#and if you play those one after the other you get musical whiplash

[hareofhrair]

Continually frustrated by my attempts to make a cohesive playlist for Shafan because I can’t settle on a single sound for them. You can’t just put Tom Petty, Glen Campbell, Modest Mouse, and Gotye on the same fuckin playlist it doesn’t WORK.

[tarisilmarwen]

RobStar Week, Day 7 - Playlist

(Last one! I had fun with this. Set sometime during the Titans' long road trip chasing the Brotherhood of Evil. IDK when exactly but this is an underexplored time period in fanfics so I thought it would be fun to set one in it. And yes, all the songs referenced were on my own ipod RobStar playlist.

Enjoy!)

---

Starfire's taste in music was... eclectic, to say the least.

Her interests ran the gamut from basic pop starlet to the screechiest of death metal bands (which she claimed reminded her of the "great musicians of the Tolothian Praxxus") and, it sometimes seemed, everything in between. She even, somehow, had music from other planets. Robin had absolutely no idea how she had obtained a recording of her favorite childhood Gorka pipes band, nor how she had digitized said recording into MP3 format and gotten it onto the same ipod holding the Becky Wilder TV soundtrack and Rachel Tanner's latest album. Frankly the shuffle felt a little bit like playing Russian Roulette.

So Robin sympathized a little with Beast Boy when the song changed, once again going from one genre to something diametrically opposite, causing the changeling to clutch his temples and throwing his head back with a groan.

"Can't you stick to one genre?!" he complained. "I'm getting whiplash from these mood changes!"

Starfire turned to glare at him where he was squashed in-between Robin and Raven, in the middle of the backseat of the T-car.

"Whoever has shotgun seat decides the music," she reminded him, her voice unusually clipped and irritated. "Those were the rules you set. And I am also the only one who has music in my collection that you all enjoy," she pointed out.

There were mumbled noises from Cyborg and Raven as they conceded some agreement.

Starfire sighed, pushing hair out of her face tiredly as she lifted her ipod, plugged into the T-car's music system via aux cable.

"I only wish this were better organized," she said. "I can never find anything I am looking for in this library. It is impossible to scroll through to the songs I know we can all tolerate." She skimmed down the songlist, the ipod clicking and clicking and clicking as it proceeded down the endless track names.

"Oh that's easy to fix, just make a couple playlists," Cyborg suggested, flexing his hands a bit on the steering wheel as he signaled to begin passing a semi.

Starfire looked up from her scrolling, face an expression of blank confusion.

"A... what?" she asked.

Robin straightened and scooted forward a little bit in his seat. "Here, I'll show you," he offered. He reached between the driver's seat and shotgun with an outstretched palm.

Hesitant but curious, Starfire paused playback on her ipod and disconnected it from the aux cable, handing it over.

Now Robin leaned down, bending almost in half as he searched near his feet, the seatbelt digging sharply into his shoulder. After a moment of fumbling in his bad he slid out his red laptop and propped it open on his knees, also fishing for a USB cord.

Within minutes he had the music player open to Starfire's extensive library and was clicking through artists and genres, trying to tap very carefully on his mousepad with the vibrations of the car. She watched him fiddle for a few moments, eyes inquisitive, hand curling around the side of her seat.

Robin concentrated, his brows pinching cutely until he gave a nod of satisfaction. Turning the computer around he showed her what he was doing.

"Right, so, see here, where I've basically added a folder to the device storage?" he asked, leaning forward, trying to stretch to show her.

Beast Boy held back a complaint as he was pushed against Raven by the gesture. Starfire nodded in rapt attention.

Robin pointed to the screen as he demonstrated. "So you take any song that you want to go on the list and just kind of... drag it over from the wider library."

He clicked and pulled one of the Gorka pipes tracks to the new playlist, then clicked to open it.

Starfire gasped in delight, grabbing up both sides of Robin's laptop and bringing the device up closer to her face.

"Oh this will make things so much easier!" she cried.

Robin smiled and pointed over to the sidebar. "And see how you can name it pretty much anything you want? You can basically put any number of songs on the new list—"

"—And then they can share a common theme!" Starfire interrupted in conclusion.

"Exactly! You can do love songs, songs that make you happy, work-out songs..." Robin started listing.

"Songs to listen to while rocking it out at the club," added Beast Boy.

"Songs to set the mood with your date," Cyborg put in, grinning. "Lotta R&B on mine for that one."

"Ew," Beast Boy said, wrinkling his nose.

Cyborg shot him an offended look. "Don't be hatin' until you try it."

"What about you, Raven?" Starfire asked back, interrupting the brewing argument. "What kind of playlist would you suggest?"

"Songs to make you contemplate the existential dread of the universe and your own role in it and wonder if you really are as small and insignificant as you seem or if you just need a sandwich," came Raven's monotone contribution.

...

There a long awkward silence at that, and the boys blinked at Raven in concern and mild alarm.

"That is... oddly specific," was Starfire's inadequate response.

Raven shrugged. "Are we pulling over soon?" she asked towards the driver's seat. "I'm hungry."

Cyborg glanced at the next billboard. "Shakes n' Steaks coming up on our right?" he offered.

The empath waved dismissively. "Sure."

"Aw man!" Beast Boy complained. "Not the Shakes n' Steaks! You know they put meat chunks in the salads?! Who does that?!"

Robin nudged Starfire's arm as the debate on their food stop continued, whispering under Cyborg and Beast Boy's arguing. "Why don't you keep playing around with that for a while?" he offered kindly.

She nodded once, vigorously, mouthing a 'thank you' as she turned around.

-TT-

One pit stop later—Beast Boy wound up outvoted and sullenly resigned himself to picking chicken bits out of his caesar salad—Starfire finally emerged from her meticulous organizing and dismissed herself to the bathroom.

She unplugged her ipod, but left it on the table by his laptop, easily accessible.

Robin slurped through his straw, his eyes falling across it. He set his cup down and stared at the lit screen, mildly curious.

Glancing around as if to check for unfriendly eyes, Robin let his hand snake over to Starfire's place and slid the ipod into his palm, picking it up surreptitiously.

He paid a quick peek at the new playlists in Starfire's library. Sure enough she had "Tamaran" as a category, and "Dancing Music", and "To Cheer Raven Up" and a couple others. He had to smile and chuckle a bit at that last one.

His amusement was drowned out by confusion as he spotted on that read:

"Me and Robin"

He stared at the title for a long moment, visibly wondering, then his curiosity compelled him beyond his reason and he clicked to open it.

His eyes read off the titles as they scrolled alphabetically, slowly widening with realization.

"All You Wanted", "A Thousand Miles", "A Thousand Years"...

Wait a minute, his brain kicked in.

These were all love songs.

Suddenly feeling like he was doing something he very much shouldn't, Robin quickly set the ipod back down in its former spot, heat rising to his face as he was confronted with the knowledge that Starfire his Not Girlfriend (they still hadn't quite figured that out although after the whole alien planet stranded thing they at least both acknowledged they had feelings for each other) had been picking out songs that she felt defined 'them'.

Like an actual girlfriend would.

Hoo boy he hoped he wasn't going to have to clear up another misunderstanding.

-TT-

He was still nervous while he waited his turn to pile into the backseat, after Cyborg's annoyed, "Yo! If we want to make it to Atlanta before nightfall you better get your butts back in the T-car!" shout had cut short their lunch.

Starfire claimed shotgun again, much to Beast Boy's whining and complaining, but Raven picked him up with her telekinesis and stuffed him into the backseat ahead of her and shut the door, pointedly going around the other side and leaving Robin standing there awkwardly with Starfire.

The princess handed him his laptop back.

"Thank you for the usage of it," she said. "I believe I have arranged things to my liking."

There was something coy in her words, and her grin was a little too... knowing.

Robin coughed and tugged at his collar and rubbed his neck, tapping a steel-toed shoe. "Yeah, well... good. Good, that's... I'm glad."

"All right, enough committee meeting," grumbled Cyborg, ending the moment with a pointed shove to Robin's shoulder. "Get in the damn car, I gotta fill her up."

The moment the door was open Beast Boy popped out again. "At least lemme have the window seat this time!" he yelled, and Robin found himself jostled and bumped as he was shoved none-too-gracefully into the car and squashed into the narrow middle seat, pushed right up against Raven on one side and Beast Boy on the other.

Raven tried to pull her elbows in closer and failed.

"This isn't uncomfortable at all," she said dryly.

Robin had no reply, no real thoughts of any kind really, because as soon as she was comfortably seated and Cyborg was turning the key in the ignition, she looked back straight at him with a wry grin and pressed play on her once-again-connected ipod.

And when the first song off 'their' playlist started, Robin's throat closed with a pitiful embarrassed squeak and he turned a very bright red.

[iamadequate1717]

The Breakups

Stede and Ed have three breakups under their belt right now: Ed initiated two of them, and Stede is currently getting blame for one of those. The finale is releasing tomorrow, so hopefully this turns into a moot point, but I'm defending Stede anyway!

Part 2: The Breakups

Note that Part 1 is here:

This 2x7 breakup is likely to be over in 2x8 (.... I say less than 24 hours to the premier and trying to act like I'm a prophet...), and with rule of three, I'm going to say that's going to be their last one. Any more Will-They-Or-Won't-They would be tedious, especially since at that point, we'd be at about one-third of the series with them "broken up," and they need to start communicating as a couple already, but this oscillation is what makes OFMD unique isn't it?

Their breakups are about them as characters: the first time, Ed leaves with Calico Jack; Ed realizes his devotion to Stede but Stede has his fears confirmed... which rolls into the second breakup (Stede doesn't have those fears resolved early enough, and Ed feels like a discarded plaything), which rolls into the third. They need to address the fears and insecurities together and not spiral out on their own. I'm guessing (and using what HBO has shown us) that Ed gets his assurances early, and hopefully, we can put an end to this internal catastrophizing so they can face the world together.

Love, the emotion, may be easy, just like breathing, but a couple is still two people with different experiences and different needs, but real life relationships take work (...I say as a happy single person...). Romcoms end with the First Kiss, fanfics end with the First Sex, but OFMD seems to be carrying us through the growing pains of the relationship. Happily Ever After isn't a magical state that is achieved once you tell each other that you love the other, but so many pieces of media treat that as the end, but OFMD is treating it as a middle. Often times, it feels like the couple is just playing musical chairs, and if they're a couple when time runs out, they're going to be a couple forever!

In S2 speculation, it was not infrequent that people were imagining that the S2 cliffhanger would be Ed and Stede laying eyes on each other for the first time with a fade to black. That isn't interesting. We don't want these two to run out the clock.

