#also did backgrounds for the first time look at thaaat

[diagoose]

my dearest drow evocation wizard is done and fabulous boys.

[variousqueerthings]

I’m from space, I’ve got two hearts and… 27 brains

it's "Bells Of Saint John" time. this is the first proper Clara-As-Companion and she's doing shit!

sexism rank objectification (female character is ogled/harassed/turned into a sex joke by the doctor and/or a lead we’re supposed to root for and/or the camera): 10/10

sexism rank plot-point (lead female character is only there to serve plot, not to have her emotional interiority explored, or given agency to her emotional interiority): 6/10

interesting complex or pointlessly complex (does the complexity serve the narrative or does it just serve to be confusing as a stand-in for smart, this includes visually): 7/10

furthers character and/or lore and/or plot development (broader question that ties into the previous ones, at least two of these, ideally three should be fulfilled): 7/10

companion matters (the companion doesn’t always have to be there, but if the companion is there, can they function without the doctor– and overall per season how often is the companion the focus or POV of the story): 7/10

the doctor is more than just “godlike” (examines the doctor’s flaws and limitations, doesn’t solve a plot by having it revolve entirely around the doctor’s existence): 9/10

doesn’t look down on previous doctor who (by erasing or mocking its importance, by redoing and “bettering” previous beloved plotpoints or characters, etc.): 7/10

isn’t trying to insert hamfisted sexiness (m*ffat famously talked a lot about how dw should be sexier multiple times, he sucks at writing it): 7/10

internal world has consistency (characters have backgrounds, feel rooted in a place with other people, generally feel like they have Lives): 6/10

Politics (how conservative is the story): 6/10

FULL RATING: 72/100 (if I can count….)

Could it be? A pretty highly rated M*ffat episode??? You crazy son of a bitch you did it!

OBJECTIFICATION: Wait for it.... THERE IS NO OBJECTIFICATION! (takes a medal for Steven M*ffat and wacks him in the face with it)

PLOT-POINT: so the Thing with Clara is that she's "not possible." (she is... Impossible... sort of like an Impossible Gi- *strangles M*ffat with the medal chain), and so while she does do stuff in this episode that gives her more than in the previous episode, we still don't have thaaat much sense of her

we know she's taking care of some kids, because their mum died and she's a friend of the family, and we know there's something about a leaf, and that she's bad at tech (in a very funny kind of way where it's 2012 and she can't access wifi without help, which I honestly cannot remember if would still be plausible in 2012 for a 24yr old, but fuckit) AND that she's got this book 101 places to see, that she's saved for her travels

so there's definitely Clues, but most of it is the Doctor's POV for now

COMPLEXITY: the beginning with the Doctor as a monk painting Clara and waiting for "the bells to ring" because it's a sign or whatever is dumb, but get past that and...

we bring back The Great Intelligence and it's quite a neat follow-up to the last one, in which it's now gone into the Internet and is snatching up peoples minds to feed off of them -- never mind if its depiction of The Internet is good or not, I'm no good at gauging that + I love the movie Hackers, so my judgement is skewed anyway

it makes sense! and then at the end The Great Intelligence isn't defeated, but just goes back into hiding a biiit stronger than before, and has a genuinely quite creepy moment of returning the mind back to someone it infected as a kid, who is now in her 50s or smthin, and becomes a child again in that body... lowkey creepy stuff

CHARACTERS/LORE/PLOT: SO the Doctor and Clara have now met properly -- as in this Clara, who is actually going to get to travel with the Doctor, and maybe won't die (but maybe she will)

The Great Intelligence is shaping up to be a recurring problem

Clara and the Doctor like each other and I also don't hate Clara (that's a strong word anyway, but I'm not UNvibing with her character, apart from a few moments, and a choice to make every conversation between them go so flipping fast as a way of showing Wit and Smarts, and is a trend in that era which I was never a fan of)

COMPANIONS MATTER: Clara does things! she correctly surmises that because she briefly became a part of the Internet (it is a bit silly, but it's 2012 or thereabouts, and silly in a DW way, not a "let's be convoluted for the sake of it" kind of way) she can hack into bad guy base but! she accesses their webcams, takes pictures of them, and uses them to find their social medias where they've put down their job location! which is where they are!

which is actually proper hacking! it's pretty great

“GODLIKE” DOCTOR: the Doctor is pretty capable in this episode, and uses his savvy to get shit done, but isn't the total winner. his goal is for Clara not to die (again), so it works out pretty well on the whole

PREVIOUS DOCTOR WHO: it's got this line I don't like, which is just a tad too flipping smugly meta, where a kid is reading a book and Clara asks which chapter the kid is on (Ten) and then says, "Eleven’s the best, you’ll cry your eyes out." it's... come on, stop making promises you can't keep mate! and don't make this a competition

otherwise it's more The Great Intelligence, and a scene where the Doctor is rooting around looking for a non-monk outfit, and discards Ten's jacket, which is fun

“SEXINESS”: it's not egregious, but I am fucking watching you M*ffat, about not making Clara into another innuendo machine

she calls the Tardis the Snog Box twice, and talks about how the Doctor talks people into it, and that's the main thing. W A T C H I N G you with that heavy metal at the ready!

INTERNAL WORLD: Clara is sooomewhere in London and there's a thing about that family where she's helping to take care of the kids, because the mother died. there's stuff about the internet, but not as community as such, it's more sort of a... somewhat ungrounded mildly Luddite attitude to it. it's not bad or over-the-top, but it's certainly got a very firm Internet = Bad stance

POLITICS: speaking of the Internet = Bad stance, that's kind of at the heart of the episode, with not much else to focus in on I think.

it's not the most or the least well-rounded argument, it's sort of middly

FULL RATING: 71/100 (if I can count….)

So this episode is a not-bad introduction of Clara on the whole, except for the fact that it's more the Doctor being introduced to her, than her being introduced to the Doctor

the Doctor is our lens more than Clara, which I think is also why she's not quiiite so well-rounded (yet, next episode gives a bit more Stuff)

in terms of pacing, it's sort of middly, but on the whole it's not a bad episode I would say, and not a bad companion intro episode

[theabominableblogger]

"The Legend of Vox Machina" S1E1-3 Reaction

THAT'S RIGHT- IMMA DO THIS

I do wanna get a few things out of the way though: as a "new" Critter, I am actually not that familiar yet with the first campaign. I do know a lot of the major beats for things through the Briarwood Arc (which this first season is covering) and beyond, but episodes 1-24ish I don't know of so please don't spoil that for me in the replies.

For this reaction series, I will be using the hashtag #purvan's reaction post stolen for the ages so if any of you guys want to find more reactions to this specific series, you can click on the tag in my blog.

On with the show!

AN:  I managed to record my reactions to this episode and hopefully I can transcribe what I said into this post.

"The Terror of Tal'Dorei" Part 1

Found out LAST NIGHT [when I recorded this] that Amazon made a big whoops and released the episodes EARLIER than the allotted time slot. I don't if it was a legitimate mistake on their end or an intentional move. Who knows.

Literally wasted time last night watching Matt rage playing Monopoly with Game Grumps and Sam's Battle Royale. Ez cool.

*smiles when Matt begins to narrate about Tal'Dorei*

Is the wizard Liam?

*jaw immediately drops when the group gets instantly killed*

This animation is really good, holy snot!

The Murder-hobos!

"Do not rest until you bring me the greatest band of mercenaries in all of Tal'Dorei!" Ehhh, varying opinion on that...

They even sound drunk, I'll give them credit!

"Are you offering to help?" *shuts down*

The tabaxi meowed!

Wait, we're starting it off like this?!? Oh wow.

*cracks up at Percy not even trying to dodge*

Did he [Vax] just rob them [the other customers]?

*loudly grimaces when Keyleth vomits in the dog-person's mouth, making them vomit*

"Why does this happen every time we go drinking?!?" Wonder why...

TRINKET!

*gasps when Percy's gun misfires*

*full jaw drop when we cut to Scanlan and the naked woman in bed*

"What is that gnome doing with my daughter?" "It's probably best you don't know." *incomprehensible shocked laughter*

"Does that mean... we've been kicked out of every tavern in Emon?" First world problems?

How did they get their name?

"Pike, ethics are a luxury we can't afford." Oh give her some credit!

"Vex and Vax only care about themselves." "Well [expletive] you." *laughs*

Oh my God, they didn't really have to show that [Scanlan peeing]

"What's the matter with you?!?" That's Matt!

Mercenaries... line line line line line REWARD!

*groans and covers screen when Scanlan's pants drop* I'm didn't see that

That is a giant bear

*Grog loudly belches* Euggh, I don't like that

"It's a rather clever play on words-" "Honestly we don't care." *wheezes*

"Allow me to give you a proper introduction." Oh no we're getting a song?

"He's Vax." "She's Vex." *laughs*

*laughs awkwardly as Scanlan starts rapping and mutes it*

AN: I did go back and listen to the entire song. It rocks. I also have the twin part stuck in my head for the past two days.

Why did I get like... vibes of Galavant and "The Morning Report" from The Lion King in that song?

Yes, get the bear, get the bear! I see you, Khary Payton!

"He got his hand cut off in a bar room brawl." "Oh shit." *laughs*

*Vex senses something mentally in the room* What was that? What was thaaat?

The backgrounds look really pretty

Isn't the Shale Steps like three miles away from Emon though? Is it just a power move to use the skyship?

*laughs* She's [Keyleth] just started talking to the tree!

Matt is literally playing every NPC in this show

"Are you a wizard?" Next campaign

*Keyleth and Vax share a look* Oooh... oohh...

These backgrounds are so pretty!

*gaps when the dragon stomps on the lamb in front of them*

*pretty much in shock for the entirety of the dragon fight*

This is awesome!

*Keyleth starts to summon lightning* Oh let's go, let's go girl!

That is a really intimidating design, oh my gosh.

No, the episode can't be over already!

"Grog, you're hurt." "Nah, it's just a flesh wound." *wheezes*

"This is why I hate traveling with holy people." *wheezes again*

Oh, so her ranger ability is a Spider-Sense? That's awesome.

This music is awesome

*Grog picks up Pike and puts her on his shoulders* Aaww

They're not gonna end the episode there. Nuh uh.

*still fangirling about the animation*

*gasps when they find the town in ruins*

*gasps when Vax finds the family they spoke to earlier dead*

"That was... actually well stated, Grog." "What was?" "Nevermind." *laughs*

*gasps* The silver piece!

"The Terror of Tal'Dorei" Part 2

[Nudity, violence, foul language] No way!

I like the different designs for the background tieflings

*jaw drops when the Captain is DISINTEGRATED VIOLENTLY IN FRAME* They didn't need to show that!

That was just the intro?!?

Oh this opening's gorgeous

Let's go!

They're setting up for the Conclave at the end of the season, aren't they? $500 says so.

"Doom? We don't know the meaning of the word!" *chuckles*

Look at them [the guards] loving Trinket!

*laughs when Vax flicks Pike's ear on their way down the stairs*

*smiles when Gilmore enters the scene*

Was that Sprinkle?

"Why if it isn't the mysterious Vax'ildan?" Did they just do the "love interest" panning shot on Vax?

*leans back in my seat as Vax and Gilmore flirt and then CONTINUE* I feel like a fourth wheel!

*wheezes and face plants at Tusk Love*

*laughs at Gilmore's disappointed gasp at the silver pieces*

There's a triceratops skull on the shelf

He [Gilmore] just slaps the page. That's awesome

"If we survive this, I owe you dinner." "You owe me more than that, my handsome half-elf." *leans back in seat again* Yeah like chocolate, about 500 gold.... that ass...

"All right you two, foreplay's over." *laughs*

Is that the same Matt NPC? That poor guy.

*cackles as Grog rolls behind the ale cart* Nat 20 Stealth!

"Dreadful taste in art." Wait they said dragons are egomaniacs and Krieg has a portrait of himself in the staircase. It's literally him. He's the dragon.

*gasps when Sir Fince gets freaking impaled*

Oh, the rug! The rug!

"Look for some kind of fulcrum." "Wait, a [expletive] room." "I mean, that's what I heard." *laughs*

*laughs at Vex being salty at Vax complimenting Keyleth*

"Look, they're in the booty!" *laughs* They're so immature!

"Seems excessive for a council member." "Seems excessive for anyone." Percy, you literally have like a Scrooge McDuck vault! Don't talk to me!

*leans back in shock at the GIANT GREEN EYE looking back at Keyleth* What was that?!?

He [Krieg] is the dragon!

*jaw drops at Krieg transforming into his dragon form* THAT WAS SO BALLER!

"Vax, did Gilmore give you any insight on how to kill this thing or did you two flirt the entire time?!?" "Shit! Right, right, uh..." *laughs*

*Brimscythe wipes out the group* It's an illusion!

*jaw drops at the ominous chanting in the soundtrack*

*giggles at Percy Naruto running*

*Vax running around the falling rocks* Oh, slow-mo! Let's go!

*pretty much silently loses her mind as Grog decides to rage*

*laughs* She's [Vex] stealing an armful of gold!

"We got 'em, kid." Aaww...

Who's on the Council of Tal'Dorei? Who's on the Council?

*chuckles at Keyleth ruining the moment between the twins*

*gasps* The Briarwoods!

OK, Sylas, whatchu got?

Whaaaaaat?

*episode ends* WHA-

"The Feast of Realms"

*gasps when we open with a flashback to the De Rolos*

What's with the dog?!?

You can't just open it like that! Are you kidding me?!? I don't even know if I wanna sit through the opening because I want to get to the opening!

*Establishing shot of Greyskull Keep* Oh that looks so pretty!

*laughs as Grog sneak attacks Vax with ball tag*

*Allura walks into the keep* Oof, this place is a bit of a fixer upper

"You have my word nothing will go wrong." Absolutely everything will go wrong

*Scanlan's codpiece* Why?

*wheezes at Grog and Vax's curtsises*

Matt!

"Ahem!" Scanlan, don't.

"What?!? You wanna get freaky with me?!?" Oh no

*gasps when the Briarwoods are announced*

Why are they giving him [Percy] the anime fish eye lens? I don't like that

*silently and openly ogling Vax in his formal wear good lord here's my money sir*

"The safe word is... chenga." *laughs*

*Percy realizes that they have to sit across the Briarwoods* Oh no

Ohhhh nooo

"Shit's about to get real!" Oh no

OH God... are they just pretending that they don't know each other?

"Percy, I [Grog] say you walk over to the Briarwoods, say hello to break the ice, and then punch them in the face." That works.

Oh God, I wanna see that dinner go down, are you kidding me?

OK, Vax, I see you with the little cow lick. I see you, man.

I wonder if Sylas has been feeding off Desmond.

*gasps when Vax uses his snake belt to distract the guards*

Why is she still wearing her gloves while she's eating? C'mon, Delilah, etiquette!

*gasps when Sylas charms Sovereign Uriel*

Oh mah God!

C'mon, Percy, say something.

"Have we... met before?" Oh no

*gasps when Percy breaks his glass out of anger*

Did they really just make a bead joke? Are you kidding me?

Vax, what are you doing? I do not like this.

"LIARS!" Percy!

Percy, Percy, Percy, Percy!

Oh no... Vax... Vax, get out of there! Vax!

*gasps when Vax finds mention of the Whispered One*

You gotta get outta there!

"Gosh, you're a handsome couple.." *wheezes with laughter*

*jaw drops when Sylas charms Vax*

"I'll distract them. You go." Scanlan, I do not trust anything- no

*jaw dropped for pretty much the remaining 7 minutes of the episode*

*laughs when Grog hurls NPC Matt out of the weapons closet*

C'mon, Vax!

"Would you look at that, dear?" LINE! PER! LINE!

I forgot about Craven Edge!

"Thanks, Pike!" Radiant weapon!

*Allura facepalms at Scanlan's song* Same!

*Percy goes after Desmond* Oh no, ohhhhh!

*pretty much in shock for the entire Orthax smoke sequence*

"You fool. Now your soul is forfeit." Oh my God, stop, stop!

NO! No, no no no... NO! YOU CANNOT END IT THERE! NO!

