes, even though he will take all the credit; that’s why he has his little army.

His arrogance also shows when he tries to get the Soothsayer to tell him his fortune, and yet, he still insists that she’s wrong - even when she’s clearly oh so right! Although, this also shows his fear of the prophecy and how he won’t admit his own mistakes (more on that later).

Speaking of the Soothsayer, he does seem to be rather fond of her. Even if he tries to insult her and breaks her fortune-telling-magic-smoke-bow every now and then, he did keep her around mostly for company and for being petty proving her wrong. He didn’t harm her or lock her up like he did with the masters; he put up with her mannerisms even if they were annoying; he reflects at least a little on her words, which he doesn’t with anyone else; and he even “sets her free” when he’s about to begin his crazy conquering scheme, giving her time to settle somewhere safe. I mean, as far as things go with this peacock, this is really sweet.

Still about the Soothsayer, she said something quite interesting at one point: she said Shen wanted more than just ruling Gongmen City... What did she mean? What more? Did he want to conquer more territory? To innovate the city? Was he doing this (whatever she meant he was doing, specifically) for his own ambitions or only to impress his parents? Maybe both? I honestly can’t answer these specific questions...

Another little important something the Soothsayer said: she could never have foretold that Shen would do something like that, to massacre an entire people... Seeing how this was a very unpredictable move on his part, I find it safe to say he wasn’t like that when he was young; he wasn’t this completely violent, ruthless peafowl we see now...

We can say that Shen is a rather curious peacock: he tried to find something different about the fireworks; him finding about how dangerous they could be might as well have been some sort of breakthrough for him, some new, fascinating theory to be explored... Besides, he did want to have the Soothsayer tell him his new fortune, now that he “proved the old one wrong”.

The guy thought he had everything right. Finding out there was still a panda alive was like... getting punched in the face... really hard.

He’s terrified of his own destiny, really.

Shen’s expectations about Po before meeting him are terrifying, specially as he thinks - with reason - that this panda is here only for his neck.

Needless to say, he was kind of disappointed with the result of the meeting. And relieved. But really disappointed, he was ready for a fight!

For most of the time, he’s a no-nonsense kind of guy, but he has his fun.

(Gotta love how he just cracks laughing and swiftly gets back his composure. Gary Oldman, ladies and gentlemen)

Much like any other villain in this franchise, he is quick to underestimate Po due to his silliness. This does give our panda some advantage.

Some adjectives the production crew gave to him: “very twisted, demented guy”, “intense”, “intimidating”, “really cruel” and “so mean!”. He doesn’t hesitate to hurt people physically or emotionally. So, even if he regrets his actions a little bit - again, more on that later -, that doesn’t keep him from being amused around others’ pain. He’ll use whatever means he can to achieve his goals.

I’ll say it: the years of exile made him quite the sadistic b*tch. In a way, he just wants to see it all burn, like ‘blood, heck yeah!’.Yeah, he’s a goddarn maniac for the most part.

What makes him more remarkable as an antagonist than Tai Lung or Kai - don’t get me wrong, I love them both! But I’m setting a perspective, just bare with me here - is that he makes this personal in a much deeper way. Neither Tai Lung nor Kai had anything against the protagonist personally; they had something against the Dragon Warrior, which so happened to be Po. But Shen? Oh no, he didn’t give a crap about this Dragon Warrior thing, he wanted Po.

Not only that, but Po wanted him. Our sweet big panda had no personal correlation with the other two antagonists: he was out to stop them mainly because it was right - and to protect his friends, of course. But when it came to Shen, he had something Po desperately needed to know, he directly and indirectly affected Po’s life. Shen makes this a personal mission for the protagonist and for himself.

Once he’s finally managed to emotionally throw Po off - which makes it all so much more amusing for him - he gets “more out of control” and he’s “growing in his instability and sense of power”, which makes him mad and excited at the same time. He starts to sound like me when I find a really good plot idea for a story, but then a PANDA COMES AND RUINS EVERYTHING, so he notices he has no more time to fancily fool around and they need to ‘GET TO WORK NOW!’

At this point in life, he clearly mocks his parents’ memory. ‘F*ck the tapestry, f*ck the throne, f*ck the tower, f*ck their eternal peace after death.’

He is a walking contradiction: he’s nostalgic, yet he mocks the past; He wants to tend to the future, yet he’s stuck in the past...

(You know how he says scars don’t heal? I believe he looks at his “scars” a lot...)

He desperately wants to prove himself. To himself. And to his parents. And to his opponents. And to the Soothsayer. Ok, he wants to prove himself so bad, he actually needs all of China to know what he can do.

This all means a lot to him. Even if he plays some of it as a dark joke, it really means to him almost as much as it means to Po - albeit with different meanings.

He did his whole genocidal thing at the beginning solely to stop the prophecy from happening. This, however, had many intertwined objectives to fulfill:

It would guarantee he could keep doing his firework research - what other fascinating things could he discover? Apart from “fireworks can kill��, that is.

It would quite literally save his life - for all he knew, “defeated by a warrior of black and white” could mean anything from getting his gunpowder taken away from him to actually getting murdered. I’d say he took it as the latter.

It would, at least in his mind, make his parents proud - I can see him getting back from the panda village with something similar to ‘Mother! Father! I cheated destiny! I cheated death! I led my men to success, I shall be a great leader, one that can’t be stopped!’. Yes, he was proud of what he did back then.

This does not change the fact that it was ruthless and brutal and horrible, but is his perspective, he was on a mission. In his mind, he wasn’t wrong. His parents didn’t want to listen to him, they were being unfair! He truly believes he’s been wronged, and now the world owns him something.

This led him to believe - probably along with other past conflicts - that his parents absolutely hated him, their only child, and that he was banished as to be gotten rid of. It hurt.

He won’t admit it, but he doesn’t know what he’s doing anymore. I mean, he wants to prove a point, but he has no idea where to go next. He lost himself in his pursue for power and vengeance, when actually...

... He’s hurt. He’s felt betrayed for a long time and he bases himself on that to justify further mistakes on his part. Thanks to the Soothsayer, we get to see that he knows he’s made mistakes, he knows the path he’s following is not the only - and probably not the right - way for him to go, he knows he can change his course right here, right now. But he won’t do so...