But I want to look at the breakups specifically. Let's look at 2x7. Spanish Jackie lays down the truth to Ed, but he doesn't seem to latch onto the big point: does Stede know that this regular guy, no more pirate, part isn't a phase?

"He said at the academy..." Stede was dealing with other things, and from what he saw, Ed went back to piracy. To be fair also, the Revenge doesn't do much piracy itself, so Stede hasn't seen Ed's dissatisfaction first hand. A lot of audience anger toward Stede is an audience who saw the environment 2x1 and 2x2, who saw Ed in the gravy basket, who saw Ed's bored asides with Izzy. They're treating Stede as a member of the audience rather than as a character within the story. Stede didn't see any of this. Most of his interactions with Ed was cutesy fluff. Stede knows he likes being near Ed, but they haven't spent much time talking about deeper topics.

On what Ed does with the breakup in 2x7, I'm bringing up this line from 2x4, when they briefly spoke like adults:

Ed shutting down the conversation and not letting Stede give explanations isn't fair to Stede, but it continued with the third breakup: in 2x7, Ed leaves Stede with some emotional whiplash. Stede was just having one of the best days of his life and was met with an Ed who refused to explain what was going on. When you look at what just Stede saw, it was utterly baffling! My post on that:

And then Stede insulted Ed's fish, thereby making him History's Greatest Monster, amiright?

Ed basically screams that fishermen and pirates are so different, it would be like if a mermaid and a bird tried to have a marriage. It's a self fulfilling prophecy at that point: cut Stede out completely so they have no chance to grow their lives with room for the romantic relationship. (And really, for those criticizing Stede, how do you respond correctly off the cuff to a random statement like that?)

This is devastating: Stede has completely cut himself out of his old life. He left Barbados for Ed, not for piracy. He laid out his feelings, and he made himself vulnerable to Ed. Just hours after being intimate for the first time, he's coldly told it was a mistake, and his sad face at that statement:

He doesn't run off in tears to have a breakdown like I would! He instead is reasonable with Ed: they can define their relationship however they want, but Ed cuts off any possibility of any relationship.

Stede does not know what's going on. I'm really confused what people who are "so mad!" at Stede here would expect of him, provided they only know what Stede knows in universe. Stede just wants to talk and work on their relationship together. Ed wants to start a new career, and more specifically, a life completely separate from Stede.

No, Stede doesn't respond to that pirate line, but he gave the immediate response to the part he cared about more (and likely replayed the conversation over and over in his head later with improved responses, as we do).

Stede does not run after Ed here, but why would he? He's told the audience directly that he thinks Ed is better off without him.

Lucius tells him, "Maybe the time he spent with you is the best it's ever going to get for him," and again, Stede directly tells the audience that he doesn't believe that.

This is not a man with high self esteem. Remember him being ready to be executed and being told he's the worst pirate captain ever? He thought that was fair.

Ed cuts off their relationship, and Stede thinks he deserves that, that Ed realized he was better off without Stede. So Stede lets him go.

On their breakups, the first one was short (Ed's back the same episode!), but the second happened at a season break so there was more time for fandom speculation. We all saw the theories, and a too common thread was "Will Ed forgive Stede??", and we saw the speculation that Stede should prostrate himself before Ed and beg for forgiveness, no matter how long it took. It simplifies the narrative, but is that the show we're watching and is that fair to Stede?

Stede instantly forgave Ed after choosing Calico Jack over him in front of everyone; the second breakup was longer and they had more time to do the whole negative self talk thing, but Stede still did deserve more grace, didn't he? With Season 2 (and its truncated run time!), we saw the criticisms that Ed forgave Stede too easily, but did he? They're on friendly terms, but there is still a wall.

See Ed's time in the Gravy Basket. The first three episodes were the Soup Show. It symbolized family or warmth or whatever (...I say as a robot who doesn't understand human feelings...), so it's a standout that Ed calling the soup poison is his feelings about accepting that warm domesticity, not something literal about Hornigold. He opened himself up to someone, and all he got was heartbreak and confirmation he was unlovable (and he was too scared to do anything about it).

And this is followed almost immediately by the baller line about a man being brought down in the place where he had definitely chosen Stede for the first time.

In the Gravy Basket, we had the metaphor on the feet (no shoes = death, shoes = life... there is good meta running around, but I'm too lazy to find it). Ed gains one shoe (putting him between life and death) when Stede starts to be led to his body, and Stede brings life to him (shoe shot!).

Stede is an anchor to life at this low point, but that doesn't mean that Ed completely forgives.

In Season 2, we don't have the Gloves as Metaphor with Ed anymore (half gloves when he meets Stede, no gloves at the academy, full gloves when he goes full kraken), but he still has other cues on how his feeling about Stede. We don't have the casual touches of Season 1, and everything feels "off." We're lacking in the tenderness, and Ed still is keeping his distance.

Ed and Stede have held hands this season, but not in a romantic way.

When we get to the romance, Ed doesn't put his hands on Stede's skin/hair like Stede does for him (production stills don't count!). In the third kiss, he pushes Stede's collar up as a barrier.

With what the audience was invited in for their love scene, Stede is visually more exposed and ready, and Ed is more distanced and closed off (that is NOT to say that Ed wasn't into it...).

Everything is close to what it should be, but it's not the perfect expression of love exploding across the screen. Something's off. The audience can pick up on it, and Stede, our autistic king, may subconsciously feeling it, but he is taking a lot of it at face value. (They slept together! They're a couple and an unbroken team now!)

On The Sex, is this the first time that Stede has received (verbal) concerns about his welfare in the series? He was told he was a monster, a plague, a defiler of beautiful things, and he's just been trying to live his life with no one refuting that even in a small way.

Sure, Ed said his fake heads idea didn't suck.

Sure... uh.... Ed said he wasn't a girl?

He gets some affirmation, they do something to help them feel alive almost losing each other, and he's intimate for the first time with the man he loves. Everything is going great! But everything instantly flips 180 degrees a few hours later. He's been holding it together well most of the season, even after thinking that Ed is literally dead, and y'all shouldn't judge him for a few mildly harsh words said without thinking. He feels foolish and used and heartbroken, and his bad day has just begun.

I hope I can get some thoughts up on the last part of 2x7 before the finale, but until then, here's some bonus sad face Stede during their first breakup, where Ed broke up with him in front of everyone! Everyone saw it! ("Never left" psh, likely story.)

How can you not be sad when he's sad??

We'll see what the finale does with them soon. Overall, I'm happy so far with Ed/Stede in Season 2. The rest of it... eh, Lucius/Pete is my happy spot. I'm hoping we get a good Ed/Stede payoff in the finale, and that we get to see more of their growth as a couple in Season 3 (manifesting!). It's rare that a show/movie/book/etc focused on just a romance sticks with the couple after that "finally together!" spot, and I want to see what this writing team does with that settled romance.

[eris-snow]

𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐉𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐲

Tags: bakugou x gn!reader, jealousy, Band AU, drummer bakugou, Quirkless AU, fluff,

Drummer Bakugou would be hot as hell. Disclaimer: The song Good 4 u from Olivia Rodrigo is in here so all props to her for this song because I am incapable of writing a single note.

God, he pissed you off. Bakugou can be one hell of an asshole, anytime, anywhere. You blew out an irritated scoff as you fixate your eyes on the blinding lights glaring down on the stage, determined to find a way to make yourself go blind so that you could stop looking at that emotionally-exhausting human named Katsuki Bakugou.

Unfortunately, his aura made it practically impossible to ignore him.

Your band had picked him up about a week after you guys formed. Jiro said she knew a guy that could fill in your drummer's vacant spot. After all, you needed a percussionist. Bands couldn't last long without one.

So when an angry, explosive and loud blond was dragged into the rented-out studio the very next day, you were hesitant to believe that this was the man that was going to solve all your problems. He proved you wrong though.

"Why the hell do you want me in your stupid little band anyway?" He snarled, trying to pry off Kaminari's arm that was clamped around his shoulders. "Can't you just ask Icy Hot or something? I'm sure even Damn Deku learn how to do it if it meant helping you guys until you got a replacement!"

"But that person won't be you, Bakugou!" Kaminari moaned, determinedly and successfully getting the blond into the room with the help of Tokoyami and Yaoyorozu. "Please, man! You're the best there is close to campus! The school band won't even let us take anybody!"

"And I can see why!" The blond spat, still fighting the mass of limbs that blocked the door. "I didn't want to do this shit!"

You frowned from your spot, clicking the microphone to the stand as you folded your arms. "Are you sure about this?" You whispered to Jiro, who had her head cradled tightly in her hands. "Isn't he the one always getting the top marks on all the weekly tests the teachers give us? You sure he can play?"

Bakugou's neck jerked so hard that you thought he would get a whiplash. "Hah?" He stopped resisting, sharp eyes snapping to you. "The hell do you mean 'can I play?' I'm the best fucking person you'd find in this entire country!"

Tokoyami, Kaminari and Yaoyorozu slumped down in relief, winded.

You blinked, taken aback. Then, your lips curl into a sly smirk.

"Prove it."

He decimated any thoughts of getting another person the second he held those drumsticks.

Since those high school days, the 6 of you matured into a band that wrote and performed original music, posting it on any social media platform to let it gain traction.

Thankfully, with Jiro's parents being music producers, it was infinitely easier to learn what was in and find the direction your band was going in.

Even after years of performing, you were still a bundle of nerves before performing.

Not this time though.

Now, all could do was to remind yourself to stay calm, get into the zone, and channel all this irritation into your vocals to make your performance more realistic and impactful.

Your relationship with Bakugou would be described as...chaotic at best. As the main vocalist in the band, you were mostly in charge of the lyric writing and overseeing what was the chords and rhythm for each song.

Bakugou was the one who dwelled the most on each section to make sure your lyrics were nothing short of perfect.

There were times when it would be just the two of you in that studio, rehearsing and replaying original albums or favourite covers before the others came. Even if Bakugou and you would yell and glare at each other, both of you held begrudgingly respect for what each of you did.

Bakugou annihilated any competition for a drummer in your region, just like he said. And even though you never brag, Bakugou knows you have the confidence and lung capacity of a whale. Your technique was unquestionably better than Jiro's.

That's why Bakugou knew every habit and quirk you executed in or out of that studio. He'd gotten really good at observing especially you.

The way you would fidget when someone would tell you how amazing your singing was, obviously flustered. That incoherent laughter that you think sounds terrible but one that Bakugou absolutely adores because it enforces the genuinity of your reactions. The blond is proud to know that he has drawn that laughter out of you the most times out of all the people he's seen you interact with. The way your words can change from throat-ripping rasp to velvety smooth to fit any one of your songs.