[janiedean]

Wait they fucked the SPN ending for Walker? How? And now the show is more conservative than the original, which was headlined by known conservative dumbass Chuck Norris? Ugh

tldr (I can attest in the sense that I did watch the very last episode and with everything I've seen until now...... it holds up)

basically from what it seems like they pushed so that the finale ep was sam focused so it would make ppl idk stick with jared and they didn't give dean time to shine or a basic excuse of a storyline at all before the dumbest death he could have had and jensen's obviously pissed

like... can imagine why he would be

also like nothing happened in that ep is2g I watched it live while it was happening and it was all..... filler? like I swear even the fillerest filler episode for any show I've watched had more stuff happening in it than the spn series finale which... was... bad

and like I remember walker promos airing every ten seconds when the ep was airing sssoooo

anyway apparently the cw got heavy on walker promoting and shit and got both jensen & misha shafted which like... I mean misha was def in vancouver for the finale but he wasn't in the ep and jensen spends 15 years playing dean for that?

and like now idk if the background rumors re jared not opposing any of that and basically screwing them over because it was convenient for his new show are true or not but if he is like... ofc jensen is pissed off

anyway like as stated I'm catching up on the whole thing now and with that in mind the finale looked like 'okay we wanted to do a thing but you execs told us that we couldn't and we had to do this this and that so we're going to do it in a way that sucks ass on purpose but that delivers what you wanted' even moreso than it did in the beginning like... it's not bad in the way any other bad finale I watched is bc AT LEAST SOMETHING HAPPENED IN THE OTHERS LITERALLY NOTHING HAPPENED IN THIS ONE I'm still trying to wrap my head around it tbh

NOW with this in mind I'mma gonna say what I told @emilysnora when the first walker casting stuff came out but basically

the remake has jared being walker blah blah and honestly I'm not even pronouncing myself on the whole 'I got the idea when reading the interview with the ICE policeman who felt conflicted abt putting kids in cages' because it's not my place to but honestly as your resident white european person it's... really... I mean the nicest I can say it's that it's a very privileged way of looking at it and he probably didn't mean it to be a racist thing buuuuuttt thaaat kind of iiiiisssss so there's that and on top of that we have that it's him plus: - hispanic partner in the force - gay brother who's like AN ATTORNEY FOR THE STATE so like... right wing gay dude? okay - his wife was dead before the entire shebang began so hello fridging before the plot even starts - I gave a quick look at the main cast and like there's one biracial dude plus lindsey morgan and they're the only two nonwhite ppl in the entire main cast (idk about the recurring but I'm talking about the MAINS) add to that the... background premise it's really not as progressive as it looks like honestly

now not to be like your resident person who's like BUT THE REP but like if y'all gonna do a show in 2021 about ppl in texas doing that job having to deal with keeping children in cages or latin american immigrants having all white ppl in the main cast except two of them is like.... kind of... not exactly what I'd do in this time and age

now with the premise that as stated I hate chuck norris's politics and I don't thing great of him as a person or anything else so like pls don't take this as chuck norris endorsement or anything

my grandfather used to be obsessed with it same as like apparently 90% of italian grandfathers bc everyone I know had at least one who loved that show so like I've seen my fair share of it back in the day and to my best recollection - basically no one was presuming it was like.... there to make a political statement it was basically chuck norris roundhouse kicking bad dudes coming from whichever background and saving the day the end but - walker himself had native american ancestry bc he was raised after his parents' death by his uncle who was played by floyd westerman who was like a prominent NA actor so like technically you had the lead who had NA ancestry himself plus there was like actual NA actors having a relevant role which like... bros not to be that asshole but last time I saw that in pseudo mainstream tv in the last ten years it was on a netflix show that lasted one season so make of that what you will, also there were at least two other NA supportive chars from the reservation they all came from like one was the sheriff and the other was a spiritual leader or smth but anyway it had three NA chars played by NA actors - walker's police partner/bff was black - he had the ongoing willtheywon'tthey romance with the district attorney or smth but she didn't get fridged actually she lasted the entire show but anyway like... there was no 'ah he had a wife who DIED BEFORE THE SHOW EVEN STARTED' plotline - in the last two seasons they had rookie rangers showing up and like I went to check on wikipedia to be sure but the girl is half filipina which again not a category that gets exactly much rep on american tv - there was a recurring dude who helped them out in cases but was from another police branch who was def latino (don't remember the background sorry but he def was) also like walker was a vietnam vet which imvho would be an improvement over 'I was undercover for eleven months and my wife died :((((' when it comes to give your main like.... a srs background but anyway the point was that new walker in between the mains has like two nonwhite ppl and if I look at the recurrings it looks like there's four ppl who are latin* but three of them are undocumented immigrants so like... bro there's some typecasting going on I see, old walker had NA/black/hispanic/filipino people in the main/supporting cast and none of them was like... typecast in the sense that they were all cops except two of the NA ones so it's not like they went out of their way to typecast and like obv og walker wasn't making the whole thing a political statement but looking at it...... it's still way more progressive than whatever the new one wants to be

yes even if chuck norris was headlining it

and I mean... again when you manage to reboot a show starring chuck norris of all ppl and you manage to make it less progressive than the og while thinking you're being progressive while rebooting it I mean as we say here ask yourself a few questions and give yourself a few answers, also like the entire point of og walker was crack where he kicks ppl and says doing drugs is bad, I honestly don't get why the fuck they had to reboot it instead of like having the guts to say we wanna do an original thing, bc like in order to say hey I wanna do a show about a conflicted cop on the texas border you really can just make it an original thing and own it not go like I'M REBOOTING WALKER TEXAS RANGER ROUNDHOUSE KICK CENTRAL EXTRAORDINAIRE but that's my two cents make of that what you will

[slurp-imagines]

Random Word Prompts: Fukunaga Shouhei

(ask meme link)

Night: What are their sleeping habits?

Fukunaga has a decent sleep-schedule for a teenager tbh. He usually gets sleepy around midnight, but he’s fully capable of going to bed earlier if he knows he has an extra early start the next day.

Left to his own devices, he’d probably sleep from midnight until 9 or 10 am. So he’s not the earliest riser, but he still doesn’t like missing the entire morning.

Lowkey one of those people who can function normally on like 5 hours of sleep though. But he chooses not to push it lol, because then he’s suspicious through the whole day that he’s gonna crash

Also he likes hugging something while he sleeps! He uses a body pillow at home, but he also has a couple stuffed animals that he likes (and that he refuses to feel embarassed about).

When Nekoma has to take the bus for away games, he might roll up his jacket or something so he can hug it and take a nap.

When he’s in bed, he prefers to sleep on his side, but he could probably fall asleep in any position.

He doesn’t move around thaaat much. Occassionally he’ll wake up on his stomach though, most likely lying on top of whatever he fell asleep hugging.

Rust: Do they like themselves?

For the most part, he does. He didn’t always, though.

Fukunaga didn’t have very many friends during elementary and middle school. Most people weren’t overtly mean to him, but there were a few notable exceptions, and those insults stuck with him. The rest of the time, he would just fade into the background.

And altogether, those experiences would sometimes make him wonder if he was even likable at all, or if people who were being nice to him were only doing so out of courtesy, or if he would always be somewhat of an outsider.

But somewhere during his last year of middle school, he kind of had a switch flipped? He was like... you know I guess I’m just weird or something. Whatever

He doesn’t really know how he arrived at that train of thought, but he’s glad that he did, because he has a much better time afterward. He doesn’t feel like he’s trying so hard.

By the time he’s in high school, he’s pretty comfortable with who he is, and people’s opinions of him don’t affect so much. By the end of his first year he even starts to feel like he’s made a few real friends. He’s found his group, his place– and every now & then before he goes to sleep, he’ll remember that fact, and have to smush his smile into his pillow.

Fukunaga does ocassionally get a little down on himself, though. Like maybe he’ll wish he was a little better at saying what he thinks, or a little less awkward to talk to, or a little more like a son his parents could brag about.

But he can think of a bunch of things that he does like about himself, too– he’s a good listener, he’s a good friend, he’s funny, he’s pretty nice, he’s a hard worker... And it all balances out the negative.

Gold: What was their first kiss with their S/O like?

Awkward. Very, very awkward. But he’s very, very cute so it’s ok

Fukunaga really likes showing physical affection to his s/o, but he’s pretty shy about it. Especially if it’s in public and double-especially if it’s early on in the relationship.

When they’re in private, he does his best to push through his embarassment though. He never really thought it mattered if he was blushing a lot, or if he couldn’t meet their eyes– not as long as he still got to touch them, and not as long as they still reciprocated.

The eye contact thing turned out to be kinda important for a kiss though. He kind of just leaned in and closed his eyes without getting a proper look at where he’s going first. And even though he’d definitely been thinking about it for a while, he also kind of did this on impulse in a “right now Shouhei it’s the perfect time go go go” sort of way, so they probably weren’t expecting it.

So basically, his first kiss is preluded by him headbutting them or clicking their teeth together or something equally disastrous in his mind.

Fukunaga would immediately jump back, somehow blush even more, and stammer out an apology. His mind is a running stream of “oh shit oh shit oh shit”

His s/o probably has to console him a little, lol. Preferably with a smile so he knows they’re not mad at him for messing up their first kiss so bad. He’d even be fine laughing at himself a little as long as his s/o’s laughing with him

He tries again, and it’s probably something sweet and chaste and honestly pretty short. After they part, he follows it up with a shy little smile and asking for another.

He’s giddy for the rest of the day.

[britishchick09]

sherlock s2 ep 3 livewatch

it’s time for the sherlock s2 finale! i’ve been keeping lockie alive for as long as possible, but I can’t stall any longer. let’s fall into the reichenbach!

here it is:

the last masterpiece ep! :D

it begins with rain! *beatles ‘rain’ plays*

john’s back with the therapist from study in pink! :o

does this take place after the fall and the rest of the ep is a flashback?

it’s been 18 months!

john called tv ‘telly’:)

OMG HE’S CHOKING UP NO POOR BBY :’(

he called sherlock ‘my best friend’ IN THE SADDEST VOICE IN THE WORLD :’(

john: “sherlock holmes... is dead.” or is he? ;)

BAM INTRO!

guy: “falls of the reichenbach...” you dodged a credit roll with that one! ;)

sherlock: “diamond cufflinks. all my cufflinks have buttons.” john: “he means ‘thank you’. ...just say it.” awww what a parent :)

sherlock isn’t one for thanks and publicity!

the iconic hat! :D

EVERYONE WANTS HIM TO PUT THE HAT ON

he reluctantly put the hat on:)

the transitions from a scene to a newspaper is so cool! :D

john’s tabloid nickname is BACHELOR OMGGGGGG

john: “what do they mean by that?” oh you know what that means buddy ;)

CONFIRMED BACHELOR OMGGG VICTORIAN GAYYYYY!!!!!!!!!! (or in his case bi)

john: “we need to be more careful-“ johnlockers: “NO!!!!!”

sherlock is criticizing the hat lol :D

john called it the ‘sherlock holmes hat’ eyyyyy!!!!! ;D

john’s voice has a hint of deep love it ;)

there’s so many people touring at the castle! :o

this sneaky guy has this on his phone and i’m guessing that’s what all apps in the uk look like lol

OMG HE HACKED INTO THE SYSTEM

is it moiarty?

lestrade said ‘bloody ‘ell!’ and it was so british of him :D

he’s dancing to the background music YEP IT’S MOI ALRIGHT

YEET

OMG MOIARTY YOU DRAMA QUEEN

also is this an abominable bride reference? :o

john’s text notif sound sounds apple WHY

he has a windows laptop and an apple phone how chaotic

the smiley face!!!! :o

ooh cool american song playing in the background! :o

john: “ready?” sherlock: “yes” *PRESS CHATTER* how would anyone be ready for that?

sherlock wants to be himself but john’s like ‘no smartass’ LET HIM BE A SMARTHOLE JOHN

it’s the bbc! :D

OMFG A FAN FOLLOWED SHERLOCK INTO THE RESTROOM WTF

i bet johnlockers have actually done this because they were craaazyyyy back then...

THE FAN WANTS HIM TO SIGN HIS SHIRT WTFFFFF

sherlock knows she’s not a fan lol :D

wait is someone peeing in the background wtf

fan: “you and john watson, platonic, have you there as well!” mofftiss totally based this girl off of real johnlockers!!!!

can they please leave the bathroom I SWEAR SOMEONE IS PEEING BACK THERE IT’S SO AWKWARD

sherlock: “you... repel... me.” YAS!!! :D

HOLD UP what if this is mofftiss’ way of saying they don’t like johnlockers :o

now lockie’s in court bor-ing!

moiarty is a spider great metaphor sherlock! :D

judge: “how long-“ sherlock “not a good question.” lol :D

sherlock and moiarty knew each other for 5 minutes lol

who ate the wafer

SHUT UP WIG MAN LET SHERLOCK SHOW OFF

aaand he kicked them out

john: “you’re doing The Look again.” omg so married ♥

he finds The Face annoying lol MARRIEEEED

epic wallpaper! :D

OMG MOIARTY WAS CHEWING GUM DURING THE CRIME AND THE COURT THING DORK

and he looked at john... ;)

moiarty’s out and sherlock beeps john away,,,

he be making tea WITH HIS VIOLIN PLAYING YYYAAAASSSS!!!!!!!!!

omg there’s a shadow...

AN A CREAK

I KNEW IT WAS MOIARTY!!!!!!

sherlock lets him sit down wowza kind to a criminal! :o

moiarty: “every fairytale needs a good old-fashioned villain ;)” omg HE KNOWS HE’S A STORY CHARACTER AHHHH :o

moiarty to sherlock: “you need me.” no he needs john THANK YOU VERY MUCH

moiarty thinks sherlock’s boring SHUT UP FUNNY MEAN MAN >:(

moiarty: “that’s the problem... the final problem.” eyyyy roll s4 credits! :D

moiarty: “i didn’t tell you... but did you listeeeennnn?” lol sing-songy moiarty is funny :D

he’s doing the hand thing ♥

moiarty: “i own secrecy” who do you think you are bish brother

MOIARTY CALLED SHERLOCK ‘HONEY’ :o

WHY IS MOIARTY SAYING ‘DADDY’

THE FALL HE SAID THE FALLLLLLLL

sherlock: “i never liked riddles.” *maddie hatter rages in the distance*

he’s having a row with the machine again ;)

also that’s literally my dad with his card lol :D

ooh antiques roadshow! :D

john’s meeting mycroft why

OMG HE WAS TAKEN HOSTAGE

it’s just mycroft’s way of saying hello?

what happened in 1972

mycroft’s giving john an unrelated case... s1 finale flashback!

john’s loooong groan lol :D

sherlock is moiarty’s ‘only rival’... >:)

awww john fed some crumbs to birds :)

another unrelated case and lestrade is at the flat! :o

lestrade called lockie ‘a celebrity’ awww :)

SHERLOCK DON’T YELL AT THE CRYING LADY :(

oh he wanted her to ‘speak quickly’ ok

not ok but thaaat’s lockie!

it be moi...

sherlock SNIFF

sherlock: “brilliant, anderson?” anderson: “really?” sherlock: “brilliant impression of an idiot.” OHHHHH!!!!!!! :D

sherlock 2 NOW

john: “don’t do the smiling thing. kidnapped children..?” oh he always does the smiling thing! ;)

molly was going on a lunch date but sherlock said she’ll go with him and her little ‘what?’ is so cute! :D

sherlock’s like ‘look at all the fricks i give’ :D

aaand he left her!

sherlock: “the chemical footprints will lead us to moiarty!” all roads lead to rome, and all the footprints there lead to moiarty ;)

SHERLOCK CALLED MOLLY ‘JOHN’ OMG :D

b r i c k   d u s t

molly: “you’re like my dad. he’s dead- no, sorry-” lol :D

oh no molly’s telling a sad dad story :(

i can kind of see why people ship sherlock and molly they’re nice together :)

BUT JOHNLOCK IS BEST SHIP

although molly’s super awkward she’s so cute! :D

SHERLOCK GOT THE FAIRYTALE REFERENCE AFTER I DID YAS!!!!! :D

lestrade: “brick dust!” b r i c k  d u s t

he’s the google in 360 website! :D

they burst through the kidnapper’s door and it was like ‘someBODY once told me’! :D

omg mercury chocolate wrappers! :o

sherlock: “the more they ate, the faster they died... neat!” ...neat? :o

they found the kidnapped kids! :D

lestrade doesn’t want lockie to be himself awww :(

THE KIDNAPPED GIRL SCREAMED AT SHERLOCK NO :(

lestrade to sherlock: “i feel like screaming when you walk in!” ooh noice ;)

the jerk lady said sherlock was ‘unbelievable’ coolio she’s a bit nice! :D

MOIARTY HACKED THE TAXI TV OMG :o

also there are tvs in taxis OMG :o

lestrade called sherlock and john ‘csi baker street’ lol :D

moiarty’s connecting sherlock to sir bostalot hmm... ;)

hmmm....

sherlock: “what was that on the tv?” cabbie: “no charge...” *drives away* OHHHH

OMG SHERLOCK ALMOST GOT HIT BY A DAR

OMFG WAS HE ALMOST SHOT WTF WAS THAT

john to the rescue!!! :D

the guy was shot not lockie coolio

sherlock uses a mac WHYYY :(

sherlock: “dust is eloquent” mrs. hudson in a whisper: “what’s he on about???” lol :D

lockie vlogs! :D

sherlock: “this is a game, lestrade, one i’m not willing to play.” so the game is not on, then?

john: “i know you for real.” sherlock: “100%” awww :)

john: “no one could fake being suck an annoying dick all the time.” OHHHH!!!!! :D

guy: “yer a bloody idiot, lestrade!” and yer a bloody brit aren’t ya?

mrs. hudson said ‘ooh hoo’ just like oaken! :D

OMG fairytale!!!!

lestrade and the lady knocked on the door and mrs. hudson’s like ‘don’t barge in like that!’ :D

OMG THEY’RE ARRESTING LOCKIE

WHY IS THE LADY THINKING LOCKIE DID IT HE DIDN’T!!!!!

awww sherlock and john were arrested together so romantic just girly things ♥

OMG GUN SHOT????

they’re running omg!!!!!

sherlock: “take my hand!” FRICK YES

john: “people will definitely talk!” FRICK YAAAAS!!!!!!!

just two bfs running around in handcuffs ♥

they need to coordinate while getting up the stairs... easy enough for them! ;)

THEY JUMPED IN FRONT OF A VAN JUST CRIMEY THINGS ♥

i thought the van thing was part of the drunk ep in s3 but it’s cool that-

GUN SHOTS????

they let go! :o

OMG IT’S THE CREEPY FAN!!!!

moiarty: “they didn’t have any ground coffee so i just got-” *SUSPENSE CHORD* out of context that’s hilarious :D

moiarty’s richard!!! :o

wait he’s a hired actor the frick???