The moment he learned that his parents actually loved him and that he actually misunderstood their actions, it throws him off balance. This is him realizing - and still not admitting - he’s hurt, he hurt people who cared about him and that it was his own actions that brought him to that. Right at this moment, with the Soothsayer extending her hand, he’s faced with a choice.

He had a choice. He chose this path. He’s so far gone into his own hurt, revenge and fear, he won’t ever admit he’s the one who’s been wrong this entire time. He takes a path he knows is wrong because he can’t admit his own fault, he has to blame someone else.

He doesn’t want to be redeemed, he wants to be justified.

After he’s consciously made that choice, he sort of comes to terms with it. That’s his goal and he’s going to see it to the end, he’s not going to stop.

He learns from his enemies, so most of the time he knows what to expect from them. When he learns from Po, he gets confident and doesn’t even try to put that much of a fight; he knows Po is basically fighting himself - although, Shen will try to give him a hand at it whenever possible.

(With the wings behind his back, what a beast...)

Hey, he knows what he did, and he won’t hesitate to use it against Po, as, once again, he learned from their previous encounter.

(’Oh, does my tail disturb you? Cool, I’ll make sure to keep that in mind every time we meet.’)

He projects. When he claims to Po that “Your parents didn’t love you”, he’s actually talking about himself and his own pain in regards of his own parents. He wants to hurt Po by saying that, yes, but that’s one of the first times he’s actually been able to “put voice to what he’s been feeling” until now.

Once he thinks he’s finally won, he gets waaaay too excited. And waaaaaaay too confident. He rubs his victory in everybody’s faces! Now, he sure is peacocky, eeeeey!

That seems to be a constant characteristic of him: he gets too confident when he’s winning and absolutely desperate when he’s losing.

Either all people are with him or against him, and whoever is against him shall perish, even if they were previously on the same team - the only exception to this, maybe, being the Soothsayer.

(He freaking killed his own second in command just because the guy refused to fire at their own men!)

He takes what he can - again, he’ll do whatever it takes to reach his goals: ‘Can’t fire? Send the armies! My armies are losing? I’ll fire on my own! They’re destroying our cannons? Well, do what, KEEP FIRING! Everything went down in literal flames? I’ll fight until the end!’

If he sets his mind to something - be it revenge, killing Po or conquering all China - he won’t give up until he’s either victorious or dead (he went for the latter).

“See, that’s the thing, Shen. Scars heal.”

“No they don’t. Wounds heal.”

I believe what Shen really means here is that some problems are too harmful for people to let go of them. He thought his problems were a scar that could never be healed, so he had cope with the pain by himself with revenge, but he could never find peace. He thought the problems he caused Po were a scar that couldn’t be healed, too; he thought that Po, too, would seek revenge to deal with his pain, that Po, too, would never find peace. But he did. And Shen found himself amazed... and afraid; more afraid than he was of Po’s vengeance.

A little something before I say my final notes: let’s quickly analyse Shen’s fighting style, because the animators deserve attention for their wonderful job - also, it connects to the next note, so...

He uses his opponents moves against them;

He uses height as an advantage;

PROJECTILES!

Use them weird bird knees for some curious yet efficient movements;

He uses his sword - which is actually a weird looking yanyuedao/guan dao - a lot;

He uses his claws a lot, too;

Block-attack movements;

He uses his tail as both distraction and a defense in quite the clever way;

It’s like a dance: agile, swift, smooth, precise with a lot of twists.

He fights more for self-defense than anything. He has cannons and an army, why bother taking offence on his own?

The exception to this is during his last battle with Po, where he attacks on close combat: here, Shen lost his mind completely. He starts attacking recklessly, he loses precision, he uses every last bit of strength he has in him. He’s just... He’s really mad.

(I’d have to put the whole fight here to illustrate exactly that, but unfortunately, there’s not such GIF... Oh well, I’ll trust you know what I mean)

One final note to this analysis, about Shen’s last moments:

I’ve seen lots of people discussing what his final scene meant, when he closes his eyes and quietly accepts his death - he even turns to face the falling cannon in the last second - and most of them seem to think that that’s Shen finally finding his inner peace. But I don’t think that’s quite it. Taking everything I described here, it doesn’t seem to align too well...

What I think happened - and of course, I could be totally wrong - is that this is when Shen finally takes the blame for himself. Here, to his face, is the final undeniable proof that his actions can have negative consequences for him. He’s been facing those consequences for years, but only now can’t blame someone else. He cut all the strings that held the cannon. It wasn’t Po, it wasn’t the Five, it wasn’t his men, it wasn’t his parents, it was him.

It’s all over: his men are dead, all his cannons just exploded, he can’t win anymore, even if he kills Po. He caused his own defeat already, why keep fighting? So now, as the last thing he does in his life, he’s facing consequences forward in the most honorable way he can in those few seconds; either that be a way of saying sorry and finally admitting he was wrong or a way to set his own destiny, not defeated by a panda, but by himself. It’s a bit of both, I think.

So, why do I love Lord Shen? Between his mannerisms and evilness, he’s a very complex, deep character with an underestimated mind and, like any person, his own issues to be afraid of. Yes, he screwed up really bad, but I think he just made the wrong choices...

(Besides, he’s Gary Oldman, come on!)

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shuttershocky · 5 years

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Why you should watch Canaan

Alright friends it’s time to bring out the cursed content. Here’s a big post about why you should watch Canaan, an anime based off an extra scenario in the visual novel 428 Shibuya Scramble, conceptualized by none other than the most infamous duo of Kinoko Nasu and Takashi Takeuchi.

What’s it about?

Canaan is a goofy action movie in a 13 episode format about a Middle Eastern mercenary / super-spy with magic eyes called Canaan and her quest to take down her adopted elder sister Alphard Al Sheya, the leader of a bioterrorist organization called Snake, all while keeping her Japanese photographer girlfriend Maria Osawa safe from the crossfire.

The Main Cast

Canaan

Shiki Ryougi BUT WITH A GUN

No really she’s got some magic synesthesia that gives her Mystic Eyes abilities

She can see feelings and emotions as colors, which basically lets her wallhack by seeing enemies through walls and quickly discern between enemies and civilians.

Gun-fu specialist

Deeply empathetic to others but has difficulty expressing herself

Wants to live a normal and happier life but is consumed by vengeance

Sees herself as a gun instead of a person; no real sense of self

Entertains herself with string like a cat

GAY

FUCK GRAVITY

Alphard

Voiced by Maaya Sakamoto doing her Shiki voice so she’s also Shiki, WITH A GUN

Actual Resident Evil villain down to her terrorist plot making use of a sci-fi virus

Extremely hammy and makes little sense.