Fuck, you're so clumsy and stupid and irritatingly mind-racking all the time, but he can feel his feelings slamming harder and harder against that bedrock wall of control he so desperately built to keep his mind clear.

You don't make it easy though.

Bakugou is obnoxious at times, and this was one of those occasions. There was a slip-up backstage, and he just wouldn't stop yelling. You get that he was angry, you were too, but this was one of the times to be professional and suck it up. You'd get to perform anyway, it was just a little hold-up because one of the lights stopped working. One of the male assistants even came up to you to offer you a drink in apology.

Still, Bakugou just had to make a scene.

He ripped gently took that beverage out of your hand and threw it away the second you got it. Snapping at you in his temper tantrum, lashing out a tired "whatever" as if he were a child. The nerve of this guy!

Control now, let loose later, you remind yourself behind those velvet black curtains. Ignoring the looks of concern from your bandmates and the pressing scowls of confusion Bakugou was giving you.

A practised smile frames your face as the curtains part, and that's when you were greeted by your ever-enthusiastic fans.

It's showtime.

Maybe your sneaky attempt at revenge went a little too overboard.

After all, almost half of the female fans of your band were always fangirling over the great Lord Explosion Murder that killed everyone with his music. You wanted to make him feel how you did for once, even in your own narcissistic way.

There's no way he'd like you anyway.

It was easy to get lost in the song you wrote about heartbreak, getting lost in the frenzy of emotions, the strumming of the electric guitar, the rhythm of the drums...

you could feel the music thriving in your bones today.

As you sang, you noticed a guy in the front row grinning so broadly that practically half his face was plastered with that smile. "I LOVE YOU Y/N!" You heard him shout, jumping along with the crowd as you transition into the bridge.

Maybe you just felt neglected with all the feelings bottled up at your throat with Bakugou. It's hard to say anything when you know it's not your place, after all. Maybe that's why you did what you did next.

Smiling alluringly, you lock eyes with that man in the crowd and sing.

"Maybe I'm too emotional

But your apathy's like a wound in salt

Maybe I'm too emotional

Or maybe you never cared at all"

His eyes light up so bright that it almost makes you chuckle. It felt nice to be reciprocated for once.

At the back of the stage, Bakugou stares at you in utter confusion. What the hell did you think you were doing? He thought, finishing his section and letting you transition back into the chorus.

"Well, good for you

You look happy and healthy, not me

If you ever cared to ask"

Twirling the drumstick between his fingers, he watches, stupefied, as you continue to blatantly flirt with the audience, looking so innocent even though Bakugou knows you know exactly what you're doing.

You smile at-some guy in the front row, the blond can't make the extra out-and-did you just wink at him?

Bakugou's nostrils flare, eyes burning with jealousy.

This was what he get for being an unceremonious idiot. Karma is having a field day today. He watched you flash that flirtatious smirk to that bastard one more time as he clicks his tongue and raises his drumsticks in the air.

Tch.

The symbols clang loudly under his aggressive playing style as he lets spiteful jealousy take over his actions. He strikes the drum harder than necessary, unable to do anything but express how he felt through his playing, and it certainly gets your attention because you just sing louder above his drumming.

Kaminari, stunned, racks up the volume as Tokoyami supports Bakugou's drumming, letting the vocals and the rhythm take charge with a hint of the main melody from Kaminari to tie the entire performance together.

The performance ends with you and Bakugou panting, having used so much energy up to prove a silent point to each other you both couldn't voice at the moment.

The crowd roars with applause. Jiro exhales in relief, grateful both of your childish reactions only fueled each other and didn't tear down the entire show. You all bow, and practically hurtle off the stage. Shit. Bakugou was not going to be happy.

-

"What the hell were you doing back there?!" Bakugou growls collapsing on the couch as if dropping a dumbbell, vermillion eyes fixated on you in pure, raw fury. The minute you got of the stage, Bakugou had dragged you away from your bandmates and flung you into some random room to 'talk to you privately'. You right. He was fuming. "Flirting with the audience like that...are you begging to cause problems?"

"What's wrong with engaging the audience, hah?" You fire back, eyes lit aflame. "My pitch was perfect today!"

"And my rhythm has never been better!" Bakugou flings, eyes locked with yours as you glare each other down with searing stares. "But does that mean I make those fucking pretty eyes to anybody? I fucking don't!"

"Maybe it's because it's nice to reciprocate for once?" You yell without thinking, voice booming. "You don't even know who those lyrics are for, asshole! They were meant to be for you!"

Stunned silence enveloped the room. Bakugou recoils, taken aback...

"Run that by me again?"

Your eyes widen, only just realising your mistake. The red in your cheeks swelled from anger to embarrassment, bite dissolving the minute he called you out.

You messed up. "I-" You run an exasperated hand through your hair, sighing. "That song was for you, Bakugou. I was just fed up because you were acting all cranky before the performance started. And the fact that your fans have been vexingly clingy lately. it was just a mix of things that bothered me for a while now that blew up all at once."

Bakugou replays the lyrics in his head, realisation hitting him like a truck.

You like him.

He takes a bold step forward, closing the space between the two of you.

He likes you.

"Bakugou-?"

"Your fans," He leans in a hair away, breath tickling your face. "They piss the shit out of me too."

Your breath hitches. Was he really-?

"You gonna leave me hanging or what?" Bakugou grumbles, the fury in his eyes seeping out to make way for a softness you're not used to seeing.

You close the gap between you two.

Bonus Part:

When Kaminari sees the both of you come back with joint hands, he immediately pumps his fists and high-fives Tokoyami. "Finally," He groans, "you've been dancing around each other for years now. I thought you would never get together!"

"SHUT THE HELL UP DUNCE FACE!"

[bugmomwrites]

29 Sugawara Headcanons but they gradually get more unhinged

My fave turns 29 today (it's still technically the 13th here) and this is what I'm doing with my time instead of yardwork or algebra homework. Happy birthday to the OG setter and king of chaos himself. There are some time-skip spoilers in here, references to drinking, smoking, and generally just getting into trouble. Hope you guys like it.

Floating around on the internet somewhere is a video of him at Tanaka and Kiyoko's wedding, dancing on a table and knocking the intricate centerpiece over. Nishinoya, the best man, is behind the camera laughing as his upperclassman nearly goes tumbling down a couple times over the blaring music.

He gets a pet and either names it after some random object like “cement mixer” or “armpit” or he gives it a human name like “Gregory”. Complains about his day to them like they're a little person like "That bitch Patrice stole my parking spot this morning...I know right?!"

Has one of those “women want me fish fear me” caps, and wears it proudly.

Has used Asahi to be able to take part in the “kids eat free” promotions at local chain restaurants. Is Sugawara bummed that most of his underclassmen are taller than him? Sure. Does it mean he gets free food when his close friend looks like a grown ass man with a mortgage? Absolutely.

Probably drives a little white mom van hybrid (maybe a Subaru or Prius). It has a bumper sticker that says “HONK IF YOU LOVE MILFS”

Plays with his kids at recess, but when someone starts to get cocky during Four Square or some other game, that Setter Sleeper Agent TM comes out and he has no issue spiking the rubber ball towards the little shit in question to knock them down a few pegs.

Will make the weirdest food combos, and get offended if you question him. What do you MEAN marshmallow fluff doesn’t go with pickles and shredded cheese??? Shame on you.

Some people say they “listen to all kinds of music”, but very few actually mean it. Sugawara is one of those people. You will hear Nikki Minaj, the monsters inc theme, commercial jingles from the 90’s-2000’s, all back to back. It’s enough to give anyone whiplash, and that’s exactly what he’s going for.

Suga didn’t always love extra spicy food, at least not as much as he does now. It started as a way to protect his leftovers from a hungry Daichi. Armed with nothing but a bottle of hot sauce, he eventually found the sweet spot of too spicy for his captain, but not so spicy that it wasn’t enjoyable.

After Kageyama arrived, demoting him, Sugawara found little moments of joy in shoplifting from Ukai’s store. Made awkward eye contact with Nishinoya as he was shoveling spicy chips into his school bag, worried about being caught red handed until his junior gleefully opened his jacket to reveal an unholy amount of popsicles lining the inside. A mutual understanding was made that day. Gave a few to Kageyama as an olive branch, but when Ukai recognized the packaging as the specific snack that keeps disappearing without payment, the poor guy is framed right then and there.

Sneaks into hotels and gyms to use amenities. Who cares if the pool says members only, a little confidence goes a long way.

Went to use the tennis courts, and the back of his shorts say “public enemy number one” in sparkly lettering. Some middle aged guy tried to argue with him and instead of hearing him out, he wordlessly hit the ball into his groin, with perfect aim.

Road rage but it comes out in the form of speeding and cutting people off instead of screaming out the window. But you can definitely hear him grumbling curses now and then.

Not too afraid of getting pulled over, most of the time it’s Daichi anyway. And even when it’s not, he calls him up and begs him to tell his coworker to “reconsider”.

Puts Bill Nye on the projector every Friday for his class so he can sleep at his desk, but sometimes does Kahoot! when he has more energy. Encourages the kids to come up with wild names, giving out prizes not just for highest score, but wildest shit on the board. May or may not be where he got inspiration for his cat's name.

Got on the good side of a lot of PTA moms, sometimes they have him over for dinner. Gets a bit silly after 2-3 glasses of wine though. Don't give him the nuclear codes.

Because lips are looser on nights like those, he has all the dirt on everyone. Not above blackmail if push ever comes to shove. Sure, he won't tell your husband about that affair you mentioned to the ladies over dinner- if you give him your famous cheesecake recipe, that is.

I like to think he orchestrated a fight club in his earlier years and that’s how he’s able to punch so hard.

His Twitter acc is apeshit, likes to make a game out of how quickly he can get famous people to block him. Collects them like Pokémon cards and laughs about it to his friends. Has a "hit list" except it's just which celebrity he wants to piss off next.

Also posted a video of him taking a fat bong rip, and tagged Daichi (a literal cop) before setting his phone to do not disturb.

In high school after having to play against what was probably the most unsportsmanlike team they've encountered, it was Suga’s idea to prank them with a few of his teammates. They got caught about 20 minutes in when Daichi went looking for Hinata and caught him red handed with his arms full of eggs, toilet paper rolls, and the guiltiest look on his face.

You know that cross eyed thing Pennywise from the movie It does, that turned out to not be cgi but a very real trick actor Bill Skarsgård pulled on set? Sugawara can do that too, scared the shit out of his teammates and other schools with it. Even their coach is unsettled.