THE FRICK ARE THEY ACTING??????

just because it’s in print doesn’t mean it’s real...

ok technically moiarty’s an actor BUT THAT BE KNOCKING DOWN THE 4TH WALL

an actor playing a person playing an actor... wild actorception! :o

moiarty: “i’m the storyteller! it’s on dvd...” but is it on blu-ray? ;)

sherlock: “stop it STOP IT NOW!!!!” yoda seagulls...

fan: “i can read you and you... repel... me...” DON’T USE HIS LINE BOI

sherlock: “there’s only one way to complete his game...” is it on? ;)

OMG he’s admitting his feelings to molly AND HE NEEDS HER awwww!!!! :D

the sherlolly fans loved that i bet! :D

john to mycroft: “you and him go out for coffee? you and jim?” sarah z be like ‘YAS!’ :D

OMG WAIT DID MYCROFT WORK WITH MOIARTY????

mycroft tells john to tell moiarty ‘i’m sorry’ and john just gives this ‘please’ wheeze lol :D

julie albright bouncing her basketball against her bedroom wall in ‘meet julie’ (colorized)

oh CRAP

lockie’s fidgeting with the ball awwww :)

OMG MRS. HUDSON WAS SHOT THE FRICK????????

john: “she’s DYING.... you MACHINE!!!!!!” YEAH LOCKIE YOU BISH

john: “friends protect people!” true that!

THE FRICK WHY IS BEE GEEZ PLAYING

this is the music video lol :D

omg are moiarty and lockie gonna have a dance battle like in despicable me 3 lol :D

moiarty: “our final problem... stayin’ aliiiive!!!!!” HE SO PLANNED THAT

there’s about 28 minutes left will the battle take that long?

oh he turned the song off :/

aw man moiarty has to play with the ordinary people :/

MOIARTY SAID ‘atta boyyyy’ TO SHERLOCK WHYYYYYY

ooh sherlock’s doing binary code with his fingers! :D

moiarty: “first one to sherlock is a sissy” oh SHUT UP

moiarty: “there is no key DOOFUS!!!!” WOAH MAN CALM THE FRICK DOWN

“look at ALLLLL THE FRICKS I GIVE SHERLOCK!!!!”

moiarty: “nice you chose a tall building! great way to do it!” sherlock: “do- do- do what?” oh you know what lockie :(

moiarty: “i read it in the paper so it must be true!” no!!!!

john’s here for mrs. hudson!!!! :D

she seems fine tho?

moiarty: “for me? pleeeeeaaaseee?????” OMG THAT ‘PLEASE’ WAS SO HIGH LOLOLOL!!!!!!!

toss him sherlock TOSS HIM!!!!!

moiarty’s little ‘woah woah woah!’ tho :D

aww sherlock has only 3 friends :(

moiarty about sherlock kermiting: “you gotta admit that’s sexier” WUT

NOOOOOOOOO

sherlock’s breath is so shaky :(

he said ‘privacy’ like ‘pri-va-cee’ why

he’s gonna call john!!!!!

awww smile!!!! :D

he knows that this is fake right?

moiarty’s like ‘WHAT?? WHAT DID I MISS????” BOI CALM DOWWwwwwnnnn

sherlock to moiarty: “i am you. prepared to do anything.” save that line for john plz

sherlock is ‘on the side of the angels’ awww :)

moiarty said sherlock’s not ordinary RIGHT HE’S A SPECIAL SUNSHINE ANGEL

moiarty: “you’re meee!!!!!” NOT WHAT I MEANT

they’re holding hands and standing close NOOOOO

HOLY FRICK SHERLOCK JUS SHOT MOIARTY IN THE MOUTH THE FRICK THE FRACK???????

he’s not really dead right or is that just a theory

sherlock’s like ‘oh god what have i done’ SAME WHAT DID YOU DO

it sounds like the thx theme!

oh no

i know it’s not a legitimate kermiting sewerside but DON’T FREAKING DO IT

HE’S CALLING JOHN OH FRICK

HE WANTS JOHN TO SEE HIM FALL THE FRICKKKKK

sherlock: “look up, i’m on the rooftop.” ♫ up on the rooftop, click click click, HERE COMES SAD OL’ KERMIT CLAUS ♫

CRAP

sherlock: “i can’t come down so we’ll have to do it like this.” it was only a kiss :(

an apology????

‘IT’S ALL TRUE’ THE FRICK????

is this just for moiarty’s game?

sherlock sounds like he’s gonna cry NOOOOO :(((((

john: “shut up, shut up, shut up.” SAME WTF ARE YOU SAYING LOCKIE???

sherlock: “no one could be that clever. you could.” OMGGGGG

FIRST WINSTON & JULIA AND NOW SHERLOCK & JOHN WHYYYYY

sherlock sniffled omg :’(

he researched john to impress him OH MY HEART!!!!!

it’s not a trick sherlock is legit amazing!!!!!!!!

sherlock wants john to ‘keep his eyes fixed’ NOOOOOOOO

if sherlock knows this is fake he’s doing a pretty good job at it BUT WHY JUST TO PLEASE MOIARTY OR ESCAPE THE SPOTLIGHT OR WHAT

sherlock: “goodbye john.” NO

NO

NO

OH GOD THERE WAS A CRACK

if sherlock’s alive THEM HOW WAS THERE A CRACK

WAIT JOHN JUST FELL THE FRICK IS GOING ON????

john: “i’m a doctor, he’s my friend!” yes you are AND YES YOU FREAKING ARE

it’s fake he’s not really dead OH HOW I WISH I COULD TELL YOU THAT JOHNNY :(

OMG NO :’(

THE SAD VIOLIN I CAN’T

everything is slow NOOOOO

i can’t believe mofftiss made the fans wait 2 YEARS TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED NEXT i know there was ‘many happy returns’ in 2013 BUT HOW DID THE FANS SURVIVE THAT LONG WITH THAT ENDING????

it’s raining now perfect

gun????

therapist: “he didn’t say it. say it now.” john: “sorry, i can’t.” he said ‘i love you’ :(

awww john and mrs. hudson! :’(

omg she’s crying no!!!! :(

john to sherlock’s grave: “you were the best man and the most human i’ve ever known.” awww :’)

john: “one more miracle for me, sherlock. don’t. be. dead.” miricale granted my friend ;)

OMG WHAT HE WAS STANDING THERE THE WHOLE TIME WITH JOHN SUFFERING LIKE THAT THE FRICK?????

that’s the end of s2! that was a much better finale than s1 and it’s definitely the best ep of the series so far. there’s a lot of exciting turns AND WHAT EVEN IS THE ENDING??? you knocked it out of the park mofftiss! i can’t wait to see what s3 has in store besides mary, drunk times and the wedding!

and to quote the blog... ‘#sherlocklives #johnwatsonlives’ ♥

[chrissyutimagines]

Oh! These are neat! How about number 17 (one tattooed name is the soulmate and the other name is the greatest enemy) with UF Papyrus/Edge and a takes-no-bs female soulmate? Good luck figuring out which of them he is first time meeting :D

Ok! Some smol background info here. This is from Boss's POV. The setting is on the surface. He is called Papyrus, but is more often called Boss instead. Y'all is can choose the POV ya want, but if not specified, it's in 2nd person's POV from the Reader's angle.

It's another ordinary Sunday. The refrigerator is empty again. Boss sighs, his lazy brother wouldn't be bothered to go to get groceries, so that means he's gotta go.

He changes his house clothes to a casual outfit, it's been a while since they got out from the hell hole he once called home, and life was... Still terrible. Though most humans accepted them, some don't, and unfortunately, he has seen quite a couple of them.

Sighing again, he ponders what would happen this time he went to get groceries... But his thoughts were cut short when he saw the names tattooed on his wrists.

'(Y/N)' 'Maria'

It was said that the names tattooed on your wrists are either the name of your soulmate, or the name of your greatest enemy. He hasn't met anyone with those names yet, but he's confident that he will be able to tell when he meets them. Whichever he meets.

He grabs his bag and wallet, and leaves his house, locking the door behind him. Walking on the streets, he can't seem to focus on the road, his mind filled with questions about the names on his wrists.

Not looking at where he's going made him bump right into someone.

"Watch It!"

"You're the one who should 'Watch it'!" A voice, not coming from the person who he bumped into, scolded.

"Who Do You Think You Are?!" He said as he looked towards the girl who scolded him.

"Someone who you need to listen to! Take my advice and focus on the road, not your head, and say sorry if you run into someone!" She scolds him then left, leaving him standing.

Another hater, he thinks. Whoever he bumped into didn't 'focus on the road' as well. Why did he get scolded? Whatever, he has stuff to do.

The day went pretty well afterward, and he didn't think much of the girl who scolded him.

That is, until he meets them again.

This time, he's going to Chillby's bar to fetch Sans, since he's drunk, again.

He arrived at the bar and saw him at the bar table, a girl was there as well, she seems to be helping his drunkass brother. He approached the two.

"Oh, hey there. Are you his brother?"

"Yes. Is He Drunk Again?"

"Unfortunately, yes. I told him to stop drinking, but he wouldn't listen."

"Typical Sans."

"Oh, his name is Sans? Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, my name is Maria. What's yours?"

One of the names on his wrists, he thought. Seeing as she seems like a good person, he thinks that she might be his soulmate, while the other is his greatest enemy.

"Papyrus, but everyone calls me Boss."

"Well, it was nice meeting you Boss."

"Likewise."

"Paaaap? Iiiisss thaaat yoooou?"

"Yes, Sans, You Lazy Bones. Excuse Me, Maria. I Must Leave."

"No worries. Do you want any help?"

Before he can even open his mouth, a voice cuts him off.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?! Get out of here!"

It's the girl who scolded him on the streets. Maria gave her a glare and left.

"She Just Wanted To Help! What Is Wrong With You?!"

"You don't know anything about that girl. I saved you from her. You should be thankful."

"Who The Hell Are You Anyway?! Why Do You Think That I Should Listen To You?!"

To his surprise, the girl wasn't intimidated by him. And spoke calmly.

"My name is (Y/N), Chillby's new bartender. And you should if you don't want trouble. But if you do, be my guest."

The other name, just his luck. Boss grumbles and hauls his brother back home.

Days passed, and he keeps bumping into both of the girls. Often pleasantly talking to Maria, but then being broken apart by (Y/N). Sometimes he gets scolded at by (Y/N) as well. The words 'Be nicer' 'Don't do that' was often spoken by the girl. He grows to believe that Maria is his soulmate, while (Y/N) is his enemy.

But that all changed on one faithful day when he saw the news.

"Breaking news, a woman was arrested for robbing his boyfriend.

Multiple men have been robbed by this same woman before, saying that she has lied to them, misleading them into thinking she is a nice person and that she loves them. Then taking all of their money and expensive items and leaving.

Hearing the news about the woman's arrest, many of her victims said that they could finally rest easy, knowing that the woman won't be able to fool another man.

Police have also found out that the woman, named Maria, was a monster racist, and often tries to seduce monsters and kill them. She has succeeded multiple times and was now sued for murder and robbery."

Boss was shocked. He never thought that Maria is actually a criminal.

He suddenly recalled what (Y/N) has told him. "You don't know anything about that girl. I saved you from her. You should be thankful." She was telling the truth, he realized. Maria was not what she seems to be. How could did he not see that?

Something clicked in his mind. That means that Maria must be his greatest enemy, and (Y/N) must be... Oh Asgore, he has to apologize to her!

He rushed to Chillby's bar and slammed the door open.

"Whoa! Hey! Don't slam the door!"

Chillby is nowhere to be seen. As the surprised girl watched Boss angrily stomp towards her.

"Hey! Calm down! What is going on?"

"I'm Sorry."

"What...?"

"I'm Sorry, I Was Wrong To Yell At You When You Were Just Trying To Help."

He thought you would scold him again, but to his utter surprise, you just gave him a soft smile.

"You finally found out. I'm glad you didn't become a victim of hers like one of my friends."

"You're Not Going To Scold Me?"

"Why would I? You admitted your mistakes, and I believe you finally realized we're soulmates, judging by the blush you have right now."

"Wait. You Knew?"

"I've known the second I learned your name." She pulled up both her sleeves and showed him the names tattooed on them 'Peter' 'Papyrus'.

"I've already met Peter before, he had made my high school life hell, so I knew that you're my soulmate"

"Then Why Do You Scold Me So Much?"

"Someone needs to tell you what you did wrong. I thought I should do it so that you could change. Your ego is already large enough."

"What About The First Time? You Haven't Learned My Name Then." (Y/N) giggles.

"You really need to check your eyes. The person you bumped into was blind! They have a guide dog and a stick as well!"

Boss feels his face heat up, and awkwardly scratches the back of his skull.

"Whoops."

"Hehe, no worries. But anyway, do you want to y'know, hang out?"

"YES! Um, I Mean, Of Course." (Y/N) giggles cutely. Wait, cutely? He's getting attached to her... Not that he minded though...

"Well, here's my number. We can hang out sometime, hopefully not under the circumstances of me needing to scold you."

"Yes. I Hope So Too."

Silence fell between the two as they stare at each other.

"For the love of Asgore, go to the parlor in the back. It's vacant." A voice, who he recognized as Chillby's, said.

"O-oh! U-um, sure. Thanks, Chill'."

Boss awkwardly follows the red-faced girl to the parlor.

Closing the door behind him, he awkwardly stared at her.

"I'm sorry, but I-"

Her words were cut off as Boss got a sudden boost of confidence and pressed a kiss against her lips. He quickly realized his mistake and was about to pull away before she grabs his cheekbones and kissed back.

The kiss lasted a while before they finally pulled away.

"W-well, that was, something..."

"Indeed. Shall I Take You Out Sometime?"

"Sure."

"Is This Weekend Alright For You?"

"Mhm."

"Alright Then. I'll Pick You Up At Seven."

"Ok."

They stared at each other for a while, then pulled back in for another long kiss. When they finally pulled back, they both said their farewells and left.

When Boss arrived home, Red, seeing his brother's red face, smirked and spoke.

"Good day?"

"Shut Up Sans."

Though in his mind, he knew that this is the start of something truly special.

Ok! Done! Long ass one shot. Hope you like it!

[theorynexus]

Fudge, I already did 57/ Now I have to do 58/ 13 over 12, man / I guess we’re doing human stuff instead of trolling, today.

Coincidentally via some sort of textual wonder possibly related to authorial intent and/or miracles, we now have to focus on Roxy, now. Somewhat ironic, considering Terezi just said she and John wouldn’t work out. ...

***shift eyes, something about knowing the unknowable and the vagueries thereof, possible interference by the new Narrator, et cetera*** Hmmm~

What, so black holes cause suck up all the voidiness into themselves via proximity?!   Noooo~      Who’d have thought!     (In all seriousness, that gives some interesting resonance mechanic relation, here. I want to know whether it’s just Alt!Calliope that can sense said thoughts, if it’s just Roxy being over-emotional, or if any other observer would be able to pick such thoughts up and it’s just a mater of proxy-imity.)

Okay, then. I thought the point of this was to look like a completely passive observer and not tip people off other than via the black eyes, but you do you, I guess-- if that’s intentional.  Nice gazing out through the fourth wall, though. I’m sure Jade would be/is vaguely proud, knowing the narrative resonance, here, given her own fourth wall breaking shenanigans. 

I blame time and void interactions. Also Dave being an insufferable prick. Good to know, regarding Roxy and their feelings toward Dave, though.