Even more skilled at gun-fu than Canaan.

Cold sociopath who literally shot her own adoptive father in cold blood

Can literally beat a truck full of men with both arms tied behind her back

O O F

Maria Osawa

GAY

Fearless journalist, a photographer out to prove herself.

GAY

Precious pure cinnamon roll

GAY

Canaan’s damsel in distress and the only one who sees Canaan for the person she is

GAY

Her reporter partner treats her like a kid but respects her idealism and instinct

GAY

Poorly hidden Jeanne D’arc recolor, thanks Takeuchi

GAY

Don’t be fooled you can tell these are Nasu characters when half of their scenes are fucking eating

The Romance

“Ok Shutters you talked up the romance a lot this shit better be good”

Allow me to present the following points for why Canaan and Maria are worth your time

1/3rd of Canaan is made up of their dates.

They go out for ice cream, see the stars, hold hands, affirm that they are the single most important person to each other in the world. Happens like every two-three episodes.

It’s not fanservice.

Make no mistake this is a Nasu and Takeuchi work: you’re getting your fanservice, just not from these two. Their interactions are very pure, focusing a lot more on the emotion of the moment than any male-gazey camera work. I’m gonna tell you now though, they don’t kiss at the end. (BOOOOO)

Their relationship is the story’s main priority

Canaan’s story is dumb as fuck, having a hilariously bad understanding of biological concepts and going about its twists and turns with all the subtlety and care of an 80′s action movie. Where it does put the effort in is portraying how important Canaan and Maria are to each other, spending a lot of time that could have been used to make a more cohesive plot to instead further flesh out their relationship. You learn how they first met, exactly how different they are in terms of their backgrounds, their personalities, and their ideologies, as well as how they build each other up to be better people.

Shit to watch out for

Like all things that spring from the mind of the Mushroom Man, this show is obviously not without its caveats. Some of these include:

The crazy (possibly incestuous) imouto

Yes Nasu’s worst trope is back in this one. A woman claiming to be Alphard’s biological younger sister appears as a villain who is crazy obsessed with getting her love and approval. She becomes increasingly deranged as the series progresses, and her downfall is a genuinely disturbing thing to see.

Shit gets violent

There is blood everywhere. Bullets, knives, grenades, gas, superpowers, an experimental virus and live wires go flying in every episode. Canaan does not fuck around; she has absolutely no qualms with plugging a man full of bullets should they endanger herself, civilians, or especially Maria. It’s a marked departure from Nasu’s usual protagonists, all who dislike or at least refrain from killing until it’s the only possible option.

Body Horror

Plenty of Canaan’s enemies are superpowered humans who have made themselves bioweapons in order to gain various powers. Some of these powers manifest as light body horror. While I don’t think there’s anything one can classify as extremely nauseating, try not to think about your popcorn while watching. It’s better that way.

Other things you may like to know

The dub is good

If dubs are your thing then Canaan’s got you covered. I can personally confirm that the English dub is excellently done and while you may miss out on some fantastic voice acting from the JP cast, the English cast puts in a few great performances themselves. Especially Maria’s partner, his English VA is hilarious.

Great action scenes

Canaan is adept at fighting in any situation whatsoever, whether that be on the roof of a truck, on top of a train, or inside an underground sci-fi bunker being assaulted by mindblowing (literally) soundwaves. The fights are all really well animated, and there’s even a noticeably distinct fighting style between Canaan and Alphard despite having had the same training, which really helps establish their different personalities.

Jouji Nakata plays a crazy fucking taxi driver who drives on anything but the road all the while singing along to his favorite idols.

YOROKOBE, CANAAN

No seriously

I probably should have led with this

See it for yourself

youtube

Now do yourself a favor and watch Canaan. It’s dumb. It’s fun. It’s a good, gay time and your best look at what the Type-Moon duo can do when asked to make an action movie. If you love Type-Moon’s balance of Unlimited Bullshit Works with Endearing and Well-Written Character Relationships, you’ll have a grand old time.

And if for some reason you’re following me and seeing this post despite not being a Nasu fan, see it anyway! It takes place outside his literary universe and does things just differently enough that it just might be your cup of tea.

#Canaan #Canaan anime #Kinoko Nasu #Type-Moon #(but not really)#Please watch it I'm so alone

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tiredbiostudent · 5 years

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Hi! Could you maybe recommend some music, I keep listening to the same three songs and would love to find something new, doesn't have to be a specific genre. Also, you're blog is wonderful!

omg this is so sweet my heart is 🥺 rn but also, idk how much I can help because I also genuinely will listen to one song for an entire week straight and haven’t had a ton of time to find new music lately! but here’s some genre breakdowns of artists I love and some songs by them, or just individual tunes:

[edit: sorry this got insanely long!! I can maybe link spotify playlists if I ever get around to making some ‘:) but tl;dr my fave artists are frank ocean, sigrid, hozier, ben howard, cezinando, khalid, childish gambino, nas, lorde, the lumineers, rhcp, girl in red and travis scott]