The 3rd years went to a haunted house at one point after graduation, and then stopped for lunch somewhere. Daichi left to go get a couple beers for everyone, and, because the whole thing was Suga’s idea, tried to sneak up behind him when he came back. Instead of scream though, he clocked him in the face out of reflex, making Daichi drop the tray. Asahi is frantically trying to apologize to the waitress through tears for the mess of beer, blood and glass, Daichi is holding a bloody nose, and Sugawara is going red from trying not to laugh. They get their pictures taken and end up on a board that says DO NOT SERVE.

Vodka in coffee mugs have gotten him through the day on more than one occasion.

Puts his mugshot on Christmas cards, has it hung up in his house in a nice frame. Gifted one to all his friends that year. Many were horrified, some laughed, and one of them told him to hang tight while they got his gift- a mugshot of their own as well (it was probably Nishinoya).

Since his birthday is in June, when he was a kid his family was able to celebrate outside in the beautiful weather. His 15th fell on a Saturday, so they were able to have a much bigger celebration. Unfortunately, that year his older cousin brought her new boyfriend to the family barbecue, and he did NOT pass the vibe check. Maybe it was the speedo, or the douche-y attitude, but one minute Suga was grabbing the hot metal spatula off the grill, and the next thing the guy knew, there was a nasty burn mark branded onto his left ass cheek.

Skipped practice one day to look after his sick little brother, but instead of making soup and taking temperatures, they spent the whole evening playing Minecraft. Everyone is wondering where the hell their setter is, as the two of them lose track of time between building castles and fighting the wonder dragon. It wasn’t until it got dark outside and their mom came home before he realized he forgot to text the group chat. 

When it’s time for the DARE program at his school, he’s thrilled to see Daichi again, and constantly tries to distract him as he and a few other cops are trying to explain the dangers of drugs. He pretends to nod along and take everything in, like he doesn’t smoke pot every other week.

Was asked to babysit his nephew last minute, much to the relief of his brother. This would be very short lived though- a few hours later, he’s on tiktok and fretted with a clip of his older brother yeeting a slice of Kraft cheese at his son’s face. 

[cageyworld]

A nuanced recommendation for "Unchained Love" (浮图缘 – fútúyuán)

“Nuanced” meaning a lot of disclaimers, probably. First one being: I’m a U.S. American viewer. I’ve been studying Mandarin at my university since 2021 and I watch a lot of Chinese shows, but I am not of the culture of the source material. Inevitably, my perspective of the show is colored by my own Western upbringing. I can’t pick up on the finer details of language, clothing, history, etc. that may rankle other viewers, nor will I be fully conscious of all the ways my cultural viewpoint impacts my perception of the show.

With that said: I’ve been so charmed by “Unchained Love” that I thought others—perhaps especially my fellow Western watchers of these lovely Chinese-made shows—might enjoy it, too. There’s a lot to love.

I will keep spoilers to a minimum.

Some highlights of why I love this show:

Women voicing their rage and grief about patriarchal systems

A romance of respect and clear communication

Badass Dylan Wang (looking incredible in his costumes)

Found family

Cute dog

Angst with a happy ending

Read on to allow me to persuade you even more…

CRITIQUES—A.K.A. “THE JANK.”

THE TONE

I’ve read the criticism that the tone can be uneven, especially if you come to this (like I did) right after watching 苍兰决 “Love Between Fairy and Devil”. I agree. The tone is super uneven throughout the series.

The storyline contains some truly horrific and dramatic elements (see the list of content warnings at the end of this post), and yet tries to maintain an overall soft, romantic dramedy feel. It’s not successful in this and does create some dissonance. This dissonance is only amplified by…

THE MUSIC

The opening theme is a banger, but the scoring choices throughout the show itself are distracting. Sometimes we get plinky, Mickey Mouse comedy music when the dialogue and acting convey drama and high stakes—and occasionally, vice versa. From my experience, this isn’t unique to “Unchained Love,” but oh boy, is it striking in this series. The music seems to work against the narrative at times. I found myself saying, “I don’t feel like laughing right now!” at the screen. There can be emotional whiplash, from the very serious to scenes suddenly meant to be effortlessly light-hearted. It is not effortless.

WHAT GOT CENSORED

This show got chopped for sure. From what I can tell, it was largely the scenes of more overt sexual content between Xiao Duo and Bu Yinlou. This couple becomes respectfully, mutually horny for each other and it’s a bummer that so much of that got trimmed. That said, what remains is still lovely (and quite sexy at times).

The ending is also rushed in a way that feels like aggressive editing. It ends happily for the characters I loved most, and leaves lots of room for fanfiction expansion or extension, but it’s still a little unsatisfying as a viewer.

WHY THESE DIDN’T PUT ME OFF, PERSONALLY

I was able to make peace with the uneven tone mostly because of where the unevenness struck. The most serious elements of the show nearly all revolve around some aspect of violence against women. While this violence was not always treated with the gravity it warrants, it also wasn’t played for laughs. The choice to include each of these incidents is questionable, but I never felt the show was downplaying the seriousness of that violence itself.

Also, I appreciated that the women were in the forefront of those moments. We were expected to empathize with their situation.

For example, the opening episode’s plot of the deceased emperor’s brides being hanged as tribute to him wasn’t shown entirely as the horrific nightmare that is—but it also didn’t make all the women nameless, weeping beauties who existed only as tragic figures. Our heroine comes from within that group, and we see each of the women find their own way to deal. Some (understandably) weep, others negotiate their way out or flaunt their privilege to do so, others accept their fate. And then you have our Yinlou who is always eyeing an escape or a new foothold to a better situation.

We’re invited, tacitly or actively, to identify with the women being murdered. The violence against them isn’t set dressing. It’s very much an implied motivator for everything Yinlou does—she is a woman who fears the “cages” in which society can trap women, so she’s repeatedly calling attention to all those various cages.

There’s a later scene that’s not of much consequence overall where Yinlou comes upon a concubines’ graveyard. There are no markers with their names. She comments upon this and identifies with them, as a woman in their same situation. I deeply valued moments like this in “Unchained Love”—a character acknowledging how men in power are so often surrounded by “nameless” women whose own hopes and lives are forgotten.

One of the show’s major themes is: It is dangerous when powerless women catch the eye of powerful men.

THE GOOD – A.K.A. WHAT MAKES EVERYTHING ELSE WORTH IT

DYLAN WANG as Xiao Duo

I mean, he’s why I’m here, so we gotta start with him. I adored his performance as Dongfang Qingcang in 苍兰决 and he’s even more impressive as Xiao Duo, the head eunuch of the feared Zhaoding Bureau (FYI: in episode 2, we learn he’s not actually a eunuch—he’s pretending). This is an Earth-bound tale, so don’t expect the wild range of body-swapping or high drama of Hellfire power. Instead, he gives a far subtler performance where the harshness of the character blends smoothly with his softer moments.

He makes excellent use of his ability to look cold and cruel, and even the fact that he’s very handsome is relevant to the plot (because he, too, catches the eye of someone dangerous and powerful). For me, he disappeared into Xiao Duo in this performance. His mannerisms, body language, and tightly controlled expressions all felt so consistent with this man’s lived experience. He felt thoroughly three-dimensional and authentic.

Xiao Duo judges him. You. Xiao Duo judges everyone. CHEN YUQI as Bu Yinlou

I left “Ashes of Love” having most enjoyed Chen YuQi’s performance, so I was thrilled to see her in this. I like her energy on screen, and her goofy little smiles. She’s an uncouth mess as Bu Yinlou, and yet can believably play the perfect imperial concubine when she needs to. My fellow Eowyn “I fear a cage” and Beatrice “if I were man, I’d eat his heart in the marketplace” girlies will love Yinlou. Her fear of that patriarchal cage is one of her primary motivations throughout the series, and Xiao Duo is often the Benedick to her Beatrice in a “name the heart and the marketplace, baby” kind of way. Yinlou’s go-to problem-solving strategies are: gamble, lie, or set it on fire (literally).

Yinlou shares her secret fourth method of problem solving. SUPPORTING CHARACTERS

Not a dud in the bunch as far as I’m concerned. Everyone’s acting is strong and all the major characters are given the opportunity to be three-dimensional, to have their own perspectives and hopes. I found one of the side love stories a bit silly and cringey, but even that couple won me over by the end. Yinlou’s closest companion is her servant (played by Nan He – Duo Er La from “Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty.” I was thrilled to see her!). Xiao Duo has his own devoted right-hand man, and even a himbo of a general. There’s manly devotion everywhere, women being friends, bonding with sex workers, and hierarchies dissolving to become “family.”

The four pillars of the found family.

A braincells trio.

XIAO DUO and BU YINLOU TOGETHER

This is very much a “the man falls first” story and it seems likely that some of the early scenes got chopped, which is unfortunate, but I will say, it didn’t bother me. Perhaps it’s my years of writing and reading fanfiction, but I could find the threads easily.

Bu Yinlou catches Xiao Duo’s eye first by being clever. He’s initially wrong about what she’s scheming—but he’s right that she’s a schemer who is smarter than she pretends to be. For her own survival, she tries to stay on his good side and he's used to people praising him (or paying him) to get his favor by flattering his power, his strength, his ambition. Bu Yinlou starts praising his kindness, his mercy, his intelligence. For his own reasons (no spoilers!), he’s deliberately made himself a terror. Bu Yinlou starts talking to the real person he is inside.

Xiao Duo gets the thumbs up from Yinlou.

We do get the delightful Chinese drama tropes like slow-motion gazing with the love theme playing, but I didn’t see it as a normal “oh, she’s so beautiful” sort of moment. She’s being ridiculous, and Xiao Duo is struck that this woman is being ridiculous for him. He’s the scariest man in the Imperial Palace! People literally drop to the ground or run when they see him! And here’s this woman trying to make him smile, or grabbing his sleeves, or heckling him. What a strange creature she is…and you know, she’s rather pretty, too…

Pretty (and drunk at the mo')

After only a few meetings, Xiao Duo and Bu Yinlou instinctively understand one another, even if they don’t fully realize it. They’ve met the other person who plays 4-D chess and who never wanted to be here in the first place. I find it truly a joy to watch them—two people who barely trust anyone—maneuver around one another and learn to believe each other.

The actors seemed very comfortable with one another, so there’s lots of casual intimacy and affection in their body language together. With Xiao Duo, Yinlou feels safe enough to experience attraction and express her own desires for the first time. Her giddiness and girlishness about him are so heartwarming to watch.

Something has been awakened in her...