Is Dirk going to literally shoot him in the arse?   That would be horribly ironic, and probably quite crippling to Joke Jake’s reputation and/or the power of his endorsement, if so.   Semi-related:   I do sortof understand Dave’s belief/concern with regards to the importance of this event.    What I want to know is why there are not thousands of Daves running around, all helping the campaign and being available to deal with other important tasks.

“Iced” cream is the best fricking thing, Dirk, and I don’t know what you’re talking about.

This really reminds me of Equius and Nepeta, and that is sortof cute. I almost can’t stand it.  Honestly, this relationship is actually quite similar, except Alt!Calliope is much more dominant in the relationship than Nepeta was. Also Dirk probably has more potential to damage things than Equius did (other than way out of the temporal frame of that moirallegiance, as part of Lord English--- and even then, Nepeta ironically acted as a counter to his muscle-bound rage, albeit way after much of the damage had already been done [thanks, Davesprite {albeit, unrelated to the matter at hand, this relationship was probably why Davepettasprite^2 was destined in such a way to handle Lord English, in addition to the prophesies surrounding Dave dealing with him, Davesprite being the first one to get Caledfwlch, and the flying off into the sun prophesy (which was aided greatly by Seppucrow, the true hero of the story)}]).    I guess that makes this relationship relatively more important, maybe.

So fricking wonderful and adorable.   I do wonder why there are not that many consorts, though. Maybe they are just too distracted and hyperactive to have much in the way of drive to participate in politics.  The humans I sortof vaguely understand, albeit I’d have thought that more might show up specifically for Jake’s speech, assuming that it was announced beforehand.

Dirk feels predictably antagonized, and is lashing out. I have a feeling that he’d intended to do something major before all this control was taken from him, but this will probably make it worse. Hmm.

Heh.   I don’t think that he means to “pump her full of daylight,” at the moment, so this is still funny instead of terrifying.

Huh. Dave already knew about Calliope’s gender and is chill with it. Neat.

Oh. Umm... while I’m sure that he does not need that in order to target Jade’s body if he intends to do so, that is quite foreboding. He is indeed quite capable of tricking people into doing things, at times, isn’t he?

HAH!   That is horrible, you self-obsessed weirdo! XD

More serious than being mind controlled by a space witch with bad intentions who has mind powers stolen from all the major players of her species, huh?  (I seriously still wonder how the fight against her went so relatively-seemingly easily, and what happened with her curse.  Maybe it only transfers in LE’s proximity, or something. )      ... Also, it wasn’t entirely just a joke, Roxy, geeze.

Thaaat’s what happens when your world is under a corrupting influence that is twisting the fabric of reality to their whim.  (The question is: Is this Dirk or Calliope?  Does she really have the right to judge him for his actions, if he really is expressing free will in doing so?   Yes, yes she does, because he is strongly subverting the will of others, and justice in Paradox Space demands some sort of counterbalancing force.  If his excess relevance as the Narrator is the only cost he faces, rather than dying a Just Death, he should feel lucky.)

***peals of cherubic laughter peal out in the background***    Random reminder:  Angels (in Homestuck) are terrifying demons that should be taken as harbringers of the apocalypse. Alt!Calliope has already played this job once along with Lord English. Is her presence outside canon an ill omen by definition?  (I am not sure Calliope the younger entirely counts, given her special circumstances, by the way. Hard to say.)

Beautiful. It’s almost like he’s an open PAGE of Hope, waiting to be written! 

This is a somewhat wise impression.  But it’s complicated, and great power means great responsibility. Especially when the nuclear genie has already been let out of the bottle on account of someone’s great ambition.  (Note: I actually find Jane’s impulse to rule over her creation to be a reasonable one to have, all things considered. I am not judging her negatively for this. I am just not 100% certain that it is the right path to go on before they get a few dozen more years to wise them up, or maybe a few centuries.   Wisdom is a very important thing for leadership, and it comes with age!   Of course, experience also helps, but it might be useful to have some sort of smaller-scale experimentation with politic--  oh, wait, wasn’t she made a mayor at some point, according to the credits?  That really hasn’t been emphasized in the epilogue at all, but probably should be more heavily considered.    It’s still not enough experience for me to feel confident in her, but it’s something. Hmm.)

I mean... I can hear you. I thought your awareness was still there. I guess maybe having your position of control taken away from you might have sapped that as well, maybe.   And yes, it is very interesting, indeed. Now, please put down the gun and try to negotiate more reasonably and in a more civilized fashion than the mistaken cowboy diplomacy idea you’re now engaging in. I will give Dirk some slack insofar as he is still getting used to her identifying as such, but he is sortof making a fool of himself by lashing out at Alt!Callie like that. It’s rather irrational, and doesn’t reflect very well on his character. It makes him out as being rather petulant and inflexible when it comes to identity matters.

Yeeeeep.

This is true (regarding the last part).  It is also really sad to see them fighting like this. >:

Dave, you are being a dummy. You should really stop.

Aww. That is a very cute reaction. :3 Also, that is somewhat dishonest, Alt!Calliope.  You should say “seemingly” nothing.  ***harrumphs and wags my finger at them!***

It is somewhat rude of him to laugh, but I am almost tempted to laugh too, specifically at the fact that this is Alt!Calliope confirming emphatically the beauty of their other version in Roxy’s eyes. It has a sort of ironic tension and silliness to it. Possibly some pride.        I therefore cannot entirely blame him for his laughter, for I do not know whether that is what he is laughing at, or if he’s laughing at the idea of finding an alien skull monster beautiful (which she really is).

It is sortof nice to see this encouragement from Dirk, albeit it is probably laced with irony and sarcasm.  Knowing one’s self and admitting/accepting the things one feels is incredibly important to a person’s health! It feels brotherly of him.

I wonder if Roxy actually feels that way (that it is none of her business), or if it’s Alt!Calliope’s somewhat cold (and sarcastically-directed) interpretation of things. Hmm.

A very important question to ask for someone who is dealing with their own identity issues and/or worries about their friends judging them for them. This is really all there is to say on the matter.

That is a complicated question.  The answer is this:  Identity is only partially self-deterministic.  You can certainly struggle and hope and wish for certain things, indulge in certain behaviors, and see what rubs off on you, or what you feel right about, but in all honesty, you are who you are.    This CAN change over time, and that is something that most people don’t think about. To say you “change your mind” about “the person you wanna be” is not an accurate statement: you don’t necessarily choose anything at all, other than whether you want to actually embrace who you are and/or are becoming, and if you will actually tell anyone about it.  In that sense: whether it is too late to change your mind about who you say and outwardly project you are?---  no, it is not too late.  However, it can potentially be pretty fricking confusing to people, and some friends may not be able to handle it, especially if they have pretty deeply imbedded themselves in your own journey/identity, and/or anchored themselves in it as part of their own.   This can cause them to be pretty put off, and potentially to have difficulty maintaining their relationship with you. As such, in summary:   one should be careful and always very much self-reflective about identity issues.  The choice to come out with any sort of change or difference is not an easy one, and someone should not be blamed for either side they fall upon--- whether they want to keep who they are a secret and/or for how long, or if they want to project it to the world (unless they are really violent about it and/or attempt to shame someone/force themselves upon another person as a “necessary” thing to do for their own growth/impulses or whathaveyou: that is just abusive and wrong).

No. While there is some degree of social capital involved and thus you should attempt to time things properly and take the needs of others into account (which means you have no right to get upset at them if they don’t react a certain way and/or are too involved with whatever is going on in their life right then to grapple with your assuredly stunning revelation), one does not owe their friends any sort of bombshell moment, and any sort of desire for one and/or push on someone else’s part for identity-related drama and/or revelation is actually what is greedy.

***shrug***     I guess it’s funny insofar as it has psychological humor wrapped into it and it makes the phraseology more cutesy (thus more approachable, I guess), but it’s not mind-blowing or anything.

And that’s okay. Someone can be casual about these things and not make it a federal fricking issue if they don’t want to.  It’s also okay to have repeated revelations and/or constantly wrestle with who you actually are. It’s not something to be embarrassed about or paranoid with in a social respect, especially in a world with numerous different species of alien humanoids that have different and somewhat conflicting types of identities and drives.  Almost indisputably, that should make identity issues less of a socially big deal.

Yes. Just like you helped him before.   Oh wait, what was that? You had years to figure it out, but did nothing?    Ah, well. Couldn’t be helped, I guess.   Brothers do have their own separate matters to consider, after all.

***snickers***      Honestly, he’s probably right, but for different reasons than he’s expressing.    

***cough time travel, cough***       Note:  I actually don’t want to read that. It would feel like a really awkward sort of waste of narrative time.  I’m just annoyed at the very ironic lack of time manipulation he’s been doing. Though in this case it sortof does suit him, insofar as he is using time concerns that he obviously could get around as if they were a suit of armor and/or armaments for him to verbally exploit.  Very knight-y. Aaand this feels like about the right time to end this post.

[mx-fawkes]

How did it end up like this?

Roadrat fic that’s half an exploration of an Animist Junkrat headcanon I have, half an idea I couldn’t shake. 

Hurt/Comfort ? Blood, but nothing violent. 

Roadhog had noticed within a few weeks of their partnership that Junkrat had a weird attachment to the objects he built.

The first time he’d blown up his rip-tyre he’d been sulky until they got the chance to rebuilt it. He spent the time building trying to explain that his rip-tyres were all built around the same soul, but gave up when he realised Roadhog just wasn’t getting it.

When Junkrat finally got his tyre back he’d spent the day carrying it around, laying it on his chest as he slept and clutching at it like some kind of demented teddy bear. He’d once said the pressure helped him sleep, and Roadhog had to bite his tongue to avoid pointing out that he'd be much more comfortable to hold at night.

It was hard to believe he felt y jealous over an inanimate object.

 Four months after their partnership started found them spending the day in a makeshift structure, two half destroyed walls with a tarp thrown over the top offering some protection from the sun.

Junkrat was rambling in the background, but Roadhog was too focused on planning their route to pay him much attention. He was long used to Junkrat’s habit of talking at anything and everything, whether it could respond or not. He suspected that was why his silence didn’t bother Junkrat too much, he was already used to his chatter going unanswered.

He spoke to his tyre every now and again, usually telling it how well it had done after each kill. Roadhog didn’t mind that. The Beartrap on the other hand… The first time Junkrat had used it as a puppet he’d been about ready to hunt down an exorcist. The jokes were childish, but the how that voice came out of a human throat was beyond him. It sounded like a robotic voice synthesiser that had rusted to nearly nothing, and had been given a few strong kicks for good measure.

"Hoggy's ignoring me." Roadhog could hear the restrained laughter in Junkrat’s voice, sighing internally as he heard the now-familiar squeak of the beartrap being lifted.  

"Thaaat's okay Junkrat,” It was like a rusty knife in his ears, making him wince. “You know he’s-" Okay, time to go clean the bike. Roadhog quickly abandoned the map to walk out, not noticing Junkrat’s disappointed gaze following him.

Roadhog had a good half hour cleaning and carefully tuning his bike, just long enough that he was starting to feel guilty when he heard Junkrat’s mismatched footsteps approaching.

"Oi, where's the first aid kit?" Junkrat’s voice was flat, unpanicked, and Roadhog was turning to tell him to wait when he saw the damage. It made him cringe slightly, the lower half of Junkrat’s face coated in blood, dribbling down onto his neck.

He didn’t seem worried, tapping his foot in the dirt with his arms folded across his chest, gaze firmly fixed on the ground. Roadhog knows the pose, Junkrat uses it every time he's done something reckless enough to get one or both of them hurt.

He grabbed the kit from the bike, gently pulling Junkrat down to sit in front of him. He took the pack of antiseptic wipes, wiping the blood away until he revealed a long row of inch-long cuts crossing his pointed nose and cheekbones, and a similar row stretching across his chin. "What did you do?"

Junkrat curled into himself, pulling his face away. "Nothing." he snaps. “I can do this myself.”

Roadhog snorted, continuing to wipe. "Bullshit, it looks like you-" He paused, looking at the pattern of cuts again. He's seen those marks before. "Did you get your face caught in that fucking beartrap of yours?"

A low groan came in response as Junkrat squirmed awkwardly, for a moment Roadhog thought he was going to run. "...S'called Chompers."

Great.

Roadhog started thinking of the fastest route to somewhere with a decent hospital, there was no way Junkrat was going to avoid getting some kind of infection from this, but he could try and hold it off for now.

Junkrat grabbed his hand as he pulled out the biotic spay. “Save that! We might need it later.”

Roadhog rolled his eyes behind the mask, dropping it back in the bag. It’s unlikely they’ll ever use it unless it’s life or death, too rare in the outback to just use on something not instantly lethal. He gave the wounds a quick pat down before sticking on the gauze. "Why'd you get your face stuck in there?"

"Didn't do it on purpose. Didn’t fully close anyway."

Roadhog kept sticking on gauze, waiting to see if Junkrat offers anything more. They needed to restock as soon as they could, try and get a better stock.

“Guys don’t usually like me.” Junkrat mumbled. Roadhog’s eyebrow quirked, unsure where this was going.

"Most guys I was into growing up weren't really into me, so I never really got much experience in that area." One of his hands loosely curled around Roadhog's wrist as he talked, fingers brushing over the bandages there. "And, we've got somethin' going on, right? I’m not imagining it?”

He opened one eye, searching Roadhog's mask like he'll find answers there. Roadhog nodded slowly. Sure, he'd also wondered if the relationship was going to head in that direction, but this wasn't how he expected either of them to admit it.

Junkrat’s smile in response was as soft and warm as the sunrise, and Roadhog couldn’t help but smile in return.

“So.” Junkrat continued, more confident now. "I figured I might as well get some practice in, Y'know? Don't wanna disappoint ya."

"With a beartrap."

"Chompers."

"With Chompers, the rusty beartrap." Roadhog wasn’t sure if he was going to laugh or cry, the whole situation too bizarre to deal with. Junkrat sat there, face half covered in gauze and bandages, smiling up at him like he’d given him the world.

"Seemed better than Ripper." Junkrat shrugged. “But uh,” He laughed, “Maybe let’s pretend I didn’t, eh?”

Roadhog leant forward, lightly pressing his mouth against Junkrat’s through the mask. "Let's get you to a doctor, I'll kiss you properly when you won't taste like anti-septic."

Junkrat let out a cry of delight, wrapping his arms around Roadhog’s neck and pressing quick kisses to the mask as they gathered their things, Junkrat pressing one last kiss to Roadhog’s chest before they got on the bike.  

As they drove away he didn’t even realise he’d left the beartrap back in the hideout. Covered in blood and half buried in dirt, it was ready for some unsuspecting traveler to step on. It was a shame, he'd have to thank the next Chompers he built.  

[tadakixd-blog]

Sendai Monument Ceremony Part 2

Sorry for the delay, I’ve finally managed to finish the rest of the interview! This one has a little more of Yuzu in it, and features questions from the audience! Many thanks to @raomina for the awesome beta and encouragement, who also helped with the formatting and everything else I failed at XD

Yuzu: It’s amazing, really. (To Shizuka) You can see, right, when you’re doing it (the layback)?

Shizuka: Yes, I can. Oh you can’t see?

Yuzu: I-I can see but, my, my eyes don’t open that much like that. 

Shizuka: I can see everyone’s faces upside down, in that instant.

Finished translation under the cut! // See Part 1

Again, you can follow along with this video

Video Courtesy of M M on YT

Start @ 19:14

[19:14]

[Context: Part 1 ended with them talking about Sochi Olympics.]

Yama: After the free program, you didn't seem to be very satisfied.

Yuzu: Yea well, at that time I already thought "ahh that's the end of the gold medal". That's how close the fight had always been between me and Patrick, and more than anything, it was precisely because he was skating right after me that I thought "ah with this, I've lost the gold medal".

Yama: And when the results came out?

Yuzu: I was simply just surprised.

Yama: Surprised?

Yuzu: Yes. Well, somehow, with regards to my own program content, I had finished in such a way that was so unfulfilling that being happy, the happiness of winning, was just completely non-existent. And it was precisely because of that, that I simply just felt surprised. Mm... yes well, at an interview right after the Olympics, immediately replying "I feel regret and frustration" was the only thing I could really say.

Yama: Arakawa, you were watching from a location close to them, weren't you?

Shizuka: Yes.

Yama: So therefore, the time in between the SP and the FP, when that had started, when the first jump was landed, what kind of feelings did you have while watching things like that? With regards to Hanyu.

Shizuka: Yes well um...I think it's the same for Hanyu but, when the last group at the Olympics comes out, with all the skaters who are contenders for the podium, when that moment happens, the anxiety level increases all of a sudden. When I was there - I don't know (if this really was the case) but, I was watching like this from the side. The skaters in the last group, who could be said to have a gold medal riding on their performances... every one of these skaters’ movements were different from their usual and seeing that I thought, this will be a fight to see who amongst these skaters can perform the most like their usual selves. Because every skater is really under the same conditions, and so the narrower the margin is (between the skaters scores), the stronger the intention to aim higher becomes. Well, in any case, the level of anxiety during the last group was really incredible.