1. guitar/rock indie-arcade fire: neighbourhood #3, the well and the lighthouse, we exist, afterlife, the suburbs, ready to start, SUBURBAN WAR!! (listen to the entire suburbs album if you want to feel rlly nostalgic about ur childhood)-ben howard (my favourite artist ever, I saw him live and it was phenomenal): rivers in your mouth, time is dancing, I forget where we were, only love, black flies, oats in the water, she treats me well, towing the line, follaton wood-rhcp (long time fave): under the bridge, by the way, californiacation, scar tissue, otherside, goodbye angels, dani California, snow (hey oh), tell me baby-city and colour (another old fave who I’ve also seen live and is amazing!! if you like hozier and the lumineers you’d like him, a bit of a less intense sound though): sleeping sickness, what makes a man, waiting…, constant knot, the golden state, killing time, wasted love, runaway, map of the world, blood, the grand optimist :’), northern wind, hello I’m in delaware-the scientist by coldplay.. if u haven’t been emo about this song since 2003 wyd-haven’t listened to her in forever but cosmic love by florence + the machine >>-girl in red (her music is great but her LYRICS r literally my soul): i wanna be your girlfriend, summer depression, i need to be alone, 4am, girls, say anything, bad idea, i’ll die anyway, we fell in love in october-harry styles: adore you, fine line, golden, sunflower vol. 6, sweet creature, lights up, to be so lonely, sign of the times, HIS COVER OF ULTRALIGHT BEAM-hozier (ANOTHER fave, fucking insane live too. sir ily): work song, in the woods somewhere, sedated, cherry wine, almost (sweet music) [song equivalent to a warm summer evening], movement !! holy f-, as it was, be, wasteland baby!-broken by lovelytheband-the lumineers (my guys!!!!): cleopatra, sleep on the floor, angela, long way from home, sick in the head, my eyes, white lie, donna, salt and the sea, slow it down, stubborn love-where’s my love by syml-mitski: washing machine heart, old friend, nobody, lonesome love-sam roberts band: bridge to nowhere, brother down, if you want it-saturn by sleeping at last-sufjan stevens: mystery of love, visions of Gideon (I don’t stan cmbyn but literally these two songs are the only thing I listened to from dec 2017 to feb 2018), the hidden river of my life, futile devices, Vesuvius-love will tear us apart cover by susanna and the magical orchestra-vance joy: mess is mine, Georgia, my kind of man, Saturday sun, we’re going home, lay it on me, take your time, I’m with you !!, like gold, crashing into you-remember when by wallows !!!

2. chill indie/pop-billie eilish: idontwannabeyouanymore, ilomilo, my strange addiction, bury a friend-cezinando (also my fave artist, and noen ganger is probs my fave album of all time): ingenting blir det samme men samme for meg, selv du, haper du har plass (if u can make it thru this song w/o crying on public transportation you are much stronger than I), tommolen pa vekta, er dette alt, usynlig-sigrid (the LOML and my other fave artist- seeing her live was the best day of my life no cap): dynamite, plot twist, fake friends, strangers, don’t feel like crying, raw, focus, I don’t want to know, her cover of sex by the 1975 changed my life fr, mine right now, BASIC !!!!!, in vain, never mine [this is highkey bc I’m a bonafide sigrid stan but I cannot recommend her ENOUGH she has one of the most incredible voices ever, is an insanely talented songwriter, and her music is so hype and beautiful and yeah :’)]-khalid (I love his voice sm, also the ceo of vibes): bad luck, cold blooded, 8teen, my bad, better, hundred, Saturday nights, suncity-run by elsa and emilie-lorde (my bby): bravado, buzzcut season, the love club, the louvre, supercut, 400 lux, ribs, white teeth teens, a world alone-fy faen by hkeem & temur (have been listening to this song for 3 yrs straight no cap)-btstu by jai paul-8896 by lapsley-joji: slow dancing in the dark, will he-moon by kid francesoli-aloha by mome (another all time fave)-karpe diem: hvite menn som pusher 50, lett a vaere rebell i kjellerleiligheten din, gunerius, spis din syvende sans-astrid s: 2AM matoma remix (one of my fave songs ever tbh), hurts so good !!!, such a boy-myth by beachhouse -mgmt: kids, electric feel-nostalgi 3millioner by tomine harket & unge Ferrari -lykke li: sex money feelings die (did I listen to this song for 5 months straight last year? hm), I follow rivers-one direction (ofc): story of my life, 18, night changes, drag me down, literally all of Take Me Home which is unequivocally their best album I will take no criticism on that-berlin by ry x-dancing with a stranger by sam smith and normani-taylor swift (not rlly a fan but wowww some of her songs): call it what you want !!!!, false god, begin again, all you had to do was stay, clean-kamikaze by Susanne sundfor-tame impala: let it happen (the og and the soulwax remix), the less I know the better, gossip-head over heels by tears for fears-somebody else by the 1975 (apparently I was the only one who only discovered this song in 2019 but it’s like all I listened to from October-December)

3. rap & rnb-brockhampton: rental !!!, face, bleach, sweet-childish gambino: ii. zealots of stockholm, heartbeat, les, the “hardbone with a hard r” remix of bonfire and redbone drooooool-drake (yikes dude but ngl. chill bops): feel no ways, u with me?, hold on we’re going home, passionfruit, you and the 6-vince staples: bagbak, lift me up, norf norf-frank ocean (LOML frank I’d die for you. also my fave artist *proceeds to list his entire discography*): SEIGFRIED!!!!, songs 4 women, nights, chanel, ivy, thinkin bout you, sweet life, pyramids, lost, bad religion, pink matter, forrest gump, in my room, swim good, dust, american wedding, provider-jorja smith: blue lights, february 3rd, on your own-ransom by lil tecca-nas (fave to end all faves): take it in blood, represent, the message, halftime, affirmative action, street dreams, one love, hate me now, cherry wine, new world-mobb deep: hell on earth, survival of the fittest, party over, shook ones pt ii-travis scott: (astroworld is the only thing I listened to summer-fall 2018 no cap) astrothunder, coffee bean, Yosemite, butterfly effect, houstonfornication, skeletons, stop trying to be god, stargazing, highest in the room-kanye (don’t roast me for this): can’t tell me nothing, ultralight beam, fade, hold my liquor-drip too hard by lil baby-(all a product of tiktok) bop, toes, suge, panini remix by da baby-migos (lmao): notice me, slippery, pure water-walk man by tmg sfdjhfkdjfsdfs-go loko by YG-the weeknd: reminder, as you are, hurt you, privilege, tell your friends, starboy, sidewalks, high for this

(I also love old school rock music but haven’t listened to it much since highschool- my fave bands are led zeppelin, CCR, boston, fleetwood mac, pink floyd, blue oyster cult, styx, the who)

#i am. sorry.#also me making this realizing how intensely my music taste is based off tv shows. ok one tv show fsdhsdfjfdshkjfd #asks #long post #music

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rukangle · 5 years

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RWBY Tuesday: RWBY Black Trailer Retrospective

https://insufferablefirecrackersinsufferablesworld.wordpress.com/

RWBY Tuesday: RWBY Black Trailer Retrospective

DECEMBER 3, 2019 ~ INSUFFERABLE FIRECRACKER

If the RWBY Red Trailer is the least interesting to me, and the RWBY White Trailer is my personal favorite, then the RWBY Black Trailer has the best narrative. It’s the one that eludes best to greater plot elements and later story arcs. This means that it’s actually doing what a “trailer” should do. If I wanted to get someone interested in the series, this would be the first trailer I’d show them based on storytelling.