We also get the fantastic subversion of some classic romantic tropes. I admit: I’m a viewer who is frustrated by major conflicts erupting from simple misunderstandings, characters deliberately withholding information from each other—or worse—not having the five-minute conversation necessary to clear the air. Xiao Duo and Bu Yinlou COMMUNICATE. They truly treat each other as equals.

Avoiding spoilers, there’s one moment where a bad guy captures Bu Yinlou to bait Xiao Duo into a trap. A man in love, Xiao Duo storms out to go rescue her—and then pauses. “This is a trap,” he realizes, and he goes back home. He trusts that Bu Yinlou can get herself out of the scrape—and she does. Bu Yinlou does the same for him a few times. They profoundly trust one another and it shows on screen through their actions, not just their words. I found that unbelievably refreshing, even if it means we don’t get the HIGH DRAMA of so many other romantic dramas.

It made for a subtler experience that is perhaps just for me (but I write this in the hopes that it’s not). All the pain of the later episodes comes from truly understanding that Xiao Duo and Bu Yinlou would be happy together. Not in a soft-focus, dreamy-eyed, picture-perfect way, but in a real and tangible way. They could live together with their friends and their dog, raise some goats, and have wonderful life with one another. But there are powerful, dangerous, unpredictable forces in the way, and that hurts beautifully to watch.

THE PLOT

“Nirvana in Fire” this ain’t. The imperial palace intrigues are broad and only rarely more than 2-dimensional, but I still found myself delighted by some of the unexpected twists. There are characters I loathed in episode 1, and then grieved in episode 36. That’s the good stuff.

Bu Yinlou is the emotional center of the series. She wants to be free. The primary conflict of the show, then, is built around two suitors: One who will help her fulfill her dreams, even if it hurts him, and the other who will make her dreams match his, even if it hurts her.

This is all happening within larger maneuvers of outside forces trying to take down the empire. To them, Yinlou is a pawn in a larger game to control the emperor and Xiao Duo. (And Yinlou does not appreciate being treated like a pawn.)

THE VILLAIN

I have complex feelings about the primary antagonist for the show. I think that’s a good thing. He feels, in many ways, like an Incel given imperial power—he is both a sad, awkward, lonely man, and an entitled, spiteful monster. He’s played so deftly by Peter Ho, it took several episodes for me to realize he was the antagonist. On rewatch, it can be heartbreaking to follow his story, too, because there were moments of intervention where it could have gone differently. That, to me, makes for a richly imagined antagonist—who goes full “scenery chewing” villain toward the end. That, too, is compelling to watch. Peter Ho was clearly having a good time.

A PERSONAL CONCLUSION (and maybe a plea for fanworks)

“Unchained Love” is not perfect, but there’s such clear heart in the performances that it more than makes up for the show’s weaknesses. They explore storylines and themes and especially gives Yinlou some moments that I’ve longed for in a show maybe all my life. I like that Eowyn in the Lord of the Rings movies talked about fearing “a cage.” I wish she’d gotten to talk more. Yinlou gave voice to so much of what I wanted to hear her say.

“Unchained Love” quickly joined the tops of my favorite Chinese media, alongside “The Untamed” and “Yin Yang Master: Dream of Eternity.” I will probably end up writing some fanfiction for it, and I hope others will too. The gifsets on Tumblr have been so excellent that I can only hope for more. More fanworks, I guess that’s what I’m saying. There’s such great fanworks potential in this series. It’s in that sweet spot of having compelling characters, beautiful costumes and settings, and juuuuussst enough left on the cutting-room floor that we fans have all the room in the world to play.

HOW TO WATCH

The first two episodes are up for free on YouTube with English subtitles. It’s also streaming on both Viki and iQiyi. I liked it so much, I bought it on DVD from AustinDVDStore on ebay. The subtitles move too fast sometimes, but hey, I’m practicing my Mandarin anyway…

CONTENT WARNINGS

For the show overall:

The entire show deals with the idea of women as objects—which means there are often people treating women like objects. This is depicted as a bad thing, but it’s still hard to watch.

Some gender essentialist nonsense is spewed in relation to eunuchs and what it means to be “a man.” Later in the series, the villain becomes particularly fixated on this concept.

For specific storylines:

Opening episodes revolve around concubines of the deceased emperor being killed in tribute to him.

Accidental death of a child in episode 4.

A man in charge of the Imperial Mausoleum targets and sexually threatens, harasses, and assaults a woman forced to live there.

Yinlou’s father is verbally abusive to the women in his family.

Yinlou’s sister is forced to marry an enemy prince; this enemy prince is violent and threatening to her. The emperor is also violent and cruel to this character. (Yinlou’s sister is essentially a “what if Yinlou did what she was told” character, so her storyline highlights that going along with these powerful men won’t save you… It’s rough.)

The emperor’s dissent into tyrannical behavior is paired with a physical disability he develops. He also becomes fixated on his inability to bear children.

[medea10]

Medea Played Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, The DLC’s (Part III)

Just because the main story is over, doesn't mean you have to stop playing the game.

Once you get back from your adventure in Area Zero, Briar has quickly written a book about the ordeal.

An apology for doing absolutely fuck-all when Terapagos was kicking all of our asses and for not controlling Kieran. Fuck no and fuck you.

Actually, you don't have to keep it for long. In Kitakami, go to the Crystal Pond, have Terapagos, and watch as things make no sense.

That's right. A mist comes through and you meet with the professor. You have an in-depth chat about things and in the end, you exchange Briar's book for the Scarlet Book. Everything comes back around full-circle. Back at the school...

Go to Amarys and she'll feed Koraidon/Miraidon a supplement that'll make him fly now.

No, she still doesn't call them by their actual name.

Outside the school, you can meet Mr. Snacksworth. A man who has apparently met nearly every legendary (except Dialga and Palkia) and has crafted snacks for each one.

Once you capture 200 pokemon for your Blueberry pokedex, go to Perrin for a special quest in Area Zero. However, after you complete the request Perrin only gives you a Park ball. You know, the balls you use at the National Park in Johto.

In the clubroom, you can spend those BP's on the item printer, throwing styles, or changing the music.

Cute choices and all, but might I suggest some better songs?

*Mt. Pyre

*Route 27

*Route 44

*The three lakes in Sinnoh

*Lavender Town

Just to name a few.

And of course, you can invite coaches to the club room. Invite two certain coaches at the same time and they might strike up a conversation and you might learn something. Here are some of the things I learned.

*Katy was the one who gave Kofu the Venonat wallet

*Grusha was a fan of Iono's back when she first started streaming

*Nemona knows Lacey from a party a few years prior and gave us confirmation by saying her father Clay's name

*Poppy is nine-years old

*Hassel knows Drayton and his granddad

*Clavell thinks Mr. Jacq-strap is a total slob

*Drayton is a total dick to Kieran long-after the incident

*A lot of the gym leaders are a bit resentful towards Geeta

Let's not forget the gifts and trades! After you battle the coaches, you get a gift. The first time, you might get cool stuff like phone cases, Drayden's black tracksuit, and...

Clive's wig? I look so dead inside.

Invite everyone on the list at least 3 times and trade with all of them will allow you to invite the mystery person named Saffron. That person of course is Cyrano, the director of Blueberry Academy. Defeat him in battle and he'll trade you his Shiny Blitzle.

Let's return to Uva academy and help Team Star.

I got major whiplash seeing Eri here.

Giacomo and Eri ask you for help in tutoring the other Team Star members and hide it from Penny too. It didn't go as planned, but there was a happy conclusion. Plus, you get some new outfits in the process.

This leads to Atticus being grateful for the help that he makes his own garment knock-offs to be bidded on.

Many of these items you might recognize from past games like shoes from Aether, helmets from ORAS, and another reminder of Ball Guy's existence from Sword/Shield. Getting all the items are very costly with most auctions costing as much as 365,000 wing-wangs.

And now, let's get to the Mochi Mayhem.

First of all, you must get this mythical pecha berry from the mystery gift. Once you get it, go to Peachy's store in Kitakami. You notice a certain pink object move and then Arven calls asking to stop by your home. Next thing you know, the object is gone.

Back home, Nemona and Penny joined Arven. There, you also get a letter from Kieran asking for you and your friends to come to Kitakami. He's using snail-mail due to not having a smart-Rotom phone. Before we leave, we learn something about Penny.

Her father used the word "Adven-tour". So it's a good chance that her father is Peony. Which means her sister is Peonia. Which means her uncle is Chairman Rose. I have so many questions and this is the only time we hear about Penny's papa. Once we're in Kitakami, we're greeted with a familiar face.

Kieran is a meek cinnamon roll again. I guess the answer all along was to have him battle with Nemona. Nemona beat the pants off this boy but also had him enjoy himself.

Unfortunately, there is something wonky going on in Kitakami. Carmine has been acting weird. And...um, how do I go about this?

She flaps like a chicken and says the word "Mochi" over and over.

With Carmine acting strangely, there's only one thing to do.

I am...just wow.

After this idiocy, we step outside and it turns into a cliche horror film trope.

Everyone in the town is slowly turning into these flapping, mochi-munchers.

Even Kieran's grandparents get hit with this mochi-demic.

Also, not helping in my suspicions on these two being Jessie and James. I know that's not their names, but Gramps battles you with Arbok and Weezing.

Back at Peachy's, we find the mystery pokemon causing this trouble. But it winds up shooting mochi at us.

Penny and Arven eat up. I avoided it. And Kieran got conked on the head with it. And before you can say, "Mochi, Mochi"...

They were under the mochi spell.

Before you know it, the entire place is surrounded by moch-ombies.

It's just that Nemona is too hard to possess fully.

Once you beat Nemona, you have to fight Peacharunt and catch it.

And those are the DLC's.

The Teal Mask was just okay. I think the only thing I really liked was just Ogerpon and the ability to catch some of my favorite pokemon.

The Indigo Disk, I was actually surprised by. The fact that you couldn't play that one until you've finished Teal Mask and the main game in total meant some major stuff was going to go down. Plus, the battles are a lot harder than normal.

Mochi Mayhem was cute. It reminded me of some of those events for legendaries like the ones in R/S/E or the Victini one in B/W. I'm glad that we got an event pokemon through mystery gift. Something I wish we could have had with Zarude back in gen 8 instead of that bullshit joining a newsletter or something stupid.

So...I suppose this is the end of Scarlet and Violet. Unless we get more mystery gift surprises, this is probably it. I am a little upset that there isn't a battle tower like in previous games. And more important, Pokemon Horizons is going to go off and do it's own thing, not attaching it to the game whatsoever. We'll see what happens at the end of February as Pokemon Day always arrives with huge news in the games department.