And so um, during Hanyu’s performance as well, even for the viewers it was nerve-wrecking. (the other two laugh) Hearing him talk about his frustration and regret immediately after that - that’s something I can understand. As expected, as a skater, you’d want to skate like yourself during the real thing. So, not being able to skate like yourself is part of the difficulty of the Olympics (t/n: literally: not being allowed to skate like yourself because of the difficulty of the Olympics - the choice of phrasing emphasizes just how much the Olympics affect the skaters) and it’s something that I’ve seen many times, even up to the current Olympics. Really, the people who usually don’t make mistakes end up making mistakes and things that you’ve been able to do easily many times before somehow become difficult; you don’t know what’s normal anymore - that’s what I think the Olympics is.

[21:42]

Yama: And Hanyu, in the recent World Championships...

Yuzu: Yes.

Yama: You were, when the SP had ended, you were in 5th place. (Yuzu nods) “This person is in 5th place, waaah this is tough!” - that’s what many would’ve thought. What did you think? (t/n: the word used is komaru, which has many meanings but in this context refers to being in a difficult situation and feeling troubled by it, and also carries the idea of “what should I do?”)

Yuzu: I was troubled by it.

Yama: You were??

Yuzu: Yes I was.

Yama: But 10 points… with just one jump you could change that - didn’t you feel that way?

Yuzu: No I didn’t. To be honest… well it’s true that the 10 point difference after the SP, to gain that back in the FP is not really, to put it bluntly, it’s not difficult. But, when you’re talking about a high level competition, it really is quite difficult (to make up for) a 10 point difference. And for me, well, um..this whole season I hadn’t been able to do a clean FP performance. If you were going to pick one (i.e. between the FP and SP), there were more competitions where I had somehow managed to win because of my SP scores (than because of my FP), so I was really pretty depressed. On a psychological level (t/n: the word used is seishin, which refers to the heart/mind/soul), I was hit pretty hard.

Yama: But that score and that enjoyment (of watching), somehow it had an explosive quality to it didn’t it? (An almost) physical sensation (of the explosion).

Yuzu: Mmm……..weeellll….it exploded just right (t/n: you can see he really doesn’t agree with that description in how he drags and hums, and in the last sentence his word choice indicates that he didn’t create the explosion, rather, the explosion somehow happened for him on its own)

Yama: As expected (of Yuzuru).

(everyone laughs and applauds, to which he does a little bow)

[22:54]

Yama: Ah, um, with the two of you, just for a bit, I’d like to reminisce about Sendai a little. Arakawa, how has it been? Did returning to Sendai stir up any memories, or when leaving Sendai what makes you think “ah that’s (better in) Sendai”

Shizuka: It’s the food after all.

Yama: The food?

Shizuka: It’s delicious.

Yama: We’re suddenly talking about food?

Shizuka: Yes. When I was living here, I didn’t really have many chances to eat out, so I grew up imagining the taste of home-cooked food more than the goodness of Sendai’s food. Or rather, I should say I was brought up with the taste of home-cooked food. Having said that, after becoming an adult (she starts to smile here) and returning back to Sendai, after going to different restaurants here and there, no matter where I go or what I eat, everything is delicious. That’s what I think. Whereas (when I go to) other places, I think “I can’t experience (t/n: literally, taste) these emotions”, and that’s because I went out into the world (t/n: this refers to anywhere out of Sendai, including other parts of Japan) with a tongue that was, after all, trained in Sendai. And when I left, (I thought) for the first time - because I had grown up thinking (that the taste of food in Sendai) was the norm - when I left Sendai, I learned for the first time just how high the quality of food in Sendai is. And since then, I always return here looking forward to eating.

Yama: Considering that (you like to eat) you’ve not put on weight at all!

Shizuka: Yes…...you’re right…. (Yuzu nods vigorously in the background) Up until the first half of my 20s everything I ate went to nourishing my body….but as I age…

Yama: As you age... (t/n: she says this like she’s very old, so he’s repeating this with a sense of disbelief since he’s a lot older than her)

Shizuka: (laughs and continues)....it’s not nourishing my body anymore.

Yama: So foods, if you talk about Sendai, during my time at least, (it was things like) Monaka or bars or things like that. Now it’s beef tongue and such, there are many tasty things now.

Shizuka: Yes there are.

[picture of beef tongue on video]

Shizuka: There are sweet things and sour things, many different types. The picture appeared so suddenly it gave me a shock! (everyone laughs) I ate this the day before yesterday.

Yama: I see. They have this at Tokyo train station too but Sendai’s beef tongue is reeeally good isn’t it?

Shizuka: Tokyo Station has the same store but in the end Sendai’s store is just a little…

Yama: Different.

Shizuka: it’s different. That difference is something I look forward to when eating.

(Yama laughs)

[24:47]

Yama: Hanyu what about you? When you come back to Sendai what comes to mind?

Yuzu: About Sendai? Hmm well for me, when I think about Sendai, on the contrary, the image of “Off” (t/n: i.e. day off work) is strong. Of course right now I don’t go out very much, but when I was young I played at places like Nanakita Park. 

- Courtesy of PARKFUL

Yama: If I said “besides practice and your off days at home, you don’t spend much time on anything else.” Is this not the case?

Yuzu: No thaaat’s...not really the case either... If you had to pick (between having spare time and no spare time), there is a lot of time that I don’t spend on practice. Rather, if there was anything else I spend time on besides practice, it would be things like gaming or sleeping. Something like that. (laughs)

Yama: A game where victory is at stake.

Yuzu: Winning in a game is….definitely important.

Yama: Is that so?

Yuzu: Definitely, you must not lose.

(everyone laughs)

Yama: Well, it’s that isn’t it, starting from your Mother and Father (you can see Yuzu looking to the side here as he tries to follow the sudden change of topic) to your sibling, your family… seeing these great people when you return makes you relaxed doesn’t it?

Yuzu: I do feel relaxed, yes. Well, I’m together with my mother a lot (t/n: he says parent actually, but also quantifies “two of us”, so I assume he means mother) but when I go to Canada, I can’t help but shift gears and focus on skating. On the other hand, when I come back here to Sendai, after all my family is here and my home is here, so it really makes me feel calm and relieved. But that also means I can’t really get into a skating mentality. (laughs)

Yama: How is it? Going for away, when you think about Sendai, is the thing that comes to mind… the image of your family?

Yuzu: Yes, that’s right. The image of my family comes to mind the most often, mm. Of course, when I come back to Sendai and return to the house, it’s not like there aren’t times when my family isn’t around, because of our schedules. But definitely, if my family is around then it really makes you feel like “Ah I’ve come home”.

Yama: Yes that is the case isn’t it? Well, family, friends and also the fans, the Municipal people, sponsors and many others all came together (to represent) Sendai and have a history of supporting both of you up till now.

[26:37]

Yama: Soon we will go into the off season, how will that be? Hanyu after this, you have WTT correct?

Yuzu: Yes. WTT is in...the official practice sessions start in about 5 days...I really have to do my best (laughs) Please let me practice.

(crowd laughs and applauds)

Yama: You’re a practice machine, aren’t you? (t/n: the phrase is literally “a bug of ___” meaning someone who is extremely passionate about ____. Think “bookworm” in english, except a little more widely applicable)

Yuzu: I’m not that hard working actually (t/n: literally: I’m not a bug), in one day I only practice about 2 hours or so, to the point where I’ve been told “please practice more”.

Yama: Is that so?

Yuzu: But even though it’s a short period of time, I’m very good at concentrating. I’ll really, for 2 hours, I’ll skate and skate till my feet are tearing off.

Yama: That right there might really be the secret of (your) “strength”.

Yuzu: In the end during a competition there’s only 4 and a half minutes (t/n: for FP) and 2mins and 40secs (t/n: for SP), so in order to gain the strength to display (your abilities), there’s nothing better than this (form of practicing).

Yama: Alright, on the other hand (gestures to Shizuka), for this upcoming Olympics we ended up with 2 spots for the ladies. As a professional figure skater (t/n: i.e. non-competitive), is there anything you have to say to the skaters who will be continuing after this?

Shizuka: Yes well, as you’d expect, the world level right now has, together with the Men’s, increased suddenly - well it rises in any generation but - within this (situation) it’ll be 2 spots amongst the many Japanese skaters of amazing quality, so it will be an extremely intense fight to win those 2 places to go to the Olympics for the ladies. Therefore, I think the skaters who win those spots will grow from the fierce competition (t/n: the phrase “shinogi wo kezuru” means literally to fight so hard that the ridge of a Japanese sword is shaved off by the force of the other blade), and be able to skate with confidence at the Olympics.

Yama: It’s often said isn’t it, that the stronger the blades grate on each other within a team, the stronger the team will be, right?

Shizuka: Yes, that’s what I think. When a country where competition is fierce holds competitions nationally, gradually, you can measure the rise in the level of that country’s standard. This is so for Russia too. Although there has been a time when the ladies were not that strong, once many good skaters start appearing, you’ll be able to feel the country’s standard rising accordingly. It’s the same for Japan, and I think that strong generations will still continue on, so soon we will have 3 spots again. Even so, this year whilst watching (the competition), I was reminded again of how hard it is to get 3 spots. This time, in order to fight for those 2 spots, many skaters will raise their level in practice and in competition, and if the ones who can bring out that strength during the competition go strong, then that will be a big step in raising (Japan’s) level again.

Yama: Thank you very much.

[29:23]

Yama: Today we have also asked for everyone to send in questions. Shoji will bring us through the selected questions.

Shoji: Yes, the two of you have shared very interesting conversations with us. Let us now move on to the questions corner. (Yuzu is about to drop his straw here) We hope that both Arakawa and Hanyu will be able to answer some of the questions that the audience have submitted.

Shoji: First, to start with, this question goes to the both of you: “Please tell us your immediate feelings on seeing your own monument.” And here we have prepared the panels with the same design (as the monuments). Please, go ahead.

[picture of their monuments appear behind them]

Shizuka: Ah yes, well truthfully, it does make me feel a little embarrassed. (laughs) Looking at my own photo being turned into a monument like this is an honor on one hand, (but on the other hand) I’m not very comfortable with being the centre of attention and despite that I still managed to do this battle (t/n: Torino), so somehow I always feel embarrassed and always feel anxious (when I look at this) but…..(shifts in her seat to look at the panels) in the end I still feel embarrassed. But, when I look at Hanyu’s (monument) I think it looks cool. (laughs)

Shoji: I see, it’s good to talk about your impression of each other’s monument too. So then, Hanyu, please.

Yuzu: Ahhh, when I compare (mine) to Arakawa’s (t/n: he pauses a while before using the informal “yatsu” to refer to it, which roughly translates to “that one” or “that thing”), I’m really doing a simple pose aren’t I? (everyone laughs)

Shoji: Yes! As if you were saying “I did it!”

Yuzu: It’s the ending pose. Looking at it like this, how do I say this, seeing “Sochi Olympics Men’s Gold Medalist” and then my name right next to those words really makes me, how should I say this, makes me happy. The realisation dawned on me again. Also if you’ll allow me to say one more thing, Shii-chan’s eyes are super wide open! (laughs) I thought “amazing!”. (t/n: Shii-chan is a nickname that Yuzu and the rest of the older skaters call Shizuka, which I didn’t know about! Thanks to @yuzusorbet for letting me know!)

- Courtesy of Japan Times

Shoji: Yes it is quite realistic, that part.

Yuzu: It’s amazing, really. (To Shizuka) You can see, right, when you’re doing it (the layback)?

Shizuka: Yes, I can. Oh you can’t see?

Yuzu: I-I can see but, my, my eyes don’t open that much like that. (t/n: he keeps using the sound “kaa” to emphasize how wide her eyes are open, which is just another Japanese onomatopoeia)

Shizuka: I can see everyone’s faces upside down, in that instant.

Shoji: When Hanyu says “kaa” I too (think her eyes are open wide). The both of you are really impressive figures to us and (Shizuka and Yuzu keep tilting their head backs here, mimicking the layback position) your monuments, to us are really - (laughs) ah you are doing it aren’t you - they will really become a source of encouragement for us. Thank you very much.

[31:30]

Shoji: So let us now move on to the next question, to Shizuka: “I have been doing sports since middle school till I entered the workforce and am still continuing now, but my stamina has been dropping lately and I cannot move as well as I used to. Do you continue (to do sports) every day? Or maybe even aim to do certain things in your daily activities for the sake of skating?”

Shizuka: Yes well, as you’d expect after retiring from competitions, the will to skate on your own begins to weaken, and the time you have to skate becomes less consistent. To continue skating, I make it a point to skate 5 times a week. Whatever I need to do, whichever place I go to or wherever I go, I look for a rink in the area and always go skating 5 times a week. I’ve made up my mind to do so. (audience applauds) That’s definitely because figure skating is something (that relies on) feel. The feeling you have standing on ice doesn’t exist when standing on land, so it’s very easy to lose that feel for the ice. It feels like trying to catch water with a bucket full of holes. If you don’t patch those holes up quickly sometimes you end up losing (that feeling). So to continue, but even if you do continue, as you age you do feel the deconditioning as well as a change in the feel you have for the ice. So for the part that has changed, you need to try and think of something new that you can show whilst trying to cover up (the weakened areas). In the end, that image of yourself at your peak really remains strong in your mind, so if you can’t do better than that you might feel you can’t do anything and get frustrated. But on the other hand, if you select from all the experiences you’ve had thus far, if you’re able to learn something new to display, you’ll be able to do something somehow. So therefore, from middle school, high school and to the first half of your 20s…if you continue the same way into your 30s and 40s, wouldn’t you be a monster? While thinking like that, you have no choice but to do it yourself (t/n: finding a way to continue sports) .

Shoji: Yes I see, standing in the rink is first of all, the best thing to do. But other than that, in your daily life, do you experience any other difficulties?

Shizuka: I’ve stopped being able to overdo things. In the end you’d want to know what will happen if you do a certain something, and right there, if you don’t know your own body, you won’t be able to reach your own target. If you overdo it, the effects on your body are greater with age. So therefore, live trying to connect one day to the next, a day at a time. If doing this one extra step is going to affect tomorrow more, then hold back in order to to be able to continue properly the next day. I’ve slowly learned to take into account these different areas. When you’re young, no matter what point you go to, you can recover from it the next day, but (now) when things aren’t going the way you planned, then think about how you can work together with your own body, the nature and constitution of your own body, and maybe then things will work out.

Shoji: I see. That was a detailed opinion that we can learn from, I wonder if everyone got that? (Yuzu was just nodding this whole time) It’s important to have a conversation with your own body, isn’t it?

[34:41]

Shoji: And so moving on, this is also for Shizuka: When bringing up a child, what is the most important thing?

Shizuka: Yes well, right now I have a 2 year old daughter. Um.. she is starting to develop and change, as she grows. Now when I interact with her, I think a lot about what she might be feeling when she does certain things, or what she might be feeling when she talks. I want to be able to pay close attention to these things.

Shoji: It must be rather difficult to take care of a small child but those feelings are important aren’t they?

Shizuka: Yes for me, the fact that my daughter is 2 years old also means that I, as a mother, am also 2 years old. So I’m still very new and there are many things that I don’t know or that don’t go well, and things I don’t have enough experience in. So we are both learning and I hope that I will eventually be able to face her properly (whilst doing all the above).

Shoji: Thank you very much. (audience applauds) Yes that’s right, you start clapping without realising it right? (t/n: meaning Shizuka’s answer was very praiseworthy)

 [35:41]

Shoji: And now, for Hanyu: “The World Championships the other day was wonderful.”

Yuzu: Thank you very much.

Shoji: “I’m in my first year of high school and during my piano recital I played Hope & Legacy. (Yuzu claps) I think it’s a very lovely program. Where did you get the inspiration from for this song? Please let us know.”

Yuzu: First of all, when I first heard this song, the first thing I thought of was “(it’s) very like nature, like all of the universe and creation (t/n: he uses a four character idiom here that essentially refers to both the tangible and intangible aspects of everything that could possibly exist in the universe), something that you couldn’t see with your eyes (all the way through), something that you couldn’t fully grasp the sensation of” - that’s the kind of feeling I got when i first heard the music, and I thought that that’s what I wanted to portray. At the same time, one of the other reasons why I chose this music was because of the piano and because it was Japan’s Mr. Hisaishi Joe’s creation. And lastly, this song, I’ve said this earlier on as well, but this was the opening song for Nagano’s Paralympics too. So in a manner of speaking, as I said earlier, the reason for me to start skating was also the Olympics so, in that sense, I decided to use this song.

Shoji: As expected, the sensitivity (of the song and his reasons) are more polished than usual.

Yuzu: When I hear the song, I start to think “ahh this song is like this, like that” and such, and I skate with those feelings.