The opening starts with a quote as a red backdrop of forest paints its way across the screen. Red petals fall from the sky as a soft and somber melody begins to play. Viewers descend beneath the tops of the trees until we’re greeted with the ground below. There a girl sits with her back to the camera, looking up at the moon above.

A man calls her name. Let’s stop right there. I’m going to repeat that. A man calls Blake’s name. That is voice acting, and it’s finally in a trailer!

Up until this trailer, we’ve had great soundtracks, but no actual voice acting. This is a major issue with the other two trailers. The RWBY White Trailer manages to skirt around the issue, but it’s still a minor gripe I have.

However, this trailer has both a wonderful soundtrack and proper voice acting. This is what makes RWBY as a series so awesome in the early volumes. Voice acting, sound design, beautiful visuals, and stunning combat come together to really show off what the series could be capable of.

The complete synergy of Blake’s character theme song cannot be overstated. It works beautifully well with the visuals on screen. When I think of a good RWBY trailer, this is what comes to mind.

The man’s name is Adam, but we won’t know that for a long while. He tells Blake that it’s time to go. She agrees and they both run off, darting through the forest until they come to a cliff. A train sounds off in the distance. They both jump off the cliff, sliding down the steep sides at a breakneck pace.

With another leap they both manage to land on the train. They both use their weapons to ground themselves on top of a train car. The music here shifts to a much heavier beat. Jumping from train car to train car. they make their way along the speeding vehicle. Finally they come to an opening at the top of the train, both of them jump down into the train.

A fight scene breaks out on the train car as Blake and Adam dispose of the opponents in their way. They move to another train car. This time, more enemies are waiting for them. These are machines, so Blake’s ruthless in her fighting style. This is an important unspoken plot element in the trailer, and in the series as a whole.

Blake is hard to gather screenshots for, due to the way her semblance works in battle. She phases in and out of enemy attacks so quickly that her fight choreography is probably the most impressive to see on screen. There are times she appears faster than she should in this particular fight. Comparing Blake’s trailer to Ruby’s, Blake looks like the faster character here. That said, I chalk that down to the animators finally finding their footing. By this point, they’ve had two other trailers to practice with, and that’s important to keep in mind.

Blake and Adam finally find what they’re looking for. Adam tells Blake to move onto the next car while he sets the charges, meaning he’s going to blow up the train. Blake asks about the crew members, and Adam shows no sign of remorse for what he’s about to do.

There’s a sick, twisted sense of entitlement that clouds every single one of Adam’s words. He feels justified in harming the workers on the train, even if it means killing them.

A lot of fans don’t like the way the series handled Adam as a character. A large amount of criticism comes from the idea that the creators wasted Adam’s character. As if turning him into just a jealous ex-boyfriend was a huge mistake.

This trailer proves that Adam, at his core, will always be a vindictive person. He wasn’t a waste. He served his purpose from volumes 1-6 as intended. If he really cared about the Faunus plight, or about Blake, he wouldn’t do things that intentionally hurt the plight.

More importantly, he never would have hurt Blake. The key thing to remember is, we’ve just watched Blake cause massive damage to a bunch of artificial intelligence. We still haven’t seen her harm a living, breathing, person.

Just as Blake is about to retort about hurting the workers, a large machine comes crawling out of the shadows. It’s red and angry looking, just like the robots from before.

Adam leaves to go take care of the large machine standing in his way. Blake sighs out his name in frustration. A fight scene begins, but Adam and Blake find themselves crashing through the wall of the train car. The machine behind them in hot pursuit.

Adam orders Blake to buy him some time. She asks if he’s absolutely certain, and Adam gives the affirmative. Then, Blake charges headlong to engage in combat once more. She manages to land several solid blows, all while dodging return attacks.

She latches onto it and fires several rounds headlong into the armored shell. The Machine fires back, and Blake makes a fast retreat. The machine aims an energy beam right for Adam, and he absorbs it with his sword. Finally, Adam is able to land the final blow.

Adam turns to make a run for the next train car, but Blake is already there. Giving him a sad look, she slices the connection.

Blake only says one word to Adam “goodbye”, and then the severed connection force the two characters to part ways. Blake fades off into the distance, a sea of red coloring enveloping her black shadow.

This is the end of the RWBY Black Trailer. It’s sad and a little tragic, but the soft melodic tone of the music comes back just before Blake completely disappears.

All in all, I think that the RWBY Black Trailer is the best introductory to the series. That isn’t to say that it’s the most entertaining of the trailers. While I will always say that the RWBY White Trailer is my absolute favorite, there’s still one girl left to introduce.

Next week, I cover the most comedic and fun loving trailer of the four. The RWBY Yellow Trailer features Yang Xiao Long, the sunny fire dragon we all know and love. I hope to see you there!

If you like this content and want to see more, please follow my blog. Don’t like ads? Consider becoming a monthly patron so that I can get rid of them.

Insufferably yours, The Insufferable Firecracker.

Don’t forget to follow my blog for daily content updates in the future.Want to support me?

Check out my a Patreon page.

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#rwby #bumbleby #Blake Belladonna #adam taurus #team rwby #rwby liveblog #rwby blake #rwby fanfiction

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theonceoverthinker · 6 years

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OUAT 2X01 - Broken

It’s good to be back! Who’s ready for Season 2?

It should be TWO-bular!

...Did you miss the puns?

I missed the puns.

Anyway, under the cut is where you oughta be to hear my thoughts, both cute and seriously! (Going all out here! You get puns AND a rhyme! I spoil you all!)

Press Release Reality and myth begin to merge as the fairytale characters awaken from Evil Queen Regina’s broken curse and remember who they were. But to their dismay, they aren’t transported back to fairytale land. To make matters worse, Rumplestiltskin - aka Mr. Gold - in an effort to gain the upper hand in his power struggle with Regina, has introduced magic into the town. In fairytales magic has its place, but in our world it can have unfathomable consequences. Meanwhile, back in the fairytale land, Prince Phillip awakens his sleeping beauty, Aurora, but discovers that he and his traveling companion, Mulan, will soon have to face a deadly foe. General Thoughts - Characters/Stories/Themes and Their Effectiveness Past The past segment here does an interesting job answering the question of what happened to the Enchanted Forest. Aurora’s a great focal point because just like her, we’re being introduced to the remains of the land with answers only slowly being revealed. At the same time, it’s not for lack of trying on Aurora’s part. She’s quite no-nonsense and inquisitive, but still romantic and trusting enough to believe Phillip as he continues to lie to her.