And that was Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.

[autismnation]

ok so since the whiplash fandom has about 2 people active i have decided to share my andrew neiman headcanons that i have cherished in my notes app for a few months now. most of these are autism headcanons. anyway enjoy !

1. he’s autistic & was diagnosed around the age of twelve, however only he and his dad know, he hasn’t told anyone and neither has his dad

2. he also has generalised anxiety

3. he masks a lot in public but is happily unmasked in private & around his dad (his dad is super supportive and listens to andrew whenever he asks for help/tells him something about autism)

4. andrew’s resting face is really blank, like full on no thoughts behind those eyes

5. andrew’s fave colour is brown because it’s a mix of all colours and he likes how it reflects how unique everything in the world is, but he tells people his fave colour is light blue so they don’t think he’s boring

6. andrew has super bad sensitive issues and andrew wears lots of neutral coloured, baggy clothes due to this

7. andrew is bisexual, nonbinary, they/he pronouns and gets lots of gender euphoria when people call him ‘pretty’ or ‘cute’

8. he’s very sensitive to light so he’s almost always squinting & he wears sunglasses indoors when nobody can see him (but not with people bc he doesn’t want to be judged)

9. they’re quite insecure and self conscious & he is almost always policing his body language to make sure he isn’t ‘weird’ (the effects of ableist bullying)

10. he barely gets any sleep because he spends most of his time at night overthinking

11. they also feel like the world is going too fast for them so he spends time at night processing the day’s events

12. his fave way to stim is to blink a lot really fast in a short amount of time. he loves to do it in time to his fave songs too (if anyone asks him what he’s doing he just says some bs about how there’s something in his eyes)

13. their most common stim is tapping any surface (usually his hands, legs or a table) to the beat of a song. it can be a song playing or a song stuck in their head

14. he really, really hates change and it makes him get anxiety attacks whenever there’s sudden change

15. that’s why he hated school sm,, as soon as he got used to his new timetable, new teachers, new seating plans etc. it became a new year and it changed again

16. andrew rlly wants to get his ears pierced but hates the idea of some random stranger touching him (haha surprise he’s touch adverse) so instead he wears clip on piercings. but again, only at home bc he’s too insecure to wear them in public in case he gets made fun of

17. adding onto the touch adverse thing, they can’t handle being touched in more than one place at the same time & u have to ask before you touch them or it freaks him out a little.

18. he sleeps with a weighted blanket bc he loves the pressure, it helps with his anxiety

19. andrew’s a very plain and picky eater (sensory issues),, but sometimes he eats spicy food whenever he’s sensory seeking

20. he has a bunch of teddies from when he was a kid but he hides them under his bed. whenever he feels particularly sad or he can’t sleep after trying for hours, he gets his fave plushie and cuddles it

21. his fave plushie is a caterpillar with the drums (no, it’s not playing the drums, it’s just drums connected to the caterpillar LMAO)

22. andrew gets their dad to cut their hair bc again, he hates strangers touching him & he can’t cut his own hair

23. he’s almost always listening to music bc 1) it’s his special interest and 2) he’d rather have one stimuli he can control instead of a bunch of others he can’t bc yep, you guessed it!! he has sensory issues!

24. he has a rlly bad time understanding tone. for example, he can’t understand sarcasm (like, he can be sarcastic himself but he can’t understand if someone else is being sarcastic)

25. also, he used to be bullied a lot as a kid & people would pretend to be his friend (y’know those type of popular people 😒) and he would believe them, even though it was clear to everyone else they were making fun of him. and bc of that, he now assumes the worst of new people :(

26. their comfort item is their drumsticks. they brings them everywhere with them, even if he isn’t planning to play the drums, and he can calm himself down just by holding them

27. he bites his nails and the skin on the tips of his fingers (due to both stimming & an anxious habit)

28. he’s almost always has plasters covering some parts of his hand, usually his fingers, and he doodles smiley faces and stars on them

29. they barely have any friends & so they talk to themself a lot and sometimes when he feels particularly lonely he pretends he’s talking to an imaginary friend he made up or his favourite musicians

30. he’s so blunt and brutally honest all the time (technically this is canon but idc) & cannot control his tone at all

31. he usually drums late into the night until hes too exhausted to move so he falls straight asleep without overthinking

32. they have very bad impulse control and they lash out a lot (snapping at people and punching things usually) but after the whole fletcher thing, they got help for it so its a little better but he still has scarred knuckles and such

33. he hates all festivities bc its practically hell for his sensory issues but if he had to pick his favourite it would be xmas bc he likes seeing people smile when they open their gifts (he’d also love to dress up as santa and give kids gifts but he hasn’t found a costume that’s sensory safe for him yet)

34. he has to sleep with a blanket on his face e.g on his cheek or covering his mouth otherwise he literally can’t sleep

35. he has really bad emotional regulation and he has the worst case of alexthymia ever bro he doesn’t know what he’s feeling 95% of the time his go to phrase is literally “i’m ok i think how are you?” & he has no sense of identity

36. andrew literally has NO sense of self care like this dude over works himself so hard and has frequent shutdowns & meltdowns like their dad literally has to intervene its so bad their dad forced him to see someone because of it

37. speaking of, shutdowns happen more often than meltdowns for him and he goes nonverbal often

38. the only touch he likes is when people play with his hair but hes kinda picky about it he likes people running their fingers through his hair but if u try plait it or put it into a bobble or do anything to their scalp andrew immediately will recoil

[autumn-foxfire]

Movie 12! Time for the middle finger at Gosho's decision to try and make Shinichi tone deaf movie! Although he recently realized doing so would mean Shinichi couldn't understand the sound of the phone call so he once again changed his mind. We love a consistent writer.

And it starts off with a bang! Literally!

Shinichi and Ai showing us they have the superior relationship in the series in the introduction, as always.

And of course its followed by the lackluster relationship between him and Ran.

Ran: Do you want to come?

Shinichi: Sorry Ran, I can't go.

Ran: But maybe you can! (and keeps asking when Shinichi informs her again that he genuinely can't)

Shinichi finally: I just told you I can't so please stop meddling in my affairs.

Ran: Oh I'm just a meddling karate idiot am I (he didn't say that), well I'll insult you in turn and then hang up on you.

Such a great and romantic relationship guys! It's not even playful teasing, it's Ran pulling a hissy fit because Shinichi isn't doing what she wants him to do and got upset when he got a bit annoyed she wouldn't take no for an answer.

This is one of my favourite movies just because of the music.

Reiko has no chill. Poor Agasa, he puts effort into those quiz. Though Shinichi also finds them stupid so he can't win anywhere.

I love the Detective Boys, they went to a celebrity singer and asked for her help and somehow got it XD

LMAO Shinichi quickly trying to get in Ai's good books after he told her she was a bit stuck-up like Reiko by telling her he meant she was a pretty as her.

Oh my god Ran, he just told you he couldn't join you and to stop asking him when the answer wouldn't change, there's no reason to take your anger out on Sonoko for it.

Why are they calling it a fight?! It wasn't a fight, Ran was behaving like a brat because she didn't get her way. Don't blame Shinichi for this. He usually is the ass to Ran but this time the fault is all on her. God they really can't resist making their relationship god fucking awful even in movies.

I need them to understand what tone deaf means. You can't have perfect pitch and be tone deaf because being tone deaf means you can't tell the differences in pitch and Shinichi can. He just can't sing, there is a difference.

Genta deserved to be poisoned, really. He's lucky that it wasn't deadly in nature.

Reiko, if you're planning to talk to Genta's parents about how they raised him, she should do the same for all the DCMK parents. Give them the verbal whiplashing they deserve.

I love murder happening as classical music plays. So fancy.

Awww poor Takagi, he got intimidated by Reiko.

Once again I repeat myself, the people don't have to have a link to Shinichi (or Ran) in order for him to want to protect them. This is a boy who will save murderers and serial killers because he views life as precious and I hate when the act like he would need a reason beyond that to protect them (I know they're implying that he only wants to help her because she's the reason he and Ran stopped arguing when in middle school which makes me want to gag).

Shinichi kept the shooting secret too because Reiko wants him too (and also because he's probably interested in knowing why the culprit didn't shoot when he had a great shot).

I love they just let Kogoro accuse a man of serial murder and the police did not ask him for his reasoining and evidence before they took him to the man's home.

Shinichi bonds more with Reiko than he does with Ran. It makes sense, considering how much alike she is to Ai who is a much better friend to Shinichi and him to her than either he or Ran will be with one another (at least how they're written in canon).

Detective Conan is so insane. In no other anime will you have a shrunken teen knock a phone off its reciever and then imitate the sounds of the phone buttons in order to call the police for help. Oh they were stranded in the middle of a lake near a dam I should add. Also for once Shinichi wasn't off tune XD

Shinichi and Reiko are cut from the same cloth, lying to the police to get their own way. And both of them know each other did. Shinichi isn't wrong, Reiko is so much like Ai.

Oh fuck off Shinichi, you don't give as much of a shit about Ran as you like to believe you do and we all know it.

I mentioned in a poll earlier the oldest song I know is Amazing Grace. I am not ashamed to admit it was because of this movie.

I appreciate the movie naming the music that is being played.

And fuck off Ran as well. Don't make this movie about you and your shitty behaviour.

Another great part of this movie, Reiko helping Shinichi stall for time, Ai telling Shinichi about Satou's plan and Satou getting to be the one who stops the criminal from blowing the hall up. For a change, the female characters have their moment to shine in very important ways. Even Sonoko gets a moment. Ran... someone get her better writers.

And it's quite sad that this case was caused by a misunderstanding between two people.

YES. SHE AND SHINICHI ARE PARTNERS IN CRIME.

Shinichi, why are you rewarding Ran's bratty behaviour from the start of this movie. She does not deserve it and needs to learn to accept that Shinichi told her no.

Anyway, a great movie. Remove the forced relationship between Ran and Shinichi, especially Ran's shitty behaviour, and it would be an almost perfect movie for me.

[kibbits]

There’s something both terrifying and comforting about how the break a leg!boys interact with y/n. On the one hand, they’re machines capable of tossing you around like a rag doll with no awareness of the fragility of human flesh. On the other, they’re machines who can just straight up ignore the limits of puny human strength. You want uppies, they’ll give you uppies, tango dips, bridal carrys, you name it and they can do it regardless of shape or size.

Yeeeess, YEEEESSS!! You get it, Anon!!