Shoji: Are there many times where you felt “Ah! This is it!” (with this song)?

Yuzu: Yes well, of course I normally listen to many different kinds of music and I have come across many different types. But in the end, especially when I’m choosing a song for my program, I listen to many pieces of music and think about how to draw certain things from the music, how is it that I will use my body to draw those things out of the music. That’s how I listen to and think about my music choices.

Shoji: Thank you very much. And so, the last question, this goes to Hanyu. “The skating techniques that you like (Shizuka starts smiling), the skating techniques that you are good at. Please tell us three of them.”

Yuzu: Three. Three? (laughs) First of all, one is the triple - not just the double - Axel. I really love the Axel jump, really, ever since I was young, from when I was under Coach Tsuzuki. I would have 1 hr private lessons with him, out of which 45mins was spent on the Axel. (laughs) I really loved it, but the fact that the Axel is that important a jump is something that I really feel when I’m skating now. Definitely more than anything, in my current program, I think my number one weapon is probably the 3A. In that sense, I do think it was a good thing (that I love it so much). After that...two things that I’m good at...after that is probably the spin, especially the sit spin. The sit spin is really, well, I think probably right from the start my hip joints were flexible, so I can do the sit spin from a really low position and so it’s unexpectedly easier for me to rotate. So I think the reason for that might be my own body’s predisposition. Also, I do feel inside that the sit spin is very easy to match to the music, so in that sense doing it makes me feel good. And one more...yes well....mmm… now maybe it’s the Salchow. Um (he laughs as he hears the crowd’s response)

- Courtesy of sportsphoto CN (uploaded from livejournal)

Shoji: Ah from the audience! “Now? Now?”

Yuzu: Yes now. (laughs) Because I finally managed to jump the Salchow in the 2nd half. But honestly I just like edge jumps. Especially for the Salchow, in that moment you jump it, it’s really… how do I say this…being able to jump without any excess energy and landing with a good flow out of the jump… it’s only the Salchow and Axel (that give me this feeling). Definitely that special feeling comes with the Salchow.

Shoji: I see. You have chosen three with deliberation and introduced them to us. I hope that everyone will look at these moves in a new light and pay more attention to them in the future. Thank you very much.

Yuzu: Thank you very much.

[39:37]

Shoji: We have asked the both of you questions. Really, we had so many questions that they couldn’t be carried with two hands, but I would like to apologise to everyone for the limited time we have and that we could not answer all the questions. This ends the questions corner. (Yuzu mouths thank you again) And now can we please have the three of you come to the front?

Shoji: Today, under the coordination of Yamamoto, we were able to keep the conversation going. However, he will be leaving us at this point. Before that, we would like to ask him: We have 2 Olympic gold medalists here today, both from Sendai. What do you think about the birth of these two (t/n: she means of them coming from Sendai, not their actual birth)?

Yama: From before, the people and atmosphere of Sendai have always treated sports as important and have moved to support those who work hard for the future. Even if you look at other sports, you can tell how much the people of Sendai love sports. Because of these two and what they have left behind, that feeling will spread and inspire the younger generations that come after them. I hope that this sense of continuation will be treasured by everyone. From here on too, we hope to continue watching you for a long time. Thank you very much.

Shoji: We spent a short time together but thank you very much Yamamoto. And now, you both are still here. Yes, we would like to keep watching you for a long time. Today we have asked you to participate in our ceremony and right now in front of us there are these children who are also involved in figure skating. How do you both feel seeing this? Seeing these children who are working hard at skating, Arakawa, how do you feel?

Shizuka: Yes well, if you work hard with everything you have towards something, the time spent will contribute to your growth so really, with your own determination, start something and with your own determination, keep chasing after it. I think that’s important. So looking at everyone now and knowing that everyone is trying their best makes me really happy, so to everyone who has found that something, I hope you will put in all your effort and give it everything you have. If you do that, it will definitely contribute to the other parts of your life, so I hope you will work hard.

Shoji: Yes and Hanyu, you are still, just a little closer to being, a student compared to Arakawa but if you could remember those times and tell us your thoughts?

Yuzu: Yes. After hearing what Arakawa has to say, once again I thought that I need to work hard as well. Figure skating is really a competition that is difficult to balance, be it the feelings, the techniques or the artistry. Of course it is a competition where there’ll be people who like your performance and people who hate it, so I think it’s extremely difficult. But each and every single person has a style of skating that only they can do and that is what is interesting about figure skating. So please, treasure your own (style of) skating, and come to like it, and from here on forward I hope you will continue skating.

Shoji: And now, we will present both Arakawa and Hanyu with bouquets. The ones presenting the bouquets will be children from two local skating clubs (t/n: sorry was too tired to translate the full club or children’s names)

[Presentation of bouquets]

[45:23]

Shoji: Today we are really proud to host you both in this hall. Time really passes when you are having fun. Lastly, may we please have a word from you both? Starting from Arakawa.

Shizuka: Today, being invited here to this kind of unveiling ceremony for the monument, and for letting me take part in this talk show with the special Hanyu, is an honour. I think that from now on many skaters will be brought up in Sendai, but taking full advantage of the chance you have been given is very important, not only in skating but in other areas of your life too. Having something to work towards and put your all in is, to me as well, something to be happy for, so from here onwards too, it would be good to work hard towards that something. Also, I would like to work hard towards reviving figure skating and making it popular again. Everyone please, from here on out, please continue to look after the sport of figure skating. Thank you very much.

Shoji: Thank you very much. Next, Hanyu please.

Yuzu: Yes. I don’t get many chances to speak at places like this. Time really passed by in a flash whilst I was having fun. As someone who benefitted from her words, I too want to express my gratitude to Arakawa (he stresses this word and bows to her). I listened to a lot of things and had fun, and it’s come to an end so quickly. From here I will once again, for WTT - even though it really is very close - I will take what I learned here and work hard. I hope that figure skating will continue to develop here in Sendai and with that wish, I would like to end today here. Thank you very much.

(skipped the rest of the video)

End

Thank you Sendai for the wonderful HQ footage and great interview, it was really nice to see them so relaxed. This took a lot more effort translating than I initially thought, so again thank you so much to @raomina and those who messaged me and left notes. I hope we can all enjoy WTT! :))

[candy-corps]

New Kid

Blue belongs to @mygardenofmuses

Formalities done and out of the teacher’s grasp again, Damien walked down the school corridor, a smile on his lips and in high spirits. That went good. As expected. Now all he had to do was to blend in somehow.

Hood still over his head in order to hide the bat ears and tail wrapped around his middle beneath the wide sweater, the new kid found his classroom without any problems. Now … for the rest. Entering the room in the middle of the school year, Damien looked into lots of faces and yet in none. They weren’t important. Ddn’t mean he should let them know, though.

“Hey” he greeted the other students, raising a hand and wiggling his fingers in greeting with a charming smile. He looked back at a girl with a ponytail and gave her a smile, too, as he passed her, but it died as soon as he turned his head again and knew she couldn’t see him anymore. Ew. Girls.

Well, what to do… at least he managed to pretend he was a twelve year old. Skipping two school years … easy task. Because when he broke in here last night and took a look at the school files, there was -

He.

“You. Can I sit there?” Damien asked, heading to the back of the room.

Blue flinched when he heard someone addressing him. Even if he was working through his anxieties to overcome his fear of humans, he still liked to sit at the back of the room, where it was easier to blend with the background.

And there there was this kid, the first who had approached him in this school year. He was about to say ‘No’ when he noticed his skin. Black. Not human-black, this was pure black, like the night…

And if his hand wasn’t proof enough, the fact he was hiding his head in the same way he used to do years ago ended catching his attention. This new kid… he wasn’t like the others.

“Y-yes, you can.” he answered, still amazed. Was this really happening?? Could it be, that a new alien kid was there, in his class? Because he didn’t know of other humans who shared such skintone with this boy… “Who… who are you?” he asked carefully.

Damien grinned. “Thank you. I’m Damien.”

He took seat next to Blue, not yet looking at him, though, but instead, towards the window, then the wall, the other children still in front of the class, chatting with each other. Not few were looking at him, still, and about all of the faces still sticking on Damien showed a frown.

Seeing that, Damien just looked back, smiled, and made a ‘thumbs up’ - everything okay. He leaned back in his seat, then bend down, adjusting the bag he’d taken with him to hang it on the small hook at the side of the table. He’d … 'found’ … it last night, but it was just decoration - nothing inside but a couple of sweets his father gave him. He had no clue which school books they’d need for today, so he didn’t steal those yet. He’d have to improvise today. He glaced back at the blue child. “You are?” he asked politely, giving him a smile.

“Nice to meet you, Damien….”

What else was what people said in these situations? Adults always knew what to say, but there he was. Blue clenched slightly his fists. Sure, he could fix the engine of a car in ten minutes, but socializing, oh God. It was SO hard! If awkwardness could have levels, like in videogames, it would be over 90000000000.

Still… Damien hasn’t freaked out when he saw him. He didn’t treat him badly. He just… greeted him. And now he was smiling at him??? A warm sensation spread into his chest. Perhaps… perhaps they could become friends!

“I’m… I’m Blue.” he answered, smiling in return, and giving a gentle poke to his schoolbag. Damien needed to meet her, too.

“And I’m Minion!” the fish peeked from her Sir’s bag and clung to Blue’s shoulder with her robotic baby monkey suit. “Nice to meet you!”

Thaaat wasn’t in the files! Startled, Damien jumped back, falling to his side, taking the chair with him. A loud ‘plong’ and chair and boy fell to the ground.

“Oh, mon dieu!" he cursed in French, staring at the talking fish.

"Sorry” he added quickly, taking a breath. He’d hurt one of his wings as he fell. Ouuch. Shifting, but not sitting up yet, he tucked it closer to his back, not letting the pain show. “What a surprise!” he said instead, trying to apologize, his tone cheerful and his smile wide to reassure Blue everything was alright.

Wow, now that was a loud fall!!! Blue rushed to get up and helpm him. “Oh my, are you OK?? I’m so sorry, we didn’t mean to scare you!”

“F-Forgive me pwease….” Minion whimpered, jumping to to the ground in an attempt to help Damien to get up. “Are you OK? Are you hurt?”

It looked like he wasn’t hurt, after all, given how quickly he had returned to his seat. Blue winced slightly when he noticed the other kids staring at them, some of them giving him weird looks…

Yet it seemed that Damien wasn’t mad at him or anything. What a relief!

“This is Minion, she’s one of my best friends. C’mon Minion, say hi to Damien?”

Minion nodded and jumped at Damien’s table, before making a little bow.

“Nice to meet you, Damien. I’m very pleased that you’ve decided to sit with us today, Sir doesn’t have any friends in this classroom…”

“Minionnnn…!” Blue bblushed in embarrasment and picked her up. “She has a bad habit of voicing my secrets, she’s terrible!” he tried to laugh at it, even if he was very embarrassed.

Damien let Blue help him get up again, grabbing his hand. His concerns, though, he simply waved off. “Oh no, it’s alright!” And then a bit louder, for the kids to hear: “It’s alright!” He turned his attention back to Blue then, registering what he’d said. “ I - ” Wait a sec. “She?” Changing his focus, Damien looked bewildered at the fish on his desk now and then back at Blue, making a gesture so he’d sit down again, too. “You are hanging out wiith … girls?” He made a couple of faces before he finished his sentence. Thanks to the fall, the hood was a little askew now, but Damien had other problems than keeping a low profile. And besides, it would come out sometime anyway. He pulled it down completely, bat-ears showing in Blue’s direction.

“Is it bad that I’m a girl?” Minion asked, feeling suddenly self conscious of her gender and sex.

“No, it isn’t.” Blue petted her head, and turned to Damien withn a smile. “Well, Minion is all I have left from my parents… So I don’t mind if she’s a girl.” He leaned close to Damien to Damien, whispering. “But, between you and me, it’s kind of hard to notice her gender. She usually likes the same things I do, so no worries.”

It was then when he noticed the ears peeking under the soft fuzz of Damien’s ears. “Woah! Those are bat ears? They look SO AWESOME!” he exclaimed in awe. Somehow, they reminded him of Batman, his comic idol - those ears were bonus points on his book.

Damien raised his hands in defense - Blue’s enthusiasm wasn’t really what he was used to. “Cat-ears” he insisted, turning them incidentally. “That’s something normal here, as I was told” he said, sitting straight on his chair and bending down to Minion, grinning and showing his pointy teeth

“Girls hand out with girls. Boys hand out with boys. It’s the rule” he simply stated, his ears laying back cat-like as he looked down on her.

“Cat ears?” blue cocked his head. “They look like bat ears to me, but if you say so…” he shrugged, and smiled faintly. “But well, being kind of unusual in this city is quite normal. Just look at me, this head is big for a reason.” he added with a chuckle.

Minion released a soft whine  and ran to hide into Blue’s arms. “Sir, Damien is scaring me…!” she winced, snuggling up against him.

Blue shook his head, laughing a bit. “I’m sure he’s just joking, Minion, don’t worry.” he whispered to her, before arching an eyebrow at Damien, slightly confused. “Because you were joking, right…?”

Damien laughed at that. “Of course I was joking! I wouldn’t eat you” he promised Minion, smiling again now that he got what he wanted - she was off his table again. This was a girl-free zone. Maybe he should build a tower of books to build a small wall … but that for later. For when he, like … had books.

He looked forward again, the lesson was going to start soon. But there was still sometime. Eyeing Minion out of the corner f his eye again, he grinned, adding “… but just to make sure, I wouldn’t sit on that table at lunch break … if I were you” and turned his attention back to the front.

Minion let out a little shriek and jumped to hide into Blue’s bag again. “O-OK, I won’t, I won’t! Just, please, don’t eat me!” the little fish begged, still scared.

“Oh, Minion… aww.” Blue picked her up, and gave her a hug. “It’s going to be OK, Damien is just joking. You have nothing to fear.”

“Oook.” the fish nodded. If Blue trusted him, she would trust him, too. But just in case… she returned to the bag, her eyes studying Damien with curiosity.

The blue child turned to his new classmate, cocking his head. “You’re new in Metro Middle, right? Did you buy the books already?”

Stupid girls. “No. The teacher gave me a list, but I still have to get them.” Buying was no option, but he didn’t need to mention that. Damien yawned openly, not having slept much last night. Sadly, he also had no time yet to find some food and the long usage of the black Metronite had drained him more than expected. He never used it for such a long time.

“If you want, you can photocopy mine. That way you won’t have to buy them.” he offered, putting them on the table. “There’s a photocopying machine in the janitor’s office. He isn’t allowed to do it, but sometimes he does photocopies of the books to help the kids. Maybe you should talk with him… I think his name is Carlos.” Blue suggested, opening one of the books.

“For today, I think you’ll be fine following the class weith my books. We can share them… if you want…”

“Thank you.” Damien smiled and shoved his table a bit closer to Blue’s so they won’t have problems to look into one. He gave Minion a look though, and put an arm on the desk, marking a line between his and blue’s table. “No worry, I - ”

But it was then that the teacher called for attention, starting the class. Damien turned his attention to the teacher immediately, going to spend attention. He may have skipped two classes, but .. that didn’t mean he actually knew the stuff he should have learned in the time in between. He’d have to pay attention.

The following hour was dedicated to Maths, concretelly fractions and problems which only could be resolved with fractions and other not-so-easy operations. Most of the children struggled to work with them… But not Blue. He didn’t even need to check the book - he knew all those operations by heart, and managed to finish all the activities in five minutes.

Laying back on his seat, he winked an eye to Damien. “You can copy the answers from me, if you want.” he whispered to the other boy, smirking a bit.

Damien just shook his head and kept staring at the task. Good heavens. He had no idea. Absolutely no idea, how to get from point here to a thing like a solution.

Looking at Blue, seeing he was done, Damien took the book and went some pages back, hoping to find a point where things still made sense. He turned one site after another, until he was at the very beginning - oh, he had a lot of things to catch up with. He sighed and looked to the book, then up at the blackboard.

This was wasted time. Slowly, he started to pack his things back to the bag, trying to make a run for it. He could concentrate better somewhere else.

Blue was surprised to see him packing his things. He looked up, the teacher was distracted talking with Miss Pink Leather Jacket. That was a good thing - Blue knew that she’d keep distracted for a while. He turned to Damien, a bit confused.

“Hey, what are you doing?” he whispered to him, a bit worried. “The class isn’t over yet…”

“I wasn’t intending of closing it” Damien whispered, patting Blue’s shoulder jokingly. No need to worry.

Quietly, he tried to sneak to the door behind the teachers back, walking towards her casually and ignoring the heads that looked up at him as he walked outside, just smiling back when he met someone’s gaze.