Additionally, there’s a great deal of tension created between all three mains. Between Aurora and Phillip, there’s the lie about the Wraith’s mark. Between Aurora and Mulan, there’s the threat of romances with Phillip. And between Phillip and Mulan, there’s the fact that they’re both lying to Aurora about everything, the fact that Mulan’s not particularly warm to someone who seems to be characterized as such, and the fact that Phillip’s also lying to her, too. The way that it all comes to a head is just perfect and it leaves everyone in a really interesting for future episodes. It was also cool to see that this was the immediate future following the events of the present segment, a fun way of playing with time and a component for a fantastic twist! Present This episode does a marvelous job exploring exactly what one would want to see after the curse breaks. We get to see happiness through reunions, and on a large scale. At the same time, we get to see the chaos that would be expected too. Mary Margaret and Blue’s reunion (As small as it was) illustrated this best for me. There was that glee in the action of them holding hands, but panic upon the discussion of magic. Additionally, there’s a great buildup to Emma’s source of pain as well, and it’s contrasted so well against Snow and Charming’s enthusiasm. Emma’s character is not forgotten and her pain from the past is still present and valid, making her inability to connect with her parents so sympathetic and heartbreaking. This is a large part of the heart of the story, especially this season!

It’s also great how this story intertwines so well with Rumple and Belle’s. And let’s talk about their story, because it’s fantastic! Rumple having Belle back doesn’t just up and solve his problems. He’s still who he is and he even lies to her and actually gets consequences for it. Granted, they’re temporary consequences (I personally would’ve kept them apart for another episod at least), but at least Rumple is given a sting for what he did and Belle is very clearly framed in the right for her feelings and actions in response to the lie, so I don’t have that many complaints. All Encompassing I was thinking of a grand theme for this episode, and I think Mulan put it best: “Love is sacrifice.” Throughout the different dynamics on display in”Broken,” this was the most prevalent. Now, of course, it’s prevalent in the past, as Phillip’s love for both Aurora and Mulan has him sacrifice himself to the Wraith. But it’s also littered through the present like purple magic smoke. Snow and Charming’s love for Emma came at the cost of potentially sacrificing their relationship with her. Emma’s love for Henry came at the cost of her sacrificing both her hatred for Regina and her being in the same realm as him. Belle’s love for Rumple came with the sacrifice of her anger towards his lie. Those are just a couple of them, but you get my point. It was a well delivered theme that worked with our cast of characters and gave way for the stories they’re going to have going forward! Insights - Stream of Consciousness -The first time I saw this opening, I actually thought I found the wrong show because it was so different than anything we had seen from OUaT so far. Now, it’s so cool for precisely that reason! It’s a jarring turn (A new protagonist and setting and the return of the pop music) that still has tiny elements of the show (The horse and the well-dress rider that gives a vague fantasy vibe). Even the way it’s shot is something that’s more real than the different angles we got in Storybrooke. It just makes the moment when we see both something fantastical from Storybrooke all the more striking. -I forgot how no-nonsense Aurora could be! While still romantic, she’s very questioning and has a nice bit of snark to her. -I love the way magic just hovers in the air, like a harmless sandstorm. It’s hazy and mystical and just a touch threatening because of those that have magic, but there’s a calmness to it too that makes it so lovely to look at. -Those reunions are positively heartwarming! It feels so beautifully earned and everyone is so well connected! It was a great idea to start here as a buildup to the reunion with Emma. -And speaking of, I’ve got to give all the credit in the world to Josh and Ginny. Their reaction to seeing Emma for the first time uncursed is beautiful. Just like in the finale, Snow and Charming get so speechless, ironically showing the emphasis of the moment. And Jen too! Emma’s reaction to this is pretty fitting -- not running at the moment, but this is a lot to take in. The two sets of performances create a stunning contrast with each other to make a reunion so distinct. -Robert Carlyle’s face! Rumple is out for BLOOD! -Also, I just realized that we haven’t seen Regina, and given the last frame of her from Season 1, that is fantastic buildup! -I have...opinions on the whole “no killing under any circumstances” policy, but right now’s not the best time to write that out. -That said, I LOVE Henry’s reaction to the mob invading Regina’s house. It puts Henry’s behavior and expectations towards Regina in Season 1 in context and affirms that for as much as he wants the curse to be undone and for her to lose, he does love her. -The buildup to Regina’s lack of magic is stunning and hilarious! Everyone in the crowd pull off their anger and fear so well and Lana’s put all the ham in to make this such a fantastic moment! -Whale is just the fucking worst! -THANK YOU SNOW!!!! FUCK! YES! THAT WAS THE WAY TO HANDLE REGINA! LOCKING HER UP IS A GOOD IDEA! Seriously, as I said before, while I feel like “no killing under any circumstances” isn’t an ideal way of conducting things for someone who committed harm and could intend more of it, there do need to be consequences for that behavior and Snow went about making a good decision about how to enforce those consequences. I feel like if the Wraith hadn’t taken Emma and Mary Margaret away and Regina hadn’t got her magic back, she would’ve also suggested a trial. -Did Emma change jackets between being at Regina and the sheriff’s station? -Rumple’s “OH” face at the jail cell is so beautiful! XD -My headcanon is that Wraiths have pool parties in the River of Lost Souls during their down time! XD -Did RUMPLE get a haircut and I just didn’t notice? His hair looked so long in the station compared to now! -How do non-Dark Ones summon Wraiths? Apart from the one that invaded Aurora’s land, Mulan has at least heard of them before. -I only realized now how much the writers pull that “I’m dying, but I can’t let my beloved know” trope. I don’t mind it (It’s romantic, tragic, and usually has an interesting bit of lore and character interaction because of it), but when I think about it, wow, there’s a staggering amount of those instances! -”You’re going to have to be more specific.” Given all that he’s done in the last 12-24 hours, that is quite the legitimate question! -Rumple, I get that Emma broke the curse, saved Henry, and reunited with her parents, but you know damn well what you did! Like, leave a note or something! Emma thought her kid was dead and you above all others should empathize! And kudos to Emma for just not buying it for a second! -I’m stuck between finding the Wraith cool as hell and fake as hell, but I’m going to lead towards the former! -Holy crap! Snow’s pulling a pre-Gina Linetti Gina Linetti with that lighter and can! When did I start loving Snow so much because holy crap, I like Snow! -Awww! There’s some cute Regal Believer when Regina asked if Henry really asked her to protect her! -Okay, so I may be the last person in the world who cares about plot holes, but how did Aurora sacrifice herself when she was cursed? -Josh had some glorious acting when it came to the post-portal anger with Regina? You can see every beat of sweat and hear the snarl in his voice! It was equal parts sad and scary -Henry asking Regina to stay away from him and everyone was also the right call. I swear I love Regina, but Henry’s decision both has a level of him giving Regina due consequences and a level of childish pettiness because his presence (As far as he knows at this moment) won’t affect her progress. -I didn’t think until now about how tragic it is that David and Henry, two people who never lived in the loft, now are, but without either of the two usual inhabits. How much are you willing to bet that they spent the day during the reunions imagining settling down in the loft with Emma and Snow, just the four of them together and happy! It makes the bleakness of those first few moments in the loft, such an iconic and bright setting in the last season so sad. -I also feel like I like David a lot more this season! He’s a lot more determined and given emotional provisions, and by that I mean, the emotions that he has are more well founded. Arcs - How are These Storylines Progressing? We’re mostly back to just the introductions of conflicts here: Emma accepting her parents - This is set up to be Emma’s internal conflict throughout the episode and I’d argue the season if not also the next one too. There are multiple facets to it. First, Emma’s collecting her bearings with the giant revelation, and second, she’s working through an underlying bitterness at her parents for leaving her alone throughout those twenty eight years. Emma and Snow stuck in the EF - This one just kind of explains itself! Storybrooke working to get them back - See above. Regina’s Redemption - A line from my favorite critic, Moviebob that he said quite recently in regards to the protagonists of “The Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise got me thinking as to the nature of redemption for the villains of the show as a whole. It basically amounts to the titular characters and others who redeem themselves do so “through their commitment to each other and a higher cause.” And I think that’s why I’d say that Regina’s redemption starts here. While probably more true for when she first adopted Henry, one can definitely say that their dynamic grew a little skewed both before and during Season 1. So I’d say that this is the rebirth of Regina’s commitment to both Henry and doing better as a person by bringing back Emma and Snow, and thus the true start to her redemption. Favorite Dynamic Emma and Snow - While I was tempted to put Charming in here too, Snow is the driving force behind this dynamic as she is the more active in her demands. In addition to being a dynamic that plays with the theme of “love is sacrifice” (In two respects with them, actually), as I mentioned before, they have a great contrast. Mary Margaret’s passion for meeting her daughter is so wonderfully enthusiastic while Emma’s is...not. What I love is how not only do both women get time to discuss those feelings, but how both of their contrasting feelings are portrayed by the story and the conflicting character as completely valid. While everyone wants Emma to have that same joy as her parents, she doesn’t, and while admittedly a touch selfish (Though I’d also argue understandably so), there’s an understanding that this isn’t just something that she’s going to process right away. Writer Adam and Eddy are of course in charge here, and I think they delivered on exactly what they needed to! Exiting the curse was a big step and doing so would require things that an audience needed to see, both good and bad, across both realms and they did a great job of that. On top of that, the mixing of all three storylines is some of the best that I’ve ever seen of the series. It all feels so seamless and natural how they intersect. Rating Golden Apple (10/10 with an * for superb quality). This episode would’ve been good enough had we just seen the reunions and consequences of the actions in the Season 1 finale. However, we got more than just that. We got new characters, a new story, perfect character conflicts that exist so well with who we have and what they mean to each other, a twinge of lore, and some mysteries to be solved throughout the season! Everyone gets something to do and a “shining” moment (Whether it be an action of heroism or villainy), and it just meshes together really well. It’s just a well put together episode and deserves the appropriate acclaim! Flip My Ship - Home of All Things “Shippy Goodness” Sleeping Warrior - We definitely get some of that enemies to lovers stuff here, and I always enjoy that! There’s a great chemistry between Jamie Chung and Sarah Bolger have some nice chemistry and their characters have that nice defensiveness that ends up making the moment where they do come together at Phillip’s “grave” very sweet. ()()()()()()()