Ehehehe, yeah - Once they understand those limits (physical and, yknow, asking permission), then it's fun, and comforting, and even useful! (changing light bulbs has never been this easy dkdjd)

And I imagine if you're touch starved, you both get to solve that by having the equivalent of 3am kitchen counter conversations just casually sprawled over each other like lazy cats in some corner somewhere (or, if you don't like touch, just both sprawled somewhere backstage - think like exhausted people after a show djdnd)

But before that? When they think that the world is a stage, and people (especially Fazbear employees) can be props? That's kind of terrifying!

Especially since your only real defense is how willing they are to play pretend with you, and to follow the rules and cues you can come up with.

Well, until they learn how people work on the personal level, at least.

(Adding a readmore cause I now realize it got long djdnd)

At least, for dancing and stuff like that, the most you would probably be worried about it getting motion sick? (And also it's kind of terrifying that the huge sentient hunk of metal won't let you LEAVE until the musical number's done. And you don't know how they want it to end. Better know how and when to jump in if it's taking a dramatic turn!)

Especially with Moon! Like: Sun's the hero. He might manhandle you, and it might be uncomfortable or scary, but ultimately you're safe. He's just used to having a STAFF bot co-star so he can be rough but not whiplash-rough.

Moon, though - he's supposed to be a villain! Seeing how skittish and uncomfortable you are means he's doing a great job!! If the play called for death, he was encouraged to break the bots for dramatic effect! (no blood and gore, but bits of robot flying everywhere! STAFF bots are cheap to replace!)

But there's many kinds of villains, and you can kind of manipulate the 'story'. At least, turn a brutal villain into a crafty, scary one that doesn't kill but terrifies. (Or, like, a Megamind kind of one if you're clever enough and find a way!)

Convince the dragon that he needs the princess alive, and all that... You want a heel, though, something that's fun to root against or be scared of!

When you're all friends, sometimes the whimsy still takes them to lead you in a dance or something, but they'll be way more clear about it, and give you plenty of chances to refuse or back out if you're not feeling it

Thanks for the ask!!!! I am. Rotating this in my mind so hard. I love to draw those interactions most ehehehehe

[venting-corner]

Miraculous sibling AU part 1

What do you think Adrien needs? Good character development? Correct. Being the mc of his own story? Indeed. Screentime? True. An honest person in his life? Also true. He needs all of those things, but most of all, for these to happen he needs a good role model. After all, every adult in Adrien's life failed him (not sure about Emilie yet). Therefore, introducing older sister au!

(basically, this is me giving Adrien a role model that loves him with no strings attached)

Name: Lovett Agreste

Age: 19

Looks like a carbon copy of "the father of the year"

With her always being there for Adrien, whiplash of Gabriel changing from bad to worse would affect him more and not at the same time

However, as Lovett is 19 she is away in college (rebellion!) and can't support Adrien like she used to. Because of her 'little' rebellion Gabriel keeps an eye on Adrien more, but this also inspires Adrien to fight back and go to school behind his father's back.

Mr. "Fashion designer" tries to limit Adrien's interaction with Lovett, deeming her as a lost cause and a disappointment, but Lovett's collage knowledge comes in handy to help Adrien from a distance, giving him advice on love(she doesn't know anything about love), girls, interaction(from her own limited experiences, she's also learning), and even heroing, without knowing. She promises to get him away from mr.desperation, unfortunately despite her efforts Adrien still excuses his father's action, but not as severe as in canon. She's there as a good ranting partner, letting Adrien express his emotions in his civilian form and she listens.

That doesn't mean they don't have fights, especially regarding Mr.Insecurity. While they both have tempers, Lovett doesn't have a good handle on it and raises her voice to defend her argument without knowing. Screaming in general is a great way to let out her frustration, but it affects Adrien as it reminds him of their father, showing how similar they are. Adrien immediately falls into his obedient behavior he has around Mr. Superiority complex, but there's a different feeling that he doesn't have around Mr. Loneliness. Years of trusting his sister and feeling free to be himself with her makes him feel comfortable enough to argue, push back and scream. Something he would never dare to do to anyone else, maybe villains. So there are two sides that are fighting to be the main one. (I don't know how to continue)

She constantly sends memes to him and challenges him to a pun war.

When Chat Noir started his hero career, she became his fan and always gets into an argument with Adrien about how he is the best, funny, important. She even sends him pictures of his merch that she specifically ordered from France. Adrien doesn't know if he should be happy or die from embarrassment, so he decides to do both.

They sometimes suddenly play out anime or movie scenes, throwing quotes left and right. It also helps to be close to their mother, as she was an actress.

Because Mr. Hypocrite is Mr. Perfection, she also learned how to play piano and she has conflicting feelings about that as she loves piano. She bought a compact keyboard, so they could play duets over face time. When Adrien practices whatever piece he needs to perfect, she abruptly interrupts with other music. Like anime intros

For the last part she comes back before the collector, if Marinette is going to have a master that knows who she is, then Adrien is going to have a role model that knows about Chat Noir. A good parallel, don't you think?

[voxasks]

🫐 -Hey there, why not get in on this, haha. Let's go, show me what ya got TV man- Jokes aside, I am a young woman in her 20s going to university for a psychology degree. I am very ambitous & goal oriented, even if it is sometimes very intense. To the point of hyperfixation bordering on obsession. I was going for journalism originally, but I changed majors because I didn't like how much I would have to lick the butts & shoes of yellow journalists who aren't worth my respect or time. I wanted to be part of the information side of things & keep people informed on the happenings around them. But all they do from my perspective is waste hours churning out fiction for views. If I wanted to do that, I would have pursued acting as a career, which is a hobby of mine. I like community theater a lot. It is a fun escape from everything. Something just so satisfying about putting on a show, where the moment I step out on that stage & feel those lights & eyes on me, I am no longer concerned with my problems. The mask is on & won't be off until later~! Music is my other passion. I love writing my own music and lyrics. I play the violin, piano, & guitar. I am taking singing lessons for fun too. My few friends describe me as the one they look to for honest opinions, even if it might not be something they want to hear. I am also weirdly regarded as a ball of energy. I am not a recluse, I just have intense trust issues. It is probably due to the pathetic jokes of relationships I have had, among other potential trauma inducing experiences. I love going out, just only with people I would trust my life with or myself. I am still quite introverted, but I do like the atmosphere of people having a great time & me having a good time, even if it is dancing on my own. If I feel like it, I will just make the decision to disappear for a weekend & hop back around come Monday like I didn't just drop off the planet to who knows where & do who knows what. I am used to the not so great side of life. Walking to school, seeing a dead body on the side of the road, later on seeing those infamous white lines, hahaha. What a day that was, or the time I had to hit the deck from a drive-by. You get used to that rough life than wham in a place that is weirdly sanitized and "safe." It feels like whiplash. I cope with my experiences with humor. Rather laugh than cry, you know. Psych became my interest after taking a random elective in it, & I was hooked on being able to make connections about the world & people around me. Giving me a sense of understanding some of the why's I have asked for years. I'm still learning more, too. I have some ideas that are not exactly conventional & push a few boundaries with other fields of science & ethics. Regardless, I hope to use the knowledge I am gaining to help others help themselves. I think that is a key component in life, to be able to help yourself, even if it means getting/seeking help in order to get to a place where you can do that for yourself. If that makes any sense. With all this said, enjoy your hellish morning, abysmal afternoon, explicit evening, or sinful night. Whichever it may be for you, I like to cover the bases~!

“it  feels  like  you  took  psychology  to  make  sense  of  the  things  that  has  happened  in  your  life  subconsciously.  at  least,  that’s  what  people  do  from  experience  anyway.  it  sort  of  feels  like  you  have  adhd  as  well  due  to  your  spontaneity,  being  described  as  a  ‘ball  of  energy’  and  having  many  interests,  but  hey,  i’m  far  from  being  some  lab  coat  shrink  who’s  qualified  enough  to  sit  behind  a  desk  to  rot  with  everyone  else’s  trauma.  you  want  to  stay  true  to  yourself  no  matter  what,  thus  opting  out  of  journalism  to  avoid  kissing  other  people’s  asses,  i  can  respect  that.  you  sound  ambiverted,  someone  who  struggles  to  find  the  comfortable  balance  sometimes  but  everyone  does  too.  and  hey,  a  dead  body.  must  be  a  big  deal  back  in  the  living  world,  huh?  how’ve  you  been?”

based off of the 200 follower event.

[horriddler]

playlist for my beloved redacted babies [2]

kinda had a hard time making these but i have just made asher and geordi! + ivan and an imperium playlist

emo punk asher

really likes paramore and fall out boy in all honesty. also let’s say this playlist is all the (music) phases he has been in ever since he was a teen and now compiled with his current music taste!

him in the 2000’s was like hell for david because asher had this jukebox that he plays emo music with full volume sometimes.

david listens to ash ramble about the new blink 182 album coming out when they were young LOL and sometimes davey can’t admit that he likes some of the songs ash plays in the car.. (david’s playlist says so)

ash had loads of piercings (nipples, bottom lip, septum, etc) and those spike accessories but now took most of them off which made the holes close up :’)

loved to lie about his fake tat

geordi (kin???&:&-)

take it or leave it, this is just geordi’s (aka mine) spiralling anxiety and the playlist is just a brainrot of him

he gets one of my favourite genres and the funny haha songs that makes your brain shut off because he’s depressed and overstimulated like that

this adds to the fuel for cutie because fuck geordi’s a really tender guy and seeing how his mind works?? unfiltered? that’s just hell especially for geordi’s way of deep thinking. i see geordi as me really. but i see myself as cutie too.

mm literal brainrot

sadism’s hold ivan

hoho..hohohooh i’m fucking proud of this one

i felt a little happy and some morbid concern here but i think i did a pretty good fucking job idk

his disturbing vibe during vega’s manipulation is just fucking incredible to me. he is what my pinterest looks like.

caravan adds a nice touch to this playlist (if you watched whiplash)

ivan i love you, you my bbg but holy fuck you’re complex and i’m so attracted to it

but anyway

laplace’s angel (hurt people? hurt people!) by will wood could be his song mwa mwa + moon age for some disturbing touch!

imperium album

okay i literally have no idea why i made this but i just let it be because why not, you know??

idk what to say…LMFAOO

this playlist could be disturbing to some people so i have to put it out there to be careful!

if imperium had a trailer, i’d make abbey by mitski as the trailer soundtrack just like the ‘smile’ movie trailer, random thought but oh well

——————————

but that’s actually it, it’s nothing special! just wanted to add a little more characters that i’m familiar with and i plan to add more (vincent maybe? and all other characters) when i know more about the lore and stuff.

it’s totally fine if you don’t feel my song choices the way i do ykyk, it’s my music taste after all!! nothing wrong with that but if you do enjoy it, i appreciate you so much ^^

but yeah! you can follow my spotify to see more playlists in the future or the current ones i have aside from redacted. i hope you have a wonderful wonderful day

ps. i have a migraine so i might come back here to edit the grammar stuff so my apologies if i’m bad at the english here… xoxoxooxo

[winterburnwriting]

Better Than I Thought! Progress for Jan 18

I was originally going to write a blog today about how I had not written as much as I wanted to in the last week. I started writing this blog earlier today, when I was on break at work after getting a little bit of writing in. I thought I should almost use this as a little confessional. I had made progress, just not nearly as much as I should have. Then I got home today, ate dinner, procrastinated for an hour or two, and sat down to write.