“Teacher?” he asked, leaning over the table of the other student to get her attention. “I’m sorry, I … don’t really know what to do. I’d like to catch up with the curriculum on my own because I can concentrate better when there aren’t as many people around. Blue here - ” He pointed at him as he kept talking “ - already solved all the tasks. May I study with him somewhere else so we won’t disturb the class? I’m sure he’d be glad to help.” He turned his head to Blue, smiling and blinking, waiting for him to affirm it.

Noticing suddenly all the gazes falling over him, Blue hunched a bit, trying NOT to panic. So many people staring at him… Even the teacher… And he had to speak…

It was then when he felt Minion giving him a soft pat on the back, which managed to help him to escape from the trap of his own fear. “Y-yes, I’m already finished. Can I go with him?”

The teacher frowned slightly, crossing her arms. “Deciding the extra-curricular work that a student must do to catch up with the rest of the class isn’t something up to decide. However, I can understand that the must be some differences between Metro Middle’s system and the last school you’ve gone to. You can go with Blue today - but I’ll talk with the principal. We’ll have to test your current abilities - if you lack of the strategies that most kids in this classroom have, we’ll send you to the Program of social and educational reintegration. For today, I’m sure that Blue can help you to get around the school. But make sure to come back for the next class, in…. 40 minutes.” she answered, checking her clock.

“Thanks, teacher!” Blue rushed to pick up all his things and stuff his bag with them. He practically ran toward Damien, feeling inmensely thankful. He had saved him of an hour of boredom! “See you guys!”

“Of course I will. Thank you very much for your understanding and please excuse my rude behaviour” Damien said, smiling and appearing calm as he turned and went to the door, practically shoving Blue outside. A test!? No way he could pass that - he had to … find a villain. And … fight him. But … school. School was important. More important.

Shutting the door to the classroom behind them, Damien leaned against it. He breathed in and out and shut his eyes, then turned to leave on his own. He had to learn…

“Uh, you’re welcome…” The teacher was impressed. Most kids used to behave like brats at this age, but… not Damien, who behaved like an adult. It was a nice change.

Blue didn’t say a word, reading the signs of anxiety on his new friend’s face. Friend? He was starting to think of Damien as one, though he wasn’t sure if the cat boy thought of him in the same way.

“Hey, are you OK?” he asked, as Minion was climbing her way out of Blue’s bag.

“Uuuuuuummmmm… no” Damien admit, looking over his shoulder to Blue. “I belong to the fourth grade, okay? I was trying to skip two classes in order to be in the same as you are in. And I’m just a normal guy. No superbrain. I need to catch up with some things, until that test. But … you don’t have to help me. I just guessed you wouldn’t be too sad about skipping class, too. See you in … 39 minutes, I guess” he ended, walking down the aisle and setting a timer on the phone he stole the night before. He still had no book to work with, but maybe he could find some things online.

“Wait, wait, wait!” Blue followed him, biting his bottom lip. So this boy was younger than him… Damien had the same age that he had when he arrived to the city for the first time, and somehow that created in Blue an inmense urge to help him. He didn’t even know where did that feeling come from, but it was stronger than him. Maybe it was because it made him feel extremelly happy to think that someone had tried to skip two years just to share a classroom with him. It made him feel extremelly flattered.

“Damien, wait. Listen… I’ve done that test, and last semester I attented to the program, until the teachers realized that I’m indeed a gifted kid - mostly because I’m a Megamind. I know the questions of the test and I can give you the answers… Though you might like the program. You can ask the teachers to be paired up with a friend… like you did with me a moment ago, and that person will be helping you the whole semester. I didn’t need it, but I saw kids who managed to earn new friendships and good grades thanks to the program. I could help you to catch up with everything, if you allow me to do so.”

“Sir is right!” Minion added, climbing on Blue’s shoulder. “He can help you with everything you want!”

Damien didn’t even turn, continuing his way, hoping to find a cafeteria somewhere. “No” was his short answer as he stopped on a corner, ears moving as he tried to fin out which way to take. He didn’t need help. He took care of himself, it’s always been like that. This wasn’t more than he could chew, he’d just have to skip … things like sleeping … calling his mum … hero-things … urgh. That sounded an awful lot like ghosting around the school for a bit longer. He just hoped the test won’t be too soon.

He was so hungry… his stomach rumbled. Deciding for … left, he continued his way - into the wrong direction.

“Hum, you’re going to the gym going on that way…” Blue pointed out. Clearly no one had given to Damien a school tour before. At least he could give him one now, if Damien was willing to follow his steps. “If you’re looking for the library or the dining room, they’re on this way.” he added, pointing in the oposite direction.

He checked his wristwatch. In less than an hour, the bell would ring again, and the break would start. He’d have to take Damien to his secret hideout before that, even just to avoid any possible bullies.

Damien turned on his heels. “Was where I was heading to” he said, walking into the other direction, eyes still sticking on the phone to google mathematical formulas. But .. he couldn’t remember too much of what he’d been seeing, and Blue was still the one with the book. “I … have some sweets. Do you want to keep me company? I may need your help, after all” he said, looking towards the other boy as he kept walking.

Blue’s eyes lit up at that request. Yes! Being useful to someone that he was starting to consider the first boy he befriended this year, that… it was something truly glorious. And it made him happier than he’d like to admit. But, for now, he had to focus on Damien.

“I love sweets!” he chirped, practically bouncing by his side. “And yes! If I can help you with anything, just tell me. I can help you. And who knows, perhaps one day you can help me, too!”

“Perhaps. One day” Damien repeated omnious. He decided to help this boy the second he saw his file. Regardless if he returned the offer. “I’ll need to rent your book for a bit. I forgot what the formulas loked like” he explained, looking up as he saw the sign of the cafeteria. That wasn’t too difficult. He’d come back here, but at nighttime, to grab some proper food.

He pushed the door to it open with his shoulder and dug in his pocket at the same time. There should be some candy in it his father gave him …

“Sure.” Blue nodded, not worrying in the least. “Minion? Give him my books.”

The fish rushed to obey, though a thought suddenly came up to her. “Yes… But Sir, what if the teacher…”

“Don’t worry, Minion! I’ve already done all the homework for this year anyway and learned all those books said. For all I care, Damien can keep them if he wants. I’ve already memorized everything about them.” he chuckled, and handed his books to Damien.

“I can help you to get books for free from the years you’ve skipped, too. There are copies in the library that no one uses… No one will notice it if we ‘borrow’ them for a while.” he winked him an eye, hoping Damien would understand.

“Oh um, thank you” Damien said, accepting the books Blue reached him. Not prepared for the action yet, two candies as well as a blue, slightly glowing stone fell to the ground as he accepted the books. His ear twitched as he heard them hit the ground. Oh.

He put the books on the table first, the red cloth from Alixon still in his hand.

Blue noticed the blue glowing stone and picked it up in awe. He looked back to Damien. If he had any doubt about this kid being part alien, this confirmed that Damien had something out of this world.

“What’s this…?” he asked, curious.

“First of all, well, mine” Damien explained, reaching out for the stone, but then thinking about it and reconsidering, pulling his hand back again. “Can you put it on the table?” he asked, bending down to collect the remaining candy that fell down as well instead.

“That means… that if I touch it, and it ask it to absorb my memories of the studies for the years you’ve skipped, you could learn instantly everything I’ve learned?” Blue commented, giving it a look. He hadn’t held it long enough so the stone would work on him, but it was worth trying. And it wasn’t like he’d lose much - he could re-learn everything in only a couple of days in he wanted.

He looked up to Damien, smiling. “If giving you my knowledge will keep you in our class, let’s do it. I’m not afraid of losing part of my memories if by doing it I can help a friend in need.”

“Maybe, but … no.” Damien intervened, raising his free hand at the suggestion He was here to help Blue, not the other way around. “I remember the last memory that got sucked into the stone while I had it, no matter how long it is, I guess, but as soon as I let it go, everything is lost again. The price is too high and it’s just a temporary solution anyway, as long as I don’t decide to touch it permanently.” And in case the stone got taken from him then? So much lost time … no, he couldn’t risk that.

“I want to stay in your class” Damien made clear. “But I don’t have a superbrain. I need to learn that the hard way, I think … ” He looked back at the books next to him, ears drooping.

“You have a point…” Blue bit his bottom lip. Even if he wanted to help Damien, a temporal solution wouldn’t fix anything. Handing all the candies to his new friend, the blue kid cocked his head with a smile. “You’ll stay. And perhaps I can help you with ‘learning in the hard way’. Had you ever tried ‘Creative Learning’ ? It’s what I do every time I have to work on something complicated. Lemme give you an example about how it works… ”

He picked up a piece of paper from one of his notebooks, and pointed to the books. “Pick a subject, anything, and one specific topic of that subject. I’ll use the Creative Learning to show you what I do to learn it quickly and in a fun way!”

“Okay, how about … ” He picked the book again and opened it at the lecture the other students were working on.

“What about … this formula? I’ve never seen it. All of this … ” There was no use in denying it. Damien had alwys been ahead of class. Skipping one year won’t have been a problem, but two … was a bit much to chew. “But this one in particular. I saw it got used a couple of times, but can’t understad how it works… hat’s p, what q .. I don’t even know what .. that’s supposed to be.”

Blue just needed to give it a look. “Alright, those are second grade equations.” he commented, before giving Damien a friend smile. “To learn how to qork with them first I’ll teach you how to work with first grade equations. You’ll see, it’s easy!”

Blue picked up a piece of paper, and wrote in it 2x = 6. Then he showed it to Damien. “This is a first grade equation. The x is a number that, multiplied by two, it will give us six. This of this as a mystery you need to resolve. Now look at your hands and count with your One, two, THREE.” he counted his fingers, putting certain emphasis on the third number to help him. “…four, five, six! Did you see it? We counted until three twice. This means that the x is 3. Now we understand the mystery. 2 x 3 = 6. Gotcha? We’ll practice this witch more equations. To discover the meaning of the X, I usually dividide the result (6) by the first factor (2), and that way I can find that the x is three. Did you understand it? Feel ready to practice on your own?”

Damien blinked twice. That made sense. “Yeah, maybe.” He took a closer look to the book, going to solve some of the tasks in there to get used to that way of thinking. “Thank you. But I … ” he looked up again. “Maybe I won’t be able to get all this stuff done until the test … can you give me the answers anyway? Just in case .. I will not use them when I learned it in time” he promised. It would be a mere failsafe. “But maybe the teacher wants me to take the test right away, you know? I will learn that” he promised, looking down at the book.

“Believe me, I took that test, and it was really easy. You won’t need to know so many things to pass it, but I’ll give you everything I know.”

And so he did. Blue spent the rest of the hour explaining him maths concepts, and working Science concepts via sticky notes and drawings. When the bell for the next class rang, Blue couldn’t help but worry. He would have liked to skip the next class and keep teaching Damien on his own, but they have given their word to the teacher that they’d come back for the next class.

“We’ll have to continue later, but for now you’re doing it great, Damien!” he said, as he started to pack up his things into his bag, with some help of Minion.

“I will make that up to you” Damien promised. Another reason to stay in Metro City then. He sighed. He didn’t look at the answers to the test yet, written on a piece of paper … he’d do so later, probably use the Metronite to forget again right away. No one would find it suspicious when there’s be a small blue stone on the table with him…

Next was English class… well, at least something he felt good about. He learned that long ago, his mother sure he’d need to know both French and English. Maybe he could learn some more math during classes.

“No need to do so. It’s what friends do, help each other. And we’re friends now, aren’t we?” Blue mused shyly hoping that Damien thought of him in the same way.

English clash would be something easy. Just reading, writing… and ocassionaly writing commentaries about books. Nothing really too difficult. It was an easy class, and things really didn’t change all that much from a year to another. The next hour passed past him really fast, and before he realized it, there was just one minute left for the bell which would announce the morning break.

“I guess so…”

Hidden beneath the English book, Damien continued studying math, not allowing him a break, no matter how quick he solved the things the teacher wanted them to do - not as quick as Blue, of course, but still, he did not too bad. He did hear the ring of the bell, but was too occupied in his studies than to give it any attention. Finally able to, he put the English book aside they had worked with, and continued with math, not even looking up. Next class was art. He knew where that was - in fact he broke into that room last night, stealing some paper and pens to work with today.

“How was that working again” he asked, pointing at a task he’d failed to solve three times in a row now.

Blue explained him the task. The mistake Damien was doing was a common one, he had seen other kids doing it, and he knew by heart the answer that the teacher gave them. “Remember the multiplication table, if you do first these additions and later you resolve the ecuation, it will be easier.” he pointed out, and smiled.

“I think you had enough math for today. It’s time for the break, do you want to come with me? I can show you what I do to get my meal for free…” he grinned, thinking of the broken vending machine. None of the students had reported it, of course - why reporting it, when they could get candies for free?

At the mention of food, Damien’s stomach rumbled, but… “No, I really need to learn that” he intervened, eyes still fixed on the task. Blue had a point there, right…

The English teacher eyed them curiously, which caught Damien’s attention then, his ears turning a bit. Sighing, he closed the book. Then again… food may be a good idea. Sure he’d concentrate better once he ate something. “Okay, maybe. Free food?” He didn’t trust that yet, but started to pack his things together.

“Yes, I’ll explain that once we leave the room. Bye teacher!” he gave a quick wave to their teacher, and led the way out of the room. Blue took his cellphone and sent a quick text to Lucy (mostly to let her know why today he was going to be busy and apologize to her), before he turned to Damien.

“Alright Damien, is there any candy you especially like? Because there’s a vending machine next to the dining room and the coffee shop. It’s broken, but none of the students has reported it… and I’ll show you why.”

Finally arriving to the vending machine, Blue showed it to Damien. “Go on, pick one, anything you like!”

Damien looked at Blue rather disbelievingly. What was wrong with people in Metro City and their food supply? Okay, now how to break this easy - “I’m sorry but … no… This … is no food. It’s a snack, and it’s unhealthy. Isn’t there … some … food… actual food … in this city?” It was a city of sugar addicted people. No wonder his dad stayed here.

Damien sighed. “My bag is full with candy. You can have it, I don’t like it anyway. We can leave the remaning candy for other kids” he decided, heading for the stairs. The room they’d have art classes in was further up.

“Healthy food?” Blue blinked in surprise. This was the first time he met someone who didn’t like candies. “Well, there’s some bread and soup in the dining room, but we won’t have access to that place until noon. Do you mind waiting a couple of hours more to eat?”

The blue alien followed the younger kid with a curious expression. Definitely this kid was a mystery. “Actually… I have a salad sandwich. Would you be willing to trade your candy by my sandwich?”

A salad sandwich? Damien’s head turned so quick, it was a myracle his neck didn’t snap.

“…I would. Maybe.” Coughing, embarassed, he turned around gain, trying to act uninterested as he walked further towards the art room. He was just SO hungry.

He guessed the art room wouldn’t be open yet anyway, so Damien headed for a couple of chairs and table’s close to it, and emptied his bag. He had a hand full of colored candy and three different chocolate bars - all of them with the Gotham Candy logo, the company of his father. “Here.” He shoved the candy to Blue. He wuldn’t eat it anyway, rather stay hungry until school was over and he could steal some food somewhere.

Sitting by his side, Blue took out a small plastic container from the bag he always carried with himself. It was decorated with images of the famous Batman of the comics. Once he opened it, he took out two sandwiches, and handed them to Damien.

“We could do this every day. You give me candy, I give you sandwiches. It’s a win-win situation, you think?” he commented.

“In case I had candy everyday” Damien intervened, but took the sandwiches. Food. Actual food. Happily, he took a bite, seemingly melting into a puddle of joy.

“And just by the way, you should eat something properly, too” he commented, shoving one of the sandwiches back to Blue. No way he should just eat candy.

Blue felt his cheeks warming up at his concern. It was… really nice, to meet another kid in his clasroom which actually cared for him. Something really sweet.

“Don’t worry, I have enough healthy food at home… When I remember to eat.” he admitted shyly, accepting one of the sandwiches. He split it in two, and ate one of the slices, before giving a kind look to Damien. “Do you want this one? Between the bite of sandwich I ate and your candy, I’ll have enough for the rest of the morning…”

“Then you keep it for later” Damien replied, raising a hand to stop Blue from handing him the other half. Of curse he was still hungry, but he’d survive until he could steal something. Sitting leaned forward to grant his wings a break from getting squished against the backrest of the chair, Damien took his time as he ate his sandwich, knowing he won’t get anything else for a while. "What’s your fish eating, by the way?“ he asked between bites, curious. Minion was awfully quiet.

Minion peeked from Blue’s bag. She had been hiding there, not wanting to intrude the convetrsation between the two boys. Still, the fact that Damien showed interest on her made her feel happy. Maybe they could be friends, too?

Blue had an answer ready. “Actually Minion has a food schedule different from mine. I give her a lot of meat before we go to school. At noon, I share with her my meal in the dining room…”

“And at night, he gives a lot of meat, again!” The little fish ended the explanation for him.

Huh. Even the fish had a better eating schedule than he did. Now that he had a ‘normal’ life, Damien would try to establish that, too… once he had a steady food supply.