Wow! This was a great way to start the season off! Full disclosure: Since I binged Season 2 and 3 during my initial watch of the series and only rewatched a handful of episodes from it, I never really took much of a magnifying glass to the individual episodes, nor did I really form opinions on some of the characters, so seeing this episode rock as hard as it did made me so happy!!!

Thank you for reading and thanks to the fine folks @watchingfairytales for putting this project together! Next time, get hyped, because out of many come one-- oh excuse me-- two. See you then!

Season 2 Tally (10/220)

Writer Tally for Season 2: Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis: (10/60) Tags: ouat, once upon a time, watching fairytales, ouat episode code, ouat rewatch, jenna watches ouat, ships mentioned

Operation Rewatch Archives

#ouat #once upon a time #watching fairytales #ouat 2x01 #ouat rewatch #jenna watches ouat #basically every character in this episode is discussed #ships mentioned #sleeping warrior

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countingpaperstars · 7 years

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6, 29, or 73 with promptio? Your writing is amazing!!

ahh thank you so much!!! bc I always ignore the ‘or’ and go with ‘and’ lmao. you definitely chose some angsty prompts ;) though it turned out more hurt/comfort. I hope you like it!!

6. “Hey, hey, calm down. They can’t hurt you anymore.”

29. “I need you to stay here with me.”

73. “I don’t love you anymore.”

It’s late enough that Gladio has to turn on the corner anddesk lamp in his office at the citadel in order to keep working. He hatespulling late-nighters, but the report he’s been working on needs to be turnedin tomorrow morning or Ignis will be on his tail. There’s hardly anyone elsehere, all empty halls apart from the night time staff and those that live in the residentialwing, so when there’s a knock at the door he jumps before composing himselfenough to call out a greeting. He’s even more surprised when he sees who it is.

“Hey,” Gladio says,urgently standing to round the desk. He reaches out to gently touch Prompto’sshoulder, but he shies away.

His posture is all wrong,one hand holding the opposite elbow as his eyes flicker skittishly around thedark wood walls of the room. “We need to talk,” he says, sounding asunsteady as he looks.