I just finished up a 3 or 4 hour session of good solid work. I feel quite good about the progress I made. When I was writing about my disappointments, the short novel was only at 7,300 words or so. That meant I had only written around a thousand words over the course of a whole week! Not great. Not nothing, but definitely not what I needed to accomplish.

As of writing this, the short novel is now at 10,226 words. Still a far cry from my goal of 45,000, but I'm almost a quarter of the way there! And the goal number is a rough estimate. Ultimately the content of the story is what will decide its length. I am proud of myself for actually finally sitting down, putting on some music (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure and a lot of America, both of which I've been using as background music for my writing lately), and getting some writing done.

Chapter 3 is officially done, and with it, the slow opening part of the story is too! The next chapter will mark the shift from the opening where the characters and tone are established to the crazy fantastic elements taking hold of the newlywed protagonists' lives! In other words, moving day! They are moving into the house unaware that it has some vampiric squatters, led by the eccentric and terrifying creature known as The Duke. This is a chapter I am excited to write.

Moral of the story? If you are having trouble writing due to procrastinating and getting distracted, music may help! And when pushing through chapters of your novel or short novel that don't capture your imagination the way you think future ones might, try to focus on those ones you are excited for when pushing through the current work. You can always change things and spice them up later!

Thank you for reading my little blog post. I hope you are enjoying this series, as I am really enjoying having somewhere to talk about the progress I am making. It's a nice tool for holding myself accountable. That being said, I think I might be getting more writing here done than on Google Docs! Ha! Well, this goes faster. Anyway, here is an excerpt from Moving Blood (temporary title).

"

The rest of Lucy’s shift was fairly standard. The alternating experiences of serving customers like normal and hearing her coworkers talk about the new busboy potentially being found dead and mutilated in a shit tunnel gave her some whiplash, but it wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle. After the diner started to empty out and the cooks turned into cleaners, Lucy punched out and went to her car.

Lucy pulled out of the parking lot and began her commute home. Dusk draped itself on only the horizon now, with the town now being lit mostly by its many streetlights, cars, and townhouses. She kept her windows rolled completely down to breathe the evening air. Music played from her stereo. She thought of Bram. She was quite excited to see him. As ordinary as the day was, she was stressed out. The move combined with the murder in town may not have had her shattered, but she definitely looked forward to getting home. That is, even if it was one of the last times she would come home to that dinky shithole apartment they called home.

"

Thanks for reading! This isn't a weekly series, necessarily, but I might post around that often! Albeit, not always at this length. Have a good time. Take care of yourselves. I will catch you all later!

[quincyhorst]

RedoMata HCs: Juan's life (in detail)

In a whiteboard doodle long ago, I remember saying that in my setting Juan would mix up Spain's spanish and latinamerican spanish quite a lot. I'd like to develop on that better.

----

But while he was born at Spain, Juan spent a huge chunk of elementary school living back at Mexico due to parents' work. For now, I picture him living in Morelia, one of the many mexican cities to host a bullring.

As means to keep a piece of Spain around, Juan developed a liking to playing the flamenco guitar. Having already at hand many Flamenco CDs passed on from grandparents, he'd put them on the radio and try to imitate them by hand. But eventually he'd develop his own style, with a frenetic yet moving melody inspired by the movement of horses. His own family fell in love with his music, playing it at reunions and such. But for the most part, such music remained hidden on the Zubeldia household.

Be it by the new scenario or by the culture clash, Juan had always struggled to make friends; having difficulty to reach out to others or maintain a conversation. His classmates didn't like him much either, often mocking his different accent and vocabulary. With time he got used to loneliness, avoiding most social situations as possible. Not even his family seemed to change his mind, until... When it was time to leave Mexico and go back to Spain, Juan was surprised by his grandma deciding to stay in the american continent instead. Her choice was set, but before parting she gave her grandson one final request: For him to keep sharing those beautiful melodies of his.

---

When he came back home, things got a bit complicated at first. He had been so used to the different timezones and regional vocabulary, that re-encountering the original spanish language gave him some whiplash. Pronunciating became tricky for him yet again, and so mixing up words with different meaning. Trust me, sometimes it gets that bad. Specially with the dreaded word coger.

???: Oye Juan, ¿Podrias por favor coger el balón- ("Juan, could you please grab the ball-") Juan: ¿¡COOOOOMO!? ("WHAAAAAAT!?") ???: ...Eh? Juan: ... Juan: ...Nada. Continue por favor. ("Nothing. Go on, please.")

But fortunately, and inspired by his grandma's words, sharing his flamenco skills managed to give him a place; so much so that he soon started to develop some fame. Determined, Juan later on entered the annual May Flamenco contest of Cordoba, and ended up sweeping all the other contestants despite his young age. With this, it was definitive: His community had fallen in love with his guitar skills, nowadays inviting him to local events or parties. Juan didn't mind, he was happy to finally be out of the shadows for once. But he still fell under the effects of social anxiety outside of his hobby.

As another method to fight it, Juan would start joining groups of his interests; soccer being one of them. To his surprise it was a sport he warmed up easily to, being able to be a fairly good keeper on the yearly Spanish Youth League (But not winning it nonetheless). It was on the Community Cup where his true potential finally shone, thanks to the perfect goalkeeper-defender synergy he developed alongside Rafael and Antonio (Also of Andalusia but of other provinces).

Although they ended up on the third place, the potential Juan and his new friends had was enough for him to be choosen over the actual 1st and 2nd place keepers of the cup. Aganist all odds and controversies, he fought very hard to keep his place in, though out of nowhere a sudden riojan pretty much overshadowed him.

----

(The post ends here, but under the cut there are some misc rambles regarding his setting)

Let me say one thing. In previous headcanons I've posted, Juan was established to be from Cordoba, Andalusia. However lately (and due to me overthinking things) I thought that alternatively, he could have been born in Madrid instead. And after returning Mexico he moved to live in Cordoba instead. Unfortuantely due to the Spanish Community Cup being very strict with its origin rules, Juan was called to play for the capital, alongside players like Davi Peroqui. (Worry not for the andalusian team, they'll get another keeper otherwise. And the dynamic with Rafael and Antonio will stay! Just that it will be developed after Red Matador is formed.)

This scenario is also based on the famous flamenco guitar player Paco de Lucía (Which I've seen Juan be compared to), who was born on Andalusia but later moved to Madrid afaik. Juan's arc could be a parallel version of that.

But like I said, this is just an alternate take. Plus it'd mean me having to work again on an entirely new character dynamic (Davi + Juan) all over again 🫠 So for now Andalusia it is.

[aarcanechaoss]

Hey😁

Can you do a fic where Higuchi gets a solo mission and the mafia doesn't think she could do it but she proves them wrong and she gets the mission finished in less time.

Hello 😊 I can indeed. I love this idea!

Back at it again with Mori trusting Higuchi

Mori trusted her.

Elise trusted her.

Her family trusted her.

She trusted herself.

Why…. Why couldn’t anyone else? Why wouldn’t her coworkers believe in her.

Granted the executives she understood, they were worried but that was only because they’d never actually seen her work on her own before… it had always been with a team, always overshadowed by Akutagawa and the Black Lizard squad leaders… it was never just Ichiyo Higuchi.

This meeting was a disaster- from Akutagawa practically throwing her to the dirt to the Black Lizard insulting her to Koyo looking at her wearily… Chuuya honestly he didn’t look like he cared about her going just worried like any good person would be.

She wouldn’t really be alone she knew this, someone would be in her ear, watching through a camera they’d made into a contact as she wandered through the nightclub.

Ichiyo could hear their insults as she stepped into the bass filled club. All she had to do was assassinate the leader and co of a small time gang, one that had barely got their hands dirty. It was a simple job and really she didn’t understand why only Elise and Mori trusted her with this because from what she had read the worst they’d done was rob a few banks and attempt to imitate the Port Mafia. A weak group with nothing to stand on.

She thought as she swayed to the music, making eye contact with all necessary parties, tempting them to come her way, she thought about how everyone in the mafia had their own quirks.

Some had abilities that they relied on, some relied on weapons such as guns and knives and others liked to be more explosive but many overlooked the simplicity of poison and why many believe it is the woman’s weapon. She may use guns the most and she may have something buried deep within her veins but the slightest bit of sharpness and a strong dose of the most lethal substance she was done.

Anyone she’d danced with that night felt the bite of those silver rings placed delicately on her pretty little hands. Anyone she kissed felt the strange tingling of her lips. And anyone she didn’t like as the night drew to a close felt the sting of the small blade she’d hidden on her thigh.

The mission was over before it even began, she’d taken special care to look into the gangsters that were there tonight, hopelessly drunk and wanting everything they couldn’t have. From a pretty dancer to someone, anyone they could get their hands on… and Higuchi had practically sunk claws into them all and enjoyed every minute of it.

They were all dead before the Sun even kissed the horizon.

Through the few hours she’d been at that nightclub, dressed to the nines in the most revealing dress she owned and heels much too high and hair delicately curled, with makeup she hardly ever wore.

~~*~~*~~*~~

Her heels clicked and clacked as she walked down the hallway, that revealing dress just a bit too short and lipstick still a bloody shade of red. She hadn’t bothered changing, heading straight from the nightclub to the meeting room at the Port Mafia base.

No one expected her to be back just a few hours after the mission was given, no one expected to be brought back to the meeting room so fast- it felt like whiplash as Ichiyo stepped into the room, still dressed up as she was.

“All accounted for.” She said simply, a wicked grin gracing her red stained lips. She passed the USB now containing the video evidence collected through her contact into the leaders white gloved hand. He grinned back at her, proud.

And as they watched the nights events playing out, Ichiyo responding to any questions and adding additional info, each member of the mafia sat in that room learnt a lesson, Ichiyo Higuchi was not weak.

After all this was why she joined the mafia at Mori’s request… she was the femme fatal no one ever saw coming.