Speaking of which… “You like Batman?” Damien asked, glancing at Blue’s lunchbx. He smiled a little. His dad was not that Batman, he knew that, but still, they had some things in common.

“YES!” Blue beamed in delight at the question, he loved to talk about his favourite superhero. “Do you like him, too? I just… adore everything about him! His supersuit, his batcave, his bat-mobile… And his weapons! Those are glorious! And don’t let me get started on all his adventures… And he’s so damn rich! Wish I had so much money, I’d buy a manor and put a pool on it and I’d make parties every week! It would be glorious…” Realizing he was talking too much, Blue rubbed the back of his head, with a sheepish grin.

“Sorry, I’m talking too much, aren’t I?”

“Nooo. No, youre really not.” Damien smiled, for once and rested his head on his hands, elbows on the table. “I like heroes, too. Did you know Metro City has a batman now? Not that one, but … someone just as cool.”

“It does?!” Blue’s eyes grew wide in surprise, and a big smile filled his face. “Whoa, that’s SO COOL!!! How did you find out? Because I don’t know much about heroes… Only Metro Man and and MIss Megamind… Who’s that new hero?”

“Someone from Gotham, UK - you know, there’s annother one in England. People never knew about him, but there were rumours … and then - ” Ears lifting up, Damien went quiet all of a sudden, hearing someone approaching. “So yeah, so there’s that.”

Damien wiped the bread crumbs off the table that lay before him. They should go inside the room soon. At least art wasn’t something they’d really have to study for.

“I didn’t know that…” Blue was about to ask him more this new hero, perhaps he would be willing to teach him so hero stuff. But he didn’t have time to ask him, since he could see the girl of the pink leather jacket approaching them. What does she want now…? he thought.

—-

Jess was a bit nervous. She usually wasn’t one of asking help to others, especially people she didn’t know well - but that new kid had caught her curiosity, especially after that little French word he had let out earlier in the morning.

“Hey guys… The art class will start soon… Could any of you give me a spare paintbrush, please? I left mine at home…”

“Don’t worry, the teacher has some spare brushes hidden under his desk … ” Damien reassured the girl. She may be a girl, but he wanted to help her. But then he remembered his break in from last night and - Damien coughed. “ - used … ” he said quietly, looking aside. Oh wait, he said that out loud?! His ears laid back and forward again, nervous and he raised his hands defensively. “No, wait, usually is the word. Usually teachers have some. Hidden under their desks. For today, I’ll give you one of mine. I’m sorry. You see, English is still hard for me from time to time…” Damien excused himself and stood up, heading to the room. He … needed to be at places.

“What…?” Jess was a little confused. He looked back to Blue, and the kid only shrugged. He was just as confused as she was for Damien’s strange expressions, though it was easy to see why. He probably wasn’t American to begin with…

“That’s alright, Damien. That’s why we are here, right? To learn stuff.” Blue tried to comfort him, following his steps.  He felt a bit awkward with the girl’s company, but she didn’t seem to bed just as bad as other kids.

Jess decided to follow them as well. “Blue is right. And thanks for the paintbrush. I was convinced that it had put it on my bag, but probably it fell out of it when I was still a home. I remember had fallen under my bed this morning, but Elton started to play with it and I didn’t have time to scold my kitty…” It was then when she remembered something. “By the way, what’s your name? I’m Jessica, Jess to my friends.”

“I am Damien. Hello Jessica” Damien greeted her, letting her know on which side she was, even though he guessed she may take it badly. “I have one, too… they’re very playful. It bit into my tai - ta … tennisball. It played with a tennisball this morning.” That wasn’t even a lie - there were some in the gym. He guessed Blue was sitting smewhere in the back here, too, and headed there, once he opened the door. It wasn’t locked - not anymore, hadn’t since last night, actually. But he didn’t leave any marks, so the teacher would just assume he forgot to lock it in the first place. Turning to Blue, he gave him a look, silently asking where to sit.

Jess wasn’t sure how to take that.It sounded weird. The only one person who used her full name was her mother - and that was when grace was very, VERY pissed. “You know, I’d prefer it if you called me Jess. Only my Mom uses my full name… It sounds… a bit weird to me if other people uses it.” she commented. “Oh, you have a kitty too? Maybe they could meet!” The girl couldn’t help but giggle at the idea. Elton had been really happy during the brief time he had shared with P’tesa.

Blue arched one eyebrow. What was Damien going to say? Ta-il? It would make a sense if he’s a catboy. In most cartoons, humans with animal qualities often have the ears and the tail of said animal… he thought, but decided not to ask about it yet.

“Let’s go sit at the back of the class.” he said, before addressing the girl. “Jess, you coming?”

“Uh, I don’t know… I just needed a spare paintbrush. But if you guys want me to stay here, I can do it.” she smiled.

He’d still call her Jessica.

“We could put the girls together” Damien suggested, putting his bag on the table to look for the paintbrush. “There you go” he announced, turning it around so the tip would point at himself as he reached it to the girl. “I’d like to have it back” he made clear, his tone friendly, though. “Oh and - ” He skipped through the bag another hime. “This one’s more flat - can be handy, too.” He reached her the second one in the same manner - friendly, but not smiling.

“Wait, what?” Jess was confused, and so was Blue, who wondered if Damien was suggestion to put Jess and Minion together. While the blue kid held his bag closer to his chest, not wanting to be separated from his fishy friend; the young girl only could stare at the mysteryous new boy, not understanding his suggestion.

“Thanks for the paintbrushes, and don’t worry, I’ll bring them back to you as soon as the class is over. Deal?” she offered.

“Okay” Damien just replied, unpacking the things he’d need for the class. There were still some minutes of their break left. “Or … she stays here” he told Blue, noticing he was panicking. “You guys stick together quite a lot, don’t you” he noticed, looking from the bag with Minion inside to Blue.

“Thank you. See you later, boys!” Jess waved at them, and walked to her desk.

As the human girl left, Blue let out a sigh of relief. Minion sighed as well and climbed out of Blue’s bag, clinging to his arm. “Yes, we’re together for everything. We were separated for a year, and I don’t want to be far away from him ever again.” she explained.

“No problem.” Damien raised a hand, saying his goodbies to Jessica.

“You got seperated?” Damien frowned, looking between the two. New information. “How so?"

“A portal dropped us here. Portals usually appear close to the ground, but the portal which dropped us here was one the sky. I remember falling… The wind was too strong, and at at certain point, Minion’s fishbowl slipped from my hands. Then I hit my head and everything got blurry for me.” Blue explained, caressing the glass of Minion’s bowl. Minion nuzzled it, in an attempt to return his affection.

“I was so scared. I called Sir, again and again, because I didn’t know where I had landed. To make it worse, my bowl had crashed. I thought I was going to die! But I could smell water… So I jumped out of my bowl and rolled all the way to the lake. Those were the scariest three minutes of my life! Good thing that I met Mr. Azlariel… He helped me to survive in the lake while I was far away from Sir.” Minion explained, snuggling Blue.

“Sounds awful. Do people get sucked into portals, too, or are they just appearing here? I heard about them, of course, but it’s hard to imagine. We don’t have those things in Europe” Damien explained.

“I think most of the other Megaminds of this city got sucked by portals as well and dropped here, but I’ve never studied their cases in depth.” Blue answered with a shrug. He blinked at his last words.

“Of course, all the weird things only happen in America, or that was what my prison uncle Joe used to say. So you’re from Europe?”

“France” Damien admit. “And … you’d be surprised. We have weird things happening too, but … maybe not on this scale. Maybe you’re gathering for something?” Damien mused. That would be one giant brainstorming … what was the matter with this city? “Though … it’s not just Megaminds, from what I heard.” Well, at least no one got sucked into them and vanished forever. That may be … bad.

“Gathering for something? I’m not sure. But Lucy worked with Bernard, the museum curator. I’ve overheard him once, he was studying the portals… Probably he knows more, but I’ve learned some things about the portals on my own. And I already knew that Megaminds aren’t the only ones affected by the portals, I know that there are other versions of Mr. Goody Two Shoes going around. Thankfully no one has our age… I don’t want an overpowered bully trying to turn me into the villain of his story. Not anymore.” Blue shook his head.

“Good” Damien said, arranging his pencils on the desk while Blue talked. ‘I don’t want to be the villain, either’ he thought, his ears lowering slightly. “… you mean … Metro … Mans?” he mused, knowing this was Megamind’s nemesis. and assuming it was the same for Blue.

“Yeah, that’s how he’s called. I’ve never talked to them - mostly because I’m afraid they might be just as bad as the young version I’ve met in my universe. But please, don’t tell anyone about that! It’s a secret, OK?”

Damien wasn’t making any promises yet, but took one of the pencils to sharpen it. “And he bullied you?” he asked, curious actually. He thought Metro Man was a … well … hero? Hero’s didn’t bully people.

“Don’t you want him to apologize?"

“The one of my universe did. But he was just a kid, like us.” Blue shrugged. “I really can’t judge the Metro Mans of this world because I’ve never met them. They seem good people, from what I’ve seen in the news… But it worries me to meet them and screw up everything. Now it’s been too long since, and the boy who bullied me is still in my universe. I’m not expecting him to apologize anyway… He was too proud for that.” Blue interlaced his fingers, resting his index fingers on his lips.

“Hum…” Not saying anything about that, Damien made a mental note about this, for sure going to come back to it later. Done with sharpening his pencil, he put everything neatly in front of him, then rubbed his eyes, still tired. That stupid stone … it drained him more than usual. Sure because he spend so much time as stone. He’d have to be more careful from here on. Tired, he leaned on the desk, using his folded arms as pillow. His tail hurt, too, but he was used to that.

The class started, and the teacher showed them a lovely bouquet in a vase, with sunflowers, roses, daisies and lilies. He gave them the rest of the hour to try to reproduce the image of the vase on their paper sheets. Blue didn’t have any problem with such easy task, but it looked like Damien wasn’t too comfortable.

“You OK, Damien?” he asked, worried.

Damien looked at the vase, just one eye open. It was really hard to try and bring this three dimensional object on a two dimensional sheet of paper… the more he tried, the more his ears tried to move automatically, to grasp the form… just to see it three dimensional, again. It was an exhausting task, especially after such a long night.

“You could just take a picture … ” he muttered. He didn’t understand why they had to recreate the bouquet like this, but kept trying, sure there was something to be learned, even when he didn’t understand just what it was yet.

“I’m good” he lied, willing himself to keep his ears laidback, flat on his head.

“Yes, that would be the easiest, but this is Art class, not photography.” Blue answered with a shrug, nudging him. “And I don’t need to be a supergenius to know that you aren’t feeling well… But try to act a little more awake or the teacher is going to catch us!!"

Blue really didn’t want to draw more attention toward them, more than they already had done in the first hour.

"I’m trying ~ ?” Damien replied, putting the paintbrush aside for a moment to rub both of his eyes. He moved away a little, trying to look at the flowers from another angle and also not wanting to get touched in any way, especially in the sleepy state he was in.

It was dangerous to do so, but Damien did what Blue requested, feeling some more energy and willpower, following his request. He sat up straighter and looked ahead again, continuing to draw.

Blue sighed in relief. Damien had managed to straighten and change his position just in time. The teacher walked past them, without suspecting how sleepy the bat boy was.

Once the teacher was far away from them, Blue sighed in relief, and gave a smug look to his friend. “Well played, buddy. He doesn’t suspect anything!”

“Good” Damien said quietly, and continued his work, even knowing the teacher wasn’t spending attention to them at the moment. He knew he was playing with fire, but there was not much of a choice, was there …

Thanks to that boost, Damien stayed up for the next class, and even the ones after that, appearing fine. He was just not very talkative, but otherwise you won’t notice his exhaustion.

At the time for lunch break, though, his face hit the table as soon the bell rang, and he fell asleep, still sitting on his place with the borrowed book in front of him and a pencil in his hand.

Was that drool? Blue wasn’t sure and he wasn’t going to test it, but her curiosity was getting the best of Minion, who jumped from Blue’s bag as soon as teachers were out of sight. She had been careful to remain hidden until the end of classes, knowing that Blue would keep an eye for Damien and her.

“Should I slap him to wake him up, Sir?” Minion asked, poking he sleepy kid.

“Naaaw, I’ll take care of him.” Blue petted gently Damien’s shoulder. “Hey buddy, wake up!”

For Damien, it was s if Blue spoke through him while he was under water, but he heard him nevertheless. Wake up … And so he did. His eyes blinked open and his ears moved as he tried to remember where he was … and why he was here. School …

He leaned up, just to fall on the backrest of his chair instead - and drifted asleep once more. His wings got squished, but he fell asleep before he could care about such a minor issue.

“Poor guy… He needs help.” Blue reached gently for Damien’s arm and wrapped it around his neck, so he could cling to him. “Don’t worry, Damien, I’ll take you home. It can’t be that hard if we take the school bus… mmh…”

Minion jumped from the table. With her size, she really couldn’t help that much, but… there was something she still could do. “Do you want me to warn Miss Lucy? She could help us.”

“She could, but she won’t come out until one hour or two, and you already heard him, no girls. I guess he’s tolerating you because you’re a fish… I’m sorry Minion.” He turned to Damien, trying to help him to get up. “C’mon, Damien… I’m strong but I’m not of being strong enough to carry you…”

Hearing Blue talk let Damien open his eye again, not yet sleeping tightly. “Uh … ” He tried to get himself loose from Blue, but at the same time he was so tired… a bit too tired to care for appearancs, actually. He’d let him help, if just for now.

“Just bring me to the infirmary. I need sleep. And I need my things … ” he added, pulling his arm back to pick up the items on his desk and put them into his school bag. It was hard not to fall asleep again right away … His eyes got smaller again already.

“There, there…” Blue stopped him gently, and made a gesture to his fish. “Minion, pick up all of Damien’s things and follow us to the infirmary.”

“Yes Sir!” THe fish rushed to follow his orders. THis was something doable, her robo-suit was strong enough to help her to carry objects which doubled her in weight. She would be able to carry his bag.

Making sure to carry his own bag as well, Blue kept a strong hold of his friend, as he began to take him to the requested room. “You’ll be fine soon, the infirmary isn’t too far away.” he whispered, trying to encourage him to talk.

“I know … Down the hall and … then left … ” Damien mumbled, finding the distance not close at all, given his state. But then he flinched, noticing Blue put his arm above his wings incidentally as he tried to help him. walk Stumbling forward, he got loose. “Sorry, … ticklish” was the first excuse that came into is mind.

“I’ll hold onto you” he decided, putting his arm around Blue’s shoulders to support some of his weight. He was at the point of falling asleep while standing, so he acknowledged it was neccessary. “Thanks.”

“Don’t worry, I know where it is… Been there a few times, after a group of bullies punched me. Got a black eye and several bruises. But I told Lucy and her father that I had tripped on her stairs because I didn’t want to worry them.” He continued talking, in an attempt to keep Damien awake to reach the infirmary.

Still, he had felt something strange on his friend’s back when he had touched it by accident. What did he have there? It looked like something vulnerable, given how quickly he had moved to avoid any further touches.

“It’s OK. Lemme help…” He accepted the way Damien preferred to be carried, and followed his friends’ indications. Even if they got several weird looks from other kids, Blue didn’t care. He was used to be a freak anyway. But he wouldn’t let anyone laugh at Damien. Somehow… he’d protect him. Though he wasn’t sure about how to do it yet.

At least they were almost there, he already could see the banner of the infirmary. “Hey Damien, we’re here. Will you need help into the bed, or do you prefer to go there alone?”

The answer was a snore, but then he jerked awake again. Blinking, he saw the banner, too. “Thanks … ” He let go of Blue and took the last step to the door. There was no one inside, but he couldn’t hear it just yet, too tired than to concentrate. As he raised his hand in order to knock, he bumped his head against the door instead.

That hurt. Rubbing his forehead, Damien mobilized his remaining willpower and pushed the door open. “I’ll be fine. My bag … ” he remembered and turned, just to see it close to the ground. Not even noticing Minion or asking himself how came that the bag was on the floor right next to them, Damien bend down and picked it up.

“See you tomorrow.”

“Damien…!” Blue tried to warn him about the door, but it was too late. Still, watching that he managed to open the door on his own, he felt a whole lot more relieved. Smiling faintly, he picked up a piece of paper from one of his notebooks, wrote down his cellphone number, and handed it to him. “In case you need anything, just call me. I’ll see you tomorrow. Sleep well.”

He knelt to pick up Minion, who was smiling as well. She felt proud of helping her Sir and any possible friends of his, especially when she could see that warm smile on Blue’s face.

“Minion, let’s go home.”

“Yes, sir!”

Damien looked at the piece of paper Blue handed him, and put it in his pocket. He’d save the number later. For now, he waved Blue goodbye, closed the door behind him and headed to one of the two beds.