Gladio’s heart stuttersin his chest, a chill creeping down his spine, and not being able to touch Promptois killing him. He twists his hands, the obvious distance between them sendinghis stomach lurching.

“Of course,” he saysneutrally and moves to sit in one of the armchairs, motioning Prompto to takethe other. “What’s going on?”

Prompto takes a deep breathand stares down at his hands. He hasn’t looked at Gladio once since he enteredthe office. “We need to breakup,” he says, matter-of-fact, and Gladio’sthoughts slam to a stop.

“What,” Gladio asksflatly and watches Prompto pick at his nails. Then he laughs, incredulous and stilted,before cutting off abruptly at the way Prompto curls in on himself. “You can’tbe serious.”

This isn’t real.They’d just talked that afternoon on the phone and Prompto had seemed fine - upbeatand joking about Gladio being so absolutely buried under paperwork that he’dhave to dig him out when their lunch date rolls around tomorrow. Everythingrushes through Gladio’s mind fast enough to give him a headache stronger thanthe numbers had. What had changed that much to make him want to end this? End them.It had taken a long enough to even end up together – hell they’d fought forthis – and now he wants to just give it all up? In the plush armchair, Promptolooks small and defeated.

“Where… is this comingfrom?” Gladio asks.

“We just-” Prompto stops,shakes his head. “We need to breakup. I’m sorry,” he chokes out and abruptlystands, making for the door.

“Wah – hold on a minute!”says Gladio, chasing after him. He cuts him off at the door. “Prom…” he sayssoftly, voice hitching. He still won’t look up from the floor, staring hardwith his arms wrapped tightly around himself. “You can’t mean it! Prom, I loveyou. I thought… we were going good? I thought we were planning for long-term.”

“Yeah, well… you thoughtwrong,” says Prompto but it sounds weird - harsh and jerky like he shoved it outof his mouth all at once.

“Prom, talk to me,” saysGladio, keeping his voice as steady as he can so as to not let on just how muchhis heart is cracking in his ribs. He ducks his head, trying to catch Prompto’seye.

“No Gladio,” saysPrompto, sounding wavering and wet. “I d-don’t love you a-anymore,” he says,fractured and broken. It’s then that he starts crying, tears barely visiblewhere they glint in the low lighting.

This isn’t right, Gladio thinks and allat once the panic inside him halts, fading into a grim acceptance. There has tobe something else underneath it.

“Look at me,” he sayslowly, and reaches out to cup Prompto’s face gently. Prompto leans into hishand and the small, familiar touch sends Gladio’s heart fluttering. “What’sgoing on?” he asks again, stroking his thumb along Prompto’s damp cheek.

Wordlessly, Prompto digsout his phone and passes it over. It’s unlocked to his email, a folder markedvaguely as ‘requests’ and Gladio skims the subject lines, growing angrier andangrier as he goes. By the time he hits the last one, time-stamped for over amonth ago, he has to remind himself of his own strength so he won’t break thedamn thing.

He quickly forwards themost recent one with his signature to Ignis before passing it back and wrappingan arm around Prompto, who buries his face into Gladio’s shirt. They’re quietand as Gladio sways gently, Prompto slumps further into him. A minute later, hisown cell phone rings and he digs it out of his pocket without letting go toanswer.

“Ignis,” he says ingreeting, and cups his hand comfortingly on Prompto’s nape to keep his foreheadpressed to the curve of Gladio’s shoulder.

“This better be a jokeGladiolus,” is the answer, Ignis’ tone deathly sharp and sounding exactly howGladio feels.

He grinds his teeth beforefinally answering, “It isn’t.”

“Don’t move,” is allIgnis says before hanging up.

Gladio breathes out ahuge sigh and slips his phone back into his pocket before running a handthrough Prompto’s hair. “I need you to stay here with me while Ignis takes careof it,” he says and Prompto nods, folding easily when Gladio tugs him over tothe short couch pushed against the left wall. His eyes are bleary, facepale beneath the flush on his cheeks and Gladio’s quick to pull him back in tolean against him.

They sit for a goodcouple hours, Prompto shifting restlessly while Gladio reads out loud from thebook that had been sitting on the side table. It’s one of their favoritestories, but neither of them are paying much attention to the plot, the calmand meditative roll of Gladio’s voice filling the empty space of the office.When the phone finally rings again, they both tense as the shrill tone cutsthrough the air.

“In custody,” says Ignisright off the bat. He sounds tired. “Tell Prompto I’ll be having a word with himtomorrow about safety, but until then,” he says with a sigh, “try and get somerest alright?”

Gladio mumbles andaffirmative and hangs up, smoothing a hand along Prompto’s back which is ramrodstraight, taut like the string of a bow. “They got ‘em,” he says and a sobhitches in Prompto’s throat. “Hey, hey,” Gladio comforts, dragging him back into press his face against his shoulder. “Calm down. They can’t hurt youanymore.”

“I-I’m sorry,” chokesPrompto.

“It’s okay,” says Gladio.“Just don’t scare me like that again, my heart can’t take it,” he jokes, but itfalls flat with how shaky his delivery is in the truth of it. “Why didn’t youtell me they’d been blackmailing you?”

“When they found out whoI was dating it was just…” Prompto has to stop and take a breath. “It was ajoke at first. And then it wasn’t, but – but it was only small things. Ithought I could handle it. I - I thought they’d get bored and stop and I didn’twant to worry you,” he says, sniffling still.

He sucks in a hitchingbreath and continues, “But then the demands got bigger and I was so scaredthey’d do something to you or Noct or Iggy. I-I couldn’t live with myself ifthey had.” He breaks down again, and Gladio brings him in closer.

“Shhh,” says Gladio and gathershim up, nudges him towards the door before doubling back to pack his thingsquickly and shutting the lamps off as he goes. “Let’s go home alright?”

Prompto nods, shufflinghis feet and rubbing at his eyes until Gladio flips the last switch by thedoor. He stops, face and hair lit from the hall light with shadows darkeningthe angle of his jaw, and he finally, finally looks Gladio right in the eye. “I love you,” hesays quietly.

“I know sweetheart,” saysGladio and leans in to press a soft kiss to his tacky cheek. “Let’s go home.”

#nngghgh this got so long ;; i hope it turned out okay!#promptio #final fantasy xv #ffxv #promptio fic #ficlet #my writing #Anonymous #blackmail #ive got a few more requests left

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